Dan Glaister
Three yars ago it seemed that British pop music was back to its best. Oasis and Blur were fighting it out for the number one spot, Pulp and Suede were in the wings, and the Britpop sound was set to conquer America.
But today it is a different picture. Record sales are in decline, acts are being dropped from record labels, and concerts and festivals are being cancelled.
Now Alan McGee, head of Creation Records, whose roster includes Oasis, and a member of the Governments Creative Industries Task Force, suggests that the death knell has sounded for record companies and music retailing, and that bands will soon download directly on to the Internet.
Writing in last weeks New Musical Express, under the headline, The Great RocknRoll Dwindle, McGee points to low sales figures for recent albums that have reached the charts.
For him, the explanation is simple. Its no wonder people arent buying records. When I ask people what they think of the music scene, they say its a dilution of a dilution of a dilution.
He says the excitement that was traditionally provided by rock music is now generated by computer technology. Theres no rebellion in music any more. But if you are 15 years old and you buy a laptop, your mum doesnt even know how to turn it on, man. Thats rocknroll.
McGee predicts: There will be no record companies in five or 10 years time. It will be sexier for bands to download their music on the Internet.
The future may be closer than McGee, who first ventured on to the Internet just a couple of months ago, realises. For $12, customers at the Levis store in Londons Regent Street can cut their own compilation CDs, choosing from thousands of titles at a virtual record store kiosk.
Twin/Tone Records, a Minneapolis-based record label behind artists such as the Jayhawks and Soul Asylum, has decided to give up releasing CDs. Instead, the company will sell downloadable sound files over the Internet. Songs, artwork and sleevenotes will be available, with prices ranging from $1,50 for a single song to $10 for an album.