The vaunted 360 deal is basically a land grab.\u00c2\u00a0 Challenged financially, major labels are forcing acts to fork over interests in ancillary rights, most notably touring and merchandise, and delivering almost nothing in return.\u00c2\u00a0 The future company will have in-house or subcontracted companies that deliver these services.\u00c2\u00a0 What was seen as a label today will be a quarterback tomorrow.<\/p>\n
This is why Guy Hands is so stupid.<\/p>\n
Guy Hands can only see capital.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s an asset, primarily EMI’s catalog.\u00c2\u00a0 How can he maximize revenue from this, at the same time breaking new acts cheaply.\u00c2\u00a0 But no one wants to sign with a label that’s cash-poor, with few employees.\u00c2\u00a0 Musicians want a full service stop.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s Irving’s play.<\/p>\n
Irving wants to turn the business upside down.\u00c2\u00a0 He wants to put all the power in the hands of the acts.\u00c2\u00a0 The press is focusing on ticketing fees.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s like analyzing the Iraq war based on the food shipped to the troops.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s an important consideration, but not the essence.<\/p>\n
At risk in the Ticketmaster\/Live Nation merger is not Seth Hurwitz and the other independent promoters, nor the ignorant ticket-buyer who doesn’t realize that all the best seats are NEVER available, but the labels.\u00c2\u00a0 If this merger goes through, the labels will become second-class citizens essentially overnight.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, Irving will do a deal with Interscope or Sony or…whoever ponies up a ton of bread.\u00c2\u00a0 And believe me, the labels will pay, they need talent for their pipelines.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is why they should shut down and become licensing companies.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the path they are on is one of destruction.<\/p>\n
In order to compete with Irving, you’ve got to become Irving, you’ve got to become a manager!<\/p>\n
Sure, you need marketing and promotion people.\u00c2\u00a0 But what you need most is vision, of a team that is in business with the act, that shares in the upside and is not guaranteed compensation.\u00c2\u00a0 Right now, the label and the act are adversaries.\u00c2\u00a0 If the act hits, the label gets rich and the act becomes famous.\u00c2\u00a0 In addition to this fame, you used to be able to make bread on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 Now the label wants a piece of that!\u00c2\u00a0 Not an attractive deal.<\/p>\n
But what if the label took a percentage.\u00c2\u00a0 And had a merch company.\u00c2\u00a0 As for being the agent, there is a finicky California law, but there are ways to get around it.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, labels must be reconstituted, as opposed to being fat cats they must be headed by people like Irving, Cliff Burnstein and the myriad of indie managers like Bruce Allen and Gary Borman.<\/p>\n
That goes for indie labels too.\u00c2\u00a0 If all you’re doing is putting out records, you’ve got me scratching my head.\u00c2\u00a0 If you need to make the band’s manager a partner, so be it.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to have all the rights to make this work.\u00c2\u00a0 In order to be nimble, in order to make a profit.<\/p>\n
Terry McBride had the theories right, he was just too early and sans enough hit acts.\u00c2\u00a0 Furthermore, how happy can an act be if its manager is flying around the world playing the role of star himself?<\/p>\n
Rather than being forces of nature, heads of labels\/managers must be relatively faceless.\u00c2\u00a0 To the average Metallica fan, Cliff Burnstein is a credit on the album.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s not making pronouncements.\u00c2\u00a0 Even Irving is not grubbing for publicity.\u00c2\u00a0 The act is the star, not the handler!<\/p>\n
We’ve got to move away from the record being the prime driver.\u00c2\u00a0 This does not mean music should be free, but sometimes it has to be, to help spread the word.<\/p>\n
A new partnership would look like the one Trent Reznor has with Jim Guerinot.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no need for a traditional label.<\/p>\n
But not every act is a visionary like Trent.\u00c2\u00a0 So you’ve got to stock your company with people who can provide these services, everything from iPhone apps to exotic online marketing initiatives.\u00c2\u00a0 You must invest money, managers always do, but there cannot be a huge advance and the act cannot be screwed.<\/p>\n
This is where we are going.\u00c2\u00a0 Are you smart enough to get on the bus?<\/p>\n
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