Making it in the Music Industry: Norwich’s New Artists

A little over three months ago, I decided to undertake a music documentary for the final part of my Masters course. In an increasingly digital age, performing live shows and selling physical copies of albums and EPs has become harder than ever.

In 2014, Forbes published an article claiming the old business model of releasing music, getting radio play, selling copies and touring an album has become increasingly difficult. The internet has provided access to free music, downloads and streaming meaning bands have less power over the consumer than they used to – in 2015, Careers in Music published an article showing the record industry shrunk by 64% between 1999 and 2011. With the ability to upload music to platforms such as Soundcloud, YouTube and livestream shows on social media, artists can put music online without ever having performed a show – however, many artists still rely on gigs and tours to promote their music.

In August, German statistics website Statista produced a graph which shows since 2015, the amount of Spotify’s paid subscribers has risen from 18 million to 108 million. How does the price of streams compare to the price of a physical product, such as a CD? In a world where streaming is rising and physical album sales declining, can artists afford to make a living from Spotify streams alone?

That would be very difficult according to an infographic from Information is Beautiful – not including the royalties paid to songwriters, an artist requires 4,053, 110 plays per month to earn minimum wage. Many of the artists I spoke to need to have at least one other job, if not two, to be able to afford to make music.

Myself and Ali McMordie from Stiff Little Fingers at The Waterfront. Photo: Oldrich Capek

What is it like to be a musician starting out in the music industry in 2019?

A city well-known for its Medieval history, quaint lanes and more recently its football club, I wanted to find out more about Norwich’s local music scene – which artists were trying to get their name out there, how they were doing it and what their biggest obstacle was. I also wanted to speak to musicians with a more established history, to learn how the industry has changed since they were starting out and what their biggest challenges were – and still are.

I wanted to know what the main challenges new musicians in the industry are struggling with, and what their biggest challenge is – whether it’s money, promotion, the logistics of live shows or something else – and how it might be different to the challenges faced by musicians who started out 20 or 30 years ago.

Speaking to emerging local artists Niamh and Bag Of Cans – as well as experienced musicians from art-rockers The Neutrinos and Irish punks Stiff Little Fingers – I headed to the streets of Norwich to find out.