Yeah, I know the headline sounds reactionary, but get a load of this, a list of “problems” RestoringMusic.org aims to “solve”. An earlier post here covers our views on the general hysteria of their position, but it’s worth calling them out specifically since this list appeared just a month ago, and ignores practical solutions that have evolved in this century. So lets inject a little sanity into their little list (oddly arranged in no particular order)…

1. 360 Deals were a major problem for big stars in the early years of this century, and continue to be a thorn in the side of young acts hooking up with majors. There’s no doubt they’re a terrible idea for artists in the abstract. But as the industry fragments and morphs it’s increasingly difficult for artists to manage all the working parts of their business. At some point, on some level, much more expansive deals that share not only risk and rewards, but require equitable investments of time and resources from all parties can be useful solutions. We’re not arguing that a label should have it’s hand in every pocket, or share in live revenues. Rather we’re saying 360 Deals are rare and hard to sell in this day and age, and in some instances can be useful. A blanket statement suggesting they’re a major industry problem is hyperbole, and the focus on it here says much about the people complaining. If you think 360 Deals are a major industry problem, you probably still work with major labels and are working to protect your role as Trusted Middle Man.
2. Internet Radio is more of a solution than a problem in 2011. First and foremost, it’s the one and only broadcast model that fairly compensates performers as well as songwriters in the US for the hits they record. Traditional radio and TV do not! The kernel of truth, and realistic concern here is that these rates are too low. It’s hard to argue that these micropayments make any sort of sense – suggesting a song heard over the air is worth more than the same song over the web is absurd. But the decision to incentivize New Media with preferential rates was negotiated and agreed to a decade ago. It may have been a mistake, and when some entity making unholy profits from the music of others appears on the scene, we’ll have good reason to revisit those rates. But in spite of the impressive launches of Spotify, Pandora and farther back, Sirius/XM, we’ve not yet seen this happen. In other words, at this point in time, we can see no harm, therefore we have no foul.
3. Web 2.0 is a curious inclusion, even for reactionary dinosaurs. Lady Gaga doesn’t exist without YouTube. Obviously, overwhelming choice and a global market limit the role of former taste-makers and obsolete conventional “Artist and Repertoire” functions. I’m sure railroaders at the turn of the last century felt similarly about the heavy investment in roads and infrastructure for cars: The ability of people to go anywhere on their own schedule was an existential threat to railroading. De-regulation of telecommunications in the 80s was similarly controversial within the Bell System. But the broader good to society greatly outweighed any damage to those specific industries. Web 2.0 opens more doors than it closes. Had they pointed their guns at what’s next (Web 3.0 or HTML5) a case might exist, but at this point in time it is what it is. You can close the barn door, but the horses are already free.
4. Apple is one of the clearest solutions, and most definitely not part of the problem. If you relied on gate-keepers in radio and distribution to protect your micro-market, as the major labels did for decades, this perspective is understandable. But if you’re in a band, trying to break through by touring and working hard, iTunes is probably a real revenue stream. It’s not surprising that your peers at majors and big indies resent the competition. The orientation and agenda of RestoringMusic.Org gets clearer as we work through their complaints.
5. Physical Music Sales are only a problem for people who rely on them, and lack the imagination to build cool, scalable and sustainable products that fans want to buy. For most working artists, placement at WalMart was never an option, and for major label artists selling there, it’s not exactly a profit center. On the other hand, The iTunes Store and other digital distros provide clearer accounting and entirely eliminate a conventional path to cheating artists, namely over-stating returns and promotional give-aways. If your main concern is ripping off artists with tricky accounting, the collapse of physical distribution and retail is truly tragic. As small retail music stores are replaced by Big Box retailers, what’s lost is the direct contact with fans and the social nature of music evangelism. In larger markets, like Cincy, we have strong institutions like Shake It and Everybody’s Records that have weathered this storm. In smaller towns like Hamilton, not so much. Ultimately this is a merchandising problem for retailers, not a structural problem for the music industry (but enlightened self interest should motivate us to use product design and packaging to help retailers solve it).
6. Traditional Radio is a problem, but it’s increasingly not about music anyway. At best a couple hundred artists can be exposed on pop charts in any given month. How is this fair or right? What qualifies a Clear Channel Program Director to be the arbiter of success and opportunity for all artists and fans? Nothing! Radio may eventually rediscover it’s role in defining the sound of a region’s music, as it did in it’s “Golden Age”, and there’s evidence to suggest younger audiences would welcome such a shift. But until the Baby Boomer’s trapped in the 70-80s retire, radio will remain a nexus of sports and politics, no longer part of the music industry as we know it. Oldies stations and retro formats that dominate the music radio world are proof of decline, not relevance.
7. Live Music is the one and only thriving part of the music industry, so it’s inclusion on this list is very puzzling until you read the details. Then it becomes clear: Major label artists REALLY resent Live Nation and big promoters! This is not without cause, and fans share this antipathy. The thing is, no one I work with ever encounters Live Nation or other big promoters. Around here the best shows are staged by tiny bookers, who match acts with rooms and know the fan base they market to. Good bands get paid, and there’s a healthy range of stages to play.
8. Lawsuits by the RIAA et al are a real problem with respect to image, but on another level entirely necessary to defend the basic notion of “intellectual property” and “copy rights.” Only the RIAA sees the wisdom of economically devastating poor, single moms for the errors of their children. But insisting that the rights of creators be respected doesn’t require such draconian measures, and more equitable settlements could be easily reached. In some respects this “problem” mirrors the problem of guns: A gun isn’t inherently deadly until a person picks it up and aims. Controlling the guns (or in this case, lawsuits) inappropriately shifts responsibility. The RIAA, not lawsuits, is the problem here. Let’s call a spade a spade.
9. The Quality of Music complaint is flatly absurd. It’s the familiar cry of the aging, washed up and bitter in every enterprise. “These kids today…!!!” The quality of music is admittedly widely varied, and I’ll be the first to question the intent driving the sound of Sleigh Bells. But at the other end of the spectrum groups like Shellac, artists like Lucinda Williams, and producers like T Bone Burnett are doing amazing things. In many modern recordings we clearly hear 3 octaves of music (20-80 Hz and 10k-20kHz) that were usually lost in older media like vinyl and cassettes – indeed, modern bass response in first octave, from 20-40Hz remains a challenge for vinyl to this day! Again, this concern reflects the perspective and identity of the complainer more than the state of the industry.
10. The Product of Music is a plausible problem, but as articulated at RestoringMusic.Org it’s mostly a failure of imagination within the olde tyme industry. The RestoringMusic crowd is running out of steam at this point in their list, so they threw up this mash-up of two previous complaints, “Quality of Music” and “Physical Music Sales” as a separate and distinct problem. But hey, I agree! The conventional music product is boring and stale, and the market’s drying up. I’d say this is the first example of an actual problem, and throw out the other two complaints.
11. Media Sharing is a feature of modern life that replaces what critics and “Artist and Repertoire” folks used to do – gatekeeping and guard duty for the elite, protecting the investment of the majors. As with “Traditional Radio” it’s a boon to the have-nots, from the hide of the haves. Media sharing is only a problem if you rely on gate-keepers, fixers and paid promoters to artificially manufacture hits with various forms of neopayola. For savvy artists top to bottom it’s a revolutionary breakthrough. Radiohead, Lady Gaga and Kanye West do not view it as a problem, so even at the top change is possible.
12. Independent Music cast as a problem is as offensive as it is dumb. Every major was once an indie! Every artist that’s mattered in the past 50 years started there too. Let me flatly reject the premise: indie music DOES NOT limit artist’s ability to enter the national marketplace, even for the majority of them who do not have deep private pockets backing their careers. The average independent musician may be inexperienced in the ways of music business, resulting in mistakes and oversights when it comes to the execution of plans, common practices, and legal matters, but there are plenty of resources available to fill those gaps – The All Night Party exists for that very reason, and we’re the tip of an emerging ice-berg of companies devoted to providing great music services to artists.
13. Search Engines, and to a lesser degree, even Peer to Peer Networks do more good than harm on balance. In the purported absence of commercial music radio, and fair compensation for streamed music (the positions of RestoringMusic, not me!), these are engines of discovery, alongside blogs. Consider the impact of “wins” in modern terms for each platform. Getting spins on broadcast radio only results in revenue when reported, and those broadcasters get a big break on streaming royalties, so there’s little compensation and even less opportunity (adding at best 100 songs/month, mostly major label fare). Getting your song fed via Pandora, Spotify or a streaming station expand opportunity, but diminish revenues overall, due to the negotiated breaks offered to build this new business back in the 90s. What’s left? Blogs, YouTube and other easily searched outlets are where new acts are discovered. Not via A&R or radio. Torrents and file-stealing is weak and illegal, but is it a tangible loss? I’ve taught college students and been one, and discovered some things never change: kids are mostly broke! Still, they continue buying products and attending shows of favored bands. The remain customers, but are limited by their means. In this context, it’s better to win over a new fan who may later support you via file-stealing than to remain invisible to those fans, and labor in vain. I realize that’s a tired excuse, but it’s also reality. Deal or move into asparagus farming (you can’t copy asparagus in your computer).
14. Piracy and Value are problems, but not unique to this list. The authors have simply invented a new way to complain about Peer to Peer and The Product of Music. As noted above, they get this one exactly backwards. The RIAA’s working hard to prove Machiavelli wrong. Their means actively subvert the ends!
15. An Unclear Future is simply the human condition, not an industry failure or problem. Frankly these last items reek of desperation and fear, leaving no room for solutions. At least, we must recognize this issue as impacting the entire economy, and reject it as a specific problem in the music industry.
16. Music Education is a real problem, though the perspective framing it is archaic. It’s clearly under attack and under valued. This concerns everyone inside our industry and within our communities. Fortunately it has solutions: even schools lacking funding have clubs and organizations, and people in our musical communities are generous with their time. We may not be able to change curriculum, but we can enhance opportunities simply by raising our hands.
17. Social Awareness of the plight of major label refugees and conventional middleman will not improve our future. Again this is a real problem – we stand to lose a generation of expertise, and a perspective that fueled unprecedented value in music. We should consolidate that knowledge and preserve it, but we shouldn’t romanticize a bygone era mostly characterized by failure (90% of a major label roster traditionally failed).