The Record Companies Just Don't Get It...Still

I have a new definition for dumb...record companies. How can an entire industry chase the same mechanical rabbit around the track year after year? Amazing how much they are still in denial about the new age of music and the forces of change that are obvious to millions of consumers and the musicians they used to depend on to earn a living. They have a single focus, now that virtually everything is outsourced and consumers have changed the way they purchase and discover new music...the catalog.

I was watching Willy Wonka the other day, the remake directed by Tim Burton (what a strange guy he is). The mom was making the best of a cabbage in a watery soup. My mind wandered to the record industry making the best of their catalog. This is their only remaining asset (surly earned fairly and squarely from every musician) and they are squeezing every last drop, because there isn't any more soup after its gone. How many compilations can we buy? How many ways can they combine the greatest hits of an old band in odd months in odd years? Creativity they have. Brains are what is missing.

I met yesterday with an industry veteran who agrees. "I see dumb people". Really, the folks in the industry are fine, it's management that can't see what everyone else sees.

So here's the deal; the record industry business model is broken, everyone knows this. The top entertainment attorneys, the top record industry chief marketing officers, the top record producers, the top talent managers, the top bands, even the starter bands. The top record executives are still expecting this Internet fad-thing to go away.

So, here's my prediction from the Bailiwick crystal Ball. Ready....stay tuned.