Installment Vol.5 Page 2

Since the 60's, the most important means of getting your music to be heard was through recordings broadcast on RADIO, and eventually video clips by way of cable (MTV,VH1,etc.). Up 'till and into the 60's, radio and regular television broadcasted “LIVE” music shows of all kinds. Of course live gigs in clubs and concerts are still important- Live streaming on the Internet, for example, is fast becoming a popular means of seeing and hearing live music today- but “RADIO” is still key to hear music through recordings. So the music industry is still in fact dependent on recording companies to record and present artists to the general public via records (now CDs). So getting the attention of recording companies is the only real way that a rock artist can bring his music to the public, whom may very well be their future fans. I am tying to emphasize the kinds of frustrations that come to the artist at the beginning from the complex procedure of “being heard.”

The record labels were very slow in picking up on this new breed of artist. They were pouring money into their established stars and new artists who fit their concepts of mass marketing for mass sales of recordings. Record companies do not like to make changes when things are going their way, for good reasons. With every new artist project, there is a huge cost, and the odds of success only about one in ten.

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