So we are left with this simple recipe: 
Internet = Good: the music “Promised Land,” offering endless opportunities to attract hundreds of millions all over the world! An artist’s direct link to potential fans, knocking out the middle man.
Big Business = Bad: The bad guys who ignore good music – except for the moments they take a calculated risk with a great new discovery for MTV’s “Road Rules.”
The problem with this recipe is that it gives us a false view of the real industry playing ground.
First, a brief look at the Internet: the Internet can be an excellent business and marketing vehicle for artists. But look no further than Google and you can find endless case studies on the “dotcom bust,” proving that the internet is NOT a business model, whether you’re a farmer or a world-class media company. It is only complimentary to your product, your vision and your marketing strategy.
So, let us say, for all intents and purposes, that there is an artist who is pretty talented and has a good product to offer unsuspecting eager listeners. From here, we move on to the vision: following the “thinking with the end in mind” approach, we establish that the artist would be very happy with regional airplay, a six-album record deal and limited exposure on MTV2.
Now unless this artist majored in Business, Marketing and Entertainment Law, his or her marketing strategy might remain a bit unsophisticated, making it highly unlikely that he or she will ever see the day that one of the songs will receive regional airplay, let alone a six-album record deal or MTV2.
And anyone who has managed to “break into the business” or has landed a record deal can tell you: turning your music into a business can be an extremely risky, and sometimes disturbing, venture. An artist is simply an entrepreneur full of passion, ideas and creativity. The music might be good and the concert crowds might love it, but it will never generate huge amounts of money until the artist is ready to work hard at developing a sophisticated focused marketing plan and whip out 4-minute industry-friendly jingles.
But, even then, the artist needs to be savvy enough to survive formal collaborations with producers and record labels. No producer or record label looks out for the interests of the artist. That is not their business. Their business is maximizing and exploiting a consumer-friendly product. Nothing more, nothing less. The bottom line is all that matters. Once there is no more bottom line,there is no more artist.