That’s where we always have lunch.<\/p>\n
I had a crazy day.\u00c2\u00a0 First I had to drop my car off for service.\u00c2\u00a0 The taillights stopped working.\u00c2\u00a0 Right after the machine falls out of warranty?\u00c2\u00a0 The bill will be…somewhere between $200 and $900.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a short in the system. BUT I THOUGHT JAPANESE CARS WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO BREAK!\u00c2\u00a0 And my service writer, who I set up the appointment with, called in sick.\u00c2\u00a0 And the car I rented, a Pontiac G6, has such poor visibility, I won’t even play the radio, needing to concentrate fully to make sure I don’t inadvertently hit any munchkins or run over some low-flying debris.\u00c2\u00a0 And after a dr.’s appointment, I had lunch with Mike Caren.<\/p>\n
They say the major labels are out of touch, that no one there is living in this century.\u00c2\u00a0 But Mike’s as hip as the teenagers.\u00c2\u00a0 And unlike a bunch of whiners, Mike has hits.\u00c2\u00a0 Flo Rida, T.I., Plies…\u00c2\u00a0 Mike knows what’s going on.\u00c2\u00a0 And what’s happening shocks me.<\/p>\n
Did you know that some lawyers now want ten or fifteen percent?\u00c2\u00a0 And there are managers who require twenty five to thirty five percent?\u00c2\u00a0 If the label wants 360, and you’re in business with these aforementioned shysters, how are you supposed to make any money?<\/p>\n
Then again, Mike referenced the managers who say they’re labels.\u00c2\u00a0 They’ve got a record company where they’ll split the revenue and an in-house radio promotion person, but what manager is going to go in the red?\u00c2\u00a0 And if so, how far?\u00c2\u00a0 The major label has resources, they invest.<\/p>\n
But how long does it take to build a touring act?\u00c2\u00a0 Five albums and ten years? By then, is the act free and clear of the 360 anyway?<\/p>\n
I’m laughing, because I don’t understand the whole paradigm, this hit music thing.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve been listening to XM’s 20 on 20.\u00c2\u00a0 I can see appreciating the Black Eyed Peas if you’re ten…\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, that’s who Mike says buys on iTunes, ten year olds.\u00c2\u00a0 Their parents don’t want them stealing, don’t want them looking at porn, so they cough up the money to Steve Jobs.\u00c2\u00a0 R&B? Disastrous on iTunes.<\/p>\n
Mike breaks his records in the clubs.\u00c2\u00a0 Then goes to radio.<\/p>\n
And when an act breaks, anticipation is the next record will sell no better than the one before.\u00c2\u00a0 After all, if you do ten percent better and sales keep falling by ten percent a year, you’re even!<\/p>\n
And now pennies count.\u00c2\u00a0 The key is to be profitable, to sell enough records to cover your reduced costs.\u00c2\u00a0 So you can keep the lights on, so you can still keep making records.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, what business is the major label in? Selling records or artist development?\u00c2\u00a0 If the latter, according to Mike, shouldn’t the album be FREE?\u00c2\u00a0 At least the first couple?\u00c2\u00a0 I think it’s about getting attention first and foremost, Mike thinks you’ve got to make it easy, but the publishers won’t.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t give away tracks on iTunes because the publishers want to get PAID!<\/p>\n
Wow.<\/p>\n
On one hand, we’ve got the aging superstars.\u00c2\u00a0 Overcharging to fewer and fewer people.<\/p>\n
On the other, we’ve got the Top Forty wonders, making ever more boring records for a shrinking market.<\/p>\n