Every time I read about the relationship between artists and labels I think of Sean Young's memorable line from Blade Runner:<p>> Rachael: I'm not in the business... I <i>am</i> the business.<p>At some point artists have to look around and realize that labels are not in business to extract value from consumers, labels are in business to extract value from artists.<p>Draw your own conclusions about conventional VC firms...
About to show my age here... I still have the hardcopy issue of "Maximum Rock n Roll" that this article first appeared in. Albini is one smart dude. And he totally gets that Rock can be a thinking man's music.
Steve Albini needs to write more. His few bits of essay floating around the 'net are classics.<p>This one features excellent use of blinking text, too...
I was reading a recent interview with Albini in which he mentioned that now is the best time in history to be in a band, because the web allows bands to bypass record labels in order to market themselves.