Jermaine Dupri: A Good Album is More than Just a Collection of Singles

What, is Universal a gang?

I think so, because that’s how they operate.

This is the kind of bullshit I want gone from this business. Rich businessmen who believe they’re ENTITLED!

Hey Jermaine, APPLE DIDN’T SAY YOU COULDN’T BUY THE ENTIRE ALBUM!

I’m just waiting for Doug Morris to break the Apple cartel. I want to see what happens. All of a sudden revenues are gonna jump back up and the CD business will be replaced and we’ll all be drinking champagne? Yup, when Apple allows us to sell our music as albums, the way we make them, then we’ll be in nirvana.

Horseshit.

Jermaine Dupri’s misunderstanding of Apple’s place in the music landscape needs to be commented upon. APPLE figured out a way to charge for online music. Not Doug Morris. PressPlay was a money pit. Apple didn’t invent the hand-held MP3 player, it just perfected it. Even if the iTunes Store is shut down, Apple’s gonna sell a fuckload of iPods. Because of the player and software integration. No other company comes close! Apple’s success isn’t built upon selling tracks at a buck apiece. It’s built on giving people what they want, all their music on one handy device, to go!

I’m sick and tired of the bullying. And that’s what Universal is up to. That’s what Doug Morris specializes in. And you’ve got to ask, HAS IT WORKED?

They were behind suing file-traders. File-trading HAS GONE UP!

They have said no to so many people, believing their music is priceless, that it must be sold on their terms, that their business has been decimated. It’s not like Universal’s overall sales haven’t dropped this century, just like everybody else’s.

No wonder the business is in trouble. All Universal knows is behind the scenes dealings, winning through intimidation. But now that fewer people are listening to their paid for radio, and Steve Jobs is not playing their retail distribution games, they’re crying. They don’t want to save music, that’s utter bullshit, they want to save their private jet lifestyles!

You want to keep earning the bucks? Figure out how to charge for music! If iTunes were such a big fucking success, people wouldn’t still be stealing P2P. Apple isn’t the problem, it’s a drop in the bucket sideshow. To focus on Apple is to ignore the much larger landscape, where revenue can be collected. And how are you going to do this? By selling music the way people want it.

I doubt Jermaine Dupri is buying music. Or maybe it’s that he’s so wealthy, he doesn’t feel the pinch. He needs to live in the customer’s shoes. The customer can only afford so much. What if he buys someone else’s wares instead of yours, Jermaine? What then? Wouldn’t you rather a person buy ONE of your tracks, to get a taste? That’s how we converted people back in the day, before they cut out singles. You purchased the 45 and became addicted, you then bought the album.

The problem with Steve Jobs is he’s living in the digital world. Where it’s about how smart you are. It’s about excellence, not intimidation.

Jermaine, I’d love to see you have success in the future. And the way to do this is to cut great records. If you do this, people will want EVERYTHING the act has ever recorded. That’s the addiction of music.

Music is a drug, akin to heroin. You’ve got to start people, get them hooked. Imagine if the first hit cost $1000! Then many people would never partake. But the drug dealer usually gives the first hit free. Make the first hit cheap Jermaine, 99 cents. Or as part of a bucket of tracks. Get people involved.

CD sales were at their greatest at the height of Napster. The country was music crazy! People tasted music and wanted to own it. The more we’ve tried to lock up the music since, the more sales have plummeted. I say sell it however the public wants it. Get them to pay for it. That’s what every other marketer does. They don’t insult their customers, they treat them like gold, because they depend on them.

It’s a free country. Jay-Z can sell his album however he wants.

But if you’re telling me restrictions are the way of the future, I gotta tell you, you’re DREAMING!