How often do you read that digital music will eliminate the need for a label and other middlemen? How often do you read that digital distribution will level the playing field and offer every bedroom producer the chance to compete with Pharrel Williams? Every day, right? Coolfer read two blog posts from industry vets that underline the continued need for money and middlemen.

At No Revolution, Bill Wilson breaks down some of the expenses involved in music (thousands of dollars on studio, mastering, print ads, postage, posters, a publicist) that have nothing to do with a physical CD. Before that he points out how familiarity (marketers use the word heuristics) is an undervalued comodity everywhere but in a record label's office.

"Why exactly is it that the very people who sing a sad song about paying for music are the same pie-eyed consumer drones who need to be force fed their music through MTV2 videos and big ads in Alternative Press? Sure, with Protools and Photoshop it's cheaper overall to make a CD. But to become well known and get the machine started, even the basics cost money."

Complementary post: Hypebot pulls a quote from the NY Times that marvels at the behind-the-scenes people who go into making an MP3 popular.

"When those songs get beamed around the Internet, it's seductive to think that bands and listeners have eliminated the middlemen: music goes straight from the recording studio to your laptop. This conference is a reminder of how many professionals it takes to turn an amateur band into a popular MP3. Here, 'behind the scenes' is the scene: the place is packed with publicists and managers and booking agents and marketing teams and even a few old-fashioned radio D.J.'s. This is a big part of what makes SXSW tick: middlemen as far as the eye can see."

Sorry, idealists. Music is still a business.