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The Rolling Stones' Business Model
reallocate writes "These pages were graced a few days ago by a piece that included comments on the future of the music business from the Stones' Keith Richards. Now, here's a detailed Fortune report on the business side of the Stones -- Keith and Mick seem to know what they're doing and may not be all that concerned about the future -- the Stones have ground out $1.5 billion (yes, that's a 'b') in gross revenue since 1989."
SOMEBODY out there in /. land has to have a logical correlation rant on how the Stones are evil because they came into all their new billions by becoming Microsoft's little bitch for the 'Start' me up campaign.
I hate to bite on a troll, but as quite a few people might think this way, I don't think this article is saying the Stones are evil because they make money - I think it's saying just the opposite in fact. It is that they have a decent busines model, unlike most of the music industry these days, and I think the point of this article is to point towards it as an example others should follow.
.. who was a "drugged-out, late-teens strip-club owner from Ottawa". He offered $40 million to the band, all of which he didn't have.
..and he got away with it by introducing corporate sponsorship and cross-promotion to their gigs. I'm sure there must've been some strip-club/Stones cross-promotion going on as well ;)
Sounds like a smart business plan to me!
Ladies, form queue here -->
For the biologists here, is it possible for someone to spontaneously mummify?
and get this little tidbit
So, too, does Prince Rupert Zu Loewenstein, a London-based banker who carries an old Bavarian title and who's been the band's chief business advisor for some 30 years--"and I hope for another 30 too," he says.
They have a bavarian Prince named Loewenstein? Is that a normal Bavarian royal surname?
Since TLD's are apparently being handed out by economic impact (see yesterdays article regarding whois) they'll have to have a new RS set!
--Computers... just a fad. You'll see
Bill Gates would never have written a teenage anthem as definitive and sacramental as "Satisfaction" anyways
</. >>
;^D Here goes...
;^)
:)
:)
:) Then we can smoke his ashes! (to quote Dennis Leary)
Ah, the future of the music-industry, from the mouth of the dinosaurs of the music-industry (:-)
<<grins, ducks and runs>>
<<peers at 15^H^H36 previous posts..>>
uh-huh...rrright - I'd better write something relevant
<rant & rave>
Well, firstly thats a pretty interesting article...it confirms something that I've been wondering about for a while now; the Rollings Stones haven't had any big hits for quite some time now.
I doubt any of us will ever become rock'n roll legends...(software/internet legends? Phah, thats easy
but I have to wonder how much of that $1.5 Billion
GROSS revenue actually went to each of the rolling-stones after tax, expenses, etc etc etc.
There's a lot of numbers being thrown around in that article...but no specifics...all GROSS figures...hmmm. <<secretly wonders how many pages Mick Jaggers end-of-year tax-statement fills>>
It occurs to me that software has a lot in common with rock'n roll songs:
They are 100% creativity, they are created from nothing. (hey, sold on CD's as well
However, the shelf-life of a given song is near infinite, once a succesfull song is released, you can sit back and let the money roll in. (Making sure you move from country to country to avoid the taxman/taxlaw >:)
On the other hand, the shelf-life for software is ridiculously short though - games are a prime example.(ok ok that doesn't work for (most) open-source software..i think
Maybe I should've become a rock-star after all...
</rant & rave>
To quote from the article:
"How long can we go on?" asks Keith. "Forever. We'll let you know when we keel over."
That sums it up nicely
Moral: Kids, stop trying to get on reality TV and go to economics classes.
(This is just a plug for my new single, Smack up ma CEO of a Fortune 500 company)
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
Essentially the message of the article is this: you can't ignore the business side of things unless you want to end up penniless and eternally controlled by the suits.
If you sum up their ages, it comes in right around 134. They are (probably) not burning through other peoples money like some pet food dot com. They've made their billion, married their super models, and pretty much out lived everybody else in their industry. The future they concerned with is propably not a get rich quick scheme -- that probably doesn't matter any more.
Now Mick, feel free to send those comp tickets to the enclosed address.....
Anybody can work under ideal circumstances. -- Jeff K. (January 4, 2001)
Turned out to be the latest trends
And ther ain't no more progressive music
The business has put it to an end
Ol' "Rolling Stone" has gathered some moss
No they ain't what they used to be
They try to look like "Look" with their political pages
And advertising all over T.V.
So na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
I bet you've heard this song before
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
Take your cocaine and hit the door.
- "Cheap Shot" John Mellencamp, 1980.
A penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
A Penny for my thoughts? Here's my two cents. I got ripped off!
$1.5 billion? Son of a bitch!
Mick, I will NO LONGER TOLERATE hearing you talk about not getting any satisfaction.
Well.....Mick *did* attend the London School of Economics.
http://www.mick-jagger.com/bio.htm
"Whenever the cause of the people is entrusted to professors, it is lost." ~ V.I. Lenin
...that Rock And Roll's most active senior citizens (they're STILL touring?!?)are the first major act to try and take the online music plunge? Isn't it kind of weird that Keith Richards (who's senior class includes Moses, the Sphinx, and Strom Thurmond) is explaining an online music business model? As a long-time Stones fan, I hope it works out for them and other artists follow suit.
Speaking of Keith, where do I sign up to get some of that man's blood?
Wild. One of the oldest active bands trying out the semi-latest technology/business ideas. Sorry Alanis, but it is a little too ironic. Yeah, I really do think...
Blog Prophyts - Right On, Man
1) Sing
2) ???
3) Profit!
At least someones got it right...
Sparks:Gadget:Beer Maker
They have a bavarian Prince named Loewenstein? Is that a normal Bavarian royal surname?
Yes, see The History of the royal house of bavaria for information about this family.
That much money must involve Sympathy for the Devil ;-)
Of course, it wasn't just the taxman's pinch that forced the Rolling Stones to focus on the bottom line. They also got screwed by record labels. "In the early days you got paid absolutely nothing," recalls Jagger. "The only people who earned money were the Beatles because they sold so many records."
By the mid-'60s the Stones had reportedly sold ten million singles, including "Satisfaction," and five million albums, but the band was still living hand to mouth. "I'll never forget the deals I did in the '60s, which were just terrible," says Jagger. "You say, 'Oh, I'm a creative person, I won't worry about this.' But that just doesn't work. Because everyone would just steal every penny you've got."
Woopty Doo Basil, what does it all mean?!
Interesting article, not least for the information that Charlie is involved in the merchandising side of the operation - not that it's a particularly big earner, but it's an indication that the original founding Stones like to keep things in the family, so to speak.
Just one point: the article didn't mention it, but the Stones (and the Beatles, and The Who, and Bob Dylan, and... ) hit the top in the mid to late '60s when the trailing edge of the post-WW2 baby-boom had reached adolesence, which hasn't harmed the longevity of the respective brands... Keith Richards once remarked apropos his love for R&B, that people tend to remain attached to the music that was popular at the time of their first significant interpersonal relationship.
Well, he may have put it a little more pithily than that, but you get the idea.
No mention in a Slashdot article of the Stones' stance on P2P and file 'sharing' ??? Sounds to me like, as astute businessmen and musicians, their opinions would be highly relevant.
He wasn't there for very long (less than 2 years, IIRC) and didn't do all the much even when he was there (lots of gigging, etc)
creation science book
And because the business is built so closely around him and his close associates, his position is rather secure.
All those paparazzi must play hell with any exit strategy, though... unless he takes the Brian Jones route?
deus does not exist but if he does
I'm sure Mick would be the first to say "Nothing in life is 'FreeJack', you gotta work for it".
(Heh, could not resist the movie ref, I just got the DVD a few weeks ago for $6 )
Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
If you're still selling out shows it isn't time to quit. Their new song is great, I could care less if Keith Richards looks old. I don't listen to music or go to concerts to LOOK at the men. Maybe you would prefer the Backstreet Boys?
page 2.
Keith, for his part, just shakes his head: "It's a mom-and-pop operation," he laughs. "Mick is the mom, and I'm the pop, and then we have these offspring that need feeding."
Perhaps Keith sums it up best: "With our business, who really knows what's what. You go and look at Lake Superior, and you say, 'Look at all that water, and that's just the top!' "
I'd go on, but they're much funnier in context, so go read the article.
Arrogance is Confidence which lacks integrity. -- me
Why is everyone so surprised that Jagger and co. are interested in business? After all don't rock stars want to be "*Rich* and Famous". And like most things in life it helps to be talented *and* hardworking.
There was a cool profile of Puff Daddy in a recent New Yorker in which it was revealed that he spends more time at the office than in clubs. But no one ever made it in the hip hop world by shouting about how they are a suburban catholic school educated grind.
Read Epic the first RPG novel.
This could go on for a long time. Elvis dead makes more money than Elvis did living.
nuf
http://rareformnewmedia.com/
I know its a troll but wtf, its sunday. Its only illegal drug profits that go towards terrorism [unless you include taxes which support a fair bit, but thats another issue]. Solution is obvious: legalize all drugs.
http://rareformnewmedia.com/
"We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
Duhhh.....Popular music is fundamentally a business like any other economic activity. You deliver the value,product or service..if you like it...you pay for it. If no one buys it does not continue to get created/produced...Pretty basic..Though it took dot.com owners 4 years and billions of wasted dollars to figure that out(ie, software solutions looking for problems to solve)
'89. Their first, maybe second, farewell tour. That is, they've booked a bil and a half since they *quit* touring. And they still suck.
illegitimii non ingravare
Not to mention his facial reconstruction - he's a completely different man - I'm surprised we haven't seen conspiracy theories telling how Mick got jack of Keef and offed him years ago, replacing him with a more flexible, but less talented musician. 'Cept they've been dissapointing since about 1975 and Keef got the new jaw in the 80's sometime I think.
Erratically brilliant or brilliantly erratic, I just haven't figured out which yet!