The Problem With Music

Every time I read about the relationship between artists and labels I think of Sean Young's memorable line from Blade Runner:

> Rachael: I'm not in the business... I am the business.

At some point artists have to look around and realize that labels are not in business to extract value from consumers, labels are in business to extract value from artists.

Draw your own conclusions about conventional VC firms...

About to show my age here... I still have the hardcopy issue of "Maximum Rock n Roll" that this article first appeared in. Albini is one smart dude. And he totally gets that Rock can be a thinking man's music.

Steve Albini needs to write more. His few bits of essay floating around the 'net are classics.

This one features excellent use of blinking text, too...

I was reading a recent interview with Albini in which he mentioned that now is the best time in history to be in a band, because the web allows bands to bypass record labels in order to market themselves.