Also, the whole point about the paradigm of the music industry shift is so right the fuck on. There was a point in the article where one of the execs at Columbia is talking about how Rubin wants everything to change like 'flicking a switch' and he goes on to comment that 'thats just not the way it works'...why the fuck not? Its about time the music industry started focusing on music
Cool piece... I've never totally bought into the 'Rick Rubin: SUPRAGENIUS' legend, but I do have to give the guy his props -- without him, I wouldn't have The Beastie Boys, CASH The Man Comes Around, or the Infinite Zero reissue of Black Monk Time sitting on my shelf...
But re: "flicking a switch" and changing the music industry -- I was working in a peripheral aspect of the Industry, Music Videos, in the waning days of the septuple Platinum Teen Titans and the ominous Rise of Napster... and it just flabbergasted me, the way the Record Industry kept desperately trying to turn back the clock instead of getting one step ahead of the game. (They're still doing it -- I don't know if you heard that jaw-dropping story about how they're toying with the idea of rewriting the rules for radio play.)
Part of the tragic idiocy here is, TEN YEARS LATER, their business models are still largely built around moving Phizzical Pieces of Plastic, instead of, y'know, ACTUAL MUSIC.
This Rubin piece reminded me of another forward-thinking musical genius, Frank Zappa, who, in his book The Real Frank Zappa from FRIKKIN' 1990 proposes a subscription-based music service where one downloads music through one's phone-line or cable -- a system that's eerily prescient of recent developments, and one that Zappa emphasizes could have been started with existing technology TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO. But Zappa despaired of convincing industry execs of the key factor, in his words, that "MUSIC CONSUMERS LIKE TO CONSUME MUSIC... NOT NECESSARILY THE VINYL ARTIFACT WRAPPED IN CARDBOARD."
Sorry, Zappa proposed the idea some SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, not twenty-seven. Clearly, the mathematical proportions of my brain are suffering from a severe caffeine deficiency this A.M.
Its obvoious the reasons for the industry to keep clutching at the buisness model of the physical record for sale is because its sooooo easy to hide "costs" inside the actual financial breakdown. Record companies, up untill last year, still charged a packaging fee for downloads...yes, very fucked up
But with the internet and computer automation of the browsing, listening and buying of music (ie: the download to ipod scenario) the numbers are not as easy to hide as well as the fact that you've eliminated the a whole circle in the music industry pork fest- the distributor- All those kats are lined up and linked up together with hands out: record company, Studio, radio, MTV, record stores (especially the mega ones like tower and virgin). The home studio, internet download release has effectively kut that network need in half, at the least.
Thats a lot of money...
But what it really comes down to for me is the artist. The artists can empower themselves and succeed when, even ten years ago, you needed the industry to get access to professional means such as production, distribution and marketing. I would really hope that, eventually, the actual music being created and performed would benefit, improve and prosper from this access to information and resources. I just don't think we're there yet....
I don't know... it's an interesting process, as the web tends to spawn anarchist social models & libertarian economics while corporations rush around in their wake, trying to figure out how to bring the clampdown and secure profits & control.
In the post MySpace/Blogger/Youtube world where everyone is their own Rock-Star, will real stars be able to rise above the background noise? Will anybody be able to make a living off their words, music, images when the world is full of enlightened amateurs, some very talented, who are screaming to simply be heard, and damn the economics?
Sorry, I'm really scattered this morning. Maybe a more focused attempt to pin down what I'm chasing when I get my brain working right...
ink-stain, in reply to your question regarding whether the creme will rise to the top, so to speak, this was something i spoke to some other peeps about not too long ago. and they all made very valid points that performance will become even more important to differentiate who is who in this new "King Among Kings" digital orgy.
and ask any artist, and they'll tell you their loot is in performance. and by extension, merch sales. so both fan and artist are rewarded by playing live, you see.
i dont think physical media will completely disappear. a vinyl record is a record in the archival sense, and people enjoy that. although your frank zappa quote was very enlightening, ("Consumers like to consume MUSIC").
digital is very new and kitsch, and yes the future (and the now), but the internet didnt replace the library. and humans in 20 years may begin to realize digging through hard discs to find "that album" will be a true pain in the fucking ass as opposed to simply dusting the cd (or bluray, or holographic cube) off the shelf for a go-round.
"and ask any artist, and they'll tell you their loot is in performance. and by extension, merch sales. so both fan and artist are rewarded by playing live, you see."
This has been the artists model for 30+ years. You know, an artist that headlines and sells out the garden will make in excess of $250,000 for one nights performance? Thats why record companies are jumping on the 50% of everything including merch and performance pay in the new buisness paradigm search...the vampires...
I have to agree completely with OJ. The creme ALWAYS rises to the top. I know hundreds of kids with ProTools studios. I know maybe three of those kids that actually know how to make records on it that sound anything except shit. Up until 7-8 years ago, if someone wanted to be a producer/engineer/musician, at the very least, there was many years of schooling, apprenticeship, study, practice, etc that lead to the opportunity to become successful in the music industry. I think one of the things that is getting lost is the years and years of knowledge and work that each and every successful, prolific artist puts in to get to be a 'star'. It takes 10 years to blow up overnight but shit like mtv and youtube really undermine that.
It takes 10 years to blow up overnight but shit like mtv and youtube really undermine that.
Stitchy: this is kinda the idea I was trying to chase earlier in this thread...
From my own flirtation with the Music Industry, it was clear the wheels were falling off the mother long before Napster et al came along and ratfucked the business model. They were already busy ratfucking their own long-term business model in the pursuit of twentupular platinum one-shit wonders -- pursuing a slash-and-burn mentality of pumping out ephemeral, singles-driven acts squarely "targeted" (as the market research lingo would have it) at the burgeoning market of tots and tweens. (Hence, the onslaught of Backstreet Boyz, Spice Gurlz, Britneys, Avrils, etc.) The problem is that's a potentially a huge MFing sale TODAY or THIS WEEK, and maybe even SIX MONTHS FROM NOW. But in a year or two, the Used CD bins of every thrift store in America are overflowing with this disposable crap, and your Record Company has no frikkin' CATALOG.
Some of the biggest-selling records of all time are things that did the Slow Creep... cases where early albums from an act in "development" were more talked about or hailed than actually, y'know, purchased. The quintessential case of this being the Velvet Underground -- the old saw being that they didn't sell many records, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band. (And then, of course, the fans of the fans went looking for the roots of the rawk.) Of course, the VU catalog in its various permutations has gone on to be the steady lifeblood of the Verve catalog. But something kinda similar happened with Floyd and any number of other acts. There was a time when the labels seemed to realize you might have to produce several records from a low-performing act to polish the gem in the rough you saw when you signed them. In the long run, this paid huge dividends for labels that actually had a catalog of timeless acts that would continue to sell albums to generation after generation.
Starting 10, 15 years ago, maybe even earlier, the record industry started dumping this business model -- in part because of the hit-driven mentality, and partly because of the Nirvana phenomenon, I kinda think. There was this mentality that the big labels could use subpop and Touch-and-Go and all their ilk as farm teams -- this idea surfaced that, "We don't have to develop artists because if anybody really good emerges, we can just buy 'em lock, stock and barrel from the mom-n-pop label that bothered to help them build a career."
The tragedy is that there's a generation of great artists who never had the fostering or commercial launch or the resources available from the big labels... or who fell victim to this piratical, carpetbagger mentality and who got kicked out of the limo one or two albums into a major label deal once the execs figured out that there was no platinum to be bled from a truly edgy and offbeat artist. (Jesus Lizard, Melvins, etc.) Even worse were the cases where the many, many cases in the mid to late 90s of a band's "big break" turning into a goddamn horrorshow as the label literally gave up and ditched the artist before or as their big label debut was hitting the racks. (Extra Fancy and Foetus, I'm lookin' at you.) It got to the point where it was an absolute anomaly to see something like David Geffen's gentle care and feeding of Sonic Youth. Admittedly, it was partly a promotional act -- keeping them front and center to assure unsigned acts that, "Look, we actually care about the Myoozik!" But the end result is that the Youth will have a lasting footprint in the annals of Rawk -- long outliving & outlasting many of their already nearly forgotten contemporaries, some of whom deserved an equal shot.
All of which is to say: my fear is that the YouTube nation is going to generate an utterly ephemeral, spectacle-of-the-week, hit-driven mentality that will only further this ongoing undermining of the long-term cultivation of talent.
I read the whole 11 pages. That kat is my hero...
Also, the whole point about the paradigm of the music industry shift is so right the fuck on. There was a point in the article where one of the execs at Columbia is talking about how Rubin wants everything to change like 'flicking a switch' and he goes on to comment that 'thats just not the way it works'...why the fuck not? Its about time the music industry started focusing on music
Cool piece... I've never totally bought into the 'Rick Rubin: SUPRAGENIUS' legend, but I do have to give the guy his props -- without him, I wouldn't have The Beastie Boys, CASH The Man Comes Around, or the Infinite Zero reissue of Black Monk Time sitting on my shelf...
But re: "flicking a switch" and changing the music industry -- I was working in a peripheral aspect of the Industry, Music Videos, in the waning days of the septuple Platinum Teen Titans and the ominous Rise of Napster... and it just flabbergasted me, the way the Record Industry kept desperately trying to turn back the clock instead of getting one step ahead of the game. (They're still doing it -- I don't know if you heard that jaw-dropping story about how they're toying with the idea of rewriting the rules for radio play.)
Part of the tragic idiocy here is, TEN YEARS LATER, their business models are still largely built around moving Phizzical Pieces of Plastic, instead of, y'know, ACTUAL MUSIC.
This Rubin piece reminded me of another forward-thinking musical genius, Frank Zappa, who, in his book The Real Frank Zappa from FRIKKIN' 1990 proposes a subscription-based music service where one downloads music through one's phone-line or cable -- a system that's eerily prescient of recent developments, and one that Zappa emphasizes could have been started with existing technology TWENTY SEVEN YEARS AGO. But Zappa despaired of convincing industry execs of the key factor, in his words, that "MUSIC CONSUMERS LIKE TO CONSUME MUSIC... NOT NECESSARILY THE VINYL ARTIFACT WRAPPED IN CARDBOARD."
Sorry, Zappa proposed the idea some SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, not twenty-seven. Clearly, the mathematical proportions of my brain are suffering from a severe caffeine deficiency this A.M.
Its obvoious the reasons for the industry to keep clutching at the buisness model of the physical record for sale is because its sooooo easy to hide "costs" inside the actual financial breakdown. Record companies, up untill last year, still charged a packaging fee for downloads...yes, very fucked up
But with the internet and computer automation of the browsing, listening and buying of music (ie: the download to ipod scenario) the numbers are not as easy to hide as well as the fact that you've eliminated the a whole circle in the music industry pork fest- the distributor-
All those kats are lined up and linked up together with hands out: record company, Studio, radio, MTV, record stores (especially the mega ones like tower and virgin). The home studio, internet download release has effectively kut that network need in half, at the least.
Thats a lot of money...
But what it really comes down to for me is the artist. The artists can empower themselves and succeed when, even ten years ago, you needed the industry to get access to professional means such as production, distribution and marketing. I would really hope that, eventually, the actual music being created and performed would benefit, improve and prosper from this access to information and resources. I just don't think we're there yet....
I don't know... it's an interesting process, as the web tends to spawn anarchist social models & libertarian economics while corporations rush around in their wake, trying to figure out how to bring the clampdown and secure profits & control.
In the post MySpace/Blogger/Youtube world where everyone is their own Rock-Star, will real stars be able to rise above the background noise? Will anybody be able to make a living off their words, music, images when the world is full of enlightened amateurs, some very talented, who are screaming to simply be heard, and damn the economics?
Sorry, I'm really scattered this morning. Maybe a more focused attempt to pin down what I'm chasing when I get my brain working right...
ink-stain, in reply to your question regarding whether the creme will rise to the top, so to speak, this was something i spoke to some other peeps about not too long ago. and they all made very valid points that performance will become even more important to differentiate who is who in this new "King Among Kings" digital orgy.
and ask any artist, and they'll tell you their loot is in performance. and by extension, merch sales. so both fan and artist are rewarded by playing live, you see.
i dont think physical media will completely disappear. a vinyl record is a record in the archival sense, and people enjoy that. although your frank zappa quote was very enlightening, ("Consumers like to consume MUSIC").
digital is very new and kitsch, and yes the future (and the now), but the internet didnt replace the library. and humans in 20 years may begin to realize digging through hard discs to find "that album" will be a true pain in the fucking ass as opposed to simply dusting the cd (or bluray, or holographic cube) off the shelf for a go-round.
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone, in the air."-Eric Dolphy
great article, by the way. thanks, oj.
gonna let it simmer.
"and ask any artist, and they'll tell you their loot is in performance. and by extension, merch sales. so both fan and artist are rewarded by playing live, you see."
This has been the artists model for 30+ years. You know, an artist that headlines and sells out the garden will make in excess of $250,000 for one nights performance?
Thats why record companies are jumping on the 50% of everything including merch and performance pay in the new buisness paradigm search...the vampires...
I have to agree completely with OJ. The creme ALWAYS rises to the top. I know hundreds of kids with ProTools studios. I know maybe three of those kids that actually know how to make records on it that sound anything except shit. Up until 7-8 years ago, if someone wanted to be a producer/engineer/musician, at the very least, there was many years of schooling, apprenticeship, study, practice, etc that lead to the opportunity to become successful in the music industry.
I think one of the things that is getting lost is the years and years of knowledge and work that each and every successful, prolific artist puts in to get to be a 'star'.
It takes 10 years to blow up overnight but shit like mtv and youtube really undermine that.
It takes 10 years to blow up overnight but shit like mtv and youtube really undermine that.
Stitchy: this is kinda the idea I was trying to chase earlier in this thread...
From my own flirtation with the Music Industry, it was clear the wheels were falling off the mother long before Napster et al came along and ratfucked the business model. They were already busy ratfucking their own long-term business model in the pursuit of twentupular platinum one-shit wonders -- pursuing a slash-and-burn mentality of pumping out ephemeral, singles-driven acts squarely "targeted" (as the market research lingo would have it) at the burgeoning market of tots and tweens. (Hence, the onslaught of Backstreet Boyz, Spice Gurlz, Britneys, Avrils, etc.) The problem is that's a potentially a huge MFing sale TODAY or THIS WEEK, and maybe even SIX MONTHS FROM NOW. But in a year or two, the Used CD bins of every thrift store in America are overflowing with this disposable crap, and your Record Company has no frikkin' CATALOG.
Some of the biggest-selling records of all time are things that did the Slow Creep... cases where early albums from an act in "development" were more talked about or hailed than actually, y'know, purchased. The quintessential case of this being the Velvet Underground -- the old saw being that they didn't sell many records, but everyone who bought one went on to form a band. (And then, of course, the fans of the fans went looking for the roots of the rawk.) Of course, the VU catalog in its various permutations has gone on to be the steady lifeblood of the Verve catalog. But something kinda similar happened with Floyd and any number of other acts. There was a time when the labels seemed to realize you might have to produce several records from a low-performing act to polish the gem in the rough you saw when you signed them. In the long run, this paid huge dividends for labels that actually had a catalog of timeless acts that would continue to sell albums to generation after generation.
Starting 10, 15 years ago, maybe even earlier, the record industry started dumping this business model -- in part because of the hit-driven mentality, and partly because of the Nirvana phenomenon, I kinda think. There was this mentality that the big labels could use subpop and Touch-and-Go and all their ilk as farm teams -- this idea surfaced that, "We don't have to develop artists because if anybody really good emerges, we can just buy 'em lock, stock and barrel from the mom-n-pop label that bothered to help them build a career."
The tragedy is that there's a generation of great artists who never had the fostering or commercial launch or the resources available from the big labels... or who fell victim to this piratical, carpetbagger mentality and who got kicked out of the limo one or two albums into a major label deal once the execs figured out that there was no platinum to be bled from a truly edgy and offbeat artist. (Jesus Lizard, Melvins, etc.) Even worse were the cases where the many, many cases in the mid to late 90s of a band's "big break" turning into a goddamn horrorshow as the label literally gave up and ditched the artist before or as their big label debut was hitting the racks. (Extra Fancy and Foetus, I'm lookin' at you.) It got to the point where it was an absolute anomaly to see something like David Geffen's gentle care and feeding of Sonic Youth. Admittedly, it was partly a promotional act -- keeping them front and center to assure unsigned acts that, "Look, we actually care about the Myoozik!" But the end result is that the Youth will have a lasting footprint in the annals of Rawk -- long outliving & outlasting many of their already nearly forgotten contemporaries, some of whom deserved an equal shot.
All of which is to say: my fear is that the YouTube nation is going to generate an utterly ephemeral, spectacle-of-the-week, hit-driven mentality that will only further this ongoing undermining of the long-term cultivation of talent.