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EMI - laying on of Hands

EMI's new boss may be its salvation

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Hands then went on to say that he wants to create a company “big enough to serve anyone but small enough to truly care”. Tongue goes further into cheek. Record companies caring? Or serving customers? Or even knowing what a customer is?

To show that he has his feet firmly planted on the ground and will be taking a hands on approach (sic), Hands has grasped the essential absurdity of the global record companies’ strategy, who still behave as though they have a captive customer base while their customers have long since escaped out the back door, free digital downloads in hand.

The only long term solution for the industry must be based on customer “pull” rather than company “push”, a nuance that has escaped record company executives, whose knowledge of what customers really want from recorded music has long been lacking. Seems they have been too focused on defrauding musicians, indulging in various forms of decadent excess, and developing dubious relationships with dubious people from dubious walks of life. Oh, and there has also been a plethora of creative tax havens to manage, which can take time.

The need to reposition and find new ways of delivering value to customers has not escaped Hands, who must be a business person. He said that focusing alone on the production of multi-million selling albums– a “push” approach – cannot “produce a sustainable business model”.

Quite right. This does not mean they should be abandoned, but they business model has to be rethought, and not just because of file sharing, and pricing difficulties. Music does not have the same kind of obsolescence that obtains in other industries. Consumption of music from the 1950s and 1960s remains strong. Who wants a 1960s washing machine? The industry was able to duck this bullet once with the introduction of digital technologies, which created a wave of obscolescence, But it has been hit squarely in the eyes with the second bullet: the internet. And left with no answers.

If the industry has been undone by greater connectivity, perhaps the answer lies in connectivity. What about, instead of record companies trying to beat up on pirates, connecting the musicians with the pirates to see if they can be encouraged to part with some money? Record companies may be on the nose, but the musicians are not. Otherwise, why would their songs be being downloaded?

Another good question to ask is: what is scarce? If recordings of songs are becoming freely available, what isn’t? One obvious answer is live performances, which, unsurprisingly, are becoming more of a focus of record companies.

These are all things for Hands to consider as he contemplates his really, really bad company, in its challenged sector, full of really, really bad business people – or just bad people. If he can find sound commercial answers to the questions posed, it might be the best thing that has happened to musicians in decades.

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Order of Merritt

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BBC sacking, idol lacking

Veteran BBC music exec Ric Blaxill has resigned as director of programs at digital radio station BBC6 Music after cases of "viewer deception" occurred on BBC6 Music shows. The continuing scandal at the Beeb relates to quiz shows and competitions.

Has anyone checked to see if the "Australian Idol" phone votes are audited? No auditors are mentioned in the credits.

Eminem unpublished

Eminem is in a stoush with iTunes. Universal, the rapper's record co, did the deal with Apple but apparently no one thought to consult Eminem's publishing company…oops!

Sony, Warners join freeloader Imeem

Sony BMG and Warners have licensed their tracks to "Imeem" a new free legal download site using the Spiral Frog model of sharing advertising with copyright owners. EMI is tipped to join next though this could depend on new CEO Hands. As with the frog, no mention of artists percentage…hmmm.

Impala pounce bounced

The EC's competition commission has unconditionally OK'd the Sony/BMG merger …again. Independent label org Impala, whose concerns sparked the reconsideration, has cried "foul" and states it will challenge the new decision, and maybe even chase damages.

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