I felt the atmosphere change at the majority of Record Companies about three years ago. The black clouds were well and truly above them at this point and they’d left their umbrella’s on the tube. Sure there were some perky personnel within who were in denial about the sea change that was inevitably coming. Some were aligning themselves with statistics that (without thinking forward) looked reasonably safe. The value of digital sales as opposed to the value of physical CD sales etc. but these were flawed.

For many years now Corporations across a multitude of Industries have, what they call ‘planned obsolescence’ built into their products. Old phones give way to new (and better) models, Cars, PC’s, Games Consoles etc. In this instance the Record Industry was suffering ‘un’planned obsolescence. They had failed to adapt. Failed to think about the future.

The old ‘throw enough shit at the wall and see if it sticks model’ had turned to diarrhoea and had  began to slide down the walls of their boardrooms.

Then what followed over the next couple of years was a number of big Industry figures blaming everyone but themselves. Most recently, Seymour Stein VP at Warner Music Group and founder of Sire Records as quoted by the Globe and Mail said, “We blew it. The first major music labels were all phonograph manufacturers, but by the time the Beatles came along, most companies were no longer involved in the hardware. Had we remained in control of the hardware, we wouldn’t be hurting as much as we are now. And the iPod would be ours”

I think this quote says everything you need to know about the mentality of Record Companies. They see themselves as blameless. That they are purely victims of circumstances that they had no control over. Quite frankly this is Crap!

Record Companies have exploited artists forever – using them and tossing them away like old tissues. Whilst a few artists may have navigated their way though this vipers pit and held on to some dignity, most did not. But now the power has shifted to the Artist, Managers and few forward thinking Companies, but you need to be equipped to succeed in this brave new world. You can be an employer not an employee, but with this power comes great responsibility. It is now not possible to hide behind someone else’s decisions. You need to step up.

For a refreshing and thought provoking article about the new Industry take five minutes to read this.

If you are an Artist or Manager and want any advise or would like to work directly with a forward thinking Music Company. Click Here or contact me.

Futile of Fertile, it’s in your hands.

Laurence

Tags: Artists, Digital Sales, ipod, Managers, Record Companies, Seymour Stein, Sire Records, Warner Music

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 12:27 pm and is filed under 360, 360 Degree, Artists, Managers, Music Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.