Moose is founder of Marauder, which helps companies, organizations, and government entities develop strategies and in-person events that drive change and foster growth within the independent music sector. An industry veteran with experience in artist development, marketing, advocacy, non-profit management, and international program development, he is the founding and emeritus executive director of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF), as well as co-founder of the Association of Music Offices (AMO). Variety welcomes responsible commentary, please email [email protected] if interested.
With Halloween nigh, the music industry might heed some warnings from horror films. As the lore goes, vampires are only allowed to enter a home once invited in. This is exactly what we’ve done by permitting massive corporations to dominate what could otherwise be a competitive, independent music industry.
Decades ago, independent powerhouse labels like Atlantic and Virgin called their own shots; today those same companies along with the vast majority of their peers fall under only three umbrella companies. Seemingly indomitable, these conglomerates lease out their proprietary distribution channels to independent artists and labels, feeding even more life to the gluttonous monster under the bed. What isn’t outright owned, is still dominated by these same forces, regardless of opposition.
Fear isn’t just a movie trope; it’s a controlling force of the music business. With market consolidation being what it is, taking a vocal stand is likely to echo through empty halls. All of the major artists that withdrew their music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s misinformation campaign in the post-COVID years are back on the platform; Spotify showed no meaningful adverse effect from the calls-to-action.
The band Lawrence, who testified in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about Live Nation’s monopolistic practices, announced a tour exactly one year later largely promoted and hosted across Live Nation and Ticketmaster venues… not that they had a choice if they hoped to perform in rooms of a certain size. Collaborating with these huge multinationals is accepted as a necessary evil in order to make it in this business.
As Ellie Goulding’s lawsuit against her former management demonstrates, the argument that working with one sector of a conglomerate means the rest of the machine will be leveraged in an artist’s favor is outdated. The more power conceded, the fewer options an artist has in the future to make independent choices of who to work with and under what terms. This gradual consumption of the marketplace is how we ended up with an indefensibly small number of companies controlling every major sector of the music business: touring, recording, publishing, media, distribution, management and more.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
