a good thing too.... like the article says NOW is the 1st time a small artist can self record /produce/release and hit number 1 with no help from anyone but the fans.............

so yeah now the trick is to write the song that goes viral ..... it's down to clever song writing and delivering something the public will respond to , and thats the hard part cos everyone and his dog has a single out there so a hit must be more marketable and have more mass appeal .....

interesting times indeed

Interesting article, but I think we musicians have to thank ourselves for many of the music problems.
The goodies available these days do indeed help song writing musicians to produce good music. Although one cannot be an expert on any instrument I think that if you are a guitar player or saxophonist etc. (just examples) you should stick to just producing the best in your song with this instrument. If you good in writing lyrics then stick to that.
You need drums get a drummer to put these in place and likewise for bass, lead or rhythm guitars, background vocals and any other instruments required. After all these people studied their lifetime for this and should be recognised as well.
These one man wonder single hit in a lifetime productions do not last long as they run out of steam quick.
In the old days a "band" (read group of musicians) got together and wrote the song(s) together (there are exceptions). The contribution of each individual a master of any level on his own instrument would produce the best he/she could and thus come up quick a number of songs to fill a LP/CD or other. Most of us can come up with one or two or three numbers and then expect to fill up our bank accounts with that. One can still record these songs on the goodies available to musicians without climbing in a studio and go and blow a small fortune to come up with a decent recording. With the number of "sound engineers" available these days it should not be a big expense to come up with a decent home recording. This product, a few numbers at least should be marketed, you should create a following and you should go on the road and get heard as often as possible.
I think that in SA the public is not necessary well educated in separating good music from average, they possibly recognise potential but are not ready to support it.
Of course all easier said then done, one can hardly get a gig (unless you go for free) to get yourself heard and create a following. The present economy in SA does not allow for regular work at "people's" venues to archive all this. And then we all want to become famous in 14 days or so.
A "musician"(band or single person) should get backup from managers(who know how to promote and get advertisement) and has contacts with the "record" industry to which he can sell your product(read band or musician). Think about a long term future rather than a one-miracle hit song. I think herein lies a problem as well, in many cases a song is sold and not the musician/band.
Another in my eyes most important thing is that you should not give you work away for nothing, who ever wants your music should pay for it. You give it away you are just one of many and you loose out for your years of studies, you hours of input and the other people supporting you. You come over professional and you know exactly how much you are respected(read liked and sellable meaning how good you are) Once you made it an can afford to give it away that's fine, but one should get there first.

The whole, what single thing "killed the music business", is a bit like saying "I have a cold":

"Well over 200 virus strains are implicated in the cause of the common cold"