[HejiraNYC]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

What did Reprise do to promote In Your Dreams? Nothing, really. They made some promo CDs and posters, which probably did absolutely nothing to increase sales. All those TV appearances? That's not Reprise...that's a good publicist.

Labels may be "evil," but they are the ones who handle many of the logistics. Distribution of hard media and digital media. Coordination with print/online/social media. Handling the collection/accounting/distribution of royalties and dealing with publishing and other legal matters. Plotting out the release strategies and attempting to get airplay on mainstream outlets. Did WB/Reprise do a good job? No. But they did get the album out to Rolling Stone for immediate streaming, developed a limited edition for Barnes and Noble, ensured its availability on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Without a label, who else in the Fleetwood Mac organization would do all of this legwork? Sure, they could theoretically create their own label, but why bother when they don't even know if they will ever record/release anything ever again? There are economies of scale involved too. Why would FM hire a team of professionals to do all of this logistical work just for three or four measly songs on an EP that will not sell like hotcakes?

Case in point: Macklemore. A nobody; an unknown from the Seattle hip-hop scene who skipped the label, and self-released his album with DJ Ryan Lewis. Regardless of what you think of the music, he's been very successful. His album has been certified Gold in the U.S. and his concerts (where the real money is) are selling out. That is self promotion at it's best. 40 year old white guys like me are going to hip-hop shows.

Oh please. Macklemore has the advantage of being young, musically on-trend and social media savvy. Nobody in Fleetwood Mac is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, etc. (and I'm not including those "fake" corporate accounts created for them). I mean, look at that dude who did the "Harlem Shake." It's not even a song. It vaguely resembles "music," but it became a big indie hit just because it was of-the-moment and widely accessible. The consumers of pop culture today are not 40-year-old soccer moms/dads surfing the web looking for new music from a band of 65-year-olds.

In Your Dreams has sold 500K copies worldwide, but only about 120K in the U.S. I believe Stevie could have achieved that on her own, with no label. The fact is, no one gets rich from album sales anymore - that's not how the industry works. You make the big bucks from touring. The record label is only there to help you *feel* like you've made it, and to screw you, and many artists come out of the deal owing money instead of making money, with no way to release further music and a contract that prevents them from working at all until they settle with their label.

Well, if a tree falls in the forest... Even today there are probably scores of casual FM fans who don't even know Stevie released a new album two years ago, so it's certainly debateable whether Stevie, without any label support, could have done just as well/poorly. I suspect that WB/Reprise, with their distribution channels and access to mainstream outlets like Target, WalMart and Best Buy, exposed the new album to many, many unsuspecting people.

If Fleetwood Mac doesn't have a label contract, good for them. If they were smart, they'd keep it that way and release an album or EP themselves. No record label is going to increase Fleetwood Mac music sales in this day and age. A label will only hinder, take, and use.

So basically you are saying that Fleetwood Mac, for the first time in their entire careers, should just throw out some songs without any fanfare or label support. A quick and dirty release like One Man Show, which probably didn't even sell 10,000 copies. Talk about sullying a brand!

If I were a label exec, I'd be very scared of what Macklemore has done. They should all be scared, because if a nobody-ginger-haired-white-rapper can self-release an album and become a superstar, then anyone can. There's nothing stopping an established artist with an established fan base from doing the same thing.

I agree that the internet and social media is a game changer for mainstream POPULAR music. But Fleetwood Mac is no longer mainstream popular music. Their fanbase is much harder to reach and still requires the attention of dedicated professionals who know how it's done.