The Album

It's about the money, not the statement.

Do you write ten tunes in your head every two or three years? And in between have long stretches of absolute darkness? Do you not sleep for months and then get under the covers for weeks at a time?

The album is an antiquated construct that fits the modern era not at all but it sustains because it's the only way artists and labels have figured out how to make money.

Oh, so you want an album deal? How would you like to be on RCA Records right now, with their Timberlake juggernaut? Hey, I dare you, name one song beyond "Suit & Tie"!

Oh, you want me to admit I was wrong. That we're all not tired of JT, that he's a god.

I'll admit that there's still life in the old system. Saturation publicity. Getting a fraction of the public excited enough to purchase an album without hearing it first. A frenzy. But that's not love so much as impulse. Like a one night stand instead of a love affair.

And who knows, maybe people will have a love affair with "The 20/20 Experience," doesn't bother me.

But I will tell you there was "The 20/20 Experience" and... Yes, if this is a paradigm for the future, where are the other successes? Justin Timberlake won the lottery and you're still broke, scraping up cash to buy tickets.

And RCA is thrilled. Because they just made their quarter, maybe their whole damn year. Because a label doesn't care what sells, only that something sells. So if you're another act on RCA today, you're getting short shrift, all the energy and dollars are going where the cash is, "The 20/20 Experience."

Yes, you want to be a priority. Why do you want to put your fate in the hands of others?

And why do you want to make an album?

You say it's about the statement, but you didn't make one. The truth is you're just inured to the old way. You're stupid. You're afraid of the future.

The labels do it because that's where the money is. Which is why they made people buy the album for the single back in the last century. And as soon as people got the option to get only what they wanted to hear? Via Napster and iTunes? Singles soared and albums tanked. Because no one wants to hear that much bad music.

It's a circle jerk perpetuated by those on the artistic and business side of the music industry. The public doesn't want albums. Oh, don't tell me about Aunt Liz who still buys CDs. Hell, I'll tell you about Cousin Joe who still uses a flip phone, who thinks the ability to send e-mail and surf the web on a hand-held device is unnecessary.

Sure, there are always segments of the public left behind, living in the past. If you want to appeal to them, be my guest. Hell, that's the specialty of the music industry, living in the past and crying about the future, which is how all the established players missed EDM. They couldn't see how to monetize it. Meanwhile, the deejays are laughing all the way to the bank, they could care less about recorded music sales.

If you have an ongoing relationship with your fan base, tweeting and Facebooking and Tumblring, why do you only release music every year or two? That makes no sense. Your fans want something new, but you won't give it to them. Because you can't fathom the future.

Yup, what's killing the music business is the fact that the fans are more savvy than the industry.

The fans know you can't get a good ticket.

The fans know most of the album sucks.

The fans have money and want to spend it, on you, you've just got to figure out how to do it.

That's the lesson of Amanda Palmer. She figured out how to give fans what they want, engagement and access and music, and she monetized all of it. And following in her footsteps are...

Almost nobody.

Palmer gets off her label, you want on.

Palmer releases material constantly, even a single last week.

You're polishing your turd of an album.

But one day someone like Justin Timberlake, someone that big, will not be a pussy and will embrace the new world, will invent the new paradigm.

In the meantime, you're gonna send me e-mail telling me how ignorant I am, hating on me, so you can feel better about yourself.

Like I care.


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --