New Music Industry

Since the 2007 release of In Rainbows it’s become cliche’ to note that artists do not need labels. Often mocked by industry insiders who point out that “Radiohead isn’t Radiohead without the many years of EMI promotion.” That is no doubt true. Yet you cannot claim that major labels record companies have much to do with the success of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) or, more interestingly, in the case of Corey Smith. Radiohead, positioned as the popular purveyor of the avant garde, is seen as visionary, as is the work of CYHSY for similar stylistic reasons.... read more »

Let me begin that when it comes to pop music a lot that I listen to these days is old. I get excited when I find some new ukulele offerings on emusic, a new Richard “Groove” Holmes LP that has been ripped or an an odd musician/composer from the 60s or 70s that I somehow missed (this month it’s Piero Umiliani). I try to keep up, but for every Erykah Badu or Gogol Brodello that I love, there’s a Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (CYHSY) that I admire industrially, but musically I just cannot get that excited about. Still, I respect them and am rooting for them as is rest of the music industry.... read more »