In this age of digital media and music revolution, it may seem arbitrary to discuss the model of a band from 30 years ago. When the Grateful Dead were in their heyday, they revolutionized the music distribution model, from touring endlessly to encouraging bootlegging to owning their own music. While it did not catch on in a wide spread way, it seems that recent trends in music distribution are directly imitating their initial ideas.
With the impending death of the Record Label, artists are looking backwards for ideas to get their name out there. Instead of focusing on selling records, artists such as U2 are putting their focus on touring, much like the Grateful Dead did for most of their careers. For U2, they are making zero profit from their current tour, all in the name of putting on a good show. It seems like music is shifting away from making money and towards spreading the music. But this idea does have monetary risidual effects. While U2 may not be making money from ticket sales, T-shirt sales and music sales may be increasing, as well as general band awareness.
Other artists freely distribute their music to anyone who wants it. The band, Defiance, Ohio, just puts their music up for free for download on their site. The option exists to go to Itunes and pay money for their songs, and lots of people in fact choose this option, but they aren't looking to make money this way. "Back in the day", the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to record and distribute their shows, going as far as letting some people plug directly into their sound board. For them, it was about getting the music out there. This isn't limited to just punk rock bands from the middle of nowhere; Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, and the Smashing Pumpkins also put their music online, for free.
In the digital marketplace, Record Labels are becoming obsolete. From Itunes, toMySpace, to Napster, to Demonoid, no one is buying CDs anymore. Whether streamed on the internet, or downloaded (legally or illegally), that hard copy format is just not bringing in the money it used to. With music being so easy to share digitally, many artists are forgoing the typical Record Label route entirely. The Grateful Dead owned the rights to all their own music. This did not quell their popularity nor their pocket book. Labels such as No Idea Records are finally beginning to embrace this model, serving mostly as a distribution outlet and less like the traditional, "sell your soul", record label model. In this model, the label prints and distributes records and the artist retains all the rights to the music.
But what are the legal repercussions of such a a DIY, artist/music focused shift? I guess this remains to be seen, but it is important to note the rise in freeware style licensing through things such as a Creative Commons licensing and Copy Left...but that is a whole nother blog post in and of itself.
