August 23, 2012

THE DIGITAL CROSSROADS




BRINGING IN THE NEW

Here is a sample from Chapter 7 of my new book coming out soon, The Ugly Truth of the Music Business / Survivors Guide.  We will be touching on all things digital relating to our business.

The Digital Crossroads is here.  We are crossing a bridge into a new and exciting era of opportunities in the music industry.  This is a world where everything is happening at breakneck speeds, a world where yesterday’s news was this morning, and an environment where understanding technology is not an option but a requirement.  

The digital bridge is the connector to your future.  In the past you’re connecting sinews such as mega marketing dollars, the good old boys network; including record labels, publishers, radio, distributors, etc.  Today the bridge to your future is the World Wide Web and all it compasses.

TRANSFORMATIONAL INNOVATION - That's a cool tag.  What does it mean?  "Relating to or involving transformation or transformations."  Ok then!  Did you get that?  How about innovation?  a new method, idea, product, etc... While these definitions are clear, precise, and simple, TRANSFORMATIONAL INNOVATION is probably the most difficult task at hand right now for the music industry.  You have the record labels scrambling to hold on to their piece of the sky, while the Indies are eating their piece of the cake, while the Digital download industry is chewing their cud, and radio is losing ground but holding on.  I know this is a lot of mixed metaphors, I'm just saying.  It's kind of like watching a fish flop around in the bottom of the boat after you just caught him.  What is going on?

I spend a lot of my days doing research and speaking with music industry folk.  I have found there are as many opinions as people as to where the music industry is going.  I will say this.  The industry is transforming and innovation will lead the way.  We're just not sure where yet.  Although, there is some clarity beginning to surface, the future is beginning to look very favorable on the Artist/writer side of the equation.  For that I am very thankful. 

August 9, 2012

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.


August 6, 2012

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!

August 3, 2012

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.

August 1, 2012

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.