WHY a music arts incubator?
Well, even though just about anyone can make an album on a laptop these days, music listeners are aware that – ‘they just don’t make records that sound as good as they did in the old days.’ Maybe that is because with very few exceptions, they don’t MAKE records they way they used to back in the old days and THAT is what is mostly wrong with the music “industry.” I’m not ONLY talking about the actual recording process, although IMHO, that is a big part of it. I’m talking about artist development, guided by experienced people who actually love and/or PLAY music. I’m talking about melody and musicianship.
The traditional record industry model is dead for several reasons – one being, there was a lot about that model that had nothing to do with music and developing new talent – it had everything to do with greed and extracting the most amount of profit from the least amount of work. And, the fact that for a long time, people who knew very little about music were in charge of what music was being made, didn’t exactly help artists to create their best work. Once video became a part of the record industry, appearance became more important than the music.
While many independent artists would welcome assistance with their career development, most are tired of being ripped off by major labels – which is why the non-profit model is one that is worth exploring. There are many musicians who would welcome the opportunity to play and perform at a legendary studio like “The Plant.” Budding artists can benefit greatly from being discovered and guided through the non-profit Artsboretum model – where creating true artistry, as opposed to an “instant hit” is the mission.
More importantly that just acquiring this legendary space, this is a county wide program, with plans to take it national and international. Great music knows no boundaries.
I am grateful that we have a dedicated team, with a track record of producing great sounding records, on our advisory board. Even under the worst possible conditions, in our last few months at the 2200 location, we helped to facilitate the production of two platinum albums (Fray and Journey.) (Consider this: If Artsboretum had a portion of the profits of those two albums, we could already be generating income to become self sustaining.)
While a lot of artists are giving content away for free – there is STILL plenty of income opportunity in the music industry, which is why many music start ups are jockeying to be next iTunes or MySpace or Facebook. A lot of money has been invested in these new start up music technology companies – and while that is all well and good – I love technology, as it empowers artists to connect directly with their fans – it seems unfortunate for the artists and music lovers that most investors are concentrating on developing technology for the next promotion and distribution model, when at least some of them should be concentrating on developing TALENT. It’s a bit like building a bunch of stores that sell the same substandard product. Who is helping artists make their music the best that it can be? No wonder music sales are down.
The fact remains that when an artist creates music that causes a heartfelt reaction – people will buy it and they will come to see and hear you play it – but they have to FIND IT first. In many ways the DIY movement is great for the artist, but it has its challenges: anyone who can afford a home studio or a laptop is able to “make a record” these days, resulting in a glut of product, most of which isn’t that great – so finding quality music is very much like finding a needle in a haystack – this is frustrating for both the artist and the listener.
Within the Artsboretum, a combination of non-profit and for profit business entities can thrive – I refer to Sundance as a model because that is one example of a non-profit that continues to launch careers in a creative industry. Many busy “for profit” bees are buzzing around that “non-profit” hive – and every one of them – producer, artist, audience – gets to taste the sweet honey that is produced inside – in the form of high quality, thought provoking, independent film.
The Artsboretum project can do the same for the independent music industry.
In order to make this vision a reality, all we need is the right group of busy bees who love music and want to help cultivate the next generation, while empowering more musicians to make a living – as opposed to our continuing to enable a chosen few to make a killing.
If you come to the B4MD screening on June 8th, you’ll get a very unique look at this from several veiwpoints –
Afterward, we’ll have a Q&A talk about the Artsboretum project and get some of your feedback. We, the artists and the listeners, have the power to plant seeds of change, starting within our own backyard.
http://marinlocalmusic.com/content/music-movie-monday-music-dies
