The Jig is Up

Although Modern Revival is taking a minute to rearrange some things and come out swinging this fall, I wanted to take a minute to write about a situation that I was fortunate - or unfortunate - to be a witness to. Names and specifics will be left out as a small measure of class, but all other holds are off. It's time to talk about something serious: the state of music as a business as it pertains to record labels.

This past weekend I was invited to be a part of seminar in which we would be speaking with an A&R representative of a major label. Topics were to include: 360 deals, the state of music innovation, and this label's plans for the future. I was excited. However, my excitement was premature, and the following discussion - if you can call it that - went south fast. I have to preface this by saying that I am a wholly optimistic person, and I share this information with you ONLY in the hopes that you take from it something that will motivate you to enable change in our industry.

I have to start with his appearance. It was so atrociously childish that I, at first glance, mistook him for a student. He rolled in with pants hanging below his ass, a white Hanes over-sized undershirt, a kicked Yankees cap, some obnoxious bling, and his cell phone front in center on his belt (not turned to silent or off, like the rest of us.) Classy, right? Yeah. First impressions are often deceiving though, so I put it aside, only to be let down dramatically by accuracy.

The first sentence out of this person's mouth (I mentioned he was 15 minutes late, sipping on a soda from McDonald's, right?) was "Let's just get to the questions; that's why you're all here." No introduction, no topical banter; without any further ado, we were in the question portion of a nonexistent discussion. After five minutes of awkward uncertainty, some of us chimed in with your standard fare: "What is the state of things from your perspective?", "Is there any innovation behind closed doors that we should be aware of?", "What are your response plans for the current web economy?" Nothing was too intense, but the way he responded, you would have thought we asked for his social security number and a valid credit card.

He tap danced unlike anything I've ever witnessed. So much so, that almost half the room left before the half an hour mark. It was sad really. He did not answer one single question bluntly or directly, and most were left unanswered completely. But there are two major things about this event that still have me reeling, if you'd be so kind to indulge me just a bit longer:

1. When asked "What can independent artists be doing to help position themselves to be noticed by the new major model?" this featured guest responded by telling us that we should focus on getting "1000 spins on radio" and "building solid MySpace pages". First off: spins? Are we in 1974!? Second of all: what radio stations? Last I checked, radio was on life support. Third: do you mean to tell me that a major label's game plan includes, just now, building MySpace pages?? On the brink of that site's fall from social networking grace?! Remember that this is the representative that this major label chose to send out and answer questions on it's behalf. If these statements are, in fact, no joke, I feel like we have a lot more to worry about than I initially guessed at.

2. I came to find out after I walked out about 45 minutes in, that this rep was charging the artists in the room $100 US dollars (cash only, of course) to LISTEN to their demos. No promise of anything but a set of ears for a couple minutes. After he made himself (and the label he represented) look a fool, he had the audacity to charge people money for nothing. In case you weren't aware: it is an A&R reps job to listen to music and find talent...that's what the LABEL pays them to do, NOT what the artist pays for.

You might not see anything wrong with that, but to me, it was robbery. This person wasn't there to find talent or discuss anything; he was there to make a couple bucks on the side because he doesn't know what else to do with himself. We were duped in to spending a morning subjected to the ignorant ramblings of half-wit talent scout. This is the new face of our business. Ugh.

So, what now? Where to from here? The jig is up. The question has been answered (or not answered, as it were) and it's beyond clear that it is up to the new music movement to create the next step for music business and culture. It's just like Fat Mike said: "Dinosaurs Must Die".

I want your help, your opinion, your thoughts, your feelings. What can we start doing right now to counteract this ridiculous lack of motion? This is our future livelihood here; I hope I'm not alone in wanting it to continue and prosper.

I appreciate your time. I promise that my next post will be far more uplifting. Sometimes light has to be shed on dark situations in order to see where we're going.