Music... for everyone

     Everyone loves music right?  Well it wasn't the best industry to be a part of, especially if you were a the artist.  You had to sign contracts that gave you no rights to your music, or that had you worked grueling hours just to feed your family.  These contracts were predatory, where only the management companies would come out financially on top.  Take TLC for example, they had to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 1995, due to not making any money after debuting.  Even after winning two Grammys.  They accumulated debts they were unable to pay because of the contract they signed with LaFace and Pebbitone, they only saw 1% of their earned revenue (Rodgers, 2023).

             

    With technological advancement, now anyone can be an artist.  One of my friend's students released a track on SoundCloud (that was until he got embarrassed after his roommate shared that information with the entire class.... and they listened to it together).  He deleted it shortly after.  But the point is that anyone who takes the time to learn how to use the programs (available as downloadable applications on your computer or on the internet for free) can release music.  No longer is there the need to have your music approved and long gone are the days where a radio edition of a song is required.  Or you could become an artist by signing a cover on TikTok (Bella Poarch).  Technology has given people the freedom to make what they want and if able they get all their money.

References

Rodgers, J. (2023, March 31). After 5 years in the industry, TLC had made an estimated $175M but said they'd only received about 1%. Yahoo! Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-years-industry-tlc-had-171634141.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAK2NttP06XvoWpKtQ2NuZuNVOzbVewns63Ihv0nPaC50jIt5ioZbahSYe1fB00_Fth3bZqj6TvqdumGKoL2_ZXNrKna2FTo07eL8CP7zVB1l20ENmplBg7PJ_Y4ymFtLpsII_HyzI7-V87RtuFFyXuhESN3GOId9g4XEXvHS3PqS.