Innovation
I hate "American Idol", but I’ve got to give credit to Simon Fuller for creating something new, marrying music and reality TV to build a juggernaut.
And I give credit to Simon Cowell also. Not because of "X Factor", but because he was willing to tell the truth on TV. Doesn’t matter how mean you look delivering it, everybody knows the truth. And nods their head in agreement.
In other words, Live Nation doing a deal with Groupon and rock stars tying up with Zynga may be profitable, but it is not innovation. The real money comes in scanning the landscape and creating something new, oftentimes ahead of those you go into business with, never mind the public.
Read the "Vanity Fair" piece on Mark Pincus, the Zynga honcho. Sure, he had an Ivy League education, but it wasn’t a straight run to the top. He didn’t go to Wall Street and triumph, he bounced around, creating a boring company that he sold for double digit millions before he built Zynga, which not only throws off profits, but along with Facebook and Apple’s iOS devices is not only putting a huge dent in gaming consoles, but the publishers who create the games you play upon them. Electronic Arts? Sure, Activision has Call Of Duty, THEN WHAT?
If the gaming industry were the music industry it would be scapegoating Apple, Zynga and Facebook. Sending lobbyists to Washington, D.C. to ensure its own survival.
But it turns out the public wants cheap games, with virtual elements, today anyway, tomorrow?
Outsiders tried to innovate in the music sphere. But they were shot down. But without Napster, there’s no iPod, never mind the iTunes Store. Napster familiarized the public with MP3s. And if you don’t think being able to tote around your music collection in your pocket is insanely great, I banish you to a lifetime of listening to 78s.
We’ve got no innovation in the music business.
It’s very simple. We create something that sounds like what’s on the radio, oftentimes utilizing the same producers and writers who built those hits, and we try to get it on the radio and TV so that people will buy not only the hit, but the nine tracks surrounding it for an exorbitant price.
Want to truly blow up? Create something that DOESN’T sound like what’s on the radio. That bespeaks the writers/players hearts. That is incredibly good. Wasn’t that the Nirvana paradigm? It destroyed the past almost instantly.
And one must be willing to question the paradigm.
Maybe not only is the music free, but the gig is too. Maybe there are many other ways to make money than selling recordings and tickets. Maybe you have to play an online game to get your tickets, and in order to get ahead in that game, you’ve got to buy virtual goods. The person who creates this paradigm is the true winner. The outsiders always win in the music business. Build a music community based on a virtual game and performers and labels will beat a path to your door.
You build upon existing infrastructure.
What have been the recent tech breakthroughs…
Everybody’s Skyping. Microsoft paid billions for the service. If you don’t think there’s a future in virtual concerts, you’ve got no vision.
Location based services. How about a game where you visit different locations to unlock the history of a band. Maybe it’s GaGa day in L.A. Get the whole city energized trying to pick up clues. And maybe you pay for tips. And maybe GaGa donates the money from selling these tips to charity. A newer act might keep the proceeds, but you’ve got to leave some money on the table, do good, otherwise people hate you. Hell, that’s one of the reasons people hate the Eagles, they’re so damn MERCENARY!
And where’s the new product built upon Apple’s FaceTime?
Square developed its reader AFTER Apple introduced the iPhone and iPad and Google the Android operating system. Now anybody can take credit cards. Interesting that no record company or musician came up with this idea.
Paperless ticketing IS innovation. Ram it down people’s throats. Because once they see they’ve got a chance for a good ticket at a fair price it makes all consumers happy.
Simulcasting concerts on YouTube is innovation, albeit inspired by the live FM broadcasts of yore. But how can you make the experience more enticing? Maybe by turning it into a game the winner of which gets tickets to next year’s festival?
And the Internet proves it’s all about access. How about one night when every successful band plays an unannounced concert in a club. Maybe release the names of the clubs where they’ll be performing ahead of time. Imagine the lines at the clubs! People will be camping out for days. Tickets will only be available at the box office. Or maybe these gigs take place in living rooms!
I’m not saying it doesn’t come down to good music. But I am saying if you’re not thinking of new ways to exhibit and sell it, not only are you mired in the past, you’re sinking, because the old ways are evaporating.
Or how about an RIAA contest, paying a hundred thousand dollars to the person who comes up with the best idea? That’s better than suing your users.
Instead of bitching that we can’t jet back to the past, contemplate how you can use the new tools to build something desirable.
That’s what the techies do.
