| Is the Music Industry dead? |
| Wednesday, 13 August 2014 | |
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It certainly seems like it; the very few music related posts or threads we get here (and don't usually put up) are about "who's sleeping with whose wife" and even those have dropped away - the last "celebrities" that inspired sexual interest were the Madonna/Prince/Michael Jackson stars of the 80s. Even the Gallagher/Albarn mob have had very few people interested in their private lives let alone their music.
But this board was started for two main reasons - enthusiasm for great music (why didn't we get dozens of posts about Rather Be - as good a hit as anything in the past 50 years?). And gossip about the Industry. Which Chairmen/MDs are any good? Who is the best plugger? Which A&R person deserves plaudits or brickbats? Which retailer is best? That last is a clue - we spotted the decline of shops decades ago - one reason why we created the Record of the Year Shows - boosting Christmas and December sales by 200%. The industry has changed. Nobody cares anymore. Dull, faceless, characterless, joyless, dreary career people; no spark, energy, imagination. That's why nobody has come up with The New Model - how to break great music - apart from our two Tipsheet praised executives in the 90s - Simon Cowell and Richard Russell. I find it depressing. I liked those mad, zany, music characters... David Geffen, Obie, Clive Davis, Tony Hall, Phil Spector, Joe Meek, Seymour Stein... Perhaps it explains why the music itself is so ordinary at the moment. |