{"id":393,"date":"2006-04-18T22:10:30","date_gmt":"2006-04-19T06:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/04\/18\/tony-brummel-steve-jobs\/"},"modified":"2006-04-18T22:12:02","modified_gmt":"2006-04-19T06:12:02","slug":"tony-brummel-steve-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/04\/18\/tony-brummel-steve-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Brummel & Steve Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss<\/p>\n

<\/em>Pete Townshend<\/p>\n

Record labels are only as good as the acts they record and release.\u00c2\u00a0 No executive ever sold a record at Best Buy, never mind a download at iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 In this crazy fucked-up world we live in somehow the execs think THEY are the artists.<\/p>\n

Artistry is not something that can be quantified.\u00c2\u00a0 Nor is it something that can be learned.\u00c2\u00a0 Artists are born.\u00c2\u00a0 And are developed outside the educational system.\u00c2\u00a0 Just ask Bruce Springsteen.\u00c2\u00a0 As for "American Idol", that’s about stars, not artists.<\/p>\n

One thing we’re sure of, those in power now, those into the perks and the fame more than the music, will not rule in the future.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, the artists of yore NEEDED the label exec to get his music heard.\u00c2\u00a0 Those days are through.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say if you’re looking to get into business with one of these pricks, who cares not a whit if YOUR album sells just as long as SOME album on his label does, then you’re a laughable specimen.<\/p>\n

If only major labels nurtured artists.\u00c2\u00a0 Gave them money and told them to create.\u00c2\u00a0 That they believed in them.\u00c2\u00a0 That they would support anything they did.<\/p>\n

God, those days ended in the seventies.\u00c2\u00a0 Now the exec wants to tell you how to look, what to record and what your album package should look like.\u00c2\u00a0 And, if you COMPLAIN, like an asshole parent, they say THEY’RE FOOTING THE BILL!<\/p>\n

Tony Brummel signed some successful acts.\u00c2\u00a0 As a result, he could get major label heads on the phone.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they wanted his market share, so THEIR market share could improve.\u00c2\u00a0 They didn’t give a shit what kind of music he was releasing, how long it would ultimately last, they just wanted a momentary bump in their numbers.\u00c2\u00a0 To get them through until the next year, when they could attempt to pull another rabbit out of their hat.<\/p>\n

As for the acts Mr. Brummel purveys…\u00c2\u00a0 Does anybody believe he’s got Led Zeppelin or the Eagles, never mind the Beatles or the Stones?\u00c2\u00a0 Does anybody believe Hawthorne Heights will be selling gold in catalog ten years from now?<\/p>\n

Mr. Brummel made it on hard work.\u00c2\u00a0 But now, like an exec who starts a company but can’t manage it when it becomes successful, his street-style is revealing him to be a boor who behaves in a way that results in all no longer taking him seriously.<\/p>\n

Tony.\u00c2\u00a0 So you paid for some endcaps.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re in bed with the "Hits" guys.\u00c2\u00a0 Tell me again what’s so revolutionary about your operation?<\/p>\n

And now you want Steve Jobs to bend over backward and give you something nobody else gets because you ASKED for it?\u00c2\u00a0 Especially after you declared that the iTunes Music Store was the death of the industry, that it would decimate the album?<\/p>\n

Come on.<\/p>\n

Business is a negotiation.\u00c2\u00a0 Of two parties who each have something the other desires.<\/p>\n

Apple desires Victory’s music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s willing to pay for it.\u00c2\u00a0 But nothing beyond what it pays anybody else.\u00c2\u00a0 No premium is required because there’s no extreme benefit to Apple!<\/p>\n

Everybody knows this except Tony.<\/p>\n

But his acts are not getting iTunes revenue as he plays the blowhard week after week.<\/p>\n

To be respected, an executive must FIRST AND FOREMOST be a friend to the artist.\u00c2\u00a0 Talk to acts on Victory.\u00c2\u00a0 Ask about Tony putting samplers of other acts on his label in with their product, about insisting his other acts be on tour with them or otherwise he won’t pay them.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t friendliness, this is MORRIS LEVY TIME!<\/p>\n

An artist-friendly label is a midwife to its acts’ music.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s its sole goal.\u00c2\u00a0 To help ease the creation of great music and get it to as many people as possible.\u00c2\u00a0 Tony, isn’t it time for you to admit fault?\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t it time for you to put forth a manifesto detailing what YOU will or won’t do?\u00c2\u00a0 Isn’t it time to put the focus on VICTORY instead of blaming everybody else?<\/p>\n

Great music sells itself.\u00c2\u00a0 Put your shit on iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 Tell everybody you made a mistake.\u00c2\u00a0 Say Jobs is good for your business.\u00c2\u00a0 And then SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT IT!<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Victory isn’t the number one independent label, not even close.<\/p>\n

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

Meet the new bossSame as the old boss Pete Townshend Record labels are only as good as the acts they record and release.\u00c2\u00a0 No executive ever sold a record at Best Buy, never mind a download at iTunes.\u00c2\u00a0 In this crazy fucked-up world we live in somehow the execs think THEY are the artists. Artistry […]<\/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":[4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-6l","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393","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=393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}