My head is SPINNING!\u00c2\u00a0 You see I’ve been hanging out with Bill Nguyen, of lala.com.<\/p>\n
Does everybody have to be such a fucking moonie?<\/p>\n
Reminds me of a guy I met at summer ski camp.\u00c2\u00a0 At a race the following January, slipping the course at Bromley, he looked at me and said "I think I can win this one."\u00c2\u00a0 I thought what we had in common was our realistic outlook.\u00c2\u00a0 He had about as much of a chance of winning this race as Kevin Federline has of having a hit record.\u00c2\u00a0 He didn’t even FINISH!<\/p>\n
I don’t know when everybody became so delusional.\u00c2\u00a0 It got really bad two decades ago, with the advent of the self-esteem movement.\u00c2\u00a0 Giving EVERYBODY a trophy.\u00c2\u00a0 Shit, you only get a trophy if you’re a WINNER!\u00c2\u00a0 Now we’ve got a country filled with people who BELIEVE they’re winners, when really they’re losers.<\/p>\n
But Bill Nguyen is not a loser.\u00c2\u00a0 He sold a company for $170 million.\u00c2\u00a0 IN HIS POCKET!\u00c2\u00a0 That was HIS SHARE!\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, it came in stock, but he cashed out just before the dot com crash.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s in muni bonds now.\u00c2\u00a0 Along with the receipts from all the other companies he sold.\u00c2\u00a0 This isn’t record business money, this is truly FUCK YOU money.\u00c2\u00a0 And with this money he wants to change the music business, FOREVER!<\/p>\n
You see he hired Fountains Of Wayne to play a private.\u00c2\u00a0 For his company.\u00c2\u00a0 And he became friends with Chris Collingwood.\u00c2\u00a0 Bill Nguyen is a guy who makes friends.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a Silicon Valley trait.\u00c2\u00a0 Either the people are mad programmers who can’t talk to almost ANYBODY or they’re flypaper, catching friends along the way.\u00c2\u00a0 And they do it DIFFERENTLY than the entertainment people.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no attitude.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody’s a geek.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody’s living in the same flat society.\u00c2\u00a0 Everybody’s equal.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re all in it together, trying to change the world, and trying to get RICH doing it!<\/p>\n
Think about that.\u00c2\u00a0 Just about everybody with any traction in the music business wants everything to stay the SAME!\u00c2\u00a0 So the Silicon Valley guys are the enemy.\u00c2\u00a0 And the Silicon Valley guys don’t care about the old music business systems.\u00c2\u00a0 They can do it better.\u00c2\u00a0 DAMN rights.\u00c2\u00a0 If I build something incredible you’ll come to the party, RIGHT?<\/p>\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n
So rapping with Chris, displaying his passion for music, and seemingly every tech guy loves music, Chris said if Bill thought the business was so fucked up why didn’t he CHANGE IT!<\/p>\n
So that’s what Bill’s trying to do.\u00c2\u00a0 He raised money from Bain Capital, the same boys who stole Warner Music, but he owns the controlling interest.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s kind of like the days of Island and A&M, HE’S in charge, he’s INDIE.\u00c2\u00a0 His backers don’t agree with everything he does, like refusing to employ Google AdSense on lala, giving up $15-20,000 A DAY of pure profit, but Bill’s got a vision.<\/p>\n
Well, actually, he can only see one year out.\u00c2\u00a0 But is that really a cover for WHO THE FUCK KNOWS WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN?!<\/p>\n
For now, lala.com is selling used CDs, for a buck.\u00c2\u00a0 I know, doesn’t sound like much of a business model.\u00c2\u00a0 But listen to this.\u00c2\u00a0 Since he loves MONEY more than music, Bill creates scarcity, DEMAND, he doesn’t allow you to buy the CD you want for a buck that easily, so you’ll buy A NEW ONE!\u00c2\u00a0 At cost.\u00c2\u00a0 Provided by Mike Dreese of Newbury Comics.\u00c2\u00a0 Yup, if you want the new CD, it’s $8.99.\u00c2\u00a0 Cheaper than ANYWHERE!\u00c2\u00a0 So, thirty percent of the 400,000 bite, they buy the new disc.<\/p>\n
Not that Bill is hiding anything.\u00c2\u00a0 He says he TELLS people he creates the scarcity.\u00c2\u00a0 That it’s part of a software system, labeled KARMA!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s weird.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead of smoke and mirrors, bait and switch, you’re being TOLD you’re getting screwed, and at this point people LIKE IT!<\/p>\n
But it’s not just used CDs.\u00c2\u00a0 Bill bought the going out of business WOXY.\u00c2\u00a0 Lock stock and barrel.\u00c2\u00a0 Because he’s rich.\u00c2\u00a0 And he’s making everybody who does a live concert there sign an agreement to let him distribute the recording.<\/p>\n
FOUL!<\/p>\n
Bill truly thinks he’s got the rights.<\/p>\n
But with the first and only act he’s distributed the show of, he did.\u00c2\u00a0 It was Frank Black.\u00c2\u00a0 He GAVE AWAY 100,000 shows, and SOLD 40,000 more for 99 cents.<\/p>\n
Bill couldn’t believe anybody would turn him down even if he DIDN’T have the rights.\u00c2\u00a0 Why, he’d just WRITE THEM A CHECK!\u00c2\u00a0 (Calling Doug Morris!)<\/p>\n
But the goal isn’t to be a friend to the labels, but to FUCK them.\u00c2\u00a0 To OWN distribution and then FIX this business.\u00c2\u00a0 An admirable goal, but achievable?\u00c2\u00a0 You’d say no reading this, but if you MET this guy, the thirtysomething who laughs with every sentence and has more money than you’ll EVER see, you too might become a believer.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean how different is Steve Jobs?<\/p>\n
And as I’m explaining to Bill the history of the business, since he TELLS ME he needs to know this, we’re accosted by Tyl, the producer of Transmission.\u00c2\u00a0 Jets Overhead has taken the stage.<\/p>\n
I never ever want to see an unsigned band again.\u00c2\u00a0 Fuck these conferences with the talent showcases.\u00c2\u00a0 If the band is REAL they don’t need to play these clusterfucks.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, we’re in Canada, there’s GOT to be a government angle, there must be some MONEY involved in having these bands play for international marketers, spreading the culture of Canada.<\/p>\n
The first band sounded AWFUL through the door.\u00c2\u00a0 And when we walked in on Jets Overhead, they didn’t sound a whole lot better.\u00c2\u00a0 But then they stopped and started playing another song, "All The People".<\/p>\n