The Double-Dip Mentality

[gekko]

And so we end up with what?  Individual artists need their own website (which they will 99% get some company to provide since they lack the skills)  The website would be standalone so wouldn't be found without a central index type site (i.e. a distributor proxy), so they would need to pay for distribution.  And promotion, how would you get to know that their music existed??

There is a good reason why these artists *willingly* sign up to labels in the first place.  They don't have the expertise in marketing and distribution.  If they did, they wouldn't need to sign up now, would they?
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They sign willingly because they know that if they don't, they will never have the kind of success that the big companies can provide them with. However, in doing so they frequently sign contracts giving away far more of their rights than they should (this is not only true with musicians, but they are one of the most common groups targeted in this way).

Two things are happening to change this:

One: it's becoming easier to set up and maintain a decent looking website to promote and sell your own music. In addition, free online groups such as the podsafe music network are creating new ways to promote your music. I listen to a half dozen podcasts regularly, and most of them feature 2-3 songs on every show. Those songs are provided free for podcasters just for this purpose. If I like a song that I hear while listening to the MacCast or A Foot In The Crease, they kindly give me a link to purchase that song or album, or just to find the artist's webpage to find out more.

Two: the iTunes music store is dominating the online music industry so thoroughly they can begin to cut out the middlemen. Suddenly independent artists can deal directly with iTunes and get a much larger cut of the profits (particularly since Apple created the iTunes store hoping it would break even and help sell more iPods). Much as thousands of companies have sprung up around the popularity of the iPod, so can independent artists flourish under this new system. It's not limited to iTunes, either (although it is until someone takes a decent chunk of the market away from Apple). Online music stores featuring independent artists tend to be cheap, offer consumers the ability to buy single songs or entire albums, and tend to give a larger chunk of profits to the artists.

gekko