The music industry changes... and so shall we.

While the old paradigms within the music industry continue to shift for both music producers and consumers, it's easy for those who have been making music for quite a while (like me!) to lament the passing of a system that, while dominated by a corporate infrastructure not necessarily bent on acquiring the most substantive musical content, seemed at very least on it's face to be... well, a structure of some kind. Musicians, the content creators, were most often given a clear path because, in general, straying from a road dictated by the current trends was not exactly rewarded in a timely fashion and that's a pretty kind characterization. If the musical landscape today appears to be decentralized and/or chaotic perhaps that's because art itself, when we are shown the entire tapestry of all it's disparate creators, does not necessarily appear as a uniform approach. While some find this uncomfortable I would maintain that it's this very quality that makes art in general and music in particular a beautiful, living, and constantly evolving phenomenon. This reality is also coupled with the new ability of artists to see their projects come to fruition independent of those that once functioned as "gatekeepers" of artistic independence, not because of any contempt for the artist, but often only because their understanding of the product they were tasked to package, promote, and sell was paramount for success. The enormous record deals and accompanying advances once so prevalent in the industry have all but entirely evaporated... but if one is an artist, a true artist, there is an absolute inability to stop creating regardless of financial gain, or lack thereof. This baffles the vast majority of those convinced that individuals pursuing such a life must surely do so for fame, fortune, or both. They just don't understand it... and they're right... it's beyond understanding... just like the creation of music, of art, and indeed, the universe. That's where beauty comes from. - jt