Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Are Record Labels Outdated?

Just last night, my friend was going on and on about how bands didn't need record labels and if they could somehow get enough attention they could be big success stories without them. Well, it's happening this very week in the UK. We've already seen UK acts (and US acts) breakout thanks to MySpace, such as Sandi Thom's hit song "I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker." But she used her MySpace success to sign with a big label and then release her song. But last week, the British music charts changed their rules and said even a song only available digitally could hit the charts. One week later, unsigned band Koopa looks set to break into the Top 40 with "Blag, Borrow and Steal," a digital only song they've put out themselves. Naturally, record labels are crawling all over them, but Koopa isn't even sure they NEED a label. In fact, I called them "unsigned," and that might just become an outdated term.

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