It’s to wonder how the music industry is coping these days. During the economic crisis & recession the consumers’ salary is shrinking day by day so the CD, vinyl and digital sales have been going downhill as well. Music is supposed to be fun, entertainment and amusement apart from a high expression of art, which always comes first.But there’s a weird paradox in this situation. The album releases nowadays are enormous… the biggest ever. Albums are released massively every single day. The independent (DIY) releases along with the small labels’ ones have taken the lion’s share on the market. The major labels are still releasing the stuff they used to release – some may have reduced it a bit – but the big difference in today’s market is made by the independent, either by artists/bands or small labels, releases.
Hence, the question that comes to mind is “how in such hard economic times is the rock/metal market experiencing that bloom”? Is it healthy to have numerous new releases each day in a time when people hardly ever buy music due to economic problems or owing to the easy & free digital downloading? This is the epitome of music quantity over quality… whereas the right thing is to have quality over quantity.
I won’t talk about the quality of the majority of the independent releases in this editorial. I may do so some other time cuz’ that matter needs further analysis. The questions above came to my mind after the numerous releases of any kind (CDs, LPs, EPs, singles etc.) we get for presentation on Grande Rock each day. Closing, I must say that something needs to be done in order to have a smoother balance between music quality & quantity, before things get beyond control and music turns into something like a rubbish bin…
PS: Have a great Summer time everyone! I still can’t believe how fast Summer has come, but thankfully it’s here so we better enjoy it fully…
PS2: I’m sure that most of you have already seen our newest Model for May, sexy Roswell Ivory. For those who haven’t taken a look at her yet… it’s never late to check her out and read some good lines by a fancy & beautiful lady.
PS3: This month’s editorial is dedicated to the ex-Rainbow & The Rods bassist Craig Gruber, who died at 63, a few days ago, after battling cancer. Craig played on the classic debut album of Rainbow in 1975. May He Rest In Peace…