Music Makers

Brandweek, March 15, 1999 by Kipp Cheng

Folk singer Kim Baker doesn't really care whether or not a major record label "discovers" her and then signs her to a six-album deal (although she's not entirely opposed to offers, in case any big record label honchos are reading this).

Instead, for the San Francisco-based singer-songwriter, reaching her devoted fanbase is paramount, not the cachet of a major label contract. And besides, as Baker and many fellow indie artists see it, the future of music distribution is currently undergoing a rapid sea change, thanks to the accessibility and efficient transmittability of compressed audio formats like MIP3, aided by the ever-increasing ease of self-publishing on the Web.

"The old way of thinking was that everybody wanted to get signed to a major label and there are some people who still believe that's the absolute best way to go," says Baker. "I'm somebody who believes in releasing independently."

Like many unsigned musicians, Baker founded her own label, Earthwater Records, and self-released her debut CD, On Her Dream, early last year. But unlike most undiscovered artists, Baker has taken her music directly to her fans by making it available for sale on her Web site, located at www.kimbaker.com, and even going a step further by offering free sample downloads, as well as singles sales, using the encryption system of Seattle-based Liquid Audio.

A six-year veteran of the West Coast coffeehouse circuit, Baker notes that the potential reach of the Internet is enormous, if elusive. But after working in the traditional record label trenches as a field representative for PolyGram in 1995, she knows the potential hazards of signing with the majors are very real.

"I saw so many artists who weren't getting worked and so many CDs were getting returned," she says. "I thought, this is ridiculous. Why sign with the majors when your CD will end up in a bin in the back of a store?"

By selling online, Baker puts her CD front and center on her Web site, guaranteeing her music the attention it deserves, because, after all, it's Baker who controls everything from uploading information on the site to sending the CDs to customers.

And because of the far-reaching nature of the Web, Baker can attract buyers from the global marketplace, instead of the local record shop. Baker has filled CD orders from places as far flung as Belgium. "That never would have happened if it wasn't for the Internet," she says.

But does the Utopian direct marketing approach taken by independent artists like Baker truly translate into massive CD sales? Conversely, do the record labels really have anything to fear from the Bakers of the world and their usage of the Internet as a distribution channel?

The answer for some skeptics is a resounding no, because, they maintain, without the infrastructure of a major label, finding a mass audience, not to mention consumers online, is pure fantasy.

"I love this notion of a totally frictionless network in which all music that anyone would ever want to hear just magically finds its way to the device of every consumer who would ever want it," opines Larry Miller, CEO of New York's a2b music, a leading maker of digital encryption systems. "Give me a break."

If Miller is right, the experience of the record industry on the Internet, new and established, could map out similarly to other industries which have already had to confront the possibilities of the Web. Several years ago, online publishers believed the new medium would give rise to 'zines that would be viable competition for those published online by established media companies-- after all, each type of content is only one URL away from an Internet user's fingertips.

Although there have been breakout publications such as Salon, those with the strongest online distribution--usually familiar names from the offline world--continue to out-traffic their independent counterparts.

But Baker contends that the visibility she has gained online has been growing exponentially and even artists signed to a major label can see the initial support backfire. "I've seen so many artists who have been dumped by their labels after six months of being signed," she says, "and now they're not only dumped, they're sort of blacklisted by other labels because they were dumped by a big name."

Breaking up may not be so hard to do for the majors, indeed. However, the going theory is that if major labels want to avoid being overwhelmed by the growing wave of cubs distributing their music via the Web, they better get on board, and fast. It gets down not only to whether Internet users will be able to find the Kim Bakers of the world, but also to whether the idea of downloading music--free or for a fee--holds appeal for most of the public.

The theory will be tested not just through the rise of the online independent sales initiatives, but also through some download-for-pay initiatives being backed by the majors themselves.

For instance, the recently announced "Madison Project," a partnership between IBM and the five major record labels, will offer a catalog of new and old music titles available for broadband download in the project's San Diego test market this spring. Madison may end up making or breaking the ease for the commercial viability for digital delivery of music.