Scorecard
CROWDFUNDING
Peaked. You hardly even hear about it anymore. Another Internet fad that didn’t live up to its promise.
It all depends on the excitement of benefactors. Right now, they’re elsewhere, and too many are disappointed what they funded did not come to be, or did not meet their standards. Furthermore, those who raised money found out they could fund their project, but could not increase their visibility.
We have no need for another search engine unless it’s demonstrably better. So far, no one’s done search better than Google, there’s no need to go to Bing. This war’s been fought.
Illustrates how Wall Street is out of touch. Dropouts galore, but the Street can only talk about money. Tweeting is akin to calling for your mommy at Yankee Stadium.
As for the Stadium, we’re all interested in stars. So the most popular on Twitter have an audience, no one wants to hear the musings of the wannabe.
Is populated by those who post incessantly and grazers…and dropouts. It’s somewhere you used to go that you occasionally visit, fearful you’re missing out on something, but you’ve got no allegiance.
SAMSUNG
Is about manufacturing efficiencies. It killed Sony and put a dent in Apple’s handset business. Samsung is where products go to be commoditized. It never successfully leads, only follows. He who follows must have the best systems. Right now, Samsung does.
iPADs
Is it all about software?
Read this story by Farhad Manjoo, “iPad is Poised to Rule the World.”
Oh, that’s right, it’s behind a paywall, and you don’t have a subscription!
Don’t feel superior, it just means you’ve got no access to the best information. Everybody you aspire to be subscribes to the “Journal,” by refusing to do so you’re just perpetuating your ignorance.
But I’ll make Manjoo’s point simple. The iPad may dominate in the future because apps work on all of them, since the vast majority of people upgrade to the latest OS, whereas there’s a veritable cornucopia of OS’es in the Android world, and phone apps blown up to tablet size are not acceptable.
Read it, it’s the buzz of the cognoscenti:
SPOTIFY
Could be too entrenched for Beats/MOG/Daisy to supersede it. He who doesn’t grow is busy shrinking.
LORDE/ROYALS
This year’s “Rolling In The Deep,” only more so, because unlike “Rolling In The Deep,” “Royals” is not derivative, it doesn’t sound anything like what came before.
Despite all the Miley and Katy hype, the biggest track of the year belongs to Lorde.
And deservedly so.
1. Make it instantly hooky.
2. Lyrics come last, but if you have something to say it decreases a track’s burn. The fact that Lorde is decrying the phony totems pop, hip-hop stars and the money-grubbing rich are searching for makes her the anti-star, who is always the biggest in the game, just ask John Lennon.
However, “Royals” never would have been this big without a major label. You can’t cut through the noise without one. Even Macklemore got major label radio promotion. In the age of information clutter, you need a powerhouse to get your message through.
JACK CONTE
Of Pomplamoose. Has shifted to a patronage model since the act’s YouTube revenue is down. In the nascent days of YouTube something left field could rise to the top and stay there. Conte says today’s algorithms prevent this. I’ll just say you can’t rise above the noise.
AMAZON
Is evil. Read Brad Stone’s book for further education. Oh, that’s right, you don’t read, you’d rather bloviate, just like the content industries who served their business up to Amazon not knowing the company’s business model, which is to engulf and devour, to dominate and then extract price and billing concessions and raise prices to users.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
And stop talking about competition on the web, there is none. Just a dominant player who eats all comers, who can lower prices to put others out of business, and raise them when they dominate.
“Mr. Stone writes that Randy Miller, an Amazon executive in charge of a similar program in Europe, ‘took an almost sadistic delight in pressuring book publishers to give Amazon more favorable financial terms.’ Mr. Miller would move their books to full price, take them off the recommendation engine or promote competing titles until he got better terms out of them, the book says.
‘I did everything I could to screw with their performance,’ Mr. Miller told the writer. The program was called Pay to Play until the Amazon lawyers changed it to Vendor Realignment.”
LUDDITES
Are holding on for dear life, they’re ignorantly embracing the musings of David Byrne and the writings of Dave Eggers in order to feel they’re superior, that the old way was better and modern technology is a scourge upon society. Then they use their iPhones to text their friends to meet them at the movie, having already purchased seats online.
UNIVERSAL MUSIC
Understands the blockbuster mentality. As in he who has the most blockbusters wins today. Warner is finding this out to its detriment.
DOUG MORRIS
Thinks it’s about records, but now more than ever it’s about careers.
Records are short-term thinking, careers are long. And all the money’s in long.
CLEAR CHANNEL
Has an online problem. iHeart Radio is no competition for Pandora, iTunes Radio and Spotify. Our problem isn’t being able to listen to lame terrestrial radio online, but our inability to escape the plethora of commercials to hear what must be heard. Clear Channel is doomed unless it changes its name. People will love it as soon as they love Ticketmaster, which is never.
INFORMATION IS KING
He who knows the most wins.
Ignorance is rampant. Don’t side with those with the biggest bullhorn, research and make your own decisions.
THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, AKA OBAMACARE
Forget that the website doesn’t work well, the Administration has done an awful job of explaining exactly what it is and how it works. Porn sites have better FAQs than the Affordable Care Act. The Administration should stop fighting Republicans and try reaching out to the public/customers. As for the press…it too is complicit in this fiasco. It’s like arguing over whether airplanes should have escape slides, citing the dangers of those who utilize them, without explaining to passengers why they need them and how to use them.
SPOTIFY 2
20% of the tracks have never been played.
BLOCKBUSTERS
Anita Elberse has been writing on this topic for half a decade, but she’s only getting traction now.
Yes, the blockbuster book is not a blockbuster, because it was not sold in a blockbuster fashion.
If Ms. Elberse wanted a blockbuster book she would have negotiated a huge advance and a substantial marketing budget and made an appearance on every TV show and done a tie-in with McDonald’s (well, just kidding about that.)
Ideas take eons to get traction, irrelevant of their veracity. Spotify can’t combat those who believe they’re being screwed by a service that pays 70% of its revenues in royalties. The company is doing a bad job of selling its story. As a result, young ‘uns use YouTube.
But YouTube probably won’t win the mobile music subscription game, because Google has got a terrible track record of winning at anything but search. In tech, if you don’t play to win, don’t even bother to start.
Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment
MILEY CYRUS
Stop marketing and start making music, it’s the only way you’ll survive. Now you’re famous for being famous, that doesn’t last long.
LADY GAGA
Needs a hit record. Soon. Or will become an also-ran.
You don’t rest on your laurels today, you don’t go on a worldwide victory lap, you go back in the studio and make more hit music.
