I couldn't put it better myself

uglymusicuglymusic
edited May 2012 in Jazz
"I have good news and bad news. The bad news is the big record companies are dead. The good news is the big record companies are dead. Gone are the days of Columbia Records signing trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to a million dollar contract and then promoting the hell out of his vision of jazz, selling his records and supporting his touring. While the major labels were reassessing all forms of music from pop to hip-hop, jazz slipped further and further off the national radar. Sales of jazz recordings fell from 2% of total sales to something like 1%.

But this is good news, why? Because pushing jazz and improvised music out of major labels has been a windfall for small labels, independent artists and jazz listeners.

Think about it, innovation in jazz has rarely come from the major labels anyway. Alfred Lion's Blue Note Records was once just a small start-up, as was Jost Geber's FMP (Free Music Production). Pioneering presenters, like today's Emanem label under the command of Martin Davidson, and Portugal's Clean Feed, push the boundaries of jazz and improvised music. Hell, even the neocons, the Marsalis family, started their own label. Artists today do not require the stamp of approval by a major label to present their music. Trumpeter Dave Douglas established Greenleaf Music, Jonas Kullhammar Moserobie, and Peter Gordon with Matthew Shipp Thirsty Ear, to name just a few. Music that once never made it past the old corporate boardroom and into the recording studio is being lovingly produced in studios, basements, garages and captured live. The boundaries of exactly what constitutes the kingdom of jazz and improvised musics are ever expanding."




We are in the midst of a great time for marginal(ised) music.
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