The continuing struggle of music industry giants has forced them into a race against time to save whatever is left of their once extravagant domination. Since the mid-2000s and the rise of online piracy, one can observe two successive commercial strategies—two ways to save the sinking ship.Trial and ErrorThe first response from labels was purely commercial. Struck by the urgency of the ongoing situation, they clumsily added significance to physical media. Record labels bet on CD fetishism and thus tried to transform it into an object of style and wealth. This resulted in an abundance of "Collector" albums (usually a double-disc set in a polyvinyl sleeve) accompanied by an assortment of remixes, a live DVD, a pretty booklet with exclusive interviews and black and white pictures of said band by Jean-Baptiste Mondino.
Charlotte Gainsbourg by Jean-Baptiste MondinoNaturally, such a counterattack to declining sales was destined to bomb. Anybody can find pictures of their favorite bands on the internet. Live concerts are available on YouTube. And that fancy box set is just a lazy Christmas present. Music industry giants needed to take up arms again—and they did, however, this time it was more subtle. They took to harnessing the tools of the digital age. Fragmenting and distributing content through "intelligent" media grew into a priority. Hit songs became weapons in an increasingly tactical type of communication warfare: advertorials, sync deals for advertising, TV shows (i.e Skins), partnerships with clothing brands, fashion designers, sponsored streaming and any type of event.Free the Music!Increasing distance from the public and dodgy marketing strategies has forced artists into a corner. Some have decided to take matters into their own hands—finding new ways to share and exclusively handling all communication. Radiohead was the first band to search for this autonomy. Their 2007 album In Rainbows was distributed online by the band itself, sending a radical message to music fans worldwide. Radiohead came to realize that they could short-circuit a record label—and the ensuing cut from their sales. A few middle ground pop/rock bands began to dream of a new era, when less CDs would be sold, but a greater proximity with the public would permit added income from live shows. However, this utopia quickly turned out to be casual tomfoolery on social networks and other instruments of "new media." We all remember the infamous "Chatroulette shows." This search for proximity rather resembled a vain attempt by thirty-somethings to get in touch with an imaginary "like-comment" generation.Beyond this rather daring approach, interesting new ways of distributing content began to emerge. A recent example is Soulwax’s multi-platform project. The two gentlemen from Ghent were early pioneers of mashup music (through the 2ManyDJs collective). They came up with a concept for a homebrew mix-based radio station developed for iPhone. The RadioSoulwax app will distribute 24 hour-long mixtapes that iPhone users can download or stream to their device. Each mixtape will be based on both a visual and audio theme. Soulwax intend on creating a total "audiovisual experience"—audio mixtapes will be associated with visual mashups of a number of album sleeves. They discuss this endeavour on both their website and the appstore application's page. Soulwax claim to be on a journey to finding new ways to share their music, beyond releasing another album of remixes. They underline the part they played in the project: it was their idea and their money. The application itself is free and seemingly exempt of any form of advertising.One is intrigued by what kind of revenue scheme Soulwax's new project attempts to create. There is no economic incentive involved, and seems to be no means of gathering income. RadioSoulwax has a somewhat positive impact on the band’s image, making it seem friendly and full of ideas. This, however, may be modern music's greatest issue.The application is available for download here for iPhone and iPad.
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