[ARSCLIST] Record Business vs. Music Business: The Shakeout Continues.

[Aaron Levinson <aaron.levinson@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Tom:

The bloated, inefficient, top-heavy monstrosity known as the "record 
business" will not exist, they will become the catalogue
purveyors and it will be less than 10 years. But, the "music business" 
will flourish and be populated by die-hard fanatics that eat, and 
breathe music. You are absolutely correct Tom, the lawyers and 
accountants will have to find other people to swindle. So, the 
independent sector will take more and more of a market share, as they 
are right now, and the people that have something to say as artists will 
still be making records. The Lear jets and suites at the Mondrian will 
become a faded memory to all but the superstars but I believe that the 
return to a cottage industry model will ultimately provide us within a 
return to excellence. The one sad note for
many of us on this list will be that many of the hallowed rooms of the 
past like Hit Factory will probably not survive as the value of the 
property exceeds the value of the business itself. Having said that I am 
happy to report that here in Philadelphia we are experiencing a studio 
renaissance with some really great new studios opening, older ones 
re-inventing themselves and small but  truly cool places seeing an 
uptick in business overall.

I think that if the list price is lowered to say $10 for a CD and the 
music itself is genuinely good that the long-term survival of physical 
goods may actually pan out. Now if we can only roll back the onerous new 
rate structure imposed on internet radio programmers we will be in 
pretty good shape.

I'm a pathologically optimistic guy so some of what I say me be wishful 
thinking but on the whole I remain, as always cautiously bullish.

AA


Tom Fine wrote:
> Hi Bob:
>
> If that's the case, then isn't the music business going to keep 
> shrinking for quite a while? Back when the album was a "luxury item," 
> wasn't the business much smaller -- and weren't those luxury items 
> produced and marketed by people who knew music as opposed to lawyers 
> and accountants?
>
> I must say I am not as optimistic as you seem that any vestige of a 
> "music business" will exist in another decade. I just hope some phoney 
> dot-bomb doesn't end up with somebody's archives, which then get lost 
> or sold for pennies to a game publisher or the like when the dot-bomb 
> blows up.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Olhsson" <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 08, 2007 12:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] SACD fans -- some discounts
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From Matt Sohn: It's all gonna go on the net. Be there now...
> >
> > According to the same "experts," it was all supposed to go away and be
> > replaced by television in 1950 along with radio and the movies. What 
> > I think
> > the album is really doing is resuming its traditional role as a luxury
> > product sold at a luxury price.
> >
> > Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
> > Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
> > Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
> > 615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com