CREATIVE TRUMPS FINANCIAL

Tom Freston is one of the best managers of all time. Not only did he oversee the spectacular growth at MTV Networks, he left his charges alone, they made the decisions, he was the cheerleader, the advisor, but they were empowered. MTV ruled the music business, its programmer was the most powerful person in the industry, threw off boatloads of cash and was the cultural denominator for not only the nation, but the world. Furthermore, Freston was ahead of his viewers. Despite watchers clamoring for more clips, Tom said MTV was never gonna air videos 24/7 anymore, since they’d become an on demand item on the web, which they most certainly have, wait for a video on cable while it’s available on demand on YouTube? And in a world where there’s almost never a second act, where Walter Yetnikoff and Tommy Mottola and Donnie Ienner lose their jobs and disappear, Freston has been the enabler of Vice, which is not only cool, but burgeoning, about to take over youth news by being edgy and accurate, delivering what you really want to see, as opposed to providing bland talking heads no one believes in. If Freston was still CEO, Viacom would not be in this snit, he would have pivoted, he would have changed, because in media he not busy being born is busy dying. This is the guy who thought MySpace was overpriced and passed and lost his job because he didn’t get on the bandwagon and didn’t lie about corporate projections. Then a manager, Philippe Dauman, came in and the whole thing went to pot, as Dauman was overpaid in the process. We’ve seen this movie many times before. Doug Morris was forced out at Warner and then built Universal. Few bands survive the loss of their front man. Don’t focus on the bottom line, focus on the TALENT!

SEX TRUMPS EVERYTHING

Sumner Redstone was thinking with the little head. All these execs do, and so do the athletes. The most powerful people are oftentimes the spouses and girlfriends. Sex is biology, everybody is vulnerable, the person on the pedestal is driven by the same things you and me are.

EVERYONE DIES

I don’t know whether Sumner Redstone is capable or not, but I do know he thought he’d live forever, famously said so, and really didn’t have a proper succession plan in place. Your time will be done, no matter how powerful you are today. Train your successors, who might do a better job than you. That’s right, Lucian Grainge runs Universal better than Doug Morris did. Because not only does he know the creative side, he’s aware of tech and the changing landscape and he is leveraging his power at Universal for change, like trying to bring Japan into the twenty first century in terms of music formats. Sure, Doug Morris survives at Sony, he’s a great music executive, don’t get me wrong. But Morris was replaceable and Sony is just a record company with hits, Universal is so much more.

YOU DON’T SELL THE CORPORATE JEWELS

Paramount, Dauman wanted to sell half to make the stock jump. But once you start selling that which got you to the prom that still has asset value, you’re in terminal decline. Sure, Paramount is presently moribund, but that’s fixable with a few hits. Shuffle the deck, change the systems, nothing is preventing Paramount from succeeding, it is not an institutional problem. It’d be like selling your car to make rent and then being unable to get to work. Think to the future, not the past.

STOCK PRICE IS NOT EVERYTHING

Sumner split Viacom in two, creating CBS and Viacom. Turns out that Les Moonves is not only a programming whiz, but a financial one too, he rides herd over Wall Street. But today it would be better if the two were together, and because of gross differences in stock price they may not be able to be reunited. So the loss is palpable. Never mind that Moonves would be a better manager of Viacom’s assets than Dauman. Building an enterprise is one thing, keeping it running is another. I give Sumner credit for sticking by his people, it’s just that with Dauman he picked the wrong person.

THE SECOND GENERATION IS CLUELESS

Sumner legendarily promoted from within, but the fact that Tom Dooley was given the reins shows that Shari Redstone and her handlers are clueless. This is repeating the formula. They need a creative guy, not someone who can make the trains run on time. You don’t need to calm the waters, you need a great leap forward. At least Steve Jobs gave Tim Cook responsibilities before his death, Cook was experienced. But Cook is everything that’s wrong with Apple, he can make the trains run on time but he can’t lay new track, everybody’s going where he is now, but will they in the future, of course not!

HUBRIS KNOWS NO BOUNDS

There’s a fiction that if we expose the heinous activities of the rich, they’ll be shamed into doing the right thing. But not only was Dauman one of America’s highest paid execs before the turmoil, he insisted on costing the company money to fight for his failed vision before he settled and walked away with a stratospheric payment. You and me would be embarrassed, but not this prick. Enough is never enough. And if you think this guy is gonna resurface, you’re a fan of Mickey Schulhof and Michael Fuchs.

COURT IS LEVERAGE

No one wants an extended legal fight. You just shoot your arrows and wait for a few decisions to go your way and then settle. The amazing thing is how those with a losing hand take so long to realize this, like Dauman, like Kesha. If you’re gonna fight in court, you’d better be able to win, rulings have to go your way or don’t even start. And never forget, when it comes to high profile cases, you’ll always find an attorney to take them on, lawyers like the glory too, everything’s show business today.

NOTHING IS FOREVER

Not MTV or Nickelodeon. The past is paved with enterprises that have gone under, you’ve got to constantly adjust and prepare for the future.

WE’RE GETTING OLDER EVERY DAY

MTV fired its audience, not its employees. Yup, the beloved veejays, they were all canned, they were too old, MTV had a young demo it wanted to maintain. “Rolling Stone” was the bible of the baby boomers, it’s irrelevant to their children. He who grays with his audience is destined for irrelevancy.

DISTRIBUTION RULES

On a limited cable system, Viacom was a giant. When distribution moved online, not only did Viacom miss the boat, no one goes to mtv.com, it lost its monopoly.

Lucian Grainge sent out an email to Universal executives today ending all future exclusives with Universal artists.

So this is what it’s come to. A recorded music industry battered for 16 years, which has seen 60% of its revenue evaporate, has learned nothing, circled the wagons and left the customer out.

That’s right, Napster was a consumer revolution. At this late date, only Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker are demonized, but if you think back you’ll remember, all those acts and execs complaining that fans just did not know how to do the right thing. Which in this case was to give up piracy and consume overpriced CDs for one good track.

They didn’t. They don’t even buy CDs anymore. But these same people are complaining that the audience doesn’t purchase files, complaining that they stream. Proving, once again, if you want to find people behind the curve, just look to the music industry.

But the truth is the music industry is the most advanced of the media enterprises. It’s come through the digital wars scathed, but it’s well-prepared for the future. Streaming has won and it’s been fan-friendly.

Until now.

The movie business isn’t fan-friendly. Read about a flick and you won’t find it on Netflix, never mind Amazon Prime or Hulu. They want you to subscribe to everything and still be left out, which is why the movie business is still battered by piracy. But movies are different from music, despite sequel-mania, the truth is every flick is a one time event, oftentimes seen one time. But musical careers are long term. People want to listen to their favorite tracks over and over, and they hope that their favorite acts deliver new music that will entice them, fans are invested in careers.

As for television… Cord-cutting is real, and although HBO and Showtime have standalone products, ESPN refuses to budge meaningfully. It just announced an app that won’t feature its core events, who’s waiting for that?

But in music, you can find everything you want to hear, right at your fingertips.

Until now.

Because there’s a conspiracy between Apple Music and the industry to change the game, to get everybody to pay for a subscription by putting hit content behind a paywall.

Apple should be investigated by the government for antitrust. How do you compete with the world’s richest company that’s got endless cash on hand? You can’t. It’d be like expecting hillbillies to get into Harvard if slots went to the highest bidder. The rich get richer and the rest of us…we’re left out, just like in America at large, which is why Bernie and Trump got traction, the usual suspects doing it for themselves have rigged the game in their favor, and now the music industry is trying to do this too.

But the truth is few care.

That’s right, I said it, most people don’t give a crap about the new Frank Ocean album. We’ve got an industry that promotes marginal products that appeal to few and makes them unavailable to most people? That’s hysterical!

The biggest act in the business is Adele, and her music sounds like no one else’s. She can sing, the songs are well-constructed, and they appeal to almost everybody. This is the music industry that used to triumph, it’s one being left behind, as insiders pursue a pop game wherein the youth are everything and if you can’t get it on the radio they don’t care.

Is this really helping Frank Ocean’s career?

OF COURSE NOT!

But he can’t turn down the cash. And sure, his songs will be available elsewhere eventually, after all the publicity dies down. And it could work for him, although I doubt it, he’s leaving the looky-loos alone, and this business has always thrived on the casual listener who drives by and gets hooked, but there are few acts of Ocean’s stature.

But there’s all this press!

Funny how the press wasn’t interested in Major Lazer’s “Lean On,” which ended up being the biggest track of the year on Spotify.

We need a free tier. We need a place where casual fans can experience new music. We’re in the business of building lifelong fans, but how do you do this when you can’t hear the music first, when you’ve got to overpay to experience it, that’s a twentieth century model but we’re deep in the twenty first!

For a while there, about ten years ago, the music industry paid fealty to its fans, saying they were the most important element in the food chain.

Every act still does. After thanking Jesus, they lavish praise on their fans.

But it’s dishonest, it’s bait and switch, it’s no different from Republicans appealing to rank and file workers by cutting taxes on the rich, no different from Democrats letting unions wither on the vine, expecting laborers to still go blue.

This is what happens when you neglect your constituency.

But it’s not hard to believe this is happening when Jimmy Iovine at Apple Music used to be a label executive, when Apple used to have monopolies via breakthrough products. Apple Music is a me-too product that works badly that’s locked behind a paywall and the music industry wants it to be the dominant platform so the fan is squeezed and indie acts are pushed down to the bottom where they belong.

And it’s all happening now.

And Frank Ocean is complicit.

Shame on you Frank, and shame on everybody else who takes money from Apple and screws fans. There’s enough money in music without taking every last buck, and the joke is on you, for thinking so short term, you want your music available to everybody, because in these days of information overload we need nobody, everybody is superfluous, you don’t want to enter the marketplace with one hand tied behind your back.

“The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years”

Every artist should see this movie.

It could ignite Beatlemania all over again. But it’s the arc that gets to you. Four lads with no future forced to believe in themselves turn into jaded men who just can’t do it the same way anymore.

That’s right, they’re in Germany, playing for eight hours a day and becoming disillusioned. That’s what they don’t tell you, the road to success will not only have potholes, but perceived dead ends, anybody who tells you they’re convinced they’ll make it is lying. But John would tell the other blokes living in one cramped room with a loo down the hall that they were going to the “toppermost of the poppermost” and they’d soldier on.

To the point where Brian Epstein takes notice and takes charge.

Every great act has a great manager. One who not only paves the way, but has vision. Much has been written about how Brian made bad deals, but he got the band deals, when otherwise they’d have just faded into oblivion, ended up as illustrators or blue collar laborers having a laugh at the pub regarding the reckless days of their youth.

Brian Epstein had faith. As did George Martin.

And from there, it was a rocket ship.

And we were along for the ride.

And oh what a glorious trip it was. Imagine sitting at home minding your own business and then having a mellifluous sound come out of the radio that not only woke you up, but changed your life. That’s what the Beatles were, a left turn off the beaten path, one we took instantly, a journey upon which we never looked back, one which made us happy.

And then they sustained. Everybody thought it was a fad, that’s why “A Hard Day’s Night” had to be rushed out, before it was over. The old men didn’t believe, they’d seen this thing before, as for the lads, they were clueless, they were just soldiering on, busy all day, trying to hold on.

And the performances are electrifying. From when if you couldn’t get a ticket you were truly left out, your heart’s desire was to be inside, where you couldn’t hear but you could feel, and feeling is everything.

They were climbing the ladder, they were going for the brass ring.

And then it became meaningless.

Life is about doing what you’re good at endlessly, until you die or retire.

But not if you’re an artist. An artist challenges not only himself (or herself!), but the audience. You go by your gut, if you’re playing it safe, you die inside.

Money was important, but proving their worth, impacting the populace, that was more important.

You see they were testing limits, and we were along for the ride.

“I Want To Hold Your Hand” sounded nothing like what was already on the radio. We blinked, and then climbed on board.

“Rubber Soul” had no singles, it was pooh-poohed and then embraced, it lasted.

And “Sgt. Pepper” was a climb beyond Everest, not only was it unexpected, not only were we unprepared, but they went there and we followed them, we’d follow the Beatles anywhere.

But by 1966 there was nowhere they wanted to go other than home and to the studio. Live gigs had lost their luster. They were disorganized dashes for cash. It was no longer about the music, but “The Beatles,” and that wasn’t enough.

They were cheeky. They didn’t give the reporters what they always wanted.

They smoked. When you see Paul look to George for a light while John is talking to a reporter you light up inside, privy to this intimate moment, this is not stars frolicking for the camera, but real people going about their lives, just like you and me.

But they weren’t.

But they were part of our lives. You’ve got no idea how important Beatle albums were unless you were there. Money was limited, you or your parents would buy an LP and you’d play it endlessly, till the grooves went gray, till you knew every lick by heart. So when you see the story played out on film…

It’s about the music.

But pictures convey a message even more strongly when you’re telling a story.

Beatlemania really happened. Gods walked the earth. They were nurtured by the system and then spread their wings and flew, more attention was paid to them than Jesus. That’s right, John Lennon’s statement may have irked the fuddy-duddys, but not those who truly believed.

And they were scared, of retribution, of violence, because…

It had never been done before. Not on this scale, not in this way. They were inventing it as they want along, and were working too hard to second-guess it, they were running on instinct.

But they grew, they evolved. From puppy love to adult introspection.

And they took us along with them.

This is not VH1’s “Behind The Music.” This isn’t even that multi-night Beatles television extravaganza of two decades past.

No, this is the tuning fork, resonating, getting it right.

Too many of the talking heads are superfluous. Just because you’re famous now, we don’t care what you think about then, the Beatles were for everybody, we owned them just as much as you. But when Whoopi Goldberg talks about being a fan, going to Shea Stadium, you marvel, these four Scousers broke the color line.

Sugarcoat it, put it in a vault, make it a curio.

But you’ll be getting it wrong.

This is the story of my generation. Of being all you can be, of pushing the envelope. Not doing it for the money, but the sheer existential joy and satisfaction.

You’ll be singing along to the songs.

You’ll feel like a voyeur watching footage you never thought existed.

But first and foremost you’ll be inspired. To pay your dues. To get it right. To do what you believe in your heart. To test the limits.

Those are the Beatle lessons.

And they still need to be learned.