Moses,
Someone sent me a copy of a blog of yours in which you cited a speech I made wherein I declared the RECORD BUSINESS (note – note not the MUSIC BUSINESS) dead. In it you called me an angry old-timer. You’re entitled to your opinions but the conclusion you cannot reach from my presentation is that I declared the Music Industry dead or that I am angry about the current state of affairs.
On the contrary, I think this is the most exciting time in the history of music and I feel the industry is expanding and developing in ways the “old-timers” never dreamed of. The problem is that because they never dreamed of them, the companies that they created – dedicated to and dependent on the sale of plastic boxes – are suffering from a sort of flesh eating disease that is killing them…and that is a good thing.
The business you are in has NOTHING to do with selling plastic boxes and yet, as you point out, you’re perfectly happy to be making a living doing something you love. Well, me too. What I love is the creation of music, the playing of music, the presentation and production of music, the sharing of music, the elevation and development of music and affecting change through music. For a while, that meant making stuff to put in plastic boxes – along with creating and producing shows, writing music, helping to put music into schools and areas hit by disaster, teaching music and trying to inspire musicians to reach for their creative stars. Some of it has paid well, some of it less. But, like you, I am happy to be making a living in the Music Industry. Now it means much less of the sale of plastic boxes and much more of all that other stuff – and far from making me angry, I feel it has liberated and inspired me. I haven‚t been this excited about music in many, many years!
Record companies and their business are a thing of the past. Major music companies are growing out of the ashes. Some will adapt successfully, some like EMI will fall victim to market forces. Many jobs within the Records Industry will cease to exist (if the trucks can’t be filled why have trucks, drivers, warehouses etc? – if there’s far less concern about radio, why have specialized promotion? etc) Any major company that is solely in the business of plastic boxes (even bolstered by 2billion in downloads – hmmm, let’s see…we replace 1bilion in albums that generated $12 billion in wholesale with 2 billion in single downloads that generate maybe $2 billion in retail) is going to have to shrink significantly in its infrastructure and overhead or go out of business. They all know it. That’s why they’re all buying pieces of management companies and merchandising and live entertainment companies and doing their best to get out of the pure Record Business. And so they should – IF they can.
The reality is that a lot of folks don’t want and cannot embrace this change. But you’re a fact-oriented guy. You really shouldn’t be lumping me into this category. My intention is to create a revolution from within and to partner with folks who DO see the brave new industry and want to be a part of changing it. I don’t care if you share this with anyone. I just thought you ought to know a bit more about who you were criticizing before you started casting stones. Good luck with your career. You’re doing good stuff here.
–Bob Ezrin
