Display MoreHmm. While it’s true in the pop market, I think there are other music genres in the West (or at least in the US) where this is not true. Certainly within hip hop, there have been spells in its history where labels played and continue to play a significant role, either as a specific stylistic aspect from that label or because of who is running it (from Death Row to Bad Boy to Cash Money to Roc A Fella to Def Jam to Aftermath.) There were people who followed Death Row or Aftermath closely to see what was being put out or only followed or were at first interested in the artist because of the label.
I don’t know enough about country to know if it is the same there, where specific artist’s labels might have more relevance and power (certainly Blake Shelton’s attachment and promotion of certain groups during and after The Voice seems to boost them. I don’t know if they get signed to his label or not.)
As for artistic integrity and individuality, I don’t know. Even when I think about Western music, there is always a wide range of individuality - there are people writing their own music and people who don’t, but I guess I don’t put the value on writing your own music that other people do.
Whitney Houston was a phenomenal artist and did not write most of her own music. Some portions of her career were shaped by the label, notably her stunning debut album. Meanwhile, Pitbull is out there writing and producing so…there’s no guarantee of quality there.
I mean songwriting is a job for a reason.
I know I’m fence sitting here - I would like artists to have their own freedom but I also appreciate the experience and craft that professionals bring to the game, too.
It’s got nothing to do with the freedom. Even in the west it’s same few company owning all the artists and the same few song writers. Pop music has always been a collective effort and that’s okay.
But the focus should be on the artist and not the company.
Like we shouldn’t even think about what company an artist comes from.
