SXSW 2010: 'Be more like the porn industry' -- survival tips for the music business
Gregg Gillis of Girl Talk, at left, performs at Congress Theater. The band was discussed at a 2010 SXSW panel called “Why hasn’t the music industry sued Girl Talk?” (Photo for the Tribune by Shauna Bittle)
AUSTIN, Texas --- Booze and porn – the future of music?
The suggestions were only partially tongue in cheek as the music industry took a critical, sometimes humorous look at itself during the 24th annual South by Southwest Music Conference, which concluded last weekend.The forward-looking tone of the conference was a notable shift. At South by Southwests of the past, executives frequently complained bitterly about what once was – the ultra-profitable $15 billion-a-year industry of the 20th Century. Now a new breed of decision-makers is looking toward what might be in 2020. At this year’s conference, the search was on for new business models and new ways of thinking about how music will be made, distributed and consumed. And it’s about time. While the industry dithered the last 10 years, its economy bottomed out; sales of its cash cow, the compact disc, have plunged more than 50 percent.
In uncertain times, people look for guidance, revelation, a sign from above. And so South by Southwest became a search for The Answer. A few industry insiders could even joke about it.
Derek Sivers, the founder of the on-line record-store CD Baby, offered not just advice but “the Tao” – the guiding principle – in a vastly entertaining panel on how to rise above an increasingly cluttered ocean of music. One crucial tidbit of wisdom for aspiring rock stars and music-biz entrepreneurs: “Buy people beer if necessary.”
Eric Garland, the head of digital media measurement company Big Champagne, advised the music community to take a few cues from the porn industry. “They’re not trying to force their customers into a relationship,” he said. “They’re just out to prove on a daily basis that it’s a good deal.”
Five industry sages sat in a room full of executives to answer the question, “How will we listen to music in 2020?” Their conclusion: “Any way we want to,” said Steve Savoca, an executive with the Domino label. “The future will be about access – packaging music every which way,” from old-fashioned vinyl albums to the trendiest cellphone applications.
Whether the artists who make that music will get paid is another matter. Most aren’t making much money directly from recorded music now, and that trend is unlikely to change soon.
The answer no one gave in a panel entitled “Why hasn’t the music industry sued Girl Talk?” is that Girl Talk, who stitches together bits of copyrighted songs to create new music, hasn’t sold enough recorded music to make suing him worthwhile. Instead, Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis) has created a career by essentially giving away music on the Internet as a way of promoting live appearances.
Up for grabs is how intellectual property will be addressed as more Girl Talks emerge. In a lengthy legal debate over the nuances of fair use in appropriating copyrighted works, one comment zeroed in on the source of the tension: “We’re in a remix culture, and the law has not caught up with it,” said Benjamin Franzen, who produced the movie “Copyright Criminals.”
Franzen said it would’ve cost him upward of $4 million to license music and images from the likes of Walt Disney, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin as part of his illuminating documentary on how artists transform the past into new art. “Fair use enabled the movie to be made,” he said.
Licensing costs are preventing Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek from making his Spotify music platform available in the United States. Spotify is a hit in Europe, with more than 300,000 subscribers and 7 million users. But in a keynote address at the interactive conference that preceded the music portion of South by Southwest, Ek revealed that he still must make about 5,000 deals with license holders and collection agencies to get Spotify running in America. His goal is to make music “flow like water” to consumers, and still pay music creators.
Yet even Ek acknowledged that Spotify will be only one of many futures for the Music Industry 2.0.
“There isn’t one business model that will save the music industry,” he said.
Because the future is likely to be even more fragmented than the current music world, with its myriad niches, micro-cultures and sub-basement communities, it will require content creators to work harder than ever to maintain relevance. And it will require the industry to adapt even more quickly to the shifting means by which consumers access music. The pros at South by Southwest offered a few survival tips:
** “You have to find some way to be essential, or you’re not going to be in it,” said Big Champagne’s Garland, expanding on his be-more-like-the-porn-industry thesis. “The [digital music] ‘cloud’ is less interesting than who controls what’s in the cloud – and the end users control it. You have to prove your worth to them every day.”
** It’s the fans’ world more than ever. “The biggest secret of all promotion: It’s about them, not you,” Sivers advised.
** The industry needs to make its music not only accessible, but compatible with any music player. The fewer hassles the better. “If music legally and easily can be obtained on any device you want," said Spotify’s Ek, "the music industry would be radically bigger than it is today."
** Music will be streamed rather than downloaded by consumers. “Downloads are stupid,” said Alexander Ljung, founder of Germany’s SoundCloud. “I’d rather stream it from a hard drive that someone else is managing. When consumers press ‘play,’ that file will be managed by someone else.”
** Interactivity will replace passive listening. Fans “do not just want to listen to music, but play with it,” said Domino’s Savoca. “Music-creation technology for the amateur listener” will become commonplace.
They described a music world in which everything has changed, and where everything will change yet again. As keynote speaker Smokey Robinson said, “Thicken your skin.”
Eric Garland, the head of digital media measurement company Big Champagne, advised the music community to take a few cues from the porn industry. “They’re not trying to force their customers into a relationship,” he said. “They’re just out to prove on a daily basis that it’s a good deal.”
Five industry sages sat in a room full of executives to answer the question, “How will we listen to music in 2020?” Their conclusion: “Any way we want to,” said Steve Savoca, an executive with the Domino label. “The future will be about access – packaging music every which way,” from old-fashioned vinyl albums to the trendiest cellphone applications.
The last 10 years have seen a seismic power shift away from record companies and into the hands of consumers and their laptops and cellphones, thanks to the ubiquity of on-line file-sharing. The after-shocks could be even more momentous in the next decade as the technology reaches chunks of the planet that still haven’t experienced the joys of peer-to-peer file sharing. Huge chunks of the world are still without broadband Internet connections (including 100 million Americans). As DJ Spooky (Paul Miller) said, quoting author William Gibson, “The future’s already here, it’s just unevenly distributed.”
In the next 10 years, “the paradise of infinite storage,” as former record producer Sandy Pearlman calls it, will move closer to reality. It will allow consumers to access every piece of recorded music ever made wherever they go.Whether the artists who make that music will get paid is another matter. Most aren’t making much money directly from recorded music now, and that trend is unlikely to change soon.
The answer no one gave in a panel entitled “Why hasn’t the music industry sued Girl Talk?” is that Girl Talk, who stitches together bits of copyrighted songs to create new music, hasn’t sold enough recorded music to make suing him worthwhile. Instead, Girl Talk (Gregg Gillis) has created a career by essentially giving away music on the Internet as a way of promoting live appearances.
Up for grabs is how intellectual property will be addressed as more Girl Talks emerge. In a lengthy legal debate over the nuances of fair use in appropriating copyrighted works, one comment zeroed in on the source of the tension: “We’re in a remix culture, and the law has not caught up with it,” said Benjamin Franzen, who produced the movie “Copyright Criminals.”
Franzen said it would’ve cost him upward of $4 million to license music and images from the likes of Walt Disney, the Beatles and Led Zeppelin as part of his illuminating documentary on how artists transform the past into new art. “Fair use enabled the movie to be made,” he said.
Licensing costs are preventing Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek from making his Spotify music platform available in the United States. Spotify is a hit in Europe, with more than 300,000 subscribers and 7 million users. But in a keynote address at the interactive conference that preceded the music portion of South by Southwest, Ek revealed that he still must make about 5,000 deals with license holders and collection agencies to get Spotify running in America. His goal is to make music “flow like water” to consumers, and still pay music creators.
Yet even Ek acknowledged that Spotify will be only one of many futures for the Music Industry 2.0.
“There isn’t one business model that will save the music industry,” he said.
Because the future is likely to be even more fragmented than the current music world, with its myriad niches, micro-cultures and sub-basement communities, it will require content creators to work harder than ever to maintain relevance. And it will require the industry to adapt even more quickly to the shifting means by which consumers access music. The pros at South by Southwest offered a few survival tips:
** “You have to find some way to be essential, or you’re not going to be in it,” said Big Champagne’s Garland, expanding on his be-more-like-the-porn-industry thesis. “The [digital music] ‘cloud’ is less interesting than who controls what’s in the cloud – and the end users control it. You have to prove your worth to them every day.”
** It’s the fans’ world more than ever. “The biggest secret of all promotion: It’s about them, not you,” Sivers advised.
** The industry needs to make its music not only accessible, but compatible with any music player. The fewer hassles the better. “If music legally and easily can be obtained on any device you want," said Spotify’s Ek, "the music industry would be radically bigger than it is today."
** Music will be streamed rather than downloaded by consumers. “Downloads are stupid,” said Alexander Ljung, founder of Germany’s SoundCloud. “I’d rather stream it from a hard drive that someone else is managing. When consumers press ‘play,’ that file will be managed by someone else.”
** Interactivity will replace passive listening. Fans “do not just want to listen to music, but play with it,” said Domino’s Savoca. “Music-creation technology for the amateur listener” will become commonplace.
They described a music world in which everything has changed, and where everything will change yet again. As keynote speaker Smokey Robinson said, “Thicken your skin.”
greg@gregkot.com
Related:
We get a titillating title to this story - pun intended - and then we're more than a dozen paragraphs into the story before we read anything directly related to the storytitle and, in the end, I'm still not sure if the author actually explained exactly what the porn industry does that the music industry should emulate.
I'm thinkin' either stop teasing us with such a title or actually write something that's directly related to the premise (title) of the story.
Greg replies: No tease. Explanation is in fourth paragraph.
Posted by: bob1stshirt | March 23, 2010 at 05:33 PM
Even in this day and age the music business just doesn't get it. Here are a few of my own real world examples: Two of my favorite bands, Trashcan Sinatras and Tahiti 80 have released albums in the past twelve months. Both bands are based overseas (Trashcan from Scottland, Tahiti 80 from France). Even though I can listen to the albums and see music videos for some of the songs, all on the web, I still can't BUY the Trashcan Sinatra album in the US, and the Tahiti 80 FINALLY made it to the American ITunes almost a full YEAR after the album was released in Europe.
Now another artist I really enjoy, Fyfe Dangerfield, has released an album months ago in Europe, and even though I can listen to his exceptional single from it (She Needs me) on Youtube, I still can NOT BUY the single in America. It is posted on the European version of ITunes, but when I try to download it off of there, I am told that I am not able to. Meanwhile, the American release date keeps getting pushed back. So here I am with cash in hand, and because of all of the stupid rights management issues, it may be months until I can actually BUT a song that I enjoy.
Posted by: DDober | March 24, 2010 at 09:10 AM
I'm with bob1shirt. The title is misleading, and I still have no idea what it means to be more like the porn industry...especially since there have been numerous reports that the porn industry is suffering for the exact same reasons as the music industry (i.e. everyone is getting it for free online).
Oh yeah, and that "interactivity" comment by Savoca is just stupid. Ever since the advent of the computer (and probably before), there's always some artist trying to champion interactive art, but it never catches on. Want to know why? Because most of us aren't talented enough to make (good) music. That's why we listen to our favorite bands.
I don't think any of these people really have any idea what, if anything, will cure the music industry.
Posted by: dave | March 24, 2010 at 01:19 PM
The problem with the porn model is everybody but the executive producers get screwed...if a band is bending over it's their own fault. Great music will eventually win...on that note...the SHOW OF SXSW was SILLAN and YOUNG from Calgary, Canada. STUNNING lyrics, ornately crafted music and more musicianship than everything on 6th street combined. Way better than porn.
Aaron Young (Neil Young's cousin) was frickin' REEEDICULOUS!!!!
If a band isn't willing to LIVE ON THE ROAD and work the fan base one hug at a time...they can FORGET it.
Posted by: cam smith | March 24, 2010 at 04:07 PM
Does anyone have any numbers on how much Spotify pays an artist per play? I read online that Lady Gaga only got $167 for one million plays, but Spotify claim that this number is incorrect. So is Spotify just a solution to the record labels' troubles, or is can the artist benifit as well?
Posted by: Nelvis Flonders | March 24, 2010 at 06:51 PM
I'm always wary of talking about "the industry", as it is a very complex ecosystem with lots of partners none of which can truly function independently. In the example of the European bands not available on iTunes US (or vice versa), what's probably happening is that they can't find a US label to licence them. They could, of course, always go ahead and stick it on iTunes themselves - it only costs a few bucks to do so. But without promotion in the US, they will sell practically nothing and promo in big territories costs big bucks.
The same thing is happening in cinema, where European films are released in the US well after a year of production. Again, they could stick it on theauteurs.com. But that means they can kiss any real monies goodbye. Technically, global distribution is easy. Practically, we are in a position where the digital distribution has not yet become sustainable. So labels/movie producers still have to hook up with other parts of the industry to move forward.
PS: good opinion piece, but I'm not sure the reference to the porn industry is very helpful either.
Posted by: Michael | March 25, 2010 at 02:21 AM
$5 downloadable records. Period. I am so cautious to spend $10-$15 on a record, but if every record was $5, I'd consider that worth the convenience of not having to download illegally and would probably spend about four times as much as I do now on music.
Posted by: bohs and o's | March 25, 2010 at 09:30 AM
in response to Ddober...
if you're cool with physical cd's, i often order my imports from CD Wow. their prices are generally super cheap, like £7.99 for a new release and it's always free worldwide shipping. funny, the new fyfe release was streaming on lala, a couple weeks ago, i even listened to it on there, but now it seems to only have a couple singles up. if you're not using lala, i highly suggest it.
Posted by: mister | March 25, 2010 at 11:06 AM
a donation model is the best option. let the fans decide how much the music is worth. almost all digital content should be this way and that'd curb piracy more than anything. some people do appreciate what they download for free. wouldn't you rather have an option to get something from the downloader rather than nothing? obviously current pricing just don't fly with the majority of people. you let me name my own price, you might have a sale. might not be as much as you want but money is money.
downloads are stupid? yeah right. until bandwidth issues and costs worldwide are addressed, downloading is incredibly SMART!
Posted by: kow626 | April 04, 2010 at 08:39 PM
The porn industry can relate to the music industry, there both really growing and porn is starting to focus on hd porn, and many of high definition porn formats. So in thee years to come, you should have a lot of hd porn titles to choose from.
Posted by: HD Porn | April 16, 2010 at 01:29 PM