My Hopes for The Music Industry in 2020
I’ve been working with independent music artists in some form or fashion for going on 15 years. First, as a scrappy show promoter in my tiny hometown of Texas, then as a live concert photographer and later as a marketing and business consultant and coach. I’ve seen trends in the industry come and go. I was part of the first wave of Napster and other music pirates, as well as the full-blown transition to digital downloads and then to streaming. I just missed vinyl and cassette tapes but did get to enjoy owning a huge book of cd’s that had to be lugged around in your backpack at school with a walkman (with anti-skip if you were fancy and I was!). I’m also an active participant in the return of vinyl. I say all this to say, music consumption and creation are changing so rapidly. If I could influence music in 2020, these are what I’d love to see.
SPLITS
I love old vintage splits. A split is when two bands release a record together, splitting the tracks 50/50. I found so many great punk bands by buying one band’s split and getting the other band’s music by default. I think this is such a fun way to help your fans discover new music and support other independent artists you know and love while also getting your music into the hands of the other band’s fans. Bands can even take it a step further by writing a song together just for the split.
HOUSE SHOWS
I’ve seen larger independent artists pull back from venue shows and go back to house shows in recent years. I hope this is a trend that picks up momentum. House shows make me nostalgic; my first experiences with live music happened at house shows. The intimate experience of seeing bands I knew as friends or even ones I just loved hooked me into music n such a personal way. I think it is also better for the musicians; at the end of the day they end up making more money per show because of lower expenses, even if the crowds are smaller. I think it is just overall much easier to control the experience for the artist when you take shows out of clubs and into private spaces.
EARLY CLUB SHOWS
I think the music industry is too tightly bound to the bar world, and I hope that is going to shift. Younger generations are drinking less frequently than ever and waiting longer to try alcohol for the first time, and I think venues need to take notice. I am also seeing a trend in shows that don’t happen in bars and clubs attract your average music consumer while late club shows seem to be getting smaller and smaller. In Seattle, we have Sofar Sounds (which has its issues); we also have folks who are promoting shows on old steamships and renting spaces instead of going the venue route. Private shows can offer an experience that means everyone will be home by 11 and the main motivator for having music is not just to attract people to buy drinks. I’d love to see a shift at venues and clubs to start offering happy hour shows to attract your traditional 9–5ers to come out straight from the office. I really feel it’s a big ask to stay and see the headliner go one (maybe someone you’ve never heard!) at 11 pm on a Thursday when you have to work the next day.
BETTER ATTENTION TO GENDER AND RACE
In my opinion, the music industry is worse than most industries when it comes to sexual harassment as well as gender and racial discrimination. For example, did you know, of the 159 total inductions in the Performers category of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 135 have been of solo male performers or male groups? Only 10 solo female performers and 13 groups containing at least one female performer have been added since the Hall admitted its first woman — Aretha Franklin — on January 3, 1987. The Country Music Hall of Fame is even worse! There are 139 inductees to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, as of 2019. Of these, 20 inductions include women, only 17 of those being solo performers and none of them are women of color. There are nearly as many men named James, Jim, or Jimmie as there are women. These are just two very obvious examples. We are also learning more about abusive men like Ryan Adams, Dr. Luke and Michael Jackson, who took advantage and abused women and children. It’s time for these conversations to pick up the pace and people to be held to account for their bad behavior that has held music industry women down. It’s time for this to change. In 2020 let us finally start recognizing female talent and hiring more women into professional services and technical roles in our industry. We can do better this year.
What do you think? What would you like to see different in the music industry 2020?
