WHERE DID THE MUSIC INDUSTRY GO WRONG

Here is an unedited excerpt from chapter 6 of my new book coming out soon. Read it - think about it- answer the question at the end. I would love to hear your thoughts.

STRUCTURE OF AN INTERDEPENDENT LABEL

STRUCTURE –

1.   Something built or erected

2.   System of parts

3.   Way that parts link or function

4.   Part of an organism 

Something built or erected:

As we begin to build an interdependent label we must first get rid of the idea, that the old way of thinking, that everything must be our idea, and ours alone, is void.  We need to switch to a Collaborative Building Ethic.

Collaborative Building Ethic – This is a process characterized by building on your ideas, along with other ideas, one idea sparking another, increasing the strength of the foundation of your original idea, thus the beginning of building a stronger and richer foundation.

   System of parts:

What if you purchased a new car with all the cool options available, but the one option you didn’t get was the transmission?  You could sit there, blast your state of the art audio system, watch a DVD, accelerate the engine, recline in your luxury seats and chill.  The only problem is, without a transmission you would not be able to go anywhere.  In other words you must have all of the parts for your machine to function properly.

Way that parts link or function:

OK, lets say you now have all the parts for our brand new fancy car.  We got a brand new transmission and we’re ready to go. So, you reach down into your pocket, pull out the keys, and stick them into the gas tank.  You’re shocked, what happened? This is a brand new car, and you scream in total shock, why want it start?  You’re immediately enraged and your ready to take it back to the dealer and give him a piece of your mind.  It’s the same thing in the music business.  You must understand how all the parts work together in order to understand the sum of the part you play.  You don’t have to be an expert in every area, but you must have a general understanding of all the pieces.  Do your homework.

Part of an organism – system of interdependent parts:

It is key that you understand how being a part of a living organism applies to being a part of the music world.  If you cut your heart out you will surely die.  If you severed your legs you could not walk.  Need I go on?  The biggest misnomer I have witnessed in this industry is how so many people have severed themselves from the body in the name of success.  How did we become so blind in an industry that claims to be based on creativity passion and love?  I will leave this up to you to answer.

WHY INDEPENDENT LABELS ARE OLD SCHOOL/ INDEPENDENT VERSES INTERDEPENDENT

The talk on the street is, this is the day of the independent record label.  I say that has got to change too.  The paradigm of independent labels has to change, or we will be working from an old model that was created out of a necessity that was driven by the Major Record labels of the past.  The old model was one of greed, win/ lose and a parasitical profit structure paid for and sponsored by the creative community.  It's time to start anew with an interdependent attitude and a rally for change.  It's not going to be easy, or fast, however, we can do it together.

I spent many years in the music business in Nashville and I can tell you with certainty it was dog eat dog.  Everyone was suspicious of everyone one else and living in an atmosphere of fear.  The mentality was one of lack not abundance.  We believe there is plenty for everyone and if we live that together there will be even more to go around and shared.  I personally can't live in the old way of doing things mentality anymore.

So where does it start?  It starts with you and everyone around you.  We are working on a new model of doing business, and creating an interdependent environment working structure.  There is not enough time to share all we're doing in this blog.  My objective for now is to plant a seed in hope that you will ponder this idea and begin to apply it in your new way of thinking, and share it with the community.

INTERDEPENDENT -- interdependent |ˌintərdiˈpendənt|adjective(of two or more people or things) dependent on each other : the increasingly global nature of human society, with interdependent economies.

REMEMBER THIS IS AN ACTION VERB

PUT IT INTO ACTION AND WATCH IT GROW!

Is this really true... Take a break you deserve it.

It's Friday yeah!     Lighten up!  Chill out!!!! Don't take yourself so serious

A group of 15-year old guys discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Dairy Queen next to the Ocean View restaurant because they only had $6.00 between them and Jannie Johnson, that cute girl in Social Studies, lives on that street and they might see her and they can ride their bikes there.

Ten years later, the group of 25-year-old guys discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the beer was cheap, they had free snacks, the band was good, there was no cover and there were lots of cute girls.

Ten years later, at 35 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the booze was good, it was right near the gym and if they went late enough, there wouldn’t be too many whiny little kids.

Ten years later, at 45 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the martinis were big, and the waitresses had nice boobs and wore tight pants.

Ten years later, at 55 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the prices were reasonable, the wine list was good and fish is good for your cholesterol.

Ten years later, at 65 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the lighting was good and they have an early bird special.

Ten years later, at 75 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because the food was not too spicy, and the restaurant was handicapped accessible.

Ten years later, at 85 years of age, the group once again discussed where they should meet for dinner. It was agreed they should meet at the Ocean View restaurant because they had never been there before.

HOW DO WE TAKE BACK THE MUSIC BUSINESS

Here is an excerpt from my new book coming out soon:

One of the most frequently recurring questions is, are the major record labels going away, probably not.  Ask yourself these questions; should the majors go away, will they be of value in the future, should they continue to have the power they have always had, is there a way for us to all exist in the same space in a benefit to benefit Co – existence?

 There are lots of newbies as well as old-bies who would say, get the gallows ready, and hang them all.  Let’s take a look at that way of thinking through our new glasses.  A world of no competition would be called a monopoly. Monopolies breed greed, greed breeds bondage, bondage robs you of your freedom, while lack of freedom steals your creativity.  Do you see where I’m going with this?  The labels had their day and a grand old day it was.  From a nostalgic kind of hate love romance point of view, I hope to see them around for a long time.  They are going through a change that is propagated by demand, a forced recovery from bad habits.  They will have to change, or they will truly go the way of the dinosaur.  The new paradigm for this industry must be: the pie is big enough for us all.  If we could all rally around the idea, the design, that if the music business would work together to serve the art of music, it’s artist, as well as the fans, then the pie would be bigger and sweeter for all of us.  Have you heard the acronym for EGO – EDGING GOD OUT? Here’s a new one for you ECO – EDGING CENTER OUT. ECO/ ECOLOGY – The natural balance of the music business has become contaminated with the unnatural balance from the EGO system, and has evolved into an egocentric, selfish, self-centered driven industry.

The questions we need to ask here are, how do we put the ART back into Art, take the EGO out of ECO and balance things out?  While this altruistic view reeks of idealism, there is plenty of room for improvement, and a definite need to bring things back to the center.  We do that simply by beginning with one person at a time.  There are no theories needed here, you can put Darwin back to sleep.

Music partner Co-alignments needed/mobile websites

AMP is in the process of migrating all its services to a massive association membership platform.  Due to the size of this undertaking we are going to be looking for partners to join with us in this new and exciting premier professional association.

If you have an interest being apart of a progressive organization hit us back. This is not an employment opportunity.  We are looking for professional Co -- Alignments.

One of our service offerings is mobile websites. For a very limited time, and limited amount of people we are going to offer a basic mobile website for the price of $ 150 dollars.  This is an unprecedented offering.  Get yours while they last.  To see an example of our work at AMP, go to Riley Music, on your phone.  Riley is an Artist on Elton John's Rocket Music label.  Whether you desire a site or not you need to check this incredible talent out.  Hit me back at gradyshuman@gmail.com

This is an edit from earlier.  Just to be clear.  We absolutely are not looking for money.  We are looking for Organizations, Companies, individuals that may have educational or products that we can Co-- align with.  Those with an interest in serving the music community as a whole.  Thanks and sorry for any confusion.

1. Google has a separate index for mobile content.

Not only do they have a separate index for mobile content, but also it is fairly empty. Your site will pop up at the top of the heap.

2. Your regular website is not going to cut it.

There is a fundamental design difference between a regular website and a mobile website.

On a mobile phone, there is a very limited amount of screen space. If you have ever had to side scroll to view something on a website, you realize how much of an inconvenience it is. This is magnified on a mobile device. Even with the ability to turn the device lengthwise, the resolution is still extremely small.

You need to make it as convenient for your searchers as possible.

T3. 1/5 of Americans access the mobile web each day.

This percentage is increasing every year. If you’re not representing yourself on the mobile web, your competition surely will take up the opportunity.

4. Mobile web will overtake the desktop within 5 years.

Not only will the mobile web inevitably overtake the desktop, but also usage and adoption is growing at a much faster rate than the desktop did. An article in the New york Times quoted that 76% of searchers will be using a mobile device within the next 5 years

In the future, the vast majority of visitors to your website will be on a mobile device.

5. $1.6 billion purchased from mobile devices in 2009.

This is likely the most exciting and sought after information about the mobile web. If millions of people are using the mobile web, but they are not buying anything, most commercial websites would not bother establishing a mobile presence.

As you can see, purchasing from mobile devices is already in the billions.

Studies show that buyers do not have as much confidence in purchasing from a mobile device as they do from their PCs, but both comfort levels and the amount being spent is increasing.

Users went through the same hesitation when the Internet was just becoming popular, and now most people do not hesitate when buying something online from their PC.

You can rest assure that the same thing will happen with the mobile web.

6. 93% of U.S. adults own a cell phone.

Not all cell phones have Internet access capabilities, but that is currently the trend. Smart phones are not the only ones with access to the web. Standard phones are coming out with Qwerty keywords and website browsers seemingly every single month.

It is safe to say that in the near future, all phones will have some form of online access, whether it is being used or not.

7. 5% of the top 500 online retailers have a mobile website/iPhone app.

I was rather surprised by how low this number is. But then again, this means great things for the rest of us who are not in the top 500 online retailers.

I am willing to bet that one of the biggest reasons that you’re not ranking as high as you would like is because your competitors are doing a better job than you are in some shape or form.

Which means that if you’re reading this, chances are fairly high that you are already a step ahead of your competition.

8. Mobile advertising spending will surpass $6.5 billion in 2012.

Ad spend is a great indicator for the current status of an industry. If someone is willing to spend their hard earned money putting their products in front of users on the mobile web, you can assume there is a pretty good reason for it.

Furthermore, if they continue to spend more year after year, that indicates that the previous years investment paid off. And that is exactly how mobile advertising is trending across the board.

9. Users average 13 hours online per week, up from 7 in 2002.

As online usage increases regardless of the device used, accessibility is going to be the next lever to increase online usage.

A desktop or laptop used to be the only way to access the Internet, but now with Internet enabled mobile phones the Internet has truly become mobile. It is now simply a matter of service availability from your mobile phone network provider such as AT&T and Verizon.

10. There are an estimated 2 billion cell phones worldwide.

Not only are there a lot of cell phones worldwide, but they seem to outlast their owners and are passed down to another owner. There are great recycling and refurbishing programs that use old cell phones as emergency dialers or resell them at discounted rates.

As you can see, the mobile web is clearly trending up and has a lot of room to grow. If the mobile web were a stock, now would be the time to buy. It is the closest thing to a sure bet as you can get.