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Important Music Industry Article - U2 Manager

Posted by acousticguitarist • 6/01/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: music article u2 manager

I was alerted to this article by a friend involved in band management n Britain. Some weeks back, we had a serious discussion about what has happened to the music industry, to musicians at all levels and how music sales are down 60% across the board due to the current file sharing situation. The band she manages has sold one and a half million albums, previously their sales would have been up around 10 million.

Here is a very interesting article about the manager of U2.

news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10250711-93.html

I've done a quick post at my blog to point to the article in case you ever wish to refer back to it in the future.

the-guitarplayer.com/2009/06/01/free-the-enemy-of-good-isps-versus-music-in...

I question if we are creating a mindset of "What's mine is mine and yours is also mine too"

Recently I found some of my music turned into ringtones.... arseholes... no other word for those people that do that.

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User Comments

  1. wagerwitch
    6/01/09
    wagerwitch
    OK - but have you followed the Trent Reznor philosophy?

    Try it out and see if it works for you. The Man's a Genius!
    [reply]
    1. acousticguitarist
      6/01/09
      acousticguitarist
      I'll check it out.... thanks

      I have no idea what you are talking about
    2. wagerwitch
      6/01/09
      wagerwitch
      Michael Maznek wrote on it --- it's an incredible model of marketing that Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails uses - and it incorporates the usage of File Share...

      It's an INCREDIBLE model.

      More companies and artists should learn from it.

      I'll see if I can dig it up.
    3. acousticguitarist
      6/01/09
      acousticguitarist
      oh, yeah i'm familiar with some different possible marketing models. It's a very interesting discussion. My ex managed some people and bands which are household names, it's quite fascinating to discuss this with industry people that are seeing the impact first hand.

      I can see lots of potential models because of the area of development that I'm involved in and the web marketing people I have been involved with .

      There are certain value issues that are bypassed always in this type of conversation and it's always like banging your head against the wall. I teach about a hundred people a year in IT, and regardless how wonderful and honest people are in most areas of their lives, the general consensus is rather I'll just take it when it comes to music because they can. The issue is, those models are NOT in place yet and people just STEAL Music and Software.

      You can talk for hours on possible models, but until they are in place and decided upon, it's just stealing from the client perspective. Like the people that steal my transcriptions, same story. I ask them to take them down off the Internet and they don't and I end having to send legal letters to stop claiming that my work is theirs and available to others for free because they think it's fine to give my work away. They stuff I put together, most of the people who steal it have no idea the study the years of work that has gone into arriving at what I know.

      This is quite simple really. One is a philosophy about what people can do versus the actions that people actually do, they are very different conversations.
  2. wagerwitch
    6/01/09
    wagerwitch
    blog.mises.org/archives/009780.asp
    Masnick - sigh -

    Watch the video - it is QUITE interesting - a little dry - but you'll get the point - it might open some serious mental doors for you.

    WW
    [reply]
    1. acousticguitarist
      6/01/09
      acousticguitarist
      i'm checking it out

      I am very familiar with crossmedia marketing
  3. wagerwitch
    6/01/09
    wagerwitch
    Yeah - but the concept is:

    They're going to do it - so why not make bank off of it - and offer physical things that ONLY paying people can get.

    As long as the internet is not policed - which honestly I hope it never does get that way - because we would lose a lot of freedoms... People will steal ideas, arts, music, movies and things that can be gotten.

    However - if you make it so that they cannot steal special things - like signature items - like things that FANS would want...

    Make it so that it's CREATIVE COMMONS for them to get the music - so your music becomes WORLDWIDE and you get MORE FANS - then --- you turn around and use those EXTRA MILLIONS OF FANS to purchase things....

    I think that was the basis of the model.

    You know - special seating at concerts - special disc copies - games ONLY for Fans - things that fans can ONLY get by going to the concerts - or by purchasing - the physical...

    And it really really works.

    But you have to play the game with them - and figure out what works best...

    Contests - polls - interactivity.

    The biggest thing a Fan wants - is to feel as tho they are somehow special to the artist.

    So - this particular artist makes ALL of them feel special - so they spend more money.

    I thought it was an eye opener... For the business.

    I do think theft stinks - and copyscape is my friend... LOL!

    BUT - I think there could be ways around it - and ways to make you money off of your stuff by outthinking them.

    Super good luck to you - by the way. You're great!

    WW
    [reply]
    1. acousticguitarist
      6/02/09
      acousticguitarist
      thanks 2 multiplied by W's
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