All want want is: A Classic, Orchestral mixed with Rapping, Hip Hop, Rock and Electronic. I want a [beep] classic album NOW! OK, it is what I say inside my mind, but not what my soul want. LP can do anything with their new album/music, as long as they still can surprise me and blow me out of my chair, I'm still their loyal fan, if not, I'll be just another fan of them. Sounds fanboyish?
CASTIEL! Anyway, back to the thread, no I don't think the album rushed the number of songs I don't think has anything to do with the quality of the band and I really have no doubts about the future. After talking to Derek about how Chester was homeless before Hybrid Theory was realised I think my appreciation for how far they have evolved (for the better this time) as not only as a band but individually, has dramatically increased. I see a bright future for Linkin Park after the release of ATS.
Now perhaps to discuss something actually relevant to the thread title, what do you guys think the next decade will look like for them?
To not go solo after their record deal is up would cost them a lot of money. They don't need a record label anymore. They probably didn't after a few years. This is why contracts suck.
I thought there was I interview with Mike with him talking about independent bands and that when there contract end thats how they wanna go. Besides isnt warner complete dicks to them. Chester said they always told them they were a fluke even after selling 40 million records and that big money issue back in the day where LP tried to terminate there contract
There aren't many bands out there that are well off, much less independent bands. I'd imagine the only independent bands that are well off are the ones that used to be tied to big record deals and got really famous, broke their ties, and sold their stuff on their own. It's almost impossible for bands to start out independently. It's getting easier since you don't necessarily need to sell CDs to make it big, which is basically all you need record companies for. The mp3 world is rising and will one day drown out the need for CDs. Then that will almost surely be the end of record companies. The only downside to being independent is not having any money given to you to make and distribute your music. You also only make an extremely small percentage of the money the music makes, though. So once you have enough money, you can do everything on your own and take all the money for yourself. A good example of this is Trent Reznor. There's a few really good articles out there with him.
Well yeah and they could go his route, but he went independent after he'd been in the business MUCH MUCH longer than LP has been. The band might want to go independent at some point or create their own label as Sarah said, but now probably isn't the time. They don't have nearly enough capital or credo for that, especially after this album didn't sell as fantastically as previous releases.
I can almost guarantee you LP has way more money now than Trent ever did while under his contract. But that's pretty much irrelevant now. All you need is fame and you can release everything on your own digitally. You need like $50 to put it on Amazon where people can download it and make you millions more than you'd get selling records under a record label.
Still, I'd say it's a bad idea to go that route when half of your fanbase is disappointed in your output. Give them some time to calm down.
Why would it be bad? It's not like they'll make less money with that decision. It's not like they'll have less freedom to do what they want.
The percentage you can get out of what you sell depends on the strategy you adopt if you take an independent route. Reznor minimises costs by having his own studio and handling his own engineering and so on, in addition to running his own label, the Null Corporation. If Linkin Park were to have a go at that, given that the climate is right for them to go independent, Shinoda could probably pay for an assistant engineer or two and the band could create albums out of his home studio, along with the other home studio's which the other band members are said to have on hand. If they need a bit of extra ca$h, Shinoda could take on some remix work or charge 10K for a guest verse or something. ;" As for, like, manufacturing and releasing the material, I've got no idea about that ... Reznor's strategy of releasing shit for free and letting people choose whether something they just downloaded for free is good enough to pay for, that's a great idea but I don't know if it would work for everyone. But, yeah, being signed to a label hasn't become totally detrimental to the band's career just yet, so I doubt they'll be leaving Warner Bros. any time soon ... not while their present contract still stands, at least.
It would be interesting if they can challenge themselves to close certain doors and set limitations regarding a specific vision or atmosphere for particular songs. It won't be reminiscent of their old sounds, but new artistic adventures involving a pre-determined set of resources. For example, they could seek out instruments from a Northern culture and only use those in one song; while the next song demands a japanese-esq environment in mind. The scenario demands "they make the best of it". How many tracks can they get out of this instrument? How can they use this instrument in a new way. Linkin Park defines their own genres from song to song, or to be specific, from idea to idea. It could be fascinating to hear how they adapt to a new, limited world. The concept I have put forward is somewhat ambiguous at first, but take a look again, this might just be something LP needs.
I'd rather see them work on a very specific concept than have their musical resources limited. That way they still have to focus on one thing, but they have all the tools at their disposal to accomplish this specific task.
If Hikara, or whatever that famous animated japanese movie is called, gets redone then LP would be a good fit for either the entirety or majority of the soundtrack.