BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO CONTROL!<\/p>\n
My inbox is filling up with Metallica stories.\u00c2\u00a0 How they canceled an interview with a journalist who downloaded their album from the Pirate Bay, how they told fans at their O2 show to "Put the fucking cameras away, put the phones away.", how they didn’t want videos uploaded to YouTube.<\/p>\n
End result?\u00c2\u00a0 92 videos uploaded already.<\/p>\n
Look where the record labels got by saying no.\u00c2\u00a0 The publishers too.\u00c2\u00a0 Recorded music sales have tanked.<\/p>\n
They said no to Napster.\u00c2\u00a0 They say no to anybody with a reasonable concept for online distribution.\u00c2\u00a0 And, even if they say yes, as they did to Apple, they want to say no thereafter!<\/p>\n
It just reinforces to me that the people who make these decisions do not use the Web, have no idea of its culture.\u00c2\u00a0 And end up being laughed at in the eyes of their customers.<\/p>\n
Anybody can steal anything and post it online.\u00c2\u00a0 Just about.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe you can crack down on one rogue poster, but you’re going to endure the backlash, as Axl Rose did with the "Chinese Democracy" leaker.\u00c2\u00a0 Is GNR’s fanbase angry at the leaker, no, they’re pissed at Axl, and stealing the music in prodigious numbers.<\/p>\n
If you want to employ strict security to inhibit leaks of your material, that’s your prerogative.\u00c2\u00a0 But once you’ve shipped one CD to a retailer, it’s over.\u00c2\u00a0 From then on, you’ve lost control.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to say yes to everybody who asks permission.<\/p>\n
Can I make a mashup?<\/p>\n
YES!<\/p>\n
Can I post your song on my site?<\/p>\n
YES!<\/p>\n
Can I shoot a picture of you and send it to all my friends?<\/p>\n
YES!<\/p>\n
Can I shoot video with my cell phone and post it to YouTube?<\/p>\n
YES!<\/p>\n
You say yes because it doesn’t behoove you to say no.\u00c2\u00a0 Because although you’ve got the right to say no, YOU DON’T HAVE THE POWER TO EFFECT YOUR DECISION!\u00c2\u00a0 And you just end up pissing people off.\u00c2\u00a0 Who are fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t this how Metallica got in trouble in the first place?\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, the band should be giving their entire album away a la Radiohead, in equally lame 128k editions, as a mea culpa, instead of continuing to fight battles the band can’t win.<\/p>\n
The band should post authorized takes of the O2 show online.\u00c2\u00a0 To combat the inferior takes from the audience.<\/p>\n
The key is to get more people involved, not to alienate those already dedicated and paying.<\/p>\n
Radiohead proved you can give away and sell too.\u00c2\u00a0 At least now.\u00c2\u00a0 Their only mistake was waiting so long to put the physical product out.\u00c2\u00a0 Right now, "Death Magnetic" IS free.\u00c2\u00a0 To try to combat that is utterly insane.\u00c2\u00a0 The key is to come up with a better business proposition, sell extras with the music, and try to garner additional fans who’ll see you live and pay for your merch.<\/p>\n
The problem isn’t the fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Without the fans, you’ve got no career.<\/p>\n
I find it funny that it’s only the stars holding back, trying to stem the tide.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas no newbie has this philosophy.\u00c2\u00a0 The newbie knows how hard it is to be recognized, the newbie begs for fans.\u00c2\u00a0 Knows how hard it is to get them and does everything to keep them.<\/p>\n
In the future, as the old acts die off, the newbie philosophy will reign.\u00c2\u00a0 The key isn’t to restrict fans, but to give them more tools.\u00c2\u00a0 Wallpapers, widgets, you name it.<\/p>\n
Instead of taking years to make an album, release a steady stream of tracks, to keep the public interested.<\/p>\n
No rock band today has the image, the power of Sarah Palin.\u00c2\u00a0 Sad, but true.\u00c2\u00a0 But, unless she gets elected VP, Sarah Palin will fade away.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s today’s paradigm.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re THAT big, you’ve got a short shelf life.\u00c2\u00a0 How do you have a long shelf life?\u00c2\u00a0 By solidifying a relationship with your core, treating them right, giving them a constant stream of product, toys and access so they’re happy and they evangelize.<\/p>\n
What Metallica wants is every fan telling those who see the band as Napster bashers that Metallica has changed, that they need to be given another chance, that they’ve acknowledged their error. Trying to roll back technology and behavior to 1999 is not going to achieve this.<\/p>\n
P.S. My sources tell me the band didn’t cancel the interview, but the label.\u00c2\u00a0 Begging the question whose side the label is on.\u00c2\u00a0 Can you count on the label to do what’s right for your career?\u00c2\u00a0 Or are you a guinea pig to be sacrificed in their unwinnable war?\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, the label’s bad deeds end up putting the stink on YOU!<\/p>\n
P.P.S. Haven’t gotten the official word exactly what was in Hetfield’s mind when he spoke from the O2 stage last night.\u00c2\u00a0 The NME includes this additional quote: ""Put your phones away, man. Putting a two-minute video of Metallica on YouTube isn’t going to make you famous. Just enjoy the show."\u00c2\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\nMetallica get up close with 18,000 fans at London O2<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\nWas Hetfield just being the frontman, imploring his fans to revel in the music, or was he truly anti cellphone\/YouTube.\u00c2\u00a0 Who knows?\u00c2\u00a0 Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, the fascinating thing is how the story spreads online anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 So, before you speak, think of the CONSEQUENCES!\u00c2\u00a0 Your audience is less controllable than ever.\u00c2\u00a0 They think they’ve got power, don’t try to deny them.<\/p>\n
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