Did you see they lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $299?

You should buy one now.  Get in on the ground floor as opposed to waiting until everybody else tells you how great it is, how it’s changed their life. It’s kind of like the iPod, suddenly everybody looked at each other and said they had to buy one and hours were spent home at night ripping CDs into iTunes for transfer to their new device.  Why wait?  Enjoy the magic now!

Will the price come down?

Absolutely!

Will the device get better?

You bet!

Will Amazon control the future?

Who knows!

You’ve got to understand, it’s not like reading on your computer screen.  It’s totally different technology, much more readable.  Although there’s no backlight.  And there’s a learning curve.  But then you discover treats that are unfindable in physical books.

Like search!  Rather than flip back to see who this character truly is, just search on his name!  Yes, it’s harder to read backwards on the Kindle, but this search feature is better than reading backwards (you know what I mean, reading with your right hand turning the pages forward, but keeping your fingers of your left hand in the left side of the book, marking places where what you’re reading now was first explained).

And then there’s the clipping feature.

I don’t believe in underlining, but when I read something magical on my Kindle, I just push the joystick to highlight it and I have it at my fingertips forever (well, at least until the technology is superseded!)

And reading a book today I discovered a great insight, one I know but was so great to read, and I decided to share some of my clippings with you. You don’t have to read the book to understand them, they’re universal!

Now I’m not saying physical books need to die.  I’m just saying that the Kindle has advantages.  Wireless download anywhere Sprint works (and wired around the world).  You check out a sample passage, you decide whether to buy, and the books are sold cheaper than anywhere you can find, usually below wholesale.  I’m reading all day, on the computer screen, newspapers and magazines…but fiction, my preferred Kindle reading, is different.  Fiction, when done right, tells you about life.  These are the clippings I’m going to share with you.

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"The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor-they never overlap, do they?  See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich.  And what do the rich dream of?  Losing weight and looking like the poor."

From "The White Tiger: A Novel", by Aravind Adiga

(Second Kindle book I bought.  The first, "Sag Harbor", was overrated, all style and very little substance.  I was even going to write a review on Amazon, but someone beat me to it…they said the book had no plot!  "White Tiger" was a recommendation from a friend.  Amy Ephron told him it was his kind of book.  Not exactly my kind of book, but if you want to read what it’s really like in India, check it out.)

"No, sir.  It won’t happen.  People in this country are still waiting for the war of their freedom to come from somewhere else-from the jungles, from the mountains, from China, from Pakistan. That will never happen.  Every man must make his own Benaras."

"The White Tiger"

(Benaras is a holy city, but you don’t need to know that to get this.)

"The book of your revolution sits in the pit of your belly, young Indian.  Crap it out, and read."

"The White Tiger"

(You’re in charge of your own destiny.  But are you willing to take responsibility?)

"’Master, do you consider yourself a man or a god?’  The Buddha smiled and said, ‘Neither.  I am just one who has woken up while the rest of you are still sleeping.’"

"The White Tiger"

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"But never mind, Olive thinks now.  You move aside and make way for the new".

From: "Olive Kitteridge", by Elizabeth Strout

(So simple, yet so true! "Olive Kitteridge" is the best book I’ve read on my Kindle.  I recommend it to everyone!)

"There is no telling anyone anything when they have been infected this way."

"Olive Kitteridge"

(That’s the power of love!)

"She didn’t like to be alone.  Even more, she didn’t like being with people."

"Olive Kitteridge"

(A woman after my own heart!)

"’Don’t be scared of your hunger.  If you’re scared of your hunger, you’ll just be one more ninny like everyone else.’"

"Olive Kitteridge"

(Don’t buy that humble act stars don at awards shows and in interviews.  You can’t make it unless you’re incredibly hungry.  Having big desires is cool, and necessary if you want to fulfill your dreams!)

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"I attract men through sheer hard work, which is required because I’m not conventionally attractive."

"The Pursuit Of Alice Thrift", by Elinor Lipman

(I do not recommend this book.  I was looking for the new Lipman book when I stumbled upon "Olive Kitteridge".  Ultimately remembering the author I was truly looking for I downloaded this.  I ended up reading for plot, there was very little insight, which was frustrating.  But wow, we hear all about the beautiful, it’s fascinating to hear about the average.)

"’That’s the human condition, sweetie-pie: people you love marrying people you hate.’"

"The Pursuit Of Alice Thrift"

(Ain’t that the truth!)

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"All they knew of each other, really, were the sharp edges.  The middle parts and blurry lines were yet to be filled in."

From "Commencement", by J. Courtney Sullivan

(A book about four girls at Smith.  Yes, an honest take.  Includes the lesbianism and everything.  Good read, but still not as much insight into the human condition as "Olive Kitteridge".  This passage is from the first day of college…remember?!)

"’Kids are amazing.  The first few months, they’re just like these loaves of bread that shit.  You’re wondering what the hell you got yourself into.  But then, they turn into people.  It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.’"

"Commencement"

"Bree had chastised her for making amends with April and Sally, but Celia knew that eventually they would all come back to one another in their own ways.  And in the meantime, she got to hear each of them trash the others."

"Commencement"

(Possibly my favorite clipping.  Don’t you love talking shit about your friends?  It’s the American way, maybe the universal way.  And you all end up making up and being friends anyway!)

"’He’s just worried about you, sweetie,’ Bree said.  ‘You have to let the people who love you take care of you.’"

"Commencement"

(Whew, is everybody busy being a man or am I the only one who feels I’ve got to take care of myself?)

"’Women leave their marriages when they can’t take any more,’ she had told Sally. ‘Men leave when they find someone new.’"

"Commencement"

(Whew, how true is that?)

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"’Promise me you’ll call this woman,’ Cat said.  Something in her voice made Kyle sit up.  ‘I promise.  What’s up with you?’  ‘I just need to know you’re really going to do it.  Men often don’t follow through on things.’"

"The Year That Follows", by Scott Lasser

(Great reviews, worst book I’ve read on my Kindle.  Too obvious, too slight.  But I never formulated the above concept in my brain, I think it’s true!)

"’Sales,’ Sherri says.  ‘It’s seduction, you know.  You gotta show desire and indifference at the same time.  You want it, but you don’t need it.’"

"The Year That Follows"

(Whew!  And there’s great follow-up, which says if you’re trying to make a sale, after you lay out the pitch be silent, the customer will be so uncomfortable he’ll say something to fill in the gap, try and make you feel comfortable, and will probably buy.)

"Law can be so dry you want to shoot yourself.  I’ve deal with some lawyers in my day."

"The Year That Follows"

(How true that is.  Very few lawyers actually love practicing.  They got into it because they wanted to please their parents, they wanted a safe vocation.  It’s a boring occupation.  Which ultimately breeds boring people…if they weren’t boring before!)

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"I get the creeps whenever anyone says ‘make love’ instead of ‘have sex,’ or ‘fuck’.  Hailey never said ‘make love’.  It’s just goofy."

"How To Talk To A Widower", by Jonathan Tropper

(After the disappointment of "The Year That Follows" I was looking at my bookcase and I saw "Little Children" and "Joe College", by Tom Perrotta.  I was reminded that he had written a book I hadn’t read.  I turned on the Kindle wireless and started searching.  That new book got bad reviews.  But I followed the links to what people who read Perrotta books were also reading and found this.  I actually downloaded two of Tropper’s books.  Each of which is slight, but so far this one is rewarding.  As for the quote…I’ve never seen this in print, but it’s exactly how I feel!)

"Somewhere along the way, though, she discarded her sense of humor, probably because there would never be a test on it, and now her laughs are rare and her smiles often rushed and vaguely pained, which is a shame because she was a beautiful girl and smiling had always suited her when she was younger.  She’s still beautiful, but now it’s the kind of beauty that comes with a barbed wire fence around it."

"How To Talk To A Widower"

(The protagonist speaking about his younger sister, who grade-grubbed, graduated from Harvard Law and turned into…the people I went to Middlebury with!  People who believe life is about jumping through hoops, who don’t want to do too much thinking, for fear of ultimately finding out their whole life has been a mistake.  This guy nailed it.  And inspired me to send these clippings to you.)

So what we’ve got here is a Universal alliance that allows the music conglomerate a chance to pick up nascent acts, merging them into their system with all its advantages.  Huh?

That’s the problem here.  No one knows what acts are successful!  We’ve got to get that data, we’ve got to get inside, so we know what’s happening. If ANYTHING is happening everybody with an ear to the ground knows it immediately.  So I don’t see the advantage to Universal here.  Nor do I see the advantage to acts.  If you’ve got some success and you want to go with a major label is the problem that you don’t have a preexisting relationship?  Are you kidding?  Every single major will take a meeting with anybody who can demonstrate sales success.  Their problem is wading through the wannabes who want to get signed, get a ton of cash with NO track record.  Furthermore, so many of today’s acts with a track record DON’T want a major label deal.  Why give up all that action to be told what to do, giving up the lion’s share of the profits along the way?

As for selling CDs in Guitar Center…  Wow, how eighties!  We sell them at Whole Foods, we sell them at convenience stores, that’s the problem, that’s why revenue sucks, people have nowhere to buy CDs!  Absolutely ridiculous.  To turn Tunecore into a backward-looking operation is like using your iPhone to calculate when your typewriter ribbon will run out.  Huh?

If only there were some true innovation here.  What if Universal offered something more than the usual "rich and famous" contract.  
What if Universal was in partnership with ALL the bands on Tunecore and offered unique opportunities?

That’s how dumb Universal is.  In order to truly enter the twenty first century and profit they must be a distributor for ALL, skimming a tiny profit on each.  A great musician is usually a lousy businessman.  Rather than try to rape the player, offer him something he can’t do himself.  Like a Website where not only do you sell his music, but you sell merch, facilitate contests and giveaways, where you generate additional revenue beyond recorded music!

That’s the opportunity.  Stop crying in your beer about iTunes.  Give me one site where I can buy ALL my music-related stuff.  That’s what Ticketmaster wants to do with its Live Nation merger.  That’s the play.  Maybe even give away the music with the sale of a concert ticket, but also sell merch as part of the same transaction.  But what if you’re a wannabe band, just starting out, and Frontline won’t manage you and Live Nation won’t promote you?  Who’s your friend then?  Some of these acts will be successful…who’s gonna start out on the ground floor with them and help them? Believe me, Universal is no help.  Have you seen one of their contracts?  And now they want a piece of EVERYTHING, not only recorded music. Blows my mind that they’ve got no vision of the future other than saying we’re best at selling music the old way!  Isn’t that what Doug and Jimmy are doing?  We’ll get you in front of millions and make you a success, and now not only will you get screwed on recordings, you’ll get screwed on live appearances…what a deal!

Someone’s gonna roll up the new acts.  And based on this Tunecore deal, one can say Universal will not be the one.  You’re gonna need someone who can see the future.  Who sees that a ton of pennies is worth more than a few dollars.  Who sees the future is about partnership with the acts, with transparent accounting and fair deals.  Michael Jackson called Tommy Mottola the devil and he was making more money selling records than anybody!

But he wasn’t making as much as CBS/Sony.

As long as Universal believes it’s entitled to the lion’s share of the revenue, while offering nothing new, nothing innovative, nothing helpful in this new digital era, the company is laughable.

I’m not excited about this.  I’m quite happy with OS X.  I’m not one of the minions tearing their hair out, bitching about Vista.  But as a business story, this is fascinating.

You see Microsoft is married to an old business model.  They make their money selling Windows and Office.  What if these are suddenly free?

This is exactly what happened to the record companies.  They were humming along, making beaucoup bucks in the nineties selling overpriced CDs with one good track, and Napster came along and ruined the business model.

How did the labels respond?  By trying to keep the future from happening, then suing those desirous of living in the future, then blaming the artists and insisting they hand over 360 degrees of rights for almost nothing in return.  Their only hope of survival with any power was to jump ahead of the curve, retool their business for what didn’t yet exist.  But there are no visionaries at major labels.

Microsoft has got money.  But they’ve got no innovation.  It’s kind of like Detroit.  Mercedes-Benz came up with all kinds of safety initiatives, Honda met fuel standards way in advance and Detroit said both were impossible and booked the profits, only changing when forced to by the government and consumers.  But it was too late.  After decades of extracting cash but failing to reinvest it, the Detroit companies failed themselves.  Microsoft has beaten back challengers in the past, but can they beat back a company as rich as Google?

Don’t talk to me about Windows Mobile.  That’s in a death spiral.  Don’t talk to me about Bing, that’s like debating the merits of Subaru.  All the cash is coming from Windows and Office.  If Google makes them free…

And they’re probably going to be free.  When connections are fast enough and you can do everything you want online.  Look at it this way.  Road warriors oftentimes don’t even travel with a laptop anymore, an iPhone or a BlackBerry is enough.  Do you really need all those apps, all that crapware on a large, overpriced piece of junk?  Or should you be able to just pay for what you want?  Kind of like in the music business.  On iTunes, you can buy just what you want, and the labels hate this!  Look at this from a consumer viewpoint.  Do you want all those apps that come on your Windows computer?  Wouldn’t you like to be able to buy just what you need?  Why not?

The labels are still focused on selling more than you need.  Instead of creating products so desirable you want more.

The music business has been turned on its head.  And everybody who had any power before is bitching.  Music is free!  Damn those pirates!  Let’s go back to the twentieth century!

That’s a worthless discussion.  Equivalent to telling people to go back to typewriters and the horse and buggy.  Not only do you need to accept the present, you’ve got to view the future!

The primary issue facing the purveyors of music today is attention.  How do you get people to pay attention, and keep paying attention?  One way is the major label way, spend a fortune to get radio airplay and TV exposure.  But both of those are declining markets.  And you’re still competing against a plethora of interests, and not only music.  Whatever it takes to get people hooked, you should consider.  Free music is a great strategy because people only bond to acts if they hear the tunes.  Making it feel like free is also a good strategy.  Spotify works because it’s convenient!  All the tunes in one place!  I’m not saying you can’t charge for music, but charging comes last!  Getting people hooked comes first.

And that’s extremely difficult these days.

Used to be you had three TV networks and just a few local radio stations.  Now you’ve got 500 TV channels and Internet radio and iPods.  Doesn’t a new world require a new strategy?

If a company as large and powerful as Microsoft, a veritable monopoly, can be challenged by what’s coming, its very existence called into question because it is not prepared for the future, is it any wonder that the zit on the ass of the economy known as the music business can be decimated?

The good news is it will be reincarnated.  Just with a different business model.  That’s what’s going on now.  Don’t bitch and moan, try and get ahead of the customer and entice him when he finally reaches you.  Providing more, not less.  He doesn’t want to rip you off, he wants to give you all his money.  But only if he wants what you’re purveying, and exactly what you’re purveying.  Does anybody salivate over the new edition of Windows or Office?  Only if they’re frustrated with the crappy old one that is making them tear their hair out.  Once you start protecting what you’ve got, trying to deny the future, keeping people locked into old ways, you’re on the way to decline.  Remember this.

Buzz starts at the bottom.

I hate press releases.  Almost as much as I hate the people who e-mail me their MP3s unsolicited and ask for a ride to stardom (as if I could provide one!)

I spend all day at the computer.  Surfing regular sites that might amaze you.  But I’ve ferreted out the information I desire.  And I have trusted sources. And when it comes to music, it’s not newspapers.  Not Pitchfork or the other blogs either.  It’s individuals.

Someone who’s hyping a record because he doesn’t have to.  Who is truly enthused.  I’ll check out that person’s recommendation.  Once.  But, if it’s good, this person becomes part of my network, a trusted source.  The question is, how can you reach these people?  Who oftentimes are not professionals, but are tastemakers nonetheless.

There’s a fascinating story in Sunday’s "New York Times" about tech PR.  Most fascinating because the star subject, one Brooke Hammerling, has revealed herself to be a wannabe equivalent to those angling for press on PerezHilton.com.  Rule one of reality, never appear on reality TV!  You’re gonna look bad.  Even if you’re nice.  Because nice doesn’t play well on TV.  Rule one of public relations, don’t have your story told by the media! Let me be clear here.  If you need the media to boost your appeal, go for it, cope with the carnage.  But if you’re already making a living, don’t you know media hype is going to kill you?  I know Brooke Hammerling, not personally, but the good-looking girl who flirts and climbs on her good looks…every guy knows her.  Oh, don’t cry sexism.  Women in business can triumph without trading on their sexuality.  But a Google pic search will show you that Brooke Hammerling is much better looking than the average bear, and all those men fawning over her…that’s an age old game.

But that does not mean there are not nuggets of truth in this article.

I know no one like Brooke and her colleagues in the music business.  Someone who starts with relationships and leaves press releases on the cutting room floor, who doesn’t even bother to compose mass mail.  Someone who knows it’s not about the story, but the result!  How can you build something long term?  By getting those who pay for music to talk about it, not those who get it for free.

It’s kind of like those concert reviews in the paper.  Why do these writers even bother going?  If you’re not a fan, why do I care what you think?  Tell me what someone who loves the band thinks.  Same deal with recorded music.  I don’t want the musings of someone who got to have lunch with the star or is playing a game of endless favors with the flack, but someone who’s so enthused about the music that he can’t help but tweet about it!

We’re all sophisticated now, we know how the machine works.  We know those talking heads don’t give a shit about Michael Jackson, they’ve just got to fill airtime, giving us what they think we want.  If we want a take on MJ’s funeral, we’ll ask the public.  Via Twitter, via online search, via blogs. There you get unfettered truth, not the canned words of someone who’s worried about advertisers and keeping their job.

It’s all about relationships.  But who are your relationships with?

"The New York Times"?  When was the last time the "Times" broke a band?  This article includes examples where users picked up the story first and then the mainstream media got it from them.  Then you no longer have a manufactured story, but a real one.  The paper is reporting on the buzz, not trying to create it.

We’ve got police all over the Web ferreting out street teamers, telling the trolls to go away.  We’re immune to the hype.  But we respect truth.  And truth comes from the bottom, those with no investment other than their time, which is precious.

Once the mainstream writes about a trend, it’s frequently over.  And mainstream press tends to kill that which is not already dead.  Your goal should be to keep the mainstream away from your story, or if it’s so big they want to write about it grant no access!  Say no to Letterman.  Say no to the newspaper.  This is how Trent Reznor built cred, which he’s still sailing on two decades hence.

The past has been about shilling indiscriminate product to a public sans knowledge.  Now people know whether the new album by a star is any good before the official release date.  They’re buzzing about new bands almost instantly.  You’ve got to start off with something good.  Stop trying to sell crap.  It’s not worth it.  And if you’ve got something good, don’t worry about making a big splash, about the rate of acceleration, just be concerned with whether fans are picking up on it.  The fans determine whether you’re going to have ultimate success.  You don’t get paid on media impressions, you get paid on sales.  Satiate the public.  Give people access.

Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley

And be sure to check out this referenced site too: Pro PR Tips