By the way, Clay, did you hear your friend interviewed recently on The Sound of Young America podcast? Really fascinating.

My own band’s first CD which was produced by Butch Vig and was originally on a record label was recently re-released by us, the artist, directly to our facebook page and directly to iTunes. Oh, and the cost of putting it on iTunes – a whopping $34.00!

I recently had a discussion with Mark Mogthersbaugh, co-creator of DEVO and composer and producer of many,many television and movie soundtracks. DEVO recently launched their first album in twenty years. He had a lot to say about the disadvantages of hooking back up with their old label Warner Brothers!! He said this business has changed so much that there is no need for a label anymore – if anything Warner has only served as a detriment to sales and creative output.

Another recent conversation with my friend who is musical director for American Idol tour indicated clearly that touring is not making many bands money right now, especially large, expensive touring acts. They guys that are making money at it are bands like Squeeze who are out on a reunion tour playing smaller houses and selling label-less music on both CDs and digital copies.

At some point in the trajectory to so-called mainstream success, it’s my understanding that the demands of an audience require delegation. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to get the job of being famous done without a lot of outside help.

But by definition, superstardom of the Lady Gaga variety is much more rare today than even 15 years ago. This list of albums that have gone platinum reflects what Chris Anderson wrote about in his book The Long Tail. The air has gone out of the phenomenon of the musician everyone listens to, and the money has gone with it.

This shift has been replaced with more fragmented tastes — tastes better served financially by a less top-down distribution system and a more networked distribution system.

I would even suggest that Lady Gaga is not earning as much money than, say, Madonna in her prime.

But I’m not expert. Just an extremely interested bystander. Does anyone in the industry want to comment?

You bring up a good point. Major label execs haven’t been known as the torchbearers for change.

On the other hand, if a new business model can demonstrate strong incentive, (e.g. dollars and cents) I’d be surprised if I didn’t see Major Label execs clamoring to ride the money train.

Thinking from the label’s perspective – where there’s a will there’s a way. I believe that there are win-win solutions available that can complete the entertainment trifecta of consumers, producers, and financiers.

The problem comes from one party abusing the other. It wasn’t too long ago that CD sales climbed to 21.99 for new releases. It was that kind of abuse that gave piracy a forceful shove forward.

If we can create a plan that creates fairness, i see no reason why we won’t get what we’re after.