Does anyone have a tissue? Because the executive babies in the music industry are crying again.
The GRAMMY Awards were last night and, as usual, GRAMMY President Neil Portnow just had to find a way to get on his soapbox and remind us all that musicians are people, too. They work hard and they need money. Your money!
But he wasn't talking about the musicians. The music industry has never really cared about the artists. (Many ultra successful artists end up broke not because they mismanage their money, but because their contracts suck.) What he really meant was, Music industry executives are not making money any more and it's not fair! (Imagine some whining and stomping to go along with the words and you'll have a better idea of the sentiment.)
I'm so tired of hearing this. I'm tired of the Neil Portnow's and the Lars Ulrich's. I have no sympathy for people who walk around with their heads in their asses. It's not just stupidity, it's arrogance.
One of the first things I noticed about the GRAMMY awards show last night was that they were desperately trying to appear "hip," for lack of a better word. The stage setup had an electronic look and feel. The visuals that go along with the nominees recaps were created to look like web downloads. And, my personal favorite, the event was referred to as "the GRAMMY telecast" instead of "the awards show."
Well, you're on the right track, GRAMMYs, and now the industry as a whole needs to embrace not only new technology, but new expectations of the marketplace. If the music industry really wants to make money again, then it needs to stop crying about how the world has changed, and start changing with it. For example...
Make your music easily available for me to listen to and/or download online. You can charge me for it! I'm totally willing to pay. But if I can't find a song that I'm looking for on iTunes or wherever, then I'll search for a pirated MP3 file before I go out to buy the whole CD.
Give me a reason to go out of my way if you really want me to buy that CD in a store or order it online. Because I have no need for a physical CD anymore. BUT...I might actually buy one if something extraordinary comes with it. (By the way, I have plenty of ideas about how you can do this, but I'm not telling. You never know when Bono is going to call my office and ask me to consult on the marketing strategy for U2's next album.)
Oh, and while we're at it, don't try to charge me $20 for that CD you want me to buy just because something special comes with it. I'm not stupid.
License more music. Movies and TV are great, but there's a huge market out there that's being completely ignored. Do you know how many everyday people would love to have a song for their websites, programs, and videos? Give me a reasonable price and I will absolutely license some music for my own ADD management videos.
The bottom line is that the world has changed. We're in the middle of a technological revolution, and things are moving quickly. The industries and individual businesses that embrace these changes will find a way to remain relevant. The industries that whine and complain about not making money anymore just piss us off. It's easier than ever to "stick it to the man," and people enjoy doing it...whether that means giving a bad album review or downloading music "illegally."
Stop whining, Neil Portnow. Start changing.
P.S. Technology has given musicians (not the industry execs, but the actual musicians) more power than ever before.You no longer need a big following to make a good living as a musician. More about this another time...
