I’m not saying the internet isn’t a good tool. What I’m saying is that the internet has yet to really demonstrate that a band can live by internet alone. Was born of and survives by the internet.

Understanding this only takes a little observation. Lets talk about some of the “stars” that have emerged from the decade long internet era of the “new music business”.

TVOTR – Dave Sitek did production work with the YYYs could be the reason they got signed to Touch ‘n Go (a then powerful indie and former home to the Sitek produced YYYs records) then oddly wound up on Interscope like YYYs. Not sure this is all net (ok bad pun).

Santigold – Produced by Switch already a big name in the UK…released on Downtown which is run by industry insiders (i.e. the manager of Mos Def (her former boyfriend) down with Diplo and M.I.A. Oh btw, her former band Stiffed was signed to Universal. No net magic here.

M.I.A. – Knox (who currently works for Green Owl the label her fiancé owns) was at the time EIC of Fader a mag for tastemakers. He heavily endorses her mixtape which was put together by Diplo already an indie darling. Then gets picked up by XL one of the most powerful indie labels period. If you think the label that put out Thom Yorke’s solo album was relying on youtube viral videos and blogs alone, you’re not paying attention.

Trouble & Bass – group member Star Eyes was (still is?) the Editor-in-Chief of XLR8R Magazine. One of the TOP American magazines devoted to dance and electronic music. So can we say that T&B leader Drop The Lime’s cover feature and consistent coverage is driven by web popularity or the other way around?

LCD Soundsystem – born of DFA…DFA started in part by the co-founder of Mo Wax Records one of the most influential electronic music labels of the 90s… “DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing ring any bells? These guys learned by selling records the old fashioned way since before there was a Google.

I could go on, and the more I go on the more you’d be left with “artists” like Tay Zonday to build a case that the Internet is creating sustainable careers. And I’ll give you Bon Iver and Devendra Barnhart for good measure (but that’s me being generous as historically, folk artists break in grassroots methods not industry machine methods). (Oh and you can have LMFAO and Das Racist I’d bet my soul these net sensations are one-hit-wonders in the making)

The bottom line is part of the new economy theory for the music business revolves around the artist doing the PR, the marketing, production, making videos, tweeting, posting to facebook. That’s ludicrous. Some of your favorite artists are scared to get out of bed every morning much less be able to execute a scheme for a viral video. These things happen with the help of a team. You can’t imagine all new bands are a bunch of fire-cracker whip smart youngin’s like Vampire Weekend who all hail from Columbia University. Some are drug addled messes who happen to make the best music you ever heard. Yeah it sucks…but the truth hurts.

Giving customers a good product isn’t always enough. History is rife with superior products with adequate marketing falling the hell apart. To think an artist that is also NOT a business person can figure all this out is is a little naive. Some of rock’s best artists are not exactly known for their people skills so the job of connecting with fans isn’t exactly priority number one. I brought up Kurt Cobain yesterday..for good reason. Would you truly count on a heroin addict to “get out there and connect with fans” or would you feel safer if a PR agent did it. one who IS going to get up in the AM and do the job? If I have a vested interest in the band I’m counting on that PR agent no offense to smack addicts. And we’re immediately back to square one….hiring a publicist one of the oldest tricks in the music business book.

lets talk about artists who are web savvy. Lets say Crunc Tesla for instance who has had less than a handful of less-than-minor records on Kid 606′s Tigerbeat and Parisian label Ekleroshock. This guy was savvy enough to amass over 280k myspace views…but he can’t get 50 people to come see him live in his home town. Hell he can barely get booked. Exception to the rule or proof that anyone can appear to have fans on the internet?

Is stumbling onto a new band easy with the net? Sure it is. I’ll give you that. But an interesting interview with Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy contained some great stats 79,000 releases last year sold no more than 100 copies. Another 18k didn’t even sell one. So what exactly are we “discovering” on the internet? Are we really empowering these bands or are our attention spans so truncated we can’t even properly support the band we “loved” just three months ago? Ultimately…the proof is in the charts.

Speaking of charts…why don’t we just look at the top ten singles on i-Tunes last week

1. “Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem
2. “California Gurls (w/Snoop Dogg),” Katy Perry
3. “Dynamite,” Taio Cruz
4. “I Like It,” Enrique Iglesias
5. “Airplanes (w/Hayley Williams)” B.o.B.
6. “Billionaire (w/Bruno Mars),” Travie McCoy
7. “Cooler Than Me,” Mike Posner
8. “Ridin’ Solo,” Jason Derulo
9. “Not Afraid,” Eminem
10. “OMG (w/will.i.am),” Usher

I’m afraid I’m failing to see the act on this chart that was “discovered” on the internet. Maybe a few Johnny come latelies never heard of Eminem until they stumbled upon him while reading Entertainment Weekly online…but I suspect that ain’t the case.

Bit I digress…maybe I’m just an old dog looking for the trick…but I don’t see this miracle solution to the music industry that the internet offers.

Everyone thinks what they find on the internet is the next big thing sure to prove we no longer need labels. (Remember when the net generation discovered grime?) For every indie net era success like LCD Soundsystem….there are a dozen Electric Sixes a few Mu and a few Roll Deeps. The old record industry at least made a way for indie bands that weren’t hugely successful to stay afloat (i.e. The Ramones). The digital economy doesn’t allow for this anymore. Ask Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. Ask Def Jux.

Blogs are pushing the new crop of bands down you’re throat and providing you with free MP3s of their work to make sure you never go buy the new album by that band you loved 18 months ago.

Artists can’t live in this environment. If Jane Doe is the absolute best artist of your generation, but she has to get a day job…you’d never hear her. But some schmuck with a pro-tools set up in his mom’s basement, a case of PBR and the time or interest to gain 5,000 facebook friends WOULD get your attention. This is NOT “discovering” new talent. Its more like finding out who the cool kid in some far off high school is and deciding you think he’s cool too. By now John and Jane Doe are teaching pre-schoolers kids how to fingerpaint. And you’re all happy you found MC Schmuck.

Can you imagine the landscape of music if we had to depend on twitter and facebook to discover Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana or Wu-Tang? Because I can really see a tranced out Kurt Cobain and Ghost Face Killah hunched over their i-book tweeting about who farted on the tour bus and what kind of sandwiches they’re having. I’d rather have my favorite artist making art rather than worrying about how many tweets he posted that week.

Bottom line, contrary to the net-opinions of thousands of people who aren’t even employed in music….Music needs a Music Industry. It needs labels.

If millions of people read about the global financial crisis and blog about it, that doesn’t mean we’ve just created millions of economists. Why should we think a million people with twitter accounts and google skills are the new music industry? I’ve read a little Web MD. Why don’t you skip that pricey doctor’s visit and paypal me $50 for your diagnosis?

You know what you get when you let the general public decide who the next big artist should be by virtue of say tens of millions of youtube views? You get Susan Boyle. God I can’t wait for her next album…