"Release, observe, react"
That's what Reid Hoffman says in his podcast with Mark Zuckerberg.
MARK ZUCKERBERG? He's more inaccessible than a rock star, harder to hear in an uncontrolled environment than our President, just to hear him talk normally, off guard, telling his tale, is a thrill. We're long in the tooth in the tech era. Despite Marc Andreessen's pontifications, I don't think the future is so bright. We saw incredible innovation for twenty years while we were paying attention, for nearly twenty years before that, but now there's consolidation and power and that era where you had to constantly buy new hardware, check out new sites and apps, seems to be behind us. Oh, I'm not saying there's not plenty of runway in front of us, but I am saying WHERE WAS THIS PODCAST WHEN WE NEEDED IT?
Reid Hoffman made his first big score with PayPal, but he's most famous for LinkedIn, he knows everybody in the Valley, and he's got them talking on his podcast. But it's more than that, Reid is delivering his philosophy, it's a master class for wannabes, it's just that today it's so hard to jump that hurdle from outside to inside. And speaking of inside, what they say is true, every industry is small, everybody knows everybody, whether it be tech or music or waste management. Make it, and you're part of the club.
Now I want you to take advice with a grain of salt. Because it's rarely particularized to you. Sure, it worked well for the person giving it, but you're different, you have to play to your own strengths. But still, there are a lot of good transferable lessons in this Zuckerberg podcast.
Like the one above, "Release, observe, react." First and foremost Hoffman says if it's perfect, you've launched too late. Steve Jobs could get it right the first time, but for the rest of us, it's best to get the product out there and observe...
I do this all the time.
And so should you.
I put out product, I write something, and I gauge the reaction. Sometimes I get a lot of e-mail, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I write something I know is great, but it's not the kind of thing that people would respond to. And then there are the times I hang it out there, wondering if anybody will care, whether I'll lose subscribers, and the reaction is NUCLEAR! The funny thing is it's usually about my personal life, or observations, turns out my audience is more interested in me than what I have to say. Of course, not everybody. But Hoffman makes that point too, you play to the majority. And when I write about politics, when I go off point, it pisses some people off, but it resonates with others who forward it and I gain new subscribers, new doors are opened, if you stay in your own vertical you're not gonna grow.
Assuming people care to begin with. Which is why you should constantly be releasing songs, combing the data, seeing what works. There are so many tools available.
Another aphorism from Hoffman is "Listen and ignore." Turns out what people do is very different from what they say. They say don't do this, they hate that, but then they'll use it ad infinitum. Ignore hatred when your play count is soaring.
You also have to become comfortable with embarrassment. If you're not willing to screw up in public, you're best off being a worker bee. You need a thick skin to make it.
There are numerous lessons in this podcast.
But most thrilling is having access to Zuck. You feel like you're in the room. It's not that he's making such incredible revelations, it's just that he becomes three-dimensional, you can see the path. And he was into computers and networking long before Facebook. Most successful people paid a lot of dues when no one was watching. They look like overnight successes, but they're not.
And Zuck would rather have a social impact than financial success. And I'm sure he likes the money, but that's what the new tools afford you, the chance to make an impact. Hell, I deplore Breitbart and the right wing blogs spewing falsehoods, but you've got to give them credit, they used the new tools, the internet, to be heard, and their candidate got elected.
And the game is always changing, but one thing remains constant, it all comes down to people. And when you can hear the people speak...IT'S UTTERLY FASCINATING!
P.S. Now I started with Eric Schmidt. He was unbelievably boring, I turned it off, I was never gonna listen to "Masters Of Scale" again. But then one podcast ended and the episode with Crisis Text Line's Nancy Lublin began and I got hooked. She's a force of nature, she has grit, which is what the episode is about, so then I pulled up Zuck's and was even more satisfied. And next comes Sheryl Sandberg, who was in this podcast, not in her I'm an expert on everything mode, but as an employee of Facebook, and just to hear her speak...WOW!
P.P.S. Smart is underrated. Smart is hard to do, as is educated. Sure, not all these people graduated from college, but they paid so many dues that when they finally speak the pearls of wisdom drop right off their tongues. Used to be we listened to musicians, now we listen to techies.
https://mastersofscale.com
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/masters-of-scale-with-reid-hoffman/id1227971746?mt=2
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Friday, 16 June 2017
Thursday, 15 June 2017
Katy Perry's Failure
She appealed to all the people who didn't care.
Her biggest album was "Teenage Dream," and now she's targeting oldsters who never cared in the straight media. It's like she's still living in the last century, in the pre-internet era, when there were limited outlets and fans were thrilled to see their heroes in mainstream publications. But now there are a zillion outlets and music fans get their stories online. They want an immediate bond with the artist. They expect interaction as opposed to media gatekeepers they do not care about writing fluff articles about their heroes.
And she broke the cardinal rule of music today. YOU'VE GOT TO RELEASE A HIT! You'd think she'd realize this after that Olympics song tanked. Perry is famous for anthems, like "Roar," she should have put out one of those first and then bled into more image-expanding stuff. But no, she bunted when she needed a home run. "Swish Swish" is meh. It's not a one listen smash. It appeals only to the hardest of hard core. And that does not keep you in the Spotify Top 50 these days, no way.
As for iTunes and the "Billboard" chart...THEY'RE IRRELEVANT! Perry's fans stream, they don't buy. And being number one on the "Billboard" chart is an antiquated concept meant to drive reorders when physical retail is nearly dead, when the only people paying attention to that metric don't care. Do you really think Perry's fans are concerned with her record going to number one?
We're evolving. But Perry decided to live in the past. It won't be long before there are no albums, just a continuous stream of product, driven by hit singles. And if you do have an album, you release the hit at the same damn time, to get all the additional streams. Think how stupid this is, putting out a teaser and building momentum for a sales event that doesn't matter. At least, unlike in the last century, you can buy and stream the single, there is remuneration, but today you strike when the iron is hot. The new paradigm is instant release, with the hype coming AFTER the project is available. And that makes sense, you want to reap all that revenue. What does being number one on the "Billboard" chart give you...BRAGGING RIGHTS IN A SCHOOL THE FANS ARE NOT GOING TO!
And now it's about longevity of the project. You make your money by sustaining. The short term spike hearkens back to radio and MTV, both moribund, now you're better off bubbling under forever than rising up and falling fast. And sure, the mutual masturbators known as promotion and radio might force a record up the chart but that won't last for long, because no one's got the patience to wait to hear a track and the world moves much faster than that. Come on, radio is often six months to a year behind, the only people paying attention are members of the industry circle jerk and the most passive of consumers. If radio wanted to be relevant it would break records, but it never leads, and it's doomed anyway.
And we've got to stop with this hype about tracks that are dead on arrival. Like Lorde. It looks like she's gonna be yesterday's news. She can't come up with a track that sticks. But she too is featured endlessly in the mainstream press no one reads with hosannas. The symbiotic press/label relationship is completely out of touch with how music is consumed today, how all arts are consumed today. I've given up on the arts sections of newspapers, all fluff on projects that are here today and gone tomorrow. Look at the movie business, we know the day of whether a flick is a hit or a miss. You can go to rottentomatoes.com and see. Why should you be anticipating for a year, watching the nitwits on late night TV saying it's the best movie they've ever been in, when it's almost always a stiff and you know upon release. Same deal with music. I don't want to hear the story in advance, I want to hear the MUSIC!
But it's kinda like CDs. The purveyors want to send them to critics, want to employ their publicity departments, to make them think they're doing something, that people care, BUT THEY DON'T!
Believe me, the target audience for these new releases knows they're out. The younger demos follow acts 24/7. This is what the oldsters don't get, releasing a record every three years, touring and then hibernating in between. You're in the marketplace all the time, you're cutting YouTube covers, you're putting out singles, you're in the game. You cannot win if you do not play.
And it all comes down to the music.
The problem with this Perry track is it's got no soul. In a visceral era where we're worried about the world blowing up the track is overmanipulated. Hell, didn't anybody ever learn anything from the Ramones? It's about the energy, capturing lightning in a bottle, and if you do it right you don't need a year in the studio, you need a day or two, at most a week! Slickness is anathema. That's all pre-Trump. The game has changed.
As for Perry's vaunted change...WHO CARES! She's a nitwit musician. Great she took a stand, but she lives and dies on her tunes, which are all over the map, she'd dependent upon hits, which is why ticket sales are soft. She's a POP ARTIST! If she wants to change direction, more power to her, but she should lead with her music and expect rough going, but if that's her heart's desire...
So there's really not much of a story here. Act does scorched earth publicity and expects this will drive consumption when the music is substandard.
The target audience has spoken. They don't care, they're not moved, "Swish Swish," talk about a lousy title, isn't even in the Spotify United States Top 50. She blew it. It'd be like the Warriors opening up the Finals with the guys on the bench, leaving Durant and Curry sitting out. And when the stars did hit the floor, not letting them take three point shots. You go with what got you here. And you put it all on the line. And this has got nothing to do with Taylor Swift going streaming the same week, and their feud does nothing to drive consumption, only fame, which Perry has enough of. You've got to scroll through the detritus to see the obvious. SHE PUT OUT A STIFF RECORD! It's not terminal, all she needs is a hit. Maybe one she writes by herself that appears in a month or two. The internet provides so many tools, use the new ones, not the old ones.
P.S. Sure, she did the multi-day YouTube thing, but there was no mania, because the track was stiff. Couldn't someone see this happening and change the plan? In the digital world you adjust on the fly, but label marketing plans are set in stone.
P.P.S. Now the news story is the lack of success! That's what overhype will do for you. But most of the target audience has just moved on, they don't want to fight yesterday's war, they're just listening to something else.
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Her biggest album was "Teenage Dream," and now she's targeting oldsters who never cared in the straight media. It's like she's still living in the last century, in the pre-internet era, when there were limited outlets and fans were thrilled to see their heroes in mainstream publications. But now there are a zillion outlets and music fans get their stories online. They want an immediate bond with the artist. They expect interaction as opposed to media gatekeepers they do not care about writing fluff articles about their heroes.
And she broke the cardinal rule of music today. YOU'VE GOT TO RELEASE A HIT! You'd think she'd realize this after that Olympics song tanked. Perry is famous for anthems, like "Roar," she should have put out one of those first and then bled into more image-expanding stuff. But no, she bunted when she needed a home run. "Swish Swish" is meh. It's not a one listen smash. It appeals only to the hardest of hard core. And that does not keep you in the Spotify Top 50 these days, no way.
As for iTunes and the "Billboard" chart...THEY'RE IRRELEVANT! Perry's fans stream, they don't buy. And being number one on the "Billboard" chart is an antiquated concept meant to drive reorders when physical retail is nearly dead, when the only people paying attention to that metric don't care. Do you really think Perry's fans are concerned with her record going to number one?
We're evolving. But Perry decided to live in the past. It won't be long before there are no albums, just a continuous stream of product, driven by hit singles. And if you do have an album, you release the hit at the same damn time, to get all the additional streams. Think how stupid this is, putting out a teaser and building momentum for a sales event that doesn't matter. At least, unlike in the last century, you can buy and stream the single, there is remuneration, but today you strike when the iron is hot. The new paradigm is instant release, with the hype coming AFTER the project is available. And that makes sense, you want to reap all that revenue. What does being number one on the "Billboard" chart give you...BRAGGING RIGHTS IN A SCHOOL THE FANS ARE NOT GOING TO!
And now it's about longevity of the project. You make your money by sustaining. The short term spike hearkens back to radio and MTV, both moribund, now you're better off bubbling under forever than rising up and falling fast. And sure, the mutual masturbators known as promotion and radio might force a record up the chart but that won't last for long, because no one's got the patience to wait to hear a track and the world moves much faster than that. Come on, radio is often six months to a year behind, the only people paying attention are members of the industry circle jerk and the most passive of consumers. If radio wanted to be relevant it would break records, but it never leads, and it's doomed anyway.
And we've got to stop with this hype about tracks that are dead on arrival. Like Lorde. It looks like she's gonna be yesterday's news. She can't come up with a track that sticks. But she too is featured endlessly in the mainstream press no one reads with hosannas. The symbiotic press/label relationship is completely out of touch with how music is consumed today, how all arts are consumed today. I've given up on the arts sections of newspapers, all fluff on projects that are here today and gone tomorrow. Look at the movie business, we know the day of whether a flick is a hit or a miss. You can go to rottentomatoes.com and see. Why should you be anticipating for a year, watching the nitwits on late night TV saying it's the best movie they've ever been in, when it's almost always a stiff and you know upon release. Same deal with music. I don't want to hear the story in advance, I want to hear the MUSIC!
But it's kinda like CDs. The purveyors want to send them to critics, want to employ their publicity departments, to make them think they're doing something, that people care, BUT THEY DON'T!
Believe me, the target audience for these new releases knows they're out. The younger demos follow acts 24/7. This is what the oldsters don't get, releasing a record every three years, touring and then hibernating in between. You're in the marketplace all the time, you're cutting YouTube covers, you're putting out singles, you're in the game. You cannot win if you do not play.
And it all comes down to the music.
The problem with this Perry track is it's got no soul. In a visceral era where we're worried about the world blowing up the track is overmanipulated. Hell, didn't anybody ever learn anything from the Ramones? It's about the energy, capturing lightning in a bottle, and if you do it right you don't need a year in the studio, you need a day or two, at most a week! Slickness is anathema. That's all pre-Trump. The game has changed.
As for Perry's vaunted change...WHO CARES! She's a nitwit musician. Great she took a stand, but she lives and dies on her tunes, which are all over the map, she'd dependent upon hits, which is why ticket sales are soft. She's a POP ARTIST! If she wants to change direction, more power to her, but she should lead with her music and expect rough going, but if that's her heart's desire...
So there's really not much of a story here. Act does scorched earth publicity and expects this will drive consumption when the music is substandard.
The target audience has spoken. They don't care, they're not moved, "Swish Swish," talk about a lousy title, isn't even in the Spotify United States Top 50. She blew it. It'd be like the Warriors opening up the Finals with the guys on the bench, leaving Durant and Curry sitting out. And when the stars did hit the floor, not letting them take three point shots. You go with what got you here. And you put it all on the line. And this has got nothing to do with Taylor Swift going streaming the same week, and their feud does nothing to drive consumption, only fame, which Perry has enough of. You've got to scroll through the detritus to see the obvious. SHE PUT OUT A STIFF RECORD! It's not terminal, all she needs is a hit. Maybe one she writes by herself that appears in a month or two. The internet provides so many tools, use the new ones, not the old ones.
P.S. Sure, she did the multi-day YouTube thing, but there was no mania, because the track was stiff. Couldn't someone see this happening and change the plan? In the digital world you adjust on the fly, but label marketing plans are set in stone.
P.P.S. Now the news story is the lack of success! That's what overhype will do for you. But most of the target audience has just moved on, they don't want to fight yesterday's war, they're just listening to something else.
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Wednesday, 14 June 2017
A Modern Star
GRAVITAS
Take yourself seriously, or no one else will. Have something to say. Mean it. People want someone to believe in, and if you're frivolous and wishy-washy you'll get little blowback but you'll never ascend to the pinnacle. We live in dangerous times and we're looking for leaders. Not everybody will agree with you, but if some are passionate about you they'll enlist others and you will ascend.
SMART
You don't want to be an adolescent star. Shame on parents enabling their kids to make it. Especially the educated. Have they not looked at the scrapheap of child stars? Do they think their kids will be any different? They won't. You want to grow up as part of the group, being bullied, having your peaks and being unknown. You want to go to college to experience others. You want to travel so you're enriched. This is the well upon which you will base your creativity and life. The school of hard knocks is a pretty good one, but the school that teaches you how to analyze problems, that makes you think, that challenges your precepts, is the one you want to go to. If you think college is about getting a job upon graduation, you're never gonna be a star. You're playing it safe. Stars don't, they put everything on the line. Today you get multiple opportunities to interact with your audience. When you speak poorly and can't cogitate, when you show little grasp of the issues and no ability to think upon your feet, people laugh at you. Of course there are teen phenoms, but how many last?
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
You've got to be able to poke fun at yourself. Now don't overdo it, makes me crazy when skinny women keep talking about their fat ass, and when smart men say how dumb they are, or vice versa, this is not what I'm talking about. We all commit errors, all the time. Admit them. Be the butt of the joke. Laugh along with others. Don't be a punching bag, but don't be holier than thou. We're all imperfect, but don't sacrifice your gravitas at the altar of fitting in.
HAVE AN EDGE
If you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing at all. We've got too many people who want to fit in, who are afraid to go on the record. We all don't get along, we all don't agree, and just because the spotlight shines upon you that does not mean you need to sacrifice your personality. Of course people are gonna disagree with you, be shocked that you didn't toe the company line, but when the dust settles and they move on to criticizing someone else you'll still be standing, assuming you didn't cave, you'll be stronger. Life is long and so are careers when done right. In today's overloaded instant world they need a punching bag every day, but they forget yesterday's, remember that.
GO ON THE RECORD
Don't say you're uneducated on the issues, don't say you don't have an opinion, EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON TODAY! Just wake up your phone and you can't miss it. It's your obligation to take the temperature of society, you cannot be removed, because no one else is. Have opinions and speak them. Become three-dimensional, otherwise people can't get hooked on you.
COMMIT ERRORS, APOLOGIZE WHEN WRONG BUT STAND YOUR GROUND
Never back down immediately unless you feel inside you made a mistake. Just because you're being excoriated, that does not mean you're wrong. Hell, that's what Fox does, and you can learn a lesson from them. When the left goes insane Hannity just doubles down, he pushes back, because those criticizing him are not members of his audience anyway, he doesn't care about them. Don't cave to the looky-loos who aren't normally paying attention. Just because they're playing GOTCHA! that doesn't mean you've got to, either back down or play GOTCHA! in reverse. Ignore that which does not become national news, unless you have something you're dying to say, controversy burns out.
APPEARANCE
Looks are passe. Hell, look at Alicia Keys, wearing no makeup. It's too hard a job to prettify yourself for consumption. Those grooming themselves for Instagram are living in a false world of appearances, believing models rule, but that was back in the nineties, today it's about having an identity. Times change. Don't be lost in the past.
DON'T WITHHOLD
Everybody's an open book online, you can Google anybody and find out tons about them. By not playing, by restricting information, you look like a zombie alien. Now, more than ever, stars are not on a pedestal, in a world where everybody has a voice on the internet, where all your foibles are revealed, you're no better than the rest of us. It's your attitude and your work that make you rise above.
ACCESS IS YOUR CALL
You don't have to tweet, don't have to glad-hand if your work can stand on its own. But if you do interact with your public beware that whatever happens becomes online fodder. If you don't mind appearing rude, be so. Your fans keep you alive. But you're not in a good mood every day, no one is. So this is dicey, you want to be famous for the perks and then you want to be left alone. There is a line, you get to draw it, but know that all of your audience won't be happy.
YOUR PLATFORM
Use it to support your agenda, to weigh in on different topics, as long as your motivation is pure and you're not looking for a merit badge for your good work.
ANYBODY CAN PLAY
Credit MTV, where the younger generations were exposed to different colors, different religions and different sexual preferences. The younger generations are a lot less prejudiced than their elders. Of course there are exceptions, but straight people now have gay friends, minorities have pride and we don't care where you come from, as long as you're fresh and you entertain us.
CONCLUSION
The world has changed completely. Credit the bulge of the millennials. Credit the internet. Credit progress. Credit dissension. You can't operate on last year's rules. Politics is for everybody. Income inequality is rampant. Ignorance is widespread. It's a crazy world wherein we need people to rally around and inspire us. It's a hard job to do, most people say they can when they can't. But if you're in the game know it's less about self-promotion than identity, and the trick is to last. Reality TV will make you famous, but it won't give you impact, never mind a career. Neither will one hit song. You've got to play for the long haul. You've got to be famous for something, otherwise you're here and gone. So specialize in your talent, go deep, and continue to play. And if you're doing it right you'll gain an audience that will increase. Not everybody gets to win. It's all not based on talent. You need perseverance, luck and friends. But someone makes it. And if you want a chance, to change society, to have impact, obey the above rules.
Take yourself seriously, or no one else will. Have something to say. Mean it. People want someone to believe in, and if you're frivolous and wishy-washy you'll get little blowback but you'll never ascend to the pinnacle. We live in dangerous times and we're looking for leaders. Not everybody will agree with you, but if some are passionate about you they'll enlist others and you will ascend.
SMART
You don't want to be an adolescent star. Shame on parents enabling their kids to make it. Especially the educated. Have they not looked at the scrapheap of child stars? Do they think their kids will be any different? They won't. You want to grow up as part of the group, being bullied, having your peaks and being unknown. You want to go to college to experience others. You want to travel so you're enriched. This is the well upon which you will base your creativity and life. The school of hard knocks is a pretty good one, but the school that teaches you how to analyze problems, that makes you think, that challenges your precepts, is the one you want to go to. If you think college is about getting a job upon graduation, you're never gonna be a star. You're playing it safe. Stars don't, they put everything on the line. Today you get multiple opportunities to interact with your audience. When you speak poorly and can't cogitate, when you show little grasp of the issues and no ability to think upon your feet, people laugh at you. Of course there are teen phenoms, but how many last?
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
You've got to be able to poke fun at yourself. Now don't overdo it, makes me crazy when skinny women keep talking about their fat ass, and when smart men say how dumb they are, or vice versa, this is not what I'm talking about. We all commit errors, all the time. Admit them. Be the butt of the joke. Laugh along with others. Don't be a punching bag, but don't be holier than thou. We're all imperfect, but don't sacrifice your gravitas at the altar of fitting in.
HAVE AN EDGE
If you don't stand for something, you stand for nothing at all. We've got too many people who want to fit in, who are afraid to go on the record. We all don't get along, we all don't agree, and just because the spotlight shines upon you that does not mean you need to sacrifice your personality. Of course people are gonna disagree with you, be shocked that you didn't toe the company line, but when the dust settles and they move on to criticizing someone else you'll still be standing, assuming you didn't cave, you'll be stronger. Life is long and so are careers when done right. In today's overloaded instant world they need a punching bag every day, but they forget yesterday's, remember that.
GO ON THE RECORD
Don't say you're uneducated on the issues, don't say you don't have an opinion, EVERYBODY KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON TODAY! Just wake up your phone and you can't miss it. It's your obligation to take the temperature of society, you cannot be removed, because no one else is. Have opinions and speak them. Become three-dimensional, otherwise people can't get hooked on you.
COMMIT ERRORS, APOLOGIZE WHEN WRONG BUT STAND YOUR GROUND
Never back down immediately unless you feel inside you made a mistake. Just because you're being excoriated, that does not mean you're wrong. Hell, that's what Fox does, and you can learn a lesson from them. When the left goes insane Hannity just doubles down, he pushes back, because those criticizing him are not members of his audience anyway, he doesn't care about them. Don't cave to the looky-loos who aren't normally paying attention. Just because they're playing GOTCHA! that doesn't mean you've got to, either back down or play GOTCHA! in reverse. Ignore that which does not become national news, unless you have something you're dying to say, controversy burns out.
APPEARANCE
Looks are passe. Hell, look at Alicia Keys, wearing no makeup. It's too hard a job to prettify yourself for consumption. Those grooming themselves for Instagram are living in a false world of appearances, believing models rule, but that was back in the nineties, today it's about having an identity. Times change. Don't be lost in the past.
DON'T WITHHOLD
Everybody's an open book online, you can Google anybody and find out tons about them. By not playing, by restricting information, you look like a zombie alien. Now, more than ever, stars are not on a pedestal, in a world where everybody has a voice on the internet, where all your foibles are revealed, you're no better than the rest of us. It's your attitude and your work that make you rise above.
ACCESS IS YOUR CALL
You don't have to tweet, don't have to glad-hand if your work can stand on its own. But if you do interact with your public beware that whatever happens becomes online fodder. If you don't mind appearing rude, be so. Your fans keep you alive. But you're not in a good mood every day, no one is. So this is dicey, you want to be famous for the perks and then you want to be left alone. There is a line, you get to draw it, but know that all of your audience won't be happy.
YOUR PLATFORM
Use it to support your agenda, to weigh in on different topics, as long as your motivation is pure and you're not looking for a merit badge for your good work.
ANYBODY CAN PLAY
Credit MTV, where the younger generations were exposed to different colors, different religions and different sexual preferences. The younger generations are a lot less prejudiced than their elders. Of course there are exceptions, but straight people now have gay friends, minorities have pride and we don't care where you come from, as long as you're fresh and you entertain us.
CONCLUSION
The world has changed completely. Credit the bulge of the millennials. Credit the internet. Credit progress. Credit dissension. You can't operate on last year's rules. Politics is for everybody. Income inequality is rampant. Ignorance is widespread. It's a crazy world wherein we need people to rally around and inspire us. It's a hard job to do, most people say they can when they can't. But if you're in the game know it's less about self-promotion than identity, and the trick is to last. Reality TV will make you famous, but it won't give you impact, never mind a career. Neither will one hit song. You've got to play for the long haul. You've got to be famous for something, otherwise you're here and gone. So specialize in your talent, go deep, and continue to play. And if you're doing it right you'll gain an audience that will increase. Not everybody gets to win. It's all not based on talent. You need perseverance, luck and friends. But someone makes it. And if you want a chance, to change society, to have impact, obey the above rules.
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Re-Paul Anka
Interesting about Anka...I was his press agent from the time he was 16...sleeping in my bathtub in a Manhattan hotel when he came down from Canada...when Irv Feld hired me because I had done a good job on Sammy Davis...to the early sixties...Irv and Izzy Feld owned a drugstore in Washington DC and got into the music business by the records they were selling...I got him on the cover of TIME, a real coup...Inside story about "My Way"...the original song was written by Lined Renaud's pianist husband. I did the publicity for his marriage to Ann DeZogheb, a beautiful Egyptian model living in Paris, wedding took place at the airport...his father Andy and mother then lived across the river in New Jersey...so many storieshope you are well...best jay weston
----------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of great things you missed about Anka – now I haven't read the book – but, there was a great film made about him when he was starting out called Lonely Boy. Check out the scene of him walking into the Copa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXKzs_oRwDs&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
also – he's the only one to actually make a truly great swing record using rock material. The record was done in 2010, and the secret to Anka's success is that there is no ironic distance here. He's got a great chart and a great band and he's singing it and swinging it like no one else left on the planet can. And he totally means it. A pro and a huge talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_MzRxDUeMI&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Jeff Rosen
----------------------------------------------------------------
Can't wait to read it.
If memory serves Bob, he wrote "My Way" and "New York, New York" correct?
An amazing man.
Thanks.
Lee Posner
----------------------------------------------------------------
AND sneaking up into Annette's bedroom!
Dennis Brent
----------------------------------------------------------------
I worked for Irvin Feld, the "circus guy." I still work for his son Kenneth. The Anka book has been out for a year or so and is fun to read. As you mention sometimes the book wanders. It is more of an oral history than anything else. Nonetheless it is a great look into his career. I worked for Irvin Feld's right hand guy, Allen Bloom. Allen was the road manager for all the Feld "Super Shows" bus tours. Later he became senior vice president of the circus. Allen used to show me the books on the old rock tours. Like what they grossed on tickets, program books, concessions and how they paid the acts. He knew every deal point and split with the arenas and clubs.... all written down in a little notebook.
Best Regards,
Bill Powell
Feld Entertainment
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob, several years back (before Sirius), Anka was a guest on the Howard Stern show. That interview was the greatest interview I ever heard. Anka stories were mind-blowing Definitely worth a listening to if you can find the audio.
Mike Verzi
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whassup, My Brother.....just a note on Paul Anka, 1963, he wrote a song for Lesley Gore..(16 years old)..it became the B side for "It's My Party"...titled "Danny"...your article on Paul drug me back to the 60's..Thank-Q, Brother Bob...Big huggies 2 U Lady-Cini...Xo..Yo' Bro' Quincy Jones
----------------------------------------------------------------
It's 1955 I'm in 6th grade and in my first year in the school patrol (student crossing guard) I'm 11 or 12 and the patrols, for payment, get freebies. Saturday morning bowling, where we kids also set the pins. Also there is the end of year picnic with hotdogs and foot races and the Christmas party. Every public school in the city participated in the police coordinated program.
At my first Christmas party there was Paul in pegged pants and white socks wearing a red fright wig. The only song I can remember him singing was "Swingin' on a Star" His cousins Bobby and Ronny lived up the street from us. Fine folks from Lebanon. I think he had a group called the Bobby Soxers.
Of course he also wrote that mega-hit for Frank Sinatra, "My Way" The tune is French as was Paul's wife, but the words are all his.
All the best,
-Brian Fisher
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your Paul Anka article. "I did it my way" will be remembered forever as a great song standard.
Curiously, other famous people from Ottawa include Dan Akroyd, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Green, Lorne Greene, Rich Little, Norm MacDonald, Alanis Morissette, Matthew Perry, and Justin Trudeau, just to name a few.
Thanks, Bob.
Mike Vancha
----------------------------------------------------------------
Now i'll buy it thank you--walter sabo
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for sharing the review of this book. I had no idea it was out, but I just ordered it from Amazon.
I always thought of Paul Anka as one of the most normal people in entertainment. Kind of an "aw shucks" Guy who has unbelievable talent but doesn't need to be reminded about that every three minutes like so many singers and songwriters do. It certainly seems that he is based on the notice that you and your review of the book.
Thanks for everything you do. Keep up the great work!
Mark Edelstein
----------------------------------------------------------------
I see Mr. Anka at my local mall about once a week during the school year, his son goes to school in the area. He is always warm and takes time to speak with people. Class act.
Michelle Jacobs
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob, Paul is a great survivor. Not sure if you read what my dad wrote about the book and Paul in Vanity Fair when it came out, but thought you'd enjoy:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/05/photo-paul-anka-annie-leibovitz?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Regards,
Michael Weintraub
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Anika is without a doubt the most talented musical veteran this side of Bacharach not yet inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Wenner.
Mike McCann.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Funny, but the song I was named after in Nov 57!
All the best & I hope you are feeling better!
Diana Sutter
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bob: Just perused your article on Paul Anka. I'm not a huge fan but he does get props for the songs he has written over the years. And when you mentioned "You're Having My Baby" going to #1, it reminded me that he was the first singer to have number one hits in each of the decades of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Hardly any artists did it then, and you are so right - next to none are primed to do it in the future. Great line about him being a junior member of the Rat Pack, too - it sums up an awful lot about a time and place we will never see again - or at least, the way it was.
Eric Pedersen
Topeka, KS
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hit with "Diana" back in '57 and went to number one in with '(You're) Having My Baby' in '72."
1974.
hyperbolium
----------------------------------------------------------------
Anka is a legend and a Canadian treasure as well.
You might like this mini doc the National Film Board of Canada did on him back in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdqWM5X2zg&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Best
Vince Degiorgio
----------------------------------------------------------------
I need to read that book! You see, my dad, Jim McGovern (who passed away in 2014), knew Paul Anka when they were growing up. I wonder if my dad gets a mention. My dad grew up on Bayswater Ave in Ottawa, in the area that is called Hintonberg. He told me stories about Paul, trading comics with Paul, hanging out along with the our cousin Pat Marsden (who became a nationally know sports announcer in Canada, and did colour commentary for the first Canada-Russia series). If I remember correctly my what my dad said, Paul Anka lived over on Breezehill, a couple streets away.
Thank you for making me aware of this book! I will have to check with the library to see if the local branch has a copy.
Farrell McGovern
----------------------------------------------------------------
I read his book too and was charmed. He's a customer of my client, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (the owner is a big Beatles fan, a musician who moved to LA with his buddy John Larroquette, and...who has a small recording studio upstairs in the loft of the cheese store with his vintage grand piano up there and there is often a late night jam session with some well known musicians!).
I've spoken with him on the phone and he's so real and personable. I'm thrilled you shared his book with your constituency. Keep on Bob!!!
Linda Arroz
----------------------------------------------------------------
and then he was back at the top of the hit parade again in the early 2000's with this brilliant record
https://open.spotify.com/album/0lu611O6t7E8sd9E2LkImh?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
what a legend !
Michael Richardson
----------------------------------------------------------------
I will go and buy this book. I'm Canadian and I have left the house. Here's my Paul Anka story.
In 2003, my future wife and I were living in Japan. We had been in Europe previous to that. What did we do? Teach English to adults. We had met a wonderful Japanese couple who were in their sixties- they owned a pharmacy near the train station where we lived. They couldn't really speak a word of English and we couldn't really speak a word of Japanese. But we tried. And part of the fun is trying to communicate when neither of you knows what is being said. They had a friend who could speak English and we made plans to go out and have dinner one night. Everyone showed up that night- except the friend who could speak English. So what do we do? They suggest karaoke! We laughed. Music, the universal language. The older woman knew lots of English songs and but her husband only knew one so he first. And what's the song? Diana by Paul Anka. We all joined in the chorus and probably shattered glass on the high notes. But nobody cared. It was perfect and when he was done, he bowed and then pointed at the screen where Paul Anka's name was and then he pointed at us. "Canada", he said. We smiled, grinned and grab the mic for the next song.
The evening was off and running and nobody had a problem communicating the rest of the night.
Todd Devonshire
----------------------------------------------------------------
Well done and thank you for the shout on Anka and Ottawa.
There have been some notable bands and singers from Ottawa. The Cooper
Brothers (Dream Never Dies, Rock and Roll Cowboys), Five Man Electrical
Band (Signs, You're Absolutely Right), Alanis Morissette (Ironic, You
Oughta Know), other fabulous talent and naturally the great Paul Anka.
Anka had a rough start in Ottawa but, sadly in part because of his
international fame, he became loved. His great writing will live forever.
You have nailed it Bob. Passion, believing in yourself and the writing.
The above mentioned have done all that and more and some are still at it!
Going out to buy Paul's book.
Please keep keeping us informed,
Best,
Tony Leadman
Former radio announcer
----------------------------------------------------------------
Great write up on Paul Anka. If you're curious to see what his life was like at 21, check out this doc shot during the height of his popularity:
https://www.nfb.ca/film/lonely_boy/?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Angelo Oddi
Toronto
----------------------------------------------------------------
When I started my career at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, one of my first projects as a second engineer was working on Paul Anka's album, Music Man. Produced by Charlie Calello and recorded by Michael Braunstein it's not regarded as one of his seminal albums but it had an impact on me personally.
Paul would arrive at the studio like clockwork in a chauffeured car after flying from Carmel in his private jet. He was always upbeat and made a special effort to talk with everyone who was working on the session that day. Paul worked closely with Charlie and I was impressed by how sharp and involved he was. At six o'clock he would hop back into the car for the airport and fly back home to tuck his kids in. There might have been only one day that he was unable to make it out on time.
During the recording there was a conflict with studio time at the Record Plant and the sessions moved to Kendun Recorders in Burbank for a few days. Michael asked me to come along since I didn't have another project to work on and it would be my first studio experience outside of the Record Plant. I helped whenever I could, but most of my time was spent watching and listening to some of the most talented session musicians on the planet. Paul always bought lunch for everyone, a perk that to this day is appreciated in the studio. One day a few boxes of burgers and shakes arrived and as studio etiquette dictated, I waited until everyone was done before I walked over to partake. When the band went back into the studio to record I made the comment to Michael that it was one of the best burgers I had ever eaten and I wished there were more, but the boxes were empty. The session moved forward and an hour later Paul's driver walked in the door with two more boxes of food from the burger joint. He said they were for me. I was taken aback and asked how could this be? He nodded in the direction of Paul who was singing on his mic and said that he had overheard my conversation as he walked by. Later that afternoon I thanked him and he just smiled.
In 1977 I was a young kid, impressionable and ready to absorb all that I experienced. While I know Paul had the means to do what he did, he was generous and went out of his way to create an atmosphere in the studio to get the best from the people he worked with, a lesson learned. He will always be the Gold Standard to me.
Mike Clink
----------------------------------------------------------------
A couple of great things you missed about Anka – now I haven't read the book – but, there was a great film made about him when he was starting out called Lonely Boy. Check out the scene of him walking into the Copa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXKzs_oRwDs&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
also – he's the only one to actually make a truly great swing record using rock material. The record was done in 2010, and the secret to Anka's success is that there is no ironic distance here. He's got a great chart and a great band and he's singing it and swinging it like no one else left on the planet can. And he totally means it. A pro and a huge talent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_MzRxDUeMI&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Jeff Rosen
----------------------------------------------------------------
Can't wait to read it.
If memory serves Bob, he wrote "My Way" and "New York, New York" correct?
An amazing man.
Thanks.
Lee Posner
----------------------------------------------------------------
AND sneaking up into Annette's bedroom!
Dennis Brent
----------------------------------------------------------------
I worked for Irvin Feld, the "circus guy." I still work for his son Kenneth. The Anka book has been out for a year or so and is fun to read. As you mention sometimes the book wanders. It is more of an oral history than anything else. Nonetheless it is a great look into his career. I worked for Irvin Feld's right hand guy, Allen Bloom. Allen was the road manager for all the Feld "Super Shows" bus tours. Later he became senior vice president of the circus. Allen used to show me the books on the old rock tours. Like what they grossed on tickets, program books, concessions and how they paid the acts. He knew every deal point and split with the arenas and clubs.... all written down in a little notebook.
Best Regards,
Bill Powell
Feld Entertainment
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob, several years back (before Sirius), Anka was a guest on the Howard Stern show. That interview was the greatest interview I ever heard. Anka stories were mind-blowing Definitely worth a listening to if you can find the audio.
Mike Verzi
----------------------------------------------------------------
Whassup, My Brother.....just a note on Paul Anka, 1963, he wrote a song for Lesley Gore..(16 years old)..it became the B side for "It's My Party"...titled "Danny"...your article on Paul drug me back to the 60's..Thank-Q, Brother Bob...Big huggies 2 U Lady-Cini...Xo..Yo' Bro' Quincy Jones
----------------------------------------------------------------
It's 1955 I'm in 6th grade and in my first year in the school patrol (student crossing guard) I'm 11 or 12 and the patrols, for payment, get freebies. Saturday morning bowling, where we kids also set the pins. Also there is the end of year picnic with hotdogs and foot races and the Christmas party. Every public school in the city participated in the police coordinated program.
At my first Christmas party there was Paul in pegged pants and white socks wearing a red fright wig. The only song I can remember him singing was "Swingin' on a Star" His cousins Bobby and Ronny lived up the street from us. Fine folks from Lebanon. I think he had a group called the Bobby Soxers.
Of course he also wrote that mega-hit for Frank Sinatra, "My Way" The tune is French as was Paul's wife, but the words are all his.
All the best,
-Brian Fisher
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your Paul Anka article. "I did it my way" will be remembered forever as a great song standard.
Curiously, other famous people from Ottawa include Dan Akroyd, Bruce Cockburn, Tom Green, Lorne Greene, Rich Little, Norm MacDonald, Alanis Morissette, Matthew Perry, and Justin Trudeau, just to name a few.
Thanks, Bob.
Mike Vancha
----------------------------------------------------------------
Now i'll buy it thank you--walter sabo
----------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks for sharing the review of this book. I had no idea it was out, but I just ordered it from Amazon.
I always thought of Paul Anka as one of the most normal people in entertainment. Kind of an "aw shucks" Guy who has unbelievable talent but doesn't need to be reminded about that every three minutes like so many singers and songwriters do. It certainly seems that he is based on the notice that you and your review of the book.
Thanks for everything you do. Keep up the great work!
Mark Edelstein
----------------------------------------------------------------
I see Mr. Anka at my local mall about once a week during the school year, his son goes to school in the area. He is always warm and takes time to speak with people. Class act.
Michelle Jacobs
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob, Paul is a great survivor. Not sure if you read what my dad wrote about the book and Paul in Vanity Fair when it came out, but thought you'd enjoy:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2013/05/photo-paul-anka-annie-leibovitz?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Regards,
Michael Weintraub
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Anika is without a doubt the most talented musical veteran this side of Bacharach not yet inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Wenner.
Mike McCann.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Funny, but the song I was named after in Nov 57!
All the best & I hope you are feeling better!
Diana Sutter
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Bob: Just perused your article on Paul Anka. I'm not a huge fan but he does get props for the songs he has written over the years. And when you mentioned "You're Having My Baby" going to #1, it reminded me that he was the first singer to have number one hits in each of the decades of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Hardly any artists did it then, and you are so right - next to none are primed to do it in the future. Great line about him being a junior member of the Rat Pack, too - it sums up an awful lot about a time and place we will never see again - or at least, the way it was.
Eric Pedersen
Topeka, KS
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Hit with "Diana" back in '57 and went to number one in with '(You're) Having My Baby' in '72."
1974.
hyperbolium
----------------------------------------------------------------
Anka is a legend and a Canadian treasure as well.
You might like this mini doc the National Film Board of Canada did on him back in the day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrdqWM5X2zg&utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Best
Vince Degiorgio
----------------------------------------------------------------
I need to read that book! You see, my dad, Jim McGovern (who passed away in 2014), knew Paul Anka when they were growing up. I wonder if my dad gets a mention. My dad grew up on Bayswater Ave in Ottawa, in the area that is called Hintonberg. He told me stories about Paul, trading comics with Paul, hanging out along with the our cousin Pat Marsden (who became a nationally know sports announcer in Canada, and did colour commentary for the first Canada-Russia series). If I remember correctly my what my dad said, Paul Anka lived over on Breezehill, a couple streets away.
Thank you for making me aware of this book! I will have to check with the library to see if the local branch has a copy.
Farrell McGovern
----------------------------------------------------------------
I read his book too and was charmed. He's a customer of my client, The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills (the owner is a big Beatles fan, a musician who moved to LA with his buddy John Larroquette, and...who has a small recording studio upstairs in the loft of the cheese store with his vintage grand piano up there and there is often a late night jam session with some well known musicians!).
I've spoken with him on the phone and he's so real and personable. I'm thrilled you shared his book with your constituency. Keep on Bob!!!
Linda Arroz
----------------------------------------------------------------
and then he was back at the top of the hit parade again in the early 2000's with this brilliant record
https://open.spotify.com/album/0lu611O6t7E8sd9E2LkImh?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
what a legend !
Michael Richardson
----------------------------------------------------------------
I will go and buy this book. I'm Canadian and I have left the house. Here's my Paul Anka story.
In 2003, my future wife and I were living in Japan. We had been in Europe previous to that. What did we do? Teach English to adults. We had met a wonderful Japanese couple who were in their sixties- they owned a pharmacy near the train station where we lived. They couldn't really speak a word of English and we couldn't really speak a word of Japanese. But we tried. And part of the fun is trying to communicate when neither of you knows what is being said. They had a friend who could speak English and we made plans to go out and have dinner one night. Everyone showed up that night- except the friend who could speak English. So what do we do? They suggest karaoke! We laughed. Music, the universal language. The older woman knew lots of English songs and but her husband only knew one so he first. And what's the song? Diana by Paul Anka. We all joined in the chorus and probably shattered glass on the high notes. But nobody cared. It was perfect and when he was done, he bowed and then pointed at the screen where Paul Anka's name was and then he pointed at us. "Canada", he said. We smiled, grinned and grab the mic for the next song.
The evening was off and running and nobody had a problem communicating the rest of the night.
Todd Devonshire
----------------------------------------------------------------
Well done and thank you for the shout on Anka and Ottawa.
There have been some notable bands and singers from Ottawa. The Cooper
Brothers (Dream Never Dies, Rock and Roll Cowboys), Five Man Electrical
Band (Signs, You're Absolutely Right), Alanis Morissette (Ironic, You
Oughta Know), other fabulous talent and naturally the great Paul Anka.
Anka had a rough start in Ottawa but, sadly in part because of his
international fame, he became loved. His great writing will live forever.
You have nailed it Bob. Passion, believing in yourself and the writing.
The above mentioned have done all that and more and some are still at it!
Going out to buy Paul's book.
Please keep keeping us informed,
Best,
Tony Leadman
Former radio announcer
----------------------------------------------------------------
Great write up on Paul Anka. If you're curious to see what his life was like at 21, check out this doc shot during the height of his popularity:
https://www.nfb.ca/film/lonely_boy/?utm_source=phplist5905&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Paul+Anka
Angelo Oddi
Toronto
----------------------------------------------------------------
When I started my career at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, one of my first projects as a second engineer was working on Paul Anka's album, Music Man. Produced by Charlie Calello and recorded by Michael Braunstein it's not regarded as one of his seminal albums but it had an impact on me personally.
Paul would arrive at the studio like clockwork in a chauffeured car after flying from Carmel in his private jet. He was always upbeat and made a special effort to talk with everyone who was working on the session that day. Paul worked closely with Charlie and I was impressed by how sharp and involved he was. At six o'clock he would hop back into the car for the airport and fly back home to tuck his kids in. There might have been only one day that he was unable to make it out on time.
During the recording there was a conflict with studio time at the Record Plant and the sessions moved to Kendun Recorders in Burbank for a few days. Michael asked me to come along since I didn't have another project to work on and it would be my first studio experience outside of the Record Plant. I helped whenever I could, but most of my time was spent watching and listening to some of the most talented session musicians on the planet. Paul always bought lunch for everyone, a perk that to this day is appreciated in the studio. One day a few boxes of burgers and shakes arrived and as studio etiquette dictated, I waited until everyone was done before I walked over to partake. When the band went back into the studio to record I made the comment to Michael that it was one of the best burgers I had ever eaten and I wished there were more, but the boxes were empty. The session moved forward and an hour later Paul's driver walked in the door with two more boxes of food from the burger joint. He said they were for me. I was taken aback and asked how could this be? He nodded in the direction of Paul who was singing on his mic and said that he had overheard my conversation as he walked by. Later that afternoon I thanked him and he just smiled.
In 1977 I was a young kid, impressionable and ready to absorb all that I experienced. While I know Paul had the means to do what he did, he was generous and went out of his way to create an atmosphere in the studio to get the best from the people he worked with, a lesson learned. He will always be the Gold Standard to me.
Mike Clink
--
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We Don't Care
We're operating like it's the twentieth century in a twentieth first century world.
The media industrial complex believes if it just beats us over the head hard enough, keeps putting faces in front of us, that we will pay attention and care. But that don't play in an on demand world where we have access to whatever we want whenever we want it.
Used to be choice was limited. Then we were liberated by the internet. Started in '95 and has been going down this path for twenty years, intensifying with the adoption of broadband, we've all dug deep into our niches and we don't care if you're famous for something or famous for nothing, unless you're in our vertical, we're not paying attention, but you keep thinking we are.
Beyonce is not that big.
Neither is Fallon. Or Colbert. Or any of the late night hosts. We keep hearing about their ratings wars but almost no one is watching, just a few million in a nation of three hundred million. It's affecting everything, from the Oscars to the VMAs, unless they're going to kill somebody on stage, we can't get excited enough to watch, unless it's a really cold night during the winter and there's nothing else to do. Scratch that, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!
Today Kelly Oxford tweeted: "Cancelled cable 2 mths ago, 2 kids haven't noticed, 1 just realized this week. As a kid I would have noticed within 1hr and died. New gen."
Now you're asking...WHO'S KELLY OXFORD?
The Twitter queen of the comedians. She's gotten tons of hype. She's got 779k followers. She's got books, she's all over the media...THE ONE YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO!
And I'm not watching ESPN, never ever.
That's the story of the twenty first century, the decimation of institutions that we were forced into buying that we really didn't care that much about, if we cared at all. Kinda like all the channels propped up by cable payments that are gonna disappear. Kinda like malls... You mean you want me to waste an hour searching for inventory you don't have? BUT ISN'T SHOPPING FUN? NO!!
Sure, there are women who love to shop, men too, but it turns out most people don't. And given a better, easier solution, they stopped. Sure, Amazon is an efficient operation, but it delivers what we want, convenience, selection and the elimination of wasted time, and we all hate wasted time, we just don't have enough of it!
But the major media outlets keep parading people like we care.
Pick up "People," go to Radar, you think you're the only one who doesn't know who these people are? THE TARGET DEMO DOESN'T EITHER!
Furthermore, they're playing a bad game, delivering what once worked in a world where it doesn't. Come on, do you want to sit at home and watch some guy behind a desk interview people, and not really interview them, but set up jokes for them, even though they're bad storytellers? They've been doing that for DECADES! If I want to see a comedian, I'll go to YouTube. Same with a musician. You mean I've got to wait until 12:30 AM to see some up and coming act? Sure, I could DVR it, but I don't want to waste the time fast-forwarding.
So this is the game we are playing, niche and mainstream.
That's right, some stuff goes mainstream. Right now it's Washington, D.C., because we care, it affects us, and the movie is...better than any Hollywood production. That's right, Tinseltown is producing superhero fantasies and everybody in Washington is aged and flawed and to watch the machinations is utterly fascinating.
And in music the labels keep telling everybody they should care about hip-hop and pop when there's a great swath of people who don't. But try to create another Adele...the biggest act in the world...they're not even trying!
We just get endless retreads, endless repeats of what was.
We love fresh faces. But today being good-looking is not enough. Hell, I'd argue we're looking for someone normal, that we can identify with.
Our whole culture is topsy-turvy. The "New Yorker" writes an exhaustive article it believes will change the culture but doesn't recognize it's in an echo chamber, that the brand is so elitist most people pooh-pooh it. David Remnick doesn't even know how to promote, no one in old media, from books to newspapers, knows how to get its story out, maybe other than the "Washington Post," with its breaking news, investigative journalism, burnishing the brand with excellence.
And forget naysayers. They come with the territory. The internet opened the world to them. If you're not getting blowback, you don't matter, you don't have enough traction.
And you either play for all the marbles or realize you're part of the underclass. Nothing is more pathetic than an act that plays klezmer music with bad vocals believing it belongs on Top Forty, they don't even understand the game.
And the established media of old farts can't stop bitching about fake news as if Mark Zuckerberg could eradicate it, no, people like feeling part of a tribe, they like going online and reading that which speaks to their heart, that's the issue, not that the essence is false.
Want to appeal to people? DON'T CRITICIZE THEM! Study after study says it's almost impossible to change someone's political opinion by telling them they're wrong, but the left keeps denigrating the right, I don't get it. Take action, lead the way, show a path, that's how you get ahead today.
But the oldsters believe they still rule when they don't.
And the youngsters are self-promoting as if they can become the stars of yore.
We can only comprehend a thin layer of stars, thinner than ever before, because the universe is just too big. If you dream of world domination you must play to the world, you must have an edge, otherwise there's no hook, you must be supremely talented and experienced, and you must present something brand new.
Remember when all bands sounded different?
No wonder music is moribund.
Hell, there's more innovation in TV than there is in music.
But there are only 450 scripted shows, not hundreds of thousands.
And still, we don't care about most.
That's the modern world. One of chaos. The Tower of Babel.
And either accept it or change it. Admit you're just one of many playing to a small audience or come up with something so unique, so phenomenal, so different, so appealing that everyone will pay attention.
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The media industrial complex believes if it just beats us over the head hard enough, keeps putting faces in front of us, that we will pay attention and care. But that don't play in an on demand world where we have access to whatever we want whenever we want it.
Used to be choice was limited. Then we were liberated by the internet. Started in '95 and has been going down this path for twenty years, intensifying with the adoption of broadband, we've all dug deep into our niches and we don't care if you're famous for something or famous for nothing, unless you're in our vertical, we're not paying attention, but you keep thinking we are.
Beyonce is not that big.
Neither is Fallon. Or Colbert. Or any of the late night hosts. We keep hearing about their ratings wars but almost no one is watching, just a few million in a nation of three hundred million. It's affecting everything, from the Oscars to the VMAs, unless they're going to kill somebody on stage, we can't get excited enough to watch, unless it's a really cold night during the winter and there's nothing else to do. Scratch that, THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING ELSE TO DO!
Today Kelly Oxford tweeted: "Cancelled cable 2 mths ago, 2 kids haven't noticed, 1 just realized this week. As a kid I would have noticed within 1hr and died. New gen."
Now you're asking...WHO'S KELLY OXFORD?
The Twitter queen of the comedians. She's gotten tons of hype. She's got 779k followers. She's got books, she's all over the media...THE ONE YOU'RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO!
And I'm not watching ESPN, never ever.
That's the story of the twenty first century, the decimation of institutions that we were forced into buying that we really didn't care that much about, if we cared at all. Kinda like all the channels propped up by cable payments that are gonna disappear. Kinda like malls... You mean you want me to waste an hour searching for inventory you don't have? BUT ISN'T SHOPPING FUN? NO!!
Sure, there are women who love to shop, men too, but it turns out most people don't. And given a better, easier solution, they stopped. Sure, Amazon is an efficient operation, but it delivers what we want, convenience, selection and the elimination of wasted time, and we all hate wasted time, we just don't have enough of it!
But the major media outlets keep parading people like we care.
Pick up "People," go to Radar, you think you're the only one who doesn't know who these people are? THE TARGET DEMO DOESN'T EITHER!
Furthermore, they're playing a bad game, delivering what once worked in a world where it doesn't. Come on, do you want to sit at home and watch some guy behind a desk interview people, and not really interview them, but set up jokes for them, even though they're bad storytellers? They've been doing that for DECADES! If I want to see a comedian, I'll go to YouTube. Same with a musician. You mean I've got to wait until 12:30 AM to see some up and coming act? Sure, I could DVR it, but I don't want to waste the time fast-forwarding.
So this is the game we are playing, niche and mainstream.
That's right, some stuff goes mainstream. Right now it's Washington, D.C., because we care, it affects us, and the movie is...better than any Hollywood production. That's right, Tinseltown is producing superhero fantasies and everybody in Washington is aged and flawed and to watch the machinations is utterly fascinating.
And in music the labels keep telling everybody they should care about hip-hop and pop when there's a great swath of people who don't. But try to create another Adele...the biggest act in the world...they're not even trying!
We just get endless retreads, endless repeats of what was.
We love fresh faces. But today being good-looking is not enough. Hell, I'd argue we're looking for someone normal, that we can identify with.
Our whole culture is topsy-turvy. The "New Yorker" writes an exhaustive article it believes will change the culture but doesn't recognize it's in an echo chamber, that the brand is so elitist most people pooh-pooh it. David Remnick doesn't even know how to promote, no one in old media, from books to newspapers, knows how to get its story out, maybe other than the "Washington Post," with its breaking news, investigative journalism, burnishing the brand with excellence.
And forget naysayers. They come with the territory. The internet opened the world to them. If you're not getting blowback, you don't matter, you don't have enough traction.
And you either play for all the marbles or realize you're part of the underclass. Nothing is more pathetic than an act that plays klezmer music with bad vocals believing it belongs on Top Forty, they don't even understand the game.
And the established media of old farts can't stop bitching about fake news as if Mark Zuckerberg could eradicate it, no, people like feeling part of a tribe, they like going online and reading that which speaks to their heart, that's the issue, not that the essence is false.
Want to appeal to people? DON'T CRITICIZE THEM! Study after study says it's almost impossible to change someone's political opinion by telling them they're wrong, but the left keeps denigrating the right, I don't get it. Take action, lead the way, show a path, that's how you get ahead today.
But the oldsters believe they still rule when they don't.
And the youngsters are self-promoting as if they can become the stars of yore.
We can only comprehend a thin layer of stars, thinner than ever before, because the universe is just too big. If you dream of world domination you must play to the world, you must have an edge, otherwise there's no hook, you must be supremely talented and experienced, and you must present something brand new.
Remember when all bands sounded different?
No wonder music is moribund.
Hell, there's more innovation in TV than there is in music.
But there are only 450 scripted shows, not hundreds of thousands.
And still, we don't care about most.
That's the modern world. One of chaos. The Tower of Babel.
And either accept it or change it. Admit you're just one of many playing to a small audience or come up with something so unique, so phenomenal, so different, so appealing that everyone will pay attention.
--
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Tuesday, 13 June 2017
John Moreland "Hang Me in the Tulsa County Stars" Live at SXSW
http://bit.ly/2rfADga
There is hope.
There's a canard that modern music is a cornucopia of vapid millennial popsters and I must admit they get more than their fair share of attention, but bubbling under there's soul-fulfilling stuff that has gotten a push but just hasn't landed on your radar screen yet, like John Moreland.
It's not that I didn't know him, it's just that he hadn't reached me yet. There wasn't the right song, the right performance, and then someone sent me this two year old video and I got it immediately, I was closed.
I couldn't believe it was him playing the guitar, it sounded like a record, like there was someone off-screen picking, because the sound was so PERFECT, so EXQUISITE, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy in a world full of zeros and ones where everything is slick and shiny but I'm imperfect.
But it is him. How long has he been doing this? Almost twenty years professionally, to some acclaim but little breakthrough.
But that's today's paradigm, you decide on your direction and if you're not blown off course by practicalities, like money and family, you stay the course and get better and see what happens.
Don't confuse this with the tireless self-promoters, the social network wizards, the true geniuses let their work speak for them, they let their work lead, because talk is cheap but talent is not, because when we see the real thing we know it, it's just that today we're bombarded with messages and it's so unlike before, in the seventies when there were fewer than five thousand records per year and you could get on the radio, get in the press, and people would know who you were and give you a chance and in the eighties and nineties when you got on MTV and were either a hero or a zero, either your video was played or it was not, whereas today it's a tsunami of product and we're all inundated with clutter looking for a way out.
Now I love the Kraftwerk-influenced sound, those who pooh-pooh electronics are missing the message, but what reaches me most is authenticity, humanity, just one person and their instrument, singing straight from the heart, especially when they wrote the song, when I can look at them and know the work speaks for them, they're channeling it from them to me.
This is very different from movies and television. Where the actors are beautiful and famous but nothing like the characters they play. That's why music is a hotter medium, which is why we're so much more passionate about music.
But many will say there's nothing to be passionate about. And the detritus/dreck percentage to great is staggering, and one gets frustrated combing through the crap. But then you find something so right you want to tell everybody about it.
Now I checked out Moreland's new album on Spotify, it didn't affect me quite the same way. I didn't want the production, the steel wool in the way. But he's feeling his oats, experimenting, and that's okay. But I'd like to see him solo live.
Not that he's nowhere. His songs have been in "Sons Of Anarchy," he's opened for Jason Isbell, it's just that he hasn't broken through.
Yet.
P.S. Sound comes before lyrics. But there are lines in this song that resonate. Like "I want to learn exactly who you are." That's my goal, with EVERYBODY!
P.P.S. And musicians don't fit in, and they channel our alienation, the concept of removing ourselves from society, being up in the sky, above it all, we resonate, we put on a record and it simulates that destination we want to go to but can't, but can in our minds, as the music washes over us.
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There is hope.
There's a canard that modern music is a cornucopia of vapid millennial popsters and I must admit they get more than their fair share of attention, but bubbling under there's soul-fulfilling stuff that has gotten a push but just hasn't landed on your radar screen yet, like John Moreland.
It's not that I didn't know him, it's just that he hadn't reached me yet. There wasn't the right song, the right performance, and then someone sent me this two year old video and I got it immediately, I was closed.
I couldn't believe it was him playing the guitar, it sounded like a record, like there was someone off-screen picking, because the sound was so PERFECT, so EXQUISITE, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy in a world full of zeros and ones where everything is slick and shiny but I'm imperfect.
But it is him. How long has he been doing this? Almost twenty years professionally, to some acclaim but little breakthrough.
But that's today's paradigm, you decide on your direction and if you're not blown off course by practicalities, like money and family, you stay the course and get better and see what happens.
Don't confuse this with the tireless self-promoters, the social network wizards, the true geniuses let their work speak for them, they let their work lead, because talk is cheap but talent is not, because when we see the real thing we know it, it's just that today we're bombarded with messages and it's so unlike before, in the seventies when there were fewer than five thousand records per year and you could get on the radio, get in the press, and people would know who you were and give you a chance and in the eighties and nineties when you got on MTV and were either a hero or a zero, either your video was played or it was not, whereas today it's a tsunami of product and we're all inundated with clutter looking for a way out.
Now I love the Kraftwerk-influenced sound, those who pooh-pooh electronics are missing the message, but what reaches me most is authenticity, humanity, just one person and their instrument, singing straight from the heart, especially when they wrote the song, when I can look at them and know the work speaks for them, they're channeling it from them to me.
This is very different from movies and television. Where the actors are beautiful and famous but nothing like the characters they play. That's why music is a hotter medium, which is why we're so much more passionate about music.
But many will say there's nothing to be passionate about. And the detritus/dreck percentage to great is staggering, and one gets frustrated combing through the crap. But then you find something so right you want to tell everybody about it.
Now I checked out Moreland's new album on Spotify, it didn't affect me quite the same way. I didn't want the production, the steel wool in the way. But he's feeling his oats, experimenting, and that's okay. But I'd like to see him solo live.
Not that he's nowhere. His songs have been in "Sons Of Anarchy," he's opened for Jason Isbell, it's just that he hasn't broken through.
Yet.
P.S. Sound comes before lyrics. But there are lines in this song that resonate. Like "I want to learn exactly who you are." That's my goal, with EVERYBODY!
P.P.S. And musicians don't fit in, and they channel our alienation, the concept of removing ourselves from society, being up in the sky, above it all, we resonate, we put on a record and it simulates that destination we want to go to but can't, but can in our minds, as the music washes over us.
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The Paul Anka Book
Success breeds access.
You think it's about the money, but really it's about the power. Get in range of those who control the country and you realize what you want most is a seat at the table.
Paul Anka got a seat at the table.
He sent me a personal note, referenced my back trouble, told me he lived in Vail for a while, hell, he also lived in Sun Valley, one of his daughters was a ski instructor, and when you get a handwritten note from someone who reaches out and is oh-so-personal and intimate face to face, you take action, I read the book.
Now you've got to realize, my consciousness began with the Beatles. Not completely. I knew "Puff The Magic Dragon," my mother purchased "Big Girls Don't Cry," I was a huge Four Seasons fan, but I was too young to know much of what happened in the fifties and early sixties. Dion was already an oldies act, Frankie Lymon too, but Paul Anka had had hits and continued to do so.
So he grows up in Canada, Ottawa to be exact, not even Toronto, with immigrant parents, proving you can make it from anywhere, assuming you have the desire. Paul was sneaking out to gigs, lived to go to New York, and his ticket out was...
His songwriting.
Anybody can sing. Isn't that what "Idol" and "The Voice" are about?
But Paul could write. And contrary to the scuttlebutt, the gatekeepers know talent when they see it, Paul immediately got a deal, and went on the road on multi-act bus tours where he was tortured for being a punk adolescent and experienced racism firsthand. You don't learn everything in books. I'm not telling you to give up reading, I'm just saying to leave the house, follow your passion, interact with the world. That's one of the flaws of America, no one goes anywhere, or if they do they go somewhere comfortable. Too many Americans don't have a passport and too many Americans pontificate about the red and blue states when they haven't been to one or the other. And Paul went all over the world, Europe kept him alive when America did not, and credit goes to Irvin Feld, his manager, yup, the guy from the circus.
You see Feld made Anka mainstream when it looked like pop was fading, like the sun was setting on Anka's career. He booked him at the Copa, and in Vegas.
Anka is infatuated with Vegas. The old Vegas, run by mobsters and peopled by the Rat Pack, Anka was a junior member.
There's no one Anka didn't meet. From Trump to Khashoggi. That's what fame will get you, but you've got to make the most of it. That's a skill Anka has, he's not a reticent performer, he's upbeat and intimate and you feel included, everybody wants to be included.
So, he writes the Carson theme, even writes Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" before that. People don't know much about Anka, but he was there at the beginning and he's still around. Hit with "Diana" back in '57 and went to number one in with "(You're) Having My Baby" in '72. How many of today's acts will accomplish that feat? Next to none.
And he kept his career alive by singing in Italian, by not stopping thinking about tomorrow, keeping his eyes open and his mouth working.
With the history of classic rock fading in the rearview mirror, the history of what happened before is almost forgotten. That's the best part of the book, learning about the record business in the fifties. It was smaller, like tech twenty years ago, driven by personalities, from the ground up as opposed to the top down, a deejay in the hinterlands could break a record. And if you had a hit record it was ubiquitous, everybody knew it.
And Anka crossed paths with the Beatles, he seemed to know everybody.
But based on this book what he loved most was hanging with the stars he grew up with. Oh, he tells tales of Chuck Berry and his contemporaries, he likes to talk most about Frank, as in Sinatra, and Dean and Sammy and...
This was a different era. There were no cameras. Neither cellphone nor security. You could do almost anything, other than steal from your host casino, Frank got in trouble for that after ownership changed, after Vegas went corporate.
And Steve Wynn is a good friend and Anka opened a successful club but really, when you read the book, you marvel how Anka was not infatuated with his fame but his experiences. He liked the access, he liked the hanging, he liked to be part of it all. And still does!
Now I won't say this is the most readable book. There's a lot of repetition.
But I learned something, that...LIVING WELL IS THE BEST REVENGE!
"My Way: An Autobiography": http://amzn.to/2sZhzEb
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You think it's about the money, but really it's about the power. Get in range of those who control the country and you realize what you want most is a seat at the table.
Paul Anka got a seat at the table.
He sent me a personal note, referenced my back trouble, told me he lived in Vail for a while, hell, he also lived in Sun Valley, one of his daughters was a ski instructor, and when you get a handwritten note from someone who reaches out and is oh-so-personal and intimate face to face, you take action, I read the book.
Now you've got to realize, my consciousness began with the Beatles. Not completely. I knew "Puff The Magic Dragon," my mother purchased "Big Girls Don't Cry," I was a huge Four Seasons fan, but I was too young to know much of what happened in the fifties and early sixties. Dion was already an oldies act, Frankie Lymon too, but Paul Anka had had hits and continued to do so.
So he grows up in Canada, Ottawa to be exact, not even Toronto, with immigrant parents, proving you can make it from anywhere, assuming you have the desire. Paul was sneaking out to gigs, lived to go to New York, and his ticket out was...
His songwriting.
Anybody can sing. Isn't that what "Idol" and "The Voice" are about?
But Paul could write. And contrary to the scuttlebutt, the gatekeepers know talent when they see it, Paul immediately got a deal, and went on the road on multi-act bus tours where he was tortured for being a punk adolescent and experienced racism firsthand. You don't learn everything in books. I'm not telling you to give up reading, I'm just saying to leave the house, follow your passion, interact with the world. That's one of the flaws of America, no one goes anywhere, or if they do they go somewhere comfortable. Too many Americans don't have a passport and too many Americans pontificate about the red and blue states when they haven't been to one or the other. And Paul went all over the world, Europe kept him alive when America did not, and credit goes to Irvin Feld, his manager, yup, the guy from the circus.
You see Feld made Anka mainstream when it looked like pop was fading, like the sun was setting on Anka's career. He booked him at the Copa, and in Vegas.
Anka is infatuated with Vegas. The old Vegas, run by mobsters and peopled by the Rat Pack, Anka was a junior member.
There's no one Anka didn't meet. From Trump to Khashoggi. That's what fame will get you, but you've got to make the most of it. That's a skill Anka has, he's not a reticent performer, he's upbeat and intimate and you feel included, everybody wants to be included.
So, he writes the Carson theme, even writes Buddy Holly's "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" before that. People don't know much about Anka, but he was there at the beginning and he's still around. Hit with "Diana" back in '57 and went to number one in with "(You're) Having My Baby" in '72. How many of today's acts will accomplish that feat? Next to none.
And he kept his career alive by singing in Italian, by not stopping thinking about tomorrow, keeping his eyes open and his mouth working.
With the history of classic rock fading in the rearview mirror, the history of what happened before is almost forgotten. That's the best part of the book, learning about the record business in the fifties. It was smaller, like tech twenty years ago, driven by personalities, from the ground up as opposed to the top down, a deejay in the hinterlands could break a record. And if you had a hit record it was ubiquitous, everybody knew it.
And Anka crossed paths with the Beatles, he seemed to know everybody.
But based on this book what he loved most was hanging with the stars he grew up with. Oh, he tells tales of Chuck Berry and his contemporaries, he likes to talk most about Frank, as in Sinatra, and Dean and Sammy and...
This was a different era. There were no cameras. Neither cellphone nor security. You could do almost anything, other than steal from your host casino, Frank got in trouble for that after ownership changed, after Vegas went corporate.
And Steve Wynn is a good friend and Anka opened a successful club but really, when you read the book, you marvel how Anka was not infatuated with his fame but his experiences. He liked the access, he liked the hanging, he liked to be part of it all. And still does!
Now I won't say this is the most readable book. There's a lot of repetition.
But I learned something, that...LIVING WELL IS THE BEST REVENGE!
"My Way: An Autobiography": http://amzn.to/2sZhzEb
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Re-Stop Selling Files And CDs
You nailed it, Bob. Just why I've been raving about streaming for years.
If you believe in the music you're creating or the artists you're working with, bet on the upside. Streaming royalties will, ahem, stream in for decades. For as long as people love and listen to your recordings.
Song copyrights have trumped recorded music copyrights in value for ages. Now, perhaps, investors will value recorded music closer to how songs are valued. This is good for everyone who creates, works with, or just loves music.
Bill Hein
Glade Park, Colorado
_________________________________________
As a freelance music journalist for a raft of print and online outlets, I generally receive 10-20 album promos a day. 99% of these are digital. The most convenient servicing platform is Haulix, but occasionally I get a SoundCloud link or a WeTransfer download. Any of those are fine with me, but the reality is that I don't have time to listen to even half of those promos. So the publicists who make the process easy on me with digital album servicing and informative, well-written artist bios are the ones whose clients get my attention. A great way to insure that I'll never listen to your band is to send me their new album on CD - it won't survive the journey from my mailbox back into the house.
Best regards,
Joe Daly
__________________________________________
Just two things:
1. I'm still advising my students and anyone else to make CDs, if only to sell at gigs. Impulse buying still happens. You don't have to press up very many, just 500 to 1000; it's not that expensive - less than a buck apiece. Make sure the cover is cool and maybe include a bonus track they can't get anywhere else. Also include a booklet with photos, extra info, etc. There are still fans out there who want to have something tangible. There's no reason to leave their money on the table.
2. In the software business, it's obvious that the subscription model has its advantages. Even Pro Tools offers it as an option. A lot of the people that I know wish Adobe would still offer both a subscription and a buyout. My students sign up for just the Photoshop version for $9.95/month (Academic price), but when the year is up and the price goes up, most of them drop it and go to Paint Shop Pro or Affinity. I'm trying to encourage people to pressure Adobe into offering more options for the subscription, for example, a lower price if you only want Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Or Photoshop, InDesign and Lightroom, or any combo that fits your needs. I have the whole package and I resent having to pay for a lot of software I don't ever use.
And BTW, I also urge my students to record their products in Hi-res digital and post them on HDTracks.com and/or Prostudiomasters.com
Best,
John Boylan
__________________________________________
Microsoft has done this with Office too. My beef, as someone who does actually like Office, is that I don't feel like the features/upgrades are happening enough to justify what amounts to an annual increase over the standalone purchase of Office. If you want to charge me more than I was paying before, fine, but you better make it worth my while. Microsoft to this point has not.
Spotify seems to be doing better on this front. They seem to be adding features and functionality regularly enough and the monthly price is reasonable too.
Richard Young
__________________________________________
Go back to vinyl for albums!
Take the record company greed out and the price is actually pretty good.
Joe Walsh
__________________________________________
Funny, I was just asked by a manager that knew I knew you, he asked me if he should send you a cd. I told him it was his funeral..... lol
Jake Gold
P.S. Do people forget that they stopped making cassettes and vinyl, and then everyone bought cds. Do people not remember Blockbuster Video? Netflix got out of their own business, remember, they used to send you DVDs in the mail. Imagine if Blockbuster had followed suit. No, they held on to bricks and mortar's. And we know how that worked out. I guess I'm just a 59 yr old millennial. Funny though, I saw a post on IG today of a young person posing with their cassettes. Apparently they're cool now. Break out those Sony Walkmans!!
__________________________________________
Further to your point, these major labels own almost ALL of the content people desire. Just like Adobe, they own all the software - the music - people want in their lives. Those consumers are fans, not of the companies themselves, but of the creators. Get out of the way and create the easiest path for listeners to find their music. That's why radio and the Internet have been the greatest medium in terms of music discovery.
Peter Kohan
__________________________________________
So true.....the only exception to this is at the merch table, and it has nothing to do with a music delivery medium. People will line up to buy vinyl that will never see a turntable in most cases.....it's like buying a souvenir program at a big sporting event. It's a momento of an experience....the music is just a cover story. That's why smart artist create their vinyl packages with that in mind....colored vinyl, cool packaging, lyric books, etc. At smaller shows it also functions as a ticket to say hello to the artist for a few seconds...
Don Bartlett
__________________________________________
Adobe's been killing it since they switched to their subscription model. Frequent updates, and every time it's something I can take advantage of right away. Sometimes they're small updates but it adds up FAST. And Adobe jumped in all the way, which shows. They also gained customers because it's easier to dip your toes in - 30 day trial, then a cheap $50 for ALL their apps. It lowers the barrier of entry so we get more voices able to jump in. It's great.
For audio production there's another company doing the subscription model right - Steven Slate or Slate Digital. (He's got some branding issues to work on). But every couple of months you get new plugins. Cheap monthly rate vs hundreds of dollars for a one off. It's interesting to see people fight the tide, but everything is moving that direction because it's working.
Cheers!
Karl Whinnery
__________________________________________
Youtube and Spotify yank tracks you might want to hear all the time. I'll continue to hoard sound files because I own them and no one can take them away.
erpietri
__________________________________________
Don't know if you have commented on this already, but just watched this and thought it was great. http://www.towerrecordsmovie.com/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
They made a great point about how the record companies decision to stop selling singles (to make people buy an $18 CD) actually opened the door to Napster.
And yes, I streamed it on a subscription platform. Didn't pop it in the BluRay player I no longer have ;)
Justin Weniger
CEO
Life is Beautiful
__________________________________________
No additional work is needed to sell downloads when the same music is being made available for streaming services. To not sell downloads simultaneously isn't disruptive, it's foolish. CD margins are still high and it is easy to make as little as 500 or 1000 if that's what the project called for. Vinyl - it's been a a huge boon for our business. Should we stop making records too? Streaming is not being neglected in the interim and the day likely comes when that is all that matters. When it does, these same people who are buying downloads and CD's and Vinyl will pay to listen to the same songs on streaming services. Just like you bought your favorites on every new format, they will too.
Jeff Safran
Varese Sarabande Records
__________________________________________
Let the people have it in whatever format they want, Bob.
I am a geezer. I have one foot in the grave. I might last a decade. I might last two.
I have trouble recollecting the music I want to hear.
But fortunately I have a great CD collection on the wall. Old vinyl too. I browse it. Oh, here's a recording I forgot all about! Haven't heard it in years, let's give that a spin...
Ah, now I remember...
Thomas Moore
__________________________________________
100% Agree.
Label's would also save time & money not having to print en masse CD's / CD booklets / CD packaging / etc.
I think some artists love the idea that their music will be on a physical format forever but it's just waxing nostalgia really... and nostalgia only is not a good reason to keep things around.
Jared Shelton
__________________________________________
One small bone to pick: You wrote: "...You can't even buy an iPod anymore." Not a really good one, true, but if you visit Apple's web site, they are still selling the Nano for $149. And the Touch for $199.
http://www.apple.com/ipod?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
They are just housed under the Music tab now, one level down.
Best,
---Brendan Hasenstab
__________________________________________
Every CEO in the music business should circulate this email internally. But the good thing is many movers and shakers already embrace this future. Kind of like Trump derailing the Climate Change accord, most future-thinking business people will ignore it and embrace the future and do what needs to be done. Using the same analogy, one can say that insisting on CDs is like believing digging for coal is the way to go. (I bet Trump still uses CDs)
As an artist manager I deal with the Majors on a daily basis and we don't talk about CDs any more. The whole strategy is towards streaming, with Spotify at the centre and of course a healthy dose of Radio (if you can get it) and Live strategy to give the campaign body and soul. CD piracy killed music markets such as Brasil, which is now transforming again into one of the world music superpowers. Thanks to streaming.
Edo Van Duyn
__________________________________________
I signed up for Spotify the instant it was available, because it is so much CHEAPER than buying CDs or files.
The problem with Adobe's model is that I was perfectly happy with my 5 years-old versions of Photoshop and Illustrator but now they're gouging me at $600/year to get a version that will work on the latest Mac OS.
It's only a matter of months before a competitor eats their lunch here. If Adobe is smart, they'll use that 47% profit boost to cut the price in half and keep their user base stoked.
Photoshop is no longer a rarefied product for pros -- it's a basic toy for every kid that wants to crank out instagram memes and profile pics. If the kids can't afford it, Clayton Christensen taught us that the scrappy little programmers will build simple tools that do the job better eventually and cost way less.
Yeah Adobe has the market cornered this year, but they're writing their own obituary. And the writing on the wall is their atrocious customer service and draconian cancellation policies.
So yeah, subscription is the future, but Adobe is not. They have a lot to learn from Spotify.
Cheers, and thanks for the great thoughts as always.
-Charlie Wilson
__________________________________________
Of COURSE revenue went up - they took away CHOICE! And America is founded on choice - the choice to not be told what we could or couldn't do. By removing CHOICE from the equation, Adobe left users with no option. And having no option is just....Unamerican.
Join the revolution Bob, we have great Tea Parties.
Shelby Travis
Director of News & Programming
Talk Radio 1170
__________________________________________
Been telling bands for years to stop pressing CDs... mainly because most end up unsold in their closet anyway... but I still consider them a premium product, especially at our merch table. The dance to unwrap, sign, and take a pic with fans at shows... it's worth it... since we sell them for $20.
... that being said, many buy it on iTunes and have some music streaming subscription as well.
MIKE LANGFORD
Producer | Mixer | Engineer
Blind Science
Toronto, ON
__________________________________________
Bob I can't agree with you more. I am a 53 year old music junkie who loves vinyl but my go to is streaming. Yes I was converted from the free model on Spotify as I did not want limits. The convenience of listening to whatever I want whenever I want it is the key and I don't mind paying $120 a year for this. I have discovered more acts through streaming than ever before and I can listen to all of the classic acts that I love. We oldsters need to get with the program...and yes I am talking to you Bob Seger!
Chris Dash
__________________________________________
""As a business move for them, I get it," he says. "But you can't get
off. It's like they've hooked everybody on digital heroin, and you're
gonna be on it for the rest of your life.""
That's a brilliant analogy - heroin is fucking amazing then it ruins
your life and kills you.
Creative Cloud has been 'embraced by users' in the same way Office365
has - you basically give people no choice and then pretend as though
they like it. It's an abismal deal for consumers and everyone knows
it.
You are comparing a service that has opened people up to millions of
new artists for $10 a month to one of the worst deals for consumers of
the 21st Century.
Ben Oliver
__________________________________________
tell it to Adele
Art Polhemus
__________________________________________
Yup - streaming kills CDs & Files dead! And we want em dead.
I was just about to make more CDs for
my band's upcoming shows too.... but you've convinced me not to.
-Mark Feldman
__________________________________________
What a load of crap. There's plenty of people who want to own physical media. Streaming is for disposable rap and pop for the unwashed masses and plebs. In one ear and out the other. I have a CD player in house, in my car, in my laptop and plenty of other people do.
Jonathan Espeche
__________________________________________
You are, as usual with this stuff, spot on. I became a paying customer with Spotify a few months ago. I still cant get over the fact that every time an artist releases a new recording, I can have it immediately on Spotify. Sgt. Pepper's 50th Anniversary release, no problem. The new TajMo release from Ken Mo and Taj Majal, no problem. BTW, you should check that out - very good.
Point is, if I hadn't read your harping for months about Spotify, I wouldn't have tried it. So thank you.
David Murphy
__________________________________________
one word:
patreon
Amanda Palmer
__________________________________________
We hear what you're sayingbut what is your answer for Indie artists who offer their music on their own sites or blogs?
The SC
__________________________________________
This is why I subscribe to you Bob. Spot on. It's scary but we, artists, have to think forward.
Ted Yoder
__________________________________________
Please consider one critical thing that might add to the discussion.
Relentless subscriptions auto-renew and become more like a escalating toothache than an experience one can cherish. Adobe and Microsoft's brand-hatred at street level is off the charts for this very reason. Ask around.
Subscriptions–––part of the future indeed–––ultimately create this very thing; brand hatred. The opposite of the intended effect.
I know vinyl drives us all crazy, but consider this: one and done. You buy it and the purchasing experience is joy manifest. Then, you listen to it when you want….or never. But you have, in your hands, a physical object that memorializes the shit you love.
Streaming is like pornhub versus of the gal you/we all love on the couch watching netflix; titillating, but never satisfying….pass the popcorn honey. What's better?
Alas you are right about these trends, but an old expression comes to mind: watch your head, we're lowering our standards.
Dave Dalzell
__________________________________________
I agree with CDs but not files.
First, the "rights" people deal with files, all day long. Pitching, placements, and especially for post.
It's efficient, some replacements for TV or ads happen in hours, shareable across any user (no matter their preferred streamer- if any), and of course, cheap.
It's also how we do music today. At every step, different files (wav, aif, and yes mp3) are used to demo, write, produce, collaborate, mix, master, and (oh yeah) eventually upload to those myriad of sites - with different file standards for many.
Files will be with us.
Files, paradoxically, are indeed the very cogs that drive streaming.
I hope you heard a great song today,
Michael St. James
__________________________________________
I just moved and I rounded up eight of those big CD books that hold 120 CDs each. I don't know what to do with them! I listen to everything on Spotify.
So I really want to stop buying CDs, but that's the only way you can get the liner notes! Yes, I'm one of those people who reads the liner notes backwards and forwards. That's how I discover other musicians and songwriters, learn who wrote my favorite songs and played the instruments. What was that weird sound on track #5? Lo and behold, it's a glockenspiel. The backup singer on track #3 sounds like Patty Griffin. Yep! That's who it is.
I wish the artists would post their liner notes on their website. It would generate more traffic and who knows, I might buy a t-shirt while I'm on there.
Angela Roeder
Boyce, VA
__________________________________________
Hey Bob,
http://www.noise11.com/news/once-again-the-death-of-the-cd-is-exaggerated-20170612?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
published today.
Alex Jimenez
__________________________________________
Awesome Bob.
Spotify takes in hundreds of millions of dollars each month and pays artists half of a penny per stream. Half.
You've solved it Bob. Congrats.
Stream everything. Pay nobody. You solved it bro.
I just hope musicians can afford to scrape by long enough while getting fucked over by streaming services in order to make more content.
Solve that riddle Bob.
gowestllc
__________________________________________
I'm fine with everything your saying. The issue I would take is if I need to hear a specific song at a specific time for whatever reason that's NOT on a streaming service. Or as a DJ I need to play songs, at the ready, at an event. Or I want to make a short video of my kids with a song in the background. Or need a clip of a song for a project. I can't do any of that, and things I'm not even thinking of right now, with streaming.
Don't get me wrong, streaming def has its place (road trips, at the beach, bike rides and such - casual listening for the casual user) but for that I'm fine with my lifetime Sirius subscription. For the other stuff I still need files. Until there's a solution I can't fully jump in.
Etan G
__________________________________________
So right. Know what the largest record label is in terms of revenue? Tunecore.
- B. Bremer
__________________________________________
Remember when Netflix used to mail DVD's w return envelope?
;-)))
Barbara Stevens
__________________________________________
Bob, I agree with your big picture assessment of who now owns the music business—at least from the popularity/grand scale perspective.
However, I'd rather have the kind of connection I have with tens of thousands of "alternative" Millennials like the one below, who really inhabits the same space today I did in the 1970s….when "our music" was NOT consumed by the majority of young people…
These young people who don't consume music based on popularity are the ones I'd rather reach….
Michael Fremer
Subject: A Thank You and some photos of my "Fremer Records"
Hey Michael,
I was going through my collection just last night, and was thinking about how I got introduced to all this music, your radio show, and just how much music you personally introduced me to over just the past 2 years (either through the site or the radio show - rest in peace!). I'm in my early 30's and inherited my grandfather's Linn Sondek LP12 from the early 80's. Just 3 years ago, I only had maybe 10 records to my name. Since then my library has exploded, almost entirely due to your recommendations and your radio show.
My absolute favorites are the numbered Ferit Odman (never would have even known about that or what AAA meant without your guidance), Joan Armatrading (introduced a lot of people to her), the signed Sophia Pfister (again, so obscure, but once I saw your youtube video, I knew I had to have it), and rescuing the Vanguard folk song box set from a trash pile. I never would have pictured myself a Clapton fan, but Slowhand and I Still Do are in my constant rotation.
I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do, it has had a profound impact on my music, my awareness, and my life. I know putting together the radio show took a ton of time and may not have had an immediate payoff. So I just wanted to reach out and show you that the videos, the mentions, the reviews - all of it has a far reaching impact on someone like me. So thank you very much.
Jay Hoelle
Cambridge, MA
__________________________________________
I've owned a CD/DVD Manufacturing business for over 20 years. The writing was on the wall in 1999 when Napster came on the scene. The nails were in the coffin when Spotify became a household name. I've embraced file sharing and streaming immediately but have kept the business open and have watched business dwindle year after year. The only substantial business that comes through these days are from touring artists and churches. There's just enough business for me to keep the lights on but, out of necessity, I took on a career in real estate 4 years ago and have branched out in my new field (investment properties and assisted living facilities). No regrets. It turns out I love what I do now...but I miss the days when our replication machines were literally running 24/7. Having a small role in helping thousands of artists in the creation of a tangible product has been a thrilling and rewarding ride. Alas, I can't even remember the last time I've purchased a CD...
Mike Naylor
__________________________________________
Not a bad theory at all. That being said getting everyone to agree to stop making CD's, Vinyl Records and selling files? It's going to take a mighty, mighty long time. A hell of a lot longer than the 3 - 6 months you are proposing.
Add to that, that all the manufacturers of CD Players and Turntables that would be calling for your lynching and that of everyone working for labels who agreed to your theory and I think you are pushing shit uphill. It's an interesting theory and I think you may just be onto something there, but unfortunately I think it would take way too long for everyone to agree to it by which point the ship may have sailed.
Chris Xynos
__________________________________________
So here's the catch 22. Publishers, sync agents and music supervisors request UNRELEASED and UNPUBLISHED tracks. But if no one can play CDs and only want to listen on Spotify (which counts as a release) how the hell are you supposed to get new music out there?
Steve Young
__________________________________________
Totally agree with the fact that moving listeners to streaming services will lead to higher revenues for us musicians in the future. But perhaps a lot of cd buyers are already listening to streaming services AND buying CDs and vinyl on top of it because they are buying them for a totally different reason... one you cannot get from an electronic file. It's what I've found with the people purchasing CDs of my own music - they don't buy to listen - they buy them to hold something tangible in their hands, something physical, something else created by the artist that contextualises the music...Something that looks good that they can decorate their living room with, put on their coffee table. It's something else that's cheaper to buy than a t-shirt that you don't have to worry about fitting (at least cds are). It's just another form of merchandise and feels way more authentic for us to make than a coffee mug or branded USB stick.
And perhaps rather than reducing streaming numbers, CDs maybe enhance them (especially for smaller emerging artists) - an affordable, physical memoir (at $5 or $10) people can buy when they see a new band street performing or at a venue, that they don't throw away when they get home - they tweet and instagram a picture of it if it looks good ... and then follow them on Spotify.
Even more reason for artists to put time into their artwork and merchandise!
Esmay Luck
__________________________________________
Adobe was not the first, nor will they be the last to embrace the subscription model of revenue generation. Seems like every company under the sun online - Amazon, Microsoft, Blue Apron, et. al. - have embraced this business idea. We have become a nation of renters now - of services, utilities and the like. Ownership of anything is now a bad business idea. It's all about the cash flow! Experiences are the only things (can an experience be a "thing"?) worth owning these days. Very surprised more people haven't figured this out by now...be well!
Live richly,
Aaron Koral
__________________________________________
Excellent!!!
Lavon Pagan
__________________________________________
We've got a p/t employee that uses the Spotify free tier and it drives us crazy. I'm constantly offering him my phone to make it stop. He doesn't know it yet but the next paycheck comes with
a Spotify premium 'monthly extra' and it will be worth every penny.
Sean Taylor
__________________________________________
Bob, I know you meant it as an example, but even seeing Adobe mentioned in this context makes me INSANE. I am one of the people who depend on these programs for my (freelance) livelihood. We freelancers have uncertain income. And when I am not booked/working, I still have to fork over $50 every month. That's $50 for programs I am not making use of because I AM NOT WORKING. I should send you a selfie of me opening my credit card statement every month to see that charge. It's not pretty.
?Lynn Crosswaite?
Los Angeles
__________________________________________
You make good points, but I still like CD's. I have the nice audiofile system, appreciate the non-compressed music and the dynamic range. Even though I have the ears of a Fifty-something, I still hear the sonic difference between CD's and compressed music. I realize I'm the dinosaur, but not so dinosaur-like that I'm jumping back to vinyl like the new-Gen seems to like. I'm sorry, I was so happy the day that clicking, popping and degradation associated with vinyl went away. CD's at the time were a godsend.
Don Adkins
__________________________________________
hi Bob - long time no talk! 3 years ago I started my 2 songs a month club (which is subscription-based model),
and while I have only about 200 members, I make more a month now than from monthly sales in the past because several people choose to subscribe at higher amount
(to help support my music, which is lovely, generous and incredible).
It has brought me closer to my core fans and it's been amazing.
Big Russian hug,
Marina: V)
__________________________________________
I can't get My music to play from my library even downloaded without wifi or cell on Apple so Everest will not work
Chris M.
__________________________________________
Thanks for the inspiration Bob. I just finished Kickstarting a cd and decided to make it available digital only after the initial Kickstarter release. It worries me a bit. But I agree with your conclusion.
Marc Gunn, The Celtfather
__________________________________________
Hello, Bob!
Regarding your last letter...
The problem w/ hard drives and memory cards is that they may always at any given moment be corrupt and stop functioning—all information may be lost! The data may be recovered or not.
Yes, one can make backups (on storage websites or in email boxes, for instance), but physical backups (on CD or DVD) may always be useful.
I'm referring to blank CDs/DVDs, but also music albums and singles, concerts, movies, etc. sold in those formats. Some people (especially in Japan and South Korea) still appreciate physical albums and singles, booklets, artwork, limited/deluxe editions.
And yes, the CD and vinyl sound quality is much better.
Listeners may use streaming services more and more, but to completely and totally stop sales of files, CDs (and perhaps even vinyl) seems more impractical than not. Why not give music consumers the choice?
And w/ streaming, there may always be interruptions (even w/ a fast connection). Playing the CD, vinyl or the downloaded file may, depending on the circumstances, be more practical.
Yes, concerts earn money, streaming too, but I still see nothing wrong w/ CD/vinyl/file sale. Once again, giving people all of these options is the best route to go. The simple fact vinyl is back proves this point.
Regards,
Israell Isaac
__________________________________________
I agree 100% in the long run, but there's still a strong argument to be made for CD's on the tour circuit.....high margin souvenirs. And they count towards chart placement.
Reid Foster
__________________________________________
Revenue is up because there are more amateurs playing GarageBand Photoshop.
No pro I know uses the rental. I own it.
Ephemeral usage is passe. I want the object. I trust nothing less.
Jamie Howarth
__________________________________________
Hey Bob,
"Can Spotify crack CD-loving Japan?" Huge fan of your newsletter, reading out here in Japan. I'd be curious to hear your take on the market here when it comes to this…!
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/10/04/commentary/japan-commentary/can-spotify-crack-cd-loving-japan/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs#.WT9_XMaQ3Jw
https://qz.com/711490/why-japan-has-more-music-stores-than-the-rest-of-the-world/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
Best regards,
James Smith
SMASH Corporation, Tokyo
__________________________________________
Hey Now!
I manage a young band from Memphis called Southern Avenue. We just released their debut in Feb on Stax (Concord), the first Memphis band signed to Stax in 40 years...but I digress.
I agree with you 1000% on streaming. I'm all in on Spotify with a family plan...plus use Prime Music. Do I wish my band got paid more from their streams? Sure...however I'm way more pumped that people are listening to their music. A few short months ago they had nothing on the streaming platforms. Now nearly 30k people are listening to us every single month on Spotify! How could that have ever happened before????
RE: Physical...we still need it. While I hate "stuff" and I've purged my own collection of thousands of discs in the last seven years, fans still want a souvenir at the show. The band signs CDs and LPs at every gig and makes personal connections with everyone at the Merch table.
Are physical products a thing of the past? Maybe...but they cover the cost of our hotels and gas every night making the grind of 24/7 touring feasible.
Hope you are doing well. Keep on keeping on!
Jonathan Schwartz
__________________________________________
Some of us like owning what we pay for. Some of us love opening a fresh, new album and reading the liner notes. I'm not a boomer, and I make records even when it's not profitable for me to do so because I treasure art over commerce. At what point in your life did you lose your appreciation for that? Walk into Waterloo Records in Austin any day of the week and you'll see people checking out with piles upon piles of CDs. Love your articles, but I'm tired of these constant tirades against physical media. I'm glad you like Spotify... I like it too, mostly... but it will never be as fulfilling as the joy you feel when tracking down an out-of-print album that you've always wanted (and I own scads of those that aren't on Spotify). You're yelling "fire" into an empty theater on this one, Bob.
Jeremy Gautier
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This is satire surely? What about CDs as a gift / memento?
Kind regards,
Chris Byrne
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Hi Bob,
And yet I love playing high res music files in 24bit 96 khz or DSD format.
China produces beautifully sounding high res music players for somewhat over 100 dollars. Probably a fetish too. And indeed I am a baby boomer.
I tried to enthousiasm my children but to no effect :-)
Cheers,
Nico Aarts
PS I must admit lossless streaming services do sound great too!
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Hi Bob,
A very apt analogy between Adobe and music streaming. The only difference is that unlike a lot of music, Adobe's products are must-haves.
Paul Nash
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I was an early adopter of Spotify. And I sing its praises regularly. But there's a small dirty detail that gets left out-- regardless of how many songs and playlists you download to your mobile device, the app is only viable in territories where Spotify has negotiated licenses. Admittedly, this covers the vast majority of the western/modern world (and probably 90% of Spotify users).
But I've actually been a few places where the app won't allow me to hear the songs i've downloaded due to territorial licensing issues. It hasn't killed me so far, and I've managed to survive for 2-3 days without my tunes. But it has the same effect as "range anxiety" on the electric car market.
Nonetheless, your point is taken; change is inevitable. Physical are already the realm of oldsters who don't know how to use a computer-tron...
thanks,
adit rao
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It's so painfully obvious to this Millenial. I'm 33yrs old and haven't purchased a CD in a decade. Last year I went to at least 40 live gigs. Spending more on music-related entertainment than ever before.
Signing Adobe's praises. Good for them!
David Buivid
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Distributors should take the money they spend printing CDs that no one wants and put that capital towards pushing streaming. I used to love buying CDs, until the summer of 2011 when I tried Rdio for free for a month. The number of CDs I've bought since then I can count on one hand. Meanwhile, the diversity of music I love has grown immensely. Because it's all just there waiting for me to press play. And all I have to do is pay Google Play 10 bucks a month? Yes please!
Cheers,
Nick in Guelph, Ontario
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I get the reasoning behind saying goodbye to the CD, but some of us will always need files. How is a DJ going to use Serato to mix songs if he doesn't have files to load into the program??? EDM(as y'all like to call it-I fucking hate that term) is HUGE. That genre needs files for the little guy to practice at home and to eventually become the next Tiesto or Skrillex!! Just saying....
ciceroness
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Was just thinking about how labels are still managing to force-bundle albums with tickets, often to the detriment of the ticket sale. How is this still a thing?
On point with this one.
Richard S. Faillace
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Amen brother!
Mike Dion
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you're clearly right I keep trying to get you to turn this laser vision on the movie biz, though. If the music biz is in th eStone Age, the movie biz is pure protozoa
Joe Pinder
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Real quick ... don't people need a credit card to access products on line? (I'm asking because I don't know.)
Is access to music going to be limited to those who use plastic?
Sondra Loucks Wilson
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I agree that the music sales model is doomed and as a consumer I can't fathom why anyone would continue collecting music when it flows in streams through the air.
As somebody who has worked in the record business for 45 years I can't wait until we can forget about guaranteed sales and the whole business of returns, reserves, reserve releases, scrapping fees and royalty reports that are always partial and "to be continued".
Labels might continue making CD's for promotional purposes but I have no doubt you are right about the demise of the CD. Ironically it's probable that in future the only places you will be able to buy a new CD will be online.
Digital files will likely continue to be the primary means of demoing music long after the public appetite for downloads fades.
Keith Brown
Crystal M+th Management
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Remember the library of Alexandria, how everything was kept in one place.
What happens when someone makes the mother of all viruses...
Or worse an EMP
Toast.
You'll wish you had vinyl, cassettes, or even a CD.
They said the library was safe and nothing would happen to it.
Ah, sure the internet is safe. The internet of things will solve everything. If you haven't read up on that, you should, If you have and it doesn't at least freak you out a bit, have fun with your implant.
Rebekah Ann
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Bob,I went to my Dr. with my x-rays on a disc.No way to play it anywhere in the Drs. office.Thanks Bob,Ted Keane
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You are converting me. Which is why I read everyday, I want to be converted. But instantly, the wheels turn with me and make me think about endless possibilities that these, as you call, oldsters don't touch. This all can be revision'd and fun for everyone.
I love the sound of cassette, but you're right, a drag to hook all this crap up. Example being I just spent TWO HOURS of our post modern existence trying to hook up "the system" for my 8 track player, (cause I gotta tell ya, hearing SNF soundtrack or ABBA's Greatest Hits on 8 track, is really feeling it, it has a very particular vibe). I'm not a mechanic but it felt like working on a Mercury Monarch. I remember that Gene Simmons 8-track in my Grandma's white Fleetwood at age 5. Sometimes you wanna go back. No different then getting The Beatles or Dylan in Mono. Hear it the way YOU guys did. Throw on a 78 of Bing and it does change time in an instant. But why not different versions available streaming. I'd pay for that IMMEDIATELY. Look it up on Spotify and there is the 8 track bounce or cassette version, vinyl; whatever bounce of the record you love. For me I'd want a valid used copy too. I want the crackles. Hell, I may even have invented a new streaming service here but.... why not? (Have celebrity curated versions ala "hear Johnny Depp's cassette bounce of The Replacements Let It Be", etc. Zawinul's 4 track reel bounce of Sketches of Spain:) Hipster streaming LOL.
But the one that always got me, and Dylan was way out in front of this, is the need for more variation. I'm traditional as above but I like deconstruction to reconstruct too. An example being Kiss. I'm a glam-whore. Ace Frehley was everything to me at age 5 in 1981. They used every trick in the book, still are trying, (those restaurants, and football teams) but why not with the music? Open up all the masters, sell each song, with the stems and let fans go crazy. Remix, remaster, revision. Those originals were just a snapshot. Let people create their own version. Every kid has Garage Band or Pro Tools it seems (or has the ability in seconds to). I've wanted to remix Hotter Than Hell since I was 15. Hell, I want to remix The Man Who Sold The World. Or Bowie's Tonight, and rock it out more. Then I can play on Maggies's Farm finally. They would sell their catalogs tenfold, each song would be as many tracks the song is. Could be 50 bucks a song to get the files. (.99 a track still or whatever). Of course, the pricks would probably charge $999 a song to mix. Anyhow, I would love to hear Jack White's remix of Stairway.
I'm sure someone has already thought this and if so, sorry for being mundane. You got me excited. Could be the Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Mikey James
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I've followed your advice over the years. I give my shit away for nothing via bandcamp download coupons. Soundcloud. Spotify. Pandora.
I can see that people rarely use the coupons to download the songs.
I'm on all of the streaming services…and I think I've made about $.50. Yeah. 50 cents. Leads me to believe I produce crap. You certainly haven't sung my praises.
I do have CDs I sell at gigs, because it's something people can hold in their hands. Usually older folks. What you referred to as "rearguard".
It's something they can get an autograph on. (Don't know WHY they would want mine, I'm nobody…forever.)
But, I'm an old fucker and my "shows" are in restaurant and bars.
I have access to the streaming services, but haven't opened my "free" Spotify account in YEARS. Why subscribe when I don't use the free one ?
Your job is to listen and sift through the shit. Mine isn't.
I bought Emitt Rhodes' latest because he worked with me on my album. Downloaded it. But way before you wrote about it.
It's rare that I do hear new stuff I really like, I click on the links you provide when you find something you dig. I can rarely get through the whole song, though.
I also have a tendency to save my old tech devices. My album was recorded over years using multiple formats from tape and ADATs and converted to digital, in some cases, one track at a time. So I have a CD player and an iPod and yes, a cassette player. Even multiple reel to reels.
The real bottom line for me is I'm too old to forgo today's profits, as meager as they may be. There probably aren't all that many tomorrows for me and you, as we're about the same age.
Trump is here. My time has passed and I'm gonna need every fucking $10 bill I can get.
So when you write a column like this…preface it with something akin to: "Hey Kids. This is a column for you youngsters".
I know you do have a pretty aged subscriber base. After all, I'm on it. I could've skipped this column.It didn't apply. It depressed me.
Scott Sechman
p.s.: When you post your playlists, like the 1970 article last week, I go to iTunes and create you list with what I've already converted from CD or vinyl.
Seems to work for me.
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Bob, I think what got people "hooked" on Adobe subscriptions wasn't the subscription model, it's that they didn't have a choice. If you didn't keep paying, you couldn't work on older files. If someone said "Hey, can you revise last year's brochure for 2017?" Nope, unless you had the subscription. Furthermore, Adobe's programs are standards and there really wasn't any competition...you weren't going to exchange files with corporate using some public domain program with a user-hostile interface.
This isn't to say the paradigm is flawed at all. For corporations, it's great that everyone using the program is using the same version. When one person gets a new feature, everyone gets a new feature. It can even cost less than buying multiple individual copies. But for individuals who need to use the programs only occasionally, it's a different story.
As to streaming, I've been advocating for what I called "the celestial jukebox" for decades so I'm no stranger to the concept. But artists could sell comparatively few CDs and at least make minimum wage. Sure, if you get a couple billion streams, you'll make money. It's always been true that only a few artists made a ton of money, but it used to be possible to at least survive if you weren't Justin Timberlake or Adele. That's no longer the case.
On one hand, that might help "thin the herd" a bit and filter out the detritus. But long-term, it's like if baseball eliminated farm clubs that would prep players for the majors. You would then either need to join a major league team...or play on the weekend with your friends as a hobby.
I have no desire to go back to "the good old days" where I'm still owed at least five figures in royalties, but when you have 4 million streams on YouTube and make $1,200 or whatever, upcoming artists will not be able to support themselves making music. But I'm not even sure if that's a problem in a world where essentially all music ever created is available. If no more music was ever created by anyone, I still wouldn't be able to hear all the existing music I want to hear before I run out of lifespan.
Craig Anderton
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Yelling isn't gonna wanna make people want to actually listen to streaming. Great to hear a song, terrible to listen to music.
People are going back to vinyl for a reason ... granted most of it is due to marketing and DJ industry who pushed the format as it was /is a great form of copy protection.
Biggest loser from streaming will be the artist. One of the reasons people became superfans is because they (we) had a limited amount of music and so it was played over and over again...
So it's not as if the label never gets another penny from that music... there's more money up front and greater chance of making/retaining a fan. Of course the later translates into ticket sales, etc.
Sure, now you can stream just about any song you want, but how long do we really think that will last??? There is a significant market (read: people who actually have money) who value and prefer ownership.
This will always be the case. They know they may be paying more in the long run, but they also know that it will always be there and they will know where to find it, and how to play it. No need to download the latest app update, figure out how it's laid out, re-correct voice recognition for the twenty-second time, or search in vain for something which has been removed.
Kids are even telling me that they record streams so that they can listen at anytime with or without wireless service...AND it helps to save battery life!
Further, sales are more socially conscious than streaming. If one is going to listen to a 50 megabyte song a hundred times - that's 5 terabytes of data 99% of it waste. Now if your song is smaller than that 50 megabytes you are listening to a lower quality than was available 25 years ago!
Looking at the Photoshop model... you now have a few professionals getting a really good deal, but you mostly have users who are overpaying for something they hardly ever (or portions which they never) use! Sure that's one way to make money, but why breed such animosity? There's a reason folks continually complain about cable television providers.
Curious to see how long the Photoshop model holds up... have been hearing users jumping ship.
Why don't you look at music software and how many folks have said no to ProTools' rental model?
Should the music industry be basing its marketing models on the auto industry's decision to cut corners and remove CD players??
-dan yotz
audio engineer
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You are absolutely correct, but not for the reasons I think you think are true.
Streaming puts you at a remove from the data substrate. That's what it does, this is a fact.
If you don't own that data substrate, then you are at the mercy of the actors or agents that do.
If you are invested in your Streaming Service (spotify, Amazon, whatevs - we'll call it "Service") then you have contributed unpaid labour to that Service which is what gives that Service its value (labour theory of value is not radical - Locke discussed it in his 2nd treatise on government). Now, in exchange for your labour, you don't get money, you get access and convenience. However, the Service is not in business for the fun of it - it is a profit making entity - and if it can't make money, eventually it dies. And with its disappearance, all your labour and network also disappears.
Napsters strength was only partly the download. The other part was the community and referencing- the networking of users into affinity groups and communities. From there, shared values allowed for trust and expertise. THAT drove the downloading. People didn't just approach napster like a closet full of music, some datalocker - it had networks and trusted groups sharing, rating, and commenting on music. That was unpaid labour and it formed a huge portion of Napsters actual value. When napster failed, all that work disappeared - the servers were reformated and dedicated to some other use at the server farm.
Much the same is occurring in Services today. And when they fail / get bought out / transform, all that labour will disappear, along with access to "your music".
If the Service was run as a free public utility, then it would less able to "go out of business", and your labour would be a form of civic cultural involvement.
Therefore it is in the interests of capital (profit is only made from the differential between scarcity and demand) to completely dominate the music distribution system on a full spectrum basis, and completely remove the private citizen's access to the musical data substrate. That is the interest and the obvious demand of capital and profit. And in the demented neoliberalism of contemporary culture, this is seen as natural and as a good.
Thus, I collect files. Not to listen to them, but as an archive against the future as practiced by the Services who seek to dissolve everything for the sake of profit, where "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."
HW
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You are right, this is the future.
However, we bought Chrysalis Records last year and have been very active sorting out the catalogue and bringing the business up to date. this of course has meant focusing a lot of energy on testing the wisdom of continuing to make and market CDs.
In the course of this work we have come upon an extraordinary but not unique analogy. The streaming sites curate all the playlists which matter. The ones that contribute to 70% of all streams. These playlists cover every genre, everymood, every era. The panels constantly look to refresh the lists. So where do they get their information to help them choose?
Incredibly, they trawl old media to find out what new albums, what new compilations, what new best ofs are being released - on CD! - this week. because these releases will be marketed, which the streaming companies believe will drive traffic.
Topsy turvy or what? But doesn't it remind you of a very similar anomaly? TV news? Every night they discuss what the pundits are saying about politics. Where do they quote their references? Daily newspapers, whether print or online or both. As you so often quote Bob, old media is for oldies. So the TV debate is nuanced by information gathered from old media read by old, more right wing, readers, so the perceived wisdom is that this is what people actually think. When did you ever see a TV newsperson quote Buzzfeed, or Yahoo news, or Huffington for public opinion? Never.
Until the streaming companies abandon getting their playlist ideas from CD releases reviewed by old media, we as a responsible record business, have no choice but to continue to put out great reissues and new stock - at practically zero return.
Streaming numbers are growing all the time. You are correct, it's exciting times. you are correct it's the only way to go and the market has huge room for growth. Sadly, we can't make the jump yet.
All the best
Robin Millar
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Hey Bob,
Love this article and I really agree with it. You might be a couple years too late though. We already move on from the CD. When Apple took the drive out of their laptops, there was some pushback, but it was just romanticism. Everybody soon realized how little they used it. Streaming has been the go-to for years for consumers, even if the music industry has been fighting it the entire time. It's all about what the market decides, and what is best (read most convenient - not necessarily highest quality) for the consumer.
However, you've led your subscribes astray just a little bit. Streaming, for the artist, is not about more money and better payouts. Streaming is about attention - the primary commodity in today's over-saturated market. Why do you think Taylor swift is back on Spotify? The key for musician, in our culture of over saturation with media on all of our platforms, is to stay in front of listeners and keep their attention. When you have someone's attention, and they appreciate your music, they'll check out your tour schedule, maybe buy some merch. And eventually, they key for artists will be to leverage their attention to make real money is business, whether through entrepreneurship (today's rock stars), endorsements, or partnerships. That's where the future is.
Let's talk less about what happened FIVE YEARS AGO in a quickly evolving industry. Instead let's try to figure out how to get ahead of the curve and make money tomorrow.
Alright, end of rant.
Finally though, if you're still reading. This is why I moved from working in the music industry to marketing. I was tired of trying to work in an industry that was constantly trying to fight their consumers and the market to keep old, romanticized ideas of distribution and revenue models that didn't make sense any more. It was nonsensical. In every other industry, the rockstars are the ones who crack the code first and get ahead of the revolutionary changes. I hope the music industry will make it there soon, and I hope to see more people trying to push the music industry forward.
Thanks for all you do and how much you care, Bob.
Sincerely,
Tanner Boriack
Nashville, TN
If you believe in the music you're creating or the artists you're working with, bet on the upside. Streaming royalties will, ahem, stream in for decades. For as long as people love and listen to your recordings.
Song copyrights have trumped recorded music copyrights in value for ages. Now, perhaps, investors will value recorded music closer to how songs are valued. This is good for everyone who creates, works with, or just loves music.
Bill Hein
Glade Park, Colorado
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As a freelance music journalist for a raft of print and online outlets, I generally receive 10-20 album promos a day. 99% of these are digital. The most convenient servicing platform is Haulix, but occasionally I get a SoundCloud link or a WeTransfer download. Any of those are fine with me, but the reality is that I don't have time to listen to even half of those promos. So the publicists who make the process easy on me with digital album servicing and informative, well-written artist bios are the ones whose clients get my attention. A great way to insure that I'll never listen to your band is to send me their new album on CD - it won't survive the journey from my mailbox back into the house.
Best regards,
Joe Daly
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Just two things:
1. I'm still advising my students and anyone else to make CDs, if only to sell at gigs. Impulse buying still happens. You don't have to press up very many, just 500 to 1000; it's not that expensive - less than a buck apiece. Make sure the cover is cool and maybe include a bonus track they can't get anywhere else. Also include a booklet with photos, extra info, etc. There are still fans out there who want to have something tangible. There's no reason to leave their money on the table.
2. In the software business, it's obvious that the subscription model has its advantages. Even Pro Tools offers it as an option. A lot of the people that I know wish Adobe would still offer both a subscription and a buyout. My students sign up for just the Photoshop version for $9.95/month (Academic price), but when the year is up and the price goes up, most of them drop it and go to Paint Shop Pro or Affinity. I'm trying to encourage people to pressure Adobe into offering more options for the subscription, for example, a lower price if you only want Photoshop, Illustrator, and Dreamweaver. Or Photoshop, InDesign and Lightroom, or any combo that fits your needs. I have the whole package and I resent having to pay for a lot of software I don't ever use.
And BTW, I also urge my students to record their products in Hi-res digital and post them on HDTracks.com and/or Prostudiomasters.com
Best,
John Boylan
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Microsoft has done this with Office too. My beef, as someone who does actually like Office, is that I don't feel like the features/upgrades are happening enough to justify what amounts to an annual increase over the standalone purchase of Office. If you want to charge me more than I was paying before, fine, but you better make it worth my while. Microsoft to this point has not.
Spotify seems to be doing better on this front. They seem to be adding features and functionality regularly enough and the monthly price is reasonable too.
Richard Young
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Go back to vinyl for albums!
Take the record company greed out and the price is actually pretty good.
Joe Walsh
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Funny, I was just asked by a manager that knew I knew you, he asked me if he should send you a cd. I told him it was his funeral..... lol
Jake Gold
P.S. Do people forget that they stopped making cassettes and vinyl, and then everyone bought cds. Do people not remember Blockbuster Video? Netflix got out of their own business, remember, they used to send you DVDs in the mail. Imagine if Blockbuster had followed suit. No, they held on to bricks and mortar's. And we know how that worked out. I guess I'm just a 59 yr old millennial. Funny though, I saw a post on IG today of a young person posing with their cassettes. Apparently they're cool now. Break out those Sony Walkmans!!
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Further to your point, these major labels own almost ALL of the content people desire. Just like Adobe, they own all the software - the music - people want in their lives. Those consumers are fans, not of the companies themselves, but of the creators. Get out of the way and create the easiest path for listeners to find their music. That's why radio and the Internet have been the greatest medium in terms of music discovery.
Peter Kohan
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So true.....the only exception to this is at the merch table, and it has nothing to do with a music delivery medium. People will line up to buy vinyl that will never see a turntable in most cases.....it's like buying a souvenir program at a big sporting event. It's a momento of an experience....the music is just a cover story. That's why smart artist create their vinyl packages with that in mind....colored vinyl, cool packaging, lyric books, etc. At smaller shows it also functions as a ticket to say hello to the artist for a few seconds...
Don Bartlett
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Adobe's been killing it since they switched to their subscription model. Frequent updates, and every time it's something I can take advantage of right away. Sometimes they're small updates but it adds up FAST. And Adobe jumped in all the way, which shows. They also gained customers because it's easier to dip your toes in - 30 day trial, then a cheap $50 for ALL their apps. It lowers the barrier of entry so we get more voices able to jump in. It's great.
For audio production there's another company doing the subscription model right - Steven Slate or Slate Digital. (He's got some branding issues to work on). But every couple of months you get new plugins. Cheap monthly rate vs hundreds of dollars for a one off. It's interesting to see people fight the tide, but everything is moving that direction because it's working.
Cheers!
Karl Whinnery
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Youtube and Spotify yank tracks you might want to hear all the time. I'll continue to hoard sound files because I own them and no one can take them away.
erpietri
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Don't know if you have commented on this already, but just watched this and thought it was great. http://www.towerrecordsmovie.com/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
They made a great point about how the record companies decision to stop selling singles (to make people buy an $18 CD) actually opened the door to Napster.
And yes, I streamed it on a subscription platform. Didn't pop it in the BluRay player I no longer have ;)
Justin Weniger
CEO
Life is Beautiful
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No additional work is needed to sell downloads when the same music is being made available for streaming services. To not sell downloads simultaneously isn't disruptive, it's foolish. CD margins are still high and it is easy to make as little as 500 or 1000 if that's what the project called for. Vinyl - it's been a a huge boon for our business. Should we stop making records too? Streaming is not being neglected in the interim and the day likely comes when that is all that matters. When it does, these same people who are buying downloads and CD's and Vinyl will pay to listen to the same songs on streaming services. Just like you bought your favorites on every new format, they will too.
Jeff Safran
Varese Sarabande Records
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Let the people have it in whatever format they want, Bob.
I am a geezer. I have one foot in the grave. I might last a decade. I might last two.
I have trouble recollecting the music I want to hear.
But fortunately I have a great CD collection on the wall. Old vinyl too. I browse it. Oh, here's a recording I forgot all about! Haven't heard it in years, let's give that a spin...
Ah, now I remember...
Thomas Moore
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100% Agree.
Label's would also save time & money not having to print en masse CD's / CD booklets / CD packaging / etc.
I think some artists love the idea that their music will be on a physical format forever but it's just waxing nostalgia really... and nostalgia only is not a good reason to keep things around.
Jared Shelton
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One small bone to pick: You wrote: "...You can't even buy an iPod anymore." Not a really good one, true, but if you visit Apple's web site, they are still selling the Nano for $149. And the Touch for $199.
http://www.apple.com/ipod?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
They are just housed under the Music tab now, one level down.
Best,
---Brendan Hasenstab
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Every CEO in the music business should circulate this email internally. But the good thing is many movers and shakers already embrace this future. Kind of like Trump derailing the Climate Change accord, most future-thinking business people will ignore it and embrace the future and do what needs to be done. Using the same analogy, one can say that insisting on CDs is like believing digging for coal is the way to go. (I bet Trump still uses CDs)
As an artist manager I deal with the Majors on a daily basis and we don't talk about CDs any more. The whole strategy is towards streaming, with Spotify at the centre and of course a healthy dose of Radio (if you can get it) and Live strategy to give the campaign body and soul. CD piracy killed music markets such as Brasil, which is now transforming again into one of the world music superpowers. Thanks to streaming.
Edo Van Duyn
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I signed up for Spotify the instant it was available, because it is so much CHEAPER than buying CDs or files.
The problem with Adobe's model is that I was perfectly happy with my 5 years-old versions of Photoshop and Illustrator but now they're gouging me at $600/year to get a version that will work on the latest Mac OS.
It's only a matter of months before a competitor eats their lunch here. If Adobe is smart, they'll use that 47% profit boost to cut the price in half and keep their user base stoked.
Photoshop is no longer a rarefied product for pros -- it's a basic toy for every kid that wants to crank out instagram memes and profile pics. If the kids can't afford it, Clayton Christensen taught us that the scrappy little programmers will build simple tools that do the job better eventually and cost way less.
Yeah Adobe has the market cornered this year, but they're writing their own obituary. And the writing on the wall is their atrocious customer service and draconian cancellation policies.
So yeah, subscription is the future, but Adobe is not. They have a lot to learn from Spotify.
Cheers, and thanks for the great thoughts as always.
-Charlie Wilson
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Of COURSE revenue went up - they took away CHOICE! And America is founded on choice - the choice to not be told what we could or couldn't do. By removing CHOICE from the equation, Adobe left users with no option. And having no option is just....Unamerican.
Join the revolution Bob, we have great Tea Parties.
Shelby Travis
Director of News & Programming
Talk Radio 1170
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Been telling bands for years to stop pressing CDs... mainly because most end up unsold in their closet anyway... but I still consider them a premium product, especially at our merch table. The dance to unwrap, sign, and take a pic with fans at shows... it's worth it... since we sell them for $20.
... that being said, many buy it on iTunes and have some music streaming subscription as well.
MIKE LANGFORD
Producer | Mixer | Engineer
Blind Science
Toronto, ON
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Bob I can't agree with you more. I am a 53 year old music junkie who loves vinyl but my go to is streaming. Yes I was converted from the free model on Spotify as I did not want limits. The convenience of listening to whatever I want whenever I want it is the key and I don't mind paying $120 a year for this. I have discovered more acts through streaming than ever before and I can listen to all of the classic acts that I love. We oldsters need to get with the program...and yes I am talking to you Bob Seger!
Chris Dash
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""As a business move for them, I get it," he says. "But you can't get
off. It's like they've hooked everybody on digital heroin, and you're
gonna be on it for the rest of your life.""
That's a brilliant analogy - heroin is fucking amazing then it ruins
your life and kills you.
Creative Cloud has been 'embraced by users' in the same way Office365
has - you basically give people no choice and then pretend as though
they like it. It's an abismal deal for consumers and everyone knows
it.
You are comparing a service that has opened people up to millions of
new artists for $10 a month to one of the worst deals for consumers of
the 21st Century.
Ben Oliver
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tell it to Adele
Art Polhemus
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Yup - streaming kills CDs & Files dead! And we want em dead.
I was just about to make more CDs for
my band's upcoming shows too.... but you've convinced me not to.
-Mark Feldman
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What a load of crap. There's plenty of people who want to own physical media. Streaming is for disposable rap and pop for the unwashed masses and plebs. In one ear and out the other. I have a CD player in house, in my car, in my laptop and plenty of other people do.
Jonathan Espeche
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You are, as usual with this stuff, spot on. I became a paying customer with Spotify a few months ago. I still cant get over the fact that every time an artist releases a new recording, I can have it immediately on Spotify. Sgt. Pepper's 50th Anniversary release, no problem. The new TajMo release from Ken Mo and Taj Majal, no problem. BTW, you should check that out - very good.
Point is, if I hadn't read your harping for months about Spotify, I wouldn't have tried it. So thank you.
David Murphy
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one word:
patreon
Amanda Palmer
__________________________________________
We hear what you're sayingbut what is your answer for Indie artists who offer their music on their own sites or blogs?
The SC
__________________________________________
This is why I subscribe to you Bob. Spot on. It's scary but we, artists, have to think forward.
Ted Yoder
__________________________________________
Please consider one critical thing that might add to the discussion.
Relentless subscriptions auto-renew and become more like a escalating toothache than an experience one can cherish. Adobe and Microsoft's brand-hatred at street level is off the charts for this very reason. Ask around.
Subscriptions–––part of the future indeed–––ultimately create this very thing; brand hatred. The opposite of the intended effect.
I know vinyl drives us all crazy, but consider this: one and done. You buy it and the purchasing experience is joy manifest. Then, you listen to it when you want….or never. But you have, in your hands, a physical object that memorializes the shit you love.
Streaming is like pornhub versus of the gal you/we all love on the couch watching netflix; titillating, but never satisfying….pass the popcorn honey. What's better?
Alas you are right about these trends, but an old expression comes to mind: watch your head, we're lowering our standards.
Dave Dalzell
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I agree with CDs but not files.
First, the "rights" people deal with files, all day long. Pitching, placements, and especially for post.
It's efficient, some replacements for TV or ads happen in hours, shareable across any user (no matter their preferred streamer- if any), and of course, cheap.
It's also how we do music today. At every step, different files (wav, aif, and yes mp3) are used to demo, write, produce, collaborate, mix, master, and (oh yeah) eventually upload to those myriad of sites - with different file standards for many.
Files will be with us.
Files, paradoxically, are indeed the very cogs that drive streaming.
I hope you heard a great song today,
Michael St. James
__________________________________________
I just moved and I rounded up eight of those big CD books that hold 120 CDs each. I don't know what to do with them! I listen to everything on Spotify.
So I really want to stop buying CDs, but that's the only way you can get the liner notes! Yes, I'm one of those people who reads the liner notes backwards and forwards. That's how I discover other musicians and songwriters, learn who wrote my favorite songs and played the instruments. What was that weird sound on track #5? Lo and behold, it's a glockenspiel. The backup singer on track #3 sounds like Patty Griffin. Yep! That's who it is.
I wish the artists would post their liner notes on their website. It would generate more traffic and who knows, I might buy a t-shirt while I'm on there.
Angela Roeder
Boyce, VA
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Hey Bob,
http://www.noise11.com/news/once-again-the-death-of-the-cd-is-exaggerated-20170612?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
published today.
Alex Jimenez
__________________________________________
Awesome Bob.
Spotify takes in hundreds of millions of dollars each month and pays artists half of a penny per stream. Half.
You've solved it Bob. Congrats.
Stream everything. Pay nobody. You solved it bro.
I just hope musicians can afford to scrape by long enough while getting fucked over by streaming services in order to make more content.
Solve that riddle Bob.
gowestllc
__________________________________________
I'm fine with everything your saying. The issue I would take is if I need to hear a specific song at a specific time for whatever reason that's NOT on a streaming service. Or as a DJ I need to play songs, at the ready, at an event. Or I want to make a short video of my kids with a song in the background. Or need a clip of a song for a project. I can't do any of that, and things I'm not even thinking of right now, with streaming.
Don't get me wrong, streaming def has its place (road trips, at the beach, bike rides and such - casual listening for the casual user) but for that I'm fine with my lifetime Sirius subscription. For the other stuff I still need files. Until there's a solution I can't fully jump in.
Etan G
__________________________________________
So right. Know what the largest record label is in terms of revenue? Tunecore.
- B. Bremer
__________________________________________
Remember when Netflix used to mail DVD's w return envelope?
;-)))
Barbara Stevens
__________________________________________
Bob, I agree with your big picture assessment of who now owns the music business—at least from the popularity/grand scale perspective.
However, I'd rather have the kind of connection I have with tens of thousands of "alternative" Millennials like the one below, who really inhabits the same space today I did in the 1970s….when "our music" was NOT consumed by the majority of young people…
These young people who don't consume music based on popularity are the ones I'd rather reach….
Michael Fremer
Subject: A Thank You and some photos of my "Fremer Records"
Hey Michael,
I was going through my collection just last night, and was thinking about how I got introduced to all this music, your radio show, and just how much music you personally introduced me to over just the past 2 years (either through the site or the radio show - rest in peace!). I'm in my early 30's and inherited my grandfather's Linn Sondek LP12 from the early 80's. Just 3 years ago, I only had maybe 10 records to my name. Since then my library has exploded, almost entirely due to your recommendations and your radio show.
My absolute favorites are the numbered Ferit Odman (never would have even known about that or what AAA meant without your guidance), Joan Armatrading (introduced a lot of people to her), the signed Sophia Pfister (again, so obscure, but once I saw your youtube video, I knew I had to have it), and rescuing the Vanguard folk song box set from a trash pile. I never would have pictured myself a Clapton fan, but Slowhand and I Still Do are in my constant rotation.
I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do, it has had a profound impact on my music, my awareness, and my life. I know putting together the radio show took a ton of time and may not have had an immediate payoff. So I just wanted to reach out and show you that the videos, the mentions, the reviews - all of it has a far reaching impact on someone like me. So thank you very much.
Jay Hoelle
Cambridge, MA
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I've owned a CD/DVD Manufacturing business for over 20 years. The writing was on the wall in 1999 when Napster came on the scene. The nails were in the coffin when Spotify became a household name. I've embraced file sharing and streaming immediately but have kept the business open and have watched business dwindle year after year. The only substantial business that comes through these days are from touring artists and churches. There's just enough business for me to keep the lights on but, out of necessity, I took on a career in real estate 4 years ago and have branched out in my new field (investment properties and assisted living facilities). No regrets. It turns out I love what I do now...but I miss the days when our replication machines were literally running 24/7. Having a small role in helping thousands of artists in the creation of a tangible product has been a thrilling and rewarding ride. Alas, I can't even remember the last time I've purchased a CD...
Mike Naylor
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Not a bad theory at all. That being said getting everyone to agree to stop making CD's, Vinyl Records and selling files? It's going to take a mighty, mighty long time. A hell of a lot longer than the 3 - 6 months you are proposing.
Add to that, that all the manufacturers of CD Players and Turntables that would be calling for your lynching and that of everyone working for labels who agreed to your theory and I think you are pushing shit uphill. It's an interesting theory and I think you may just be onto something there, but unfortunately I think it would take way too long for everyone to agree to it by which point the ship may have sailed.
Chris Xynos
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So here's the catch 22. Publishers, sync agents and music supervisors request UNRELEASED and UNPUBLISHED tracks. But if no one can play CDs and only want to listen on Spotify (which counts as a release) how the hell are you supposed to get new music out there?
Steve Young
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Totally agree with the fact that moving listeners to streaming services will lead to higher revenues for us musicians in the future. But perhaps a lot of cd buyers are already listening to streaming services AND buying CDs and vinyl on top of it because they are buying them for a totally different reason... one you cannot get from an electronic file. It's what I've found with the people purchasing CDs of my own music - they don't buy to listen - they buy them to hold something tangible in their hands, something physical, something else created by the artist that contextualises the music...Something that looks good that they can decorate their living room with, put on their coffee table. It's something else that's cheaper to buy than a t-shirt that you don't have to worry about fitting (at least cds are). It's just another form of merchandise and feels way more authentic for us to make than a coffee mug or branded USB stick.
And perhaps rather than reducing streaming numbers, CDs maybe enhance them (especially for smaller emerging artists) - an affordable, physical memoir (at $5 or $10) people can buy when they see a new band street performing or at a venue, that they don't throw away when they get home - they tweet and instagram a picture of it if it looks good ... and then follow them on Spotify.
Even more reason for artists to put time into their artwork and merchandise!
Esmay Luck
__________________________________________
Adobe was not the first, nor will they be the last to embrace the subscription model of revenue generation. Seems like every company under the sun online - Amazon, Microsoft, Blue Apron, et. al. - have embraced this business idea. We have become a nation of renters now - of services, utilities and the like. Ownership of anything is now a bad business idea. It's all about the cash flow! Experiences are the only things (can an experience be a "thing"?) worth owning these days. Very surprised more people haven't figured this out by now...be well!
Live richly,
Aaron Koral
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Excellent!!!
Lavon Pagan
__________________________________________
We've got a p/t employee that uses the Spotify free tier and it drives us crazy. I'm constantly offering him my phone to make it stop. He doesn't know it yet but the next paycheck comes with
a Spotify premium 'monthly extra' and it will be worth every penny.
Sean Taylor
__________________________________________
Bob, I know you meant it as an example, but even seeing Adobe mentioned in this context makes me INSANE. I am one of the people who depend on these programs for my (freelance) livelihood. We freelancers have uncertain income. And when I am not booked/working, I still have to fork over $50 every month. That's $50 for programs I am not making use of because I AM NOT WORKING. I should send you a selfie of me opening my credit card statement every month to see that charge. It's not pretty.
?Lynn Crosswaite?
Los Angeles
__________________________________________
You make good points, but I still like CD's. I have the nice audiofile system, appreciate the non-compressed music and the dynamic range. Even though I have the ears of a Fifty-something, I still hear the sonic difference between CD's and compressed music. I realize I'm the dinosaur, but not so dinosaur-like that I'm jumping back to vinyl like the new-Gen seems to like. I'm sorry, I was so happy the day that clicking, popping and degradation associated with vinyl went away. CD's at the time were a godsend.
Don Adkins
__________________________________________
hi Bob - long time no talk! 3 years ago I started my 2 songs a month club (which is subscription-based model),
and while I have only about 200 members, I make more a month now than from monthly sales in the past because several people choose to subscribe at higher amount
(to help support my music, which is lovely, generous and incredible).
It has brought me closer to my core fans and it's been amazing.
Big Russian hug,
Marina: V)
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I can't get My music to play from my library even downloaded without wifi or cell on Apple so Everest will not work
Chris M.
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Thanks for the inspiration Bob. I just finished Kickstarting a cd and decided to make it available digital only after the initial Kickstarter release. It worries me a bit. But I agree with your conclusion.
Marc Gunn, The Celtfather
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Hello, Bob!
Regarding your last letter...
The problem w/ hard drives and memory cards is that they may always at any given moment be corrupt and stop functioning—all information may be lost! The data may be recovered or not.
Yes, one can make backups (on storage websites or in email boxes, for instance), but physical backups (on CD or DVD) may always be useful.
I'm referring to blank CDs/DVDs, but also music albums and singles, concerts, movies, etc. sold in those formats. Some people (especially in Japan and South Korea) still appreciate physical albums and singles, booklets, artwork, limited/deluxe editions.
And yes, the CD and vinyl sound quality is much better.
Listeners may use streaming services more and more, but to completely and totally stop sales of files, CDs (and perhaps even vinyl) seems more impractical than not. Why not give music consumers the choice?
And w/ streaming, there may always be interruptions (even w/ a fast connection). Playing the CD, vinyl or the downloaded file may, depending on the circumstances, be more practical.
Yes, concerts earn money, streaming too, but I still see nothing wrong w/ CD/vinyl/file sale. Once again, giving people all of these options is the best route to go. The simple fact vinyl is back proves this point.
Regards,
Israell Isaac
__________________________________________
I agree 100% in the long run, but there's still a strong argument to be made for CD's on the tour circuit.....high margin souvenirs. And they count towards chart placement.
Reid Foster
__________________________________________
Revenue is up because there are more amateurs playing GarageBand Photoshop.
No pro I know uses the rental. I own it.
Ephemeral usage is passe. I want the object. I trust nothing less.
Jamie Howarth
__________________________________________
Hey Bob,
"Can Spotify crack CD-loving Japan?" Huge fan of your newsletter, reading out here in Japan. I'd be curious to hear your take on the market here when it comes to this…!
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/10/04/commentary/japan-commentary/can-spotify-crack-cd-loving-japan/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs#.WT9_XMaQ3Jw
https://qz.com/711490/why-japan-has-more-music-stores-than-the-rest-of-the-world/?utm_source=phplist5901&utm_medium=email&utm_content=text&utm_campaign=Re-Stop+Selling+Files+And+CDs
Best regards,
James Smith
SMASH Corporation, Tokyo
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Hey Now!
I manage a young band from Memphis called Southern Avenue. We just released their debut in Feb on Stax (Concord), the first Memphis band signed to Stax in 40 years...but I digress.
I agree with you 1000% on streaming. I'm all in on Spotify with a family plan...plus use Prime Music. Do I wish my band got paid more from their streams? Sure...however I'm way more pumped that people are listening to their music. A few short months ago they had nothing on the streaming platforms. Now nearly 30k people are listening to us every single month on Spotify! How could that have ever happened before????
RE: Physical...we still need it. While I hate "stuff" and I've purged my own collection of thousands of discs in the last seven years, fans still want a souvenir at the show. The band signs CDs and LPs at every gig and makes personal connections with everyone at the Merch table.
Are physical products a thing of the past? Maybe...but they cover the cost of our hotels and gas every night making the grind of 24/7 touring feasible.
Hope you are doing well. Keep on keeping on!
Jonathan Schwartz
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Some of us like owning what we pay for. Some of us love opening a fresh, new album and reading the liner notes. I'm not a boomer, and I make records even when it's not profitable for me to do so because I treasure art over commerce. At what point in your life did you lose your appreciation for that? Walk into Waterloo Records in Austin any day of the week and you'll see people checking out with piles upon piles of CDs. Love your articles, but I'm tired of these constant tirades against physical media. I'm glad you like Spotify... I like it too, mostly... but it will never be as fulfilling as the joy you feel when tracking down an out-of-print album that you've always wanted (and I own scads of those that aren't on Spotify). You're yelling "fire" into an empty theater on this one, Bob.
Jeremy Gautier
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This is satire surely? What about CDs as a gift / memento?
Kind regards,
Chris Byrne
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Hi Bob,
And yet I love playing high res music files in 24bit 96 khz or DSD format.
China produces beautifully sounding high res music players for somewhat over 100 dollars. Probably a fetish too. And indeed I am a baby boomer.
I tried to enthousiasm my children but to no effect :-)
Cheers,
Nico Aarts
PS I must admit lossless streaming services do sound great too!
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Hi Bob,
A very apt analogy between Adobe and music streaming. The only difference is that unlike a lot of music, Adobe's products are must-haves.
Paul Nash
__________________________________________
I was an early adopter of Spotify. And I sing its praises regularly. But there's a small dirty detail that gets left out-- regardless of how many songs and playlists you download to your mobile device, the app is only viable in territories where Spotify has negotiated licenses. Admittedly, this covers the vast majority of the western/modern world (and probably 90% of Spotify users).
But I've actually been a few places where the app won't allow me to hear the songs i've downloaded due to territorial licensing issues. It hasn't killed me so far, and I've managed to survive for 2-3 days without my tunes. But it has the same effect as "range anxiety" on the electric car market.
Nonetheless, your point is taken; change is inevitable. Physical are already the realm of oldsters who don't know how to use a computer-tron...
thanks,
adit rao
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It's so painfully obvious to this Millenial. I'm 33yrs old and haven't purchased a CD in a decade. Last year I went to at least 40 live gigs. Spending more on music-related entertainment than ever before.
Signing Adobe's praises. Good for them!
David Buivid
__________________________________________
Distributors should take the money they spend printing CDs that no one wants and put that capital towards pushing streaming. I used to love buying CDs, until the summer of 2011 when I tried Rdio for free for a month. The number of CDs I've bought since then I can count on one hand. Meanwhile, the diversity of music I love has grown immensely. Because it's all just there waiting for me to press play. And all I have to do is pay Google Play 10 bucks a month? Yes please!
Cheers,
Nick in Guelph, Ontario
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I get the reasoning behind saying goodbye to the CD, but some of us will always need files. How is a DJ going to use Serato to mix songs if he doesn't have files to load into the program??? EDM(as y'all like to call it-I fucking hate that term) is HUGE. That genre needs files for the little guy to practice at home and to eventually become the next Tiesto or Skrillex!! Just saying....
ciceroness
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Was just thinking about how labels are still managing to force-bundle albums with tickets, often to the detriment of the ticket sale. How is this still a thing?
On point with this one.
Richard S. Faillace
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Amen brother!
Mike Dion
__________________________________________
you're clearly right I keep trying to get you to turn this laser vision on the movie biz, though. If the music biz is in th eStone Age, the movie biz is pure protozoa
Joe Pinder
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Real quick ... don't people need a credit card to access products on line? (I'm asking because I don't know.)
Is access to music going to be limited to those who use plastic?
Sondra Loucks Wilson
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I agree that the music sales model is doomed and as a consumer I can't fathom why anyone would continue collecting music when it flows in streams through the air.
As somebody who has worked in the record business for 45 years I can't wait until we can forget about guaranteed sales and the whole business of returns, reserves, reserve releases, scrapping fees and royalty reports that are always partial and "to be continued".
Labels might continue making CD's for promotional purposes but I have no doubt you are right about the demise of the CD. Ironically it's probable that in future the only places you will be able to buy a new CD will be online.
Digital files will likely continue to be the primary means of demoing music long after the public appetite for downloads fades.
Keith Brown
Crystal M+th Management
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Remember the library of Alexandria, how everything was kept in one place.
What happens when someone makes the mother of all viruses...
Or worse an EMP
Toast.
You'll wish you had vinyl, cassettes, or even a CD.
They said the library was safe and nothing would happen to it.
Ah, sure the internet is safe. The internet of things will solve everything. If you haven't read up on that, you should, If you have and it doesn't at least freak you out a bit, have fun with your implant.
Rebekah Ann
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Bob,I went to my Dr. with my x-rays on a disc.No way to play it anywhere in the Drs. office.Thanks Bob,Ted Keane
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You are converting me. Which is why I read everyday, I want to be converted. But instantly, the wheels turn with me and make me think about endless possibilities that these, as you call, oldsters don't touch. This all can be revision'd and fun for everyone.
I love the sound of cassette, but you're right, a drag to hook all this crap up. Example being I just spent TWO HOURS of our post modern existence trying to hook up "the system" for my 8 track player, (cause I gotta tell ya, hearing SNF soundtrack or ABBA's Greatest Hits on 8 track, is really feeling it, it has a very particular vibe). I'm not a mechanic but it felt like working on a Mercury Monarch. I remember that Gene Simmons 8-track in my Grandma's white Fleetwood at age 5. Sometimes you wanna go back. No different then getting The Beatles or Dylan in Mono. Hear it the way YOU guys did. Throw on a 78 of Bing and it does change time in an instant. But why not different versions available streaming. I'd pay for that IMMEDIATELY. Look it up on Spotify and there is the 8 track bounce or cassette version, vinyl; whatever bounce of the record you love. For me I'd want a valid used copy too. I want the crackles. Hell, I may even have invented a new streaming service here but.... why not? (Have celebrity curated versions ala "hear Johnny Depp's cassette bounce of The Replacements Let It Be", etc. Zawinul's 4 track reel bounce of Sketches of Spain:) Hipster streaming LOL.
But the one that always got me, and Dylan was way out in front of this, is the need for more variation. I'm traditional as above but I like deconstruction to reconstruct too. An example being Kiss. I'm a glam-whore. Ace Frehley was everything to me at age 5 in 1981. They used every trick in the book, still are trying, (those restaurants, and football teams) but why not with the music? Open up all the masters, sell each song, with the stems and let fans go crazy. Remix, remaster, revision. Those originals were just a snapshot. Let people create their own version. Every kid has Garage Band or Pro Tools it seems (or has the ability in seconds to). I've wanted to remix Hotter Than Hell since I was 15. Hell, I want to remix The Man Who Sold The World. Or Bowie's Tonight, and rock it out more. Then I can play on Maggies's Farm finally. They would sell their catalogs tenfold, each song would be as many tracks the song is. Could be 50 bucks a song to get the files. (.99 a track still or whatever). Of course, the pricks would probably charge $999 a song to mix. Anyhow, I would love to hear Jack White's remix of Stairway.
I'm sure someone has already thought this and if so, sorry for being mundane. You got me excited. Could be the Jamaican Blue Mountain.
Mikey James
__________________________________________
I've followed your advice over the years. I give my shit away for nothing via bandcamp download coupons. Soundcloud. Spotify. Pandora.
I can see that people rarely use the coupons to download the songs.
I'm on all of the streaming services…and I think I've made about $.50. Yeah. 50 cents. Leads me to believe I produce crap. You certainly haven't sung my praises.
I do have CDs I sell at gigs, because it's something people can hold in their hands. Usually older folks. What you referred to as "rearguard".
It's something they can get an autograph on. (Don't know WHY they would want mine, I'm nobody…forever.)
But, I'm an old fucker and my "shows" are in restaurant and bars.
I have access to the streaming services, but haven't opened my "free" Spotify account in YEARS. Why subscribe when I don't use the free one ?
Your job is to listen and sift through the shit. Mine isn't.
I bought Emitt Rhodes' latest because he worked with me on my album. Downloaded it. But way before you wrote about it.
It's rare that I do hear new stuff I really like, I click on the links you provide when you find something you dig. I can rarely get through the whole song, though.
I also have a tendency to save my old tech devices. My album was recorded over years using multiple formats from tape and ADATs and converted to digital, in some cases, one track at a time. So I have a CD player and an iPod and yes, a cassette player. Even multiple reel to reels.
The real bottom line for me is I'm too old to forgo today's profits, as meager as they may be. There probably aren't all that many tomorrows for me and you, as we're about the same age.
Trump is here. My time has passed and I'm gonna need every fucking $10 bill I can get.
So when you write a column like this…preface it with something akin to: "Hey Kids. This is a column for you youngsters".
I know you do have a pretty aged subscriber base. After all, I'm on it. I could've skipped this column.It didn't apply. It depressed me.
Scott Sechman
p.s.: When you post your playlists, like the 1970 article last week, I go to iTunes and create you list with what I've already converted from CD or vinyl.
Seems to work for me.
__________________________________________
Bob, I think what got people "hooked" on Adobe subscriptions wasn't the subscription model, it's that they didn't have a choice. If you didn't keep paying, you couldn't work on older files. If someone said "Hey, can you revise last year's brochure for 2017?" Nope, unless you had the subscription. Furthermore, Adobe's programs are standards and there really wasn't any competition...you weren't going to exchange files with corporate using some public domain program with a user-hostile interface.
This isn't to say the paradigm is flawed at all. For corporations, it's great that everyone using the program is using the same version. When one person gets a new feature, everyone gets a new feature. It can even cost less than buying multiple individual copies. But for individuals who need to use the programs only occasionally, it's a different story.
As to streaming, I've been advocating for what I called "the celestial jukebox" for decades so I'm no stranger to the concept. But artists could sell comparatively few CDs and at least make minimum wage. Sure, if you get a couple billion streams, you'll make money. It's always been true that only a few artists made a ton of money, but it used to be possible to at least survive if you weren't Justin Timberlake or Adele. That's no longer the case.
On one hand, that might help "thin the herd" a bit and filter out the detritus. But long-term, it's like if baseball eliminated farm clubs that would prep players for the majors. You would then either need to join a major league team...or play on the weekend with your friends as a hobby.
I have no desire to go back to "the good old days" where I'm still owed at least five figures in royalties, but when you have 4 million streams on YouTube and make $1,200 or whatever, upcoming artists will not be able to support themselves making music. But I'm not even sure if that's a problem in a world where essentially all music ever created is available. If no more music was ever created by anyone, I still wouldn't be able to hear all the existing music I want to hear before I run out of lifespan.
Craig Anderton
__________________________________________
Yelling isn't gonna wanna make people want to actually listen to streaming. Great to hear a song, terrible to listen to music.
People are going back to vinyl for a reason ... granted most of it is due to marketing and DJ industry who pushed the format as it was /is a great form of copy protection.
Biggest loser from streaming will be the artist. One of the reasons people became superfans is because they (we) had a limited amount of music and so it was played over and over again...
So it's not as if the label never gets another penny from that music... there's more money up front and greater chance of making/retaining a fan. Of course the later translates into ticket sales, etc.
Sure, now you can stream just about any song you want, but how long do we really think that will last??? There is a significant market (read: people who actually have money) who value and prefer ownership.
This will always be the case. They know they may be paying more in the long run, but they also know that it will always be there and they will know where to find it, and how to play it. No need to download the latest app update, figure out how it's laid out, re-correct voice recognition for the twenty-second time, or search in vain for something which has been removed.
Kids are even telling me that they record streams so that they can listen at anytime with or without wireless service...AND it helps to save battery life!
Further, sales are more socially conscious than streaming. If one is going to listen to a 50 megabyte song a hundred times - that's 5 terabytes of data 99% of it waste. Now if your song is smaller than that 50 megabytes you are listening to a lower quality than was available 25 years ago!
Looking at the Photoshop model... you now have a few professionals getting a really good deal, but you mostly have users who are overpaying for something they hardly ever (or portions which they never) use! Sure that's one way to make money, but why breed such animosity? There's a reason folks continually complain about cable television providers.
Curious to see how long the Photoshop model holds up... have been hearing users jumping ship.
Why don't you look at music software and how many folks have said no to ProTools' rental model?
Should the music industry be basing its marketing models on the auto industry's decision to cut corners and remove CD players??
-dan yotz
audio engineer
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You are absolutely correct, but not for the reasons I think you think are true.
Streaming puts you at a remove from the data substrate. That's what it does, this is a fact.
If you don't own that data substrate, then you are at the mercy of the actors or agents that do.
If you are invested in your Streaming Service (spotify, Amazon, whatevs - we'll call it "Service") then you have contributed unpaid labour to that Service which is what gives that Service its value (labour theory of value is not radical - Locke discussed it in his 2nd treatise on government). Now, in exchange for your labour, you don't get money, you get access and convenience. However, the Service is not in business for the fun of it - it is a profit making entity - and if it can't make money, eventually it dies. And with its disappearance, all your labour and network also disappears.
Napsters strength was only partly the download. The other part was the community and referencing- the networking of users into affinity groups and communities. From there, shared values allowed for trust and expertise. THAT drove the downloading. People didn't just approach napster like a closet full of music, some datalocker - it had networks and trusted groups sharing, rating, and commenting on music. That was unpaid labour and it formed a huge portion of Napsters actual value. When napster failed, all that work disappeared - the servers were reformated and dedicated to some other use at the server farm.
Much the same is occurring in Services today. And when they fail / get bought out / transform, all that labour will disappear, along with access to "your music".
If the Service was run as a free public utility, then it would less able to "go out of business", and your labour would be a form of civic cultural involvement.
Therefore it is in the interests of capital (profit is only made from the differential between scarcity and demand) to completely dominate the music distribution system on a full spectrum basis, and completely remove the private citizen's access to the musical data substrate. That is the interest and the obvious demand of capital and profit. And in the demented neoliberalism of contemporary culture, this is seen as natural and as a good.
Thus, I collect files. Not to listen to them, but as an archive against the future as practiced by the Services who seek to dissolve everything for the sake of profit, where "All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."
HW
__________________________________________
You are right, this is the future.
However, we bought Chrysalis Records last year and have been very active sorting out the catalogue and bringing the business up to date. this of course has meant focusing a lot of energy on testing the wisdom of continuing to make and market CDs.
In the course of this work we have come upon an extraordinary but not unique analogy. The streaming sites curate all the playlists which matter. The ones that contribute to 70% of all streams. These playlists cover every genre, everymood, every era. The panels constantly look to refresh the lists. So where do they get their information to help them choose?
Incredibly, they trawl old media to find out what new albums, what new compilations, what new best ofs are being released - on CD! - this week. because these releases will be marketed, which the streaming companies believe will drive traffic.
Topsy turvy or what? But doesn't it remind you of a very similar anomaly? TV news? Every night they discuss what the pundits are saying about politics. Where do they quote their references? Daily newspapers, whether print or online or both. As you so often quote Bob, old media is for oldies. So the TV debate is nuanced by information gathered from old media read by old, more right wing, readers, so the perceived wisdom is that this is what people actually think. When did you ever see a TV newsperson quote Buzzfeed, or Yahoo news, or Huffington for public opinion? Never.
Until the streaming companies abandon getting their playlist ideas from CD releases reviewed by old media, we as a responsible record business, have no choice but to continue to put out great reissues and new stock - at practically zero return.
Streaming numbers are growing all the time. You are correct, it's exciting times. you are correct it's the only way to go and the market has huge room for growth. Sadly, we can't make the jump yet.
All the best
Robin Millar
__________________________________________
Hey Bob,
Love this article and I really agree with it. You might be a couple years too late though. We already move on from the CD. When Apple took the drive out of their laptops, there was some pushback, but it was just romanticism. Everybody soon realized how little they used it. Streaming has been the go-to for years for consumers, even if the music industry has been fighting it the entire time. It's all about what the market decides, and what is best (read most convenient - not necessarily highest quality) for the consumer.
However, you've led your subscribes astray just a little bit. Streaming, for the artist, is not about more money and better payouts. Streaming is about attention - the primary commodity in today's over-saturated market. Why do you think Taylor swift is back on Spotify? The key for musician, in our culture of over saturation with media on all of our platforms, is to stay in front of listeners and keep their attention. When you have someone's attention, and they appreciate your music, they'll check out your tour schedule, maybe buy some merch. And eventually, they key for artists will be to leverage their attention to make real money is business, whether through entrepreneurship (today's rock stars), endorsements, or partnerships. That's where the future is.
Let's talk less about what happened FIVE YEARS AGO in a quickly evolving industry. Instead let's try to figure out how to get ahead of the curve and make money tomorrow.
Alright, end of rant.
Finally though, if you're still reading. This is why I moved from working in the music industry to marketing. I was tired of trying to work in an industry that was constantly trying to fight their consumers and the market to keep old, romanticized ideas of distribution and revenue models that didn't make sense any more. It was nonsensical. In every other industry, the rockstars are the ones who crack the code first and get ahead of the revolutionary changes. I hope the music industry will make it there soon, and I hope to see more people trying to push the music industry forward.
Thanks for all you do and how much you care, Bob.
Sincerely,
Tanner Boriack
Nashville, TN
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