Bon IverX3: Why the Music Industry Is Just Fine

You know what really grinds my gears? That I am going to actually feel guilty for posting that link even though there is a profane word at the end. Feel free not to watch it. Just calm down will ya? Just kidding. Anyway, what really grinds my gears is doomsday talk. Any and all forms of it.

Is the world ending in 2012? To be honest I can't say for certain that it won't, but the fact that we are all talking about it and joking about it means it probably won't. So relax.

Will the NFL have games next season? Yes, they make too much money even though they aren't the superior American sport. And the Super Bowl is in Indy this year. They will play football, if only to realize that you shouldn't hold the Super Bowl in Indy.

Is the movie business going down the tube? No, it isn't. Did you see The Social Network last year? Super 8 this summer? Movies are fine. Ok maybe not The Green Lantern, but still.

There's no point in being a teacher anymore. The kids don't care, the parents don't care, and the government doesn't care. Really? Last I checked there were still quite a few kids in the world. And last I checked, a lot of them still need to learn how to read. Quit whining people and go teach.

Is this country going to Hell in a hand basket? The answer to that one depends on which one of two sides you are on (and there are only two sides-- don't be fooled). Actually the answer is the same for both parties. Everything is going wrong no matter what side you're on. Idiots.

Is this generation the worst generation yet? Heck yeah they are with their stupid tattoos (around since Ancient Egypt), their rap music (originated in 1975), foul language (how old is that??), blogosphere/social networking (ok that one's pretty new) and questionable sexual identity and experimentation (around since early Biblical times). In other words this has all been done before, and I feel like society is doing just as good as before.

Alright but what about the music industry? That's in real trouble. You can't argue your way out of that. Sure I can. You obviously don't know me too well.

When I hear people saying that the music industry is in trouble all I really hear is "blah blah blah." The only people in the music industry who are freaking out about it are the people who don't actually make music. Just like every other business, the music industry has had to streamline quite a bit since the economic downturn. The difference is that the music industry was already going through some major changes before the economy crashed. Online downloading sites like Napster and Limewire made it easy for people to get music instantly without having to pay for it. This was eventually controlled a little better with Amazon and iTunes offering legal downloads, and several websites offered legal streaming for listeners to preview and listen to music.

But the damage was done. There just isn't a lot overhead you can charge for something that was made on the computer and sold on the computer. Lavish spending had to be cut down, and music industry executives (along with a few famous but not so talented musicians) cried foul and infested music journalism with doomsday accords such as this one (Really? Our industry standard for judging success is Velvet Revolver?). The musicians and journalists are saying that the record companies are stealing the funds. The record companies are saying it costs too much to compete with digital downloading. The potheads are saying they don't remember what happened. And don't even get me started on the publishers.

Well guess what. If you didn't get the drift from the first paragraph, I'm an optimist. I love music, and so do you. So does everybody. Great music is still alive and well today, and the people who make it are making enough bank to keep giving us that music. And the proof comes from a not terribly attractive, lonely guy from Wisconsin.

Bon Iver (Justin Vernon is the leader's name, but the band is now a band) just released their new album entitled Bon Iver Bon Iver. It is a sprawling 10 track album with several songs decently longer than 3 minutes and one song less than two minutes. It is fairly difficult to understand the lyrics. There aren't too many super catchy riffs to sell listeners. The last track sounds like it comes from either a dramatic scene in a John Hughes movie or one of those morality scenes at the end of every Full House episode. It should also be mentioned that all the production on Bon Iver Bon Iver was done by Justin himself in, and the album was released by an independent record label (Jagjaguwar out of B-Town, USA). These components do not amount to what the music industry would define as what makes a great album. And do you realize that next week this album will probably be in the Billboard Top 200?

When Bon Iver's self-titled album was released on June 21-22 the fanfare was enormous. The band played on Jimmy Fallon and The Colbert Report (did you notice that they played different songs for each appearance?). This past Monday local record stores across the country held listening parties for the new album with all kinds of fun extras thrown in. You can buy this recording three different ways-- LP, CD, and digital (this is of course not news to many of you, but the LP has risen again). The album is also extremely critically acclaimed by all the people who are supposed to critically acclaim such things. And I think it's awesome(I own the album in all three formats, have watched his TV appearances and can't wait to sing all the words as loud as I can when he comes to Indy in July), so you know it's good .

Why would the success of some measly little rock album mean the music industry is fine? Because I have been geeking out on this album all week just like we all did with our favorite music when we were kids. I was in high school in 1999 when the music industry sold over 14 billion units and was at an all time high. I remember buying new albums (example: The Miseducation of Lauren Hill) and listening to them like they were going to be the key to understanding life. There is no difference between my love of music then and my love for it now. New music will continue to inspire me and blow me away until the day I die. The economy and the Internet can't change that. Maybe they can make it more difficult, but they can't change it. Music finds a way.

So calm down because the music industry isn't going anywhere. It isn't making the same amount of money anymore, but it didn't really need to make that much in the first place. Now go to a record store and buy something already.