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Specials PART 3: ADAPT OR LAY STILL AND DIE!
Specials PART 3: ADAPT OR LAY STILL AND DIE!
PART 3: ADAPT OR LAY STILL AND DIE!
Thursday, 02 February 2012 15:17 | 
THE BUSINESS' DECLINE AND THE CHANGE OF PEOPLE´S APPROACH TO MUSIC – WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MUSICIAN NOWADAYS?
Our roundtable talk about modern musicianship continues.
Casting shows, role models and cults of personality have been controversial issues on our roundtable so far. The different backgrounds of our participants have surely spiced up the evolving discussion, yet one thing they all seem to agree upon: There are major changes going on in the music business, no matter if it comes to structural aspects (the role of record labels, distribution of music) or the competition of contemporary bands on their hunt for significance. Adaptation in an ever-changing world and musical half-gods from the past (larger-than-life bands like U2) are the main topics this week.
Ville Sovali, vocalist / bassist of Finland's probably most epic band, MOONSORROW; Kimmo Tukiainen of Finland's flagship of Sophisticated Rock, THE CHANT; keyboardist Laura Dziadulewicz of Tampere's fiercest Death Metal beast MEDEIA; businessman, producer and drummer Tommi Forsström (VIOLA etc.) and vocalist TOMMI SUOMALA of the hopeful Ambient / Prog newcomer RAIN DIARY - WE RAISE THE CURTAIN FOR PART 3 (OF 4)!
Moonsorrow
There are people who think not only physical records but also record labels will be a thing of the past in a few years from now. In this scenario artists will release their music completely independently. What are your thoughts on this? Is that prophecy a realistic judgment? And is it a good or bad thing if it turned out to be true?
TOMMI F: "Record labels" will be dead in a matter of years, but only in terminology. Successful musicians will always need somebody to handle all the crappy day-to-day work that comes along with success and there will always be people to externalize that to. Most often in the past they've been called "record labels". In the future, they'll be called something else. If there's a service somebody is willing to pay for, there will surely be somebody providing that service.
KIMMO: It is true and has already happened. Physical records will be around for a long time still, but haven’t been in the mainstream anymore. This has, and will continue to, create pressure for changing the way music is made on every level from production to the financial side of it. Who knows, maybe it will even change the way music is composed. I don’t see it as good or bad, but a natural thing that we as artists have to adjust to.
The Chant
VILLE: Things might be going to that direction, but I wouldn't be so extreme in my predictions. Physical records will always maintain their value (at least for collectors), and there will always be need for establishes companies who can help artists survive in "the biz". Releasing albums and trying to sell them also just isn't something your everyday bass player (like me!) could or would even want to do. Of course in this ever-changing climate, record labels - as we understand them now - might become obsolete, but it doesn't mean they couldn't or shouldn't be able to take different forms. Like I said, the world is changing; adapt, or lay still and die.
LAURA: While it's true that more and more artists are starting to weigh the benefits of independent releasing against those of label releasing, I don't think labels will die out completely. The ones that do will most likely be the ones that can't or won't update their archaic business models. Basically people are realizing that in this day and age self-releasing is a perfectly viable option that offers complete creative control and allows you to keep most of your sales earnings, but it also leaves all the promotion and marketing to the artist. Seeing an increase in self-releasing artists, some radical change in labels' business models accompanied by some degree of decrease in label numbers isn't an improbable scenario at all. If artists actually begin to earn something with their work and labels find a way to adapt to a changing environment then more power to them. Or should that be more power to us? Either way I'm interested to see how this transition pans out.
Laura live on stage with MEDEIA
TOMMI S: Yes, I believe there are some big changes ahead in the music business, but no one knows what the future holds. I have mixed emotions on this: I do appreciate all the work the record companies have done, but on the other hand I'd like to see their role change. But I don't think they will completely disappear. They still have a lot to give business-wise, and how well they adapt to the evolution instead of trying to control it, remains to be seen.
You belong more or less to the same generation when it comes to your active musicianship. You all released your first official musical outputs after the year 2000, you are familiar with spreading your music through the internet – and you are aware of the competition of musics in the world wide web. Huge Rock acts that are filling stadiums (like The Rolling Stones, U2, Bon Jovi) didn't arise from your generation at all. Are U2 & the like blessed by being born earlier, by having started in a time when it was easier to become big? What's your explanation for the lack of "super stadium bands" in your generation?
TOMMI F: Like I stated earlier, the age of mass media is almost dead and gone and with it goes mass culture. There are still new stars born like Lady Gaga that are capable of bringing together significant masses, but in general, the fragmentation of youth culture will keep increasing as the amount of choices increases and the barrier of finding out or getting involved with any new movement decreases. When I was a kid, we had only a handful of sources for finding out new interesting stuff. The kid of 2010s has an unlimited amount.
A mass icon of contemporary Pop music: Lady Gaga
LAURA: Blessed? Nah. Again I think it's just a matter of change: "Arena Rock" isn't the same thing it was some 20-odd years ago, but what is? It hasn't exactly disappeared without a trace – we do have comparatively modern bands that fill stadiums, put on flashy shows and draw massive audiences (Coldplay, anyone?), they're just not defined by those performances as was the inclination back then. I guess the practise of writing material specifically with stadium audiences in mind is firmly in decline but a similar level of showmanship and ambition is still there.
VILLE: I don't think that it was any easier to become big at any point in the history of music. Even The Beatles had their competition! Obviously music wasn't as easy to be spread around, but history still has countless examples of the Metallicas that didn't make it because that one Metallica did. It might of course be true that stadium bands as such are not the concept of our generation, but that I think is more due to the (artificially) shortened attention span of consumers.
TOMMI S: I don't know, maybe there are just so many bands around, and so many genres. That diversity is of course a good thing, but there are so many bands that sound exactly the same, which might confuse the audience. At least it confuses me, so I'm usually an outsider when people start talking about some new bands. I just don't have the time and the energy anymore.
KIMMO: I guess, it takes a lot of time and effort or a ton of cash (or both) to make a band grow into super stadium size. How that is achieved in practice is something I don’t really know that much about. I mean otherwise I’d be on stage right now telling everyone on the left say yeah. I’m not sure if it was that much easier to become big in the past. Maybe it was. Still someone had to create the concept of a stadium show and figure out how it would all work. We just find it simple, because it’s been done for a long time already.
The world's biggest (and probably richest) rock star: Bono (U2)
When we get back to publishing music as a "whole package" of music, lyrics and artwork – what role do lyrics still play to you personally nowadays? In how far does the lyrical frame of the acts you are playing in matter to you personally? Or are lyrics in the age of "fragmented music" (YouTube, MySpace, iPod) losing their importance anyway? Wouldn't that steal an important aspect from every band?
LAURA: I'd like to imagine that to those bands that do use lyrics, they're very important indeed: they help define a song's tone and give it direction and meaning. They're important to me at any rate. I can't stand the half-arsed attitude some bands have towards the content and structure of their lyrics – you know, write whatever, it's not as if anyone's going to listen to the words anyway, hurr hurr. That's the musical equivalent of filling a delicious jammy doughnut with mildly spiced turds. Ruined. Lyrics have got to have some semblance of substance, even if it's only a bit of clever wordplay or some artsy repetitive mantra. If it complements the song, it's all good. I don't believe lyrical importance is waning either. Not at all. As long as people have things to say and messages to get across then artists will put weight behind their lyrics; I don't see that well of feelings and opinions drying up any time soon. Coupled with the fact that not all bands need lyrics to get the point across then I'd say no, this musical era has not significantly impacted lyrical importance. Being able to listen to individual songs from whole albums wherever doesn't suddenly render that material soulless.
TOMMI S: Well, if people don't understand the lyrics or couldn't care less about what a band is singing about, I think it's their loss, not the bands. If it is even a loss. We all have different ways of enjoying music and there are always people who find the meaning in lyrics or even come up with their own interpretations and also those who just like to listen to the music, the beat and the vibe. For me lyrics have always played a major role in music. And of course writing them means that I should at least try to write something I can relate to. But there are very few acts nowadays that really get me to pick up the lyrics sheet.
Rain Diary
TOMMI F: Why would the role of lyrics change depending on where you listen to the music from? I'm not a very lyric-centered person in general, but I haven't noticed their role changing at all after my listening habits changed more towards random playlists in digital services from a more album-based habit. A strong line will catch my ear just as it did in the past. As for artwork, I've never really understood the fuss there either. I mean I love a great looking cover just as much as anybody but especially CD booklets have always felt completely useless to me. Especially if they're just filled with "artistic" photos and other meaningless crap. I think album artwork is represented very nicely in many digital listening contexts and I personally don't feel any loss in that side nowadays compared to the old days.
Tommi Försström
KIMMO: To me lyrics are really important. They’re basically the core of a good production, and everything else should be well aligned with them. Quite ironically they’re also something I’m not responsible for in the bands I play in so I don’t have much power over them. I guess it’s been proven that you can make a successful act with absolutely meaningless lyrics, but all I can hope is people will get tired of watered down nonsense. Whenever I hear: “We gon' party like it's yo birthday” all I can think of is: ok so why is this significant to me? What’s happening there that’s so relevant or interesting that I’d just collapse and shiver with amazement? I’ve been to a birthday once and I know what it’s like.
VILLE: Lyrics definitely have their meaning alongside music, even though music comes and has always come first. It always depends on how the artist views the matter - some people simply decide not to pay much attention to anything else than the music itself. To me, personally, lyrics are very important and good lyrics give that extra kick to a package. I am also positively surprised that even the iPod generation seems to pay attention to them, as many are still downloading also the lyrics alongside (legally or illegally) downloaded songs. Lyrics only lose their meaning when artists stop writing them.
THE FINAL PART OF THIS EXCLUSIVE ROUNDTABLE:
"PIONEERS, MESSENGERS AND LEGACIES"
Hendrik Behnisch – 02.02.2012
http://www.moonsorrow.com/ (VILLE)
http://www.medeiaband.com/ (LAURA)
http://www.violamusicclub.com/ (TOMMI F)
http://www.thechant.net/ (KIMMO)
http://www.raindiary.com/ (TOMMI S)
http://cosmopolitansoul.wordpress.com/about-2/ (HENDRIK)
Photos: Terhi Ylimäinen(1), Jarmo Katila (2), Toni Salminen / Metalscope.net (3), Lady Gaga Born This Way CD cover (4), abendblatt.de (5), Rain Diary (6), Forssto (7)
Last Updated (Tuesday, 08 January 2013 16:58)