1) The document discusses the changing music business model over the 20th and early 21st centuries. 2) In the classic era, major record labels would sign bands to recording contracts and invest heavily in producing and promoting their albums in hopes of commercial success. 3) By the early 2000s, the traditional music business model had become obsolete as music sales plummeted, leaving the industry struggling to adapt and musicians wondering what happened.

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S
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Dawn of the
New Age of Music
By John K. Burkholder
The bright lights remind me of dedicated fans. It made sense. Most artists have no busi-
ness sense so they paid people to take care of the business
heaven. I sit atop my drums like a side. The partnership worked because the more popular
king and pound my soul through the bands became, the more money everybody made. By
the instrument. The ancestral the turn of the century, a gradual paradigm shift had oc-
curred, rendering the classic music business model useless.
craving for release electrifies the The music business has been in limbo for the last decade,
club. The energy we throw at the audience is flung back unsuccessfully trying to reclaim the high sales figures that
at us tenfold. After a dizzying hour and half spent in eter- ran the industry for the past forty years. Unless some se-
nal bliss, we play our last note. The audience screams for rious changes are made, the music business will continue
more as I walk off stage, elated and exhausted. Backstage to plummet, leaving musicians and fans wondering exactly
a young woman massages my back while another brings what happened.
me a drink. As the band discusses our recent triumph, an In the classic days, the magic phrase “record contract”
outsider makes himself noticed. I’m about to grill the guy meant a shot at stardom. It wasn’t a guarantee, but it meant
for wearing a suit to a rock and roll show when he intro- that a major record label believed in a band enough to give
duces himself as the Artists and Repertoire representative them a fighting chance. The company paid top dollar for
from Geffen Records. I allow him to speak. He goes on the production of a high quality album. Expensive stu-
about current rock trends and how we could sell millions dios, famous producers, and rented instruments all came
of records, and then he drops the bomb. “I’m ready to offer from borrowed record label money. Once the album was
you guys a recording contract.” I could see dollar signs in released, the band shot a video and had the single played
my guitarist’s eyes and spotlights in the lead singer’s. I could on the radio, more borrowed money invested in the suc-
hardly control my breathing. In the twentieth century, this cess of the band. The radio was usually the deciding fac-
is any musician’s dream come true. Unfortunately for us it’s tor. The more the song was played, the more people would
the twenty-first century and it’s just a dream. purchase the record, all based on the appreciation of one
The music business isn’t what it used to be. In the late six- radio song. With the record selling, the band would hit
ties, rock and roll exploded on the music scene and every- the road, usually playing with a band from the same label.
one wanted a piece. Bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling After all this, if the band sold well, they would do it again.
Stones, and The Doors ignited the masses and music be- It usually takes two or three records to start seeing a profit.
came more than just and idle pastime. It became a way of That’s why there are one hit wonders and power bands that
life. By the early seventies, the business men jumped at the release record after record. There’s not much in between
chance to make a buck off of talented musicians and their because if the band couldn’t keep up after one hit, they