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Warner Music's Divine Wisdomby George Ziemann -- December 22, 2008 Elvis, the Beatles, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, U2, Madonna, Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers -- It seems to me that most popular acts become popular by going through a period where you almost can't escape them. Warner Music has a new take on the star machine where you try to ensure no one can find your acts. Today's story is that Warner Music will be having all of its music removed from YouTube. The story is at Wired. It's worth reading, but here's the punch line:
When did that start? They managed to put SoundExchange together without paying the songwriters. And it's not enough to have terms that are appropriate and fair, you have to actually pay the artists what they earn. Last I heard, Warner couldn't pass Sarbanes-Oxley accounting rules. But that's not the point. I just thought that was funny. I want to question the basic logic behind this entire crusade by the record labels to stop people from hearing new music. They would rather continue the slide to oblivion rather than admit they were wrong. They were wrong about mp3s, CD-Rs, DRM, the Internet, and the lawsuits. They're still wrong about P2P. And they're wrong about this, too. Take all of their music off of YouTube. Great idea. Finally brings us to a full 180 degree shift from the dawn of mTV, when the labels spent big bucks making music videos, did not get paid for them and everyone was happy. Now that the fans can make the videos, and will create an endless supply for free, well, we've got a serious problem because now we can't charge anything back to the artist. And what of Top 40? Is that still around? Many songs still linger in my brain far beyond what should have been their natural lifespan. If brain cells were to die, they would be the first to go. Disco Duck, for instance. The Archies. Tiny Tim. In contrast to Warner's idea to remove everything from sight, Disney pushed High School Musical (several versions) by playing it relentlessly, for free viewing, for months on end. They would premiere it on the Disney Channel. For like a week. What's that? Wanna sing along? Karaoke version. Can't get enough backstage scoop? The pop-up version is just for you, giving you a short break before the dance version teaches you all the same steps as the singing hero. Last time, there was a theatrical release, too, I believe. And they've been consistent best sellers. None of the prime demographic has a job, much less income, a credit card or an iTunes account. Every year, a large portion of that audience will decide that they are too cool for Disney, which is just for the "little kids." The little kids are apparently the only ones buying music, although their parents have to buy a concert ticket, too. Entertainers rely on exposure to maintain and continue a career. If you hear a song enough times, you'll at least be able to tolerate it, if not begin to like it. That was the theory that drove radio for decades. Get new songs out, get them played as much as possible, and see if the public likes them. This whole "hide them in the closet" promotion approach seems incredibly dim-witted. Even more so if the real reason they're doing it is because someone at Warner is arrogant enough to believe that not allowing their music to be used on YouTube will somehow hurt YouTube. They think that YouTube can't live without them. I think erasing Warner Music from YouTube is a good start. And then YouTube can charge reinstatement fees when Warner changes their mind, just for wasting everyone's time.. |
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