Parallels

[ksmith]

Happenings in the music industry seem to mirror what happens in the publishing industry, for better or worse. The following link leads to an interesting NYT article about the hopes being pinned on some album releases.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/07/opinion/07tues4.html?th&emc=th

I especially like the following passage. For "music", insert "publishing". Books/readers/authors etc...

"The music industry loves to blame its problems on digital piracy, a case that has yet to be fully proved. The real problem is an addiction to blockbusters, and that is what today is all about - feeding the monster this industry has become. These days there are more musicians and bands than there have ever been, and there are still plenty of music-buying fans. Together, they are discovering alternative means of connecting with each other.

The big record companies continue to insist that the only route to profitability is blockbuster sales of a few titles, and the result is all too predictable - music that matters more for how it sells than how it sounds."

Comments

Insight

[technomage.livejournal.com]

This isn't just true for those two distribution paths - its true in many industries. Look at the IT model "built to flip" where the primary reason to design and build your company is to have it bought by a major player like Microsoft.

I wonder, is this global or an Americian thing? Do writers and musicians in Europe suffer the same pattern? I've always thought that the idea of "strike it rich quick" was directly related to "blockbuster" sales. One is personal, one is corporate. Neither usually works. After, another name for lottery is 'tax on people who don't understand probability'

Re: Insight

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

After, another name for lottery is 'tax on people who don't understand probability'

Actually, in Texas, for a lot of us, another name for lottery is 'tax on people who don't want our inept legislators to come up with still another stupid, unfair way of trying to finance schools, so we buy lottos occasionally to avoid a state tax.' 8^)

Universe, I get so tempted to run for office....

Re: Insight

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

It seems to be true in Big Pharma. One industry leader wrote an article about 5-10 years ago discussing the fact that in his opinion, the era of the blockbuster drug was over and companies needed to concentrate on families of drugs that could treat, say, heart disease across gender and racial/ethnic lines. 5 or 6 smaller drugs instead of one biggie--better treatment for the patient, with a reduced risk of side effects.

I tend to blame the investment community, which has gotten it into its head that blockbusters are still the one true path and any company that doesn't have one is not desirable from an investment perspective. Larger companies are therefore trying to buy blockbusters via licensing and mergers. Meanwhile, their own research departments stagnate.

It doesn't help that workers are stuck having to feed the beast in order to finance their retirements/kids education/everyday life.

My, aren't we feeling philosophical today.

I don't know if artists in Europe are as compelled to sell big. There's more of an acceptance of artist as everyday creature over there, so perhaps no one expects them to enjoy great success. Over here, if you're not a millionaire, you must suck because all the really good artists are rich.

I'm not sure what happened today, but I wound up cranky.

Well, I do know. The new job I had hopes for went by the boards--the department won't be creating the positions, at least for now. What I'm doing now is ok, but I wouldn't have minded something else, and these would have been skills I could have taken with me after I retired.

So, cranky.