{"id":321,"date":"2006-02-15T17:32:00","date_gmt":"2006-02-16T00:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/02\/15\/tony-brummel-on-itunes\/"},"modified":"2006-02-15T17:32:00","modified_gmt":"2006-02-16T00:32:00","slug":"tony-brummel-on-itunes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/02\/15\/tony-brummel-on-itunes\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Brummel On iTunes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hits<\/a><\/p>\n

Haven’t we had just about enough of Tony Brummel?<\/p>\n

I mean the guy runs an indie rock label, most of whose signings learn to hate him, yet we have to be subjected to his inane rantings and ravings CONSTANTLY!<\/p>\n

So, he found a few rock bands.\u00c2\u00a0 That have sold word of mouth.\u00c2\u00a0 Does that make him an EXPERT on everything having to do with music?<\/p>\n

The guy is almost IMPOSSIBLE to deal with.\u00c2\u00a0 Just ask anybody at RED!\u00c2\u00a0 He constantly e-mails Lyor Cohen and any other label head as if he’s going to make some kind of deal and then never does.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s starting to appear a tempest in a teapot.\u00c2\u00a0 Can’t the industry IGNORE Tony Brummel and be done with it?<\/p>\n

I mean Q Prime is more successful than Tony Brummel ever will be, but is Cliff Burnstein constantly sending e-mail to everybody in the industry saying how fucking great his company is?\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, even IRVING AZOFF doesn’t do this.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows it’s first and foremost about the clients.\u00c2\u00a0 I think with Tony, it’s first and foremost about him.\u00c2\u00a0 And getting in bed with "Hits", isn’t this positively OLD SCHOOL?<\/p>\n

Let’s look at Tony’s iTunes points:<\/p>\n

1.\u00c2\u00a0 A percentage of iPod revenue.\u00c2\u00a0 Hey Tony, are you also behind ISPs charging content providers a premium for use of their bandwidth?\u00c2\u00a0 Do you think General Motors should get a percentage of Exxon’s revenue?\u00c2\u00a0 Or vice versa?\u00c2\u00a0 I mean where’s the logic here?\u00c2\u00a0 If I make a deal wearing Ralph Lauren clothing should Ralph get a cut?\u00c2\u00a0 iPods are not stealing music.\u00c2\u00a0 Not whatsoever.\u00c2\u00a0 People have a RIGHT to transfer their music from their CDs to their iPods.\u00c2\u00a0 Under the LAW!\u00c2\u00a0 Or does the law not apply to YOU Tony?<\/p>\n

2. And you say you’re a renegade, a revolutionary.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you want to make it so you have to buy all the "Pink Panther" movies at once?\u00c2\u00a0 There’s been EVOLUTION!\u00c2\u00a0 The track has been disengaged from the album.\u00c2\u00a0 Started when people used to drop the needle on a record and return it to hear the same track again.\u00c2\u00a0 Then we had cassettes, with everybody making mix tapes.\u00c2\u00a0 So, digital makes the process of disintermediating an album easier so we should BAN IT?\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe it’s not about albums, but a body of work.\u00c2\u00a0 Or maybe you have to release a collection so good from beginning to end that people want it.\u00c2\u00a0 But to deny the customer choice, one he’s inured to, THAT’S progress.\u00c2\u00a0 No Tony, if you were truly a thinker, you’d find a way to PIGGYBACK on the new paradigm, not abhor it.<\/p>\n

3. Focusing on traditional retail is like investing in Smith-Corona in 1982.\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, most people reading this probably don’t even know Smith-Corona made typewriters, may not have even SEEN a typewriter.\u00c2\u00a0 Why don’t we abolish DVDs so people have to go to the movie theatre?\u00c2\u00a0 Why don’t we outlaw online distribution of movies so Blockbuster won’t be hurt?\u00c2\u00a0 Mark my words, VERY soon, CD sales are going to TANK!\u00c2\u00a0 People will ONLY want files.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not five years off, more like two or three on the OUTSIDE!\u00c2\u00a0 Could happen as early as a year from now, with iPod penetration after Christmas 2006.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say prepare for this inevitability, don’t bury your head in the sand.\u00c2\u00a0 CDs are already retro and will soon be history.\u00c2\u00a0 If not, why are so many retailers shutting their doors or going bankrupt?\u00c2\u00a0 Why are CD sales off LAST YEAR’S anemic pace?\u00c2\u00a0 This is so ignorant as to make one want to ignore EVERYTHING Mr. Brummel ever says.<\/p>\n

As for non-negotiable deals.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what we need more of.\u00c2\u00a0 Transparent accounting.\u00c2\u00a0 Silicon Valley isn’t like the music business.\u00c2\u00a0 Where there are side deals, where you screw people.\u00c2\u00a0 I say pay EVERYBODY the same.\u00c2\u00a0 Indies should make as much as majors at the iTunes Music Store.\u00c2\u00a0 But with the amount of music released EACH WEEK if each deal were separate…\u00c2\u00a0 We’d have the situation with music publishing, where nobody will negotiate a fair price for a digital track and music can’t be cheap enough.<\/p>\n

The iTunes Music Store is a sideshow.\u00c2\u00a0 We need legalized P2P.\u00c2\u00a0 We need more people owning more music at a lower aliquot price.<\/p>\n

But the reason Tony Brummel is so pissed is that unlike those in the music industry, Apple won’t bend over backward to be fucked in the ass and manipulated by him.\u00c2\u00a0 Apple won’t waste its time being harassed by Tony, to no fruitful result.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, the real story is Tony wants Steve Jobs to come to Chicago and wine and dine him so Tony can then reject his offer.\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t know this is true, you\u00c2\u00a0 just don’t know Tony.<\/p>\n

Tony.\u00c2\u00a0 Get psychotherapy.\u00c2\u00a0 Know that you’re just a punter with a successful indie label.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t rule the world.\u00c2\u00a0 And, you’ve got less insight than those at major labels.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’d just do your job instead of constantly ranting and raving people might respect you.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hits Haven’t we had just about enough of Tony Brummel? I mean the guy runs an indie rock label, most of whose signings learn to hate him, yet we have to be subjected to his inane rantings and ravings CONSTANTLY! So, he found a few rock bands.\u00c2\u00a0 That have sold word of mouth.\u00c2\u00a0 Does that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-5b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}