Fortune has a fantastic article on how savvy, well known musicians are starting to negortiate better deals in the digital age. The Forbes piece focuses on Ice Cube's EMI deal that allowed him to keep a hold on theUS rights to his new album, while allowing EMI to do what it does best, distribute. The deal, brokered by high-power agency The Firm, puts Cube in control of his product, rather than the label, something that was nearly unheard of until recent times.
"The companies were the gatekeepers between the artists and the audience. If you wanted your video played on MTV, you needed a major label. If you wanted your CD displayed at Tower Records, you had to have a big record company. Sure, the company paid you a big advance. Then it would bill you for production, distribution, and marketing costs using accounting methods that would give people in Hollywood pause."
More power to the artists. I've been jumping up and down on a soap-box about the fading function of the record label for a really long time, and it's reaffirming to see a mainstream business focused rag like Fortune finally clue in to the inevitable.
