End Of The Year - Random Thoughts

The Majors:

Warner Music Group’s stock briefly dipped below $6.00 a share. Anyone else think Edgar Bronfman Jr. is completely incompetent? It must be nice to inherit billions of dollars and to be able to buy into the music business. Perhaps he would have been better at selling wine and spirits under the Seagram’s name. This is a guy that wanted the power and prestige of controlling a music empire, but had no vision or talent to do so. And his money has allowed him to attempt to do it twice!

Sony/BMG is a disaster. The once proud Columbia Records may merge with Sony/BMG label mate Epic. So much for Rick Rubin saving Columbia. The hallways are empty; there is no vibe or passion. There is no leadership. There is no longer a true A&R presence at Sony or anywhere else - artist development is gone.

The employees, the bands, and the consumers no longer believe in the major labels. I always laugh when I read that someone at a major label has been promoted to some pointless executive VP position. Do they or their label bosses really think the promotion means anything? Is it really enhancing or driving business? It is an empty maneuver within an old and outdated business model. The executives are playing an old game – just going through the motions. The new musical talent is no longer there, the record sales are gone, radio doesn’t mean shit anymore, and the money has dried up. They are living in fantasy land pretending the walls are not caving in.

The 360 degree deal? How about renaming it the “Up The Ass” deal? The labels are in dire financial straits and cannot move enough units of CDs to cover their inflated costs, which let’s face it, is largely bloated executive salaries. So, they decide to present the 360 deal to the artist which is basically an attempt to share ALL artist generated revenues i.e. touring revenues. That’s right, the labels want touring revenue. They can’t sell your record, therefore they can’t get paid, so they want a piece of your touring revenue. That is all the 360 deal is after sifting through all the wording and extensive contract language – a way for record labels to take a piece of the touring revenue. Any young artist that signs this deal is not only a complete and desperate idiot, but someone that deserves no compassion for enslaving themselves.

Anyone up for a subscription service as a way to obtain their music? The labels want this one big time because they hate the consumer owning music. They want the consumer to rent it. If the consumer owns it, they can trade it with friends, burn copies for their car, load it onto their mp3 players, load in onto their computer, etc. That is too much freedom and offers too much enjoyment. The consumer must have their listening freedom stripped away so the record label can control how the consumer listens to it. Isn’t that what Columbia’s Rick Rubin wants? For you the consumer to listen to rented music on some sort of Sony music player device for a monthly fee?

________________________________________

Concert Promoters:

Who loves the price of concert tickets for major attractions? Isn’t it great shelling out hundreds of dollars for a ticket that gets you 1 – 2 hours of entertainment by a headlining act?

It has all been said before. The managers and agents overprice the talent; therefore the promoters overpay and pass it on the cost to the consumer. It is old news. That business is going to crash just like the current model in place with the major labels. Live Nation and AEG can claim revenues are up because ticket prices are up, but attendance is down and there is now a real concern that there is no next generation of $200 per ticket acts coming down the pipeline.

How about the supposed trip made by AEG’s Randy Phillips and Tim Leiweke to London to watch Led Zeppelin at the Ahmet Ertegun gig and to personally present them a touring offer? This is one of those times that you wish Peter Grant was still around so he could have thrown those two out of their own venue. They represent what is wrong with the concert experience. Going after Led Zeppelin not because they LOVE Led Zeppelin, but because they want to whore the band out on the road so they can screw the consumer with an excessively expensive concert experience. Although, you have to give Tim credit this time, at least this one seems like a sure thing compared to his $200 million dollar David Beckham experiment.

Going to a concert is way too corporate and oversized – many times even at the club level. The actual music has taken a backseat. One senses that it is only a matter of time before the promoter’s business implodes with layoffs, huge losses, finger pointing at StubHub and others, blaming labels for not developing bands, starting their own ill-fated labels, the selling off or closing of some venues, etc. But during that desperate time, there will still be meaningless executive promotions and the raising of ticket prices. And all the while, less and less consumers and fans will go to the shows.

Instead of cutting costs, ticket prices and bloated SALARIES, the individuals running these companies are too greedy to try to reinvent their business. It all comes down to money. Instead of trying to create steady revenue streams for years ahead, the executives see the end of the road and want to extract every last dollar from their bosses and the consumer, so they are flushing the business down the toilet in the name of greed.

________________________________________

Led Zeppelin:

They just performed the most famous concert held in years. It doesn’t appear the band is going to tour in 2008. Maybe some isolated gigs, but not a full scale tour.

I was listening to the audio from their incredible 2003 “DVD” the other day and was completely blown away by the Earls Court material. The 1975 Earls Court shows are some of the most famous concerts the band ever performed and contained marathon sets filled with material from all eras of their illustrious career up to that point. The “DVD” only showcases 6 performances. Having heard the complete shows from underground sources, I was very familiar with the gigs. However, I rarely have time to watch music DVDs, so I decided to jam to the audio.

After hearing these 6 officially released performances in crystal clear sound with a fantastic mix by Kevin Shirley, I realized that I will have trouble listening to the underground versions from here on out. “Going To California” highlights the beautiful and majestic acoustic interplay between John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page while the band is absolutely dazzling with its highly skilled musicianship as it tears through “In My Time Of Dying” and “Trampled Underfoot.” Many fans consider the real gem of the “DVD” to be the 1970 Royal Albert Hall gig, but I have to say that I have become equally impressed with the 1975 Earls Court material.

Page needs to finally issue some sort of official Earl’s Court CD/DVD package. The professional mix and mastering of the “DVD” material brings these famous performances to life. It is a reminder of why they were such a legendary live band. They are firing on all cylinders during the Earls Court performances. As I played these tracks over and over, I started to crave a professional mix of the stunning versions of “No Quarter,” “The Song Remains The Same,” and “The Rain Song” from those gigs that remain in the vaults. Time for an official release.

One can dream, but most likely Page will ready an official DVD release of the 2007 O2 Arena gig. Even though the music world is buzzing about the O2 show, I’ll take a 1975 Earls Court package over it any day of the week.

________________________________________

Oscar Peterson:

Oscar passed away this week. He was one of the greatest piano players of all time and a true Jazz legend. Any Jazz fan can list the loads of inspirational performances he accumulated throughout his illustrious career. His collaborations with other Jazz heroes such as Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Bassie, Clark Terry, and Milt Jackson were incredible. Anyone not overly familiar with Oscar Peterson’s work should check out and spin one of his many stunning albums, “Night Train.”