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MTV: 2007 Borked the Music Industry
Sockatume writes "MTV thinks 2007 was the year the music industry broke, and provides a hefty pile of examples to justify it. Unsurprisingly, most of them revolve around the collapse of CD sales and the rise of digital distribution (authorised and otherwise). Be advised that many of the examples are the continuations or repercussions of old favourites (RIAA suits, the Sony rootkit fiasco)."
MTV: 2007 Borked the Music Industry
Ah, so that explains the hit song, "drup it like it's hut".
"Vhen my peemps in zee crib, mun: drup it like it's hut! Sveedeesh Cheff be peempin on 4-fo's!"
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Just like in 1979, eh?
At night I drink myself to sleep and pretend I don't care that you're not here with me
remember when MTV actually played music videos? don't they think that MIGHT have helped with the sale of music? and maybe the fact they now only play inane reality tv shows might have SOMETHING to do with the fact that music sales have dropped?
nature loves variety::society hates it get your variety at http://www.monkeypantz.net
The other day, someone commissioned me to do some data recovery on a hard drive with more than $700 in iTunes on it (no backup, of course).
Generally, I do my best to avert my eyes during transfer of customer data but this was a little more involved and I had to verify the integrity of many of the files. With the customer's permission, I played a lot of the music and suddenly began to feel very old: I hadn't previously heard of most of the artists/songs that were recovered.
I'm glad to see that the kids aren't taking the radio monopoly. In my day, we didn't have these mechanisms to stick it to The Man (not that there isn't a problem with having all these files locked up in DRM...)
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Why should MTV care about the music studios? Sure, I, too, remember the time when the M in MTV was for MUSIC, but it's not their biz to keep the dying studios afloat. I mean, would you tie yourself to a sinking ship?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
...with the occasional landslide. A bit like the glaciers melting.
The music industry's old business model is outdated. Yeah, I know, if there was a "deadhorse" mod option I'd be modded into oblivion now, but maybe if we keep telling them long enough, they will finally listen.
Now, I don't want the MI to die. No, really. I don't want them to go keel up and drown. Yes, we'd still find a way to get our music through the internet, we'd go to artist pages, pay them directly and download our songs. But what about those people who don't have the net? Music is part of our life, would you really want them to do without?
Not that I'd miss American Idol nonreturnable stars, hyped today, forgotten tomorrow, but people want them and want those songs, they want those shallow, hollow feelgood crap. Who am I to dictate they should listen to good music?
So what the MI needs to find, and soon, is some other revenue stream. Personally, I could well see them turn from distributors to marketing assistants. They have excellent connections to TV and radio, so why not become the marketing and PR people for artists who think they can't market themselves?
Yes, that's probably less profitable than the current way. But this way is leading into a dead end, and the longer you run on it, and the faster you do, the more it hurts when you hit the wall at its end.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Nowadays, most of those functions can be bought-in by the artist themselves. Record companies are now recognised as a barrier rather than the "necessary evil" they once were.
If their demise means more poeple start producing music, themselves, then good luck. As always, some will suceed and some will fail. However the failures will only fail because of their own shortcomings, rather than industry politics, greed, marketing and (lack of) promotion.
If there's anything us normal people can do to help bury the record companies, just let us know
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Either you learn to evolve and thrive or you die naked cold and alone.
They've resisted the changes because the money's so good. Even when it's still as bad as they claim it to be, there's still a lot of execs and Producers and underlings driving BMW's.
It's no longer the 70's and they can't sit in the back room snorting blow and not expect everything outside of their little party to have changed.
They should have backed iTunes more vigirously instead of having to be hauled into the 21st century like a 2-year old that doesn't want to go to bed. They should have backed a DRMless format. They should have coupled with a tech source to make the benefits of an offering where the DRM would be acceptable to the listener. The should have comprehended that the entertainment dollar is now split between them and video games and the internet and everything else.
Ok, I make my fair share of spelling errors in my posts, too. But shouldn't the editors... ummm edit?
Any guest worker system is indistinguishable from indentured servitude.
Exactly.
My company has an informal motto, Adapt or Die. Every 5 years or so we change directions slightly to keep competitive. Mainframe Service -> Sun Service -> Unix Development -> Application Programming no matter what the OS is -> Who know what will be next IT Project Management, Infrastructure Support... But the point is when technology changes so do we, When we feel that the area we are specialized in is dieing or we cant be competitive in then we move to a new area based on what we are good at to a new one that we have skill set to compete in and have potential to be really good at.
The Radio Industry needs to do the same. What happened in the past 10 years or so is technology improved to a point where Music can be shared in perfect condition. In the when Copy Analog to Analog there is a drop in the quality, and every other copy will in turn be worse copy. So from Beginning to Early CD (When most people harddrives were not large enough to cary the information, and they havn't found a way to personally burn your own CD Cheaply) and Music Pirates were limited to rather big operations (At lest the size of a small company) so They could Fight them off and the Fines for Copyright infringement was just. But now technology makes it too easy to copy music, and people want to share music. The industry is holding onto the old ways of doing things... And the need for them in their fashion all may be outdated in a few years, where higher quality Audio recording technology improving and the current High Quality Stuff is dropping, and getting easier to use... So people can make their own high quality music themselves with the Radio Companies Now Musicians will actually need to make their money the old fashion ways Traveling to different locations and sing, and royalties on public/commercial performances of the song. Yes they may not be huge millionaires unless they are cream of the crop, but it is back to the people to decide what they like and dislike.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
If the major-labels and entertainment conglomerates were to disappear tomorrow, radios would still be everywhere, including (especially) in the homes of the poorest. Instead of playing the latest hits from Britney Spears, broadcasters might have to find the music of local artists to play (or get their music from the Internet). There's no way that will provide enough revenue to support the incredibly top-heavy structure of the current entertainment industry. It would be better if they just started looking for real jobs.
You are welcome on my lawn.
If, in '98, the recording industry had worked with pioneers such as Napster, rather than trying to close pandoras box after everything had fled, this would be a very different story. Rather than utilizing the internet for promotion and a sales channel, using the net to drive forward disk sales and band tours, they opted to try and hammer it down. Fear of the unknown, and fear of lack of control remains their sole cause for this. I'd pity them, and their eventual extinction. It is evolve or die time, for the RIAA and soon the MPAA, and neither one looks willing to accept the evolution, baby.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
It's alright, many of the /. readers today don't really know the term "Borked" and those that come up and post to say they do will have run to Wikipedia first to find out what it means.
On a side note: Many of the things that /.er's complain about the government gettting mixed up in would have been slammed hard by Robert Bork. If he were on the court today he'd be telling Bush and Congress that neither have the authority to do a lot of what they have done.
I think the use of the term "Borked" in the headline is misguided, though. The story doesn't fit the meaning. Again, another symptom of people who don't really know it, its just a fun word they heard and were looking for a reason to use it.
Kids, these days.
Now, get off my lawn!
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
It's not simple, but it's straightforward.
1. SUPPORT LOCAL MUSIC. Go to concerts/pubs/etc., buy self-produced CDs.
2. Buy from non-label-affiliated, artist-friendly Web sites, not fronted by megacorps. Google is your friend here, even if you're not buying from them.
3. When permitted by the artist or by "fair use" in your jurisdiction, share samples with friends or play a few tracks you're partial to for them. Word of mouth has been the greatest aid to supporting musicians since music was invented.
4. Write to your local radio station (in the US, undoubtedly ClearChannel, alas), as well as to their advertisers. Tell them that you support independent music, and won't be buying overpriced Big Label CDs any more. ClearChannel might not notice, but chances are much better that your local grocery chain or even some non-music-industry large advertisers *will* make adjustments if they've got a couple of thousand unique letters and emails coming in every week.
5. Listen to and support independent Internet radio stations. Their costs are going up way beyond orbital, thanks to the megacorps and the Bush-league "Copyright Royalty Board". While you're at it,
Yes, it means we, the fans (customers), have to put in some effort. We're going to have to break old buying habits, and actually pay attention. That's the price of living in a world where you're a customer, not just a consumer. Remember the famous quote by Jerry Michalski: a consumer is "a gullet whose only purpose in life is to gulp products and crap cash." We can do better than that. If we're going to move beyond being told what to listen to, what to think, by the megacorps, we HAVE to do better than that. visit http://www.savenetradio.org/ and stay informed. Fellow Americans, write (not email) your Senators and Congressperson to remind them that you care about this - and when they vote for bills like the Internet Radio Equality Act, write them thank-you notes. Congressional staff *notice* when a few hundred (or thousand) non-fill-in-the-blank letters come in on an issue... that's votes talking.
Remember, the megacorps are counting on the likelihood that you won't do anything, that you'll just continue to "crap cash" on schedule - THEIR schedule. They're counting on the "I'm too busy" or "I'm only one person" naysayers to tamp down enthusiasm, and let them carry the day.
You are personally, individually, solely responsible for the world around you. If you don't like the way things are being done, get involved. This is one relatively easy, open, effective way to start.
Some of the stuff in the article had nothing to do with piracy, even though that's the implication: * Kelly Clarkson's album was BAD. Terrible. * Jordin Sparks is NOT talented. * Radiohead ignores the fact that one would imagine that even if their album sucks, alot of people would still get it for free. People have a higher tolerance of crap when it's free. * Island Def Jam's layoffs are likely a result of the slower economy. The record execs are one of the last groups that still piss money away on excess. * How did the Madonna deal have anything to do with music? Does she even sing anymore? * Yeah, gg music dude. "The music industry has no technologists." It's only been 8 years now, you might wanna consider that. That's like saying you company doesn't believe in telephones, or thinks that taking pictures of the artists will steal their souls. In fact, the entire music industry needs to get with the times. * Nine Inch Nails is still around? Huh. Music has stagnated, the fanbase has risen against that crap that they shove down our throats. It's funny, because country music is bigger than it's been in years--- the genre has evolved where teeny-bopper pop and "rock" music have failed to do so.
No portion of this post may be rebroadcast without the express, written consent of Major League Baseball.
...with the occasional landslide. A bit like the glaciers melting.
Global warming is killing the RIAA? Yay global warming!
if there was a "deadhorse" mod option I'd be modded into oblivion
Naw, this is slashdot. +5, dead horse
But what about those people who don't have the net?
The only one I know not on the internet is my 76 year old dad, and he hasn't been a music fan since they stopped playing Willie Nelson on the radio. You might as well ask "what about those people who don't have radios".
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
Who cares what MTV thinks, thanks to themselves they have long ceased to be relevant. These are the people who deluded themselves into thinking they can define the trends and along with the music industry inflated their egos on short sighted thinking. Now they are struggling to be relevant. The net has changed the game, MTV and other music channels can no longer create talentless and manufactured hits. I guess thats good for music.
Heh, I feel you.
Sometimes I think, if new music and movies stopped being created today, but I could legally download all movies and video ever created prior to today, would I care that no more new content is being created?
I don't think so.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
I find it strange coming from the company that originally built itself on new and interesting music. Who later killed off Yo! MTV Raps & Headbangers Ball, Barely reports any music news, turned it's main station into Reality TV Central, shuffled all it's music to MTV2 and then started cutting videos from there as well, ignores most independent artists and panders to crass commercialism & manufactured pop-music giants. Seriously... maybe they had a small role in killing music buy changing it from an artform to a cheap plastic commodity.
Deltron 3030 - Virus (music video)
There is still a lot of money to be made.
But they have made the "official" channels very painful in their lust for the last dime of profit.
For example, this morning during my 25 minute drive to work, one of the radio stations never had a song on. I kept switching to it because I like the style of music but never got a song. They wanted money so much that I ended up not listening to any adds for more than the 3 seconds to determine.. yup.. still no songs. If I could count on 30 seconds of ads and then another good song- I might actually stay through the ad. but once the ads start, I know it will be a few minutes so I skip on over to other radio stations.
Same thing for TV. We've gone from 8 minutes of ads to 20 minutes (some times 22 minutes) of ads per hour. And we can skip the ads by touching a button. They have to be insane to think we are watching the ads. Sell fewer ads for more money. Have shorter ad blocks so we won't leave.
The music industry has a great potential for a lot of people to make six figure salaries. But that's not good enough for them. So they keep pushing until it becomes so unpleasant that we go elsewhere.
I can easily spend an evening on YouTube or watching DVD's (Mission impossible season 2 for christmas so another 20 hours there without commercials).
If they are the most expensive entertainment possibility, they are the most likely to be cut.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
And even when younger people listen to older music, they HEAR it differently. When I listened to Black Sabbath in the 80's, I wasn't hearing Vietnam protest music (like my uncle heard it). And when a kid listens to MY stuff today, he hears it as "classic metal" (not the way I hear it).
No one likes to think of themselves as out of touch and no longer young and hip. But it eventually happens to us all. Trying to fight it only makes you look pathetic (think Warren Beatty trying to rap in "Bullworth").
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I call what you're talking about the "Radio Shack" effect.
Many years ago (probably before most of you were even born), Radio Shack used to employ salesmen who actually knew about electronics. They could read a resistor color code, they could solder; heck when you brought in something to repair (from the "REALISTIC" brand), they would actually fix it in the store. As you might expect, this type of help commanded more than minimum wage.
Some president of Tandy said "Gee, why am I paying so much for sales help. I could offer high-school kids minimum wage and save $millions this year!" which was true, but also eliminated a lot of reason people went to radio shack. So they fired the guys who could actually help you, and hired kids who could find the battery section if you helped them.
So here's where the "Radio Shack Effect" starts... You have customers coming in looking for expert help that is now gone. It takes customers a while to catch on fully, and so over the next 6-36 months, customers don't come back. You're reduced the reason for people coming into the store for parts.. But not before the CEO just added to the bottom line of year 1. Never mind that years 2->forever will have negative growth... that's the next CEO's job to worry about.
And by the way... for some unknown reason, Radio Shack could no longer sell electronics parts. Funny how that worked. So they got rid of the parts, too. I went in the other day looking for fuses; they only had a handful and suggested I go to "Home Depot". Ouch. Tell me again why people go to Radio Shack these days?
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you