Monday, November 05, 2007

Why Record Labels Matter Now More Than Ever


From Paul Sloan, Fortune Magazine

The Internet may help bands get their music out, but it's a crowded arena. That's why most acts still need a label behind them.

In the music business, promotion is paramount --- and that's why the bracelets are such a great idea.

Warner Music and AT&T Mobility threw a swank, invite-only bash at a San Francisco nightspot recently, featuring a concert by the multi-platinum band Matchbox Twenty. Attendees received a black rubber bracelet that doubles as a USB device. Plug it in your computer and, voila, you get the band's latest album, Exile on Mainstream, plus a video and other digital goodies. Pretty cool.

The bracelet itself, which includes 17 songs, plus video interviews and a digital booklet with album art, is now on sale for about $35 at Best Buy and other stores. It isn't about to resurrect the ailing music industry. But it does show the efforts that the labels are undertaking to get music out in this entirely disruptive digital age.

So who needs the labels? Well, major acts like Matchbox Twenty, for starters; and, for that matter, most any band that aspires to such heights.

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