Revenge of the record labels

[WRGKMC]

This article gets into how the remaining big three, are taking back some of their empires. Get does fairly complex.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/reveng...100100874.html

 

Unless Independents remain a step ahead and very wise in their decisions, its very possible these companies will be consumed by these giants.

The playing field has moved to the internet, but the old play books are still alive and well. Government regulation over the airwaves made independent distribution

of music nearly impossible in the past.

 

Today the same restrictions are beginning to encroach on the internet disguised as well meaning laws that will level the playing

field for the little guy. It only takes a few quiet modifications to buried in some huge bill that passes unnoticed and the big companies take control over the playing field.

They buy companies they want to control and they buy the laws they allow them to keep control. It may take then decades or even a lifetime to complete their objectives

and unfortunately independent companies, no matter how profitable die out when their owners do.

 

I'm not saying this process is good or bad. I've worked for both kinds of companies and know first hand the challenges both face. Both employ people and those people want to earn a good living and will do what they can to increase their standard of living and Its the nature of the beast for the large companies to feed on the weak or die from starvation. Corporations can survive for many lifetimes employing generations of workers. Independent companies can elevate individuals directly to the big leagues without having to claw their way up some long corporate ladder.

 

Which is better? Don't ask be because I don't know. Both have their benefits and flaws. Unless you're in the drivers seat of that company its highly unlikely you'll see big money so you can forget that as

being a deciding factor. Those at the top are the strategists playing chess on the big board and gamble on winning. Some take small steps when they see good opportunities and others risk it all on one big play for the brass ring.

 

Few people are up to playing that game and it does take experience to know how and when to play. I can see these few remaining companies quietly buying back their empire like just like anyone seeking power does. its the nature of man that hasn't changed since he first walked this earth.

[blue2blue]

Good article.

 

Here's the same article (I realized after posting it; thought that title sounded familiar), but directly from Forbes:

 

Revenge Of The Record Labels: How The Majors Renewed Their Grip On Music

 

Left for dead by most investors and pundits, the surviving Big Three labels–Warner, Universal and Sony–have quietly muscled out stakes of the hottest digital entertainment startups, including 10% to 20%, collectively, of the established streaming services, such as Spotify and Rdio. Terms are similarly stark for younger startups: The labels take stakes for free or on the cheap, and then often give themselves the right to buy larger chunks at deep discounts to market later on.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomal...grip-on-music/

[Temple of Light]

Thinking outside the BOX?

 

[AJ6stringsting]

WOW !!!!

Seems like THE MAN, is out get us, man !!!!

[blue2blue]

Anyone familiar with record biz revenue dynamics of the past should probably understand why they were so change-resistant for so long -- they had a golden goose they thought would last forever, moving musicians through on a cultural conveyor belt, dangling what seemed to be megabuck contracts in front of them, sucking the music/entertainment out of them, and then whittling down the artist payout in literally hundreds of ways before the final check was cut, sometimes down to nothing. And sometimes they even found ways of selling records that left the artist in debt. The first people I ever knew to get a major label contract, big name producer, loads of promises, they ended up losing their PA and all their gear (including their road van and instrument amps) everything but their personal instruments. They'd had a number two single in Detroit but two of them ended up working in a car wash and the other ended up in a phone boiler room. They couldn't play or record legally for about 5 years after the label told them they were shelving the second album before release. It made an impression on me, that's for sure.