Batkid

I don't care.

Oh, don't get me wrong. It's sad that a kid has a frightful disease, it's cool that his wish came true. But if you think this is news, you probably don't know that Obamacare was supposed to save our nation's health care industry, not destroy it.

Marketing.

Virality.

These are things the government knows nothing about.

But the right wing media is expert upon it.

Death panels. Discarded health policies. They made the failings of Obamacare go viral. Meanwhile, the Administration was oblivious. And at best, punching back, answering instead of leading.

Kind of like the music business.

Did you see some nitwit is making a movie how the Internet is destroying the music business? Featuring David Lowery and the usual suspects?

This is like the government allowing you to keep your lousy health care plan because it benefits you, and no one else. Even though the new rules might be advantageous to almost all.

I'm sorry your business model was eviscerated by the Internet. But do we all have to stay two steps behind because you might be hurt by progress?

That's what I hate about America, no one can lose. There can be no progress because someone might get hurt. Meanwhile, all around you, progress takes place in industry and people do lose. Typewriter companies don't form a lobby and get the government to outlaw PCs, and the government is so behind on tech...it builds a lame website.

You want the younger generation to sign up? At least make the site work. They live online. Not even on their desktops, but mobiles.

Then you've got to get the word out.

Batkid was a manufactured story. Trumped up by the usual suspects, like BuzzFeed and the HuffPo whose whole existence is predicated on link-bait, headlines which seem intriguing that can give you a respite from your normally dreary work day. Even though they've rarely got calories, and like drugs they leave you feeling worse off than better.

You want to be famous in the Internet era, you want to get rich?

Then play the game. Create something that people want to spread.

Employing Batman is like using Dr. Luke. It's a guarantee of attention. You're never going to go into a radio station and say this is the new Dr. Luke production, even if the artist's a nobody, and the program director is gonna refuse to listen to it, not gonna happen.

So what's gonna make your music gain attention? Sure, we all know it must be good, we learned in the eighties that a great video can't sell a mediocre song.

But if it's good, how do you gain attention?

This is what the major labels have focused on since day one. They're experts on radio and traditional publicity.

But PSY and the rest of the web stars beat them to YouTube.

And now the entire government has been beaten by Batkid. There could have been a campaign that got the younger generation interested in health care, but everybody in D.C. was asleep at the wheel, the same way the music industry was at the turn of the century.

The truth is people want music. Just like they want to click through and tweet and e-mail and Facebook post about this Batkid.

The problem isn't the Internet eviscerated the music business, but that the people in the music business won't come to the water. They'd rather dehydrate and complain.

What's gonna get people interested in your product. What's gonna make them spread the word, do your work for you. Nothing other than a Super Bowl ad is gonna be rammed down people's throats successfully. The best campaign ever can be ignored, you need a dose of virality.

Batkid doesn't need to save only San Francisco, but the government and the music business. Both of them historically behind the times.

The problem isn't change, that's the exciting part. The public gloms on immediately. It's how do you harness this change to your advantage?

That's the game, not complaining that the CD died, people are stealing and spreading inane fictions about Spotify payments.

Hey, did you see BitTorrent traffic is down?

Amazing what a little innovation will do.

Legal systems always triumph.

Once the laggards get off the couch and realize the future is here.

"Decline in US BitTorrent traffic, says study": http://bbc.in/HRKvWD

"Everything You Need To Know About Make-A-Wish Foundation's Adorable, Crime-Fighting Batkid": http://bit.ly/1bLodym

"Good Doc on the Collapse of the Old-School Music Industry": http://bit.ly/1gNhABa


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