By Pluginin.org

Source: Geoffrey Johnson

U2 Ascribed to the

 Artistic Freedom Model of Artist Development

Artists who ascribe to the artistic freedom model of artist development are among the most vocal critics of the lack of long-term nurturing of artists at most record labels. Richard Patrick, a former major-label artist, maintains that he “is glad Filter made it when they did [the 1990s], because he is not sure they would have been able to achieve [the same level of success] in today’s music environment” without compromising themselves musically.

Moreover, T.S.I. (The Situationist International), an independent New York-based punk rock band, asserts that circumventing major-labels entirely is the only way to protect their musical vision from pervasive oversight. T.S.I.’s lead singer Geoff Lenox contends that his band prioritizes their songwriting process over an eagerness to replicate current “hot sounds” that are commercially successful.

Lenox sees the majority of younger, major-label, artists as the “manufactured product of businessmen” who are forced to “follow a stale formula” if they want to succeed.

Lenox, however, refuses to wear “a uniform.”

He aims to return to the rebellious spirit and authentic songwriting of the bands he grew up listening to, such as the Sex Pistols, who
interestingly enough were a major-label artist back when labels actually financed artists who ascribed to the artistic freedom model.

Lenox’s sentiments reflect the popular belief among artists who value the ability to autonomously construct their sound and image that signing with a major-label during this shift toward extreme industry oversight would inhibit their artistic freedom.

Prince was 1st to Understand The Power Of The Internet

Due to the lack of opportunities on the major-label level, an increasing amount of artists who align with the artistic freedom model of artist development, such as T.S.I., are choosing to be independent. Interfacing with the same technological advancements that led to the diminished profits, and therefore influence, of record companies, artists have begun to utilize internet media such as social networking sites, peer-to-peer downloading networks, and YouTube to market themselves and distribute their music. This allows artists, if they so choose, to circumvent the trend toward extensive industry oversight that has consumed major record labels, while still facilitating the dissemination of their music to wide audiences.

Artists are now able to cultivate fan-bases and engage in self-promotion independent of extensive industry oversight because of the global interconnectivity of internet media. During the era of older, tangible, music dissemination technologies, such as radio, CDs, cassette tapes, and vinyl records, it was exponentially more difficult for an artist to engage in the type of independent self-promotion and distribution that is now feasible in the internet age. These preinternet media exemplify regional interconnectivity, or dispersion of music that is constrained by geographical boundaries. Formerly, local acts could often only be heard on radio stations, and in
concert halls, that were located in their respective cities. As such, the ability to be exposed to those artists’ music was largely confined to limited, territorial, venues. Furthermore, artists’ recording contracts often restricted the distribution of their music to particular regions, denying music audiences the ability to hear artists who did not have distribution deals in certain areas.
Regional interconnectivity was easily controlled by record companies, who used this power to exert significant influence over the ways that fan-bases were formed, people were exposed to music, and artists were marketed.

In contrast, global interconnectivity facilitates the instant sharing and distribution of songs and artist information. Radio stations can now be streamed on-line and artists’ entire catalogs are available online through peer-to-peer downloading sites. Moreover, as Clay Shirky said in his book Here Comes Everybody, “new technology enables new kinds of groupforming.”35In light of Shirky’s commentary, perhaps the most significant contribution of internet media’s global interconnectivity is that it has placed the power of organizing music communities back in the hands of musicians and fans. However, the increasing use of internet media by both artists and fans has produced a dichotomy of opinion about its effects on artist development. Some artists herald this new reliance on internet technologies as facilitating their artistic freedom and revolutionizing the role of the artist. In contrast, others see these recent trends as undermining the long-term success of young and developing artists.

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