What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where a RECORD COMPANY names its new video division DEN OF THIEVES!<\/p>\n
God, you’d be stunned at the backlash I got for not writing about Ahmet Ertegun’s failure to pay royalties.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, Ahmet looked like a hero to those enjoying his company’s productions, but talk to those who recorded for him, especially prior to the rock era, they’re not so full of laudatory words.<\/p>\n
That’s how far we’ve come, there’s no social consciousness, no corporate responsibility, the lunatics have taken over the asylum.\u00c2\u00a0 Didn’t ANYBODY working at Warner say HEY, WAIT A MINUTE?\u00c2\u00a0 That this might be bad for the company’s image, that it might add fuel to the fire?\u00c2\u00a0 I mean they take the company private, load it up with debt, pay back their investment and MORE, produce lousy quarterly results and then BRAG ABOUT THEIR LAWLESSNESS?<\/p>\n
Maybe it’s the curse of getting older, I used to believe the old white men running this country actually knew what they were doing.\u00c2\u00a0 Now I realize oftentimes they’re uneducated hacks who will do anything that lines their pockets.<\/p>\n
Is the name "Den Of Thieves" going to increase their revenues one little bit?\u00c2\u00a0 Is it going to make this company cool?\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, it appears it’s a B2B thing anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not like a sexy brand name is necessary to appeal to consumers.\u00c2\u00a0 And, it’s not like consumers are in bed with major labels right now anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 They’re SUSPICIOUS of major labels.\u00c2\u00a0 Rather than suing customers and raising prices, maybe labels should show their gratitude!\u00c2\u00a0 By giving more for less!\u00c2\u00a0 Appreciating that they’re nowhere without buyers.\u00c2\u00a0 But who can sympathize with fat cat frat boys paying themselves millions while releasing evanescent product almost nobody wants.<\/p>\n
And why get in bed with this MTV guy anyway.\u00c2\u00a0 Shouldn’t he be held responsible for the raping and pillaging, the decline of THAT outlet?\u00c2\u00a0 So he produced "Diary", that was a high water mark, yup that’s what kids say on the playground, did you see last night’s DIARY?\u00c2\u00a0 Lowest common denominator programming made for quick bucks.\u00c2\u00a0 God, couldn’t Warner get in bed with some YouTube star, somebody on the cutting edge, someone who might wow us who would also be CHEAPER and wouldn’t come up with such a bogus name?<\/p>\n
And CAA is involved too…\u00c2\u00a0 Charles Bludhorn’s Gulf & Western was labeled "Engulf & Devour", now that’s CAA, whose long arm extends to sports, anything where a ticket is sold.\u00c2\u00a0 If there’s a buck to be made, CAA is there.\u00c2\u00a0 Complain about the new moniker?\u00c2\u00a0 No, just send us a check.<\/p>\n
And the press release has got quotes from seemingly every executive at Warner Music.\u00c2\u00a0 God, it’s positively high school, or Soviet Russia.\u00c2\u00a0 Couldn’t TOM WHALLEY have said they should choose a different name?<\/p>\n
And it wasn’t only Ahmet.\u00c2\u00a0 Talk to Irving.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s had to audit Elektra for Eagles royalties too.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what record labels do, they fail to pay royalties.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, they do it in oh-so-many ways.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only by outright theft, by cooking the books, but by contract misinterpretation.\u00c2\u00a0 As for artist leverage?\u00c2\u00a0 God, the clock on your career starts ticking the moment you have your first hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Buck the system and you’re Curt Flood, maybe doing good for everybody else, but you end up fucked.<\/p>\n
The brazenness, the irresponsibility in naming this new entity, is absolutely staggering.\u00c2\u00a0 It demonstrates where the heart of Warner’s executives truly is.\u00c2\u00a0 The day before they announced bad quarterly results, missing analyst expectations by double, they put out this self-satisfied press release showing how innovative and cool they are.<\/p>\n
Hell, want to be innovative and cool?\u00c2\u00a0 Let the brass go to percentage salaries.\u00c2\u00a0 Have a good year, make a lot of money.\u00c2\u00a0 Perform badly, get nothing.\u00c2\u00a0 Steve Jobs gets a $1 salary, that sounds about right for those running Warner.\u00c2\u00a0 Or don’t they have confidence in themselves, don’t they think they can turn the company around and make a fortune on their stock and potential options?<\/p>\n
That’s the real den of thieves, the guys running Warner Music.<\/p>\n
\n