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Many, many "big" bands were local, nobody bands until they got exposure. Sure once some "talent" guy discovered them, they got huge, but they started small.Look at bands like REO, Seger, Zeppelin, AC/DC.And a bit tangential here but, many bands from the 60's and 70's didn't do well at first. It often took a few albums to get a commerical hit-- then people would go back to older stuff and it may take off. This doesn't really happen anymore-- the formula seems to be-- cut an album. If it doesn't hit, you're gone.

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Dudes, check this s**t out:Concert promoters and legislators greeted a proposed merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster with vividly expressed skepticism Tuesday at a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.“Vertical integration on steroids” is how Jerry Mickelson, chairman of Chicago-based Jam Productions, characterized the plan to merge the nation’s largest concert promoter and ticketing agency. “This merger is much larger than just the ticketing business,” he warned. It could “monopolize the entire music industry,” because the two entities manage or have business agreements covering all music-related revenue streams with hundreds of major artists.Seth Hurwitz, co-owner of Washington, D.C., independent promoter I.M.P. Productions, said the merger would put him at a competitive disadvantage because his primary ticket seller would partner with his primary competitor for concerts.“If this merger is allowed to happen my biggest competitor will have access to all my sales records,” he testified. “It would be like forcing Pepsi to use Coke as its distributor.”“Our competitors would be receiving income from every ticket we sell,” Mickelson added.Several senators contentiously questioned how consumers would benefit from the merger, and whether it would further increase ticket prices, which have doubled in the last decade.Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff said the concert industry is in disrepair and overdue for an overhaul. The proposed $6 billion company, to be called Live Nation Entertainment, would save $40 million in “efficiencies.”“This industry is not going to exist in a profitable way in its current configuration,” Rapino said. “The only way to lower ticket prices is to make the artists more money in other ways.”With sales of recorded music shrinking, the new company would give artists “more control in getting goods bundled and delivered to their fans,” Azoff said.But Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), the committee chairman, said the executives’ justification of the merger “strain[s] our sense of common sense.”“Your goal is to be bigger, better and more profitable,” Kohl said, “I’m disturbed by your unwillingness to discuss the real reasons for this merger.”Azoff testified that he believed that the merger would bring down concert ticket prices, but David Balto of the Center for American Progress disputed that claim. “Nothing after this merger is going to force them to lower prices,” he said. “Only rivalry does that.”

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I hear ya-- I can't seem to name any recent NEW bands (rock) bands that have put out decent albums in a while.

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And yes, they also committed a cardinal sin, which didn't get noted either. What they did was they sent out their talent guys on searches for new talent and they wound up signing contracts to every musician they could find. It takes an artist to make it big, not a bunch of musicians.They did this because the contracts signed are one sided and make the bands pay all expenses, everything--including the whiteout, toner, paper, pencils, erasers, etc--anything they can find to bill them for. Then they hold elaborate parties, etc whey the booze flows.The end result is that most of the music in that time frame was pretty bad and the bands they signed had to pay for it all. It's always a win win for the RIAA unless you don't buy. You don't buy they die.

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@unclefire. dude that must of freaking hurt. I have seen TOOL here in Australia and it was brilliant.. Hopefully you went at least..

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they are dinosaurs that can understand or provide new services a new world.

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artistshare.comThe answer.

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Online radio FTW!

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