Billboard Rewind:The State Of The Music Biz in 2003
I used to write a column for a magazine my music distribution company sent out to about 10,000 of it's customers. Holy shiite you say, there were 10,000 wholesale music buyers..yup, a lot can happen in 7 years.
So back in '03 I was asked to write something for a magazine that was to be distributed at the CIMS (Coalition Of Independent Music Stores) convention. For whatever reason my indie pep talk was rejected....maybe for my swipe at Best Buy (also a customer of ours). I liked the piece, so I pouted for a minute or so and sent it off to Billboard (the music industry trade mag).
I got a call within a couple of days from the editor saying he wanted to publish the piece, could he use my name and company, etc. I said sure. When I told a mentor of mine, he said, "bad idea..were a publicly traded company and all communication with media needs to be approved." I said, "Oh Shit," and began trying to reach a company VP to try to get permission and the Billboard Editor. I reached neither and the piece was published.
Publicly,I got written up and scolded by my employer for my corporate faux pas, privately though, folks were congratulating me for speaking the truth. I now know it wasn't my place to say this stuff, but seven years later it all seems pretty tame. Anyway, here's how it was in Billboard.
Taking Issue: While On High Alert, Music Biz Can Still Flourish
Is it just me, or are we at Code Orange in the record biz? This state of high alert, where Billboard reads like a collection of obituaries and general grumpiness reigns supreme, is growing a bit tiresome, no? And there are a lot of questions, so let me take a crack at a few of them.
Are we at Code Orange? Yes, we are. But it does not mean that music is dead or dying. The fact that the music business has lost some momentum is not stopping people from going into their garages, basements and bedrooms and dedicating their lives to their instruments and ideas.
What can we, the little guys, do as the majors attempt to make music just a minuscule part of the cultural fabric? We can give the creation of music the respect it deserves. We can share the joy of hearing something that moves us. We can support new artists on records and onstage. We can open up our minds to the incredible diversity of sounds coming from all over the world. We can separate music from movies, videogames and advertising. We can teach children how to play instruments.
Is music just a sales tool to move refrigerators? Some very powerful people seem to think so, while some other very influential people don't seem to have a problem with it, so the real music people have to buckle down and give the customer something more. Like, for instance, personal service, music knowledge and ties to the community.
Are kids under 18 the only audience worth selling to? In the old world, yes; youth should be served. But in the new world, there are still folks over 18 who have a lot of money to spend on music. They come from a time when music was the most intimate, mysterious and moving thing that pop culture had to offer, and they are dying to hear something that moves them again.
Is a record that sells 100,000 copies a failure? If the label spent $500,000 promoting it, it sure is.
I am aware that you have to spend money to make money, but things are getting way out of hand. I think that we need a market correction on the money spending. Some of these bottom-line-conscious majors should stop acting like Bill Gates and let these bands build their audience the old-fashioned way: on the road.
Will the current business model for selling records in stores made of bricks and mortar last? After visiting an iTunes store, I sure hope so. Standing in a room of iMacs, looking at a screen and downloading onto a disc is like going to the dentist's office or being in an airline terminal.
I hope music is a lot more than data. Doesn't the package mean anything? I've learned more about music from reading liner notes and record jackets than I have on any Web site. I've found out tons about my favorite records from talking to human beings on the floor of a record store.
The personal digital age is fine, but there should always be a place where the communal nature of music can flourish. I think an ideal candidate for this is the independent record store. Of course, if people just want to live the life of working, ordering online and sleeping, that is their ebizness.
Is there anything positive going on right now in the music scene? Yes. The rise of Cuban and Brazilian music, underground hip-hop, the bluegrass revival, heavy music (pro- and anti-mullet sectors), the nu-soul movement, funky 45 collecting and compiling, DJ culture-an excellent example of how the Internet does not kill the music industry-all the diverse sounds of Africa and an ever-growing list of music that we never had a chance to hear before we became so "connected" with the rest of the globe.
So, perhaps, it is the best of times and the worst of times in our little ol' biz. Things may be shifting gradually to a world we don't understand and can't even fathom right now, but, if I'm looking for a ray of light in the darkness, I can always go back to the basics. Turn down the lights, shut off the computer, click off the TV, close my eyes and listen. The music always has an answer.
Cody Breuler is a sales and marketing rep for Navarre Entertainment Media in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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Comments (13)
Well said.
There is so much commentary on what is wrong with the biz in general and what needs to be done to fix it. And looking back, everything you said seems quite accurate of the state.
Yes, as a former employee of a major label, it seems as if the big business model was always to generate money by putting a band-aid on the "problem." The funny thing was that from the inside, we always seemed to all be genuine music people who were "all about the music" and all about artistry development but years laters, it seems like there is still problem solving and business model shifting that was talked about back then.
I recently received a letter from Jim Urie (Prez of UMD) about legislating music and clamping down on illegal file sharing more in the US. It's sort of a viral campaign attempt. Write your congressmen, etc. I'm not opposed to it. I haven't signed the petition (musicrights.org). I'm not sure how I feel about it because as you said, music won't go away and it's always shifting. It just shows what seems to me another desperate move from a large music corporation to save their business.
I have absolutely no doubt that folks at majors are and were "music" people..the fact that, ultimately, they were/are made to answer to powers that are/were serving the furthest thing from music has always been a problem.
I guess I was always arguing for a scaling back of expectations back then..of course no one wanted to hear that. I feel the same way with streaming...if the floddgates get opened and everybodys on board with streaming, there is money to be made for everybody...but the rates the providers have to pay per stream need to go way,way down
Your article reminds me of a point I was making in a conversation about the state of music listening. I was saying how I listen to so many different artists that many groups/performers run together in my memory. This is most evident when I venture into a new for me genre.
So I came to a similar conclusion that your article makes in a roundabout way when you say "Some of these bottom-line-conscious majors should stop acting like Bill Gates and let these bands build their audience the old-fashioned way: on the road."
That is that concerts are the new CD/tape/album, that visceral experience that I once had in tearing open a CD or tape is gone when I just download an MP3. I remember everyone I have seen live and I know their style even if I can not name a track of theirs.So for me live shows have replaced that excitement for me.
On a side note: Artist need to step up their game when it comes to putting together a CD's book. Track listings with credits for writers, samples, and guest just won't cut it anymore. Acts need to give more information about themselves, the recording process for the given album, or something that rewards purchasing it. Otherwise I can not blame people who choose to download albums legally or otherwise.
Absolutely (re: streaming).
An argument I heard all of the time was that the music industry addressed the woes a little too late. But they were still riding the Eminem, N'sync, Backstreet Boys selling 1 million + units wave in the early 2000's to care.
@Nate-although I haven't been able to make that particular jump yet..with the 8 year old at home, its a little harder to make the scene..I totally get what you are saying. You have to make the thing you are selling worthwhile...On my end, quality reissues, with essays, rare photos + video are a must. For the most part, I just want to hear the music, but if you can offerme something else I can't get on the internets..I want it.
@E-It just seems like a defensive,reactionary strategy..but what the heck do I know.
Thank you NATE D because I stopped buying CDs seeing that I don't get all the information I want which is detailed liner notes with credits, thank you, lyrics, etc etc. I stream everything and I love how I can stream here on MOG. Now, I really only use MOG.com and pandora radio to listen to music. I do buy some albums to support those artists I really love but I prefer putting that money into a live show.
Thank you for sharing, Cody! Extremely honest, sincere and informative to little people like me who can see through the corporate BS! And your article is tame!! xo
It was great to learn about music hanging on your local record store and socialise with peeps in & out the counter and I really miss those days where information came in drops & we had enough time to digest it. I guess today most of those guys we met must write about music on their own blog and proly buy their music online (just as we do).
I suspect the money the Majors have lost because of people downloading (legally/illegally) music is only a fraction of the money we spend on a proper internet connection, blank discs, external HDs, ... So as I see it, the money spent on music/video has only changed hands and the business is better than ever. My two cents.
I'm no music industry insider but I like all the thoughts above. I just think the business side got a little too big. Maybe this is all just a correction in the music industry. I still like buying CDs. I like that they come with their own storage. Cover art and art on the CD still mean something to me and I like when there are added feature in the packaging (e.g. liner notes etc.).
Streaming to me is the next radio not the next way to collect music. Probably there are many more listeners of music than there are people who wish to collect music and it's probably good for the music market to reflect this reality.
CD stores are becoming harder to find. I often find myself buying CDs at bookstores these days but bookstores' days may be counted as well. I do not like buying downloadable music and almost all of my purchases on iTunes are for TV series or apps.
I will likely no longer have the option to buy CDs in the near future. I just hope they continue to make the players. I have a turntable and tapedeck that are 20 years old but CD players don't last that long.
I am happy to pay for music that I enjoy. The cost per hour of enjoyment is the best bargain going in the entertainment industry. Still it needs to be a product that I enjoy and not just rammed down my throat with marketing and placement.
Cody, I agree with your overall statement of focusing on smaller acts and a slower building of popularity. It is probably good for the product that the industry will have no choice but to go in this direction in the future.
Sorry if I rambled.
It is best to meet a ramble with a ramble, well said everybody. I think the muppet hit the part about the amount of money out there being the same..it's just the distribution of it is more spread out.
I don't necessarily like the idea of every artist as a free agent though..responsible for making, market, and selling their stuff. I think that task is daunting for some folks. Others are great at it (maybe too great). I just hope there is someone to help the less business inclined get their stuff out to the world.
@codyB I agree with you about the artist as a free agent. It's so hard. But that's where social media can step in and help a music artist.
Out of a labor of love and I mean seriously a labor of love, there are a few artists who I give publicity to on my blogs.
In return some have embraced me and even have given me the opportunity to see their shows live which has been a surprise to me. Also they have given me some of their music for FREE. I was shocked by that too.
I know they don't have all the money in the world to put me on their payroll [the independent ones] which I don't expect but that kind gesture has endeared them to me even more. However, I know my limits so I blog about them when I *feel* it than being obligated to do it. [I did though have some people from major labels contact me. I was shocked by that!]
Recently one of the artists wants to hire me to do some work for them in what I'm trained in. I never expected that.
You never know what God has destined for you!
Thanks for sharing!
I'd be curious to see the article you would write in 2010, especially your thoughts on streaming versus owning. I love owning a tangible item such as a CD or vinyl. I love the way they look on my bookshelf, and I love when friends stop by and they can browse my collection. I love putting a record on the turntable and hearing that hiss and pop before the first chord kicks in. But the cost of ownership has its limits. What I can stream in a day I would not purchase in a year. As a voracious listener, the ability to stream as much as I want is a wet dream.
I feel like the music industry has embraced a cost effective model, or if not embraced it, the industry is at least lumbering towards it, by opening its collection to the "cloud" (I hate that term, cloud, but it works). And it's about time, because, honestly, I want to purchase my music legitatemly, whether at the local record store, through amazon. through a streaming service like Mog. I know I how easy it is to find just about any record you want using Google, but I feel a whole lot better knowing that somewhere downstream the artist who created the product gets some dough for it.
I guess the whole definition of ownership of music (and movies and books, too) will be redefined. Do I own the music I listen to? Am I leasing it? Is the song the product, or is the delivery system the product?
Hah, I'm more of an observer/ listener now..from what i hear streaming is (at this point) not a viable option..especially for on demand streaming, like MOG. I guess Pandora almost works (when you can't choose exactly what you listen to the rates are lower), but the rates are just too high for what we need..the abilty to listen to anything,anytime, anywhere.
I guess the only thing that is for sure, is that as we go forward lots of trading of fractions of pennies is how people are gonna make money.
Maybe, when more people get involved with streaming and more and more is digitized it'll be a no brainer to lower the rates.
I also think what Serenity sez about the valure of social networks can be tapped..ie, if I get you to stream off my page I might get a little cut (I'm talking fractions of a penny here).
My hope is that every song goes into the cloud and people are convinced that the cloud is the way and jump at the opportunity to be able to access all of it...Certainly won't have to worry about file sharing then..
nice article and back story. much to consider as a listener.