tokolos wrote:
Yeah, it's a hectic industry. I reckon at the end of the day it's all about shifting units; so the broader the target market, the more the moneys and profits. Indie bands allready have a tough time internationally, so imagine all the obstacles SA bands have to face.
I think that situation may be changing. The indy market overseas is getting busier and there's more money there and a different financial model. I suspect a lot of those artists are deriving their income from live shows and maybe composer's royalties - not from CD sales. In fact it may be the case that the CD is there to promote the live shows - not the other way around.
The financial model is different too. There are lot of smaller labels who will work on the basis that you come to them with finished, recorded product and they distribute it for you and help you find the marketplace. They don't take as much per CD, but then they didn't have to fund the recording in the first place. And because YOU funded the recording, you get more of a say in the artistic decisions.
In terms of SA I must confess to being pretty out of touch with the market. There are some acts/artists that I know a little about who are making a living from their performances and recordings - but I have no idea how. One insurmountable problem here is market size. In the USA or Europe you can target a niche audience because that niche audience is big enough to give you lots of work and business. You probably won't be playing Wembley or the Dodgers Stadium, but you can get plenty of regular work. In SA that niche is very small - especially for white people performing in English. The Township and the Afrikkans marketplaces have GOT to embrace local artists because nobody else makes the sound they like in the language they speak.
The world is a small place now, so you can work at home and overseas. I saw Margaret's Daughter last night. They've just got back from shows in the UK, Spain and (IIRC) France.
It's always been like this and always will be, and all over the world.
Richard Thompson lives and records in California these days (I tell this story not to try and convert anybody to being a Thompson obsessive but to make a point). Now LA is full of places for musicians to play and studios for them to work in. You have the TV and movie studios nearby - and they also generate a lot of work for musoes. Yet Thompson, in one interview, was telling the readers how lucky he considered himself because he could actually make a living as a musician. He said something along the lines of "some of my favourite guys to play with you won't have heard of, they are fantastic musicians and yet they can't survive working as musicians and have to have a 9-to-5. I keep on pinching myself and expecting to wake up and find I've been dreaming."