Once we have our second EP mixed and mastered, we are gunning for free downloads through Google Music. iTunes has done it’s part of bringing music online, but it has been abusing musicians financially instead of helping them in distribution. Music should be free with the option to donate. Musicians need to earn respect, not just money. 

Lester Bangs was right; it has become an industry of cool. “Rock stars” want fame and dinero, but thankfully musicians still want to keep music alive and evolving at any cost (hopefully free). Just like the sports world, popular musicians are severely overpaid, and don’t get me started about record companies and distributors that prostitute hard working bands. Musicians put a lot of time, effort, and money into sustaining a band (we can attest to that), but so do all the other people who also work hard in factories, on farms, in cubicles, in school rooms, in stores, on construction sites, etc. What makes musicians so special? We are the same as everyone else trying to make a living to support what and who we love without going broke. 

The exuberant music industry cannot survive forever, and I think the breaking point is coming soon. Since there is a plethora of music available these days, people cannot afford to “buy” it all. They shouldn’t have to. Improvements in and availability of music technology brings creative control back to the musician. And our dear friend The Internet can allow us to connect, distribute, and even perform across the entire globe. It will be a return to proper musicianship and determination instead of music profiteering. The momentum will be back in the hands of the hard working musician leaving the industry, that has been dragging them down, in the past. 

Music is not an industry. It is an art.