360 Deals...ohhhh noooo!

I love when people use Trent Reznor as an example of why an artist doesn’t need a label. Somehow people forget that the reason everyone knows the name Trent Reznor is because of a record label.
I’m not completely on the “360 Team” BUT the labels have a point. Artist not only sell CD’s because the labels promote and market them, but they sell out concerts, sell merchandise, all of which wouldn’t happen in such great numbers if the labels weren’t behind said artists. While it’s possible for a band/artist to “go it alone” and be successful, the chances of becoming a successful act are extremely low.
One option that has yet to be discussed is lowering royalties that record labels make off record sales. I’m not against fair. It is fair that record labels make money off of our a tour, but they can’t take EVERYTHING. Things like breakage clauses on digital sales are not only unethical, but outright theft.
The recording contract as we know it must be reworked and reformed so that the record labels get their fair share as well as the artists. It’s no secret that the record labels have screwed artists in the past but it’s time for both parties to do the right thing and be fair about everything.
I see people writing this and that about the labels being rediculous and the artists “going it alone”. Here is an absolute truth:
The labels need the artists and the artists need the labels. While that will never change, the RELATIONSHIP between the two must. This is just the beginning, and music WILL be free.
Look up Ad-Supported Music, Lala.com, iMeem, WE7, Datz Music Lounge, etc.
The 360 deal won’t work in itself, because it only cut’s an already small pie into smaller pieces, BUT it can spark the fire that’s needed to actually change the relationship between labels and artists.