(6/10/11)
I was asked the other day, what I thought about the changes that have been made in the music industry since digital technology, and particularly the internet, has developed as both a provider of music and a marketing tool for musicians. When I first started work as careers adviser at the BRIT School, way back in 1991, the process for bands and artists getting signed was pretty much the same way as it always had been in the previous 30 years. However, the last 6-7 years has seen huge changes in the way we all make and promote (and listen to) music; making things almost unrecognizable to what had gone before.
Perhaps the most telling aspect is that musicians now have so much more control, potentially, over their own futures and how they market their music. With that comes the need to use another set of skills, and a lot of hours of work deploying those skills, especially in marketing and promotion.. In most cases this is not what musicians see themselves as being good at doing (whether they are or not!). Perhaps the roles of manager and A&R are not quite finished yet, though they too need to be pretty interested, not to mention pro-active at, social networking... or know someone else who is.
Dave
