Posts by Simon Grigg
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I probably see more of the major label managers in NZ than you do, and there are some good people involved: Adam Holt and Mike Bradshaw, for example. But globally, the major label model isn't good, and it's going to change. When Madonna's Warner contract expired in September, she didn't sign with another record label, but with Live Nation (for $120 million!), which will participate in all her revenue streams, including merchandise and live ticketing. They're out hunting for more signings, and they'll get them.
In my experience New Zealand has been extraordinarily well served by major label MDs over the years...people that actually like and go the extra mile for the non-money making thing that is NZ music often. Adam has put his neck on the line countless times (Dawn Raid and the fact that he was crucial to OMC's international success are just two).
But the model is changing and I'm not sure if Madonna is the right person to point at. She is an uber-superstar heading towards the tail end of her 30 yr career who could ask almost anything (and if one includes live and merch $120m is not a tall order).
Rather I think the Radiohead thing is of more interest. Another superstar band, albeit nowhere near Madonna's league in sales or touring revenues, that cut the chain because, they claim (EMI say it was a money issue), they were not offered the control they require.
Regardless of why they did it, the major point of this is the psychophysical break between the old record company way of doing it (a normal old school record contract regardless of how 360 it is, which is still mostly what is on offer...they still don't get it) and the future. And the impact is not how this plays out for Radiohead (although they claim they have made more money on In Rainbows than the rest of their catalogue combined, and the physical copies have only been around for a week), but how it changes the mindset of bands, managers and agents as they approach a recording career. I think it's massive.
And its fantastic.
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yeah but that's not true competition - Universal or whoever are allowed to choose the wholesale price of a particular CD - JB, RG et al all have to pay that same price in NZ - there's no way a lower priced wholesaler can come in and undercut them because they have a legal monopoly
No, not at all. Much of Real Groovy's and JB HiFi's stock is sourced offshore.
Parallel importing laws broke down those monopolies years ago. What Universal can offer is a) resupply b) marketing support c) Sale or return, and a myriad of other things. But Real Groovy can choose to buy that release from anywhere they like.
The simple reason you can buy a CD cheaper in the US is quantity of scale (oh, and the massive discounting that a retailer like Amazon or Wal-mart demands). The list price in the US is often not much different to NZ. In many countries it's much higher.
Where I'm writing from right now the list price of a legit CD is about NZ$9.
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Mozart? Mozart? Not sure what the state of copyright law was in the Austrian empire, but Mozart supported himself variously as a concert artist, a court composer, and from commissions
You miss the point Stephen.
Copyright law existed in most European countries in one form or another (as far back as ancient Greece whose playwrights had rights based on their works..Luther copyrighted his editions) by the mid to late 1700s, although clearly not in the form it has developed to, but Mozart's art was subject to copyright. The commissions you mention above are indicative of such, and, indeed, the commissioning of works in Europe is integral to the development of musical copyright. Baroness von Waldstätten claimed ownership of his works, although she allowed them to be performed.
Paying writers for commissions is pretty much the definition of music publishing.
Stephen Foster may not have made a fortune from his songs but they exist in the public mind because they were widely published, and because the devices and corporations that disseminated the music were able to use copyright protection. Berliner and Edison were not altruistic crackpots, they were inventors by profession.
you don't see multiple versions of the Stone's latest CD from different vendors all competing on price at the record store in the same way you might see paint at the hardware store - it leaves us (the consumers) open to abuse - it's the real reason I can buy CDs for $9 in the US and $30 here
Not true, in Auckland I can buy the same CD for wildly differing prices if I wander between JB HiFi, Real Groovy (who are almost always the most expensive) and Marbecks.
BTW one thing I think that may go away is the industry made mega-star - Britney isn't going to happen (but Hannah Montana or the Monkees might because of the TV tie-in) - instead we're going to see lots of great little bands - fewer big stadium tours, more pubs/raves/etc
If you think the multinational corporations that create these things are going to go away....seriously? Universal, which still makes a lot of money, far more than most of us can conceive, is going to fold up tent and say no more manufactured pop stars, or Apple is going to say that the focus of iTunes (which is overwhelmingly pop star orientated, as is the new AmazonMP3 store) will spin to focus on obscure little bands..well its a great idea but it won't happen. Great little bands playing groovy venues to cool people are forever niche. The niche may grow to become a bunch of bigger niches within niches, hence the rise of the rather wonderful eMusic as pointed out by RB, but the real growth in the digital market right now is still manufactured pop.
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And lets point out the obvious..in 2007 90% of all albums sold were on CD. Even the most optimistic models I've seen only put digital at 50% by 2012.
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These days you can make a great recording in your living room if you know how, and more and more people do - the recording engineer priesthood is going the way of the people
Yes and no. Firstly you can record all you like in your bedroom but without a proper mastering and mixing environment we are a long way from your record not sounding like amateur shite, which is a huge unaddressed issue for the NZ industry. Secondly, take a look at the charts, at what is selling overwhelmingly it is still heavily produced pop, rock and r'n'b. Its fine to say you can make a recording in your living room but I bet anything Beyonce or Fergie's management are not seriously considering it. That said, their producers will bring in elements that are recorded on laptops but it will all be put together elsewhere at great expense.
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BTW the "copyright is the cornerstone of our civilisation" is IMHO bunk - as I tried to point out copyright for printed stuff only started when the printing press was invented, and for music when people started to publish it on paper - 300 years ago when a minstrel played the latest hits at the local tavern an APRA rep didn't show up and try to hit them up for fees - historically it's all pretty recent stuff - for music just a few generations - I don't see why it has to work the same way for ever.
My cornerstone of civilisation thingy was meant to imply our musical civilisation not mankind's rise per se and I think the statement stands. Without copyright (of both the composition and the hardware to reproduce) the wast wealth of song and composition we enjoy today would not exist. Foster, Berlin, Lennon-McCartney, Mozart, Ellington, Knox and everybody in between were able to write, survive and distribute because of copyright protection.
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Man, what century is this business model from? We're only a few years away from seeing major bands release all new music over the internet.
I'm willing to bet that in 20 years there will still be a physical format of some sort.
What it will be is anyone's guess of course.
Its 25 years since vinyl was given only a few years and its still hanging on.
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and return to a stress on live performance.
A hell of a lot of fantastic music has been made over the decades by people who simply don't do live performance..I think this is being overstated everywhere right now.
Copyright protection is a cornerstone of our civilization. Much of the great music we love would never have happened, or at least been allowed to breath, without it. We need to be VERY careful about going too far in the other direction.
And a small group of people will always make a lot of money from it..always
Just as Radiohead have cleaned up in the last couple of months by selling themselves as counter-capitalist revolutionaries. Where there is a will...
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The other goss is that Warners will flick the FN catalogue
The problem there Russell, is that the real value in the FN catalogue was in the publishing and Gudinski kept that.
Not sure why WMG would want to sell the FN cat..majors don't sell anything. Catalogue acquisition is the very core of their business.
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even if they can't continue to spend tens of millions turning out a new Britney Spears ever year or two.
there will always be the money and return for something like that. Flick onto MTV for five minutes and tell me its not so.....
I think we'll get down to two or so old style record companies within 3-5 years (none based in NZ) whose only real role is to a) administer the massive catalogues, and b) fund the very expensive superstar acts. That, after all, is all that majors can offer now.