Tony Alexander from MIME was quoted in a great article published in WIRED discussing the possibility of breaking up “Big Music.”
As the head of Made in Memphis Entertainment, Tony Alexander does a little of everything. He runs a record label, one of just a handful of Black-owned labels in Music City. He runs an independent distribution company, manages artists, publishes songs—more or less every service an independent artist might need to reach the market. And Alexander says his artists need one thing more than anything else: independent venues.
– Ron Knox, WIRED
Most of the soul, R&B, and hip hop artists Alexander works with are just in the process of building a following. They need exposure, something that opening for a more popular act can deliver. But in Alexander’s experience booking gigs in bigger cities, bigger acts almost always have management companies. When those management companies also own and control live music venues, there’s just no choice about the clubs his musicians perform in. Independent venues “are running into pressures,” he says; they sometimes struggle to host the kind of talent that sells out shows and keeps the lights on. “In Memphis, that’s a big deal,” Alexander says. “Most live venues are small businesses.”