The changing course of Jewish Music Orchestra Biz

A friend of mine recently pointed out a recent change in the wedding orchestra business. It would seem that the emphasis is more on the vocalist than ever before. If you look at a Jewish Music album from a decade ago you would find at least three items listed: The name of the vocalist, arranger and the orchestra. The name of the orchestra is rarely listed these days, perhaps in part because no one really cares and it's not as much of selling point as it once was. People are starting to place less importance on the quality or popularity of the band and place it solely on the singer. That is why more singers today are moving away from being exclusive to one orchestra and start booking them on their own. I'm told many people couldn't care less that the band is even third rate quality, as long as they have acquired the vocalist they wanted. Several Vocalists are booking their own orchestras such as Shloimie Dachs, Yisroel Williger, Eli Gerstner and I hear Dovid Gabbay will be joining the fray soon as well. It makes sense in so much as it's now a new way for vocalists to recoup their losses from producing their own albums. However the quality of the music may in some instances may be taking a beating. It can be difficult to get quality musicians (especially on a busy night i.e. a Sunday in June) unless you afre an orchestra office that books wedding musicians on a regular basis (75-150 jobs a year) . Perhaps some vocalists will start booking through orchestra offices under their own name (which has been done before). This new trend is forcing orchestra offices to put up bigger, more well known vocalists of their own to compete with this issue. No longer is a band album sufficient, they will invest further in a solo album of their own vocalist to compete in the wedding orchestra market as it changes focus.