On Tue, 18 Feb 2003 19:00:12 -0500 audities-owner@smoe.org writes:
> Blaming MP3s for the demise of the record industry is the biggest
cop-out.
> The industry is broken, Will is just a victim.

You took the words right out of my mouth.  I've been over this with Bud
Owsley a couple of times, and we just can't find any common ground for
agreement.

First, let me say that I do not advocate limitless downloading of music. 
I myself primarily download unreleased and live tracks from my favorite
artists that I can't even buy.  I'd much rather have a CD if it is
available.

That being said, there is NO statistical evidence that downloading music
decreases sales of CDs, let alone other revenue streams.  Sure, if I
download the entire new Christina Aguilera CD (Heaven forfend!), I don't
have to buy it.  But maybe I will love it so much, I will get tickets to
bring all of my friends to see her live, and buy belly shirts and
programs, and then all my friends might buy her back catalog.

In any event, here's my view of why the record business is tanking:

1)  The economy sucks.  People don't have the disposable income they are
accustomed to, so they're not spending money on anything like they used
to.

2)  The music sucks.  It's not a sales problem, it's a product problem. 
The record companies were spoiled by the good economy and accompanying
free spending, so they decided to push new artists and bargain signings
to maximize per unit profit margins instead of sharing more of the pie
with better (and therefore more expensive) artists.  As long as they had
the money to spend, the public was happy to buy whatever they were
hearing on the radio.  Once #1 above kicked in, people decided they no
longer had the money to spend on mediocre music.  In this economy, if you
don't move them, they won't pay.

3)  FCC sucks.  Deregulation blows.  (Like my technical terminology?) 
ClearChannel is a monstrosity.  Too much power.

4)  Bad pricing policies.  Price fixing?  Probably, but even if not, the
damn things are too expensive.  You can buy decent DVDs for less than
CDs, and how many times are you going to sit through a 100 minute movie,
compared to running a CD over and over at work, in the car, etc.

5)  I understand from a major label insider (at the SVP level) that the
upper echelon management positions in the business are largely inhabited
by idiots who have been promoted above their abilities and only occupy
those positions because they have been around longer and have played the
right politics.  No idea whether this is true, but my source is certainly
in a position to know.  This just exacerbates the above.

How to fix:

-Invest more in artist development.  If you've got someone good, pay to
keep them on and support their efforts.  Push their 2nd, 3rd and 4th
records just like the first one, when you paid them next to nothing. 
Develop loyalty to them among the public!

-Reduce prices.  Bring back cheap singles so people can check out a
couple of sides from an artist without spending $18 for a CD.

-Use the internet better.  Send promo MP3s (if not CDs) to internet radio
stations and internet reviewers.

And wait for the economy to turn around.

My US$0.02.

g

P.S.  Why can't Will go indie like all the other power poppers?  Did he
really think he was going to be set for life based on the deal he had? 
Isn't making indie music better than letting it die?








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