[a fool in paradise]

And Robert Earl Keen calls this upside down.

NO. Musicians always had to perform to make the money. The era of getting rich off of recordings was short lived. And the bands never really got the money that was collected in their names anyways.

[a fool in paradise]

PING

[Mr. Blonde]

Festivals are fun. The thing I learned though is that it is best to stick with bands that play mostly faster paced music. It isn’t much fun to sit in Austin with several thousand other people in September and sweat to some slow paced music.

[Wolfie]

Musicians realize now more than before that record sales aren’t going to generate the revenue they used to (crappy recording contract aside), so they’re emphasizing touring as the main way to make money. And, of course, the record companies are asking for a cut.

[dmz]

LOL.

Something the Grateful Dead knew by the early 70s. Their studio records were largely crap (American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead notable exceptions).

[Liberty Valance]

Interesting topic. Robert Earl Keen lives just a few miles from us. His tour page indicates a lot of touring throughout the US thru the end of the year. He has a major following in Texas but I don’t know how he is recieved in other areas. I’ve got two of his CD’s but they are from his earlier days.
http://www.robertearlkeen.com/index.php?page=welcome

[GSWarrior]

The granddaddy of music festivals is held in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

And it's all free.

[Mr_Moonlight]

"The music business is upside down," said alt-country singer-songwriter Robert Earl Keen. "You don't tour to support your record. You put out a record to support a tour."

/shrug ... the Rolling Stones started this way back in the early 70's, when they began releasing a bunch of CRAP albums just so they could concert tour as an excuse ... nothing new here

And just in case any Stones fans here are offended by what I just said - I love the Stones in concert ... the three times I saw them (1975, 1982, 1989) were three of the BEST concerts that I ever been to (and I been to over 300, yes all the *big* acts too). It's just that the Stones records sucked after 1972 or so ... thats all

- MM

[John Will]

The record companies are a relic of the pre-internet era. A band can make a CD using equipment that costs $2000(not counting instruments) at the most and distribute it on the torrent networks as well as youtube. That being said I can’t mosh without a pit. \m/

[SamAdams76]

Concerts and t-shirts pay the bills. That's why you have geezers who were one-hit wonders back in the 1960s and 1970s still giving concerts today even though you can't find their records anywhere.

Terry Jacks had a number one hit back in 1974 with "Seasons in the Sun" and on the basis of that one song, he can still fill up concert halls today at $40 a ticket.