{"id":4513,"date":"2014-07-22T08:57:06","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T07:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mmmboptastic.com\/site\/?p=4513"},"modified":"2014-07-22T08:57:06","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T07:57:06","slug":"the-music-network-tmn-interview-isaac-hanson-on-the-music-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mmmboptastic.com\/site\/2014\/07\/22\/the-music-network-tmn-interview-isaac-hanson-on-the-music-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Music Network TMN Interview: Isaac Hanson On The Music Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Music Network TMN Interview: Isaac Hanson On The Music Industry<\/strong><\/div>\n
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by\u00a0Poppy Reid<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0
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\"hanson\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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Ahead of Hanson\u2019s Australian tour next month, Isaac Hanson, the band of brothers\u2019 eldest sibling, talked to\u00a0TMN<\/em>\u00a0about the recorded music industry and why he believes it is falling apart.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since their inception in 1992, Hanson have sold over 16 million records worldwide, had six top 40 ARIA singles and five top 20 albums \u2013 not bad for a band who commercially peaked with 1997\u2019s\u00a0Middle Of Nowhere<\/i>\u00a0and have been wholly independent since 2003. That year, Isaac Hanson and his brothers Zac and Taylor started 3CG (a reference to their 1998 compilation LP\u00a03 Car Garage<\/em>) after a merger between their then label Mercury Records and Universal lead to \u2018creative differences\u2019 between the band and the team they were assigned.<\/p>\n

Now, after eleven years of dancing to the beat of their independent drum, Isaac has seen a shift within the recorded industry as labels forgo quantity over quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music business has fallen apart for all intents and purposes, and is continuing to fall apart,\u201d he says. \u201cI think most of the reason why it has done that is because it has lost focus on two most important things: first and foremost, the quality of your product; the artist you are signing and their ability to create music consistently that is quality and consistent with shall we say the first album that they made. And then subsequently, equally important, the other side of that coin is the relationship with the audience who is purchasing that music.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don’t value what they don\u2019t purchase so you need to encourage people to see the products that you are making as valuable,\u201d he continues. \u201cWhen you release a crumby product, albums that don\u2019t have an adequate amount of decent songs on them, people don\u2019t value it, so they don’t feel they need to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isaac also believes the rush of free music has affected the industry negatively and while Hanson\u2019s last three releases are available to stream on Spotify, he\u2019s a vocal and firm believer in paying for intellectual property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have people who are able to get hold of music for free, by and large, or at least more so than before, then you have a problem. I think the record industry, by and large, has done it to themselves and I think the artist will find a way to fix that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as fans understand that the goal is to have your favourite band be successful and for you to be as involved and engaged in that process \u2013 because the fans need to appreciate the bands and the bands need to appreciate the fans \u2013 as long as you can create a good connected relationship, everybody\u2019s going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Isaac would never directly condemn the major label industry, he does openly push artists to consider all options. Hanson may not have mirrored their Billboard #1 with\u00a0MmmBop<\/i>\u00a0in 1997 but with international sell-out tours year-on-year, a \u201ccomfortable, blue-collar\u201d touring lifestyle and their own beer (Mmmhops), their career sans major label has been a resilient one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an opportunity that we have as a music community in general to facilitate the music and the art that we\u2019re doing without arbitrarily aligning ourselves with something that doesn\u2019t have our best interests in mind,\u201d he says. \u201cI think it\u2019s all about partnership, ultimately it\u2019s about finding the right people to do the job.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can find a label that is a major label where you have people that are in it that are passionate about what it is you’re doing you can be successful. If you have a small company that is passionate about what you’re doing and is focused on what you’re doing, you can be successful. If you can find investors or fans to acquire enough [money] to help financially or if you can do it on your own and fund your own music, which most aspiring and independent artists do, then all the power to you and you could probably be successful doing it. I think there are a lot of ways to skin the cat.\u201d<\/p>\n

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