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Faron West productions is excited to announce it's newest project, "Before The Music Dies". A documentary about the modern music industry, this film is currently in pre-production. Check this site frequently for updates and news as the film progresses. First is the loss of individuality (and hence creativity and risk taking) in radio broadcast. With deregulation, companies such as Clear Channel Communications can and have bought up hundreds of radio stations across the country, firing an almost equal number of DJ’s, only to replace them with a small, centralized pool of on air talent to create and forward content all over the country. A single DJ can now cut spots and create programming that plays in ten, thirty, or a hundred separate cities across the country. In record companies, we see similar market forces at work, as larger ones, with the same attendant firing and centralizing of talent, buy up smaller companies. The emphasis on producing quarterly returns for investors, and the career preserving instinct to not rock the boat, combine to produce bland “me too” acts that simply mimic what is already selling. These forces are also behind increasingly risk adverse talent development, which often results in labels dropping an act after their first development album if the effort doesn’t produce an immediate hit. If current A&R practices were in effect before now, acts such as Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, The Clash, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Otis Redding, and dozens of other rock & roll hall of famers who didn’t connect with the public until their third, or fourth album, would never have seen the light of day. The second alarming trend we observe is the growing monopolistic power of the media giants. With Clear Channel again as our example, we see a company that not only owns radio stations, but also entertainment venues. In this position, they can choose to take one of their ‘products’ that they’ve developed and own (e.g. Ashlee Simpson) insert her into play-lists across the country and across multiple genres, and then book her into stadiums that they own. With so much power over acts that they have a vested interest in promoting, these media behemoths have little reason to book acts that are higher risk, outside of their control, or that they simply don’t understand.As we research issues for the film, we will post relevant links in the space to the left. If you have an item of interest you think we might like to hear about, feel free to contact us.
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Most Musicians See No Benefit to RIAA Campaign Against File-Sharers |