DYNAMIC PRICING

"You paid how much for that ticket!?"

I don’t think local newspapers survive. Not unless they forgo national and international coverage and become hyper-local. With the "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" only a click away, why should I read the truncated post of an economically troubled news outlet? The "Los Angeles Times" has neither the manpower nor the wherewithal to delve deeply into the national issues. But on the smaller issues…

Since the departure of the Randy Michaels crew, the "Los Angeles Times" has slowly improved. It’s breaking news. It’s a must-read. The only problem is too many people have already abandoned it.

Evidence is this article about dynamic pricing in legitimate theatre. Read it. I’ve seen this topic covered in this depth nowhere else. And it’s important, because dynamic pricing is coming to music. And it should.

Two salient points.

One, those utilizing dynamic pricing saw increased earnings of 24%.

Two, dynamic pricing encourages people to buy tickets to hot shows early.

Then again, if it’s a slow-selling show, prices could come down.

But do you want to wait until the last minute to see if you can get the absolute cheapest fare to visit grandma and grandpa? No. So we’ve got a net victory here.

And isn’t it interesting that the advancement came first in legitimate theatre, seen as being so backwards. Then again, not every ticket sells out instantly.

That’s the real problem we’ve got in music. The instant sellouts. What with various pre-sales, to the fan club, AmEx holders, scalpers…yes, it’s hard to beat the scalpers, they own the bots! This is the problem paperless was meant to solve. Not only does the act get all the money, the true fan gets to go at a reasonable price. What’s wrong with that? You’re hurting StubHub and the scalpers’ business! And in America you just can’t jeopardize anybody’s income. That’s the problem we’ve got with recording income. All the oldsters shrieking that they’re not going to make millions! So they lobby to try and legislate us into the past but there’s always some pesky tech innovator throwing a spanner in the works.

Credit Ticketmaster. It delivered seat maps when most promoters didn’t want them. It is championing dynamic pricing. It’s just that their system is built upon spaghetti code, it needs a rewrite from the bottom up. This is why Mac beats Windows. Apple threw out the old code and went with the new, OS X. Microsoft is still trying to support legacy operations and has become an also-ran in the process. In tech, you cut bait. You force your customers into the future. You lead, you don’t react.

It’s time for the music industry to lead patrons to dynamic pricing.

JIM DOLAN

He joined the Live Nation board:

Jim Dolan Joins Live Nation Board After Company Says He Can Still Be A Competitor

Money. That’s what Dolan’s got. And Irving wants it, he’s been currying Dolan’s favor for a decade, managing his subpar musical act and offering business opportunities.

I like Dolan. Because he’s a hothead. He’s more us than them. Just us with a ton more dough. Yes, I don’t live in NYC and I’m not a Knick fan, but when it comes to the rich, you could do a hell of a lot worse.

Azoff is not that rich. He’s not a billionaire. Unlike Dolan and John C. Malone. He’d like to be, but for now he’s got to kiss butt, like you and me, there’s always someone higher on the ladder (the Mideast oil sheiks/royals make Dolan and Malone look like paupers).

There’s something going on here, and it’s beginning to come clear.

Live Nation doesn’t work. And Irving doesn’t like being beholden to analysts and shareholders. Irving stays up late at night plotting, working the game, he doesn’t want anybody judging, never mind challenging and changing his behavior. Irving’s won so far, will he continue to win? He’s gonna try damn hard.

So it’s best if Live Nation goes private. Soon, when the stock is in the doldrums, when it can be purchased for a relative song.

That’s what putting Dolan on the board is all about. Hell, look at all the shenanigans Live Nation had to go through to put him there. Not having to bring opportunities to Live Nation… Eric Schmidt left the Apple board because it was clear Apple and Google were now competitors. Theoretically, Dolan and Irving are competitors. But if you believe that, you believe you can get Eagles tickets on Groupon. You can’t screw Dolan, other than the "Newsday" debacle, he’s money savvy. But unlike so many, Dolan likes to play and is unafraid of doing so. He makes big moves, he lays his money down. And he lives for music. And is younger than Azoff.

The times, they are a-changin’.

WHAT ADAM LEVINE DID NOT KNOW

"Mr. Levine revealed only that he has narrow tastes – he admitted to not recognizing hits by Rascal Flatts, Adam Lambert and the Script, sung by the contestants."

‘The Voice’ Finds Itself, and Some Stars, Too

This reminds me of Randy Phillips’s comments on how big "Empire State Of Mind" was. IF YOU LIVED IN NEW YORK!

Unlike the writer of this article, who hoped that Mr. Levine would acquire a radio before the next season of "The Voice", I am heartened by this story, it makes me feel worse about Adam not a bit, because it’s the truth.

We no longer live in the nineties.

We no longer watch MTV, it’s not the national music tastemaker.

We no longer listen to the same radio station, if we listen at all.

We live in a Balkanized world, a veritable Tower of Babel, admit it. There are all kinds of charts, but all kinds of people who have never heard the songs listed and don’t care to. That’s our choice in the modern world, to be into only that which we want to be. Even more significantly, you can’t make us pay attention to that which doesn’t interest us. The more you spam us, with advertisements and e-mail, the more we hate you. If we bother to talk about you it’s to tear you down.

Advertising has been turned on its head. Marketing too. You’ve got to be the audience’s friend. You’ve got to earn permission. Jam yourself down our throats and we’ll lambaste you online, ruin your reputation, kill your product or career.

It’s not only major corporations who are ignorant on this point, but performers too. It’s amazing how backward wannabes are, doing it the nineties way when we’re living in the second decade of the twenty first century.

First, you’ve got to be good.

Second, you’ve got to make your material freely available online, that’s right, give your songs away.

Third, you’ve got to pray that your fans spread the word. And believe me, they’ll spread the word on what’s great, because there’s very little great stuff out there and we’re looking for it all the time.

A hit ain’t what it used to be. I’d bet more people in America have not heard Katy Perry’s hits than have. No judgment of quality involved, I’m just pointing out the statistic. This would have been impossible forty five years ago, with limited repertoire and limited places to hear it. Everybody had been exposed to "Satisfaction", even though they might have disliked it. I know every lick of Louis Armstrong’s "Hello Dolly" and "Sunny" and "Strangers In The Night" not because I liked them, but because I had to endure them on AM radio to get to the Beatles, there was no other option.

But those days are through.

"The Voice" is mass media. But the ratings don’t come close to the sitcoms of the seventies. And the more you try to please everybody, the smaller your core, if you’ve got one at all.

It’s all about growth from the bottom up. The old Clive Davis/Tommy Mottola paradigm of scorched earth marketing is done.

Find out who cares. Know where they are, know how to reach them. Give them a steady stream of information and music, be their friend. And if you’re really damn good and really damn lucky you’ll be able to quit your day job and play music. And if you do it this way, you’ll be able to keep making a living in music, because you’ve got a base. You might not get rich, but you can go on the road and pay your bills and have a lot of fun and isn’t this much better than digging ditches or sitting behind the customer service desk?