LawTalk Blog

Android is to Mobile Phones as Windows was to the Computer Desktop

by Steven Masur

 At the beginning of time, there were supercomputers, and they were controlled by large institutions.  Now everyone has one in the palm of their hand.  So what have we learned in the last 20 years about proprietary operating systems?  Even the best closed systems will ultimately lose dominant market share to those that are open, easy and good enough.  So Open, Easy and Good Enough wins.

In the epic battle for control of the computer desktop, nearly all of the transformers were vanquished except for Microsoft and Apple, and these two super-huge transformers battled for supremacy.  In terms of market share, Microsoft won by being open and good enough.  Windows would run on any hardware and you could develop any application you wanted.  Furthermore, Microsoft also built a few bedrock applications to make any Windows computer “usable enough” right out of the box.  This proved to be an unbeatable combination.  Apple secured its bulletproof, battle-hardened and “best” segment of the market through secrecy, guerilla warfare, sheer willpower and an unflinching attention to the user experience.

Now there is a new epic battle, and it's just beginning.  Throw away any phone that is not a smartphone.  There is no such thing as “the mobile web.”  Your telephone can go on the real web.  The relevant operating systems are Blackberry, Apple OSX on the iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, and one early market starter coming late to the real party, the Palm Pre OS.

So how will this play out?  My prediction is that Android will win, because it is open, and good enough.  Once again, Apple, despite its significant lead, will not win market domination. However, by using the aforementioned strategies, Android will be able to secure the bulletproof, battle-hardened and “best” market segment again.  Here's why.

Just as we needed Apple to show us that people want cute little double-clickable representations of the physical world on their computer desktop, Apple now reveals that we want a touch screen on which you can manipulate all forms of content and data manually.

…but, in addition to your manual touch screen for play, for work you probably want a fast-working keyboard, so you can actually communicate with people and enter data.  Apple refuses to give us that, and wants us to buy everything from one super-mod Walmart-like walled garden company store.  You want to use Verizon, Tmobile, Sprint, or anyone else except AT&T?  Sorry.  No.  Oh, you lost your power supply, or left it plugged in next to your bed before jumping on the plane?  Better go to someone who sells Apple products.  One thing that IS different than before is that you can get an incredibly wide variety of applications from the AppStore.  But Apple controls everything about that environment too, and it only works on Apple hardware.

 Android works on any hardware.  Anyone can develop for Android.  Android runs on any network (although it is only launched on one US phone, on one US network to date).  Android is not better than OSX on the iPhone, but it works well, and you know it will continue to improve, because its survival does not depend upon the stock value of one company.  Finally, lots of big companies, like LG, Motorola, HTC and soon many others will come out with Android phones.

iPhone OSX can't say any of these things.  Symbian, despite its immense worldwide market share, can't say them either.  Windows OS can say them, but it is difficult to use and nobody cares much about getting a Windows phone.  Palm Pre?  Love the OS, and the device combines a touch screen with a good usable keyboard, but long term?  No.  Palm is a single equipment manufacturer that can't effectively compete alone against many large Asian, American and European manufacturers using an open platform.  It is limited to beating out Apple in the “best of class” market.  So to win, Palm has to beat out Apple.  Rewind, repeat: “Palm has to beat out Apple.”  If I were the CEO, I'd choose my battles wisely and quit too.  Next up; RIM’s Blackberry beloved crackberry.  Nobody has a better keyboard, nobody sends email faster or more reliably.  But, even with these unassailable merits, the Blackberry mail service is super expensive, and truthfully, now that iPhone has shipped, people want their smartphone to do more, and doing more will never be quite as easy on a Blackberry as it is with an iPhone-like interface.

Blackberry is tripping over its ancient and opaque OS2-inspired menu-driven OS.  So Blackberry goes the way of the Altaire, Commodore 64, DOS, Atari and everyone else who tried to beat the madness of crowds.  Even if you do one thing well, eventually the masses gravitate to open, easy and good enough.

So even though it is early, I predict now that Android will win.

But don’t take this to the bank immediately.  I have not addressed the question of when.  There is still plenty of life left in all of the above mentioned platforms and devices, and it is still far from clear how long the future I have described might take to unfold.  Also, any of the current players, or a new player could do something different and change the game.  On behalf of phone users everywhere, I hope they do.  That's when things will really get fun.

Personal Democracy Forum 2009

On June 28-29, 2009, the Personal Democracy Forum will be taking place at the Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.

As stated on their site, PDF "is the world's largest and best known conference on the intersection of technology and politics. For the sixth year, more than 1,000 top opinion makers, political practitioners, technologists and journalists will come together to network, exchange ideas, and explore how technology and the Internet are changing politics, democracy, and society."

Mayor Bloomberg will be the Keynote Speaker.  Other keynoters include Frank Rich of the New York Times, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, Randi Zuckerberg of Facebook and many more.

MasurLaw is a big supporter of this event and strongly recommends that you attend if you're in the New York City area.

 Source: http://personaldemocracy.com/pdf-conference/personal-democracy-forum-conference

Emusic Offers Sony Tracks

eMusic has announced that it will now offer all Sony Music tracks that are more than two years old, including artists such as Michael Jackson, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, on their subscription service.  eMusic is one of the worlds largest online music retailers, aimed primarily at adults who are fans of music from independent labels.

Traditionally, the major labels have been skeptical about putting their content on eMusic because of their subscription plan model, as well as the fact that the music does not have any restrictions against copying.  However, recently iTunes also started selling music in an unprotected format.   According to an executive at Sony Music, the company was interested in seeing multiple models in the online music market.  So long as the Sony deal ends up being successful, it could serve as a catalyst to the other major labels to sign on with eMusic.

 

Source: NY Times

So What’s Happening in Mobile Content? Powerful Devices and Fast Data Networks Have Changed the Game

by Steven Masur

 Introduction

We are often asked what is happening in mobile content.  Here’s what’s happening right now.  Since the beginning, content developed for mobile phones has been a game of low bandwidth and slow processing speeds.  Like a painter who is tasked with creating art on a very small canvas with only one color, mobile content developers did as much as they could with the resources at their disposal.  First there was “Snake,” the game on Nokia phones in which you would direct a tiny line around the screen until it hit a wall, or itself.  Then at the turn of the century, monophonic ringtones exploded onto the scene with tinny reproductions of popular songs, whistles, crickets, farts and anything else that sounded halfway decent using only the tones that could be made by your mobile phone keypad.  A number of people got rich and the world took notice.   Development proceeded apace as new technologies, better devices and faster networks rolled out.  With each incremental improvement, developers would create incrementally better mobile phone content.

Fast forward to now.

The game of low bandwidth and slow processing speeds is ending very, very quickly.  High speed networks and mobile broadband are becoming increasingly ubiquitous.  Handsets like the iPhone, the Nokia N Series, RIM’s new Blackberries, the new Symbian phones and the phones from Asia which most of us haven’t even seen, which for years have delivered fully duplexing video conferencing, streaming music, over the air downloads, and fully integrated mobile transactions, are starting to take over the world.  Also, we are seeing more convergences with gaming devices like Sony’s PSP, and with the new slew of mini notebook computers that sell for between $200 and $500 and do nearly everything your $2500 laptop does.

So theoretically, you will soon be able to do anything on your mobile device you can do on your computer….    Stop.  Aren’t you bored with hearing this sort of corporate futurist nonsense?  It’s like saying that just because it is possible, you will use your vacuum cleaner to order popcorn and your power drill to mow the lawn.  It doesn’t really help you.   OK, so where are the new opportunities?

Communicating and Sharing

Mobile is about communicating and sharing.  That’s what people use their mobile phones to do now, and these are the services that people will pick up and use when they are rolled out.   Furthermore,

Sharing = Social Networking

Already the online social networking applications like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have moved onto mobile platforms and users are adopting them like wildfire.  This trend should continue and accelerate.  As these platforms become more robust, speed increases and new technologies ship with mobile phones, we will see new mobile social networking applications proliferate.  Watch what is done with GPS technology, Bluetooth, accelerometers, built-in cameras and video, and just plain old fast processing and high speed networks.  Any service that is easy to use and enhance people’s ability to share in a fundamental way stands to do well.   What’s even better is that this stuff can make money.

Referencing

People want the information they need, when they need it.  With easy access to the internet, mobile devices can deliver on this promise.  Applications that assist this can make money in a wide variety of ways.    Directions and mapping technologies, airline flight information, train, underground and bus schedules and information, banking, customer account information, names and numbers, even trivia information.

Media Delivery

That people want to access their music, books and movies wherever they are goes without saying.  The demand for good media services is there.   Now the handset technology and high speed networks are also there.  These services just need to be refined and made better and cheaper.

The media service has to work well, provide a measure of surety that users will not lose access to their content be incredibly convenient and be affordable.  Once there is a service that delivers these things at a price that customers see as reasonable, more people will use it.  The value provided will compete well with free, and it won’t need to feel free.  The illegitimate services will always be there, but they will no longer be the primary way many people get music or other media.

 Games

The mobile games business is growing.  Just read the newspaper, or look at people in waiting rooms and ques everywhere, or look at your kids.   The dedicated game devices have been compelling for a long time and are even more compelling now.  Now that the regular mobile phone platforms support better games, more people will play games on their mobile phones.  Watch this area both for general growth and for big out of nowhere hits.

Problems

I have outlined above some major growth areas in mobile, here are some of the problems.

Confusion

iPhone, Blackberry, PSP, nano, Archos, Sansa, Napster, Rapsody, iTunes, Comes with Music, Get it Now!  With a plethora of expensive and functionally overlapping devices and new media services with various kinds of payment plans on the market, it is easy to get confused.  Just attracting prospective users to change their habits and adopt new services is difficult enough.  Difficulty differentiating between a wide variety of overlapping devices and services with different payment structures could lead users to freeze and wait until there is a clearer differentiation of value, especially in a down economy.

Burn ‘em

Mobile subscribers who get gouged by their data plan one month can limit it, or turn it off the next month.  Ultimately they just need the phone for talking.  Also, if you think file sharing hurt the music business, just wait until you see a highly motivated and widespread workforce of hackers create alternatives for mobile subscribers who have been burned by carriers gouging them on their data service plans.

 Churn ‘em

Once they’ve been burned, or a different service offers a better value proposition, mobile subscribers can “churn”, or move to different carriers, or off the carrier completely if there is an opportunity.   There are already wifi and skype phones on the market, and you will see much more choice in this category, along with a lot of innovation.

Services that are not Compelling Enough, or that Break

If a service does not provide the functionality users want, or it stops working, or crashes their phone, you have lost them, and they don’t come back.  Just watch the adoption curve on the typical iPhone AppStore application.  Users pick it up, try it once, than never touch it again.   It becomes more digital detritus sitting on their iPhone menu pages.  It’s great that these apps are easy to make and launch, because a lot of cool stuff is being developed.  But this also means there will be much more garbage for users to sort through in order to get what they like, and for you entrepreneurs, it just means higher marketing and promotion costs to make your App stand out among the crowd.

Financing

Well, there is none.  That’s the problem.  If you can’t make it for free or cheap, you probably won’t get it made.

Difficult to get Content

Simply stated, if your service relies on content from others, especially major music labels or film studios, then it’s going to take you a long time to launch a new service.  The majors are still suspicious of new services, and they feel they have been burned and wasted a lot of time on licensing content to services that never really get off the ground.  They are getting better at licensing out content more quickly to be sure, but for the typical entrepreneur, it is still very expensive and time consuming, so I state it as a problem.

 The Carriers are Still the Gatekeepers

You still have to go through the carriers to get to the customers.  Having to pay mobile carriers some part of your revenue in order to even address your customers is not a great place to be.  This is changing with an increasing number of internet connected phones, but only a few services, for example Twitter, have worked through this problem so far, so it is still very real.

 Platform Squeeze

Take the last two problems above and mash them together.   If you are a service that relies on licensed content AND you need the carriers in order to launch, then you risk being squeezed out of your own business after it becomes successful.  Witness ringtones.  Whereas previously there were a plethora of companies providing ringtones and wallpapers, it became easy for the carriers to do deals directly with the major labels, who sourced the most popular ringtones.  The middlemen were squeezed out.

 Opportunities for the Future

Of course, there are more problems, but it is more interesting to end where the opportunities are.  The brilliance of the iPhone is its simplicity.   It delivers complicated services in the simple way.  Everyone should follow this example.   But having blazed the trail, Apple is limited by the compromises it had to make along the way.   Ask yourself why you have to sideload and can’t download music directly, or why there is no media card port on your iPod Touch.  Why are tracks still 99 cents on iTunes?  Is that really the market price, or did Jobs just make that up in order to get the label deals done?    Where is the competition in all of these categories?

The solutions to these, and all the problems stated above are where the big opportunities are.  And never forget that historically, the biggest companies are founded in down economies.  I don’t have to reach too far into the past to identify Google as one of these, and you could do a lot worse than them and still be completely OK.

Leveraging New Distribution Deals

The IAEL Indie Summit Workshop at the MIDEM Music Conference at Cannes, France went extremely well.  The speakers included Tony Morris, Partner at the British law firm Marriott Harrison, Mike Chadwick, Managing Director of Essential Music & Marketing, Kevin Arnold, Founder/CEO of IODA Alliance and Gray Gannaway, SVP of Business Development at CD Baby.

In the workshop, we discussed first the importance of starting with a good product.  If you spend the time required to write great songs, cast off the lesser songs, and practice enough to perform them well, you will have at the least the best product you can make, which if you work on it, will stand head and shoulders above the rest of the available music and gain visibility just because of its merit.  Great songs sell themselves.  After this discussion, we delved right into the nuts and bolts of establishing an online presence and getting the best online distribution deal possible.  Kevin Arnold from IODA and Gray Gannaway from CD Baby discussed exactly how the process works and the best way to distinguish your work to get the most out of the online services, and Tony Morris and Steven Masur discussed the most important deal points to get in the negotiation, including good rates, a workable term, the importance of good audit provisions and the rights reversion, or the ability to get out of the deal if it doesn't work out.

We then went right into physical distribution deals.  Mike Chadwick discussed the importance of a good reputable label in these deals, and the stage to which a band must get before a good distributor will consider taking them on.  He then discussed some of the problems that have occurred because of the market downturn and shrinking music business, including distributors shutting down and keeping your product in a warehouse.  Tony quipped that sometimes it is useful to have a few large heavily tattooed men on hand to help you in these situations.  In discussing the money made from merch at live performances, the usefulness of having large heavily tattooed men around to watch the collected money once again resurfaced.

After discussing the importance of having good audit provisions, we moved on to discuss some of the interesting new arrangements artists have started to explore in the arena of licensing, and how for some artists, this has become their most lucrative source of revenue, along with live performances.   Steven discussed innovative sponsorship and licensing deals his clients had done with Verizon, Dell, and the Obama campaign, among other sponsors.  Tony Morris discussed the venture capital model as it has been applied to funding his music clients, as well as his experience with major labels starting to sign artists with advances again, in order to stoke the creative fires and develop more of a bench of new artists.

The workshop ended with a Q and A, in which the point was made that once you have an online presence and digital and physical distribution deals, then every new licensing, promotion, or press opportunity you can do can lead to online and mobile sales which strike directly to the bottom line.

User Generated Game Content: Watching the Sandbox

Electronic Arts’ Spore was finally on the brink of release after years of development. The system was complete, the game's "cell to civilization" game play finalized, and the servers were up and running. The only thing missing in Spore's “universe” were creatures to inhabit it. Instead of standard procedure of having internal artists and designers put together creatures, Spore was designed with the goal of not only giving the players control of their world, but having their creations appear throughout the galaxy. The designers had done their work in creating the procedures and rules that would govern how the creatures moved from the ground up, making all the pieces fit together. Within weeks of the creation tool's release, over a million creatures had been created and uploaded to the servers. At the same time, people had begun creating configurations with crude depictions of genitalia and other objectionable content. EA began banning and removing the creatures as they found them or as they were flagged offensive by the community.

The novelty of user-generated content arises from the classic complaint that, “I could do better than that.” Everyone wants the chance to be the director, and now that developers can make a viable framework for other people can create in, it’s no wonder that some of the most popular and most promoted titles are cast in that mold. However, the “brave new sandboxes” that game designers are building (and letting their players loose in) have more than a few patches of quicksand, which present brand-new challenges to the companies trying to keep control of this virtual performance space.

The fact is, members of the gaming community tend to push the limits of the spaces they’ve been given. Give players the opportunity to modify a game, and they’ll create new material, new graphics, and even create new genres for the same game. One of the most popular additions to first-person-shooter Half Life 2 is the simply titled “Garry’s Mod” which turns the action-adventure game into a open environment where players can go wild with the game’s physics engine, freely manipulating the world’s objects and characters. The cycle of content feeds on itself, and can keep up a constant stream of new creations for quite a long time. At the same time, users push other limits as well- good taste, common sense, and even copyright law.

Companies have little choice but to respond with broad efforts at controlling the content. Their terms of service are encyclopedic, requiring that users relinquish all potential intellectual property rights and indemnify them against any claims of intellectual property infringement brought by third parties. Furthermore, companies are quick to err on the side of taking content down, using both actual agents and autonomous computer scripts to either flag content for review or remove it outright.

 Though the Communications Decency Act and Digital Millennium Copyright Act offer broad protections if properly attended to, game developers in this genre can leave themselves vulnerable to third party claims as a result of user conduct- someone making a Guitar Hero: World Tour song that mimics a current hit, or a Spore creature that looks like a Super Mario Bros. character. Moreover, developers of titles that are accessible worldwide through the internet must conform to the content restrictions of every country where the game is accessible.

While the Grand Theft Auto series has always been controversial, one of their more recent firestorms may have been stirred up unintentionally. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a game initially bearing a Mature rating from the Electronic Software Ratings Board (ESRB), the game industry's ratings board, came under fire when players who picked through the game’s code found hidden, unused, and highly sexual content that was inaccessible in the main game. Those players then released a mod of the game which integrated the sexual content into standard gameplay. The “Hot Coffee” mod was named after the original, unused, trigger.  The game’s protagonist was invited in for coffee, leading to an interactive sequence of sexual intercourse. The controversy raised outcry from parents and legislators, and eventually resulted in the game being re-rated Adults Only until a new version of the disk could be released with the offending content completely expunged.  In 2006, a class action suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District alleging consumer fraud.  After a year of negotiation a $35 million settlement had been reached.  At the eleventh hour, the settlement was objected to and the class was decertified, forcing aggrieved parties to, after years in court, start from scratch with individual claims.

 For online game creations, the ESRB has already effectively surrendered- attaching their disclaimer of “Online Experience May Change During Play” as the sole warning as to the potential content. This little phrase is all that’s there to encapsulate the entire online world- including all of the game’s players and their creations. Even if  this disclaimer proves effective, if Spore or Little Big Planet has its reputation ruined or its rating challenged, the potential damage to their sales could be tremendous. Wal-Mart has become one of the biggest retailers of video games in the US, and they refuse to stock Adults Only games on their shelves. As the rating rises, the potential audience shrinks dramatically.

The editing situation, from the player's point of view quickly becomes volatile and frustrating. Terms of service and the license agreements carve out space for companies to take down content without specifying a specific reason. The automated scripts used to keep up can sweep too broad a net- a Spore user with a sense of humor at the original rush of explicit content created a relatively ordinary creature (by Spore standards) with the title “Not A Penis.”  That user received a take-down and temporary suspension in short order.  When an average gamer receives a take-down notice, especially one perceived as unfair, it’s may be enough to stop them from playing, much less contributing.

A disintegrating player base has the potential to be just as disastrous as a legal challenge or a publicity nightmare. The loop is simple; More players means more content, keeping current players happy. Besides, in today’s linked-in world, people end up purchasing and playing “that new thing I saw my friend playing all month.” If everyday players get upset, the first people to be effected will likely be the most prolific creators. Lose enough creators, and the loop can collapse and kill the game.

The dilemma is balancing the players’ sense of what they should be entitled to with what the companies can provide. The feedback that the players get comes almost entirely from popularity within the community. Popular users cultivate fans, and sometimes receive perks: popular song creators on Guitar Hero: World Tour receive additional upload slots to put more of their creations online, for example. This kind of recognition is essential, but also part of the problem. People on Youtube still post current, copyrighted shows in violation of the terms of service, have them taken down for infringement, and re-post them in cycles because while they are up, the clips are always highly watched. Even on large services, the potential for a small number of people to manipulate the ratings, or drive off competition by flagging their works for moderation, is a major obstacle in trying to make the rewards for top creators substantial. Most of all, only so much of the effort of community management can be automated, compared to the moderation side.

So with the stakes high, the developers push against 'content violations', and the players make what's popular and push back. Players will keep bending or breaking the rules, both for their own amusement and for popularity, and the battle continues.  None of the developers have discussed their process for the take-downs in depth, nor the operational cost. There's no doubt that this format is popular- Spore’s one million sales in its first month show that much. The question is how long can the developers keep the balance, and whether it's worth the risk.

 

Good Music, Conveniently Delivered; The Value Prop Still Ain’t There

How music is broken and what to do about it

by Steven Masur

You’ve heard all the arguments for and against 360 deals already, and if you are lucky, you may even have figured out what one is.  The trouble is that in the current configuration, the value proposition still just ain’t there.

Let’s talk about passive participation.  There are some things the majors are very good at.  Those things differ from major to major.  There are things that mini-majors, independent labels, live touring and merch companies are each good at too.  The trouble is that signing a deal with any one of these entities does not give you the whole package.  There will be areas where the entity will fall short, which you really can’t afford if you want to come correct to market.  Which good business person would give away a passive participation chunk for the things for which they have to pay on top to outsource in order to get good value?  None.  The value proposition is just not there, and that’s what all the arguing is about.

So what should we do?  Stop pulling punches, knock it off with the dirty, sneaky tricks and get back down to the real business of music.

Make a Good Product

First and foremost, start with a killer product, that stands head and shoulders above all of the mediocre noise and stupid, hackneyed musical confections.  It’s just amazing how bad you can be at everything else and still make money if what you have to sell is good.

Don’t spend a bunch of money on music you wouldn't be proud to promote as if it were your own.  Get back into the hardcore art of A&R and artists development.  Find artists who are killing it even with terrible instruments and bad production.  Work with those artists.

Keep it Simple

Even for lawyers the deals are too complicated and full of cheap tricks.  We might be stuck with that for the older artists, but let’s throw it all away for the kids.  Ian MacKaye had it right 20 years ago.  Pay the artist a straight percentage rate across everything.  It’s easy to understand, easy to account, easy to collect.  Stop hiding things from artists. Stop lying to your own team.  Instead, become their trusted partners in business.

Wash Out the Middle Men

It’s awe-inspiring the degree of complexity involved in the buying and selling of a product which in the end can be so simple to make and such a joy to use.  Why do you have to read This Business of Music or Kohn on Music Licensing to gain only the vaguest understanding of how to write a buy-sell agreement, when you can sell your car with a bill of sale written on the back of a napkin?  Movies are far more complex, and yet so much easier to buy and sell. 

Let’s make our business run the way other businesses run.  Let’s just let all the old licensing agreements whither and die through nonuse, and only do simple new deals; One flat, across the board percentage.   The people relying on the old deals will come scrounging around like coyotes when they start to get hungry enough.

Outsource

Create jobs for your country.  Acknowledge your weaknesses and pay other people who are better at those areas.  There are some incredibly good marketers and promoters out there.  Merch is cheap to produce, easy to sell and commands a high price point.  Hotels and supermarkets need better music.  Film, TV and commercials can’t survive on 60’s classics alone.  Don’t hold up commerce for an outrageous advance.  License simply and easily and let the licensee pay for the implementation.  You can always pull the plug after the fact if the licensee’s product doesn’t succeed or they try to steal from you.  You’re not DeBeers for God’s sake.  These aren’t diamonds that last forever.  Get your product out there before it goes sour.

Piracy

What, you don’t want to work hard if all that’s going to happen is kids will steal your product off the internet?  Give me a break.  If you can’t muster enough creativity to find ways to make money on something that has so much value that regular everyday people want to steal it, then you’re losers and no one should cry for you.  The live guys don’t seem to have the same problem.  Doesn’t it amaze you that people who can barely afford to put gas in their cars will put themselves in a dirty, dusty line to pay hundreds of dollars for a couple hours of music?   Perhaps if you didn’t make it so hard for people to actually buy music off of the internet, and perhaps if you dropped the price point even slightly, more people might buy more and steal less.  Why do folks have to sideload music onto their iPhones, Blackberries and other connected internet appliances, when they can easily download software onto them?   Don’t get me wrong, I love my Pandora and last.fm, but why can’t I pay for a streaming service that allows me to play the actual song I want to hear AND fast forward, AND reverse?  Do you have any idea how much money you are losing by not letting me remember how great Steppenwolf’s early 70’s Live album was, and by not letting me buy the latest Kanye on the spot when it comes up in conversation?

We are not giving consumers good value and convenience.  That’s why they don’t want to buy our stuff.

Conclusion

Does the above sound too simple and easy to be true?  Good.  This ain’t rocket science.  We just have to get back to giving people what they want and charging them for it.  Good music, conveniently delivered.   As everyone knows, doing this is much harder to do than to say.  You have to work hard, promote well and be lucky, and even then, your best product might not sell.  That’s business.  Pick yourself up, grab a new product and try again.  We can do this.

Transmission 2008

The transmission crew (http://www.transmitnow.com/) once again did an incredible job.  The synchronized revolving roundtables allowed us each to discuss deeply music industry issues that get overly short shrift in the heat of the moment.  Once you lean back and start to listen, you get the overwhelming sense of excitement for what brought us all here in the first place -- the music.

Band Discards Record Label Tradition

A New York musical band called Francis and the Lights has recently decided to incorporate itself and acquire outside investment, instead of pursuing a traditional record label deal.  The band received $100,000 from The Normative Music Company.  A representative from The Normative Music Company, Jake Lodwick, compared the arrangement to an internet start-up working with a venture capital firm.

Lodwick also attributed the unique business structure to the uncompromising nature of the band’s lead singer, Francis Starlite. “As a fan of his music, I see no alternative. The traditional role of a “manager” who makes strategic decisions is incompatible with a man whose vision requires absolute control of all artistic and business decisions.”

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/40832

Royalties Deal in Online Music

Record labels, music publishers, songwriters and online music services have reached an agreement on how to compensate music creators for online distribution of their content, they said. The agreement, revealed last Wednesday, is designed to settle how the industry calculates royalty rates for limited downloads and music that is streamed online, including when it is provided by subscription and advertising-supported services.

Under the proposal, providers of such services will pay a royalty of 10.5 percent of revenue after other royalties are calculated. The Digital Media Association described the agreement in a statement on its Website as a breakthrough that would facilitate new ways to offer music to consumers online. The other groups involved include the National Music Publishers’ Association, which represents American publishers, the Recording Industry Association of America, Nashville Songwriters Association International and the Songwriters Guild of America, according to the New York Times.