This is a test.
What if record labels operated more like scientific journals? Instead of a band getting signed for a length of time, these “record journals” would just release one important release from a band at a time. Everyone would have to compete for a spot in the prestigious record journals (perhaps titled Music or Sound…) so obsolete bands that subsist on long contracts would die out or be pressured to improve their music. Sagely, accomplished musicians would decide which music appears in a journal, and we as consumers would only have to turn to the prestigious music journals - or specialty journals (The Future Sound of Hardcore) - for what music to listen to. Also, in music journals, musicians would list what equipment was used, discuss the implications of their project, report musical techniques, and cite inspirations and influences in end notes.
Or, what if selling music was more like selling art? An artist would only release maybe 50 records. Each record would be a lot of money, like a painting. And instead of music being a mass produced item that has been deflated so much that its value is now “free”, records would be an investment.
Don’t take these ideas too seriously, I just think it’s interesting how different fields have different structures, and I wonder what would happen if the ways in which they operate were switched around.
