The Web Has Not Destroyed Record Labels, Say Record Labels

The internet was supposed to change the music business forever. But a new industry report claims things haven't changed that much.
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The internet was supposed to change the music business forever. And it certainly has made the business of music much less profitable. But a new industry report claims things haven't changed that much.

It's a myth that artists can use the internet to make music without record labels, it says.

Global music industry body the IFPI says in a report that no new artists had broken through without the help of a label.

IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) chief executive John Kennedy said attempting to build a career online, competing with millions of other acts on MySpace, was like "screaming in space".

"There's not really any evidence of anybody succeeding having gone direct," he said.

"Even artists who are typically described as having broken from the internet like Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen or Sandi Thom all ended up combining with a conventional record label."

He added that bands such as Radiohead, who have struck out on their own, have done so after years of record company support.

The IFPI says it costs over $1million to launch a new band. And without that money, forget it kid, it's never going to happen.

Many don't agree -- and point to bands such as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah as an act thaat has gotten attention and success without a record deal.

"Increasingly we're starting to see artists emerging that are selling out venues without having had any mainstream exposure whatsoever and without the involvement of a major record label, but having developed fan communities online who know about them," Jeremy Silver, chief executive of the Featured Artists' Coalition lobby group, told the BBC.

"They indicate a future opportunity for a much more varied set of approaches for building a career as a musician."

What do you think?

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