Do record labels invest in musicians?

Record Labels Put Out Report Insisting That Record Labels Do, In Fact, Invest In Musicians

from the it-ain't-the-investment... dept

With the debates ongoing over where the music industry is heading, it's been amusing to watch the major record labels try to remain relevant. One talking point they've hit on lately is this idea that record labels are the only ones who invest in artists. So, for example, when we point out that multiple studies have shown that more money is being spent on music today -- just that it's going to other providers, rather than the record labels -- we've heard people come back by saying "but only the record labels invest in artists." Perhaps sensing a valuable talking point (and getting sick of claims from many in the industry that the labels have seriously cut back on investing in new artists), the IFPI has put out a report that basically is the major record labels screaming "hey, look, we do invest in new music!"


But, of course, no one really doubted that the major labels still invested in music, but lots of people are questioning how that money is being spent and what sorts of results they're getting from it. But where it gets funny is that the IFPI tries to use this to prove that labels still have a place, because, apparently, no one else could possibly fund musicians:

"Investing in music is the core mission of record companies," says [IFPI] boss John Kennedy. "No other party can lay claim to a comparable role in the music sector. No other party comes close to the levels of investment committed by record companies to developing, nurturing and promoting talent."

To which we would just add a rather important: yet. The labels still seem to think they have some divine right (or, perhaps it's just a gov't granted monopoly -- the two are so easy to confuse) to be at the center of the music industry.
And, of course, the amount invested, by itself, is not nearly as important as the return on investment. It's easy to throw lots of money away (and having been to more than a few big record label events, I can attest to their ability to throw away vast quantities of money in no time flat). But what most folks are focused on is the actual ROI.

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