Besides the fun found in the industry chasing profits through Radioheads new album, there are a lot of discussions that makes it all add up.
There is always the cream of the crop, which pop up more often than in the past. More has happened this year, than in the whole new millemium. This serves us all well. Be it new technology, iBeat itself or some corny idiot making no sense at all, but making us giggle.
If you want more than a giggle – perhaps a full blown laugh – then reading a New York Magazine article/interview/commentary with Universal Music CEO Doug Morris, is straight up your alley.
Don’t miss explanations like this:
“There’s no one in the record industry that’s a technologist,” […] It’s like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney.”
That’s a keeper. Who the fuck hired a bitter old man – and as CEO? He apparently got the gig in 95 … perhaps, just perhaps, it’s about time to leave? He adds he didn’t know were to ask … or was it, that someone just didn’t care.
All this just sums up, what everybody knows. Change is a coming.
Over at Hypebot, they’ve started a FUN discussion on future label models. It’s broken down into the following categories:
Music Is Free, Name The Price, D.I.Y., Label As Partner, Ad Supported Releases, Ad Supported Labels, 360 Deals and The New Old Labels.
Interesting discussion, even though the scope is completely off. One central part, that will dictate how the business will evolve, is the licensing and proprietary rights questions and battles being fought now. If the labels can lock down rights in black and white boxes, they might have a chance to simply keep going.
Another thing. Music and digital distribution is becoming increasingly complex. The truth lies in all of the above, and adding subscriptions (for instance over cable providers).
But most important, is what the artists themselves want to do. Defining what the fuck music is about. Do we want a barely legal semi-tonedeath blond with fake tits performing – others material. Or do we want to be taken seriously?
Well, perhaps the industry isn’t that funny after all. But that guy Doug Morris sure does crack one up.
Discuss this – there are many threads touching upon this.