There’ve been a few posts floating around on various blogs about how to be successful in (today’s) music industry. But there have been far more posts bitching and moaning about the horrors of the industry. My proposition is simple, and perhaps a bit idealistic (go figure…). Here goes: 1. You need EVERYTHING. 500,000 friends on MySpace doesn’t get you a record deal. In...
The Death of Idealism
Lately, as we march deeper into the nastiness of recession, I’ve seen those whom I consider good people become less than honorable. The fear of many things -mostly financial- has whittled away their sense of idealism, decency, and simple tact. And this ultimate loss of idealism, in all honesty, reduces me to tears and raises me to absolute rage. To my colleagues – we are all, with...
Recession Marketing and You!
Recently the nice folks at Hubspot actually came up with something useful. They offered a free webinar on “Marketing During a Recession.” For those of you who are unaware, the U.S. economy is going down faster than a hooker on Hemenway street. That’s a little Boston humor for you — crass, but clearly conveying a message. Anyway …. The gist of the webinar is that...
Something amazingly good
Bruce sang that there were “57 channels and nothing on.” Back then, he wasn’t far off. But the good folks at Comcast have found a way to trump that by nearly ten-fold. Then, when the despair reached its zenith, on popped “Spectacle.” Debuting on the Sundance channel, Spectacle features Elvis Costello talking/singing/playing music with some iconic folks. The premiere...
Teach me something, please!
The music business is crazy, unpredictable, volatile, and often revolutionary. I understand that, and despite the insanity, I can’t think of another industry I’d be suited to work in. The happiest periods in my career came when I was actually learning something. A new perspetive, a fresh outlook, a great contact — all meant more to me than the paycheck. Not that a nice paycheck...
Bad Marketing 101: CampusCompare
Every now and then, I wonder how/why companies make the decisions they do. A while back, I had interviewed with the folks at CampusCompare. Their concept was to allow students to input their own statistical info and create a match-up with colleges that fit their grade/social/interest criteria. Free product, and all kinds of marketing and promotional opportunities. When I went in for the...
And he found brown m&ms in the bowl…
In an odd way, I think he did the right thing. In the world of music, massaging the ego is usually lesson one. There is an eminent Russian conductor encamped at a private home in Brookline, and he is fuming. In an extremely rare public flare-up in the outwardly genteel world of major symphony orchestras, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, the 77-year-old maestro who is one of the last living links to a...
Where’s my bailout?
While reading the paper this morning – and yes, it was an actual newspaper, not a website – I saw an article explaining that the major automakers were in desperate need of their own government bailout. Without $25 billion from the Feds, automakers including Ford, GM, and Chrysler were in danger of bankruptcy. Now, I’m not totally heartless, and I understand that their going...
RIP Mitch Mitchell
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s drummer Mitch Mitchell was found dead in a downtown Portland hotel Wednesday. The Multnomah County Medical Examiner’s office said 62-year-old Mitch Mitchell likely died of natural causes. His body was found just after 3 a.m. at the Benson Hotel. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday. Mitchell had been playing with the Experience...
Liberace and the election
Most of what I blog about pertains to the music industry, and how I interact with it. Over the last few days, with the election at the forefront of everything, I started to realize that where I interact with most things has virtuallly nothing in common with most of America. Years ago, on a cross-country roadtrip, I pulled off in places like Oklahoma City, and I felt like a complete foreigner...