Road Crew Magazine
Music Magazine with News, Reviews, Photos and Video

The economy seems to be on the forefront of everyone's mind these days. With 2009 now here and a new President about to take office we are hopefully moving forward. So where does this leave the music industry? 2008 was difficult for many and the music industry was no different. I know it is hard to believe. Wipe the scowl off your face. It is hard to believe that your Rock idols are suffering the pains of the economic downturn...but hear me out...

CD sales are down...way down... thanks to the shift to digital format. OH and the ILLEGAL downloading that is so prevalent these day. Free is definitely smacking down paid. Well, of course you say! I'm not going to pay $15.00- $20.00 for a CD when I can download it onto my I-pod for free on the Internet. Those rock stars make a ton of money anyway.

Well, it doesn't just effect them. It effects the record companies, the kids who work at the record stores, the neighborhood the stores are in...the economy. Many Indie labels have claimed bankruptcy in 2008. 2009 may be the breaking point year for many other labels as well. Many of the big labels had major lay offs during 2008, including EMI Music. Stocks for Warner Music Group and Live Nation had all time lows. Wide spread layoffs continued. Do you still think those downloads don't effect you? Those laid off could have been your neighbor, your family member...

The music industry is fighting back. They won a major battle in the United Kingdom and are hoping to convince the USA to follow suit. Soon they will be sending out letters to copyright violators. That's right. They can track your ISP. They catch you downloading their music off the Internet illegally and you get busted. It is illegal. Don't let anyone or any website tell you otherwise.

Some artists have also tried to take their music back from the record companies. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails tried the straight to the fan approach. He pocketed 1.6 million in just a week. With the growing popularity of sites like Myspace, Facebook, and Reverbnation, artists are questioning the need for major label involvement at all.

So what now? My personal opinion is you will see more tours. Bands need more fan interaction. They need more one on one to sell not just their music, but themselves and the whole rock and roll experience. We have already seen the merchandising trend and it will continue to grow. If they can't sell as many CD's then they will sell their image on anything they can. They own the right to it and they will use it! This is good for die hard fans. Big Brother will step in if the industry has their say and if more labels go bankrupt...they might. So, you might be looking at a lawsuit in the mail the next time you download that song illegally.

I can only hope they make more strides on the photography front. I have a special kinship with my musical counterparts. People have been stealing my photos illegally for years. My income isn't taken into consideration either. We artists have to stick together..I got your back. Oh, and check out what Kid Rock has to say about stealing music....