Buying in bulk.  Discounts.  Loads of trusted vendors.  These are a few reasons people shop at Walmart.  People like the safety of having someone do the hard work for them.  The searching for low prices, quality products, and the latest trends.  You walk in, take a look at the shelf that has already been carefully researched and stocked, and you purchase the item.  You’re in and out and on your way in no time.

How the Charts Are Like Walmart

The charts are similar to the Walmarts of the world; they curate a list of music that is selling or “setting trends” and are getting radio play.  Clear Channel has a huge role in who gets airplay and in what part of the country.  This in turn has a huge impact on whether they make the charts.  What does this have to do with anything?  Clear Channel owns more than 800 nationwide radio stations.  They control what you’re hearing.  If they don’t think it will make them money, whether it’s good music or not, they won’t put it into their rotation.  You have to tickle the fancy of Clear Channel to even have a remote shot at making the charts.  Kind of like Walmart.  Without selling your product to Walmart at a deeply discounted rate (and sometimes even taking a loss just to get their nationwide distribution), the small vendors have to sell their souls to Walmart.  It is eerily similar to the music industry, really.  People call in to the radio stations to request the music they like the most, out of what they’re hearing the most.  If they haven’t heard a new artist, how can they request that artist?  So we’re stuck with the same handful of pop artists making the charts, getting the airplay, and getting the major label record deals.  Kind of like the suppliers with cushy relationships with Walmart.  All the while the boutiques and mom-and-pop stores are going under because they can’t compete with the big boys any more.  The small guys often have superior products, but this doesn’t matter.  The independent artists just cannot afford to compete with the majors.

How the Independent Artists Are Like Mom & Pops

There are thousands of artists that we haven’t heard of.  Many of them would likely melt our faces if we listened to them.  Will they make the charts with their face-melting music?  No.  Instead, they will scrap together what they can to buy a broken down van, do a few show dates, and hopefully build a decent enough following to make enough money to pay for the gas to get home.  The independent shops that are beat down by Walmart go through the same thing.  They have a local following, but can’t compete with a nationwide distributor that has connections and deep pockets.

The independent and small artists might not look a certain way, have a certain sound, or talk about sex and the club enough in their music.  Unfortunately, the major labels are creating this sick culture in music.  A culture where the artist writes about going to the club and dancing to a song.  Then they go to the club and dance, all while their song is playing on the DJ’s rig.  It’s almost like looking in a mirror when there’s a mirror behind you; it keeps going and you’re not quite sure which reflection is the first reflection.  People like the music they hear because it brings back emotions and memories from events.  Someone enjoyed themself at the club.  What song was on?  A song about enjoying themselves at the club. It’s kind of weird, don’t you think?

What Can We Do?

There are pop artists playing on the radio that are truly talented.  People that are amazing.  But for every one that is great, there are 10 that are just a pretty face.  Stop buying into the notion that just because an artist is on a major pop chart they must be good.  Here are a few brief things we can do to help the independent artists survive:

Listen for yourself.  You know what you like.  You know what you don’t like.  Start asking for new recommendations from friends.  When you hear a song that you really like, listen to more of the album.  Buy another record from their catalog.

Find those undiscovered artists and invest in them by going to their shows and buying their albums.  They can’t continue to write, record, and play without money from fans.  Period.

Buy local. Go out and find the artists in your area that are playing shows and get to know them.  Getting their music heard is more important to them than anything else.  Ask around about some of the best local bands you haven’t seen yet and check them out.

Tell your friends. Word of mouth is the absolute best form of advertisement.  We trust the opinion of our friends over the talking heads on TV and radio.  Help these independent artists gain new followers by talking about them and sharing links on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, blogs, and anywhere else you can think of.

Thanks for reading.  I would love to see your comments, thoughts, opinions, and stories about this topic.  Also, shoot me a tweet on Twitter; I’m @josh_walker. I’m always looking for new people to follow and engage with online.