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by Michael Laskow
The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" No, I'm not Chicken Little,
and I'm certainly not Nostradamus. I'm just a guy who owns a company
that helps unsigned bands, artists and songwriters get their music to
major record labels, music publishers, and music supervisors working
in film and TV. TAXI has all of a sudden appeared on the radar screens
of some of the largest and most visible music-related Internet companies.
Why? Because
TAXI's membership, which at the time of this writing is 5,000 strong,
represents the largest pool of unsigned talent under one roof in the
world. And that means one thing to the internet companies—CONTENT!
Lots of content.
The theory
goes: no good content, no good reason to go to the Web site. If a site
is rich in content, then Web surfers will have a reason to go there,
and more importantly, stay there. At least for a while. And that is
exactly what the Web sites want. For the longer you stay, the more advertisements
you will see on the site. The more "eyeballs" a site can attract, and
the "stickier" the site is (meaning it's ability to keep you there),
the more appealing it is to the companies who buy the ad space. Makes
sense to me.
Okay, so I
can see why these companies are so interested in TAXI. And I know that
we're more desirable than other purveyors of content because we already
aggregate ours for the labels and publishers who use TAXI as a resource.
But is there more to this picture than can be seen by the naked eye,
and why do I think the sky is falling?
Yes, there's
a lot more to the picture. The Internet is only the tip of the iceberg.
What lies beneath the surface is the future of the music industry, and
that looms much larger than just downloading some free MP3 files. Here's
the future as I see it: Nobody likes to buy an album with a dozen cuts
on it and find two great songs and a bunch of filler. It's a waste of
time and money. That's the reason soundtrack albums sell so well. Twelve
great songs in one place. The Internet already embraces that theory.
Look at sites like www.spinner.com
where you can build your own compilation CD.
But it's going
to go a step farther than that. Make that two steps farther. The first
is Internet Radio where the listener can "program" their own playlist
to suit their own tastes. The second is Digital Radio. Look Ma, no wires.
Imagine listening to your own custom designed radio station in your
car or while you're jogging. The "Bob" station, or the "Mary" station.
Better yet, you'll be able to listen to "your" station anywhere in the
world because Digital Radio will be global in its reach. Not local,
like your favorite stations are now.
But where will
Bob and Mary find the music that they'll "build" their stations with?
From a top Web site. Something with a brand name. Something like RollingStone.com,
or maybe MTV.com. Central destinations that will give the listener access
to all music so they can pick and choose their favorites.
And how will
Bob and Mary find new music if all they listen to is the playlist they
program? Easy. While they're programming their station, they'll tell
the "station" to insert a new song after every third or fifth song of
"theirs." Whenever they hear a new song they like, they'll just hit
the "Add" button on their radio, and that song will be added to their
playlist. When they get tired of something, they'll just hit "Delete,"
and the song will dropped from their playlist. But the best part is
yet to come!
There will
also be "Buy" button on your car radio and your Walkman. If you like
something and want to purchase it, just hit the button and your account
will be automatically billed, and the tune will be waiting for you on
your entertainment system's hard drive when you get home. You can leave
it on the hard drive or burn it on to a disk if you'd like. Just semantics.
The important
thing to note is that singles, not albums will be the driving force
behind this "new" music business. And where will the stations get the
singles? I'm betting that it won't be record companies. I'm putting
my money on direct licensing from the artists themselves!
Quiz time:
What do artists need record companies for? Answer: Marketing clout.
Why do you need marketing clout (or dollars) when your song could be
heard on a mega-station that's global, not local in its reach? My prediction?
The stations will become marketing partners with the artists because
they won't just be playing the music, they'll be selling it as well!
Why then would an artist want to have a middle-man like a record label
taking 85% of every dollar when they could just cut a direct deal with
the radio station/retailer and keep a much bigger chunk of the bounty?
And that my
friends is why the question is not if the sky is falling, but on whom..
My guess is that it will fall on record labels as we know them today.
A new day is about to dawn, and it's going to be an especially good
day for you, the people who make music.
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