May 3, 2010 On My Mind: The State of the Music Business
I finally got around to reading John Mellencamp’s post of the same title (above) on The Huffington Post. After 618 comments, John’s post was closed to further comments, so I am leaving my comments below.
When well-known artists (or their managers) pen something, I usually find a bit of a rant, some tired history, minimal solutions, a big audience, lots of fan comments, and very little substance. This post did not surprise me. However, there are a couple of things I want to selectively respond to:
John Mellencamp Quote One
“I’ve always found it amusing that a few people who have never made a record or written a song seem to know so much more about what an artist should be doing than the artist himself. If these pundits know so much, I’d suggest that (they) make their own records and just leave us out of it.”
My response is as follows…
My feelings are hurt. As I don’t write songs or make records, I find this statement to be rather shortsighted. In the real world, pilots don’t build planes; cooks usually don’t kill or grow food; carpenters typically don’t fashion trees into boards; and history has shown that some of the most effective industry leaders don’t come from the industries they lead.
If you remove the word “records” and substitute any product or service that relies on an expansive and symbiotic ecosystem (as this industry does), you can see the absurdity of telling everyone else to pick up their toys and go home.
John Mellencamp Quote Two
“I once suggested to Don Henley, many years ago after I had left Polygram, that we should form an artist-driven record label, much like Charlie Chaplin did with the movies when he, more than 90 years ago, joined forces with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks to form United Artists. Don’s response was correct. He said that trying to get artists and business people together to work for the common good of everyone involved is akin to herding cats.”
My response is as follows…
John, it’s 2010. Your first instinct was correct. Why did you let Don Henley convince you otherwise? If record labels can repeatedly convince artists to sign deals they end up hating, why wouldn’t it make sense to form an artist-owned consortium that provides superior services; it’s NEVER been easier to bypass traditional media channels and longtime relationships to get things done; especially when you have the clout of nine or ten mega artists behind you? This takes leadership. It’s kind of denigrating to all artists to suggest that none of you has the capacity to get the job done, and that the rest of you are as confused as cats.
My final response…
It’s really time for established artists to stop living in the past and complaining about the future. You have such the power to make a difference. If you don’t know what to do, consider asking someone that has never “made a record or written a song”. I suspect this is where you will find the answers the rest of us are waiting for.
Reader Comments (25)
Thanks for telling it like it is Bruce! IMHO, these established artists are used to getting all the hard work done for them. It will take a bit of "outside the box" thinking from "outside the industry" folks to come up with solutions. If good 'ol Johnny Mel Cougar Camp doesn't understand that, so be it, make way for the new breed of DIY artist/entrepreneuers. A bright new industry awaits them! count me in.
Could not agree more with your response to his first comment. Well said. It always aggravates me when artists use this argument to dismiss poor reviews they get. "And how many records has this guy made?"
If anything, being a musician makes you LESS qualified to objectively judge music, not more (with the caveat that musicians are better at describing what exactly it is that they do and don't like about a piece of music).
I haven't read JM's post, but I will. And I'm sure, like you, I won't be surprised by the idiocy of it. I once saw JM on MTV Unplugged, and unless he was singing, he was just unbelievably boring and smug.
What is a "Mega Artist" anyway ?. Do you mean someone like Bach or Joyce..?
Bruce, I'm spoilt for choice - there are so many dumb-ass things in the article and, yes, it does come over smug and self righteous. But he makes an interesting point about USA radio. I don't agree completely because I think things are slowly changing, as American radio stations experiment with more listener led programming via the net. But the change to a more homogenized, UK style radio style can't have been for the good.
I don't often read about the immense power of radio (and TV) on my trawls through the internet sites of future music people. It's almost as if the new electric train drivers don't want to even look at a steam train. But we're a long way from the internet being the majority medium, still. Even if JCM doesn't mention the 'indies' of yesteryear, the payola, the outright gangsterism of the old American radio system, he does touch on a fundamental truth: where once, a regional hit, powered by listener requests, could become a bona fide huge selling national hit, nowadays it's very unlikely without an expensive marketing campaign, meaning the choice for listeners is dramatically reduced, which means the hit is less 'democratic'.
The main issue you seem to have with our lusty rock and roller, though, Bruce, seems to be his insistence on specialisms. And, actually, again, I tend to agree with Johnny, even if he does rate Garth 'Darth' Brooks. It's only very recently that I've realised how much (I agree). Compared to artists, there just aren't enough managers, business heads, and I wish there were more, because it's a skill all by itself. To some, keeping an eye on overheads, marketing, the bottom line, tax status, publishing sub-deals, clearance, synch rights, etc etc might come easily. With help, a Mick Jagger (famously) can keep control of even a vast operation. But to others, the first thought is to the lyrics, the riff, the sound (and, OK, what to wear...) and their involvement in, even working out the petrol percentage against the door take can be disastrous! I don't believe in a strict delineation, but I do think too much is expected of artists by some.
What's missing is the new industry, a new generation of net savvy people who will work with musicians, not more heads for the already hydra-headed musos to wear.
And in a shameless plug, let me mention my interview with Matthew Young, of Song, By Toad, a kind of amateur business head and music lover, who very much represents the kind of new industry I would hope to see grow: www.timothylondon.tumblr.com
Bruce, I think you are both right and wrong on the points you’ve made. While artists need to embrace the new music business they also need to hold on to aspects of the old business as well. Artists are told not only what to do with their career but also what to do with their music and how to play their music, many times by people who don't know much about actual music.
Agreed, Pilots don't build aircrafts, they fly the plane. They leave the building of the aircraft to engineers and mechanics. A musician/artist is like the engineer building the plane. If a pilot makes a suggestion about how to build the plane the engineer may take it into consideration but that doesn't mean the pilot knows what he's talking about. Absolutely leave the flying to the pilot because that's what they're good at, right? Metaphorically speaking, the problem is many pilots in the last ten years have flown quite a few well built airplanes into the side of a mountain. At the same time though there have been many flights that made it safely to their destination. So it’s a give and take relationship where sometimes you have to stand your ground and sometimes you have to be open to trying new, sometimes unorthodox techniques. One thing is for sure; you wouldn’t tell an engineer to give a plane away for free in hopes that that customer might come back and buy more planes. But like I said, sometimes it’s a little unorthodox at first.
As an artist and someone who has been both schooled in and lived the music business I can attest that it is extremely frustrating to be lectured on what to play, how to play, when to play, and how to do everything business wise by someone you just heard pumping Gwen Stefani’s record. I had an A&R rep at Capitol tell my first band that one of our songs was way too long, wasn’t catchy enough, and didn’t get to the chorus quick enough. Three days later not only did we play that song to a sold out crowd of our fans, but a sold out crowd who sang every word of that song that was too long, not catchy enough, and took too long to get to the chorus. Good thing that guy wasn’t flying our airplane!
So I guess my main point is, sit on the other side of the desk before you start bad mouthing the person across from you. That same point goes to John because you’ve said some excellent things as well as I’m sure many business savvy people have also told him before. But once you’ve been burned, you’ve been burned. That’s what I think John’s main problem is with everything.
If everyone is so hell bent on artists taking control of their own careers and learning about the business side of the music industry I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask our business partners in the music business to learn a little bit about the music. After all, in sales, product knowledge is everything ;-).
I do think John Mellencamp is right. If you want to have some kind of weight behind the words, actions speak more than opinions.
Tim, Kris, Good points. Thanks.
Kent, Actions speak more than opinions. You got that part correct for sure. Cheers.
I didn't read the Huffington Post and I'm not going to.
Going by what you pointed out about John Mellencamp Quote One.
This has nothing to do with food or planes or even music for that matter.
It's about Ideology.
And he's right.
Greg, Can you be more specific /clarify your comment a bit?
People are always saying things should be this way or it should be that way.
Who's right, who's wrong and who gets to decide ?
It's up to the individual.
Here's an article that puts the JCM piece in perspective and emphasises the importance of steam driven media: http://www.current.org/audience/aud1007web-bcast.shtml
May I nitpick a bit? Please, please.
These days engineers build planes someone else will fly, because we know pretty much all that goes into building a plane. In fact, the amount of specialist knowledge that goes into building a modern aircraft is such that no one person can grasp it all.
The fundamental issue, though, is that building planes is a mature field. You can study it in college. Think back to the beginnings, however. When those bright Wright lads built Flyer I, it was Wilbur who sat down at the controls. The story holds true for all of the early developments in aviation.
The rationale of it is simple: if there's a significant chance your speculative contraption is going to crash and burn, you've no moral right to send some other hapless sucker to try it.
It's no secret that I think a lot of people who have "wonderful ideas" about the future of the music business would perhaps be more reserved if they weren't playing around with someone else's money and career (namely, that of the artist). The new music business isn't the mature aviation industry of today. It's in the Wright brothers stage at the moment.
Just to cap of the metaphors, if you're planning to cook something that's not been cooked before, you'd better be the one to taste it first (especially if you aren't sure it's edible).
Besides, Don has a point - artists and businesspeople tend to work at cross-purposes, if only because most artists aren't particularly business-minded. The artist wants to make art, the businessman wants to make a profit. The two don't coincide as often as we'd like. Add to it the fact that it's now possible to build an artist-oriented business without ever working with the artist (witness YouTube), there's even less reason for the two to work together.
Finally, I'm sure that artists would flock to folks who'd never made a record for advice if such folks could actually provide some measurable results. As it is, if most of the advice doesn't even stand to a cursory examination on a purely theoretical level, I'd be damned before I put any of my money behind it.
Ceterum censo: regardless of all the problems with record labels, they have way more to show for than anything that's come from outside the record biz. In terms of having a career, the label appears to still be the best bet. At least you know that they'll be coming forward with money, as opposed to empty words and promises of a golden tomorrow.
Ah my old friend Krzysztof,
Eloquently stated from a man that would prefer to bomb the earth back to vinyl records. Don't you have a blog? Oh that's right, cynicism attracts a rather small and fearful audience.
Sticking with the aviation analogy here... If you had just invented the first jet engine, you certainly would not attempt to fly just the engine. Rather you would seek out a plane manufacturer that had already obtained liftoff to give it a whirl. Or stated backwards, if you made propeller planes, you would undoubtedly consult with a jet engine maker prior to bolting one on.
Krzysztof, I want you to disprove the following statement with a reliable fact: Historically speaking, there are more artists now, cumulative from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90, 00s happily making more money, and performing in more rooms, and selling more stuff (recorded music not withstanding) - than any other 50-year period in the history of the earth.
As I have often invited you to do so. If you have a single idea, vision or solution (even your get a record deal solution), you can post it here and we will all openly debate it. Or you can continue to offer your dire predictions and criticisms where the cynical musicians congregate. I challenge you to just give us one post that outlines your vision and advice.
Let me know when you are in the Boston area next time so we can meet for a beer.
Greg - agreed.
Tim - thanks for the link. Excellent article and timely for the post I have been writing.
@Kris, your points were superb, coherent, and they really helped me further understand and develop my opinion on this matter. Thank you for that.
I agree, as with many other relationships that exist in many other industries, it is one of "give and take." And I think a great way to mesh the business and creative aspects of the music industry is by trying unorthodox methods, like giving your music away for free. Things like this are fun and risky for both parties, and can help to strengthen the relationship between business and creative. If you do business creatively, it can appeal to the artist and seem less like business, and more like part of their artwork. Not an easy task by any means, but almost always interesting.
hey guys, let's crash this mess of a plane-pilot metaphor.
I can understand where Mellancamp is coming from. Why trust someone with no track record?
With that said, no one is really an expert on the future of music at this point. The "old way" is dead and all anyone can do is experiment and see what works.
The old way is dead. Then who has a track record? Nobody really - unless you look at success at doing things that are related to where you might want to go?
"A musician/artist is like the engineer building the plane."
In John Cougar Mellencamp's case, that's not even remotely true. Like a lot of huge artists from his era, he only wrote songs: his career was designed by a mad genius from New York named Howard Bloom. The fact so few people are aware of his work is proof of his talent for transparent, behind the scenes hard work.
For any major label artist, with a staff of hundreds working on their branding, image and publicity for decades, to now claim they're "Experts" on anything but writing/playing songs is just a joke.
Not even bullshit: just a joke. Bullshit at least sounds credible at first.
It's a good point Justin, but artists do get to see the workings of their business from plugger to pressing to make up to boardroom and they, at least if they keep their eyes and ears open, are the only ones who know the whole story. They might not be able to manage in the same way but they can certainly observe.
Admittedly, not many bother.
The argument, unfortunately, doesn't work in reverse. It's only the very unusual likes of Feargal Sharkey who holds an influential position on the business side (head of trade body UK Music) and will know the raw materials of the music biz intimately. All the others can only guess.
Quite so, we're all guessing. (I like to pay attention to the guesswork that provides reasoning, myself...one reason I like your posts here.)
Thanks for the heads-up of Sharkey, too, that was new to me.
"We're all guessing"
While I am definitely not big on authoritarian intevention, if only EVERY music futurist/blogger/marketer was required to post that (kinda like warnings on cigarettes)...
or at least, "What you are about to read is guesswork but here is my reasoning"...
alas, some people smoke anyway, but thanks for telling it like it really is, Justin.
@ Tim. Does it matter? Make the same argument to Alan Mullany - who was running Boeing (airplanes) last year and is now turning around Ford (autos) this year. Legacy knowledge and relationships can also be a hindrance.
I have one thing to say about this statment:
"When well-known artists (or their managers) pen something, I usually find a bit of a rant, some tired history, minimal solutions, a big audience, lots of fan comments, and very little substance."
TOTALLY.
You don't have to be a songwriter to sell songs. Why do you think there is the age old 50/50 split between songwriter and publisher? It was a handshake between the artist and the businessman.
There are different areas of genius and many times they overlap and can help each other.
For example, there are songwriting greats and there are marketing greats. Like Seth Godin. Godin's beatdown (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/03/the-live-music.html) on the industry shows how some people outside the circle oftentimes see things clearer than those inside it.