1. Word Of Mouth

The media was there last.

This is akin to the seventies, when your favorite band finally hit and then everybody went back and bought the catalog and you could take a victory lap. Only in this case, as a result of the changes in the media landscape, it took more like twenty years.

Electronic music was closed out of the old gatekeeper game. Believing not enough people were interested, they stifled it.

The Internet broke EDM. You could hear it, see it and talk about it. On some level, it’s no different from the Arab Spring. It was about communication. Unfettered by the machine. We keep hearing from the disinformation committee known as the RIAA/major labels that the Internet has been bad for music. EDM proves them wrong. EDM burgeoned because of the Internet!

2. The Scene/Culture

There was culture at Woodstock, at the Fillmore, but there’s no culture at the Jiffy Lube/Verizon/Car Wreck Amphitheatre. It’s only about commerce. The Top Forty is skin deep, the EDM scene goes to your core. It’s not about getting up close, getting the right ticket, it’s about inclusion as opposed to exclusion. Which is the mantra of the generation embracing it.

3. The Music

We’re at the advent. It’s kind of like the Beatles being on Ed Sullivan and everybody going out and buying a guitar. Except that now everybody’s making music at home and utilizing SoundCloud. We couldn’t foresee "Sgt. Pepper" in 1964 and we should be optimistic as to where electronic music is going as opposed to dismissing it.

4. Killing It

This is the number one problem facing EDM today. Its embrace by the mainstream in a dash for cash, which will hollow out the scene so fast you’ll think the boy bands were forever.

It all comes down to the deejays. The deejays are in control of their culture, just like traditional musical artists. Can the deejays say no? First and foremost to the money?

We’ve had a short term mentality in the music business ever since 1981, the beginning of MTV. Let’s overexpose it, get every last dollar and then leave its carcass behind.

And once something breaks through today, it’s like the MTV of yore, except instead of having to sit in front of the tube waiting for your video, you can go online and dig deeper and deeper, feeding your habit.

In other words, EDM has to disconnect from traditional business to survive.

The deejays have to say no to major media. They have to say no to endorsements. They have to say no to everybody who wants to get between the music and their fans.

I know, I know, this is contrary to the so-called American way, where you utilize your fame to overexpose and become profitable, a paradigm Paris Hilton defined and Kim Kardashian refined. And they both got rich, but they’re both despised.

That’s not what an artist wants. An artists wants fans, who love them, forever.

5. Radio Crossover

That helped put the music into every nook and cranny. The collaborations that ended up on Top Forty radio. This is both good and bad. It’s good, because why not have the music exposed. It’s bad, because it muddies the waters and risks overexposure.

6. The Music

That’s what will grant the scene longevity. Dance clubs come and go. But great music remains.

7. Bloviating About It

It doesn’t matter what I say, never mind the mainstream media. Electronic music arrived fully-formed, with its own stars, promoters and infrastructure. Now the traditional forces want in. Used to be they were necessary, because of their power, money and influence. Now you can grow these at home.

The deejays are rich enough, they don’t need the label’s money.

The gigs are so successful, the promoters have profit.

And the media can’t spread the word to anybody but outsiders, old farts who don’t matter anyway. EDM lives on the Internet.

8. A Fad

Are the Yankees a fad? How about the Lakers?

We have been mistreating the music, paying it no respect for decades. This is a chance for change. New people beget new systems.

9. Fans first

So far, this has been the case. But in the traditional concert promotion sphere, this is anything but true. From the artists on down, it’s all about ripping fans off, like the subterfuge of ticket fees. Never mind the overpriced concessions.

10. Music Should Be Free

You can charge, but only for high quality and singles. It’s truly about the show, how can you get people to go?

1. Why do the slowest drivers drive in the fast lane?

I was rushing to UCLA hospital…

Now that sounds like I was in a crisis. But that is untrue. I was going for a routine scan, they’re checking my kidney stones, of which I’ve got a plethora… And you never know how long it’s gonna take, because they’re doing construction on the freeway. And on this particular day, today, I gauged it wrong, traffic was heavier than usual, and when I finally got on the 405 I was confronted with the question…fast lane or slow?

Felice has taught me the slow lane is oftentimes the fastest. You know, the one to the right. But because of said construction, traffic tends to be backed up at Sunset, and I was going all the way to Wilshire, so I decided to get in the fast lane. What a mistake!

First and foremost I’m behind an old Dodge van, so I can’t see a damn thing. But then everybody around me starts to speed up, and I’m confronted with that age old question, should I change lanes?

Finally I did.

And after doing this I noticed a huge gap in front of said Dodge. The driver wasn’t on the phone, he was just taking his sweet time. And it wasn’t an issue of acceleration/power, he maintained about a ten car gap between himself and the driver in front…

We live in a lawless country. In so many states, California included, it’s illegal to drive with a cell phone to your ear. But I see it all the time. Especially in the expensive cars driven by the people who believe they’re immune, that the laws don’t apply to them. Hell, why should they? They just pay off the politicians to go free and easy, and there aren’t enough cops to stop them.

And I know the days of three freeway lanes, slow, medium and fast, are behind us. Hell, there are already five lanes on the 405 and they’re adding a sixth, but didn’t these people learn in driver’s ed that slower traffic stays to the right?

2. Toilet paper rolls…

Actually, yesterday’s doctor, another routine check-up, at the House Ear Clinic, an appointment that’s almost impossible to get, you’ve got to make it months in advance, Steven Tyler called me Monday to go hear the new Aerosmith album and I said no, because I wouldn’t be able to hear the next morning for the test and I didn’t want to reschedule and wait until fall to see the doctor again, told me a great aphorism he heard from a friend in Tennessee…

"Life is like a roll of toilet paper, when you get to the end, it goes really fast!"

Ain’t that the truth. The doctor was remarking that it didn’t seem like a year since he’d seen me last, which is the same thing Felice said when I left the house.

And speaking of toilet paper, at UCLA this morning I went to the john and I noticed… The toilet paper had a tiny core.

Let me try to explain this…

Ever notice that toilet paper rolls have this huge, inch and a half or two (I’ve never measured it…) hole in the middle? Why? Is it an issue of leverage/torque, are they fearful we won’t be able to pull out the initial sheets?

Or is it just a scam. Manufacturers wanting us to believe we’re getting more than we are.

But at the hospital, the hole in the middle was positively tiny. The paper went right down to the middle.

This is a breakthrough we need at home.

3. Foreign language

I don’t hear that well. So when the people giving me the tests don’t speak the language that well, it spooks me.

Yesterday, the woman was Spanish. I don’t mean Latina, from Mexico, I mean she grew up overseas. And she’s giving me the hearing test and I can’t understand her. And when I try to tell her this, she can’t understand what I’m saying! And I want to make sure the test is right, and it’s a subjective one, unlike the ultrasound today…

And today, the woman was from Korea. And she was telling me to do things that seemed impossible… "Hold your breath and stick out your stomach…" Huh? Don’t we usually hold our breath and HOLD IN our stomachs? Was it an issue of communication? Was it a language barrier or…

And do you get a bad result if you don’t hold your breath during an ultrasound? Do I have to be uptight about this, or can I be cavalier? Does a powerful person talk on the cell phone during an ultrasound?

These are the questions that went through my mind today.

From: Scott McKain
Subject: Re: WWDC

Bob —

You’re the only one I’ve been reading who "got" what made the Apple session yesterday so important.

May I add one more item to your list?  Apple delivers on the front line to the customer.

I’m on the road on speaking gigs, and after the WWDC program, called the Apple Store at the Forum Shops to see if they already had the new MacBook Pro with the Retina display in stock. Nice guy on the phone said no, but he would know more tomorrow, so I should call back and ask for Josh. I gave him my name and asked for him to expect my call.

Today, I was by the store anyway…so, I walked in. The employee at the front welcomed me, then got something over her earpiece. She asked, "Are you Mr. McKain?" A little surprised, I responded I was…but how did she know? She smiled and said, "Josh told me over the radio."

A young guy — college age — walks up and introduces himself. "After we hung up," Josh told me, "I Googled your name, saw your website and YouTube videos.  I want to know my potential customers!"

They had ONE of the new retina display MBP’s in stock — and after that, I had to make it mine.  But, here’s another unreal thing — as I was leaving, someone announced, "We have just sold the very first of the new MacBook Pros! A round of applause to the customer giving it a new home!" The store employees…some lined by the door…started clapping as I walked out!  (Some other customers did, too, wondering what the hell was happening.)

Sure, I know it doesn’t work perfectly all the time.  But, Apple is making the technology seamless while simultaneously making the customer feel appreciated.  Think Best Buy or Fry’s has a chance when it comes time to buy my next computer? Sure, there’s a premium you pay for Apple…or any other product or service of distinction…but it’s worth it for the magical mix of technology and experience.

If I go see "The Avengers" and the theatre is dirty, and the projector’s bulb is dim and old, the experience is soiled no matter what’s on the screen. Why would a promoter or venue think it’s any different when security is rude, getting to concessions and restrooms require the patience of the Dalai Lama, and everything from parking to drinks cost a fortune, regardless of the act onstage?

In music, the artist gets the applause…not the fans. What if the experience — from clubs to coliseums — was set up to make the audience feel connected and appreciated, instead of gouged?  Maybe…just like we do with Apple…the audience would spend more — more frequently.

Thanks, Bob.

Scott

It’s an ecosystem.

Contrary to popular wisdom, the iMac didn’t save Apple, the iPod did. The iMac spoke to the faithful, however disenchanted they may have become. The iPod spoke to newbies, who didn’t think they cared. Then they joined the reinvigorated faithful and became an army.

You might have read about the introduction of the new MacBook Pro with the Retina display. But yesterday wasn’t about hardware, but software. The integration of all of Apple’s products, from the iPhone to the iPad to the Mac. Suddenly, you need all three, because they speak to each other. And so far no one is even competing, certainly not Google, and although the moribund Microsoft has introduced a decent Windows phone, there’s no uptake, there are no apps, there’s no reason to buy it.

Yesterday was all about sync. They didn’t call it that, but that’s what it is. Syncing your phone with your tablet with your computer, so they’re all up to date, automatically, from the documents you’re working on to the photos you’re shooting to the music you’re listening to. No one else has a complete solution, and as a result they’re going to be lost in the dust.

iMessage and FaceTime work on all three products. And if you’re not a Mac user, you’re out of the loop. And if you think this is insignificant, you’re unaware of the power of BBM (BlackBerry Messenger), which kept the BlackBerry alive longer than it should have been.

You want to play with your friends. And now, you can do this wirelessly, with said friends, who might be on an iPhone while you’re on your computer, watching the action unfold on your TV, wirelessly. But even more you don’t want to be disorganized yourself, you don’t want to waste time syncing all your machines. But now that’s done seamlessly.

What Apple has done is bring its operating systems together. Lion and Mountain Lion are all about making the Mac more like the iPhone and iPad. Now you can control your Mac with gestures.

And the notifications and sharing built into Mountain Lion are staggering. You think of your computer as being discrete programs, now they’re all operating together, like life.

And what’s great about Apple, unlike the music industry, is they’re ahead of the customer. Most people not only didn’t watch this presentation and have no idea of the capabilities, they don’t believe they even need the capabilities! Just like they thought they didn’t need e-mail on their phone, just like they thought they didn’t need apps.

Call me a fanboy, but that’s missing the point. Apple is making an end run around the entire technology business. And neither Wall Street nor the mainstream media are catching it. They keep looking at today’s numbers, at Android penetration, hell, they couldn’t even foresee the death of the BlackBerry when it was self-evident.

Android is hampered by multiple handsets running multiple generations of the operating system, with most people not upgrading to the latest, if that’s even possible. Whereas Apple is unified. You can check the slide. Almost everybody upgraded to iOS 5. Which then ensures adoption of the latest gee-whiz functionalities. And there is no full-fledged Google computer, hell, there’s not even a hit Google tablet.

Apple’s stock is going to go through the roof. Adoption of the iPhone is in its infancy. The integration of all three devices will make Windows domination laughable. Because Apple is not only going for the desktop, it’s going for hearts and minds. It’s invading your home, your car, it’s with you everywhere. And what’s going to sell Apple is not the company’s advertising, but the fanbase, the same way it spread the word on the iPod and then the Mac.

Please, please, please don’t have a knee-jerk reaction. Don’t think I’ve sold out to Tim Cook, et al. Please be dispassionate about this. Imagine if your CD spoke to your CD player and your car radio too. That’s what this is about. And imagine if this aforementioned integration could even speak to your buddies. Yup, you can now share your photos with friends, seamlessly.

This is so big, and seemingly everyone missed it.

Sure, the hardware is up to date, shiny and flashy, but it’s what you can do with it that counts.

Your life is about to change. You just don’t know it yet.

The keynote

P.S. Tim Cook was more relaxed, but he had the great sense to let others do the talking. The keynote was not disconnected from Steve Jobs, but part of the continuum. As for the vaunted Apple television, watch closely and you’ll see they’re already introducing so much of the functionality, without any hardware involved. The key to Apple’s resurgence has been software, oftentimes hidden under the packaging of shiny hardware. Unfortunately, its competitors in the consumer electronics business can make their products shiny and new on the outside, but inside, functionality is still positively twentieth century.