Nate Dorough is a promoter from Michigan that runs Fusion Shows, puts on Bled Fest, and does work with Phantom Creative Group as well. In his fourth blog for our ongoing Contributor series, Nate discusses how the music industry has radically changed in terms of how labels treat legendary bands and even younger bands that are selling music at a fast rate. It’s a great read and is certainly relevant, so read up and enjoy!

I’ve been having some interesting chats with folks from all sides of the music industry, and there’s a general consensus cycling through most of these conversations.
 
Simply put, it’s tough to be a good band these days.
 
Jimmy Eat World just got dropped from their label. JIMMY. EAT. WORLD. One of the best bands that has ever existed. Wasn’t making enough dough for their label, and poof, gone. The music director at a local radio station told me today that a newish active rock band (I forget the name) sold 150,000 copies of their first record, but had a few too many expenses, and were dropped as well. To think that bands selling that many records are A. not profitable and B. not even worth keeping on a label makes me wonder what the hell is going on in this business.
 
However, on the other side of it, there’s an incredibly healthy independent scene going on right now. Small labels and independent artists are able to build loyal fanbases better than ever before. They don’t particularly make money, but they get to the public eye, at least in the music scene, faster than ever. There’s so much great music these days.
 
Yesterday afternoon, I spent the day hanging out on a college campus at an event called “Mainstage”, a welcome-week event with vendors, student organizations, live music, and lots of free stuff. We get a table every year, and we pass out thousands of flyers and give away a whole bunch of tickets. In past years, bands like Eve 6 and Every Avenue have performed. This year, it was 3 local artists. I hadn’t heard of a single one of them.
 
Of the 5000 or so students in attendance, I only noticed maybe five or ten (at most) band-related T-shirts. The band T-shirts I did see were the following:
 
Taylor Swift
Dethklok
Kenny Chesney 
Warped Tour (x2)
Ben Folds
 
…and a few more I can’t remember. I was giving away tickets to see MUTEMATH and Circa Survive, household names in my life. About half of the people that won tickets (most rolled the dice without even knowing what they were rolling for) had no idea who ANY of the bands were on my posters. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. The Black Dahlia Murder. He Is We. The Dangerous Summer. The Wonder Years.
 
Us music dorks in the industry, we treat the above names as being well-known throughout our circles. But in the world of Taylor Swift’s and Kid Rock’s, these bands have barely begun to make a dent. Our target demographic, who are supposed to be buying records and T-shirts, and downloading our tracks from iTunes, they have no idea what a No Sleep Records is, let alone Epitaph or Equal Vision. Not only do they not know that, they don’t even know who Alkaline Trio is. New Found Glory. Nope, never heard of em. Saves The Who? But dude, I can get down with some LMFAO. I totally know who Drake is, bro. And I got tickets to see Girl Talk next week!
 
During my talk with the music director at the local station today, he said that a study was done that said that “most” people discover new music on the radio. To hell with Facebook, BandCamp, iTunes, Spotify, etc. People are still discovering their music on the radio. And when the big rock stations are closing their doors faster than Blockbuster video rental stores, all that’s left to make money are AAA, Country, Hip-Hop/R+B, and Pop. So a “new” artist is Demi Lovato, Skylar Grey, and Hot Chelle Rae. That’s what people think is happening, right now.
 
That means, Foxy Shazam’s perfect song, “Impossible”, never sees the light of day for most people that aren’t plugged in. Shame. Bayside’s “Sick, Sick, Sick” may be one of the best singles of the year, but unless you’re already in tune with that scene, you haven’t even heard it. Artists like Frank Turner, Manchester Orchestra, Thrice, and Murder By Death top out with selling out clubs at best. Bands like As Tall As Lions, Hot Rod Circuit, Mae, Copeland, and more burn out before their time.
 
Meanwhile, at Mainstage, one of the 3 “live artists” booked to perform looks up from his laptop, grins, and asks the crowd:
 
“So, you guys like Skrillex?”
 
The crowd roars appreciatively, just 15 minutes after ignoring the original rock band that just left the stage. I groan.
 
I freaking love rock music, and maybe I’m in the minority now. I guess I need to be louder about it. I guess I need to go buy those records I’ve been waiting on. Practice what I preach?
 
Maybe tomorrow, I’ll turn on the radio, and it’ll be better than it is today. Until then, I’m going to sit here in my The Bronx T-shirt, listen to Maps and Atlases on my laptop, and post something on Twitter about our upcoming Electric Six show.