“Why Bitcoin Matters”

I like smart people. I like to learn something.

Which is why I don’t watch TV singing competitions, where no one goes on to glory and it’s only about the ratings and I’m more interested in seeing “Shark Tank.”

That’s today’s world. Used to be everybody wanted to be a musician and have a hit record, today everybody wants to be an entrepreneur and go on “Shark Tank” and get an investment.

But they’re oftentimes so uninformed, they can’t possibly be successful. But unlike in music, the sharks tell the truth.

Kinda like the balloon guy last Friday night. A shark asked…”How can I make money on this?”

That’s what people don’t understand about music. I only want to sign it if I can make money. If I can’t, I’m not interested. I don’t care how good a salesman you are, how long you’ve “practiced.”

That was one of the great things said last week. That the balloon man was a great SALESMAN, but he hadn’t proven he was a great MANAGER! That if he wanted to grow his business he had to hire other salesmen.

And that his franchising idea was bogus.

I’ve been to a million music conferences, no one ever tells the wannabe the truth, because it might hurt their feelings.

But smart people never take their eye from the prize, they know it’s not about feelings, but winning.

Kinda like my friend Shak. You don’t know his name, that’s not why he’s in the game. I got to know him because he was one of the original investors in Spotify, we hadn’t seen each other in a while and a few months ago we got together and Shak told me he’d started a publication, Coindesk.

Huh?

Not another Bitcoin story! I’d already had it with the Winklevosses, and this was months before the hype became deafening.

And Shak was taken aback. Because he didn’t think he’d have to convince me. That I understood.

But I didn’t.

But rather than change the subject, I had Shak explain.

And I got it.

But no one in the media gets it. They’re too busy speaking of the seesawing value.

But today on the “New York Times” site Marc Andreesen lays out an explanation that will have your eyes bugging out. Not only does he answer all your questions, he illustrates opportunities. Not only is a digital currency coming, he believes it’s too late to stop the Bitcoin train. Kind of like Spotify has such a big lead that despite its imperfections…it probably can’t be beaten.

But this is why tech has become so exciting.

But it wasn’t only today’s article, at the beginning of the month Andreesen went on record in the “Wall Street Journal” that there is no tech bubble:

“Andreessen: Bubble Believers ‘Don’t Know What They’re Talking About'”

And granted, Andreesen’s a VC. He’s got $50 million invested in Bitcoin ventures.

But this willingness to go on the record is akin to Michael Rapino and Lucian Grainge writing essays explaining why they’re not only bullish on touring and recording but telling us where it’s all gonna go.

But that’s not the music business. Where acts still won’t go to all-in ticketing and would rather have Ticketmaster take the heat for charges and drive the public to scalpers rather than charge appropriately or employ paperless ticketing. Hell, I got e-mail today from someone bitching that there was a $20 service charge on top of a $27 ticket to see the Head and the Heart at the Wiltern. He’s busy blaming Ticketmaster. But if you think a six piece band can tour for $27 a ticket, you know nothing about economics. It’s all a scam/sham, to get you to hate Ticketmaster and love the band. That extra $20…it’s promoter profit! All the rest of the cash is going to the band!

But nobody in the music business wants to either speak the truth or live in the present.

They’re talking about gamification in the office environment and we don’t even have gamification in the concert world!

Don’t know what I’m talking about?

Then read Farhad Manjoo’s article:

“High Definition: The ‘Gamification’ of the Office”

Don’t know Manjoo?

He’s a star. He left Slate for the WSJ and last week jumped to the NYT.

And he’s much more of a big deal than anybody making music. Because he wrote every day, at least at the WSJ. And he’s analyzing the issues.

I ask you, does your kid want to be on “Shark Tank” or “The Voice”?