A debate is raging on TechCrunch over the keynote at the Grammy Northwest Music Tech Summit by Topspin Media‘s Ian Rogers. TechCrunch readers are aggressively rebutting both the effectiveness of Rogers’ new music marketing model and the very existence of a musical middle class.
As I wrote on TechCrunch and have written previously, I can assure doubters that a musical midd
le class does exist and is growing. I work with some of these artists every day at our booking agency Skyline Music and blog about how it works here on Hypebot.
Some of this new musical middle class comes from above (major label refugees) and some from below (new artists). These artists have always existed as (sometimes regional) touring bands. But their numbers are growing because the net and media diversification have created opportunities for bands to find, hold on to and monetize fans in ways other than just on stage. Their stage is now global and on demand.
Companies like Ian’s Topspin, Echo, ReverbNation, Nimbit and others help artists accomplish this more easily and effectively. Thank-you Ian (and others). You will prove these doubters wrong; or more precisely, you will empower the artists that prove them wrong.
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It won’t work for every artist. Most new small businesses fail. - It takes time and hard work. Every business does.
- It won’t make them rich. Most small businesses don’t make their owners rich.
But being a member of the musical middle class beats the alternative: putting your art//career/life/future in someone else’s hands. – Bruce Houghton
