Sonicbids, filters and ownership..
I was asked to add my two penneth on a Sonicbids debate on whether or not music needs more filters to allow better consumer buy up.. My take on this and also more on the current state of the industry.
The filter argument: The biggest crisis facing the music business isn’t pricing, of either music or concerts, but the lack of a filter telling people what to listen to.”
My answer:
We live in a time where the industry is getting over a collapse, and for good reason. Whilst the over-paid and under-talented swathes of music ‘aficionados’ lick their leather-skinned wounds whilst pondering on the next way to facilitate a pop-star on a reality TV show, the indie label scavengers are all ferreting about and looking at new ways to reach the public whom are and never have been that dumb, but are slightly further from their grasp.
I remember the Nirvana “Nevermind” fiasco. Suddenly an indie band were bigger than Michael Jackson. This was, by all accounts, a complete accident with Geffen having to speed through production of the album to meet demand. I am a little cynical to this now. But I do believe their explosion was more about fan power than marketing nouse. The album was also pretty good..
I remember SKA and punk and suddenly musicians were more important than chat shows. I know The Beatles were bigger than Jesus at one point and indeed in London fans in the 60s declared Eric Clapton “is God”. So where are these fans now? Are they all accepting of the mean of the pop song and it’s boring inline TV marketing structure? Nope, they are not. They are still out there looking and trying to find the music which makes them forget and escape. How to find them is a task which is harder every time a new way of marketing is released, however reaching this lot is not going to give your company or music longevity, you need the new breeds coming through also.
The worry is with this new generation of music fans. The worry is the Spotify model for me especially and potentially the beginning of the end of ownership.
It doesn’t matter how much you apply filters, if by owning a subscription to a service such as Spotify you can effectively own any song EVER and ANYWHERE, then why would you want to own the vinyl/CD? DJs these days switch from heavy vinyl bags to less heavy laptops for very practical reasons, so why wouldn’t a consumer? Meanwhile, musicians/labels get paid an absolute pittance for plays on such a model.
We have to work out ways to improve the chances of people wanting to buy in to and own a brand/musician/product. Applying filters to tell them who is where and why is only the start of the problem. The challenge is set and I am in for sure, but it is a big one.
Link to debate: http://panosbrew.sonicbids.com/is-lack-of-filters-the-“real-music-business-crisis”/comment-page-2/#comment-8903
