Future Of Music

Doug Morris on the state of the music industry. The problem, he says, is that “there’s sympathy for the consumer, and the record industry is the Shmoo.”

Oh my God.

Wired writer Seth Mnookin interviews and skewers Universal Music Group Chief Executive Doug Morris in the latest issue, which speaks for itself. You just got to read this interview.

“There’s no one in the record company that’s a technologist,” Morris explains. “That’s a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn’t. They just didn’t know what to do. It’s like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?”

Well, for one, maybe – instead of suing the technologists from Napster 1.0 – perhaps you should have considered hiring them. Just a thought…

Unbelievable. No wonder we are in the situation we are in.

Total Music. Hmm… Why do they think they have it figured out now?

For another great history lesson on how the major music labels ignored change and tried to impose their will on the masses, read this. Disturbing and painful. Great work Seth.

Music lessons pay off in higher earnings

TORONTO (Reuters Life!) – Those hours practicing piano scales or singing with a choral group weren’t for nothing because people with a background in music tend to have a higher education and earn more, according to a new survey.

The poll by Harris Interactive, an independent research company, showed that 88 percent of people with a post-graduate education were involved in music while in school, and 83 percent of people earning $150,000 or more had a music education. “Part of it is the discipline itself in learning music, it’s a rigorous discipline, and in an ensemble situation, there’s a great deal of working with others. Those types of skills stand you well in careers later in life,” said John Mahlmann, of the National Association for Music Education in Reston, Virginia, which assisted in the survey.

In addition to the practical skills gained from studying music, people questioned in the online poll said it also gave them a sense of personal fulfillment.

Students who found music to be extremely or very influential to their fulfillment were those who had vocal lessons and who played in a garage band. Nearly 80 percent of the 2,565 people who took part in the survey last month who were still involved in music felt the same way.

“That’s the beauty of music, that they can bring both hard work and enjoyment together, which doesn’t always happen elsewhere,” Mahlmann added in and interview.

The current issue of Rolling Stone includes some interviews with artists on the future of music. Here are some excepts:

Adam Levine – Maroon 5
How do you think the music business will change in the next decade?

It’s a very greedy, artist-exploiting business, and I think it will fall hard so it can rebuild itself with a better business model that is slightly more fair to everybody involved. But, yes, I do think that right now the music business is crumbling. Artists are starting to take back control from the labels, which is great. We have record labels to thank for a lot, but we also have them to blame for a lot. The major labels are scrambling right now and trying reactionary measures. Like, if you sign a record deal now, they take a percentage of your touring revenue. Bands are getting grabbed by the balls before they even sign a record deal and the grip on their balls is even tighter than it used to be. I think it’s only a matter of time before everyone is on an indie label. Because music isn’t going anywhere and the business is being forced to take a look at itself. It needs to go through this phase: Eventually, the scale will calibrate and the business part will ultimately survive, but I think artists will end up in a better position than they’ve ever been.

John Legend
Are you optimistic about the future of the music business?

I don’t really care that much about the overall business. What I care about is, “Am I creating something great for the fans, something that they want to pay for?” Fans might not buy as many albums as they used to, but as long as you make something special, they’re going to keep coming back to you. There are ways to succeed outside of just selling actual units. There’s touring and merchandise and corporate partnerships and all kinds of other ways to make money. I think I’ll be fine, as long as I’m making music people want to buy.

Jack Johnson
What advice do you give to young musicians?

It seems like a really good time to get into music, as far as trying to get your music heard. You don’t really need to have the backing of a major label anymore, you can do it, get your music on the Internet, and that word of mouth thing can happen. That was a huge part for me before I even had a record out. People started trading our stuff online. Once we had a record, people would have me sign a burned copy and say, “Sorry it’s burned,” and I didn’t really care. If people were getting the music, I was cool. I thought technology was helping spread it around. I always hear people say the music industry is in trouble, and it probably is, but as far as getting your music heard, it seems easier nowadays.

Wyclef Jean
What changes do you see coming in music?

I feel like we’re going into a very eclectic mode now, where the strong will survive. Kids can create beats now through their computer in two hours, so to last in the long form, you have to bring a musicianship to it. If you’re hearing the track I did on the CD with me and Serj from System of a Down, you hear how the movement is syncopated, then I stop the record at two minutes, screw it up, then I pick it back up with a classical part, go back into the groove. A kid goes, “Damn, how did he do that? I can’t really do that on my computer. On these Fruity Loops [software], I’ve got to keep it a certain way.” I think this will inspire kids to say, “Man, I’ve got to learn more music and put more arrangements in the music.” People are making music and they’re getting it out there, but we’re losing a sense of the live elements inside their music.

It is one thing to talk about the impact of technology on the music business, and it is another thing to actually do something positive with it. The video clip below describes some of the work that we have been doing here at Berklee to address the opportunities brought about by technology on the business of music education.

Check out the online music school Berkleemusic.com

See other similar video clips at ArtistHouseMusic.