It's not gonna work.
The music business is a race to the bottom. A scummy cesspool wherein rules are made to be broken and fealty is paid to money but the true currency is fans and attention. He or she who restricts access pays the price. And those who don't scoop up the proceeds.
We've seen this movie before. With independent promotion. Documented quite well in the all time tome "Hit Men." As soon as one major stopped paying, the others doubled down. Who's gonna give up all that revenue?
Come on, the stories the past few months have been about records being broken. Ed Sheeran and Drake releasing new music and getting stratospheric streams. Suddenly, they're gonna take themselves out of the game? Forget Taylor Swift, that's a sideshow. From a previous era, a transition from files and physical to on demand streams. Everything moves, everything changes, but the truth remains you've got to strike when the iron is hot. When the buzz is in the air. When people care.
Come on, the movie studios are trying to decrease the window between theatre and on demand and the record companies are trying to increase it?
This is a giveback to Universal for a signed agreement, for lower stream rates, that's all. There's no news here. Hell, we haven't completely eradicated piracy, the RIAA keeps going on about the YouTube value gap and suddenly labels want to make streaming more restrictive? Good goal, increasing revenue, bad timing.
Especially with the increase in revenue. Come on, does Apple RAISE prices when the going is good? No one in Silicon Valley does that. As for Netflix, they always grandfather in the old subscribers, as does Amazon, you can keep your original rate.
But the incentive here is to subscribe to hear the hits.
The same incentive to sign up for Tidal?
That was a complete bust.
Turns out people don't care that much, and they don't like to be threatened, they like to believe they're in control and make their own choices. The history of the internet is one of products breaking through virality, and looky-loos coming last at cheap prices.
All that hogwash we had to endure, about Spotify being the devil. Then why in the hell did revenue go up double digits?
As for the Apple streaming numbers... I don't believe them. They keep bandying about Drake streams but there's no way to verify them. The numbers are easily accessible by all on Spotify's desktop version but we're just supposed to trust Jimmy Iovine? The man who was brought up in the house of music business smoke and mirrors?
Sure, it's another tool in the shed for Universal. But the problem today isn't making money, but being forgotten. You can put out music and it can be over in a day. Truly. That's what skip rates tell streaming providers, you can't force anything down anybody's throat.
But now in the name of the almighty dollar the labels are gonna re-educate the public just like that?
Not gonna happen.
P.S. Will the free tier eventually expire? Of course. Just like music on YouTube, which is already dying, because it's a bad experience, oftentimes streams on Spotify exceed those on the visual service. But you don't close the door too soon. And most of the money is in ancillaries anyway. The road and sponsorship. Sure, it's great if recorded music revenues rise, but they're just the starting point. And if your track stiffs, good luck trying to put asses in the seats, get that Fortune 500 company to lay down bucks.
P.P.S. For all the blowhard bloviating the music business is based on fear, that you'll be forgotten, ignored, that you won't have hits. Subterfuge, outright lying and falsehood are employed to goose records. Do you think this is gonna stop, do you think someone's gonna cough up their competitive advantage?
P.P.P.S. Who goes first? This is no different from Tom Petty and the acts of yore being the guinea pigs for higher album prices. Who wants their career to suffer so all boats can rise? Good luck finding that mark.
P.P.P.P.S. It's for albums only, singles are excluded! The album is an archaic format whose time has passed. You hop from single to single, released on a regular basis, the young acts understand this, the old farts are in denial.
"Spotify Premium users will get some albums two weeks before free users, As part of its new licensing agreement with Universal Music Group": http://bit.ly/2nYgxrA
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Tuesday 4 April 2017
Sunday 2 April 2017
Watchwords
CREDIBILITY
Say what you mean and do not lie. Stand for something. Be trustworthy. It is the antidote to the duplicity pervading our society. Have only one face, not two. Do what's right in your heart, not what right's for your pocketbook. Be a paragon of honesty that others can point to and believe in. Dollars are powerful but the world is run by people and if you get your own house in order, stop complaining and start taking action, you'll be stunned at the results that can be achieved.
TRUTH TO POWER
Leaders look for acknowledgement after the fact. They take a risk, they jump off the cliff based on what's in their heart. They do not do focus groups, do not believe in research, but abide by their inner tuning fork. Everybody knows the truth, they're just afraid to speak it out loud. But when someone does, others rally around them.
IGNORE THE NAYSAYERS
If everybody's your friend you've got a problem, that just means you've tempered your approach to appeal to all, to not ruffle feathers. It's the hooks in Velcro that make it work. You need rough edges, it's your sharp points that will bond others to you. People have agendas, they want to drag you down into the hole they're in, they want you to be a pawn in their game, and if you're not wary, paying attention, skeptical, you'll be dragged down with them.
TAKE A STAND
Fallon is out of time. Colbert stood up and his ratings soared. Today the L.A. "Times" excoriated Trump in a way heretofore unseen: http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/?utm_source=phplist5801&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Watchwords Playing it safe evaporated with the last century, when the internet came along and disrupted the world. Everything's up for grabs, we all have the means of communication at our fingertips, we're all seeking guidance and solidarity and we don't know where to look in a world where artists have abdicated and the monied are furthering their own agenda. You think you're losing audience when you pick a side but the truth is you're bonding people to you, and not everyone can be your fan, no way.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Statistics can be twisted. Fake news abounds. But the truth is out there. You're a citizen on the planet, it's your duty to search out the truth, with open eyes, realizing you may find facts that are contrary to your beliefs. Fake news is for the uneducated unwilling to go deeper, you're better than that. And I hate that expression, it's utilized to make you feel inferior, appeal to a theoretical moral high ground, so whenever anybody says that to you, call them on their b.s. Too many self-righteous pricks lording their superiority over the rest of us for no good reason.
MAKE MONEY BUT DON'T BE A SLAVE PRAYING TO IT
There's no harm in making a living, if you're decrying someone's lifestyle and assets on principle, the joke is upon you. The underclass is hurting and needs to be helped. But to feel better than others because you are broke is a sad state of affairs in which you ultimately lose. We want to lift all boats. Some abuse the system. Income inequality is the scourge of our system. But when you say you're better because you've got less you just take yourself out of the game and force others into hiding. The best disinfectant for subterfuge is sunlight.
COMPLETE TASKS
Follow-through is everything in life. Finishing is its own reward. Life is about building blocks, one upon another, to create opportunity. You finish not so you can do the next foreseeable thing so much as being able to see the landscape from higher ground and encountering new possibilities.
RESPECT EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM
And feel free to disregard it after you've digested it, but those who've been there and done that are the best flashlights into the future, they know what questions to ask, they know where trouble lurks. If you always have to reinvent the wheel you're never going to get to the destination.
BE AN INDIVIDUAL
It's harder than it looks. Much more difficult that uploading a video to YouTube or a file to Spotify. Groupthink is ruining our country. Everybody wants to be a member of the club but no one questions whether the club has any worth. Beautiful people are a dime a dozen. As are college graduates. But someone who can parse the truth and articulate a path, rally those in support, is rare.
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Say what you mean and do not lie. Stand for something. Be trustworthy. It is the antidote to the duplicity pervading our society. Have only one face, not two. Do what's right in your heart, not what right's for your pocketbook. Be a paragon of honesty that others can point to and believe in. Dollars are powerful but the world is run by people and if you get your own house in order, stop complaining and start taking action, you'll be stunned at the results that can be achieved.
TRUTH TO POWER
Leaders look for acknowledgement after the fact. They take a risk, they jump off the cliff based on what's in their heart. They do not do focus groups, do not believe in research, but abide by their inner tuning fork. Everybody knows the truth, they're just afraid to speak it out loud. But when someone does, others rally around them.
IGNORE THE NAYSAYERS
If everybody's your friend you've got a problem, that just means you've tempered your approach to appeal to all, to not ruffle feathers. It's the hooks in Velcro that make it work. You need rough edges, it's your sharp points that will bond others to you. People have agendas, they want to drag you down into the hole they're in, they want you to be a pawn in their game, and if you're not wary, paying attention, skeptical, you'll be dragged down with them.
TAKE A STAND
Fallon is out of time. Colbert stood up and his ratings soared. Today the L.A. "Times" excoriated Trump in a way heretofore unseen: http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/?utm_source=phplist5801&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Watchwords Playing it safe evaporated with the last century, when the internet came along and disrupted the world. Everything's up for grabs, we all have the means of communication at our fingertips, we're all seeking guidance and solidarity and we don't know where to look in a world where artists have abdicated and the monied are furthering their own agenda. You think you're losing audience when you pick a side but the truth is you're bonding people to you, and not everyone can be your fan, no way.
EDUCATE YOURSELF
Statistics can be twisted. Fake news abounds. But the truth is out there. You're a citizen on the planet, it's your duty to search out the truth, with open eyes, realizing you may find facts that are contrary to your beliefs. Fake news is for the uneducated unwilling to go deeper, you're better than that. And I hate that expression, it's utilized to make you feel inferior, appeal to a theoretical moral high ground, so whenever anybody says that to you, call them on their b.s. Too many self-righteous pricks lording their superiority over the rest of us for no good reason.
MAKE MONEY BUT DON'T BE A SLAVE PRAYING TO IT
There's no harm in making a living, if you're decrying someone's lifestyle and assets on principle, the joke is upon you. The underclass is hurting and needs to be helped. But to feel better than others because you are broke is a sad state of affairs in which you ultimately lose. We want to lift all boats. Some abuse the system. Income inequality is the scourge of our system. But when you say you're better because you've got less you just take yourself out of the game and force others into hiding. The best disinfectant for subterfuge is sunlight.
COMPLETE TASKS
Follow-through is everything in life. Finishing is its own reward. Life is about building blocks, one upon another, to create opportunity. You finish not so you can do the next foreseeable thing so much as being able to see the landscape from higher ground and encountering new possibilities.
RESPECT EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM
And feel free to disregard it after you've digested it, but those who've been there and done that are the best flashlights into the future, they know what questions to ask, they know where trouble lurks. If you always have to reinvent the wheel you're never going to get to the destination.
BE AN INDIVIDUAL
It's harder than it looks. Much more difficult that uploading a video to YouTube or a file to Spotify. Groupthink is ruining our country. Everybody wants to be a member of the club but no one questions whether the club has any worth. Beautiful people are a dime a dozen. As are college graduates. But someone who can parse the truth and articulate a path, rally those in support, is rare.
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/?utm_source=phplist5801&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Watchwords
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