Will music be reduced to a mere hobby over the next decade, even for bands like Cake? That's not the rosiest of forecasts, though Cake lead singer John McCrea is admittedly pessimistic. “Can you put food on the table with music? Probably not. I see music as a really great hobby for most people in fiveor 10 years," McCrea told NPR's All Things Considered this afternoon."I see everybody I know, some of them really important artists, studying how to do other jobs."
You may remember that Cake has the lowest-selling number-one album of all time, at least for now. The group recently shifted 44,000 first-week units of Showroom of Compassion, but hey: a number one is still a number one. And McCrea pointed to the accomplishment as a perfect collision of the band's optimistic and pessimistic sensibilities.
Still, Cake did that on their independent Upbeat Records, though they've also benefited enormously from the major label machine in the past. And that can make all of the difference in the world.
And, it may help Cake keep the show going for a really long time. In fact, McCrea was pleasantly surprised by Compassion's results, and this is definitely a group with name recognition and a following. “We had to sort of re-evaluate our whole business model," McCrea continued. “We knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to be on a big label right now—but we also thought that we could be crushed like a bug releasing an album on our own label. Thankfully we were wrong, but we didn't have high hopes."
You may remember that Cake has the lowest-selling number-one album of all time, at least for now. The group recently shifted 44,000 first-week units of Showroom of Compassion, but hey: a number one is still a number one. And McCrea pointed to the accomplishment as a perfect collision of the band's optimistic and pessimistic sensibilities.
Still, Cake did that on their independent Upbeat Records, though they've also benefited enormously from the major label machine in the past. And that can make all of the difference in the world.
And, it may help Cake keep the show going for a really long time. In fact, McCrea was pleasantly surprised by Compassion's results, and this is definitely a group with name recognition and a following. “We had to sort of re-evaluate our whole business model," McCrea continued. “We knew that it probably wasn't a good idea to be on a big label right now—but we also thought that we could be crushed like a bug releasing an album on our own label. Thankfully we were wrong, but we didn't have high hopes."
