Saw a news report on BBC tonight that made me feel sad. Abbey Road is being put up for sale. Apparently the company that bought controlling interest in EMI is pressuring them to relieve part of the nearly $4,000,000,000 debt that they are carrying so anything of value is being considered for sale. The land that the studio is built on doesn't have much property value so the studio does have a chance to be sold to someone who will keep it. I hope Paul McCartney buys it, he has more than enough money to do so and maintain it as a historically irreplaceable landmark considering all the great music that has been recorded there.
This is a by-product of the digital age, the studio doesn't make money anymore, artists can record their own material on a laptop, use the latest software to make it a high quality production and then post their songs on Youtube or one of the other sites. The only hope EMI has to keep afloat is by using their knowledge of promoting concert tours etc., that big name artists still depend on, the days of the studios dominating every aspect of the music industry are coming to an end. We have gone over the pros and cons of downloading elsewhere and no doubt that is part of the reason this is happening, but it is not the Only reason. The business model that labels depended on for decades is being changed, they either evolve and keep up or they will go extinct and be replaced by some other business that is more efficient and specialized.
This is a by-product of the digital age, the studio doesn't make money anymore, artists can record their own material on a laptop, use the latest software to make it a high quality production and then post their songs on Youtube or one of the other sites. The only hope EMI has to keep afloat is by using their knowledge of promoting concert tours etc., that big name artists still depend on, the days of the studios dominating every aspect of the music industry are coming to an end. We have gone over the pros and cons of downloading elsewhere and no doubt that is part of the reason this is happening, but it is not the Only reason. The business model that labels depended on for decades is being changed, they either evolve and keep up or they will go extinct and be replaced by some other business that is more efficient and specialized.
