I work with marketing and communication in the music industry. For bands and artistes, technology has changed how music is created. After music is made, technology has also completely turned how music is marketed. The Internet has changed it all; it’s democratised channels of distribution, brought the artiste in direct contact with fans.
Today, it is just so much easier for an artiste to market his music himself and to directly reach out to his fans. Take Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails in the big league and Junkyard Groove and Jalebee Cartel in the little league?they are all constantly communicating with their fans and reaching out?because it’s possible. You don’t need a (major) label anymore in order to distribute your music, you can do it yourself. It also allows smaller, niche labels to come up. I ran one for about three years (Counter Culture Records) and it’s only technology that has made all of this possible.
?Neysa Mendes, artist manager and indie music entrepreneur