Hi internet. I never had much time for David Usher's music (he used to be in a band called Moist, and these days he's a solo act), but he makes an interesting point on his blog. Usher points out that for all the talk that bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead get for giving their music away, or setting up a pay-what-you-want download, none of this replaces the previous system of music production companies that would nurture talent and distribute their work.

On his blog CloudiD, he writes:

They are both doing interesting online experiments. Free music, pay what you want, remix my song, make my video for me. Yes we get it, they both have a truck load of money and are experimenting. I think thats great but… Both those bands grew up in the old model and their recent stunts dont have any implications for new artists looking for a new model. All they tell us is that the old music business is so f*%ked that established artists with hardcore tech savvy fan bases don’t need an old school label anymore. That is not a model that is going to carry new artists forward.

That's true. Although, some smaller labels are using the cheaper distribution channels the internet provides to their advantage - their music can be found anywhere in the world through the internet, instead of relying on getting physical recordings to a music store.

Usher continues:

There is a money gap in the incubation stage in an artists life. What is going to take those brand new artists with promise and invest in them enough to take them to the next level? It doesn’t happen by “magic”. Now that the money has moved from music business to the isp’s, social networks and mobile companies. Who is going to reinvest in new artists to help them grow? When all the big trees are gone and you haven’t spent anytime replanting, then what? So enough about NIN and Radiohead please. Thats just rich kids rolling around in their money and having fun online. I love to watch but lets not mistake it for a new model for the music business.

Here, I wonder what that "next level" is (by the way, if you poke around his "blog" you'd find "that" Usher has that habit of using "quotation marks" where they aren't needed). If it's a career making music, I think people paying for recorded music just isn't as valuable as it once was. I wonder if the free market will step up and develop a system to nurture and advance artists. Any thoughts? Any examples?