In my last post, I used the following quote from Yahoo Finance to discuss the head in the sand mentality of the record labels.
“Free — and legal — music
Universal Music Group has licensed its digital music catalog to a new Web site offering
free legal downloads. The site — SpiralFrog — plans to make money by
selling ads that will appear as songs download. The deal shows how
desperate record labels are to adjust after fighting online
file-sharing networks that let users swap songs without giving the
industry a penny. Universal — the world’s largest record seller —
will get a payment up front and a cut of SpiralFrog’s ad revenue. Any
arrangement is fine, a Universal executive said, “as long as we get
paid.””
Even though what I said needed to be said, my intention in Part Two is to get personal.
Any Arrangement is Fine
I have no idea whether SpiralFrog is a great site or not – it’s launching in December. It might be the coolest thing since the internet, but I think it’s a horrible move for Universal. And I say that despite the fact that I think it has the right business model – radio meets downloading. The secret to radio (and TV) is that we gladly listen to 15 or 20 minutes of advertising per hour for the chance to listen to music for “free.” SpiralFrog makes the same deal: listen to an ad, and you get “free” music.
The reason i think this is a horrible move for Universal is supported by the last sentence in the story. Here we have an executive from one of the largest companies in the world saying that his company has gotten so desperate that they are willing to sign anything, agree to anything, put their products, support and name behind ANYTHING, as long as they get paid.
Proactive vs. Reactive
Universal, and the entire recording industry, has given up their once dominant control of the business (which of course, is not an entirely bad thing) by making wrong choices when the world around them started to change. They are now in a position of reacting to this world, instead of leading this world. Don’t let this happen to you.
One of the reasons I failed in my music career is that I held onto dreams and ideals despite evidence all around me that the world was changing. For example, I was in college when the first drum machine was developed and I saw every subsequent development of these instruments (the drum sequencers, drum pads, controllers, racks, etc…). I remember being facinated by them and I loved working with them. I even had serial number 55 of the Akai MPC2000, but overall, I resisted this trend. At one point, I actually had the words “Acoustic Drums” on my business cards.
Because of this, I was just like Universal – happy to take any work I could find. And I did work, I just didn’t build a career. Just like the person who doesn’t stand for something so they fall for anything, I had nothing that distinguished me and made me memorable, hireable and desirable in a music business FULL of drummers. Because I had no brand, I became irrelevant (which is happening to Universal too).
As a musician, you bring unique giftings and thinkings to your craft. You also have dreams and ideals about your place in the industry and in the world. As You, Inc., you need to also be aware of the business climate and market in which your business operates and make the right changes at the appropriate times. The process is a delicate balance, put the pay off is worth it.
By knowing exactly what you do, who you are and where you fit in, you’ll set yourself apart from most others immediately. And by telling that story consistently and passionately, people will know who are and call you when they need YOU.
One last thing:
My “Acoustic Drums” idea was actually a good one. That was a clever niche, and I know now it would have worked – probably to this day. The problem was I didn’t tell that story consistently and passionately. I was like Universal: I was simply scrambling to do everything I could think of to survive and missing the opportunities that were right before my eyes.
Don’t let that happen to you.
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