RogueTrader
04-11-2001, 09:07 PM
I just posted this at Synergy, but some of you may not see it there and you might be interested....
Let me say at the outset, I have to do a bit more research to confirm some of the things that i am about to write. Not the general conclusions mind you, just the fine detail. I am pretty confident that I have this one right, but I am willing to be disproved.
Yours and my favourite band work for Sony Music, for at least one more album. Lots of other artists work for Sony's various other labels, including Rage Against the Machine, The Rockfords, Macy Gray, Alice in Chains, Mariah Carey, Mandy Moore....Lots of them from diverse musical backgrounds.
Now, Sony Misic is Heamohaging money. The lastest annual report from Sony Corp says that the only division in it's diverse holdings that is making any money at all is it's gaming division, the one that produces PlayStatiions. In fact, it is doing so well that it is keeping the entire group solvent.
What does this mean to you and I? Sony Music needs to maintain it's cash flow (which it is doing), but to do that it has to move units, ie: Albums. Who are it's highest selling artists? The Mandy Moore's, the Mariah Carey's, the N'Sync's.....the teeny bopper stuff. The stuff that you and I both kinda hate to listen to. This is the same at other record companies the world over. All of them basically run the same way. You have a couple high volume artists and then you have a whole heap of others.
Sadly, Pearl Jam fit into the 'Whole Heap of others' category for Sony. Sure,they move alot of units, but no where near the volume of the female artists I mentioned. In fact, since Vs, PJ's record sales have been nothing to write home about. That's OK for the record company execs, cause they have a 'Loyal Fan Base' that can be depended on to buy the product. Net net, PJ probably pay their own way and make a little left over, but not enough to put the guys in the Michael Jackson category (another Sony artist).
So what is my point? Well, these high selling artists subsidise the minor artists. In fact, if you are RATM fo example, they pay for you. I am pretty certain that the last two RATM albums did not recoup their costs , and when you add the tour in there, the record company is in the red on that one. It's the same as No Code for PJ. That's probably one of the reasons that the tour was so small and why they had to do a couple of things to keep the rerord company happy for Yield (like a clip for DTE).
Without the big selling artists on a label, 100 small bands might never get signed. It's the cash flow from these artists that largely funds the A&R that record companies do. These companies have to show a profit because they have shareholders to satisfy. That's just a reality. They need to hype up the latest disposable teen band in order tp make money. It's these bands though that make it possible for bands like Pearl Jam to, first of all, get signed, and secondly continue to produce albums. So before we all start to tear strips off the music industry for churning out crap, lets spare a thought for what would happen if they didn't.
Every time I see Brittney Spears on TV or hear her on the radio (Japan is mercifully free of Brittney, but they have 100 bands which are 1000 times worse), i switch channels. I won't affect her record sales. I do spare a thought though that she is helping me to hear some great new talent. For that reason I hope she continues to be successful.
M
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Howard Roark laughed......
Let me say at the outset, I have to do a bit more research to confirm some of the things that i am about to write. Not the general conclusions mind you, just the fine detail. I am pretty confident that I have this one right, but I am willing to be disproved.
Yours and my favourite band work for Sony Music, for at least one more album. Lots of other artists work for Sony's various other labels, including Rage Against the Machine, The Rockfords, Macy Gray, Alice in Chains, Mariah Carey, Mandy Moore....Lots of them from diverse musical backgrounds.
Now, Sony Misic is Heamohaging money. The lastest annual report from Sony Corp says that the only division in it's diverse holdings that is making any money at all is it's gaming division, the one that produces PlayStatiions. In fact, it is doing so well that it is keeping the entire group solvent.
What does this mean to you and I? Sony Music needs to maintain it's cash flow (which it is doing), but to do that it has to move units, ie: Albums. Who are it's highest selling artists? The Mandy Moore's, the Mariah Carey's, the N'Sync's.....the teeny bopper stuff. The stuff that you and I both kinda hate to listen to. This is the same at other record companies the world over. All of them basically run the same way. You have a couple high volume artists and then you have a whole heap of others.
Sadly, Pearl Jam fit into the 'Whole Heap of others' category for Sony. Sure,they move alot of units, but no where near the volume of the female artists I mentioned. In fact, since Vs, PJ's record sales have been nothing to write home about. That's OK for the record company execs, cause they have a 'Loyal Fan Base' that can be depended on to buy the product. Net net, PJ probably pay their own way and make a little left over, but not enough to put the guys in the Michael Jackson category (another Sony artist).
So what is my point? Well, these high selling artists subsidise the minor artists. In fact, if you are RATM fo example, they pay for you. I am pretty certain that the last two RATM albums did not recoup their costs , and when you add the tour in there, the record company is in the red on that one. It's the same as No Code for PJ. That's probably one of the reasons that the tour was so small and why they had to do a couple of things to keep the rerord company happy for Yield (like a clip for DTE).
Without the big selling artists on a label, 100 small bands might never get signed. It's the cash flow from these artists that largely funds the A&R that record companies do. These companies have to show a profit because they have shareholders to satisfy. That's just a reality. They need to hype up the latest disposable teen band in order tp make money. It's these bands though that make it possible for bands like Pearl Jam to, first of all, get signed, and secondly continue to produce albums. So before we all start to tear strips off the music industry for churning out crap, lets spare a thought for what would happen if they didn't.
Every time I see Brittney Spears on TV or hear her on the radio (Japan is mercifully free of Brittney, but they have 100 bands which are 1000 times worse), i switch channels. I won't affect her record sales. I do spare a thought though that she is helping me to hear some great new talent. For that reason I hope she continues to be successful.
M
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Howard Roark laughed......