Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Nas vs Def Jam… Thoughts?
Now there are two sides to every story. Artists want to express themselves and labels want to make money. And if you think labels are in it for anything but the money, you’re wrong, certainly not the major labels. Make it a labor of love and let’s see how many employees are left…zilch.
But this doesn’t count against my commitment story is popping up ever more frequently. I can see both sides in theory, sometimes the act just wants off the label or a higher royalty that’s in the contract for further LPs, and other times the label just wants to keep the act as long as it can for as cheap as it can.
But what’s definitely clear is there’s an adversary relationship. And this adversary relationship is killing the major labels.
It’s very simple. I give you the money, I tell you what to do. What artist wants to be told what to do? And if you don’t want to be told what to do, don’t take the money.
And that’s the paradigm that’s growing today. Artists are doing it for themselves. You can sell and get paid via Tunecore. And is radio gonna play your music anyway? That’s where the major label relationship is, radio and possibly TV, but how many acts are deserving of major TV exposure today? And that’s more a reflection of vapid TV outlets than the acts.
Terry McBride had it right. He was just too early. You want to unify the copyrights. So you’re in control. So you can say yes or no.
A little birdie sent me the below e-mail with this note attached:
“In a nut shell he has an album titled ‘Lost Tapes 2′ that his fans have been dying to have since his first one came out in 2005. They seem to not understand the cultural impact the first one had. The album is done and now they are saying he can put it out but it won’t count on his deal and they won’t pay for it but still want all the benefits of a new nas album.”
And here it is:
From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!
Peace to all,
With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800′s, respect me and I will respect you.
I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation
This isn’t the 90′s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.
Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.
You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!
-N.Jones
–
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Monday, October 4, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Apple Unveils New iPods, TV and a Social Network
Steve Jobs did a big reveal today in San Francisco, announcing the snazzy new iPod touch, which Jobs describes as the “iPhone without a contract.” Apple also unveiled a smaller version of the iPod nano, a music social network and a new TV!
The latest iteration of the iPod touch boasts a Retina screen and dual cameras, while the iPod nano—the “smarter way to radio”—has been shrunk about 42% and includes a touchscreen, FM radio + Live Pause and iTunes tagging.
The new iPods are currently available for pre-order.
In addition, Apple announced a new version of iTunes that includes “a social network all about music” called Ping that Jobs says is like “Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes.”
“Follow your artists and friends to discover the music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading,” he adds.
Ping is available today as part of iTunes 10.
A smaller, cheaper Apple TV also debuted, which allows Netflix members to instantly stream content from Netflix at no additional cost.
Radio's Not Back (It Just Never Went Away)
Next week, radio's largest organized annual meeting, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), takes place in Washington D.C. and it might surprise you to learn that terrestrial radio, which has taken a substantial financial and image beating in the last several years, is actually far healthier than many people are aware. Although many forms of media have had it tough recently, outside of print, it seems as if radio has been singled out as one in singular trouble, leaving the erroneous impression that its reach and impact has been greatly diminished.
Photo Credit: Francesco Gasparetti
It is certainly accurate that some of that damage was self-inflicted with the consolidation of ownership, wild prices paid for stations as the top companies with massive debt gobbled up more, airing an increasing number of commercials, being slow to adapt to the digital opportunities and streaming, and de-emphasizing creativity and quality in content. Yet despite this turmoil and strong competition, terrestrial radio is emerging stronger than ever.
Against the backdrop of its competition with SiriusXM satellite radio, with a significant base of close to 20 million subscribers, as well as the increase of Internet radio's audience to more than 70 million listeners (largely powered by the explosive growth of Pandora), terrestrial radio is actually growing its audience and reach.
Photo credit: Lyndon Wong
According to the new RADAR 106 National Radio Listening Report, which was released this week from Arbitron, "Terrestrial radio reaches more than 239 million Persons aged 12 and older over the course of a typical week." This weekly audience of 239 million listeners represents an increase of four million terrestrial radio listeners compared to the RADAR 102 report from one year ago.
What's more, the figure of 239 million represents 93% of all persons 12 years and older- even 92% of all teens listen to the radio during the course of each week.
Also of note, over the past few years, the ratings methodology for radio has been in the process of a conversion from the old diary methodology to an electronic one in the form of the PPM (Portable People Meter). This conversion has changed many things about how we look at radio audiences, but one of the most important is that the reach of any single radio station increases dramatically - usually by a factor of 2, and often by a factor of 3 or more - as soon as the PPM is deployed.
So, despite the increased competition from the Internet, mp3 players, and other forms of radio, terrestrial radio remains an essential medium in the lives of Americans. As you would expect, people spend less time with radio, as their attention is divided among more options, but they still come back to it.
There is one area where terrestrial radio has been challenged by the increased competition and that is in its changing role as a source of discovery for music. Edison Media Research published a study in April that showed radio and the Internet as the essential media in discovering music. But radio's overall lead over the Internet in this regard has shrunk, especially among the youngest demographics.
Photo Credit: Hens Zimmerman
Here's a chart showing how these numbers have changed in the last 8 years when respondents were asked for their "first choice for learning about music":
Still, while terrestrial radio faces intense challenges from new platforms, it continues to reach virtually every American in the course of the average week. No artist or manager can ignore the mass impressions that radio can quickly generate for a new song. That is why terrestrial radio remains a crucial player in breaking new music and impacting sales.
While the last few years have been challenging for radio, both due due to the economic downturn and the technological alternatives of digital media, there's nothing new here. Radio has weathered recessions and disruptive new competition before. Terrestrial radio is defying the pundits yet again, by continuing to resonate and reach a larger audience.
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