November102009
Music’s Demand Problem »
“The glut of new music, including reissues of everything under the sun, seemed like a gift to us critics who yearned to hear long out-of-print albums and all kinds of bizarre recordings from around the world. Scarcity had been abolished!
Then something changed. It was overwhelming, even to critics who longed to hear rare and forgotten gems. There was no way to keep up! Yet the steady flow of new releases didn’t stop, even as the industry plunged deeper into the abyss. The solution, it seemed, to a decline in music sales was to flood the market with even more of them. If you ever needed a refutation of rational choice theory, look no further than anyone working for a label in the post-Napster music business.”
The internet made it easier to release music and at the same time, infinitely harder to make anyone give a crap about said music release.
Reblogged from hartley manages.
