-
It's Not The End Of The World As We Know It
September 19, 2008
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."
-- Apple's Steve JobsWell, it seems Wall Street now has something in common with the music business. It is sorely in need of a new model. If ever there was a need for innovation in overhauling economic models on a global scale, it's right here, right now.
Maybe all those Wall Street analysts who have been so slamming the music business so hard in the media for the past several years, will now turn their attention to more important matters. Survival.
Based on all the sound bytes on every cable news channel, it seems that the people most surprised by the market meltdown and credit crunch, which is now rippling through our economy, are our politicians. Every economist and financial analyst talking or being interviewed is saying, "I told you so" or "We warned you." And in fact, many did.
For the past few years now there were warning signs all over the place. Did anybody ask themselves how people were buying houses they couldn't afford with zero money down? When the homes went up in value, people took the equity out and bought themselves new cars, expensive vacations, swimming pools and more.
Of cours,e we now know (if you couldn't figure it all out some time ago) it was all a big fairy tale that went terribly wrong.
There's enough blame to go around for a long, long time. But pointing fingers won't help create solutions so something like this will never happen again. Although in reality, it could never happen again because all the "play money" the banks were lending is all gone. Forever.
It's time for real leaders in economics and global monetary systems to sit down and innovate.
And innovation can lead to great things.
Innovation. It's what brought Apple back from the dead. Like the Phoenix, Apple rose out of the ashes when the world was being ruled by IBM/Microsoft desktops. A lot of people thought Apple, once the most-respected computer company, would simply become the niche manufacturer of great MAC computers for the media industries, or simply go out of business. MACs always ruled in media companies, and they still do. Almost every magazine you read is laid out on MACs. Almost every film you see that uses CGI (computer-generated imagery) for special effects is done on MACs. And many artists use MACs in their home studios when they record.
If there is any company that has demonstrated how cross-pollination of brand marketing can lead to success better than Apple, I'm not aware of it. Apple has utilized cross-pollination by innovating and developing new products that fit the company's vertical integration profile better than anybody.
Nothing, of course, has done more to extend Apple's brand than the iPod. With sales of over 180 million in just seven years, it is one of the most successful products ever launched. The iPod became the portable music player for almost everyone on the planet, and along the way it drove sales at iTunes to over five billion songs sold and still counting. (And again, that means five billion less stolen)
Now, it seems an awful lot of those young people that bought iPods are now bringing Apple more success with a different product line. This week, reports showed that Apple's U.S. laptop market share hit double digits for the first time, leaping from 6.6 percent market share in Q2 2007 to 10.6 percent market share in Q2 2008. That puts it in fourth place behind Acer (14.4 per cent), HP (21.4 per cent) and Dell (21.9 per cent). (Source: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/18/notebook_sales_q2_08 )
Yes, it's only the laptop market, but as more and more of the market shifts to portables this is certainly good news for Apple. As more people use Apple laptops with great satisfaction, they will be more inclined to purchase Apple desktops (and other products) later on as well.
It's a jungle out there in the tech world, and everywhere else it seems right now in this economy.
Apple's continued success should be a bright shining example of how innovation and hard work are what separates the winners from the losers.
It's NOT the end of world as we know it. It's the end of Wall Street as we've known it.
What Wall Street needs now is their own Steve Jobs.
Here's hoping he comes along right quick.
Quote of the Week #1...
In light of what happened this past week on Wall Street and the financial markets worldwide, I felt this quite appropriate:
"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars. One-third of that comes from hard work, two-thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market. Money itself isn't lost or made, it's simply transferred from one perception to another."
-- Michael Douglas as billionaire trader Gordon Gecko, in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street."
Quote of the Week #2...
"I truly believe that people like myself, who are in a position of entertainers in the limelight, should keep their mouth shut on politics. Because at the end of the day, let me tell you what I 'm good at: I'm good at writing songs and singing. What I'm not educated in is the field of political science. So for me to be sharing my views and influencing people of who I think they should be voting for ... I think would be very irresponsible on my part. So I'll just keep my mouth shut on that. I think celebrity endorsements hurt politicians. Because as soon as somebody comes out for a politician, especially in Hollywood, when they all go, 'I'm voting for this guy!' -- I go, "That's not who I'm voting for!" ... As soon as Oprah Winfrey pops up and goes 'Ha-la-la-la-la,' I'm like, 'I love Barrack Obama. I hate Oprah Winfrey.' I don't hate her. I just don't believe in her, so I don't want any part of any of that. I think celebrities hurt politicians."
-- Kid Rock to CMT Insider
And Now This...
The BIG news everywhere in the industry this week is the imminent launch of MySpace Music.
I encourage all readers to read the first two news stories below. We're going to be seeing a whole lot of reporting about this venture, and if it's as successful as they hope, it can radically alter the future of the music business online.
Can MySpace Save the Major Music Labels?
Record companies are counting on their new deal with MySpace Music to help make up for declining CD salesIn a small Atlantic Records Group studio in New York, rapper Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr. leans into a silver microphone. "It's the T.I.P. man, the king himself," he says. "Dig this." There's no music on this recording, though, no rhyming lyrics. The Atlanta artist simply talks in his Southern drawl, creating an audio clip that will be posted on his website and others across the online universe. The clip and more like it are designed to pull in fans --and generate revenues from advertising on the sites.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Can Advertisers Save Music?
Advertising AgeCan advertisers underwrite the music industry? That is the $2 billion question facing MySpace Music, as News Corp. and three of the four major record labels prepare to launch their new joint venture later this month. They've certainly lined up some major advertisers for launch, including McDonald's, State Farm and Toyota.
Ad-supported music ventures have flopped in the past, most notably Napster, Qtrax and SpiralFrog. These companies have failed to generate a large enough audience to effectively sell advertising against. The difference is MySpace Music comes with a built-in audience of 100 million-plus (though in truth, only about 35 million regularly use MySpace Music).
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Next Showcase For New Music? YouTube
When Ludacris' manager wanted to create buzz for his client's upcoming CD, he went directly to YouTube.com. But instead of releasing a flashy video for Ludacris' song, "Let's Stay Together," Chaka Zulu just uploaded the track directly to the site with a just picture of the rapper as accompaniment.
Though YouTube is known as the Internet's greatest video warehouse, it's becoming known as the place to find new music, no video needed. Put in the name of your favorite artist and there's chance that besides an assortment of their videos, you'll find a song with perhaps just a picture or a montage of photos to accompany it -- and it still gets thousands of views.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Group Invokes Play Anywhere Content Standard
BusinessWeekA group of Hollywood content providers are teaming up to develop a standard that lets consumers play their purchased movies and other digital content on any device that has a Web connection. Members of the consortium, called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, have been working since May to create rules for the new standard. "No matter where you are in the world, if you previously purchased 'Spider-Man 3,' you should be able to access 'Spider-Man' and stream it," said Mitch Singer, the group's president. The consortium's members include Philips Electronics, Toshiba, HP, Cisco and all the major Hollywood studios. The idea here is to create a virtual library, or "rights locker," for consumers that exists in the cloud and can be accessed anywhere. Similar to Apple's iTunes approach, consumers would have to register the devices on which they want to play content, though with fewer restrictions.
Read more about it by clicking here.
PC Magazine Review: A Tune-Up for iTunes
Apple continues to polish its core media app, taking a page out of Pandora's playbook with its Genius custom playlist generation. PC Magzine would like to see a music subscription service option, and Genius could use some work. But iTunes is still a terrific music service, particularly for the video-inclined. Find out more about this latest iteration in their in-depth review.
Read more about it by clicking here.
One Big Thing Zune Did Right
Microsoft may have catching up to do when it comes to digital music, but company deserves plaudits for making new features work with every Zune ever made.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Social Networking Now The Top Search Category
ReutersIn his new book, "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters," Hitwise General Manager of Global Research Bill Tancer reveals that social networking sites are the Internet's biggest attraction, surpassing pornography and underscoring a seismic shift in the way people communicate. "There are some patterns to our Internet use that we tend to repeat very specifically and predictably, from diet searches, to prom dresses, to what we do around the holidays," Tancer told Reuters. He conducted his research by analyzing consumers' searching habits
Read more about it by clicking here.
FILLMORE FILM
The 1972 documentary "Fillmore: The Last Days" will make its DVD debut on November 11th. The film -- featuring performances by the Grateful Dead, Santana and Jefferson Airplane -- showcases the final five days of San Francisco's Fillmore West.
BEATLE FILM
Apple Corps Ltd./Cirque du Soleil have confirmed an October 20th release of the feature-length documentary "All Together Now" on DVD, which will be marketed and distributed worldwide by EMI Music. The documentary details the story behind the unique partnership between The Beatles and Cirque du Soleil that resulted in the creation and 2006 launch of LOVE, the stage production at The Mirage in Las Vegas, and the experimental Beatles soundscape album of the same name which garnered two Grammy Awards for producers Sir George and Giles Martin. The film is dedicated to the memory of Neil Aspinall, former CEO of Apple Corps and an Executive Producer of the DVD. You can watch two great trailers here: http://beatles.com/core/love/documentary/clips.
GUITAR HERO NEWS
"Guitar Hero World Tour," which will hits stores on October 26th, marks a giant leap forward for the franchise that jumpstarted the music game craze, featuring a drum kit and microphone, but also a new guitar design and the ability to build your own tracks in a virtual studio. Classics like Michael Jackson's "Beat It," Jimi Hendrix's "The Wind Cries Mary", and Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" will be part of the new game, along with newer hits as well.
DYLAN POETRY
A pair of poems written by Bob Dylan have been published in The New Yorker magazine. The poems were penned by Dylan in an era closer to"'The Times They Are A-Changin" than "Modern Times." They will be featured in the upcoming book "Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric: The Lost Manuscript."
BEST BUY NAPSTER
Best Buy is buying Napster-and picking up its 700k subscribers for $121 million, including $67 million in cash and short-term investments on Napster's books.
WHO? THE WHO
The Who will release a new double-DVD," The Who: At Kilburn 1977" on November 18th. The Kilburn show will be backed with an additional 1969 London concert, featuring the band's "Tommy" played in its entirety for the first time.
LILY NEWS
Lily Allen will release her second album on February 9th, 2009. The album will reportedly be called "Stuck."
MTV "TRL" GOES BYE-BYE FOR NOW
MTV's 'Total Request Live' will leave the air after 10 years. Dave Sirulnick, executive producer of the show, says it will conclude in November, but insists it isn't ending for good.
GEORGIA ON HIS MIND ... NO, NOT THAT ONE
Bryan Adams will head to war-ravaged Georgia (the country, not the state) for a free concert The show, dubbed "Peace, Freedom and Democracy for Georgia," takes place this Friday, September 19th.
SIMON SEZ
With four judges now manning the desk on "American Idol," Simon Cowell will have the deciding vote on who goes to Hollywood, Paula Abdul says.
EMI'S MY SPACE
Sources say that EMI is close to closing their deal with MySpace Music An agreement would mean MySpace's new music service would launch with all four of the major recording companies.
TOM JONES DOES BRUCE
Tom Jones will release his first U.S. album of new material in 15 years, "24 Hours," on November 25th. The album will also feature Jones covering Bruce Springsteen's "Devils & Dust" cut, "The Hitter," as well as covers of songs by Tommy James & the Shondells, Pumali Panthers and Carla Thomas.
MAMA EMINEM
Eminem's mother Debbie Nelson will release her memoir, "My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem," in November. The book contains her side of the stories allegedly found in some of Eminem's songs.
PASSING
Pink Floyd founding member Richard Wright has died. He was 65. Richard Wright met Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and Nick Mason at college and joined their early band Sigma 6. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour has taken to his website to remember the band's keyboardist: "No one can replace Richard Wright. He was my musical partner and my friend," Gilmour said.
PASSING
Norman Whitfield, 67, the legendary songwriter and producer who helped guide the Motown Sound into "psychedelic soul," passed away in L.A. earlier this week after developing complications from diabetes.
Quotes of the week
"I was approached by different groups and political bodies who asked me not to come here. I refused. I do what I think, and I have many friends who support Israel."
-- Paul McCartney, in an interview explaining that despite demands from pro-Palestinian groups to cancel his return concert in Israel, he promises Israeli fans he'll go on with his September 25th concert in Tel Aviv."I feel there must be an enormous amount of really talented songwritgers out there who can't sing, so, please, send me your songs."
-- Roger Daltry, in Rolling Stone, saying he thinks he's got one More solo album in him."I can't help myself."
-- Pamela Anderson, expressing her penchant for wearing a bikini, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Nope, you can't help doing anything for the exposure can you Pam? Maybe it's time for another Internet porn video with Tommy again, ratings on your E! show aren't that great."Who knew John McCain and I would have something in common? We both chose female running mates."
-- Ellen DeGeneres, comparing wife Portia de Rossi and McCain's Vice President nominee pick Sarah Palin, on the season return of her talk show."I said, 'Am I a jukebox or something?'"
-- Jennifer Hudson, recalling her response to the many requests to sing during the filming of her new movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," to PEOPLE. Easy, girl. Diva is a four-letter word."The Pope was furious and said: 'I specifically requested "Material Girl".'"
-- Conan O'Brien, joking about Madonna's dedication of 'Like a Virgin' to the pontiff, on Late Night."Someone, who can only be described as a 'Canadian,' was able to get onstage, somehow managed to evade our crack security team (Trotters Independent Security Service) and assaulted my midriff."
-- Oasis front man Noel Gallagher, on being attacked onstage during a performance with brother Liam at the Virgin Festival in Toronto, on his band's blog
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Woman Always Really Excited To Be In Whatever Relationship Status She's Currently In
KINGSPORT, TN-Just six months after claiming she was ecstatic about moving in with her boyfriend, and a mere eight weeks after announcing that she "couldn't be happier" with their decision to take a brief time apart, administrative assistant Ann Castlen, 26, told friends Monday that she was absolutely thrilled to be single.
"Free at last!" Castlen said, nearly a year to the day after she informed several coworkers that she was emotionally ready to settle down and have children. "It's like this giant weight has been lifted off me and I can finally breathe. I'm just going to enjoy this time alone and do all those things I was dying to do when I was bogged down with [ex-boyfriend] Brandon [Weiter]."
Read the rest here and laugh: http://tinyurl.com/5sx9fo.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
Box Office
Check The Daily & Weekly Box Office (and more film info) at: www.boxofficemojo.com.
TinyURL
Check out www.tinyurl.com where you can make a smaller URL that will work for any webpage you wish to link to or reference. (As you can see, I'm using it in my news stories above!)
-
-