... A question asked by so many up and coming artists. The video below spells out the keys to success in less than 5 minutes. Listen carefully and take notes. All courtesy of PM Management .
Managing Musical Artists in the new Digital World from Peter Malkin on Vimeo.
Now that's a mouthful ;-)
According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the definition of Hearing is "to perceive sound with the ear" whereas listening is "to consider with thoughtful attention." So, hearing is a physical thing, but listening is a cognitive response to what has been heard. Hearing is passive and occurs even while we sleep. Listening involves hearing, but also involves two other key elements; paying attention and understanding.
I feel that one of the major problems in music today is that people are no longer listening. I don't mean listening to a song on the radio while dodging traffic in your Audi, but LISTENING. Sitting back and giving an album from your favorite artist the attention it deserves. The "Golden Age" of the music industry was a simpler time. A time when albums mattered and people actually paid for music VS sharing it. In fact, sharing music meant that you cared enough for the music to allow a friend to listen to the record... or moreover that you bought another copy for someone... These concepts seem lost on today's culture.
I don't mean to beat the "piracy is wrong drum" or insinuate that where we are culturally today is a lesser place than in the 70's and 80's but moreover to suggest that perhaps we should reevaluate how we listen to music. Reassess why we listen to music. There is more music being consumed in 2010 than ever before. We are constantly hearing more and more music. It is on our computers, in our cars, streaming on our phones, and literally everywhere around us. Much of which is "free", some of which is paid.. It doesn't really change the experience with this type of content...
To this end, I feel that we as an industry and society have forgotten the beauty in the album. The artwork, the fluid transfer from song to song, the complete package. Much of this is to blame on the industry itself... chasing one-hit wonders and singles over the album... How do you compare something like Dark Side of the Moon, Jay Z's Black album, Wyclef Jean- The Carnival, The Clash- London Calling to Ke$ha, or the Black Eyed Peas? The answer is you don't. You can't. The reason being the artists creating the aforementioned albums were creating albums... creative bodies which contained tracks. Creative bodies which were meant to be heard in one fell swoop. Not $0.99 at a time. Not to pick on Ke$ha (although I do love picking on her) I would venture a guess that despite it's success, "Tik Tok" is greater than the sum of the whole from her freshman release "Animal".  Sure "Money" is a great tune... but it is not greater than the sum of the whole on "Dark Side of the Moon"... These albums were built for listening.  There is something fundamentally wrong with the scenario where flash in the pan success of the single outweighs album stability. I believe this is why we have forgotten how to listen.
I challenge you as you go away from reading this to find an album and truly listen to it. Listen to the transitions from song to song. Print out and read the liner notes. Learn who produced it, where it was recorded, who wrote the lyrics and dive in. This exercise will give you a new insight into the art of the album... and why the sum of the whole is so very important (even if it does cost more than just buying the single).
Currently I am Listening to Vampire Weekend's "Contra"
File this one under too good not to mention. If you don't already read Digital Music News, you should. This is the brainchild of Industry pundit Paul Resnikoff. Established in 2004 (I think) this is one of the places I go for my up-to-date music industry info... Today's post (excerpted below) is just a taste of the daily fodder. Also featured daily is a Job Board for all of those looking for a gig. Overall a pretty great resource and a good excuse to re-post the following:
(1) Terra Firma's acquisition of EMI, $4.7 billion (2007)
Even Guy Hands admits he made a colossal mistake on this one. Â One of the last super-leveraged buyouts before the bust, EMI has now become a $4.7 billion-plus toxic mess for Terra Firma.
(2) CBS' acquisition of Last.fm, $280 million (2007)
Scrobbling is cool and all - and this is still a very cool site - but few would "recommend"Â this deal today. Â Amidst predictable ad monetization challenges, the company has since switched to pay-only in certain European countries, outsourced full-length videos, and bid adieu to the original founders.
(3)Â Bertelsmann's investments in Napster, $100 million (2000-onward)
In retrospect, Bertelsmann was the forward-thinking maverick. Â But in the moment, that stance created a legal sinkhole for the company, accused of facilitating widespread infringement by keeping the P2P alive. Â The in-fighting lasted years before expensive settlements torpedoed Bertelsmann with hundreds of millions in losses.
(4) MP3.com acquisition by Vivendi, $372 million (2001)
Before MySpace was even conceptualized, MP3.com was setting huge records for IPO valuations, label lawsuits, and band profiles. Â Problems quickly followed the inflated purchase, and the site was quickly dumped by Vivendi Universal in 2003.
(5) The Robbie Williams 360-Degree Deal, $160 million (2002)
Williams loves being able to walk the streets of Los Angeles without being recognized. Â EMI, which structured the pricey deal, is somehow less thrilled by that freedom.
(6) The Sony BMG Joint Venture (2004)
The 50-50 JV was like "tying two sinking rocks together," according to one executive, and this seemed like a dead weight from the beginning.  Bertelsmann walked away, and the combination was ultimately purchased by partner Sony Music Entertainment by 2008.
(7) WMG's Investment in Imeem (2009)
"We do not intend to make more digital venture capital investments," WMG chairman Edgar Bronfman told investors after suffering a $16 million write-off on Imeem in 2009.  MySpace subsequently scooped the property for well under $1 million.
(8) WMG's Purchase of Bulldog Entertainment, $16 million (2007)
Bulldog Entertainment Group was best known for coordinating tony concerts in the Hamptons. Â The company eventually cratered with estimated losses of $30 million.
(9) Any Deal Involving PlaysforSure...
This was a mistake that caused endless suffering, for music service (Yahoo Music, MTV Urge, Wal-Mart), player (Sony, SanDisk, Samsung), and consumer alike. Â In fact, even Microsoft bailed on its DRM-heavy solution with the launch of Zune.
(10)Â Best Buy's Exclusive on Chinese Democracy...
Some comebacks are better than others, and Best Buy was left carrying a truckload of Guns N' Roses CDs. Â That did little to kill the big box exclusive, however, as plenty of big-name artists have used the concept to shift serious tonnage.
For the complete article and to see others go here. Also be sure to follow them on Twitter for up to date coverage...
Well, I know I have been a bad bad boy. My blogging as of late has been a bit lack luster and non-existant. If you are still reading. Thank You. I have been in the process of working on my taxes over the past week or so and I had a bit o an epiphany. You see, when you are relegated to staying in the States while all of the talking heads of the music industry are in Cannes at Midem, you will find yourself enjoying the time you have by filling it up with things like tallying your own personal music tab from the past year for the purposes of writing some of it off (I am in the MUSIC business after all).
Point being... the buzz this year is all about Subscriptions. Subscriptions are going to save the music industry. Well- we knew this- that is why we created the Naxos Music Library years ago. Subscriptions are a very important part of our business model. It is good to hear all of this new buzz- But with the likes of Bob Lefsetz, Donald Passman, and other touting how this really could be the paradigm shift gives it a whole new value in my mind. The fact that you cant have a talk about digital music without Spotify coming up tells me that this is a move that is coming sooner than later.
Back to my taxes. I noticed a really interesting fact as I added up my tally from Amazon, , iTunes, eMusic, Classics Online, etc. The really interesting thing is I REALLY did spend more money on subscriptions this year than I did on a la carte purchases. This is a bit freaky to me as I spend a good deal of dough on music. But it is true. eMusic got the lion's share of my money. This could be attributed to a number of things. 1st of all, I use eMusic as a discovery tool and as a catalog builder. I would never set out to buy Starship's Greatest Hits, Gogol Bordello, or Boston, but eMusic facilitated this for me. These are what I consider great catalog fillers. I may not want to put them in queue on my iPod touch, but some time I may wish to hear them again and therefore I bought them... Move over to my iTunes and Amazon purchase patterns. The vast majority of music purchased through these outlets last year were singles. Radio hits. One Hit Wonders... whathaveyou. Call it what you want.. the crazy thing is I spent less on these than I did at eMusic. This tells me that I am either a) wasting too much money on eMusic.. of b) I would rather keep my monthly tab knowing that I can exhaust it on any mundane old albums my heart desires than go looking for those albums to pay for them in real time. I wonder if the rest of the music buying public would agree with this...?
I dont know if this proves any of the great music business thinkers' concepts as this still neglects the difference between my eMusic subscription and a Spotify subscription. But it does make one thing evident. I WILL spend more money on music by the Album than I will by the single and eMusic's model of giving me an allowance each month will continue to feed my album fetish. This is mostly a behavioral thing I suspect- but I still find it incredibly interesting.
Ok- thats all for now- I will try to be a better blogger in 2010.. Thanks
Oh.. and Happy 2010.. here's a video to celebrate.