July 10th, 2008
TechDouche
I’m getting sick of TechCrunch traveling down the same old road again and again without one new idea.This time around, they once again use the sensational ”the death of the label” headline. It seems that Last.fm’s opening their royalty option to indies and artists is some sort benchmark that “the middlemen” are no more.
“What Last.fm is doing here is creating an alternative to the official royalty-collecting organization for musicians (i.e., SoundExchange). Last year, the royalty rates for music streamed over the Internet were raised, making it more difficult for ad-supported music startups to stay in business. Last.fm got bought by CBS, so it’s not in danger of going under. And for any song owned by a label or artist who participates in SoundExchange, Last.fm continues to pay the going Internet radio royalty rate. But it is beginning to bypass Sound Exchange by giving new, unsigned artists an alternative. “
My smarmy headline aside, I don’t really agree with this and will explain exactly why I feel this way.
To not get caught up in some irritating argument over semantics in the comments, let’s define what a label is for the purposes of this post- the core business. A label is an incubator. It filters and creates content (A&R), makes an investment in creating and promoting that talent (human resources and marketing dollars), and ultimately strives to make a profit. Much like VC’s- labels speculate on the ability of talent to generate revenue that will support both parties. So, Live Nation is as much of a label as Epic, Epitaph, Suburban Home or any other traditional label. Large management firms who invest in recordings and perform marketing functions are similarly acting as “labels”, even if they take that moniker or not.
Let’s also dispense with the illusion that any artist can build a lasting career without some sort of business infrastructure. Very few artists can be Ani Difranco and do an amazing job in both music and entrepreneurship. Radiohead, NIN, and others are cool but don’t count in this argument because they had major marketing dollars and resources for years before they went out on their own. If some unknown built the fanciest website and shot the best video in the world- who the hell is going to see it unless you there’s some meaningful publicity on it? With all the wannabes out there … it’s a fucking WAR for attention out there, and victory (creating artist ubiquity that leads to selling a product) costs buku bucks. Bucks for all the jobs that need to get done, and bucks to grease the wheels of progress.
Let’s start with a product manager does. In the places I’ve worked, product managers are the drivers of the album after the record is done and ready to packaged, marketed, and delivered to physical and digital outlets. On most matters, they are the link between label and artist, and then internally responsible to establish and maintain quality control and time lines on everything from album art to viral videos, publicity campaigns, to the programs at traditional and digital retail. Oh, and all of this within an established budget
How about publicity? Why are some publicists great? Hint: not because of their ability to write hyperbolic press releases. It’s the relationships, retard. Publicists (and radio people, and sales people) pay YEARS of dues and slugging it out to earn the trust as taste makers for the gatekeepers at magazines, blogs, and late night television shows. Steve Martin from Nasty Little Man started his company doing press for Bad Religion and Helmet out of his apartment after getting paid $5 a year working at indie labels. Now he gets the Foo Fighters on Letterman. I guarantee he ain’t making $5 a year anymore. Who pays for that?
Let’s not forget about the super-sexy jobs of administration. Making sure bills are paid, aggregating content, processing meta data, formatting videos for viral distribution. The list of thankless and invisible tasks are endless. Let’s not forget the super super fun job of invoicing and collecting on all of those half-pennies Last.Fm and the other vendors are paying. Is last.fm going to collect royalties from other third parties and dispense them as well? This ill informed argument simply continues to prove that all of these half-baked theories from people who have never lived it like they spit it are just wind.
I’d like to know what 20-something armed only with their used strat, bartending money, and trendy Florence Henderson haircut could possibly do all of that- and then perform and write songs to the best of their ability? Unlikely at best. Their job is to write songs, rock out, fuck their fans, and be that guy or gal that people just can’t take their eyes off. You think they really want to toil their nights away doing all of this maintenance and splitting hairs if Artist Data Systems is the right syndication system for their tour dates? Coffee’s here, wake up.
Here is my plea to all the bloggers out there in tech world: stop the shenanigans, talk to and interview people who are actually in the business and trying to make a difference (we are) and talk about how your beloved start ups could HELP make the middle better, and stop crying wolf about how it’s over. It’s time to put down the rhetoric and start to propose viable solutions to the problems facing people that make content and people that want to exploit it for profit (labels and last.fm alike.)
Ahhh. I feel better now.
Written by Bill Wilson
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On July 10th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Dan said:
Amen to that. I rarely comment on TechCrunch but when they start talking about how “recorded music will eventually be free” it’s hard to hold back.
They need to stick to what they know - hyping companies that burn through millions in VC money building something that 5 other companies are already doing and then go under in 6 months when no one cares.
On July 10th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
E said:
Agreed. I love how tech blogs bemaon the business models of the record industry and then gush over companies that never have and most likely never will make money. The record industry has a few Doug Morris’s in it, but there are a lot of smart people trying to use technology to push forward a medium they believe in. Later than most of we would like, the music industry is finally changing but it seems like people whose jobs it is to keep up on trends are missing this rather large one.
Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of startups doing interesting things in the music space, but they often provide a single service. So instead of having a label, artists in the future will have 20 vendors they are dealing with every day? That’s just not the real world. Why does it have to be either or?
And something no one ever talks about when it comes to musicians going out on their own is economies of scale. If a label has 50 artists they will get better deals than a single artist. Period. It will always be that way, any company who attempts to step in to broker this deal on behalf of artist is a label whether they call themselves one or not.
On July 10th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Sean said:
Hey Bill.
Awesome to see some posts on here again… not to mention really good ones!
On July 23rd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Julian said:
I totally agreed with you Bill. But I think also that last.fm or a netlabel is a great place to star for a band get paid for that.
It’s true that a label helps to the bands in a lot of things and still, for me, is the best way to promote a band. I still buy CDs and I’ll do it for the rest of my life, but also I have a netlabel. With the netlabel I’m trying to promote South American punk bands from South America and it’s working.
The artists are receiving emails from fans around the world and one band received a email from a label from Europe who are interesting in them. And that was because I sending a lot of emails all day to labels, bands and webzines promoting the bands.
Also, I dont received any money for that. I’m doing something that I love and with that I’m happy.
But again, I totally agreed with you.
Thanks for write again in this blog. I was missing it.
On July 29th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Mike said:
Bill,
Couldn’t agree with you more on this one. Sure, the music industry is changing, and there are more ways than ever for emerging artists to expose themselves on the Internet. But very few artists have been able to launch large, long-lasting careers using only handy web tools and a killer work ethic. Those tools can help the budding artist, for sure. But there comes a point where the proper label must step in and carry them to the next level. Chances are, that blog-buzz band, or that high-myspace-plays band, or that high-purevolume-plays band you heard about a year or so ago eventually signed with a label. And if they didn’t… you probably don’t hear too much about them anymore.
The bottom line is… Last.fm, SoundExchange, Tunecore, [insert music tech company here], etc are all great tools that can assist an artist on their path to glory. But, there comes a point, a line that an artist must cross if they wish to make a career out of their passion. And that line has an X next to it, and you better believe the artist is signing if they ever get to lay their eyes on it. If they don’t, they will likely be history in a few months.
The proper record label is far from dead, it just easy for people to write about how it is.
-m
On August 12th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Chris said:
More updates!
On September 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Jaime said:
I feel strongly that traditional labels have some serious adaptation to do. The label is not dead, but the CD is. Bill makes excellent points about the things that still need to be done to achieve success, but what you are selling is what needs to change.
I am far from an expert. I am just a regular middle class guy, with a regular 40 hour a week job, but I dream of getting involved in this industry.
I have ideas about the direction the entire industry needs to take, but with only knowledge gained from books and sites like this, I don’t know where to start.
Do I try to start my own label? Do I pitch my idea to a successful indie label who might be willing to take a chance? Can you patent a model for selling music?
My thoughts aren’t something new that no one has ever come up with before. It’s more like combining several things that are already being done into a neat little package, and distributing them in a different way.
Any suggestions are welcome as I respect the people I see posting here.
On September 18th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Chris Vandeviver said:
It needs to be said that Bill Wilson needs to reinstate his old blog, or take over Indiehq. The absolute no-bullshit-here’s-the-real-deal posts are so refreshing. I read sites like MusicThinkTank.com, and though *slightly* helpful, it’s these analysts gushing over abstract theories than real life models (aka: experience).
I definitely agree with all this. I do the whole shebang damn near myself, and I know as time goes on it’s gonna become increasingly unsustainable.
Though I do feel like working on finding disciples one at a time is gonna be more career sustaining that the shotgun blasts of Victory Records promotional vomit. Hit and run, hit and run…