It just isn't fair. It used to be like this: Someone recorded a pretty good song. The song was shopped around, starting with the local radio stations. If it got airplay and people responded to it by calling in....then it went regional.... the buzz got bigger and it gets national....and vala! You have a hit. Suddenly you are selling a million records!
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The important ingredient? YOU the listener. The fans who called the stations...and bought the records.
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I heard about a local gal this weekend who has a great voice, plays some great music, has a lot of local buzz...and yet? Local DJ's have absolutely no say anymore over who gets on the air. Nothing they can do.
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Public supported radio stations do their part, and do launch the efforts of new talent with special shows and such. But, and many people do not realize this, commercial radio is controlled by conglomerates, or big companies that dictate the music on hundreds of radio stations in many different markets. These companies actually determine who gets played and who does not.... ( remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks?) and, in the case of some of the largest companies ,they even have a grand "pay for play" scheme, which is illegal. Oh they will pay lawyers to tell you that what they are doing is legal... but the finagling they do to cover up money exchanged between their own concert promoters and indie labels, and the deals made for better air time slots, still amounts to PAY FOR PLAY.
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What chance does a local artist have? Well, many say the answer is the internet. It seems like the perfect place to launch your music to the world, given all the IPODS out there plugged into so many ears.
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But how do you make money? That's the problem. The young kids today think music is "free."
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Well, just ask any starving artist how much it costs to get a decent CD produced, and you will learn otherwise. Let's hope that the very advances in technology that give artists exposure
don't discouragethe fair compensation they deserve for their work. Because, and especially right now, true talent is soooooo scarce in the homogenized, conglomerate radio world.
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