
Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks - 6stringmerc
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/steve-miller-this-whole-industry-is-f--kin-gangsters-and-crooks-20160411
======
baldfat
I owned a SMALL Record Label and Studio. I was (still?) good at picking out
talent in bands.

The Whole Industry Sucks

I had two bands that ended up on Major Labels and Toured the World. I met a
kid on the street wearing one of my Bands shirts and struck up a conversation.
They still love the band 10 years later.

These guys per person made at the TOP $7,000 in profit after expenses were
paid. One band did a KickStarter and pulled in $40,000. It was their biggest
pay day ever. I knwo a band (Zao) who has the a Label's (Solid State) biggest
selling album ever and the band never saw a dime. PS That band was drama and
the drummer was the biggest jerk ever BUT they still deserved to get paid.

~~~
at-fates-hands
I used to work in a record shop and found out first hand how much promotion a
band needs just to sell a few CD's. I can't tell you how many insanely good
bands died because either the label didn't promote them, or they just ran out
of cash and quit.

The only problem I see nowadays is there's virtually no vetting process. It
used to be the good bands would eventually rise to the top and the shitty
garage bands would be relegated to small venues. Today, there's such an over
saturation of music. Artists have thousands of avenues to get their music out.
As a huge music fan, how do I sort through all the noise to find a truly good
band, and not some guy programming the guitars, drums tracks and bass and then
does the vocals himself?

Today, I just stick with a small handful of bands that I can support and just
keep an eye out for new bands. There's just way too much noise to signal ratio
for me to sit and search for hours on end to find one decent band, only to
find out they broke up five years ago.

~~~
robenkleene
> not some guy programming the guitars, drums tracks and bass and then does
> the vocals himself?

Some highly regarded albums that use that exact process, all are five stars on
Allmusic:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_Riot_Goin%27_On](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_Riot_Goin%27_On)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Mind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Mind)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Hate_Machine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Hate_Machine)

Another that legend has it was recording the same way, albeit under different
circumstances:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_Dream](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_Dream)

Another recent one that the verdict is still out on:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currents_(Tame_Impala_album)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currents_\(Tame_Impala_album\))

~~~
throwaway_xx9
Some of Van Halen's albums were done at home, in his home recording studio
named "5150".

I believe the "Beat It" guitar solo was also recorded there. Because there was
no legal paperwork with MJ's mgmt., that was a freebie - to the utter dismay
of his label.

~~~
te_chris
"home studio"

[https://static.gearslutz.com/board/imgext.php?u=http%3A%2F%2...](https://static.gearslutz.com/board/imgext.php?u=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-ac9jhAPvbRs%2FTpheflcJBZI%2FAAAAAAAADwc%2F53i_zqKI2LM%2Fs1600%2F2890480676_2214e2087f_o.jpg&h=89879c06e28e5ea858f0396b00514d78)

------
dudifordMann
I always thought the age of the internet, especially with modern bandwidths,
could be the end of large labels for the music industry (or publishing houses
for literature). I understand (to a naive degree) that the labels establish
large networks, and complex licensing with public avenues like the radio or
concert halls.

It is also interesting that that most self published artists get the semi-
derogatory term of "Indie-artist", and that there may even be a public opinion
which has been molded into expecting a "quality filter" through labels.

The question I always come to is how big can you get without a label? and will
there ever be a day when artists have full creative control of their craft?
This would mean that the artist would need to value and understand business
practices, distribution methods, contracting, etc.

[edit] and the artists that do appreciate this seem to start labels (see
epitaph records or Bad Boy Entertainment)

~~~
6stringmerc
You've done a strong job of describing what I felt years and years ago, and
have come to learn is the lay of the land still in the music business. Labels
have done a fantastic job of maintaining their gate-keeper status and of being
able to break new artists into the mainstream. What didn't change with the
internet is, partially kidding here, that 14 year old girls decide what's
going to be popular. Outside of that, it's pretty much table scraps.

But...there are some exceptions!

There are certainly a handful of examples of responding to the last question
you pose - re: being independent and achieving mainstream success. The ones
that I find the most relevant are CHVRCHES (unsigned, SoundCloud got them
attention, eventually had their pick of labels) and Macklemore (independent,
used major label distribution services though). Also Skrillex - his label had
no interest in his bleep-blonk-screech-BASS DROP tunes and he set it free
online and got that avenue going - now he's got his own label and millions in
the bank. There are some outlier musicians like Prince who are genuinely
contentious with both industry and fan expectations.

I think more and more artists who grow up as 'one-person operations' (think
Grimes) will navigate a new business platform. Labels will specialize in these
artists, or management teams. Eventually though, there does exist a plateau
where it seems inevitable to have to deal with a large entity such as
LiveNation or Ticketmaster...neither of which are very well regarded as
customer friendly in this day and age - at least not as much as direct-to-fan
opportunities. The next 10 years should be interesting both in the US and
globally.

Oh, and in my opinion, artists tend to start labels as a compensation
mechanism to get more power for their own business enterprise, and potentially
profit from the success of others signed (see: Cash Money / Young Money
Records).

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "Also Skrillex - his label had no interest in his bleep-blonk-screech-BASS
DROP tunes and he set it free online and got that avenue going - now he's got
his own label and millions in the bank."

Financially I think artists like Skrillex (EDM producers in general) are
incredibly lucky. Production costs are practically zero. You buy a DAW and
some monitors and you can do everything at home on your laptop. You don't need
to pay a band, all revenue is yours. And on top of that touring costs are
minimal (a midi controller and a laptop) so you're extracting the maximum
profit from each show. If you want a financially successful career in music
this is probably the most sure route to take.

Edit: A lot of people responding are bringing up the point that production
costs for most genres are now relatively low. While that's true when it comes
to actually making money from the music that's much easier in electronic music
for the reasons I gave above (one person, very little gear to drag around, no
band to pay).

~~~
6stringmerc
Good point for sure. It's not just EDM - a basic Pop song can be produced at
practically zero cost once an independent musician and producer has sunk the
costs of DAW and equipment into the operation. A lot of music, in general, is
stunningly simple. Hip-hop can be done with one MPC and a mic (okay maybe
AutoTune as well haha). Country only really needs an acoustic guitar, vocals,
and a quality mic. Yes, there's a reason studio quality recordings sound
great, and I'm not going to deny that at all. But...

Owl City is a great example of a talented person producing their own material
(then mastered) which fit the quality expectations and was, pretty much,
recorded in one guy's bedroom.

Gotye's "Used to Know" was recorded all by himself in a room over a barn in
New Zealand.

These are just a couple recent examples where I think the technology and
dynamics of music production are really coming together (Trent Reznor is a
great historical study). Personally I really enjoy playing with a talented
drummer - which I will do tonight and probably broadcast on Periscope - but
when I'm at home, making tunes that I'll eventually release, I can get
fantastic results from Apple's GarageBand "Drummer" algorithm thingy.

The tools that exist now would've changed my world as a teenager. I think
teenagers growing up now - the ones serious about making music - have more
tools and opportunities than ever before. I'm a wee bit jealous, no lie.

Edit: To clarify regarding your edit, the personal production can now extend
to live performance. Rappers typically just have a DJ behind them (sometimes a
live band). There's a lot of wiggle-room for mid-market musicians to simply
bring their box of backing tracks with them to perform live, and I think that
is becoming more and more acceptable. I used to get really odd looks using a
Netbook + Akai APC40 on stage, and now that's pretty tame compared to some of
the other gear setups indies can employ. This way, the musician makes more
money because there are fewer musicians on stage that need to be paid (my
personal approach).

~~~
joslin01
Teenagers growing up don't only have a plethora more of opportunities & tools
-- they also have a plethora of distracting activities that can take away from
the careful attention needed to make great music.

Sometimes I believe the guys in the 60s & 70s ironically had it easier because
they just sat around, maybe smoking some dope, and played music. There wasn't
a smartphone at their hip vibrating every few minutes, so they could really
just pour their heart into the music and hey, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Beatles,
Dylan, etc... you name a great, probably came out of that time period. While I
like a lot of stuff today, I do question if it'll hold up to the test of time
and personally feel very little of it will when compared to how much did &
will continue from the 60s/70s.

~~~
6stringmerc
Pretty fair point, I can totally see where you're coming from. Music does have
a traditionally steep 'learning curve' and it does take focused practice - for
good or ill, I do see modern tech and tools being a great short-cut though for
a dedicated youngster with enough time on their hands. You're spot on about
the number of distractions, that affects even adults who might be working in
the industry. Focus is important.

Also, we should keep in mind that there was a ton of silly, throw-away,
bubble-gum music during the 60s and 70s. Basically my contention is that the
good stuff will, inherently, stand the test of time. Maybe because of, or in
spite of, the river of crap surrounding it haha.

------
bantunes
Miles Davis on Steve Miller: “Steve Miller didn’t have his shit going for him,
so I’m pissed because I got to open for this non-playing motherfucker just
because he had one or two sorry-ass records out. So I would come late and he
would have to go on first and then when we got there, we smoked the
motherfucking place, and everybody dug it.”
[http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/miles-davis-opens-for-
nei...](http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/miles-davis-opens-for-neil-young-
and-the-steve-miller-band-1970.html)

~~~
yolesaber
I mean, to be fair, Steve Miller is like the blandest of bland dad rock. And
Miles Davis is literally the coolest person who ever lived.

~~~
mathattack
If you say this, you've only listened to early 80s Steve Miller. Check out his
blues and folk. Lots are up on Youtube. (Which, to the point of the original
article, probably doesn't pay him much)

~~~
mariodiana
I saw Steve Miller a few years back in concert. I wouldn't have even
considered myself a fan before having seen him, but I came away very
impressed. I was even dreading "Abracadabra," but so help me that song was
great live.

His singing and playing were both spot on. His sound was terrific. I'm a
guitar player myself, and the tones he got from his Les Paul and Strat were
textbook examples of classic, excellent tone. The band was tight as a band can
be. It was a great night of music. The guy is a first rate musician.

~~~
mathattack
I've been watching many of his live performances on YouTube. He's a great
musician, who happened to ride the pop wave. We shouldn't judge him just on
that. It's like judging the Dead just on "Touch of Grey" or Bowie just "Young
American".

------
Animats
Musicians getting rich was a brief phenomenon. Historically, musicians ranked
below bartenders. Making phonograph records was a process with expensive
tooling, manufacturing, and distribution costs. Radio was an industry with
limited airtime and a small number of stations. These factors created an
industry with few songs produced in large numbers, resulting in the "rock
star" industry.

That's over. Through heavy promotion, there are still stars, but they have a
smaller fraction of overall plays and the margins are lower.

And we haven't even had much AI-generated music yet. That has to be coming
soon.

 _When a Vocaloid learns your job, what are you going to do?_

~~~
proksoup
Ha, you had me til the AI part. Personally I figure the musicians will have
the last jobs, along with designers. Really artists generally speaking will be
the most difficult AI, no?

~~~
stigi
Modern pop music follows strict patterns. I have little doubt that much of
what's playing in the top 40 can be synthesized or already is :P

All that you need then is a human avatar that the kids can connect to and take
as their role model.

~~~
Animats
_" All that you need then is a human avatar that the kids can connect to and
take as their role model."_

Already in production. See Hatsune Miku in live concerts.[1][2] Not only is
the performer an avatar, the singing is synthesized by Vocaloid software,
which you can buy.[3]

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhYaX01NOfA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhYaX01NOfA)
[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyTmXLWCazw&nohtml5=False](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyTmXLWCazw&nohtml5=False)
[3] [http://www.vocaloid.com/en/](http://www.vocaloid.com/en/)

~~~
proksoup
Yup, just need to "synthesize" words and melodies as the gp said and you're
set.

"To create a song, the user must input the melody and lyrics".

------
carsongross
I know it's trite to say, but it is probably good to be reminded how often
people held up as being successful are, often, deeply unhappy. Michael Jordan
is another canonical example.

To live these lives of unparalleled, almost supernatural greatness, and then
end up embittered... The stoics did nothing wrong.

EDIT: to clarify, I'm not dismissing Miller's critique at all, I'm noting that
someone living, literally, a rock star life, ends up in a deeply inhumane and,
potentially, embittering environment.

~~~
alanwatts
>The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain
stream than to be emperor of the whole world.

-Zhuangzi

~~~
gdulli
"The best life is the one the gods don't notice."

\- Steven Erikson, "Gardens of the Moon"

------
typetypetype
He was also pissed because they wanted to charge him $10k per ticket to the
event for his bandmates:

[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/arts/music/after-his-
induc...](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/arts/music/after-his-induction-
steve-miller-rips-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame.html?_r=0)

~~~
koolba
Ha! That sounds like certain for-profit conferences.

 _" You've been selected a speaker for our super elite conference! You can
invite your friends to attend for the paltry sum of $XYZ. Oh and it'll also
cost you $ABC..."_

------
6stringmerc
Full interview over at Rolling Stone:
[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/steve-miller-
this...](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/steve-miller-this-whole-
industry-is-f--kin-gangsters-and-crooks-20160411)

Link provided originally has good back-story. Either should work fine though.
Quite a read.

------
ivanca
Ministry (synth pop/industrial/Alternative metal) frontman Al Jordison in his
song "gold diggers":

"You know, they say it takes a whole pack of wolves to take down a moose, cuz
one-on-one, that moose would smack them down. It’s like being in the music
business — you got your managers, your ex-managers, your ex-bandmates, your
ex-labels, your ex-wives, your lawyers, your tax attorneys … hell, that sound
more like a pack of hyenas to me. You know, I was once told by an ex-manager,
“Son, you’re worth more dead than alive. Cuz when you’re dead, we can sell you
off in pieces.” That’s the way it works around here. You don’t believe me? Why
don’t you try asking Jim Morrison, or Jimi Hendrix, or Janis Joplin, or Kurt
Cobain, or Amy Winehouse? I’m pretty sure they’re gonna take my side of the
story. Sometimes I think they’re the lucky ones. They don’t have to deal with
these douchebags"

------
bogomipz
It's unfortunate that Tidal is/was such a bust because that really is the
right way forward for artists. The big streaming services -
Spotify/Google/Apple Music are all just continuing to prop up this horrible
abomination known as the "music business" and their business as usual.

Record companies provide three basic functions to artists:

A source of financing.

A distribution system.

A marketing department.

There are alternative channels for each of these now:

Financing has largely been democratized by things like kickstarter et al.

Distribution is a solved problem via either all the services largely propping
up the 3 major labels or else soundcloud, youtube etc.

There's plenty of independent marketing companies that will "work your record"
for a fee.

------
cm2012
One aspect of this is really funny to me - my friend and I busked in NYC in
the summer after high school, and each made roughly $2500 a month until we
stopped to go to college. That seems to be more than most actual bands make!

~~~
cylinder
Get closer to the money.

------
mapgrep
Important context for the hostility toward the interviewer: The founder and
publisher of Rolling Stone, Jann Wenner, is also the chairman and founder of
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which Miller was railing against.

(Wenner didn't do the interview, of course; he just pays and publishes whoever
did.)

~~~
6stringmerc
I still wonder if Jann Wenner is telling the truth that he didn't cancel
Hunter S. Thompson's health insurance while en route to Vietnam for reporting
purposes. Hunter was quite adamant that Wenner did it. We may never know.

------
beachstartup
this happens in any industry run by gatekeepers.

see: hollywood, video games, venture backed technology startups, fashion.

all these verticals are run by assholes and _basically_ suck unless you become
a successful indie outfit.

p.s. it doesn't surprise me the hall of fame was started by a bunch of lawyers
and people from rolling stone, a magazine with basically zero journalistic
integrity, at best.

~~~
firasd
The other similarity across the industries you mention is that people want to
participate in them for 'passion', in a way they wouldn't participate in, say,
accounting.

~~~
beachstartup
yeah, psychopaths can spot an easy mark from a mile away.

------
michaelwww
In the "Gentle and Soft: The Story of the Blue Jean Committee" mockumentary,
Kenny Loggins and the show and get their digs in at the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in ‘Documentary Now!’ by Lorne Michaels, Fred Armisen And Bill Hader.

In the show, Loggins complains about the one album wonder Blue Jeans Committee
that you can be working in the business for 30 years and have many hits and
never even get invited to the ceremony (which describes Loggins.)

------
mgirdley
Irony abounds here.

Steve's band gets paid six figures a year each and flies coach to each gig.
Steve flies in on a private jet and takes home multiple millions each year.

~~~
duderific
I hear what you're saying about the irony, but I'm sure Steve's band doesn't
mind. The number of musician gigs that pay six figures is EXTREMELY limited.

------
InclinedPlane
The music industry has similar problems to the tech industry, especially game
dev. There are a lot of people being exploited tremendously by big businesses.
In the music industry it practically works out to a share cropping situation.
But the exploited still often achieve more success and more wealth than the
median for the developed world, and some of them achieve substantial fame as
well. It's hard for the public to get worked up about that, especially
considering the degree to which our society dehumanizes and objectifies the
famous and the rich.

------
dworin
From the article: "If the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame wants to be taken
seriously, they need to put their books out in the public. They need to
fucking become transparent"

Am I missing some deeper story? They have an 82 page form 990 on their own
website. Most non-profits don't disclose anywhere near as much, and few post
it on their own site.

[https://rockhall.com/media/assets/files/form990.pdf](https://rockhall.com/media/assets/files/form990.pdf)

~~~
6stringmerc
Interesting. I took a quick look and can't say I'm qualified to render any
real insight. It is interesting to see they claim $11M of expenses on $6M of
revenue for the primary operation.

------
a_thro_away
Steve Miller's success came when I was a teen. No matter how hard I worked, I
could afford only a little piece of our shared culture as albums were monopoly
priced; someone was getting rich. To add, where I lived we could not pick up
much rock music on the radio, and only later were very rare concerts (but they
were good and inexpensive; Styx for example). I hear echoes of all this in his
statements.

------
AnthonyNagid
Something that I don't think is addressed enough is how a well practiced and
versatile musician can make a living through their immediate community. It
could still involve secondary income from the music industry as supplement to
a healthy primary income provided by the synergy between them and their
community. I can elaborate but I'll wait to see if anyone else finds this
interesting.

~~~
duderific
> how a well practiced and versatile musician can make a living through their
> immediate community

There are so many barriers to this.

They need a venue at which to perform regularly, which helps somewhat to
promote their performance. These are becoming few and far between. They are
not likely to make much money for said performances (of course this depends on
the size of the venue and the following they've managed to develop.)

Forgot about making any money selling recordings. People expect music to be
free nowadays. The days of selling $10 cd's at your show are pretty much over.
Maybe if you cater to an older crowd that isn't hip to the streaming/Youtube
culture you can sell a few cd's here and there but certainly nowhere near
enough to support yourself.

So... the "healthy primary income" you describe would be nearly impossible to
achieve in today's environment. Most local musicians need to supplement their
income working other jobs such as barista, Uber driver etc.

~~~
AnthonyNagid
please see my reply to nickknw below, I think some of that is relevant to what
you just said and I'd be curious what you think of it.

------
niccaluim
The president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame responded:
[http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/rock-hall-
preside...](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/rock-hall-president-
responds-to-steve-millers-blistering-comments-20160412?page=3)

Makes Steve seem like a bit of a jerk, imho.

------
api
Most artists know next to nothing about business, which makes them prey to
those who do. I think this explains why the industry is so horribly
exploitative.

------
rmason
Spoken with all the honesty that I've come to expect from Steve Miller.
Absolutely love that cranky old man telling the truth.

Question is why haven't the artists spoken out about the hall of fame over the
years? Note some are backing him up now.

~~~
hardwaresofton
Bigger question might be why record companies still exist in such a similar
form to when they were first introduced/at their most powerful?. I'm starting
to think that they might actually be a necessity, whether it comes to them
offering:

\- Marketing/Promotion

\- Distribution

\- A barrier to entry for new artists

I've wonder why a service that just let people sell their own MP3s and albums
(+/\- streaming) on the internet is not enough (assuming the other things a
record company offers were split up and handled by other focused companies).

My overly optimistic side thinks it's just a matter of no one having built a
service that is transparently, obviously, and enforcably out to do nothing but
enable musicians to distribute their own material and profit, but skeptical me
is well... skeptical.

It's such a nuanced conversation, I wonder if there are any correspondences
between someone from tech and someone from the music biz that I could read.

------
mathattack
One anecdote [0] that show his financial astuteness is that he once split a
song so that he could get double the royalties.

I'm a huge Steve Miller fan - his career spanned pop, blues, psychedelic and
folk, and his bands have included great talent. But the recording game moved
on. The money in music is now in performance. And he's still touring [1].

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Miller_(musician)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Miller_\(musician\))

[1]
[http://www.stevemillerband.com/tour.html](http://www.stevemillerband.com/tour.html)

------
hiou
I think a lot of people are missing a point here. It's not just one sided
deals and taking advantage of naive or desperate artists. Its that a lot of
the entertainment industry is actually gangsters and crooks.

Music and movies and other forms of entertainment have been fantastic ways to
launder money for a long long time. Maybe someone should to create a way for
independent artists to "sell" for those who need a way to legally attribute
their profit to the sales of something else.

------
JustSomeNobody
Tell us how you really feel Steve Miller.

Seriously, that was awesome.

I'm glad he can afford to say those things. It's a shame more can't otherwise
there might just be change.

------
erikpukinskis
Capitalism is people working hard to set up tolls so they don't have to work
hard anymore while people who actually like working and creating things of
value day after day get 20-99% of the value of their work skimmed off the top.

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
Some people write songs about the music industry sucking. Hotel California is
one (I bet). It would be fun to study this idea. Oh, another one could be
Don't Download this Song by Weird Al.

Edit: I wonder if Mr. Miller ever tried something like that.

~~~
marincounty
When I was in college, I took my girlfriend on a summer vacation. We were both
broke, so we decided to camp out along the CA coast. My car was on its last
days, and the transmission didn't feel right, but we wanted that vacation. She
was a great sport, as I tried to make it work.

It seemed like nothing was working as I planned, except the sight of her in
that bikini. I had a bunch of camping equipment, and thought, "Ahh--this will
be a breeze. I'll just pitch a tent when the sun goes down. First night--
ticket. (The state parks, private parks are completely filled months in
advance by smart travelers. I had no idea they were so popular.)

Second night--I ended up in Hotel California. I believe in Santa Barbara. The
hotel was horrid, but it looked nice from the outside.

There she was this beautiful, innocent blond, sitting on the edge of the bed.
She said, "Well--at least we won't get hassled by the cops?". I went to get
dinner, and even bought a candle. This was our first vacation together, and
nothing worked out.

Out of feeling bad about the room, I told her a lie. A lie over Chinese food,
and the candle.

I told her this is where the musicians stayed when they wrote that song--Hotel
California. The look on her face was priceless. I was in too deep, and
couldn't tell her the truth.

I remember limping my Chevy back home. I still can't get her out of my mind
though. I remember she wore a bikini, and wondered why people were looking.
Yes--she was that innocent. We went shopping, and I bought her a one piece
bathing suit. I told her this is the fashion here. I lied again. I have no
idea what she saw in me.

~~~
0xdeadbeefbabe
Dude, you left her at the Hotel California so you could escape?

I can see the conversation now in that Hotel in Santa Barbara:

Clerk: Sorry. You can never leave.

You: Can't you take the blond?

Clerk: Only if you buy her a one piece.

You: Which piece? She already has two.

Clerk: A one piece, it's the style around here.

You: Ok ok...

Apropos of nothing, another song about the music industry sucking is Man of
Constant Sorrow by the Soggy Bottom Boys.

Edit: The people modding you down are just jealous.

~~~
phaus
Man of Constant Sorrow is almost certainly not about the music industry. Its
roots haven't been definitvely traced but many people think it was a Celtic
folk song.

------
kin
Anyone watch Vinyl on HBO? I know it's Hollywood but I know Mick Jagger is
basing a lot of it on his experiences. To be honest aside from the crime, it
all seems totally believable.

------
roadbeats
I've been working on a project that will be an attempt to provide both
musicians and users much better alternative than they got, with radical
freedom and also a new kind of economic ecosystem. I don't wanna pitch this
idea to VCs, so have a crazy idea about how I'll grow it all around the world.
I've been coding for a while and if you're crazy enough, let me know. My
e-mail is azer@roadbeats.com.

------
jar3624
I really hope Ethereum takes off. I think this will go a long way of cutting
out the middle men between the customer and "content maker". I even hear all
the code that runs on Ethereum is open source which makes it even more
transparent/turstworthy. Its the cure to capitalism ! hopefully

See [http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/imogen-heap-shows-how-music-
smart-c...](http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/imogen-heap-shows-how-music-smart-
contracts-work-using-ethereum-1522331)

~~~
ancientworldnow
It's not a money problem, it's a marketing one. I work alongside the music
industry in the code world (won a VMA along the way) and see how labels really
work. The problem isn't so much about album sales and streaming money going
straight to the creator (though not enough does by a long shot) but rather
that if you're not signed to a label and have access to their marketing engine
then no one will ever hear your music.

There are plenty of places like bandcamp where you can find great music and
buy it directly from the artist with them taking most of the cut, but the
numbers of people buying are so low it doesn't matter. With labels, I've
literally watched them take a nobody band and decide they're going to be the
next thing. They finish their album, label foots the bill for a big music
video, PR team call$ pitchfork or world star or whatever site is genre
appropriate, band gets a frontpage feature, radio play start$, and next thing
you know album sales are way up, tour tickets are sold out and label made
bank.

The problem is discovery and curation and ethereum doesn't fix that.

~~~
_AllisonMobley
"If you're not signed to a label and have access to their marketing engine
then no one will ever hear your music"

Unless you can get popular on youtube.

------
intrasight
Historically, artists were long dead before their work was recognized and
valued.

~~~
cafard
Not really. Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mahler, all were were recognized
and valued. They didn't make the kind of money that some of the really
fortunate musicians of the mid 20th Century did, true.

------
evandonaldson
No wonder YC doesn't go for music industry startups anymore

------
return0
Title says "This whole fucking industry sucks”, while he said "This whole
industry fucking sucks”. Subtle fucking differences.

~~~
6stringmerc
Okay, I'll edit it for accuracy because you took the time to point it out.
Either sentiment applies in my perspective so the transcription was
unintnetional.

~~~
return0
but you'll ruin my wordplay

~~~
6stringmerc
The life of a copy editor in the digital age is one rife with peril, so it
seems.

~~~
igravious
In the digital age wouldn't the life of a copy editor be rife with perl?

~~~
digitalneal
Alright, you and you. Out of the pool.

~~~
johan_larson
The gene pool? For wordplay beyond the call of duty?

Harsh crowd.

------
dang
Url changed from [http://www.stereogum.com/1870768/steve-miller-expands-on-
roc...](http://www.stereogum.com/1870768/steve-miller-expands-on-rock-hall-
criticism-everybody-is-kind-of-a-dick-this-whole-industry-fucking-
sucks/wheres-the-beef/), which points to this.

------
joshka
blog spam of [http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/steve-miller-
this...](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/steve-miller-this-whole-
industry-is-f--kin-gangsters-and-crooks-20160411)

~~~
dang
Yes. We changed the URL to that:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11480803](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11480803).

------
throw7
Steve, you signed on the dotted line. Have some cheese.

------
my_opic_farseer
He's just describing the general tone and state of the US. It's always been
crooked. The US is crooked to its core. They've been singing that tune for
over a century. People who believe otherwise just buy into their hustle.

