Gone are the days where artists can depend on selling millions of records to fill their pockets. The 1990s saw several artists exceed diamond status- 10 million plus records sold-(Alanis Morisette, Garth Brooks, Boyz II Men, TLC), but now artists are lucky if their CD goes double platinum. But is it that the music is just not quite as influential, inspiring or exciting? Although that could very well be, the real culprit is the dominance of the digital age. In a previous post, I talked about how physical CDs are becoming extinct due to the overshadowing of digital downloads. Many music fans of today would rather the convenience of downloading a CD and transferring it straight to their iPod, phone, or mp3 players than buying a CD in the store. What about the people who wrote, arranged and produced these songs? That is exactly the petition that Grammy is hosting to bring more awareness to credits for writers, producers and instrumentalists.
When we purchase digital downloads, we only are able to see the artists and the song/album title (unless it’s an enhanced edition that includes CD liner notes). But that may be changing very soon. Ambassadors of the “Give Fans The Credit” petition are Sheila E (the fiery female drummer from Prince’s hey day), Jimmy Jam (One half of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production due. Think any major Janet Jackson song), and Skylar Grey (instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer) are just a few who think fans should get to view extended credits.
I personally think this is a great idea, but I also think I’m in the minority on this one. I think most of today’s music fans don’t feel slighted by only receiving artist credits. The rationale from the Ambassadors and supporters of this petition is that including the extended credits will produce heightened music awareness and increased fan demand for certain musicians, songwriters and producers. I signed up for the petition and I’m curious to see how the results turn out. If you’d like to support this effort, go to http://www.grammy.com/credits.
What do you think about this petition? Will it get an overwhelming number of signers or will fans just overlook it?
In other digital music news, you’ll probably never guess which Hip Hop artists has the most digital downloads ever. Is it LL Cool? Lil Wayne? T.I.? Ludacris? Kanye West? Jay Z? Well think again because it’s….
FLO-RIDA. Yep you may be scratching your head now just like I was, but here’s the reason why he received this prestigious (um, at least I think so) honor.
- His new single “Whistle” is at the top of the iTunes and Billboard Hot 100 Chart…with sales already past the 4 million mark.
- He broke his own record previously set by his hit song “Low”, with “Right Round” which had over 635,000 downloads in its first week alone.
- His breakout hit “Low” has sold just a few hundred thousand units past the 6 million mark.
Just goes to show that quantity doesn’t always equal quality. No disrespect to Flo-Rida, but there are plenty other talented Hip Hop artists I think are much more deserving of this crown.
