Yesterday I read the New York Times interview with Rick Rubin with a certain amount of fascination. It’s too easy to be cynical about the insurmountable problems facing the music recording industry these days but as I read the article it became very clear that it is going to take greater minds than just Rubin’s to fix things. He knows what’s wrong but I doubt he can change the long and deeply embedded culture that pervades Columbia Records and it’s parent Sony. Here’s some insights and points taken from the article:
- “The music business, as a whole, has lost its faith in content,” says David Geffen, the legendary music mogul.
- This summer, Columbia Records began a program called Big Red. The company invited 20 college students from Harvard, Penn State and the University of Miami to work on various music projects. The interns concentrated mostly on the digital marketing and promotions departments in Columbia’s offices in Midtown Manhattan. At the end of their paid internships, the students took part in focus groups that were closely observed by… (Columbia’s top executives.) “The Big Red focus groups were both depressing and informative, and they confirmed what I — and Rick — already knew,” DiDia told me afterward. “The kids all said that a) no one listens to the radio anymore, b) they mostly steal music, but they don’t consider it stealing, and c) they get most of their music from iTunes on their iPod. They told us that MySpace is over, it’s just not cool anymore; Facebook is still cool, but that might not last much longer; and the biggest thing in their life is word of mouth. That’s how they hear about music, bands, everything.”
- “Columbia is stuck in the dark ages. I have great confidence that we will have the best record company in the industry, but the reality is, in today’s world, we might have the best dinosaur. Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it’s going to be a declining business. This model is done.”
I encourage anyone who’s interested in music to read the article.
when they say that myspace is over and facebook is still cool, its makes you realize that the consumers attention span has become shorter and shorter as more and more things get put on their plate. Our time is becoming almost as valuable as our money. I am glad to see that they had to hire people to figure out those points noted in the article. What they should do is stop fighting Apple. But if I were Apple I would take advantage of my market share more and get deeper into the money making parts of the music industry…there still are some out there.
September 4th, 2007 at 9:17 amThe music-as-a-subscription game plan will never make sense to me. Namely because the model would require drastic levels of DRM, and it’s pretty clear that music consumers want as little DRM as possible, and would prefer none at all.
September 4th, 2007 at 9:44 amFacebook won’t last either. The new, new thing needs to drop. And some music subscription plans work - EMusic, Listen, it’s just that the consumers, ie the kids, don’t want to ‘own’ music the way previous generations did. Music is a commodity and is very disposable.
September 4th, 2007 at 10:07 amAt the same time the recording industry is taking a nose dive, it’s become a million times easier for musicians to get their music heard by people all over the world. And appears as though more and more bands are bypassing even the indie labels and releasing at least their first album themselves. Certainly not the path to being a millionaire, but really if you’re in it for the money then you’ve probably already screwed yourself. I have a feeling that it will be years before we figure out just what the new paradyme is, and then the very next day some kid will tell us ‘it’s over’. :)
September 4th, 2007 at 10:36 amLarzzz, I totally agree. And the kids quoted in the article point out that word of mouth is the best way to hear about new music. It’s all about being a ‘trusted source’…which I rather hope Pampelmoose has become…we’ve always been proud supporters of the DIY model..
September 4th, 2007 at 10:45 amin this instant gratification everything is online culture is was nice to see that rubin is working at a slooowwww pace. telling bands that they have to scrap 8 of the 10 songs they presented…now that is constructive criticism.
September 4th, 2007 at 11:34 amIf I had my way I’d tell them to scrap all 10…
September 4th, 2007 at 4:16 pmSeems to me that the next new big thing is already happening–regionalism! Look at the very nature of Pampelmoose… from where I sit, the focus by smaller, ACTUALLY RELEVANT media outlets on local action is where it’s at. We’ve gone back to the days of Talking Heads and Television, Rocket From The Crypt, and The Screamers and Circle Jerks…but with all this lovely technology that lets us share with the rest of the world.
Here’s to regionalism! Dave, you were in the middle of the revolution all along. Again. :-)
Oh, and can we please have some Shriekback tours now?
September 5th, 2007 at 5:51 amPS I Didnt read the Rubin article so mebbe that last bit was al rehash. Oops.
September 5th, 2007 at 5:52 amJoe, regionalism is certainly a part of the equation. The most successful area of good old-fashioned newsprinting is in the community newspaper groups that smart media owners are snapping up. Micro-local is an interesting idea but that also comes down to how interesting any given local market is. i.e. Portland has a ridiculous wealth of talent and culture so it’s easy for me to keep rolling out interesting pieces… I think Chris Anderson at Wired talked about the hyper-local phonemenon recently.
September 5th, 2007 at 7:32 am[...] Readers of this blog know by now my position on the collapse of the existing system; in a nutshell the recording industry brought everything upon themselves because of their reluctance to embrace the new technilogies that their customers had already embraced. Always give your customers what they want. I wrote about this 18 months ago - The Broken Music Distribution System. And here’s another great article Rick Rubun tries to save Columbia Records, Rubin has some great insights in this piece - worth a read. Moose readers what do you have to say? [...]
September 11th, 2007 at 8:42 am[...] I wrote about this 18 months ago - The Broken Music Distribution System. And here’s another great article Rick Rubun tries to save Columbia Records, Rubin has some great insights in this piece - worth a read. [...]
September 15th, 2007 at 11:43 am[...] Related Posts: Rick Rubin tries to save Columbia Records, http://www.pampelmoose.com/mspeaks/?p=961″target=_new>Advanced Operators [...]
September 16th, 2007 at 4:24 pm[This might drift slightly off topic]
I’m curious as to how someone like Steve Albini or the guys over at Negativland are weighing in on this . I’m sure everyone remembers Steve’s essay on “The Problem With Music”: http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
The somewhat recent re-focusing on the dying Dinosaur sounds very similar to the big conversation and controversy that went on back in 1999/2000. Back then, there was a lot of false hope about change, followed by disappointment when tech companies decided to just “work” (read: “sleep”) with the then “Big 5″. Things these days seem much more real in terms of the ‘end of the Industry’ as it exists now. The transformation of the web and a new generation of somewhat “informed” web-savvy users/music lovers has really opened up the possibility for things to change.
Nevertheless, if the entire model for the industry were to change tomorrow there would be a large catalog of music up through now that would still be tied up in copyright law and held hostage by the likes of the RIAA. Maybe aim should again be taken at the good old RIAA, all of the cronies associated with them and the current state copyright law, not to mention DRM and it’s co-conspirators….no, wait - that’s crazy talk…
…yeah…I’ll lay off the coffee for the rest of the day :)
September 18th, 2007 at 12:03 pmHmm…crap..that last comment was meant for the “backlash” article…oh well.
September 18th, 2007 at 1:18 pmNick I moved a copy over there for you….
September 18th, 2007 at 1:56 pm[...] But seriously, Mr Merrill has his work cut out for him. In the article he says - “”There is academic research that shows file sharing is a good thing for artists and not necessarily bad,” said Merrill. “We should do a bunch of experiments to find out what the business model is.” [Rick Rubin talks about setting up a ‘lab’ here.] [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 11:37 am[...] But seriously, Mr Merrill has his work cut out for him. In the article he says - “”There is academic research that shows file sharing is a good thing for artists and not necessarily bad,” said Merrill. “We should do a bunch of experiments to find out what the business model is.” [Rick Rubin talks about setting up a 'lab' here.] [...]
April 8th, 2008 at 7:57 pm