Even lumberjacks plant trees

It’s time we start recognizing that the music industry isn’t just business. It’s a natural-resource industry, starting with art and moving into the business space. All of us who are lucky enough to be a part of this business also need to recognize and nurture the music for the resource it is. It’s a core and inseparable part of all our lives. Without a healthy economy for musicians, no form of monetization or marketing would be enough to build a sustainable business.

So that’s why this article on Fast Company made me so upset. In it, MOG CEO David Hyman claims to have “no idea” how or what artists are paid. I understand that all deals are different and it’s a complicated business, but claiming no knowledge of an artist’s situation is unacceptable to me. Ask. Talk to artists, listen to their thoughts, and don’t hide behind the convenience of simply dealing with labels. Every other industry holds businesses at least partially responsible for the entire supply chain: loggers plant trees and electronics manufacturers are held accountable if outsourced factory workers are suffering inhumane conditions.

So I say that the “new” music industry innovators are equally responsible, in part, for the health and sustainability of the artist community their businesses are built atop. I’m not calling for them to change their deals or renegotiate with labels, but for anyone to claim they “can’t” give back to artists is bullshit. So is throwing up your arms or hiding behind lines like “well the artists signed the deals…”

Any VC backed company should know about the need to raise capital, and anyone with a salary has no right to criticize an artist making a living however they can. The current “disruption” is hurting artists and will not last without considering them and their art as part of the equation.

Topspin, Bandcamp, Bandzoogle, Official.fm, SoundCloud, eMusic, and Rdio are all building businesses that keep the artist in mind. Some directly empower artists while others find offerings like affiliate programs and APIs that directly enhance artist websites or their bottom lines.

For streaming services like MOG, Rdio, and Spotify I think it’s vital that they do whatever they can to recognize artists in their ecosystem and not lose their most important resource. The music. The first and most powerful thing they can do is to give power over profile information and purchase links to artists. Yes there are challenges and maybe loss of some bonus revenue — but it means giving back and creating an atmosphere of beneficial discovery for artists.

Other ideas could be to establish recording and performance grants for artists, contribute open-source tools to the artist community, and to open new APIs focussed on promotion and and non-monetized artist well-being.

Please. If you’re building a business rooted in music you must respect and keep musicians in your plans. If you do not you are building something toxic to the music ecosystem.

One last note: be nice. Saying things like “I don’t know why indies would be different than a major. Maybe because nobody is listening to their music?” not only makes you look like an asshole, but it makes you sound very ignorant of the music world as a whole. Independent labels and musicians are a huge part of our mainstream culture, and that’s obvious unless you’re only looking at half the Grammy winners.