Unfortunately, it looks like consolidation at the record label level will continue for sometime, with fewer labels and even fewer promotion professionals evangelizing for new artists, creating a collapsing universe in the traditional sense and a big bang in the non-traditional media levels.
I must say that I really appreciate the multifaceted nature of the dilemma facing us all in radio and records, but much like the automotive industry is looking for alternatives to their failing business model, and the airline industry is reconfiguring it’s offerings and core products, so must we all.
Here is the headline from Advertising Age China today:
Record labels hope advertisers can offset royalty losses Embracing change comes hard for industry used to having control Music execs are scrambling to monetize digital music in China, where service providers like Baidu and China Mobile, the big bad wolves of China’s music industry, are pocketing profits. Record labels hope marketers such as Pepsi, which backs artists like Wu Ke Qun, are one solution. Are advertisers partners, or rivals?
All of us in entertainment are either evolving or extinct in a very short time frame, and one of the key concepts for survival is continually rethinking and reassessing our partnerships. The unthinkable is, in some cases, inevitable. Enemies are in the same research, review, retool, re-launch process too and may well find a new strategic alliance is not just viable, but preferred.
On the other hand, that means our close relationships with some may now well be detrimental to our new business model and require change. Not extricating ourselves from failing and dated business relationships may well leave us with a permanent association to them, and a perceived lack of relevance today.
Answers are difficult and elusive, but for all of us trying new directions and different paths to the audience, we are destined for many failures and a few great successes. Reengaging a generation with the need to compensate artists for their work is well underway and I think answers are closer than we think.
Here’s to those who support trying non-traditional distribution channels and the entrepreneurial spirit necessary to continually try to reach, and occasionally win, new audiences for the artists we work with! We do it for the love of the art and the challenge of sharing it with larger and more diverse audiences – and we need to remember that through the sometimes painful cycles our industries take. Keep supporting those who support the artists and, as Doug Lee would say, “See ya on the corner”!
