Fame Not Fortune?

I was just listening to Radio 4 this lunchtime (which isn’t something I do regularly) and they were discussing fake ticket agencies which take your money but never send you tickets for the concert. The presenter said something along the lines of “the live music industry has expanded greatly over the last few years as they have discovered a growing amount of people who want to experience a live event rather than just listen to an act on CD”.

I don’t think this is true, the reason why there are so many long tours at large venues these days is simply because this is the only place where artists and record companies can actually make a lot of money. Why is this? The answer is probably a combination of two reasons – firstly many people download music now which they either pay a small amount for or they may do it illegally and don’t pay anything, and secondly because the price of CDs is so low.

Now I realise that it is a bit strange to be complaining that the price of something is too low but how are artists supposed to make a living when the few people who actually pay for a CD these days only pay around £8? I’m sure the record companies still take as large a cut as they ever did which will leave practically nothing for the artist. Twenty years ago I remember having to pay up to £16 for a new CD, this was a small fortune back then and thankfully prices started to fall but they have fallen to such an extent that the only way to make money in the music industry now is to go on a large tour, get sponsorship for that tour, sell all your tickets and get as many product endorsement deals as you can. Obviously the only bands to whom this is applicable are very successful bands, up and coming bands just have to get shafted by their record company and hope for the best.

Of course you could say that bands should play their music just for the enjoyment of sharing their songs with people and if money comes their way then all the better. OK fine but this isn’t what the general perception of being a pop star is all about – youngsters want to become  a pop star for fame and fortune. They may get their 15 minutes of fame but they are very unlikely to get their fortune.