Your Music Resolutions for 2023
By Cormac McCarthy
The landscape of the music industry is an ever changing behemoth. Artists are getting paid record-low royalties for their songs, record companies have a controlling mandate over what can be played on radio stations and what acts can perform on festival line-ups. The ability for artists even on the higher end of the scale to make a living is becoming increasingly difficult.
Nevertheless, the music scene, in particular the Cork and Irish scene, has never seemed so rife with talent. As we shake off the dust from the many lockdowns, the general public are increasingly eager for art that is fresh and energetic.
As a result of this, I offer up five new year’s resolutions that will benefit both yourself and those that you listen to.
Go to a local gig
It might seem like the most obvious thing in the world but there is quite an astounding amount of both current and aspiring talent in Cork City and further afield. Every night of the week, there is music, poetry, comedy, performance art and many more to be seen. The variety of communities and subcultures that perform in the city to such a high standard is marvellous.
We can’t let Dublin or Galway have all the fun. Venues like Fred Zeppelin’s, Spailpín Fánach, The Roundy, The Crane Lane and many more have always endeavoured to have the finest facilities possible for local artists to showcase themselves. The majority of entry to these types of gigs usually cap out at a fiver and will oftentimes be free.
Many of the larger acts in the entertainment got their start playing a free gig in their local pub. Sonic Youth once played a gig with a little known Seattle-based band known as Nirvana in the now defunct Sir Henry’s for the grand price of 2 pounds. You never know, you might catch the next global star playing in the Courthouse Bar for free on a Tuesday evening.
Even if you’re not the type of person that particular likes the environs of such venues, I would recommend trying it once.
Beware of the Streaming platforms
In 2016, American funk band Vulfpeck released the album ”Sleepify” consisting of 10 tracks of completely silent music. They then encouraged their fans to stream the album on repeat while generating royalties from essentially nothing in the process. This act became a viral sensation at the time and the band used this publicity to draw attention to the pitiful amount that artists earn per stream on Spotify, Apple Music etc. On Spotify, an artist can expect to earn around one third of a cent per stream of their song, on Apple Music it is just above a half a cent.
This may be slightly feasible for a globally present artist but not so much for the artist on the lower end of the scale. Other streaming platforms like Bandcamp are a much better alternative for these artists. Started in 2007, the platform gives a far greater portion of sales to the artist allowing them to profit from their art directly. If there is a lower level artist that you are a fan of, the chances are that their work is available on Bandcamp. The same goes for Patreon, another service that allows you to support independent creators.
There’s nothing like the real thing
Following on from streaming platforms, the hard copy sometimes is always a healthy option for both enjoying an artist's music and ensuring they get a large sum of the profits.
As well, you’d be surprised at the amount of time and labour that goes into the artwork on the cover of EPs, CDs and for it all to become unseen on a tiny phone screen. Album art is not just a means of packaging and marketing the music itself, it assists in delivering the artist's message alongside the music. It becomes part of the iconography itself and the legacy of the musician.
Further still, artists, even those on large record labels, will always promote their merchandise. From hats to t-shirts to novelty socks, they are all revenue streams for the artist. It may seem like something small and insignificant but collectively it benefits them to a huge extent. Not to boast but I myself own a few t-shirts from various bands around Cork that have no more than a thousand monthly Spotify listeners.
Give it a go
Moving away from ways to support other artists, sometimes its best to support yourself. In the modern age, life can often move too quickly for us to ever get the chance to pursue our own passions. There are many out there who have written dozens of songs in their own bedrooms, but would never dream of playing them in front of a crowd. It’s a damn shame for all that artistic talent to be left without an audience to enjoy it.
Now, by all means, I would never force anyone to perform if they felt quite uncomfortable doing so. Yet, I know there are those who have always wished to give it a go.
The open mic nights around Cork are perfect for those kinds of people looking for a safe environment to do so. The various music societies around UCC are a great opportunity for any student out there who has always wished to do even 2 minutes of a performance. The only regret you would have is that you hadn’t done it earlier.
Break your taste
We can often be stuck in a rut listening to the same old playlists/albums from the same artists/genres that we have been listening to for years. I am guilty of it myself.
It can be very difficult to break from this pattern when streaming services like Spotify will only ever recommend the same genres of music back to you. This is algorithmically done in order to keep the listener on their site for as long as possible.
Similarly, pop radio stations have their own issues. Both local and national are in the pocket of the big record companies who pump serious money into radio play. These stations are also at the behest of the general public who respond to the familiar.
There are many remedies to this dire situation. By simply looking up the lists of the top albums of the year in Ireland, there are reams of ground-breaking work being made up and down the country. This year, emerging artists such as CMAT, Stephen James Smith and electronic duo Telifís all gained serious acclaim to their profiles and are sure to be ever present in our culture for years to come .
Find a festival line-up for this summer and pick three acts at random to listen to. You’d be very surprised at what you might find.