Over the last twenty years I have watched the tables turn in this industry, from the labels to the artists.There was a time in recent history when the goal of every songwriter and band I knew was to "get signed" - to live the dream: fame, fortune and rock stardom. Surrounded by beautiful people, in beautiful places, with beautiful things.

All this on the Labels dime.

We know this is a fantasy.

The reality was a Goliathian corporate structure, where what you really got was the advance and the incumbent debt.
Traded for the control of your' intellectual properties and guerilla tactics. Some waited years for their' releases  to see the
retail light. Some are still waiting.......

This article caught my eye, it is a come back goal for the home team, and a sign of the near future.

**************************************

OK Go Exits EMI To Re-Release Album D.I.Y.

After a public dust up with EMI over the label's refusal to allow viral embedding of their recent video,
OK Go has exited EMI and will re-release their latest album "Of The Color of Blue Sky" on their own newly formed label Paracadute Recordings.

The usual polite reciprocal statements followed: “We’d like to thank the people at EMI Music who have worked so hard on our behalf,” said the band’s Damian Kulash. “We’ve really enjoyed our relationship with OK Go. They’ve always pushed creative boundaries and have broken new ground, particularly with their videos. We wish them the greatest success for the future," replied EMI

OK Go may be particularly well suited to go the d.i.y. root. Their greatest successes have been fueled by new media and and social networks, and their viral videos including the treadmill hit “Here It Goes Again” helped sell 200,000+ of a 2006 release. But the bottom has fallen out of music sales since; and their latest is stuck at 20,000. The band is betting that with the help of their fans, they can push this release further.
 

****************************************

My bet is on the fans too, so should yours.

Kelly Warren
VP Sales and Marketing
CDman.com