MORISSETTE BUCKS
MUSIC INDUSTRY

Joining a growing contingent of musicians who seem to be getting increasingly pissed at the music industry, Alanis Morissette called for artists to come together and fight the "increasingly profit-driven record companies."

Speaking Monday (7/23) at the Plug.In online music conference in New York (hitsdailydouble.com, 7/23), Morissette asked that others join in her fight to correct the wrongs continually perpetrated by those involved in the business of music.

"Many of the most widely respected artists of the last 30 years would be dropped from their record labels in today's current climate," Morissette said and SonicNet reported, adding that labels' bottom-line focus is depriving artists of the chance to experience "natural ebbs and flows" in their careers.

She also said the music industry is making it increasingly hard for unknown artists to reach the public and make a living. Morissette suggested that Congress should intervene in the industry in part to make sure that labels are doing enough to support up-and-coming artists.

Morissette's stand is similar to those previously expressed by Prince and Courtney Love.

Responding to Morissette's confrontational speech, the RIAA’s Jano Cabrera countered that most artists voluntarily stay on major labels. "It's a fact that most recording stars who have the opportunity to exit the major label system do not," Cabrera said. "In fact, they typically re-sign with a major label. The reason why is because these companies know how to market, know how to promote their works to a mass audience. And in doing so, they take huge financial risks to help advance their careers—risks that few artists would be willing to take on their own."