The modern music business was built by Mo Ostin, and don’t EVER forget it!<\/p>\n
Not that it was only Mo.\u00c2\u00a0 It was completely different from today.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a whole team of dedicated staffers.\u00c2\u00a0 Who didn’t have to worry about job security.\u00c2\u00a0 Who were handsomely paid, even if they didn’t wear the title "President".\u00c2\u00a0 Mo empowered them.\u00c2\u00a0 Made them feel like members of the family.\u00c2\u00a0 Therefore they didn’t grumble, but delivered dedication that can’t be BOUGHT!\u00c2\u00a0 And isn’t it interesting to note that Mo did his JOB, which was running a record company, NOT self-promotion.\u00c2\u00a0 The business started to die when Doug Morris hired Ron Shapiro to get him in every publication known to man and was buried when Tommy Mottola was noticed by Christopher in "The Sopranos".\u00c2\u00a0 If you don’t know who the star is, then you shouldn’t be empowered to oversee the operation.\u00c2\u00a0 Clive Davis suffers from this same disease.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s been legitimized today.\u00c2\u00a0 To the detriment of the major scene.\u00c2\u00a0 Execs used to feel LUCKY to be in the music business, now they seem to believe it’s their RIGHT!<\/p>\n
Mo didn’t follow trends.\u00c2\u00a0 Mo looked for unique acts.\u00c2\u00a0 And let them do their thing.\u00c2\u00a0 It was about CAREERS!<\/p>\n
It didn’t used to be that easy to make a star.\u00c2\u00a0 You just didn’t make a zillion dollar video and beg the guys at MTV to play it.\u00c2\u00a0 You didn’t hire people with relationships at "People" and "Us" to show pictures of your charges.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather, you focused on the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Could someone WRITE?\u00c2\u00a0 Could someone PLAY?\u00c2\u00a0 Now the labels get people to write FOR you.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if you CAN write they won’t let you.\u00c2\u00a0 They make you COLLABORATE with someone with a proven track record.\u00c2\u00a0 So your record can sound JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE’S!\u00c2\u00a0 Jimi Hendrix didn’t have a string of covers before "Are You Experienced".\u00c2\u00a0 AND, that album sounded NOTHING LIKE what had come before.\u00c2\u00a0 Interesting isn’t it.\u00c2\u00a0 Hendrix is still a strong seller, but the Spice Girls can’t move a unit.<\/p>\n
Artistry.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s something innate, something that comes from within.\u00c2\u00a0 It must be NURTURED, not KILLED!\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what today’s record companies do.\u00c2\u00a0 So fearful of their quarterly numbers, so fearful they won’t get their bonuses, record execs tell acts when to deliver and what to deliver.\u00c2\u00a0 THEY want to manage the act.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not a partnership but a DICTATORSHIP!\u00c2\u00a0 And what suffers is the MUSIC!<\/p>\n
Labels have to believe in an act.\u00c2\u00a0 And give it commitment.\u00c2\u00a0 Hoping that it will flower.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the first time in the studio you have stage fright.\u00c2\u00a0 Takes you a while to learn the ropes.\u00c2\u00a0 Takes you a while to develop your craft.\u00c2\u00a0 Takes you a while to GET IT!<\/p>\n
To make it today:<\/p>\n
1. No Television<\/strong><\/p>\n Overexposure kills acts.\u00c2\u00a0 MTV can shoot you to the moon, but you’ll fall back down just as fast.\u00c2\u00a0 And what is it about anyway, stardom or artistry?\u00c2\u00a0 And, are you really instantly ready?\u00c2\u00a0 The SYSTEM is ready for a new act, but the act itself needs to develop.<\/p>\n 2. Careers<\/strong><\/p>\n There should be a FIVE album plan.\u00c2\u00a0 If for no other reason than to garner FANS, BELIEVERS!\u00c2\u00a0 Who will support the act and spread the word.\u00c2\u00a0 There are no fans of today’s overhyped performers.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like a wreck on the freeway.\u00c2\u00a0 You slow down and look, but then mash the accelerator and keep going, wanting to get the hell OUT OF THERE!<\/p>\n 3. Music<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, this is number one, but this is less of a revelation.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re not following your own muse, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IT??\u00c2\u00a0 Really.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re not trying to test the limits, touch people’s souls, then you’re not an artist, and WE DON’T CARE!\u00c2\u00a0 We CARED about the aforementioned Jimi Hendrix.\u00c2\u00a0 And Neil Young.\u00c2\u00a0 And James Taylor.\u00c2\u00a0 And Joni Mitchell.\u00c2\u00a0 We STILL do.\u00c2\u00a0 Seemingly everybody on WB back in the late sixties and early seventies can still work.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they have a BODY OF WORK that’s not laughable, but still stands tall, and people who want to experience it.\u00c2\u00a0 THIS is the model.\u00c2\u00a0 Not hype on "Entertainment Tonight".<\/p>\n 4. Price<\/strong><\/p>\n The labels were greedy.\u00c2\u00a0 The CD was overpriced.\u00c2\u00a0 When AOL was shipping CDs to every living soul in America MULTIPLE TIMES A MONTH, labels kept raising the prices of their wares.\u00c2\u00a0 Stating their long in the tooth technology was cutting edge when it was a fading relic.\u00c2\u00a0 Then they spoke of MARKETING COSTS!\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll say that that $500,000 video has NOTHING to do with the music.\u00c2\u00a0 Nor does the stylist.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that everybody got hooked on the cash.\u00c2\u00a0 And now that it’s evaporated, like crybabies, they’re blaming the audience they ripped off again and again.\u00c2\u00a0 The future is CHEAPER music.\u00c2\u00a0 Higher prices at the iTunes Music Store…\u00c2\u00a0 That’s just so they can make their MONEY, it’s got nothing to do with the MUSIC!\u00c2\u00a0 LOWER THE PRICE!\u00c2\u00a0 Get EVERYBODY HOOKED ON MUSIC!\u00c2\u00a0 Make music the hottest entertainment medium once again, not a national JOKE!<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The modern music business was built by Mo Ostin, and don’t EVER forget it! Not that it was only Mo.\u00c2\u00a0 It was completely different from today.\u00c2\u00a0 There was a whole team of dedicated staffers.\u00c2\u00a0 Who didn’t have to worry about job security.\u00c2\u00a0 Who were handsomely paid, even if they didn’t wear the title "President".\u00c2\u00a0 Mo […]<\/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-387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s96vPs-wb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387","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=387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}