Marketing and Development Consultant Bonnie Howard Woods has had enough and she isn't afraid to say so. She thinks it would be a great world if nice guys came in first, if what was 'right" always prevailed, and if everyone could compete in their area of expertise on a level playing field. However she recognizes that this is not happening in the music industry. She has begun working with a new non-profit group, the Georgia Music Industry Association (GMIA) on "The Miracle Project".
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As a music consumer, I've changed my listening habits. Many music lovers today choose to hear streaming online music or download CDs for entertainment because radio stations seem repetitious and unexciting. I often hear the same artists and the same songs over and over and over. This is just not adequate for the savvy music-lover of the new internet-driven millennium. Radio stations are about to receive [proven] marketable new talent, local listeners will finally hear more songs from regional artists, the airwaves will offer greater variety, qualified GMIA artists may become part of Apple iTunes, and more music professionals will be living and spending money in Atlanta. Results include an improved local economy which attracts tourists and other artists to Atlanta. Sounds too simple, and yet it is not simple. The acronym for MIRACLE is: MUSIC IS REALLY A COMMUNITY LIAISON EXPERIENCE. Every week I see business communities throughout the state discovering the significance of this cause. This non-profit organization has great foresight. It's an arts and cultural group of excited experts working toward 'the American Dream" even in the face of the nay-sayers who will always stand in the skeptic's line. I'd like to see a MIRACLE today. I'm cheering for the little guy, and remembering the many American successes in the past that were unexpected. Who ever thought a young black man born in a poor part of Mobile, Alabama, called 'Down the Bay" would grow up to surpass Babe Ruth's homerun record, or that a school dropout from Macon, Georgia, would go on to write and record hits like [Sittin' on the] 'Dock of the Bay"? Today that kid from Macon wouldn't make it. |
She goes on to say: "The key to this coup is the following: integrity. With open books, professional education programs, highest quality webcasting, shared CD sales revenue from worldwide downloading capabilities, truly fair voting and charting methods, and a personal mission to offer equal opportunity to local songwriters and musicians, GMIA has created a win-win situation for everyone involved".
Who knows, if this model catches on in Georgia, maybe we will see a long overdue shake-up in an industry that is stuck like a scratched record. If you are tired of the standard pablum of American Idols and manufactured "stars" offered by the music industry, you know this is an important movement.
Source: mi2n.com
