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It seems crazy that today every Tom Dick and Harry is coming out with a single and every single person in the Jewish World gets almost equal attention on Jewish sites, radio, and other advertising outlets. There is so much cheap music out there today, many of which amateurs recorded in their basements that it is so hard for the quality music to come forth. It is amazing – I check a popular Jewish site often – almost every week some new person that I have never heard of comes out with a single! Sometimes two a week. People are sick of cheap music, and therefore nothing excites them. In the olden days when a big name came out with a, in those days, record, it was a big thing! People would talk about it for months and it would be a novelty. Today there is so much out there getting almost equal attention that even big names only get a month or so attention and then it dies and you dont hear of it again. Thats why big names are not bothering to put out new cds often. What is the point? It does not excite people. Avraham Fried has not come out with an album in almost five years. He simply comes out with singles to excite people for a few weeks to sell his concerts and thats all. I wish there was some way it could filter what comes into the market. This is of course besides the idea of “jewish” non jewish music that I definitely wish we could really filter but that is for a different discussion.
MBD said he doesn’t put out cd’s because thanks to pirating, there’s not much money in them. The money is all in concerts and weddings, and putting out singles is good enough for that. The album is dead.
I always looked forward to new albums coming out from my favorite singers but now I just listen to whatever is put on by my siblings cuz I don’t have the same excitement for music like I used too. I just use it to help keep my mind occupied while im working so i don’t jump from thing to thing.
What MBD is saying is a shtus. There was never money in albums. The point of the album is name recognition, so you get paid more for weddings and concerts. MBD already has the name recognition so he has less of a reason to put out albums, and the fact that there is pirating makes him even less motivated. But it isn’t to blame.
Anyway. This is the beauty of capitalism, that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can release a single. That is a good thing. It forces the good to do even better. And we don’t need a filter, the consumers will be the filter.
that’s what happens when you share the world with 7 billion other people! But more specifically, on ‘innzerer folk’, since the 80’s or 90’s there is a significantly larger jewish population nowadays. So there ARE so many singers, and some of them are VERY good. But I hear you. In the 90’s when Fried came out with albums such as Chazak or Hop Kazzak, or even Dedi (remember him?) I would RUN to buy their album. Not so anymore for any newbie. Now I’ll listen to them BEFORE I buy them.
Are you saying that they never made money on their albums since they dont do weddings?
Yup. Although they did make concerts. Miami has always been making concerts. Moreover, if I’m not mistaken you need to pay to be in Miami in order to cover expenses. (What other choirs were there? Tzlil V’zemer? London?)
When making an album there are a million factors. You need to pay for hundreds of studio hours. You need to pay musicians. You need a producer, an arranger, a distributor, and so on, and each one takes a hefty fee or percentage. Selling a few thousand albums barely covers your expenses, if you are lucky. And any profit goes mostly to other people. It’s a fact, ask people in the business, you don’t make money on albums – unless you somehow beat the aforementioned system (like a guy like Eli Gerstner who has his own studio and is capable of arranging and producing it all himself) – but that would be an exception to the rule. The reason people put out albums is for name recognition, period.
The overload doesn’t stop people from recognizing real talent. All it does is raise the bar. I really don’t think this is a bad thing.
I agree with Yitay. I have had contact with some professionals over the years. In the 1980 and 1990s there were only 2 people that made a profit on an album (without sponsorships); MBD and AF. That hasn’t changed much. Maybe Dedi in the short window when he was at his peak. And LIPA. Other Werdygers, (Mendy, Yeedle, and more recently Yisroel) perhaps on the family name. Dachs? Maybe but not likely. Williger and Wald? Fugetaboutit! It always was only to get the name recognition for appearance fees at concerts, weddings and the like.
There are other reasons that MBD is no longer producing albums. At the top of that list would be age. He was mehaneh klal Yisroel like none other for decades, but it is difficult to keep up the standard now that he is in his 60s. (Although Chazan Dovid Werdyger was still near the top of his game at age 75-80.)
I wouldn’t complain about overload. The really good ones don’t come out that often. And the ones the OP as complaining about are mostly ignorable. (Is there such a word?)
There’s alot of very good music being made. It’s sort of like Chazzunus. It’s something to listen to that can be inspirational a form, of prayer. If we look at the musicians creativity as ultimately coming from Hashem then why only listen to a few people from previous years? The issue may be as you get older, can you relate to the younger person’s Torah, or in this case, form of prayer.
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