Free Markets are supposed to maximize both efficiency and consumer satisfaction. This has been the claim ever since Adam Smith laid out his theory of "the invisible hand" in The Wealth of Nations. It is a fundamental assumption that supports our belief in free market democracy as the best possible system of government. So, if this claim about free markets is true, we should be able to count on three things in the music industry:

1. That the best musicians will rise to the top ("best" meaning those who are providing the best examples of what people "really, really want" to hear).
   
   
2. That the quality and diversity of music commonly available in the market will be the best mix that can be achieved, given the available talent ("available talent" meaning all the serious musicians alive).
   
   
3. That the majority of serious and talented musicians will be able to make a decent living from their music.

Well folks, I don't know about you, but it seems to me that this ain't what's been happening (or maybe you think that The Spice Girls are just way cool?). It seems to me that we have a marketplace in which: diversity is either squelched or swiftly co-opted; a recording contract with a major label is the only real way to success; actual talent is often irrelevent and less important than the marketability of your image; the lucky few musicians who sign with a major label get too rich while all the others starve; and, the music being released nationally is increasingly mediocre. If these things are so, there must be some factors at work that basic free market theory doesn't account for. I believe that the main problems are these:

1. The public's taste in music, i.e. what people "really, really want" to hear, is profoundly influenced by what people actually get to hear, and by advertising.
   
   
2. The public airwaves, still the dominant medium through which people hear new music, have limited bandwith. While legally "belonging" to the public, this limited bandwith is mostly controlled by private commercial interests.
   
   
3. A recording is a unique but infinitely reproducible commodity.
   
   
4. The costs of production (i.e. of producing and duplicating a studio quality album) have been high enough to require significant upfront capital for most of the 75 year history of the recording industry.
   
   
5. As a result of the preceding four issues (and perhaps other factors as well), the music industry has become a virtual oligopoly, with five international corporations controlling over 90% of all the recordings sold in the world.
   
   
6. Hotelling's Paradox (an economic phenomenon which tends to reduce qualitative distinctions to the lowest common denominator in oligopolistic markets) has been at work in the music industry.

There are now more possibilities for change in the music industry than at any time in the last 65 years (since the depression finished wiping out most of the small independent record labels that had sprung up in the mid-1920's). The convergence of three major areas of evolving technology has produced the world wide phenomenon of the internet, which is changing businesses and markets in previously unimaginable ways. These three areas of technology are: computing, telecommunications, and digital media. These same technological advances have also produced changes that are specifically advantageous to musicians and small businesses in the music industry.

Twenty years ago, the idea of independent musicians producing their own studio quality recordings was unheard of. Today, it is commonplace. This is due to the fact that the costs of studio recording, and cassette and CD duplication, have dropped to a fraction of what professional quality albums used to cost. This drastic drop in prices is a direct result of the advent of digital technology. Today, for less than the cost of a new car, anyone can produce a recording that is equal in fidelity to anything the major studios can create. If you doubt this, consider that the number of recording studios and duplication companies has increased by more than three hundred percent in the last ten years.

Just a few years ago, the idea of worldwide advertising for any price below millions of dollars was simply impossible. Now, the internet provides a medium for disseminating information to the whole world (potentially) at very little cost. This information can include graphics, audio, and even video. It is now, quite literally, possible for anyone to produce promotional materials that can be seen worldwide, and that are just as "professional" looking as anything that "the big guys" can do. The internet and world wide web are the direct product of the convergence of advancements in computing, telecommunications, and digital media. The convergence of these technologies makes possible entirely new forms of communication and commerce.

Let's not get too enthusiastic, though. Anyone can record a CD these days, but how do you get lots of people to buy it, or even hear it? Anyone can put up a web page, but how do you get lots of people to visit it? The answer may lie in creating a new form, and forum, for the public to get the information that they want. A form that gives people everything they already use, and more, in an easier and more useful format than what they already have.

I am currently at work on a project that will provide a comprehensive way for people to learn about live and recorded music in the Pacific Northwest region. It will also give musicians an affordable way of letting the world know about their music. Instead of setting up your own lonely outpost on the internet and wondering what will ever induce people to visit, you can be part of a comprehensive, searchable, relational database that will lead potential fans right to your door. This project will combine the features of various traditional media including newspapers, magazines and journals, telphone directories, and even radio. It combines these in a new form. This project is intended to directly address some of the issues discussed above, and to take advantage of the new and evolving possibilities presented by the internet.

This project is still very much under construction, but check out the beginnings of The Northwest Music Guide, and send me information about your band or business via email (just follow the "send us information" link from the main page). A basic listing in The Guide is absolutely free.