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Some People Get It, Some Don't - Part 2
November 2, 2007
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"Something is happening, but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?"
-- Bob Dylan, from "Ballad Of A Thin Man"Back in January 2005, in a column titled "Some People Get It, Some Don't," I quoted Kevin Rollins, then Dell Computer President/CEO, who said the following: "It's interesting the iPod has been out for three years and it's only this past year it's become a raging success. Well, those things that become fads rage, and then they drop off. When I was growing up there was a product made by Sony called the Sony Walkman -- a rage, everyone had to have one. Well, you don't hear about the Walkman anymore. I believe that one-product wonders come and go. You have to have sustainable business models, sustainable strategy."
I said the following about that quote: "The above quote from Dell's Mr. Rollins gets my vote for "Dumbest Quote Of The Week." Oh sure, Mr. Rollins is President/CEO of one of the world's leading technology companies ... but so what? Even the best and brightest of us make mistakes and sometimes have to extract the proverbial foot from our mouths. What's astonishing is the fact that Mr. Rollins (again, head of a leading technology company) would make such a statement without REALLY thinking about what he was saying."
A reader wrote in response to Mr. Rollins comment, "Funny how four years ago Michael Dell said Apple should close shop and pay off its investors. I took that as a sign to buy some Apple stock. In Fiscal Year 2004, Dell stock price increased 18% and Apple's stock price went up 330%. It's good to invest contrary to Dell's advice."
On January 31, 2007, Michael Dell, the founder of the company, was reinstalled as CEO, replacing Mr. Rollins who "resigned" earlier in the day. As I write this today, Dell's stock price is $30.60; Apple's is $189.95.
This week, NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker gets my vote for "Dumbest Quote of The Week" ... maybe "Dumbest Quote Of The Year." Although right now Warner Music Head Honcho Edgar Bronfman is also in the running for "Dumbest Quote Of The Year" for this quote back in June: "This decline is steeper than we expected, but in some ways it means we'll get to the bottom faster, and after that there's growth." (Translation: We'll hit rock bottom real soon, probably have to cut back more jobs, cut rosters further, and more, and then, we'll be in such BAD shape, we will have no place left to go but up.)
Zucker and Bronfman are now confirmed members of the "Some People Don't Get It" club. As shares of WMG dipped below $10 again this week, Pali media and entertainment analyst Richard Greenfield predicted the target price for WMG might even eventually go as low as $7.50. Ouch. Maybe Edgar was wrong. Maybe WMG won't have growth. Maybe rock bottom is going is going to be it.
Meanwhile, back to NBC/Universal's whiz, Zucker. At an event organized by the Newhouse School of Public Communications this past week, Zucker said: "Apple has destroyed the music business. And if we don't take control, they'll do the same thing on the video side."
Zucker also took time to announce that he asked Apple for months to price programs at $2.99 per download rather than the current $1.99, and that the company share revenue from sales of its iPods with the studio. Well, you know the old adage about "There's no harm in asking." I can hear your laughter as you read what Zucker suggested. Mr. Zucker, like so many others, wants a bigger piece of the online revenues. The problem is, it's already a 99 cents and $1.99 world that we are living in. Raise prices and see what happens, Jeff. Especially when ABC and others are offering online replays of such hit series as 'Gray's Anatomy' and 'Desperate Housewives' for FREE.
Jeff certainly hasn't been following what's been going on in the music business too closely. He probably read in the trade mags that every label in the industry is complaining about iTunes and iPods; maybe he heard some sound bytes on cable TV about the same. In any case, he then came to the conclusion that the music industry is in the toilet because of Steve Jobs.
If Mr. Zucker had studied why the industry is in such dire straits, he would have seen that CD prices, though down from a few years ago, are still too high; that the plethora of disposable music has made people "cherry-pick" songs instead of paying for CDs that only contain one or two worthy tracks; that the lack of focus on developing real talent for the past decade has contributed more to the downturn than both iTunes and iPods; that the music companies and their lame-duck industry association, the RIAA, still have no strategic plan to embrace the Internet and digital technology. (If they do, they sure are keeping it quiet)
If Mr. Zucker had read any of the recent comments by any number of music industry leaders that have been printed online and off in major publications and echo some of what these real problems are, he might not have made such a dumb statement. If he had read just this one in September from IDJ chief L.A. Reid, "Market conditions certainly have changed in the last few years, but the decay we are seeing has more to do with the lack of quality in music," maybe, just maybe, he would have thought twice about what he was saying.
But, no. Zucker and industry colleagues who don't fully grasp the depth of the problems in the industry blame Steve Jobs for all their problems. I guess they can't blame the problems in the music industry on George Bush, so Steve Jobs it is. It doesn't matter that he showed the industry that people would actually BUY music instead of steal it ... that iTunes has sold more than 3 billion songs ... which means that a whole bunch of artists made money. Nope. It's all Apple's fault.
I should mention as well Zucker made it a point to tell his audience that Jay Leno is definitely leaving "The Tonight Show" in 2009, and Conan O'Brien is scheduled to take over hosting duties after Leno. If Zucker thought this was an announcement his affiliates wanted to hear again, I think he was wrong. Jay Leno has been a great asset to NBC/Universal and profits from "The Tonight Show" have been strong and steady with Jay behind the desk. Whether or not Conan O'Brien can deliver the same profits remains to be seen.
Maybe Zucker should be more concerned about saving his network, which has been #3 or #4 in the ratings for the past two years. With those ratings, he needn't worry about Apple or anybody ruining his future "video business." I don't think there will be a whole bunch of people downloading all those NBC shows that have been cancelled like "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Crossing Jordan," "Friday Night Lights," "The Black Donnellys," "Andy Barker, P.I.," "Raines," "The Real Wedding Crashers," "Kidnapped," "Twenty Good Years," etc.
Maybe Zucker should be more concerned with the fact that the Writers Guild of America is going on strike. With a writers strike taking place, one would think the network chiefs might be very worried about what havoc it might result in for their viewers. With cable TV shows now almost as popular as network shows, if major network shows are forced into reruns because of a strike, look for even more people to flip to cable channels for alternative programming. Once people sample those shows, how many will resume their old viewing habits? With networks losing viewers year after year for cable, this should be a major concern, right?
But, no. Zucker seems more worried about how about Apple destroyed the music business and might destroy NBC's future video business. Of course the reality is if Zucker doesn't get NBC out of the ratings basement, he won't need to worry about NBC's future video business because he'll be replaced.
Maybe Zucker and Bronfman should get together with all the others who hate Apple and discuss possible remedies. Of course, doing so will have as much credibility as asking Larry King for marriage advice.
Instead of addressing real problems in their respective industries, they can then attack those ferocious (industry) giants who they think threaten them. I think Don Quixote did the same when he attacked those windmills.
Zucker and Bronfman will find that in the end, the windmill (Apple) isn't going away. And they will be as unsuccessful as Quixote in solving their problems.
And Now This...
This week it appears Ozzy Osbourne came out of the walking and talking (okay, slurring) coma he's been in for the past few years, and told Australia's Herald Sun newspaper that sales of his newest release "Black Rain" are not good at all and it's because of online. piracy.
Ozzy said in the article, "If they don't find something to stop [illegal downloading], people won't be able to make records. There won't be any new bands. How are they going to survive?"
I guess Ozzy doesn't look at the charts or read the trade magazines, because if he did, he'd see a whole bunch of new names on almost all the charts. Many of those new artsists broke online. If Ozzy has been awake the past few years, then he's obviously been oblivious to what's been going on in the music industry for the past seven or eight years.
You can read what one rock critic has to say about it (including this comment, "As for the lagging sales of "Black Rain" -- the first record Ozzy has written and recorded sober --maybe the album isn't selling because, well, it's not that great") in the article 'Ozzy Osbourne Blames Poor Album Sales On Illegal Downloading' by going here: http://tinyurl.com/yufky6.
And This...
I didn't say it folks. This is more from Pali media and entertainment analyst Richard Greenfield this week:
"Nobody should view WMG's decision to lose Madonna as anything other than a major negative for the industry. While it may be positive that WMG did not vastly overpay to keep Madonna, the fact that established artists simply do not need record labels is very concerning. Artists such as Radiohead are proving they can sell music quite profitably directly to fans, while other acts such as Nine Inch Nails are publicly stating that music is far too expensive. Emerging artists are building identities online and selling music directly to fans. While they still crave a major label signing, these artists are gaining leverage online driving up their cost to labels. Bargaining power is shifting further and further away from the major labels ... Artists make the vast majority of their money on touring and merchandise, not CDs. In turn, it is increasingly logical to believe that artists want to have their music reach the widest possible audience at the lowest possible price ... meaning FREE."
Brick-and-Mortar Stores Eye New Music Formats
The music industry continues to build bridges between the digital and physical world. In the latest attempts, iTunes digital-download album cards highlighting specific titles are getting high marks in the early part of the rollout. Meanwhile, merchants await the introduction of the "ringle"--which aims to revive the CD single in the physical world and allow brick-and-mortar merchants to participate in the ringtone phenomenon.
On October 2 the iTunes digital album cards for KT Tunstall's "Drastic Fantastic" and Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to Into the Wild, priced at $14.99 and $11.99, respectively, debuted at Starbucks. And a few weeks earlier, the Safeway grocery chain--which represents a new frontier for music merchants--began merchandising eight other titles: single-artist albums from Maroon 5, Norah Jones, and Kelly Clarkson, priced at $14.99 each; plus five compilations, priced at $19.99 each: "Best of Comedy Central Stand-Up" and four greatest-hits collections themed by decade from the '60s through the '90s. Safeway is testing the cards in 1,000 of its 1,800 stores.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Vinyl The Final Nail in CD's Coffin?
As counterintuitive as it may seem in this age of iPods and digital downloads, vinyl -- the favorite physical format of indie music collectors and audiophiles -- is poised to re-enter the mainstream, or at least become a major tributary. Talk to almost anyone in the music business' vital indie and DJ scenes and you'll encounter a uniformly optimistic picture of the vinyl market.
"I'm hearing from labels and distributors that vinyl is way up," said Ian Connelly, client relations manager of independent distributor alliance IODA, in an e-mail interview. "And not just the boutique, limited-edition colored vinyl that Jesu/Isis style fans are hot for right now."
Pressing plants are ramping up production, but where is the demand coming from? Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today's music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and mp3s for their portable devices.
Read more about it by clicking here.
EMI And imeem Partner For Viral Song & Video Streaming
Music-centric social networking site imeem and EMI today launched free ad-supported on-demand full song and video streaming of EMI's global digital catalog. Sony, Warner and a number of indie labels already have similar deals with imeem. Members can upload their favorite music, video and photos for streaming, create custom playlists and slideshows, and share them with friends and fans on imeem as well as on Facebook and personal blogs.
Don't Trust Any Music Mag Over 30
Let's hear it for guilty tokenism! After being shamed for including no African-Americans and precious few women in its April list of the culture's most influential figures, Rolling Stone has remedied the oversight -- sort of. The new 40th anniversary issue out this week includes another list of the "artists, scientists and leaders who helped shape our time." It includes a whole three blacks -- Cornel West, Kanye West and Chris Rock -- and the same number of women.
Even more discriminated against are the young people who ostensibly make up Rolling Stone's readership. Jann Wenner's overpowering nostalgia for the '60s seems to stop just short of "don't trust anyone over 30." (Perhaps he's just forgotten it, along with most of the '70s and '80s?) The average age of those featured is 49.5; the only twenty-something on the list is MoveOn.org founder Eli Pariser.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Trent Reznor: Take My Music, Please
Rocker Trent Reznor doesn't pretend to know the answers to what ails the music industry. But that hasn't stopped the iconoclastic front man for the band Nine Inch Nails from marching to the front lines in lock step with British band Radiohead--in an assault on the traditional music business.
Reznor, who made news earlier this month when he left his record label, spoke Tuesday with CNET News.com about the decision. He also bashed the music industry, detailed how he persuaded performer Saul Williams to give away his latest album for free (or for a $5 donation), praised Radiohead for distributing music directly to fans via the Web, and indicated that instead of fighting the so-called free culture -- people who share music online -- he plans to embrace it.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Anti-iPhones (Part II)
More than three months later, after PC Magazine had plenty of time to digest all that the iPhone has to offer, they are still pretty impressed with it. But they also have to admit that some other phones and PDAs out there do what the iPhone does just a bit better. These phones-including a new BlackBerry and a couple of really impressive turns from HTC-wowed them. Read the reviews.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Review Roundup: More HD for the Money with Rear-Projection TVs
If you think you're really ready to bite the bullet and buy an HDTV but are still apprehensive about dropping a huge chunk of change on it, a rear-projection set may be your best bet. Sure, they don't have the sleek form factor of their superthin plasma and LCD cousins, but for the price, these sets certainly offer the most bang for your buck. Check out PC Magazine's reviews.
Read more about it by clicking here.
EAGLES SOAR AGAIN
Real quality stands the greatest test of all, the test of time, and America's greatest band (and musical export), The Eagles, is about to prove that all over again. Their new 2-CD album, 'The Long Road Out Of Eden,' is already red hot at retail at Wal-Mart (the exclusive retailer for the album) and debuts at #1 on the European charts. If you saw Monday Night Football this past week, then you saw great exposure of their new album on the broadcast. If you are a NIP/TUCK fan and watched the series season premier on Tuesday, you also heard The Eagles "New Kid In Town" neatly placed in the episode. Great placement in both cases.
EMI AND iMEEM PARTNER
Music-centric social networking site imeem and EMI today launched free ad supported on-demand full song and video streaming of EMI's global digital catalog. Sony, Warner and a number of indie labels already have similar deals with imeem.com. Members can upload their favorite music, video and photos for streaming, create custom playlists and slideshows, and share them with friends and fans on imeem as well as on Facebook and personal blogs.
GOOGLE PHONE?
The Wall Street Journal this week reported that Google-powered phones are scheduled to arrive mid-2008 with bundled services and open APIs. Google will make the announcement within the next two weeks.
MORE PROOF THAT LABELS NEED TO SIGN REAL ARTISTS, NOT AUDIO AND VIDEO FLAVORS-OF-THE-MONTH
Jive Records has dropped Kelis, the "Milkshake" singer, after her 2006 album 'Kelis Was Here' failed to garner the success as 2003's 'Tasty.'
KANYE THE SCRIBE?
Kanye West is releasing a book, described as an "entertaining volume of Kanye-isms," early next year. Titled "Thank You and You're Welcome!," the book will be sell for $10, and West will post pages on his website in the coming weeks.
ELVIS MAY HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING, BUT HE'S STILL RAKING IN THE BIG BUCKS
Elvis Presley's estimated earnings of $49 million over the last 12 months make the departed King rank #1 on Forbes.com's list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, a position he last held in 2005. John Lennon came in second with $44 million, and Charles M. Schulz was third with $35 million.
THE NEW 'BIG MAC'
Reviews for Apple's new OS for its MACs, Leopard, are pouring in from hi-tech magazines, and all are saying it's the best operating system ever for the home PC. If you want to see what it looks like, go to the online Apple store and watch the video walk-thru. It looks to be quite an amazing system.
DIVORCE COURT
Carlos Santana and his wife are calling it quits after 34 years of marriage.
Quotes of the week
"I love the new Eagles record. It's a sound I've missed. When they go into those harmonies, there's a sense of keeping hope alive. You don't hear that now, which is why young musicians are intrigued by radio stations that play classic rock."
-- John Fogerty, commenting on the first new Eagles album in 28 years, "The Long Road Out Of Eden.""The record industry's treatment of artists has less sympathy and it's more like 'What can we get out of you?' My only concern has always been that my audience is treated fairly."
-- Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, in a CNet.com article this week."Last thing I want is to have a reputation. I believe in standing up for things I believe in. Being honest sometimes gets me in a little bit of trouble."
-- Kid Rock on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, referring to his Waffle House incident. Well, last thing or not Kid, marrying Pam Anderson (now a true living cartoon of herself after marrying Rick Solomon) in six or seven different locations, duking it out with Tommy Lee at the MTV Awards, and getting in a brawl at (of all places) The Waffle House, all contradict what you said."If I didn't do what I do, nobody would ever look twice at me. I'm a blender ... I'm not, like, anything special."
-- Carrie Underwood, being way too modest to PEOPLE magazine. Au contraire, Ms. Carrie. Any red-blooded American male would think otherwise."People say what they want and do what they do and it's sad how people, how cruel our world can be."
-- Britney Spears on Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show this past week. Yes, Brit, but don't forget it's that same cruel world that made you tens of millions and allowed you to be as crazy as you are."This is the same competition -- this is Kanye West and 50 Cent all over again!"
-- 50 Cent, joking about the release of his coffee table book the same day that Lance Bass' memoir comes out."When I heard about the devastation of the fires at first I felt I should cancel my show out of respect, but then it occurred to me there might be a more useful solution."
-- Gwen Stefani, announcing she will donate the proceeds of her concert in San Diego this past Tuesday to benefit victims of the recent Southern California wildfires."Take a few minutes and write a note to Britney Spears. No preaching. No criticizing. Just love. As a church, let's love Britney the way Jesus loves her."
-- Kentucky's Southland Christian Church pastor John Weece, imploring his congregation to lend support to the troubled pop star during a weekend sermon. The question we need to ask pastor Weece is, just how much does Jesus love Britney?"We wanted to get free drinks all night. And we didn't get one."
-- Lance Bass, admitting why he and a "good friend" faked tying the knot with a quickie Las Vegas wedding back in 1999 or 2000."I've had worse press than a pedophile or a murderer, and I've done nothing but charity for 20 years."
-- Heather Mills, who went on a British morning show Wednesday, saying that she's received death threats and considered suicide as a result of tabloid coverage of her divorce from Paul McCartney. Following her tirade against the media she was dropped by her publicist."You know, I worked with Leonardo when he was 17 on 'The Quick and the Dead.' He was a virgin, and he'd talk about that constantly. So, I'm hoping we have some time so he can fill in what's happened in between, maybe show some photos, because I'm sure life's different now."
-- Russell Crowe in Entertainment Weekly, on Leonardo DiCaprio's innocent youth."I wasn't looking to host another game show but when they brought me...uh...uh...uh... what's the name of the show again? Oh yeah, Amne$ia, I got excited because I immediately realized it's a comedy first that just happens to be wrapped in a game show package and that allows me to be who I am"
-- Dennis Miller, on being named host of Mark Burnett's new comedy quiz show Amne$ia, which NBC announced Thursday.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Child On White House Tour Momentarily Seizes Control Of Nation
WASHINGTON, DC-In an event unprecedented in American history, Brandon Myers, a relatively obscure Iowa 10-year-old with no previous experience in domestic politics, took advantage of a clear leadership void and seized control of the United States Tuesday after he slipped away from his White House tour group and locked himself in the Oval Office.
Myers spent much of his reign, which lasted from approximately 2:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., spinning in circles in the president's chair before proclaiming that he was "President Brandon" with a handwritten decree scrawled in cursive on White House stationery.
White House press secretary Dana Perino said at a news conference Tuesday. "Several minutes ago, our nation's new leader made his first statement: 'Brandon rules.'"
Shortly after forcing former president George W. Bush out of office, Myers issued an executive order for pizza using the intercom in the Oval Office. Congress immediately passed emergency funding for 1,200 stuffed-crust pepperoni pizzas from Pizza Hut.
Read the rest and laugh here: http://tinyurl.com/yqe8ox.
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!)
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