When EMI Records was purchased last year by a UK based equity firm, Terra Firma Parnters, it caused a bit of a stir when its Chairman Guy Hands made some rather unflattering assessments of where he thought the company’s prospects were in this new digital age and what value they added to the equation for both artists and consumers alike. At the time, I thought nothing of it and figured he was just another music biz wannabe with a nice pinstripe suit and some fancy powerpoint presentations who wanted to polish up the old turd and sell it to somebody for a tidy little profit and be on his way. But, I recently read through the whole text of his letter to his employees which I thought was very interesting and in many ways right on target (http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/10/full-text-of-le.html). If you’ve not seen it you should check it out.
In any event, the topic came up at my recent visit to USC’s Thornton School of Music and I’ve posted a little clip of the discussion here on our little blog. Whether you are an artist, record label employee (current or former), or just a fan of music I’d love to hear your comments.
Interesting views from the video. I agree with you 100% on the 360 deal. Especially for new artists. Someone like Jay-Z or Madonna however, they know what their potential is, they’ve been there, they’ve sold the millions of albums and t-shirts, so for them they can strategically structure the 360 deal to benefit them in the longevity of the contract.
What my question is, is what do you see for the future of digital distribution? The FREE platform (spiralfrog, WE7, etc.) hasn’t been taking off like everyone thought. I know it’s not DRM-Free, however what do you see happening here? I work for Indistr.com, and we’re offering the best possible features for independent artists, but it doesn’t matter because iTunes is ruling the digital market.
We know the reports of this week, with the RIAA stating that 23% of the revenues brought in were digital, but do you see this number continuing to grow?
Thanks for your thoughts and time Steve,
Kevin Hockin
http://www.indistr.com
I think that digital distribution will continue to grow. How could it not? That said, if digital distribution is available to everyone then the issue of separating yourself from the crowd becomes all important. That takes money and committment which is what the labels have provided for years. Who will provide that money and at what cost? And as I’ve said before I think the impact of the distribution logjam affects new and undiscovered artists more than the more established artists.