Yesterday I was at Sony.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no hustle and bustle.<\/p>\n
Oh, the west coast headquarters always had a laid back feel.\u00c2\u00a0 But now there’s the vibe of a ghost town.\u00c2\u00a0 I heard no music playing, I saw nobody hanging out, those that were there were in their offices, working hard, thrilled to have a job.<\/p>\n
Reception is now in the basement.\u00c2\u00a0 The desks that used to be manned in the buildings…\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no one there.\u00c2\u00a0 And now there are two labels involved, not just one.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, Sony and BMG.<\/p>\n
Now I can understand cutting staff in a shrinking industry.\u00c2\u00a0 But is music truly shrinking?\u00c2\u00a0 Are people listening less?<\/p>\n
Ironically, just the opposite is true, people are listening more.\u00c2\u00a0 CD sales may be dropping, but tens of millions of people have iPods, which can hold a multiple of people’s old collections.\u00c2\u00a0 And even those without MP3 players have music on their hard drives.\u00c2\u00a0 P2P trading is staggering, far outstripping legal acquisition.\u00c2\u00a0 It appears we’re in a golden era of music.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that the major labels haven’t figured out how to make it work for them.\u00c2\u00a0 Look no further than the consolidation of Capitol and Virgin into one company today.<\/p>\n
No one is more dedicated and tenacious than Jason Flom.\u00c2\u00a0 Always working his relationships, he’s always got his eye on the goal, and is trying to figure out a way to slide the puck across the ice, through the defenders, into the net.\u00c2\u00a0 But Jason is only one man.\u00c2\u00a0 He can only work so many records.<\/p>\n
The reason we had the label explosion two decades back was because of radio.\u00c2\u00a0 It was believed that you needed multiple imprints to work stations, that outlets would not be receptive to one promo man working so many records.\u00c2\u00a0 And with radio burgeoning, there was an opportunity.\u00c2\u00a0 For exposure, to make money.<\/p>\n
But the radio equation has diminished.\u00c2\u00a0 Greatly.\u00c2\u00a0 Jason Flom can work radio and TV and even Starbucks as well as anybody.\u00c2\u00a0 But are those the only games in town?<\/p>\n
Not by a long shot.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s just that the other games are so new, such niches, so baffling, that the majors just can’t figure out how to play profitably.\u00c2\u00a0 And rather than build toward an inevitable future, they’re retrenching.\u00c2\u00a0 This will be their downfall.<\/p>\n
If you’re not in control of new music production\/sale, you lose your essence.\u00c2\u00a0 Society demands new music, media outlets demand new music.\u00c2\u00a0 Those with heat end up with the relationships.\u00c2\u00a0 But by ceding so much of the media landscape, by retreating so far, by tightening the purse strings to such an extent, the majors are leaving wide swaths of the business, both present and future, to others.<\/p>\n
You can’t make any real money selling online.\u00c2\u00a0 Because the primary mode of acquisition isn’t monetized.<\/p>\n
So the newbies don’t focus on recorded music sales.\u00c2\u00a0 They give the music away for free.\u00c2\u00a0 Sell CDs as souvenirs at shows.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about the show.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about act culture.\u00c2\u00a0 Getting people to believe in performers and charging them any way possible.\u00c2\u00a0 The majors can’t compete.\u00c2\u00a0 The old wave managers and lawyers won’t cough up those rights.\u00c2\u00a0 But, if you’re a nobody, if you’re all in it together, your buddy is the manager and label and…\u00c2\u00a0 Your motivation is different.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about the music, it’s about having fun.\u00c2\u00a0 The major labels are star machines.\u00c2\u00a0 A star is someone on MTV and then in the tabloids you make fun of.\u00c2\u00a0 Who wants to be a star?<\/p>\n
Obviously somebody.\u00c2\u00a0 But, that’s an ever-shrinking share of the business.\u00c2\u00a0 An impossible game where the acts that do make it lose all credibility and have brief careers.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, with music instrument sales through the roof–<\/p>\n
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