The Battle rages on....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/28/AR2007122800693.html

Have you been reading the news lately, the labels are SCREWED. Do they read the papers? Guy Hands runs EMI and is taking the Venture Capitalist approach: tear the company down to its core then sell to the highest bidder. Did Terra Firma buy EMI for the label or the assets? Sony is hemorhaging; as is Warner. Universal, the biggest of them all, has decided it wants to wage a war with the company that may hold the key to its future, Apple. And Apple, the company that is NOW making MONEY off music has its stock at record highs.

And now the infamous RIAA (Major Labels) is taking its fight to personal use. Really? Isn't this a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. Business 101. Ever heard of the product life cycle? Well, the CD is in decline and it AIN'T COMING BACK!! The sooner that the labels realize this, the sooner they can save themselves. Digital music has yet to be tamed by anyone, startups are born every day that are designed to sell music, so make it available. People are getting it for free right now, so why don't we try to make a little money off them. Remember, Limewire and Napster ASKED for licenses and were turned down. The labels COULD be making money of P2P but THEY'RE NOT!!!

Steve Jobs is not all powerful, he just understands the biggest rule in business: THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT!! Guess what major labels, the people that are stealing music and filling their iPods and hard drives with as much music as they can get, are your CUSTOMERS. You don't go to war with your customers. The continued barrage of lawsuits has deterred downloading, but it has deterred the wrong type of downloading. Getting music off the Internet is seen as something that is illegal. Instead of embracing digital distribution wholeheartedly the labels simply sat there watching their futures slip away.

Digital IS the new model. Whether you like it or not, it is here to stay. So instead of fighting it, and letting the technology companies make ALL the money, adapt. Change. Evolve. But the labels are having a hard time with this. Now don't get me wrong, I know it isn't an easy answer. And CEOs must answer to shareholders, artists, and critics, and they don't want to completely destroy the recording industry by trying to save it, but apocolypse is upon us. How long do you give Warner? They are still a public company and the stock is plummeting. Would you invest in Warner? The smart money will wait and ride out the storm. Most of the big whigs have made their money and don't really care that much. Do they care as much as the entry level guy that just got a pink slip for Christmas? Honestly.

As the old saying goes: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Have the majors heard this. Apple sure has. They know that their customers want state of the art, where quality is paramount, useability is king, and simplicity is the answer. Why can't I pay an extra three bucks with my Comcast bill for unlimited downloading? I would. Then I could have what I really want...unlimited access to music. People say, "just use Rhapsody or Napster," but there is no freedom. I want to OWN the music, have a collection, put it on my iPod AND my MacBook, and take it wherever the hell I want to . Remember the vinyl collections your parents own? I want my kids to inherit my collection some day, and I want it to be MASSIVE. I want to discover music, but I have been screwed too many times: spending $20 on a CD with one good song. So I don't do it anymore. Instead, I steal. I don't have an unlimited source of funding, and when I do have some extra cash, there is nothing I love more than going to see some good music, I want to support artists, not assholes.

So the attack on personal use, it won't fly. The bills in Congress trying to "protect the rights of creators" they WON'T FLY. You must take CHANCES, be willing to fail, and realize that sometimes you have to throw the baby out with the bath water (did I get that right?). To everyone that has a good CD, let me borrow it, I would LOVE to import it into iTunes, because then I HAVE IT!! I can put it on my iPod and take it with me EVERYWHERE. It is now a part of my life. I want music to be a part my life as it always has and always will. So let the music go where it will and CAPITALIZE!!

Great Email

I quote Bob Lefsetz quite a bit, because--above all else--he is knows A LOT about the music industry. Most of the time, I agree with him, he gives my mind ammo with which to think, but the real reason I read his stuff, is the inspiration that he puts into his writing. The following email is a look at the Led Zeppelin concert last night in London. Think about what he is saying here, because I feel like much of what he says is true. Are you in it for the money? Is that the reason why you want to be in the record biz? Or, are you in it for the music?

If you're in it for the music, think about your actions. Will you make a record from the heart? Or, will you change lyrics to make them more "commercial"? Sure, the industry is competitive, and you will need an entry point, but remember how it has been done for years. You start small, build the base. Never selling out on the music, but using it as a message about yourself. Truly great musicians are have a mystique: they make you think, wonder, love, inspire. I wonder what he is doing right now?

To those that are graduating this weekend, remember why you were here. Listen when you hear a good song, and be in it for the music. The industry is being transformed, and we are the new creators. If you aren't a musician, be one. If not with an instrument, with a sound board, or a contract, or a license; and always respect the music. We talk a lot about "the industry," so remember what the industry is... .

Music...The universal language, it touches the soul, it lifts the spirit, it says what you are thinking, it entertains, it thrills, it grooves, it KNOWS us. So please, respect it!!

Much love to everyone involved with DMCS this semester. Graduates: GOOD LUCK, keep DMCS updated and we will keep you updated, lets build the network. I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday and I'll see ya in '08.

Adam


Adam M. Beasley
Digital Millennium Copyright Society
amb4z@mtsu.edu
www.digitalmillennium.org
www.adambeas.blogspot.com

From: bob@lefsetz.com
Subject: Led Zeppelin At The O2
Date: December 10, 2007 9:02:06 PM CST
To: amb4z@mtsu.edu


I'm trying to figure out why this Led Zeppelin reunion is creepy.

I'm not saying it wasn't a good time, that I wouldn't want to have been there and experience it. But it just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe because I don't buy this hogwash that it's a one-off.

All my sources tell me there's going to be a tour. No one will CONFIRM a tour, but it's a well-known fact that they're going to go on the road. As for Ashley Capps and Bonnaroo...when he contacted me to correct that e-mail I printed, saying it was false, I replied that I would if he guaranteed in writing that Zeppelin absolutely wouldn't play Bonnaroo. I got no response.

Hell, the band's entitled to make a living. If they want to go on the road and people want to pay, I understand it. But it just doesn't feel good. It's kind of like going to the museum.

That's one of the reasons I didn't go see the Police. I remember first hearing "Walking On The Moon", decades ago. That experience is frozen in time. I'm not sure I want to relive it, certainly not with the people in attendance, those now decades older or those too young to be into it the first time around, maybe not even born.

As for Genesis... You wanted to shake the stink from your shoulders. Talk to anybody that went. Genesis used to mean something, even after Peter Gabriel left. I saw them at the Forum, they weren't just a hits act, they carried on the tradition. Now, Phil Collins is leading cheers, he's playing the role of rock star on stage.

Maybe that's the problem... Robert and Jimmy, John Paul Jones and Bonzo...THESE WERE THE GUYS! Who raped and pillaged, who we wanted to be, or fuck, or both. Now they're old men. I was next to a besuited Jimmy Page one evening and I didn't even bother to say hello, I didn't want to mess with my memories.

It's no crime to get old. It's more of badge of honor than o/d'ing at a young age. But to go out and play the role of a young man, that's what's truly weird.

We revere retired baseball players, but we don't want to see them take the field and play nine innings. We don't want our memories fucked with.

And it's not like there's any new music. And, even if there were, would anybody want to hear it?

I guess the show seems to be nostalgia, trying to bring us back to the way things used to be. But those days are through. But they live on in my memory. Inviolate, unchanged. Just like the records. That's one of the great things about music, every time I play the Zeppelin catalog, the songs remain the same.

If it's truly a one-off, then I take it all back. It's about honoring Ahmet. But, unlike Pink Floyd, I don't hear the band members protesting, saying that they're definitely not hitting the road again. I see them collecting e-mail addresses, saying we'll see. "We'll see" in rock and roll means it's gonna happen. Unless the band members get into an awful fight. Like Van Halen back in '96, at the VMAs. Still, the band eventually got together. And as much as I enjoyed it, the show was ultimately meaningless. It brought you back, but it didn't stand for anything. Hell, I don't even imagine there were groupies backstage. And, if there were, I bet David Lee Roth didn't want to fuck most of them.

But Van Halen was about fun. Led Zeppelin was something different. Led Zeppelin was about testing limits. Not playing by the rules. And if they go on the road now, they're just like every other classic rock band trying to make an extra buck.

I guess what I truly lament is the passing of the years, from the days when music was a dividing line, between us and them, to now, when those in charge, who were on the right side then, are now all about the bucks.

In the seventies you listened to the record to know which way the wind blew. Music was the ultimate art form. Hipper than movies, TV paled in comparison. And the profits on records were greater than those on films. Music built the Warner empire.

If Ahmet had known this, he would have waited a few years to sell Atlantic, he would have gotten more money for the company. And believe me, Ahmet liked money, just ask all those who were screwed on royalties. But Ahmet didn't know it was going to continue. He'd had Cream, never mind all the earlier R&B greats. What could come next?

Led Zeppelin. Decades of triumphant acts.

But Ahmet was primarily about the music. He took some money off the table and continued to play. Today's executives want to take ALL the money off the table, and they want the acts to be subservient to them.

You couldn't tell Led Zeppelin what to do. You can tell ANY ACT ON A MAJOR LABEL WHAT TO DO TODAY! So, when everybody in the business is in London tonight rejoicing, my head is spinning. Are these the same guys fucking the business up? Who feel they've got no option but to rape and pillage themselves?

It's only about the money now. Except if you're young. That's why the youngsters have glommed on to Zeppelin. They SENSE that this was something different, a band that played by its own rules, that wasn't afraid to test limits. I only hope that some of the band's fans will be inspired and create or steward equally challenging quality music to the public.

The people who are gonna change the world musically were not in London this evening. They can't afford the buy-in. They're not connected enough to get a ticket. Music has gone from being inclusive to exclusive. Instead of love your brother, we all belong, it's I'm richer than you, FUCK YOU! The best seats aren't even ever sold. And acts and promoters complain that scalpers are making all the money...the fan doesn't count. The fan will pony up the bucks, right?

Wrong.

Used to be the ONLY problem was getting a ticket. NOTHING was overpriced. You went to the gig constantly, it was a way of life, it was a religion. You listened to FM radio to know what to buy, you bought it and went to the show. FREQUENTLY! You had to buy the record before the band hit your town, you wanted to be familiar with the new material, which they were going to play! Don't see them this tour and you might NEVER hear it live, because they'll be on to NEW STUFF!

Now tours are the greatest hits, all the time. Give the public what it wants. But musicians used to LEAD the public, which doesn't really know what it wants. But labels are only interested in the easy sell. And acts are afraid of pissing off their fans. But Neil Young and Bob Dylan can still tour BECAUSE they piss off their fans, you don't know what you're going to get. Therefore, only fans go, and the fans respect them for following their muse.

I don't want to rain on the parade. Anybody who hears music and enjoys it gets a pat on the back from me. Even if I don't like the act to begin with. Music is the grease that makes life worth living.

But the reason I got into music was because of the notes, the performance, the music itself. The trappings came after. Now the trappings are primary.

I guess I do want a return to the old days. When music was religion.

I know it's a religion to some, but it used to be for everybody.

Except the man. The parents. The establishment. They just didn't get it. And that's why we didn't do endorsements, didn't do commercials, because we didn't want to be associated with THOSE PEOPLE! It was AGAINST OUR PRINCIPLES!

But now we've got no principles. Just a guiding light. And that light is money.

And what I smell in this O2 show is money. Not the amount raised for charity, but the vast quantity Zeppelin is going to make on the road. The cost for all the Americans who flew over there. Whereas it used to be you didn't even have to leave town to be a fan. Like that guy in Harry Chapin's "Taxi", you could be stoned in your automobile, grooving to the radio, feeling completely connected with the tunes that emanated from it.

But now you can't listen to terrestrial radio. You don't even know where to start musically. Like that old Stealer's Wheel song said, we've got clowns to the left of us and jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

And I hope you are stuck here with me. You love the old tunes, but you want music that meaningful again. And it's got to be at least as good as the old stuff. Sure, Sarah McLachlan is tasty, but she's not even in the same LEAGUE as Joni Mitchell. We all love Dave Grohl, but if you mention Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin in the same sentence, I'm laughing.

What was in the water then? Can those days return, or did we live through the Renaissance, no different from the one that took place in Italy centuries ago. Artists have painted since, but there was only one time when it all came together, when art ruled.

I don't want to watch Michelangelo paint. And if he came back, he'd be hundreds of years old, what he produced would probably be shit. Hell, his legend would inhibit him, he'd probably be UNABLE to paint.

If somehow we could return to the seventies, when each new album was eagerly anticipated and digested, when we were surprised by "Physical Graffiti" and the fact that "Presence" came so soon thereafter, that would be great.

But we can't.

To try to bring back alive that which is already gone... It's impossible. You can try something new, like Plant did with Alison Krauss, but you can't breathe new life into something dead. Led Zeppelin is dead. And one of the reasons it's so revered is that the band didn't carry on after Bonham died, which utterly stunned us. There's no time for carrying on now. Give it a rest. Sell the DVD. Allow those in attendance their badge of honor and their memories. Please don't tarnish the image, the legend. We've whored out rock and roll too much already. It's as if Jesus sold Cadillacs.

What would Jesus do? Well, he's NEVER come back. Maybe that's why people still revere him so!



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