A modest proposal for fixing the music industry | Brian McTear | TEDxPhiladelphia

[@Bdmctear]

My actual title for this talk was "Content is worthless. Community is King." I don't really mind the title change, but I think it does suggest a much smaller framework for what I thought the talk was about. It's not about how a producer can make a living in today's world. It's about the fact that when trying to determine what has value in our society, I believe the greatest potential for value comes from human interaction. Art once conveyed and enabled these elements, but pure over-saturation undermines its effectiveness. People or products or communities that figure out how to connect people (The more "real", "personal" and "meaningful" the better) - these are the ones that are going to be successful.

[@rebeccapilchermusic9960]

+Brian McTear One of the most inspiring talks I've seen in a good while. Loved it.

[@Bdmctear]

+Rebecca Pilcher Music --- Thanks so much!

[@alexrobertssings]

This is actually really helpful for my university work. I thought a lot about the social music model and how bands are starting to adopt it, Twenty One Pilots are probably the most successful I've seen so far but it wouldn't surprise me if everyone does it in a few years. Hope the business is going well still.

[@ashleyness683]

+Brian McTear, I love your original title and I think it's so true. That's also why youtube stars exist now - they're speaking directly to their community and getting almost instantaneous feedback from them. The best (and usually most successful ones) are taking that feedback, responding to it, and then running with it. Plus, it's much easier to keep a project or idea going when you have even a small community of like-minded people backing you up. I'm glad to see more people in music catching on to this model as well.

[@Bdmctear]

Sure... still doing the same thing! Ha! I run Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia where we help tons of artists every year make records. Many are well-known professionals, but the vast majority are people who have decided to take the "sustainable" path - ie. to record what the can afford, every year, for the forseeable future. I also still run Weathervane. We just recorded our 63rd episode of Shaking Through. I would certainly check it out. It's remarkable in the ways in which it both communicates and connects. (Our Producer / Director Gabe Greenberg is the one who deserves all credit). Lastly, because Weathervane is trying to provide recorded materials from Shaking Through for educational purposes (mostly colleges and high schools) I started teaching at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia one day a week. I teach a mixing class, but believe it or not I teach the Music Business Entrepreneurship and Technology required business classes. (And love it).

[@geofacht]

Great talk Brian. I am a guitar player singer Berklee Alum. You hit on how some are still caught in the Rock and Roll fantasy! Today its different. So true !

[@matthisschwarz2227]

While I find many ideas and concepts in this very inspiring I just don't believe that this has to be the only solution. Almost everybody I know loves music. In fact a lot of people would state that they can't live without music. You may be right about the over abundance of music, but that doesn't change the fact, that there is both, a huge demand and theortically speaking a huge appreciation of music. Why should the music industry be the only industry where content that is expensive to create should be given away for free? Who is supposed to pay for the quality recordings that listeners expect? I have been following Shaking Through for a long time and I love the concept, but I'm not sure that it would work for all kinds of genres and styles.

[@katieoconnell3317]

Now this is a conversation I would like to see continue...even if it is 4 years later! Love what Weathervane Music and Brian are up to!

[@Mesmerizeization]

In the simplest terms,when you stop supporting the music the artist creates in any form you'll end up with silence.recorded music sales,finance tours. A real fan will buy recordings and pay for concert tickets. So ask yourself am I a true fan or a thief? I'm a true fan as well as an artist.

[@evacody1249]

It gets harder and harder to find people who write there own music and when you do they play at really small venues to not a lot of people. They less they sell they less they will play. That means all the crap can keep being made.

[@WhateverWhenever888]

You're a fucking idiot

[@orlock20]

There are a bunch of acts that are millionaires in the musical field that the vast majority of the population does not know who they are. If an act sells 1,500 tickets a night for 30 nights, that's 45,000 tickets. If the act gets to keep $15 per ticket, that's $675,000 per year. If they did that for 20 years, and the act has made $13.5 million.

[@AnymMusic]

now I look at this comment from an EDM producer POV. and really, producers barely get any money from sales. it's all in the performances. then again, we don't have to pack up, and transport entire drumsets, guitars, and other instruments.

[@hiphopheaven]

The problem is that you can't buy every single album from the artists you follow so you can only support few by buying albums and the rest by streaming.

[@GlowWormRecordings]

I have total respect for Brian and this message, fantastic presentation and lovely to have someone like Brian to share so vividly his message to the industry.

[@ZackBlackMusic]

Great Talk Brian. Here in 2022, and have recently found a community of like minded people on TikTok. Love the point you made about the Living Room tour. Your main points here are still just as relevant in 2022. Cheers!

[@mojo0903]

Great talk. I think the problem IS consumer behavior. We have to change consumer behavior, not by PUNISHING them for doing the wrong thing, or preaching to them to do the right thing. We can change behaviour by REWARDING those who do right - those who buy music gets to earn money when they recommend others to buy as well.

[@ineedmoneymeng]

that idea is completely retarded. a less retarded idea would be to make buying easier than stealing. like making albums cheaper.

[@daftrhetoric]

Instituting pyramid schemes in art marketing is a short thought experiment not a lasting business model.

[@Bdmctear]

Did you ever see movies where love falls apart, because one person tries to "change" the other? It's a lesson for all time... it doesn't work. If you ask me, what all the responses to this video indicate is that the record industry of yesterday did one thing many don't realize... and that they didn't necessarily intend to do (it may have been their own undoing). The product they created that was far more enduring than the album itself was the rock and roll fantasy. Everyone wants to be, or know, or "find" the next person that fits that old model, so much so that we simply can't believe that the model is gone. It's ok, though. Because what is left in its place is the ability to make music for the rest of your life. No one can stop you, and if you do it right, it will speak for your entire life, not just some period in your 20s when you were "trying to make it in the record industry". It'll speak to everyone you reach and connect with during your life, an it'll speak to anyone who cares to know who were and what you were feeling after you are long gone. Even if that is a small number of people, I still think music is worth it.

[@ineedmoneymeng]

superblonde ideally yeah. But we live in a society where anyone can DL anything in almost no time. Artist should be paid more, but raising the costs of albums is counterproductive. If you were to sell albums at $1 or so, big artists could sell millions and millions of albums again, and make money

[@ProgRockNerd]

Oh, it's still there--it's just that rock has officially repudiated it and it's been taken up by the thing we call "pop" today. You can blame punk for that--punk has been directing the thought of All The Right People ever since it first came along. (To a lesser extent, it's also been taken up by the thing we call "country".) Not that you're wrong, of course, but I don't think I am, either, even if what I'm saying is completely self-interested. As long as there are big shows, there's no reason there shouldn't be big *rock* shows. Making *everything* small again isn't really that good in the long run--after all, the small is small in comparison with the large. And similarly, if everything is large, its largeness is less meaningful. A well-rounded culture needs both. Steel Panther has played Wembley Arena *twice.* If people are willing to go to that kind of length to access the rock'n'roll fantasy, that shows that it still has cultural currency in the *audience.* Maybe that's not your thing, which is fine. But when Kanye West said "We're the rock stars [of today]", he was plainly right. Heck, people like him get more mainstream media coverage than any rock star outside the Beatles ever got. (OK, *maybe* Elvis Presley.)

[@phatboylim]

Brian McTear one of the best and inspiring talks I've seen in awhile now. I too am a believer of community relationships for my artists. And your talk truly made an impact in what we do. Cheers from the Philippines. :)

[@Dayison]

The "problem" is that record companies were greedy, oppressive, greedy, oppressive, greedy, oppressive, greedy, oppressive and greedy!!! And as with any form of oppression, it will get overthrown eventually. I wish all musicians could earn a living on their talent. Heck, I wish EVERYONE could make a living on their talent. Unless your talent is the abuse and oppression of others. Bye-bye music publishers and good riddance. Sorry, soap box. And I'm with +Ned Kirby here...

[@alexrobertssings]

The major labels exist to Industrialise pop music and sell it to the masses. They negotiate deals that are good for them and their ends. This usually leads to the artist getting screwed over. independent Labels often have much better focuses on ethics and the creative process because they can be run by artists.

[@bloomingboat414]

Well, I believe that artists can make money out of their music, but I will tell you what: we are in 2018 and fame via a label is way more appealing to them than to grind their way up for 10 years and be just as successful.

[@GuitarGrrrella]

We need a music industry that's run by and for musicians. We need an arts and entertainment industry run by artists and entertainers. Right now, it's all run by business people. Money comes first for them. That's the problem. Of course they don't care about the artist--even though it's the artist who brings in the money. Business people care about their bottom line. That's all. Always been true, not just since the 90s. Internet has nothing to do with it. Can't replace a live performance by a human with music streamed off the Internet. It's just not the same thing. Humans want to connect with other humans, and we'll always want that. The big business people are just worried that they'll stop getting their piece of the pie.

[@george00719]

I agree they are

[@kulikgabor7624]

also greedy and pretty oppressive

[@ramona.vargas7298]

I learned more reading the comments then watching the video

[@sethroy4318]

KZbin musicians have proven every word of this to be true.

[@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia]

This guy’s life motto: “Wouldn’t it be chill if we were all awesome to each other?”

[@tanveerchima5574]

underrated comment

[@Selfemployedmildautisticperfor]

amen and enmbraced our uniquevoices

[@CursesandCallouses]

I appreciate your angle Brian, and totally agree. However, from a totally practical standpoint, where does that leave the financial side? Making really good friends at shows can't pay rent.

[@YariBeatsMedia]

I still prefer CDs.

[@SeeSawMassacre]

Vinyl for me- but if not that then CDs for sure. It's so much easier to appreciate something when you can hold it in your hands, and it takes a second to put it on and all that. Convenience is overrated.

[@BrandochGarage]

Brilliant. And this works for other things currently over-saturated in the world as well.

[@angelineandrade589]

What's being proposed here isn't a solution for reviving the music industry; it's the proposal of a different industry entirely: flipping the money flow and making people pay for the experience of collaborating/learning to make music. That's not new or much different from the music education industry. Besides, it's possible to collaborate with/learn from others for free. People do it every time they form a new band or group. The “rock-star” notion that the musician should be the one getting paid for creating content is not going to die, and until some new anti-piracy technology comes along or some strange reduction in content creation occurs, the status quo is what we're stuck with.

[@Greedusa]

I agree that the record industry was crushed by things that happened in the late 90s. Today Internet radio is the new business model for music, there is no motivation to buy the album when you can listen to it for free on Spotify or Pandora. The problem now with this is Spotify and Pandora almost pay nothing to the artist for plays of their music! $.001 for a play is a joke. If you get 1 million plays in a month of your songs it will only translate to around $1000. That’s less than minimum wage job!

[@ProgRockNerd]

Exactly--it's the business model, not the technology. We all want a model where we can pay less and musicians can make more (or more musicians can make something). Maybe the Internet isn't The Solution, but it ought to be able to get us some distance toward it.

[@germanm3507]

spotify charges a subscription plus advertisements, like they cannot pay a decent amount

[@colinmanko7002]

Very thought provoking!

[@guitarguy3492]

truly inspiring, thanks Brian!

[@BenCooke419]

That's an awesome story! Gearslutz is literally the best forum on the planet.

[@TheRisky9]

I like your idea. When I sat and thought about it, you're bringing music back to its roots: Community. Let's take rock for example. Where did it come from? Well, it was the literal merging of two communities: African and European. Europeans, back in the middle ages, developed a style called the ballad and the instruments that would be used to play it. The ballad still survives today. I love ballads. I wish more artists would look to do them, but whatever. Flash forward to a thousand years to the freeing of the slaves. The former slaves from Africa, take this ballad and these instruments and they learn to play them. Very, very well. And many times without former training, and so they get this fresh sound. And they start to bring their culture of dance and rhythm into the music. And now we have one of the most enduring styles of music in history. But without this community, that would have never happened. So people who are saying that he's not really solving the problem with music, is wrong. Weathervane is bringing music back to its roots and what made it good to begin with. We need independent musicians. If Africans Americans received formal training on how to play instruments, and Europeans not bother with developing structure with music the story of rock would have been very different. It's that rogue element merging with that disciplined structure that made it possible for something that is innovative and worthwhile to be born.

[@Klaymor6405]

Thank you! Nailed it, man! I'll be checking out Weathervane soon : )

[@Mesmerizeization]

This is what I mean,show support for the artists you love,thank you Tyler for getting the point.

[@TabbyCallaghan]

Community is king? Must tell my landlord that when he calls for rent " hey landlord community is king and I can pay I'm advance. All I hear is rhetoric saying "artists will never make money again. That's downright discouraging and depressing. It's ok for average joe who works a day job and does music in spare time. What about those who have commited their lives to it? I'm interested to hear your opinions guys " cheers trev

[@geofacht]

Hmm> Its a touchy subject. After listening to his talk and yours I still think there will always be a need for people to hear live music. I mean in person. Not Austin City Limits - though I love that too. I think what is saying is that the world is saturated with music. The Successful will have to go farther and associate their music with something that brings good to the audience they are trying to reach.

[@SeeSawMassacre]

I agree with you, and i think monetary value should be restored to music. No other industry caved into the thieves and gave their work away for free- movies still cost money, video games etc. One solution would be to band together and start charging money for music again- we name our prices after all- but i don't think that's going to happen. People are still trying to use the internet to get their music out there, but i haven't seen it work significantly for any rock band, for instance, since The Arctic Monkeys. And that was on Myspace in 2005 or something. The one point i disagreed with that this guy made was that too much supply killed the music industry. Even if the market was completely oversaturated, people would still only like a fraction of a percentage of the music out there- enough to listen to it regularly. So those people could charge as much money as demand would tolerate, and others could give it away. But when the vast majority of people give it away THAT's what devalues it. We were sold on the idea that Napster and the destruction of the music industry would put the power into regular people's hands, but nothing replaced the music industry and the quality of music has suffered greatly. There's no scene, no ladder to the top, no show to get on, and no new trend or genre or culture to draw people in and generate art. It's the wild west, but for plants.

[@TabbyCallaghan]

@@SeeSawMassacre well said ..I blame silicone valley liberals who are like all other top soil leftists which is egalitarianism by theory but greed by practice . I don’t see any future for recorded music other than a way to bring people in the door .

[@freakbass]

after 17 minutes of watching I still didn't get where the money for the artists should come from...

[@GraceSaren]

Great share!

[@HybridEnergy]

He nailed the problem, and just like all attempts failed at the solution. Let's be honest, he's right about the over-saturation of content. There is a lot of good and bad music being released with something close to 75k albums a year. I think the real solution is part of the downfall of the record industry, the solution is to down size, lots of musicians will quit because there is no money leaving less and less musicians making music thus less music raises the demand again and bam a career, but then as that happens people see it and try and join in again and bam it drops again. Once it balances out in the future you will see like the economy an up and down in the music industry success.

[@Bdmctear]

+HybridEnergy --- Nope. Won't happen. Musicians aren't in it for the music. They are in it for the creative satisfaction, and the cultural value we place on musicians / artists. THAT would have to wane, but it doesn't appear to be happening. (Nor do I want it to, either...)

[@ProgRockNerd]

"Musicians aren't in it for the music. They are in it for the creative satisfaction..." Wait a minute--aren't these statements contradictory?

[@mightymouse8026]

Here's an even more modest proposal: Stop requiring people to sell their souls and take the mark of the beast in order to "make it"

[@royorbitron]

this is very very awesome

[@hiphopheaven]

The solution to over-saturation is to promote diversity.Since every person is a bit different than other people it's logical that each person should listen to some niche artists with talent instead of everybody buying the hottest and trendiest music.

[@johnny96888]

This was an awesome video

[@george00719]

I get a and I agree..its a cool concept which I have always subscribed too

[@andreamai]

This is hardly a solution. A nice feel-good philosophy, but it’s not offering a practical solution as said in the title. Artists should make money on their recordings. The issue is they don’t because of the deal they have with their label and the streaming services or whatever. The royalties are too minimal. Streaming is not a bad idea, the problem is the level of pay. Just like Uber isn’t a bad idea, but the level of pay is too little for anyone to live off of. Technology is exploiting the people who should get paid. Tech companies have become the middleman, they don’t care what it costs the person who actually provides the service or product. They just want to collect the subscription or transaction fees. Also don’t forget companies like Spotify are now also partly owned by record industry players now. The pay is too little for artists. Artists may not always be able to tour fir whatever reason, they should get paid.

[@vierto8878]

I dont need I dont want to be famous but, I want and I need that my music be........

[@Bdmctear]

.... a way to reach others like me?

[@AnymMusic]

your music is famous = you are famous. no way around it

[@Sjohof99]

Yes, yes and yes. Without connection everyithing is lost, this is also why the whole envyroment has become colder and colder, even if it grew so much.... wait no its kind of a physics law, the more it grows the more cold it becomes ahah

[@MrJoeCage]

good news, bad news kind of thing. bad news: you'll never earn one cent off of any recording you ever make. That's nearly a one hundred percent certainty. It may happen. Just like you may buy a winning Powerball ticket. The odds are about the same. good news: making money off your music is not completely out of the question. All you have to do is come up with a set list of compelling material that resonates with people and work up a live show that people want to see. Your music can still bring value to peoples' lives, but probably not a recording. Hard copy is dead, dead, dead. more bad news (for most, anyways): almost no one has the talent or dedication it takes to come up with the amount of good, original material it requires to put on a good 2 hour show. Having 2 or 3 original songs and playing 20 covers isn't going to cut it. Not if you really want to give people something to remember. The very act of creation has been drastically devalued by the very climate of the times, this cult of celebrity worship we live in. Nobody actually wants to make good content. They just want to be "famous". Good luck with that. good news, the best news of all, for those who "get it", music can still do the most wonderful, most joyous thing imaginable: it can bring meaning and fulfillment to the person who creates it. Whether you're playing in your living room alone or in an auditorium of spectators. It is my belief that the first purpose of all art is to first please the person creating it. If you can do that, if your music gives you joy and meaning first, that vibe will be infectious.

[@GlowWormRecordings]

True, we have been making more on each Quarter sales period, true your music is becoming worthless, but its not the end yet, you have to be passionate to create and wether you have money or not, drive and passion will always make you continue. You have to invest in quality and this will always stand above lesser quality and quantity.

[@JahJahBruh]

bad news: normies crying about todays music scene being so commercial and not sounding like it used to like man oh wow. good news: Actual musicians/producers trying to find themselves and find their musical identity in a subjective chosen genre or being inspired by today's times and trying to adapt their knowledge to the overall industry that considers itself populair music so they can add sublime progress to brain damaged music..

[@bloomingboat414]

That makes sens. Artists bring awareness to their brand can definitely make money. I think that artists need to outsmart the system and do it on their own by grabbing money out of their music but bringing awareness with their music.

[@christopherperry487]

your a geneious , you said it

[@ipsurvivor]

MrJoeCage - what need is people who aren’t doing to for the money... The Beatles weren’t making a lot before they got famous and though they had ambitions those ambitions were subservient to their love of music...

[@analogaudiorules1724]

Time to get a time machine...

[@rogercraig7203]

"In the late ‘90s, we all just stopped paying for music" should read "

[@vierto8878]

So, is impossible for a talented and very criative musician and composer that dont have the same talent for a relationship make a living music carrer????????

[@Bdmctear]

Kinda.... (I don't like that part either).

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

Don’t fix the music industry. Let it rot.

[@sluggo12345]

crowd funding like patreon and others seems to be semi effective if done right. orrrr people can change their idea of success. working a day job to create music you like isnt all that bad compared to making a career of playing music you dont like, but sells well. Plus how many rockstars are even truly happy? many have relationship and drug problems their whole short lives. Success wont bring happiness, if you arent happy now, you wont be even if you get famous (not you specifically). watch one of the many ted talks given by monks;)

[@marlenebelgrove3357]

I was kid I become famous i wanna be rock star to popular just like them

[@witwisniewski2280]

"Industry", "corporate", "superstar" are concepts contradictory to artistry. Please leave music as unadulterated art. Japanese 'collabo' artists figured out how to create, produce, and connect and provide the world with wonderful music. Most of them are amateurs and hobbyists. I thank and applaud them.

[@michaeldavis2585]

I spend months mastering one song depends on the subject and sound in my music

[@ipsurvivor]

ELVIS TO ELLIOTT SMITH or ELVIS TO NIRVANA/Radiohead... however you want to say it... The music of the golden age of pop/rock was an aberration... Musicians typically haven’t made a lot of money and all good things come to an end... There will be good bands/artists and brief “Manias” for shallow pop phenomenons for the 10 to 14 year old demographic. That’s why these old Classic Rock bands are playing 200 nights a year with possibly one original member. Basically most Classic bands have become the Monkees... Who wrote a few songs but mostly had to do other people’s music... And Mike Nesmith mostly hasn’t played with them because of his mom legacy from liquid paper and his own success in film production. But even bands that have people who will go see them for nostalgia can’t sell enough physical or digital units to survive on. Sure MTV, the CD HOAX that CDs cost more to make and transport, NAPSTER/file sharing, etc. all played a role but most of the new music blows chunks and most songs use the same 4 chords in different combinations... The Beatles used those chords ONCE in the song “Let It Be”.... and almost everything is overproduced... and if your favorite indie artist isn’t overproduced now they will be if they sign some horrible 360 deal that forces them on the road 200 days a year and the publisher/record company, etc gets most of that too... But all this would have happened anyway... It happened faster because of greed from the music companies and the consumers who ate the meal but didn’t pay for it... It’s over... maybe something will come along to transform it but that’s hard to visualize... hope it does but it doesn’t look like it... The Golden Age Of POP/Rock is over with ripples circling out from when The Beatles and others dropped into the water of life... the ripples have been getting smaller and smaller...

[@jamesbingham1007]

Did I miss the part where he explained how to get paid?

[@greggchristiansen4321]

You don't.

[@aculturacionsin9852]

I feel like he should of started with what he said at the end in the beginning

[@qfella]

We as musicians have a bad habit of giving the store away for free. Your music can be ripped right from youtube. NO DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD NEEDED. And that's our fault. Remember, NO ONES GOING TO PAY YOU A DOLLAR FOR SOMETHING YOU'VE JUST GIVEN AWAY FOR FREE. And I don't give a rats fukkn ass how much fun you had making the video for your new single, unless we start putting only clips of the music and/or video we're nevva gonna make a decent living as musicians. I don't care how many fans & followers you're trying to attain. If their ripping your track from youtube, they aint your fan. And stop allowing streaming of your music. WE AS MUSICIANS MUST RETRAIN the streaming service providers AND the public, that MUSIC IS NOT FREE. ----Q----

[@blaumausfrau]

I"m ten minutes in and still have NO idea how this guy proposes to fix the music industry. Addition: this guy doesnt know what on earth he's talking about. He's right that theres an avalanche of content THAT is right. What we need is better currating (apple streaming does a TERRIBLE job at this) to match the RIGHT music to the RIGHT fan. Maybe thats what this guy is saying he's just taking a really round about and confusing way to say it....

[@salairunsuilian3388]

You did not listen well, my friend.

[@Mesmerizeization]

Apparently Salai is listening, be a true supporter of the artist go to petitions.moveon.org/sign/raise-the-music-streaming?source=c.fwd&r_by=16979338

[@GlowWormRecordings]

I think he knows what he is talking about, but the message for me was about building a community of like inded people, rather than thinking you have to be famous, to be creative you need to feel inspired, and right now the artists has to pay pay pay...rightdown to your pro soundcloud account who offer your music for free on streaming. What needs to happen is that music should not be a business based on selling just your song....we all have to be more creative to sell something more than just your music. The expirience and learning process is valuable...masterclass.com is a good example...pay for value ..

[@Bdmctear]

Sorry Ned. My original title for the talk was "Content is worthless. Community is King", so I agree. I didn't change it. Whoever posted it did. I'm actually not of the belief that "the industry is broken". I'm really quite confident that our cultural value on music, particularly it's monetary value, is no longer anything like it was in the past. That's not "broken", nor is it morally wrong. It's just what it is. People hoping to communicate with others through art need to innovate the communication, particularly what they expect of it. And not in order to expect less, but to create outcomes that fit today. Either way, I'd change the title if I could.

[@bloomingboat414]

I think that you are wrong too in your "We need better curating to match the right music to the right fan" in the sens that artists have to match their music to their fan by themselves. Anything in between is just a new cut on your music's revenues.

[@eradiustemp]

listeners are no better

[@aliengtr]

wow, that will really fix the industry....NOT!! totally weak.....this is a feel good community bs, its not reality....

[@edwimp7210]

I really enjoyed this speech! He hit the nail on the head. I also post videos about the music industry. Check them out please!

[@descentmetalband]

So your solution isn’t really community like your thinking. It’s basically saying that music doesn’t belong to the artists anymore, it should just be given to the people to pick apart and reconstruct it as they see fit- which is why they “give out advice” cause they aren’t necessarily helping someone do it “better” they are subconsciously helping them to make it how they feel it should sound because of what they did to it.. so you just made musicians efforts and music itself worthless. People already connect in communities that are about sharing and discussing music by genre, era, artists and have been doing that for years. The problem isn’t lack of community - it’s lack of accountability and quality content smothered by over saturation of self centered dillusionists being falsely supported into something not real… when everyone thinks they’re Mozart, then Beethoven would never have existed and the real Mozart would have been so low on the totem pole of his own art he’d become stagnant and redundant almost immediately. There needs to be gatekeepers of the majority.. if music is gonna be free to download that’s fine, but there should still be imposed standards or levels of what the music has to be to exist in certain realms. If everyone gets a participation trophy but no one is even required to learn the way a sport is even played, the desire for sports playing will fizzle away

[@PaulBaughman2142]

I don't get how artists are going to make more money. Is this a new business model and I just didn't catch it?

[@nayandash8661]

First of all u b confirmed urself wat u want to convey??if all musicmakers make community n share talent creations with each other to compliment eachother, den who wil pay who??only pay appreciations??but wat u said was u gave a model for survival of musicmakers by showing hw to generate money for their livings,not to make a forum😨wat r u doin den boss.😡

[@rabissenseicomprende7994]

Where these industry heads?

[@thelolguy007]

Non profit? Interesting. Can musicians pay their bills with non profit? 🤔

[@TheRagdollrejects]

"A modest proposal for fixing the music industry"... Stop making it about music and make it about people and connections. Sooooo.... do an MTV.

[@patriciodasilva7902]

People used to buy music because they were forced to buy it there were very few other choices. people will do things when they are forced to do it ( by which I mean if someone wanted to listen to music and to own it they had to buy it) and not a minute sooner. wishful thinking asking begging Etc will not do it

[@eradiustemp]

keep ur day job

[@HardWater91]

Me and my co-songwriter have recorded an album at the cost of about £7000. It is very good, we used producers. I've been wondering for a while if it was all worth it. It's almost as if that no matter how good the songs are, they just won't see the light of day. I don't really care about making huge amounts of money, nor being famous. I want the songs to have the respect and the acclaim. Hypothetically, say it was in top 500 albums of all time, it wouldn't matter, because hardly anyone's going to hear it! It's like no albums can be great anymore. What is the point?

[@zacharysaunders2100]

sick of doom and gloom...not helping!!!

[@Bdmctear]

I don't think of this as doom and gloom at all. Music was once a major financial product. It isn't anymore... I actually like that quite a bit more. I think the talk (which I titled "Content is Worthless. Community is King" but the video posters changed it) was very optimistic. Clinging to the old value system - even clinging to the notion that we all need to make a living from it is what is outdated. What can actually happen today is that artists can make recordings for the rest of their lives and no one can prevent them from doing that. The artists for whom that means "anything" all agree that a life time's worth of art, left to our children, grandchildren etc, is a new opportunity - like writing, painting, poetry... The ones who don't can continue to try to sell something as if time and values never change, but it's purpose is somewhat hollow in today's value system.

[@matthisschwarz2227]

Hey Brian, but if artists won't make money off their art, they will have to earn their living somewhere else, which in turn makes it so much more difficult to take time to play shows, record new music and all that kind of stuff, right? I know it is like that for a lot of artists already, but for me enabling artists to focus on their art should always be the intention behind making money off the art.

[@MorgansAntics]

So Giyhub for music

[@nuke2625]

What is he even talking about??

[@germanm3507]

your content is not worthless, what a bunch of doom and gloom bs! people still buy movies, music, and video games also have music.

[@burgermont3533]

maybe, just maybe, it wasn't ALL the music industry's fault and Brian McTear's music just wasn't/isn't very good. People will look for any reason to justify their artistic endeavors failing, never considering maybe you just kind of sucked. by his logic, there are no highly financially successful rock and roll bands since the late 90s, and that's just not true

[@burgermont3533]

i'm not trying to be a jerk. the music industry is definitely fucked. But i can barely scrounge up any of his tunes, and what i can find...

[@bnkepner]

alexander destefano He is mainly a producer and engineer. His Weathervane music project is highly successful and they have released some great music. Sharon Van Etten owes her great success to Weathervane music. Plus his point was not about his own music or productions but its about the fact that people feel entitled to the music without paying a cent for it. Its hard for up and coming acts to actually make a living playing music in the modern age because of the fact that no one pays for music.

[@fllwurhrt]

the reality is that you can reproduce any digital content for nearly 0 cost, the cost being so small it isn't even worth considering anymore than the cost of charging your phone. it has nothing to do with people feeling entitled. there are only a couple of options, we continue on this immorality and ineffective path of imposing arbitrary and disproportionate punishments as a disincentive to people who would otherwise utilize the technology. the goal being to scare them away from utilizing the specific functuons of modern computers that will hurt their bottom line. forget all of the people who benefit from using these capabilities and the fact they massively outnumber the people who are 'hurt' by piracy. pay to lobby and manipulate law so you can dispatch armed thugs to enforce this arbitrary rule about copying tbat specific bits of data that one of the clients you exploit created. that's your data, because the law.

[@jorgepeterbarton]

reproduction costs are irrelevnt. In any physical good they only make up part the cost. You expect to pay workers, research etc. But cracking down on piracy, doesn't appear to work. Because, still its run by big companies. Whilst they enforce copywrite, they have what are basically legalised piracy services from streaming, like spotify, especially youtube. They pay orders of magnitude less to the artist...but collectively, the revenue and cut to the company is squeezing out a bit more profit so what do they care!. If selling 100 CDs independantly, makes the same as millions of plays in streaming, then it makes the problem much worse than piracy ever was. Surely the former was preferable, but big labels didn't want this just resolved by taking out the middle man-now it didn't cost anything to distribute, you do it yourself and get 5x the share than with a label! you can afford more people not paying it- so they've found their way to stick themselves in there instead of disappearing. I thought disappearance of the label would have solved it. But now, they've well and truly broken it for the short term, just to prolong a slower death.

[@fllwurhrt]

i think yuore underestimating the unique position were in, computers simultaneously inexpensive enough that everyone one carrying in their pockets and powerful enough that they are capable of reproducing all digital media without any cost and minimal effort. i understand that the cost of production scales with the quantity and sometimes a costly investment on the infrastructure for production will drive the per unit cost of whatever technology down to the extent it is nearly negligible when factoring the costs of production and development into the price. these are two very different things. maybe intel can make microchips for pennies, but that is not the same as every single person in the united states being able to make microchips for even less than pennies. the reproduction cost becomes relevant when it is zero and everyone is equipped with the infrastructure required for production.

[@daftrhetoric]

His only hope of connection is through social engineering because his verbal communication skills are juvenile.

[@bonmot7850]

Yes, most people are naturally comfortable presenting to large audiences of strangers. Good call. If only he had your gift for stating the obvious.

[@daftrhetoric]

I'm glad you agree. You can press the thumbs up button on my comment, too.

[@bonmot7850]

I don't want to break your streak.

[@Bdmctear]

Juvenile is generous. I would say "completely unqualified" and "riddled with imposter syndrome". And I'm certain you could do better. I really mean that.

[@qfella]

We as musicians have a bad habit of giving the store away for free. Your music can be ripped right from youtube. NO DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD NEEDED. And that's our fault. Remember, NO ONES GOING TO PAY YOU A DOLLAR FOR SOMETHING YOU'VE JUST GIVEN AWAY FOR FREE. And I don't give a rats fukkn ass how much fun you had making the video for your new single, unless we start putting only clips of the music and/or video we're nevva gonna make a decent living as musicians. I don't care how many fans & followers you're trying to attain. If their ripping your track from youtube, they aint your fan. And stop allowing streaming of your music. WE AS MUSICIANS MUST RETRAIN the streaming service providers AND the public, that MUSIC IS NOT FREE. ----Q----