As I near the release of our bands new cd, my daily conversation has switched from "does this new song sound good" to "how are we going to sell CDs". The work is just beginning for us even though what is often considered the hard part, making good music, is over. I watch how bands are being marketed closely and I pay attention to how new bands are getting discovered. Like any product or underground movie that suddenly becomes huge, it is mostly strong word of mouth pushing it forward. It is liberating in a way when you consider how unnecessary a record label has become. The move away from labels started long before MP3s and online distribution existed. When home recording started to become a reality is when the shift from needing a label to get music done happened. Nowadays there is nothing stopping you from being the result in the same search engine that leads you to Kelly Clarkson. It is liberating and scary as hell, because now there are no excuses. I found this article on the new book "The Future of Music" and it has some insightful thoughts on where the music industry is heading. I ordered a copy today but here is an example from the article:

"Take a Lesson from Porn