“I cannot leave Apple and Amazon, like I did Spotify, because my music would have very little streaming outlet to music lovers.”

Distribution is king. Content is important, but if you’ve got nowhere to see it/hear it, it’s like it doesn’t exist.

This is the battle Universal is having with TikTok. Music companies are used to having the ultimate leverage, after all, they control the content! But TikTok carries on without Universal’s music. Doesn’t seem to be missing a beat. Sure, hobbled a bit, but distribution is king. One can posit that “Texas Hold ‘Em” is even bigger than it would have been because of the lack of competition from Universal artists and writers on TikTok. Nature abhors a vacuum, and Beyonce is filling it. To the detriment of Universal acts, I must say. Take the side of the company at your peril, it does not have your best interests at heart. Sure, rights holders should be fairly paid on TikTok, but if you think that money is going to go into your coffers in a significant amount, you must be a superstar, and most people are not. That’s right, the switch has flipped, exposure/publicity is more important than a few measly cents. A few measly cents for each artist adds up for Universal, but not the individual act. The individual act needs the promotion, the exposure, and twenty five years of the internet have proven that you have to know when to monetize, if you’re charging at every step of the way you’re sacrificing your audience. There are more ways to make money than ever before in music today, and you should not be upset/angered that some that used to be primary are now secondary. Like recordings. As for all those acts with few Spotify streams… Yeah, just imagine your music was unavailable on Spotify, you’d be like Neil Young, SOL.

As for Joe Rogan…

Today he’s bigger than Neil Young. And more influential than any musician I can think of. Probably because of his association with the UFC. There’s that pesky distribution element once again. That’s what made Trump President, distribution on NBC, on “The Apprentice.” And network impact keeps cratering, but if you’re not on television at all…

And speaking of TV, all those channels in the cable package you pay for and don’t watch, assuming you still subscribe, are on life support. They’re paid by the cable providers, and if you cut the cord they make less, they’re evaporating in front of our very eyes.

And speaking of distribution… It doesn’t only cut one way. All the studios thought they could compete with Netflix but it turns out they can’t, they don’t have first mover advantage and they refuse to follow Netflix’s paradigm, which is a plethora of product. Do you subscribe to Apple TV? Unless you’re a diehard Apple fan, I doubt it. The outlet just doesn’t have enough product. And they dribble it out week by week. It’s not consumer friendly, it’s hit dependent, and it’s hard to predict and make a hit.

As for Disney, it thought children’s programming and a bit of “Star Wars” was enough. That’s like walking into Walmart and seeing ten products for sale.

And as far as Paramount and Peacock go… Really?

Netflix not only has a ton of product, it has invested in foreign product, which was not hurt by the strikes. Meanwhile, Zaslav cut foreign production in order to balance the books, to Max’s detriment. Furthermore, Zaslav has not invested in technical infrastructure. The Max app is a puzzle. Figure out how to fast-forward. It’s not like brain surgery, it’s just that Zaslav himself has never used the app.

Whereas Netflix… You can always find something to watch. Netflix is the subscription you’re going to cancel last.

As for Joe Rogan… He’s got the edginess that musical artists used to have. Musicians are trolling for corporate endorsements, privates and selling perfume. Rogan has it right, it’s the art itself that counts. While musical artists are perfecting their wares and dribbling out new material, Rogan is in the studio pounding it out essentially every day. For hours. And not every minute is riveting, but there’s enough nougat to keep dedicated listeners tuned in, and to have clips go viral on the internet. With Rogan it’s about the essence, not the penumbra.

Then again, you’ve got to give Rogan credit for owning his identity. If I hear one more musician thank his audience… If you do it right you should be thanking yourself! Neil Young has made a number of fan-unfriendly moves, like playing all new material on an arena tour after “Harvest,” but it has ultimately burnished his image as a true original, putting artistry first. Rogan is a bro into the UFC, in  many cases an uneducated nitwit pontificating on what he hears via scuttlebutt, as opposed to facts. Just like his listeners! He’s perfect for the internet world, where the truth is fungible and he or she with the most eyeballs wins.

Not that I listen to or support Rogan. But you can’t deny his success.

As for Spotify… It learned that its exclusive podcast formula was detrimental. That when it comes to content, it’s best to have it available everywhere! You don’t want any walls. Pull it down at your peril.

This is also beneficial to musicians, because they keep on coming up with new portals of distribution. It’s not only Spotify and TikTok, but it’s Twitch and so many more. And you’ve got to be everywhere or it’s akin to being nowhere.

Sure, Spotify needs Universal’s content. But I can’t say the same about Amazon and Apple. Music at those two companies is a feature, and far from the main one. Meaning they have more leverage. And also can undercut and  take more risks than Spotify because music is not their main income driver. Tower went out of business when physical collapsed, but not Best Buy.

So kudos to Neil Young for recognizing the landscape has changed, unlike our politicians, mired in pledges not to tax and so much else from the past. You’ve got to assess the landscape, be willing to change.

But first and foremost you want your product to be available everywhere. To think otherwise is to hurt yourself. Musicians are dope dealers. The first one is free, but once you’re hooked…you’ll be paying forever.