Independent Labels Get Grammys, But Big Labels Get Them Attention

-
Hypebot notes that albums on independent labels won half of the Grammys last night, and pointed to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and XL Recordings' Vampire Weekend as examples.

But, as the Future of Music Coalition points out, independent artists need to rely on big-label distributors and partnerships to really move product--and gain the notoriety that leads to awards. Macklemore, for example, works with Alternative Distribution Alliance, owned by Warner, and XL Recordings have a promotion and distribution deal with Sony's Columbia Records.

Popular posts from this blog

What Are the New Models of Professional Musicianship?

-
On his own blog, my colleague Nate Zeisler describes two models for musical careers . In the first model, musicians are mechanics, creating within "a very narrow, accepted window of performance practice which has been dictated by your teacher, conductor and the music written on a page." In the second model, musicians act more like designers, and come up with "new ways of thinking about the art form" by drawing on new genres of music and artistic disciplines. For Nate, the path toward a successful career is to fuse the two: In the field of classical music, there is very little room for people who can’t infuse qualities from both sides of the aisle into their career. Great designers in music will have little to say and won’t have credibility in the field if they aren’t great mechanics. Great mechanics, for the most part, won’t have a sustainable career if they’re not thinking as designers. I agree that the most successful musicians will be able to be both mechanic
Read more

Taking a Break

-
I may return to posting, but, for now, I'll be packing it in. It's been harder than I thought to keep blogging up since moving to Los Angeles and taking on a new job at the Colburn School. If you want to get in touch, or just want to keep up with me, follow me on Twitter @berrymark, or find me on Facebook. Thanks for stopping by.
Read more