Old vs. New Music Business

Last night, after our show, we played a song for a couple of Ike refugees. One of them was wrote for Billboard Magazine for 15 years or so. When the song was finished, he had that look on his face. I went up to him, and he told me how good our sound was. With some bass or something it could be easily commercial. Then he expounded on some of his Billboard experience.

I was a bit mesmerized on that. It's probably every musician's dream to break into the commercial market and be “successful”. However, it was also intriguing, because I immediately realized he had no understanding of the current music model… the model where we already are successful because we're making a living at it.

The music business has changed dramatically over the years. There is still a good market for insta-bands. But there's also one for what I've created for myself, the independent Celtic music market that is fueled by the ‘net, and which I have a gigantic foothold thanks to a lot of hard work and luck.

There's no telling where I would be if I relied on the old school music business. But I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be making a living at it. So thank God, the business has changed.


Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.