Too many people are watching the ball.

Last week it was announced that sales were marginally up. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Now of course it’s not bad, but does it indicate a renaissance, or a momentary reprieve or is it completely irrelevant?

We’ve lost the ability to build stars. At least in the conventional way. Radio has faltered, MTV airs little music, the infrastructure of yore has tanked. So do sales still mean much?

Is it swaps or streams or grosses or…

The establishment of new acts?

An industry doesn’t recognize change for years. The public never really does. What I mean by this is although where the ball goes is interesting, it’s what happens on the rest of the field that determines success. Often unseeable to almost everyone.

I was watching the Broncos game yesterday and all the commentators were talking about was Tebow and Roethlisberger. Both were important, but without a protective line, without a tackle allowing them time in the pocket, it didn’t matter how talented they were.

We’re entering a phase of careers.

And we haven’t been here for eons.

If you’ve got a career, it doesn’t matter if you’ve got a hit single, people want to come to see you anyway. This is what the Web has wrought, a direct connection between band and fan. This is what keeps today’s acts going.

Adele is a phenomenon, it’s hard to say enough positive stuff about her record. But most people still have no idea who she is. She’s had one huge record in America and people are primed to hear the next but if it doesn’t break through, neither will she. Where is Corinne Bailey Rae today? One big hit and..?

You’ve got to be in the marketplace long enough for people to truly get to know you, to bond to you, to have a relationship with you.

We’ve just been on a date with Adele.

We’ve only seen Ke$ha at parties.

Most of the people trumpeted in the press are just passing through, as if they were movies, one of a kind, about to flame out as opposed to radiate.

Yes, the public demands artist development.

Artist development isn’t taking one album from zero to platinum, artist development is allowing the act to become three-dimensional, to grow both in statement and performance. The journey is the reward. We don’t want to see the result, we want to be there for the whole game.

I read "The Blind Side" because it was a Michael Lewis book. I barely cared about the subject matter, the fact there was a big hit movie was a disincentive. But scrounging for something rewarding, I dug in. And was blown away by what I found.

Does your act have this level of devotion? Are people thinking about you when you’re not on the radio? Will they follow you anywhere, especially into experimental territory or when you’re not quite sure where you are going?

The indicator is longevity. Not sales. Longevity means people are streaming your music years after the album came out. Still seeing you when you’re not in album cycle. It can’t be quantified by the usual metrics. It’s not about a snapshot of today, but a film of years worth of activity.

But just like the labels don’t care about long term, neither does the media, who wants yesterday’s papers?

But the public cares. You can visit an act’s Website every single day. It’s not like they’ve got to be in cycle and you can only see them on Leno or Letterman. It’s a constant game. Which is why you should update your site regularly and not wait even a year to release a new album but feed your fans material regularly.

Feeding the SoundScan metric will take you to the cliff. Sales don’t reflect listenership and rarely reflect longevity.

It took us ten years to realize the changes the Internet has wrought. Just like it took ten years for football to realize the value of the left tackle.

The left tackle position still is not glamorous.

But it’s the key to success.

All the little things you do that are not obvious, have nothing to do with photo shoots and radio glad-handing, are what will ensure your success.

The game has changed, have you realized it?

Don’t listen to the powers-that-be.

Even the offensive line could not understand why left tackle became the second highest position on the team after free agency. I don’t even remember Phil Simms mentioning who the left tackle was in yesterday’s game, I have no idea of his name. But eliminate him from the line and you’ve got a different result.

The Internet has changed everything.

The focus has been on P2P theft.

But that’s the wrong way to look at it. P2P demand is more important. But it’s only a sliver of the entire picture.

The Blind Side