Progressive Rock?

As I sat down here in my blogging-den (I at times refer to this as my bed, as well) to ponder things which are generally considered progress, before I got the computer booted up I put on a record and turned on my speakers. As my mind raced from topic to topic, the fact that I am playing a record is going against the grain of what is considered "progress" currently in the music industry.

The Economist published an article early in 2008 detailing the change of the music industry's power and influence coming into the 21st century. an analyst at JupiterResearch said, "In 2007 it became clear that the recorded-music industry is contracting and that it will be a very different beast from what it was in the 20th century."

The method of playing music has changed, as well. CD's are rarely purchased compared to ten years ago, cassette tapes have become novelties, and vinyl pressings are kept around solely for collectors or very dedicated fans. What is becoming increasingly popular and may soon be the only way to get music, however, is digitally. In Steve Jobs' (Apple C.E.O) Keynote address in June of 2008 it was revealed that their iTunes music store had reached over 5 billion song sales.

Where does the artist come into this equation? Artists are now moving away from album sales, which was traditionally their main source of income, and now depend on live shows to support themselves. Nine Inch Nails, along with Radiohead (and supposedly U2) have dropped their record labels altogether and released records on their own through the internet.

Is this progress? Does the stealing of music from artists cripple them, or does this allow them to be more creative and focus more on their art? In the instance of both Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, their records released with no record label were recieved very well by fans and critics alike.

If you are in the situation of either of these bands, I think the pressure to sell records prohibited creative growth to an extent, and this new found creative freedom has helped them. If you are a band starting out however, you aren't completely left out of this new record industry. Bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Cold War Kids have gained support through MP3 blogs without having any following beforehand.