I screwed up.  My e-mail told me.

I provided the right link, but I gave the wrong name.  The A8 is a mighty fine car…FOR A SEDAN!

Yup, the A8 is the top of the line sedan, the R8 is something all together different.  Twice the price, the R8 is a cousin of the Lamborghini Gallardo, as you can read here:

Audi R8 (road car)

I’ve been piloting an R8 all week.

Now you may not be interested in automobiles, but you will want to know that the Internet is one big correction factor, with surfers ready to inform a writer of each and every mistake.  This is a good thing.  Collaboration delivers accuracy.  This is the secret to open source software and is changing the way society works.  Young people, Netizens so to speak, know that information constantly flows and the truth is in flux, it’s something every one searches for together.  Of course, there are people like Andrew Breitbart who want to throw a monkey wrench in the system, but isn’t it fascinating that there were Web watchdogs who went to the original unedited tape and ferreted out the truth?

In other words, if you’ve got something to hide, you’d better erase your presence online.  Which is almost an impossibility these days.  In other words, lying cheating scumbags can no longer work their mischief unfettered.  The ticket shenanigans, with acts scalping their own ducats and the holdback of the best seats…the public knows the truth, and the touring industry is paying the price.

The record labels too.  In a digital era, they’re utilizing analog accounting.  They think everybody wants to make a deal.  But wannabe stars know that making a deal with a major is making a deal with the devil, you can’t get out unless you’re unsuccessful, and often not even then, and you’ll never get paid what you’re owed.  It was one thing when the label only screwed you on record royalties, now they want a piece of everything?

Honesty, truth and transparency…

Not that the Net operations of youngsters don’t try to test the limits, but whenever Facebook makes a heinous change to its privacy policy, the blowback is deafening.  This is a good thing.

Focus on the music.  Treat your fans right.  Eliminate hidden charges.  Let people get a good ticket.  Allow them to both listen for free and purchase $100 souvenir packages…  Not that you shouldn’t sell t-shirts as cheaply as you can…did you ever consider that they’re advertisements?  I mean it’s one thing to pay for an inert two-dimensional billboard, but if someone is wearing a rock t-shirt, they’ve got to really believe.  An anonymous paid for street team will promote crap online, but get them to wear the t-shirt of the lousy band all day long?  Mmm…  In a fashion-based society, that’s a no-no.

So, all this is a longwinded missive to tell you I made a mistake.  I do.  On a regular basis.  I’m human.  It pains me, but I’ve got to own up to the truth and take my knocks.  Only in this case, the truth is BETTER than the mistake!

Me In My R8

Speaking about the gulf between rich and poor, I’m driving a $146,425 car.  BEFORE TAXES!

I normally drive a pocket rocket, a rice burner.  I got it for $9500 off.  Hell, who wants a Subaru that says SAAB?  Yup, under the skin, my car is a Subaru WRX.  A poor man’s Porsche.

And why am I poor?

I’ve been thinking about this.  Seems to have something to do with my Middlebury education.  None of my fellow alumni are rich, certainly not my friends.  Instead, they constantly go on about how POOR THEY ARE!  Driving cars held together with chewing gum, wearing ratty clothes, as if their almost homeless lifestyles evidence something holier than thou.

But I alone live in SoCal…  Where it’s a dash for cash.  Hell, I remember the first day of law school, when some kid said he was in it for the MONEY!  You might think that on the east coast, but you’d never SAY IT!

Then again, the money culture has invaded my homeland too.  With all those bankers raping and pillaging.

Meanwhile, I’m sitting with my chin in my hand trying to figure it all out.  I don’t want to sell my soul like the rest of the baby boomers did back in the eighties.  But my shrink, a Harvard man himself, constantly asks me how come I can’t have anything, why I have to approach the world with my pockets turned out, like I don’t count.

And I don’t want to go Nordstrom and buy the latest fashions.  Hell, I certainly don’t want to go to the shops on Rodeo.  I don’t want to be Bob Dylan in his Jerry Weintraub era, dressed in a silk shirt.  Then again, maybe I have it dialed down too tight. And I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have a secret desire to be rich.  Oh, not Wall Street rich, just rich enough to be able to ski every day (and write every night!), to not be worried about the bills.  I believe if I just sit in front of this computer long enough, tap the keys hard enough, eventually the money will flow.  Right out of the printer.  That’s what I’m waiting for, home cash machines.  Why do we have to drive to the ATM?

Not that I’m into get-rich-quick schemes.  I tried those in the eighties, they don’t pan out, you’ve got to have the personality.  A take no prisoners there are no obstacles in life if the little people get squashed so be it attitude.  And I’m all about the little people.

Then again, too many of the little people take themselves out of the equation.  Bitch that they don’t have when they don’t try. HARD!  I believe in a social safety net, everyone should have a roof over his head, food to eat, health care, but not everybody can be rich and famous.  You’ve got to WORK for that.  Even those reality TV stars.  It ain’t easy to get on the tube.  Then again, they don’t realize that’s just the BEGINNING!  You’ve got fame, NOW WHAT?

Rockin’ steady in her daddy’s car
She got the stereo with the big guitars
And that’s all right

My daddy never drove a car this nice.  But when his Mercury blew a valve and he did a favor for someone he got the opportunity to buy a Mercedes for one third off and took the leap.  And never turned back.  He always criticized our neighbor for being too into his car, for not allowing anybody else to drive it, but suddenly my dad was the same way.  And when that machine got totaled, he bought another.  And another.  Always slightly used.  Always top of the line.  He marveled at the dropping jaws after telling clients he drove a small foreign car.

And I had the same experience on Monday.  When Fred dropped me off.  When I told him this was my car, he said "The Blue Honda?"

No, the Audi A8 across the street.  The low-slung Ferrari-looking machine.  The racy big brother to the Q5 he was driving.

And Fred’s jaw dropped.

Suddenly, I went from loser to winner.

And that’s what I’ve felt like this whole past week.  A winner.  Putting the pedal to the metal as the radio blares and the engine roars and the car fills up with that sweet smell.

I got the itch and a restless soul
She gone with the wind
Gonna go for broke tonight, yeah
And that’s all night

Purring up Beverly Glen, writhing over Malibu Canyon.  I’m wringing those 420 horses for all they’re worth.  Living the California dream.

Girl, we’ve been meant for this
Since we were born
No problems now, the coast is clear
It’s just the calm before the storm

What was I born for?  My father started off with nothing, bought a liquor store and ended up the best real estate appraiser in the State of Connecticut.  Doesn’t sound too impressive, but it allowed him to have the income of a doctor or lawyer, go on vacation, drive that aforementioned Mercedes, send three kids to private colleges and graduate schools.

Maybe I grew up too comfortable.

Maybe I went to too good a school.

I’m lost.  Trying to figure out what I should want, who I should be.

This must be just like livin’ in paradise
And I don’t want to go home

Complaints.  The car isn’t easy to get out of, it’s like driving on the ground.  And when you turn the radio knob to the right the pointer goes up, not down.  And there’s no sunroof.  In other words…NOTHING!

And before I looked at the Monroney, before I found out the car was $25,000 more than I thought, I was contemplating…  This is a reasonable goal, enough money to buy a $125,000 car.  Not that I’d spend that much money on a car.  But I’d like to be ABLE TO!

Then again, why not?

Unlike a Ferrari, the clutch is easy, the gearbox is smooth, it’s just like driving my Saabaru, except that when I floor it my body is thrown back into the seat and I’m afraid of both the Grim Reaper and the police simultaneously.

And I was telling myself I’m not worthy.

Then my thinking switched.  They came looking for me.  Sure, they expect me to write what a great fucking car the A8 is, but they’re not looking for anybody else in my neighborhood, I EARNED IT!

My compensation is funny.  It’s not in cash.  It’s in travel, concert tickets and restaurant meals.  My lifestyle is pretty good, but I feel uptight about leaving early, saying I’ve had enough, what if I had my own dough?

Food for thought.

Until then…

If you see some boomer driving around way too fast in a rare, low-slung machine know IT’S ME!

P.S. It goes back tomorrow…  I’m so PISSED!

R8

"Just Like Paradise"

MUSIC OR THE ECONOMY?

No one knows for sure.  Is business bad because ticket prices are too high for acts that have been on the road too often playing old material while new acts are ever-harder to develop or is it just that the economy sucks?

It’s unclear.

But you can’t trust the prognostications.

"Pollstar" says revenue in the first half of 2010 is off 17%.  Live Nation cries foul, claiming that the grosses of the Eagles weren’t included, and that brings the number down much lower…and are the statistics even accurate to begin with?

One thing we can all agree on is it’s much harder to develop an act with no medium, not radio, television or any one Website, having dominance.

Then again, more people are listening to more music than ever before.

I don’t think the economy is the main factor.  Other retail industries are not off as much.

THE DARK SIDE

Used to be the touring industry was a subsidiary of the labels.  Not literally, but labels created demand and promoters mopped up on the road.  Now the labels are close to impotent and crying that they deserve road income.  But because of their lessened importance, no one is listening to the labels, they’re listening to the promoters, and if labels were always scummy, promoters have historically been bottom of the barrel.  What I mean by that is at least labels pay by check and the checks don’t bounce.  Whereas touring has always been about cash, and you’re always worried, especially now that checks are prevalent, that you’re going to get stiffed.

In other words, do you work for Live Nation because you can get paid?  Remember Jack Utsick? Everyone was afraid to book a national tour with his company for fear it would blow up.  It did.

LIVE NATION

Each and every acquisition Rapino has made has not borne fruit.  One can even argue that it was a bad idea to purchase House of Blues, never mind Trunk, etc.  Pursuing dominance, streamlining to own the concert industry, Rapino has ended up with too much capacity and not enough profit. Some say he never should have gotten rid of the legitimate theatre and motor sports divisions.  We can second guess his efforts all day long, but the point remains, none of his purchases have paid off.  Makes you wonder, right?

As for Irving…  Best manager ever.  Best Chairman?  Mmm…  He built MCA Records essentially from scratch, but it took Al Teller to make it truly profitable.  And Giant Records never really found its way.  Can he steer Live Nation to profitability?

Then again, he controls all the acts.  Fuck with Irving, and you incur his wrath.  His problem is he’s got too many unwieldy, sometimes diametrically opposed assets.  His strength is he’s got all those assets.  For all those who want Live Nation to die, you’ll be stunned at the Holy War you will unleash.

THE COMPETITION

For all the talk of a Live Nation monopoly in touring, agents can book an entire arena tour using independent promoters.  Live Nation is not necessary, which speaks to Rapino’s point that he’s got to pay or someone else will.  The only problem is everybody else is not public, they can afford to pass.  Whereas Live Nation’s got overhead and is a public company.  The best way to solve Live Nation’s problems would be to refuse to overpay for talent.  But that might make investors nervous.

Then again, SFX/Clear Channel/Live Nation has never worked.  Billions were written off.  The company was spun-off.  It appears the road to success is via new products.  Irving keeps telling us he’s got them in the pipeline, that we’re gonna be wowed.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  The music business is full of hype, and hype means less than ever before, but Irving controls all those artists, and he can get a critical mass to say yes whereas his competitors cannot.

AEG

While trumpeting the success of Bon Jovi, the Internet is rife with discount offers.  Most recently, the Groupon offer for the Bon Jovi/Kid Rock show in Chicago

$30 for One 300-Level Ticket to See Bon Jovi and Kid Rock at Soldier Field on Saturday, July 31, at 7 p.m. ($66.50 Value)

We can debate demand all day long, but we know two things…

1. AEG overbooked.

2. AEG is ignorant when it comes to the Web.  Fuck up online and everybody knows.  Just like everybody knew overnight about Napster and started stealing music, everyone knows about concert deals in a matter of minutes.  Begging the question how savvy AEG truly is.  In a world where Zynga is triumphant, does Randy Philips even know what Zynga is?

PROBLEMS

All-in ticketing.

The acts don’t want it.

The acts love Ticketmaster, it takes the heat.  See, we price our tickets low, it’s Ticketmaster ripping you off!  But Ticketmaster is kicking back to the promoter, so he can make a profit.  So where’s the truth?

The truth is the promoter has two sets of books.  One for the artists, another for themselves.  They’re at a loss in one and a profit in the other.  The acts drove them to this.  Then again, promoters have overspent, which brings us to buying…

TICKETING COMPETITORS

There’s just not enough money in it.  Gripe about Ticketmaster all you want, but at least its system works.  Live Nation went with Eventim and it was a disaster.  So who’s going to invest in the infrastructure to create a system that works, that can sell that many tickets quickly, at such small margins?  Yes, you want a competitor that will sell tickets cheaper, when a competitor would have to charge more!  And costs include not only infrastructure, but generous deals for facilities and promoters.  And needless to say Ticketmaster will compete for that business.  But more importantly, where is the deep pocket that’s going to pony up all that cash for such a meager return?  Speak with venture capitalists, they want exorbitant profits, and they’re just not there in ticketing, certainly not without raising fees.

BUYING

Some think the problem with Live Nation is in the buying.  That they’re overpaying and they’re not allowing local decision-makers to do their jobs.  In other words, is all promotion local?  Prior to now, superstars would sell out everywhere.  Now we’ve seen even the Eagles can’t fill stadiums.  End result, concert promotion is no longer solely about money, but creativity.  Which acts do you put in which buildings on which day at which price?  It can’t be done on a centralized/national basis, because no one individual has that knowledge.  In other words, you’ve got to trust Michael Belkin and Danny Zelisko to do their thing, let them promote, no one knows their markets better.  Or, their contracts run out and they go independent and eat your lunch…  Because now that everything doesn’t sell out, and buying requires intense innate knowledge, he who runs nationally is in trouble. We’ve seen this happen in radio.  Centralized programming allows you to cut costs and make a short term profit, but your audience decreases, because people no longer like the product.

SOLUTIONS

Irving Azoff has to get everybody on the same page.

Or else chaos will continue to reign.

Live Nation is the biggest buyer of talent, Live Nation is the only entity that can effect change.  And never forget that Live Nation controls so much talent.  All-in ticketing?  Must be instituted to regain consumer confidence, but few agents and acts are willing to get on board.  It’s got to get done.  And only Irving can bring ticket prices down.

THE FUTURE

Live music will continue to be played.  It’s just a matter of which acts will be presented and by whom.

Demand is key.

But acts must be willing to leave something on the table, not go after every last dollar with endless touring at high prices. Then again, legacy acts need to tour every year for the income…they literally need the money.  So how you fix that problem…

And the problem of consumer confidence.  How do you get people to buy early at a high price? Only by making all seats available and instituting either price protection or refusing to allow discounting.

As for airline seat pricing, the so-called "dynamic pricing"…  That’s fucked.  It shouldn’t be about extricating the most dollars from the marketplace and putting it in the hands of artists, it should be about insuring that hard core fans get good seats at fair prices.  Paperless ticketing allows this.

America for too long has been about winners and losers.  The gulf between rich and poor is so wide you can’t even see across.  And now we want to institute this in the concert business?  Music was always cheap.  It was for everybody.  Didn’t matter how big your bank account was, you had equal access.  And unless you resort to Bulldog gigs, few customers at exorbitant prices, and that certainly didn’t work, you’re gonna have to draw a lot of people.  So those people have to have a great experience.  People play the lottery because they think they’ve got an equal chance of winning.   What if every week a rich person won?  Or $1000 lottery tickets had much better odds than $1 ones?  How many would play then?  It’s all about the aggregate.  This is what screwed up the labels.  They wanted few people to pay a lot.  Whereas it’s about getting a lot of people to pay a little.  In other words, you don’t want to be the airline industry, but the cell phone industry.  And in wireless, you don’t get a better connection if you pay more.  And in wireless they’re always looking forward, to better service, i.e. 4G and new products, i.e. data as opposed to voice.  In music it’s all about new acts.  But where are these new acts?  And it’s about a better experience.  Better food, treating the consumer with respect as opposed to ripping him off.

Live Nation is riddled with problems.  But the company is an easy target.  Everybody in the food chain must look at himself for solutions to gain traction.  From the acts to the managers to the agents to the promoters.  Right now, no one trusts anyone and it’s all about the dough.  Once upon a time it was about the music.  Decades ago.  But thankfully, the big players in music are getting older by the minute and nimble-minded youngsters will eat their lunch.  Just watch.