Death of the music industry. Long live music. Same for movies?

On this Planet Money podcast, the lead singer of OK Go about the music industry, or, rather, how the internet has changed the music industry over the past couple of decades.

Essentially, he says that we are living in interesting times.

The podcast discusses the traditional financial model of the music industry and comes to the conclusion that the traditional industry is no more. Instead of building your band to the point where a big company gives you a record contract, there are no barriers to entry. The internet has made it possible for every high school student with three chords and the truth to pick up a ukulele and make a music video. The freedom of creative expression, to me, seems like a good thing.

Many bands, including OK Go, are able to make a living managing themselves without the aid of the music industry. Internet based film entertainment like The Guild, Dr. Horrible, and Sita Sings the Blues show that it is possible to be both entertaining and to make a living off creative work. That also seems like a good thing. If you can figure out how to make money as an entertainer, you don’t need an industrial bureaucracy.

As great as creative freedom is, it also means that bands (and filmmakers, and other artists) are responsible for controlling costs, managing marketing, figuring out all the things a management infrastructure used to handle. As well as all of the creative, which the bureaucracy was never much good at.

The music industry is a great way to see how the movie industry is changing, and how entertainment in general will continue to change for years to come. The price of production is coming down, even as the features and capabilities of filmmaking technology are exploding. Access to the means of distribution also is increasingly democratic. Anyone can make an album now, and anyone can also make a film.

By removing the barriers to entry, we have also removed the protective financial covering from failure. The entire landscape has changed. There’s no simple, clear path to follow if you want to make music and also make a living by making music. The same is increasingly true for screenwriters, actors, editors, camera operators, cinematographers, other members of the crew, movie directors, film producers, anyone in the business of making movies.

No one knows exactly what will work, so we keep on trying.