You have to sign artists from more genres and work with them for many years.
This is the only way for major brands to maintain market share.
They just didn’t bet enough. They’re still stuck in the MTV mindset. That said, there are some things that are generally popular and you want to control them.
No, there are more hits than ever, in so many genres, that if you just browse from the top, you’re missing out on the moonshot.
In other words, you have to abandon the data and focus on the music.
And it hasn’t been like this for a long time.
The model is clearly established. Warner/Reenactment of the sixties and seventies. The label itself is majestic. Nothing was thrown at the wall. Every act is signed for a reason, and the record label has supported them for years, often five albums. Have they all broken through? Of course not, but many of them are profitable, and it’s nearly impossible to predict which ones will explode.
Contrary to popular belief, most venture-backed projects never fail. They just don’t come back at 10x, let alone 1000x. 2x and 3x are still winners, but not enough to drive the entire business. It’s the same thing with record labels, you don’t expect everything to be big, but expect most things to not flop.
Venture capital invests in new ideas. They look to the future. They go where no one else has gone. Have a vertical one.
I understand why major companies want hits, because in the age of streaming, those are the paid records. But many of these artists don’t have careers, can’t tour, and can’t last. So you make money again and again…
Never mind the opportunity cost. If you’re investing in the next copycat record, you can’t invest in the great stuff after that.
The biggest music business story of the past few years is Zach Bryan. No one could have predicted that his stadium would sell out so quickly. Bryan sells something different than anyone else, there’s nothing in the Spotify top 50 that sounds like Bryan, so when you hear his music it stands out. Also, like previous Warners/Recasts, Bryan is believable. Wouldn’t Do Anything for a Penny It’s all about the music and the relationship between the fans and the show.
Now, the music industry was booming in the sixties thanks to FM radio. Owners can no longer simulcast on FM what they broadcast on AM. This provides a window into a variety of alternatives, from Cream to Wild Man Fischer.
What has the Internet brought?
Streaming media. Anyone can play.
It’s important to acknowledge this.
The past paradigm was to spend tons of money to get things done because if you did, the cash would rain down. You can’t spend that much now. Additionally, costs have come down. So the script turned to catching lightning in a bottle. Having many writers and mixers is missing the point. This is an old paradigm.
As for streaming itself, it’s rewarding for winners, but the profits are nowhere near what they were in the CD era, when products were expensive and royalties were lower.
In addition, marketing costs have also decreased. You have free access to the public. The old marketing methods had little effect. Print is almost meaningless, and so is television. Terrestrial radio means more, but not nearly as much as it once did, and not only is its attention declining, young, impressionable listeners are no longer listening to it. (To argue with me here is to miss the point, if you defend the past you’re dying, you just don’t know it yet.)
In the past, A&R people found acts of value and invested in making records.
But then the script shifted to the Doug Morris model. Throw everything against the wall and see if it sticks. i.e. listen to it on the radio and see if it sells.
This is also history.
Today, everything develops from the bottom up, just like it did in the late sixties. Word of mouth is everything. The public craves quality products.
But all we got was Sabrina Carpenter.
If I read one more positive review of her new album…
This is a pop from Disney characters. The core audience that sustains this business is simply not interested in her. What you get here is a celebrity who got blown by the machine. Sure, she might be popular, but does anyone believe Sabrina Carpenter? Just brain dead.
There is a business in being brain-dead. But Warner/Reprise rarely invests in this. Because it’s all about timing, knowing when to invest and when to quit in a very short period of time.
Look at it this way…you know any Top 40 performers who sold out shows in the 60s and 70s?
Well, the Eagles don’t have a problem, and they’re not the only one.
Never mind every rocker in the eighties, from Def Leppard to Green Day to Motley Crue.
But what do we get in the Spotify Top 50? brand. The focus is on the outside. No matter where they go or what they sell, music is just a tool to make money. Also, everyone sells out, and once you sell out, you lose credibility. Of course, social media influencers sell out, but that’s another story. Rather than having its own uniqueness, music is trying to be a commodity like everything else, and that’s to its detriment.
Of course, Taylor Swift’s venues were sold out, but that didn’t equate to the British Invasion, the Beatles were followed by the Rolling Stones, The Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dave Clark Five piece band, the list is endless.
In fact, Hannah Gadsby had it right in yesterday’s New York Times. She called Swift “a can of Coke masquerading as a sorority cult.”
Genius and accurate.
But you can’t say anything negative about Swift, then you are a hater.
But come on, is all this hubbub really about Swift’s music?
Swift hasn’t made anything heartfelt since teaming up with Liz Rose on her first two albums. Collaborate with hit producers and sell multiple releases of vinyl to stay at number one? That’s business, not art.
Money aside…does anyone who had their roots in this industry in the sixties, seventies or eighties care?
No.
Not to mention that even Swift found success in different eras. Without the success of country music, pop music would not be successful either.
That’s not to knock Swift’s performance, but to illustrate how vast the market is and how much opportunity there is elsewhere.
We don’t even have a reasonable Swift imitator because it’s a dead end. There is no movement here. But she dominates all the news.
Yes, she wrote a song about me after I wrote that her appearance at the Grammys would ruin her career. But I was wrong. I play by the old rules, the new rules are your loyal fans will keep you alive no matter what, as long as you serve them. But how many are true fans? How many people can sing two Swift songs? Phishing sells out arenas, and they’re far from ubiquitous.
The entire business needs to be rethought. But the three heads of major labels are out of touch. At Universal and Sony, our employees are stuck in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s all about the global hits. But this is no longer a game. As for Warner…you have a guy who knows nothing about music, who knows nothing about music.
Math in music comes after success, not before. You can count streams, but if you only care about the data coming in, you don’t care about the music.
For independent developers, opportunities are everywhere. Now it’s time to make the music you want that doesn’t belong in Spotify’s top 50. The public craves the new, the different and the credible.
For example, you only have to look at the movie industry. The movie business has been hit hard by a cautious approach to curtailing releases of certain genres. You don’t encounter “squid games” in the film industry. You’ll see this in streaming, as Netflix realizes that we all have different tastes.
I mean, who wants to listen to the Spotify Top 50?
Ten years and twenty scenes. Who wants to take a chance? No one!
But that’s how it used to be, and that’s what makes this business the juggernaut it is. But instead, major majors are wearing blinders.
There will be changes. We cannot allow old genres to continue to dominate.
Also, no one with a brain wants to be a musician, the chances are slim and the pay isn’t great. There are many jobs you can do in banks to make more money. So we don’t get the best and the brightest.
But if we show the power of music… everyone wants power. Influence culture. In the past, behavior was more important than politicians, but now that’s all. But they can be that way again.
All bets are off. We are open to everyone. My girlfriend said she was going to buy a meatball at Whole Foods today. She was referring to the “Singer/Zaret” song that Ry Cooder covered on his first album. This is culture. I know this song by heart. It took Ray Cooder years to achieve his breakthrough. But he still has his own career. The smell of yesterday? history!
PS Hannah Gadsby was about to give up, then she threw the long ball and did a special that included art history and people weren’t even sure it was comedy and now she’s a cultural icon. Instead of boasting, she expressed anxiety about her career. And use disposable toys to talk about ecology. This is something that major companies used to sell, but no longer.
“‘Hannah Gatsby: Woof’ review: Comedy’s pet theme – the Australian stand-up comic once again dives into fear, anxiety and mental health concerns in a naked new show at the Edinburgh Fringe.”
Free link: https://rb.gy/yyrj6q
