Quote Of The Day
"The major labels create a culture that isn’t based on music, but on celebrity."
Wait a second, I’ve got another one almost as good!
"…if in 1994 you’d wanted to understand what our lives would be like right now, you’d still be better off reading a single copy of Wired magazine published in that year than all of the sceptical literature published ever since."Clay Shirky in the "Guardian": ‘Paywall will underperform – the numbers don’t add up’
And the reason I quote Mr. Shirky is because in the above article he says:
"Everyone’s waiting to see what will happen with the paywall — it’s the big question. But I think it will underperform. On a purely financial calculation, I don’t think the numbers add up."
And the reason I quote this is because most of the "Wall Street Journal"’s articles are behind a paywall, and therefore the newspaper has little impact on societal discourse, especially regarding music. Mr. Shirky says that the Web has unlocked social desires in the populace that have heretofore been dormant, lacking an outlet. And now people are exchanging information, playing along, investing their time for free. Boiling it down, if you want to get paid first and foremost, you lock yourself out of the equation. Only by allowing your information to be freely traded are you relevant in today’s society.
I’ll make it very simple. Those deejays that are never featured in TMZ or PerezHilton, they make light years more money than all those acts that believe it’s about publicity.
It ain’t about publicity, but music. A great deejay can make $20 million a year. As for his expenses… Let’s see…there’s no U2 mega-stage, no flock of roadies, no buses, just a first class airline ticket and a laptop, maybe some turntables too.
The Electric Daisy Festival had more attendees than Coachella. Think about that. Electric Daisy got a fraction of the press. Sure, everybody there was on drugs, it was about being there as much as the music, then again, isn’t that EXACTLY what blew up music in the classic rock era? You had to go to the show!
Do you really have to go to the shed to see has-beens or rip-off artists while you overpay for parking, beer and…
The stars?
Only known by the audience. Like in the sixties. Your mother knows who GaGa is, but David Guetta? Deadmau5?
Remember when music wasn’t mainstream, but an alternative culture? That’s the electronic music scene.
Quote number 3:
"How do you inspire them to come?"
Read the article to see who said this, but it’s the essence of our future. You don’t inspire people to come by offering lawn tickets for ten bucks, certainly not by offering service fee holidays. Then you’ve got a business proposition, and as long as you’re in that mode, you’re destined to lose. Commentators constantly chide Apple for overpricing its products. But the public seems to have no problem paying premium prices for iPads and Macs. The Apple Store is a temple with low pressure salesmen that glide you through a purchasing process that leaves you elated.
How can we create music and gigs so enthralling that people can’t help but want to come? Oldsters lament the loss of marketing tools like MTV and the decline in power of radio. But if you’re looking backward, you’re missing the future. Success is about creating a scene, something that isn’t in your face, but draws you to it. Whether it be Bowie in the seventies or Deadmau5 today.
And I’m gonna let you in on a secret hiding in plain sight. Both Deadmau5 and David Guetta have deals with EMI. Sony, trumpeting their success with Susan Boyle? That’s an evanescent inspirational story, that’s not inspirational music. But these deejays, it’s not about fame, but what comes out of the speakers, the entire environment. Hell, it’s public knowledge that these two deejays are signed to Terra Firma’s company, but you’d be fascinated by the details of the deals…
Final quote:
"Sales aren’t an accurate measurement of popularity, he told me. ‘My fans are all computer literate. For every album I sell, it’s passed on to 30 other people.’"
Passability, not sales, that’s what’s important. Pay attention to BigChampagne, not SoundScan. How do you create something so good people want to steal it, need to turn others on to it, that’s the question you should be asking, not HOW DO I GET PAID!
As we can see by the electronic music scene, there’s plenty of money extant, you’ve just got to drill down and create irresistible music.
Furthermore, these electronic music festivals aren’t cheap, tickets are nearly a hundred bucks, but that’s no impediment if you’ve got to be there, if you’re trying to have the time of your life!
