How does a struggling rock indie band get off the ground in 2008, there are thousands of bands trying to break into an ever decreasing space. Record companies are finding it harder to launch recording artists as the internet has taken hold on music file sharing and profits have plummeted.

Only recently EMI laid off some 2000 employees to help streamline their operation and to prop up profits. So what does that mean for bands starting out. In essence it means the space has just got smaller and its even harder now, than it was before. My knowledge of the record business started as an artist some 25 years ago performing at an open air venue in North West London.

At this time record companies moved away from developing artists, in favour of final cut deals. Many artists and bands lost their chance to be discovered and nurtured. Today you have to have all the attributes to be considered and if you haven’t got catalog then forget it.

So can record companies have their cake and eat it too? I think not as technology has changed the landscape and new talent is in abundance. The leap of faith, is change the way artists and bands come to market. A select few decide if an artist or band can be processed via the music machinery that exists today. Ultimately this type of manufactured processing stifles talent and inhibits creativity.

My musical taste leans towards Soul, Motown, RnB and Hip Hop but talent is talent no matter what genre. So when I was asked to get involved in a Rock Indie band I said, I’ll take a listen. What I heard made ears open wide and the old brain matter started working.

Q: How can I get this talent out there so the masses can hear what I just heard. In truth most bands follow the well worn path of loading their videos onto youtube, myspace and the like, trying to gain some exposure but in the haze of 2 million uploads how can you see the wood from the trees. The gig circuit in recent years has got better especially in the North of England however its still difficult to get your foothold as a unknown band.

Thinking out of the box, my thought process was to use existing contacts, so off to my laptop I go and bang out a few e-mails. One contact who works for a leading record company entertained the thought and I took it as far as I could go. I love working with talent, as its aspiring to nurture talent into something formidable. However knocking on these doors did not get us to the wholly grail.

As with all posts on this blog, I believe the power is with the exhaustive audience that makes up the buying public and not the corporations that dictate what we see, buy and read. I would like to turn this on it’s head and let everyday people decide what we bring to market, how we bring it to market and when we bring it to market.

Can ‘crowd sourcing’ bring a band to market? Can the exhaustive audience I speak off, help make this real? If it works for one band, can it work for others? Questions, questions so do I have the answers, answers!

A band needs a platform to perform, a venue scheduled in the concert calendar that has draw, audience appeal and some kudos amongst the band culture in the UK. However bands need funding to exist, to travel, to pay the everyday bills that we all have. I’m in discussions to progress this concept further but what about it ‘crowd sourcing’ in music?