Future Of Music

The MC Lars thread continues…  here is a post from myspace to MC Lars about his track "Download this Song".

Dear Lars,

I enjoy "Download This Song" greatly. But more so it hits home. My family is one of 10 seemingly randomly chosen families to be sued by the RIAA. No fun. You can’t fight them, trying could possibly cost us millions. The line "they sue little kids downloading hit songs", basically sums a lot of the whole thing up.  Anyways, thank you for writing it. I can definitely agree with everything mentioned in it. I expresses my feelings almost exactly on this matter.

Thank’s again.

Elisa

–

Well, once in a while you have to really make a stand.  Lars contacted his manager Tom Gates at Nettwerk and forwarded the myspace post. 

Nettwerk Music Group, home to Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked
Ladies and Sum 41, decided to take on the RIAA on behalf of Elisa Greubel, a
15-year-old Texan whose father was sued by the recording industry trade
group in August 2005 for owning a computer that allegedly shared more
than 600 music files.

Among the nine songs the RIAA is focusing on in the suit, according to
Nettwerk, is management client Lavigne’s "Sk8er Boi." The RIAA is
demanding Greubel’s family pay $9,000 to settle the suit.  Nettwerk CEO Terry McBride said in a statement that legal
action is not the answer. "Suing music fans is not the solution, it’s
the problem."  McBride said he decided to weigh in because the action involves his
artists. "Litigation is not ‘artist development,’ " he said in the
statement. "Litigation is a deterrent to creativity and passion and it
is hurting the business I love. The current actions of the RIAA are not
in my artists’ best interests." Nettwerk has offered to pay all legal
fees and any fines for the family in the event that they lose the suit.

Go Terry.  Go Lars.

Read more about it here on MTV.com

In the fall of 2005, I was giving a presentation to all the artist managers at Nettwerk Management on the future of music.  We had a very lively discussion about where the industry was headed and how to take advantage of the changing circumstances and marketplace.  Tom Gates, who manages the bands Brand New, MC Lars and others burned me a CD on the spot and said "You have to listen to this.  This track was recorded by MC Lars after reading your book, it’s called Download This Song.  He wrote and recorded it based on what he read in the Future of Music book."

Well needless to say I popped that baby right into the player as soon as I got in the car and it was awesome.  I listened to Lars lay into the music industry
with a chorus that goes, "Hey mister record man, the joke’s on you/ Running your
label like it was 1992/ Hey mister record man, your system can’t
compete/ It’s the new artist model, file transfer complete."

I then checked out MC Lars on myspace and found an artist for the future, taking the best parts of the old music industry and combining them with clear thinking and new moves that are going to propel him to success.

According to Tom Gates, "It’s pretty amazing what a 22 year old kid did from a dorm room.  Just in one territory: He’s going back to the UK for the 5th time in one year opening for Simple Plan and then will go back in March for his first headline tour…this all without tour support.  We’re about 6 months from his new genre busting (it’s called "nerdcore") and he’s going to make ten times as much bank than he would have if had signed to a major.  Then you add in the costs of what he’s spent to do this and it just all points to the future, especially when you compare it to what majors spend on developing artists.  $7,500 recording costs (powerbook+protools studios) vs $250k major label.   $400 photo shoot vs major label $15k photo shoot.  $7,000 video vs $50k major (directed by the guy who did Eminem and just really likes Lars).  Art $0 (he did it and artwerks laid it out) vs $10k major label. Recoupability takes on a whole new light."

Vivendi Universal
Games has reported sales of over one million units of "50 Cent: Bulletproof," available
on both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In a brilliant multi-format strategy, the
game includes four CDs worth of music, including exclusive
tracks from 50 Cent. More than a dozen music videos are also part of the
offering. "Gamers and 50 fans alike have enthusiastically responded to the
groundbreaking fusion of frenetic gameplay and the lyrical imagery of the
exclusive 50 Cent music tracks," said Cindy Cook, chief strategy and
marketing officer at VU Games.

50 Cent has been on a tear, making movies and diversifying his empire into new physical formats. His fans loved the
"Bulletproof," concept with songs,
videos, and other extras, supporting an strong video game and demonstrating that people still buy music, albeit in disquise.  The product was produced as a collaboration of labels Interscope Records,
Shady Records and Aftermath Records and represents some clear thinking about how to overcome some of the challenges in music today, and once again providing value and convenience for the fans.

In the January issue of Rolling Stone there is a year end wrapup piece on the continuing woes of the ‘music business’.  Readers should note that in the same issue is a piece about how the concert business has suddenly rebounded.  Now even the venerable RS should know that the Music Business is not just the Record Business, and should be able to connect the dots, but…

"It was yet another unhappy New Year for the music industry: Despite
hits by Mariah Carey, 50 Cent and Green Day, 2005 saw album sales
drop 7.2 percent as labels continued to struggle with adapting to
the age of the iPod and the Internet. Overall, consumers bought 48
million fewer albums than in 2004, marking a disastrous twenty-one
percent slide from the industry’s peak in 2000, according to
Nielsen SoundScan. And the holiday season, which typically accounts
for forty percent of annual sales, was a bust. "It was arguably the
worst in the music business’s history," says Steve Bartels, Island
Records president.

In contrast to CD sales, digital-song downloads jumped 150
percent in 2005 as consumers bought 352 million of them. "With
digital technology, everyone’s figured out that a business built
only on the manufacture, distribution and sale of CDs has ended,"
says Dixie Chicks manager Simon Renshaw, echoing many other
industry veterans. "The traditional model can’t continue."

The labels continued to battle piracy, filing hundreds of
lawsuits against peer-to-peer downloaders. But in the month of
November, for instance, twenty-one percent more users traded music
online than in the same period the year before.

The Indie Scene

As the majors stumbled, independent labels gained market share,
accounting for eighteen percent of CD sales in ‘05. Indie labels
proved especially adept at Internet marketing via outlets like
MySpace; the emo label Victory Records sold 558,000 copies of
Hawthorne Heights’ album The Silence in Black and White
without radio play. And several hip indie acts — the Arcade Fire,
Interpol and Bright Eyes — sold more than 250,000 copies each. The
indie model of earning profits on a broad range of small-scale
releases, rather than focusing on blockbusters, may offer a new
direction for the majors."

Best quote of the year so far:

"The major labels want to say the glass
is half full," says Gwen Stefani’s manager Jim Guerinot. "I think
everybody’s getting the message: You better get a fucking smaller
glass. The music business is a different game."

Read the Rolling Stone 2005 Record Business recap here.

“David Kusek has an amazing grasp of where today’s music business resides, where its been and where its going. He has a unique ability with factual analysis to cut through the hype and buzz and  give us all a clear picture of what is actually taking place in today’s environment.”
- Terry McBride, CEO Nettwerk Productions

"The billions of songs downloaded from the Web monthly has shown
that the digital music revolution is well underway. The Future of Music
shows us where this is all headed and how music fans and artists are
going to benefit from the new paradigms and new business models that
are emerging."

-Ted Cohen, Senior Vice President, Digital Development & Distribution, EMI Music

"Some may find this book controversial while others will consider it
prophesy. Kusek and Leonhard have managed to tap into the problems-and
possibly the solutions-of an industry at the crossroads. For those of
us who left the record business to go into the music business, video
games are the new rock ‘n’ roll. But no matter where this revolution
begins or ends, the industry must learn to respect and react to its
consumers. This book contains valuable insights for us all."

-Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music, Electronic Arts

I know of no other text that as beautifully and concisely presents
the fundamental challenge that music now faces. This book is essential
for anyone who wants to understand what is at stake in this debate."

-Lawrence Lessig, Professor of Law, Stanford University and founder of Creative Commons.

"Amid all the shouting and confusion, along comes The Future of
Music, which in a calm and clear voice explains the essential issues
roiling the music business today. Most importantly, this is written
directly for musicians and their fans, rather than business people in
the music industry. If you want to know what you’re getting into as you
develop your music career, and where music will be coming from in the
future, you have to read this book."

-Gary Burton, Grammy-winning vibraphonist

"The Future of Music clearly and succinctly explains what will
happen to the way we consume music. Anyone who is planning to listen to
music from shiny pieces of plastic in the future will be in for a big
shock."

-Dave Goldberg, SVP and GM, Music, Yahoo!

"The Future of Music offers an enticing and provocative vision for
the future of an industry in dire need of reinvention. For newcomers
and industry veterans alike, Kusek and Leonhard paint a picture of
tomorrow’s music business that is at once dynamic, challenging, ever
changing, and unlimited in its potential. What else would we wish the
future to be?"

-Eric Beall, VP, Sony/ATV Music

"Kusek and Leonhard lay out critical visions of the past, present,
and future. A must-read for music and media culture futurists."

-Mike Dreese, CEO, Newbury Comics

"As a veteran of the wars between the mighty music publishing
conglomerates and those rare individuals who still cherish intellectual
property rights, I read The Future of Music with great interest. Kusek
and Leonhard have done an engaging job of presenting some imaginative
yet realistic alternatives for an ever-changing industry. Deep down I
hope they are wrong, but I doubt it."

-Steve Karmen, composer of "I Love New York," author of Who Killed the Jingle?

"In The Future of Music, Kusek and Leonhard take their place among
the visionaries of this fascinating industry. In this thought-provoking
and informative book, they take the reader on a journey to the rich
future that music and technology may bring us if we heed their warnings
about wise choices that must be made today."

-Joel Fisch, Senior Investment Manager, Intel Capital

"The Future of Music is now and the authors have clearly seen it.
This comprehensive and controversial commentary is a must-read for
every serious music industry professional."

-Chris Stone: Founder, Record Plant Recording Studios; Associate Professor, Music Industry & Recording Arts, USC

"A must-read for musicians planning to survive the next five years."

-Mark Featherstone-Witty, CEO, The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts

Read more quotes posted on Amazon