Why Business Is Slow
People don’t seem to get this, so let’s put it in cable-television terms: the reason that album sales are down is because albums used to be a monopoly of sorts (like cable packages) and once consumers had the option to pick-and-choose the songs they like, overall sales went down (which is why some stations like CBN lobby to keep these packages in place). It’s protectionism. And no protectionism equals lower sales. Which is why I agree with Rick Rubin: You gotta get the art right.
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April 10th, 2008 at 12:11 am
I never thought I would take Klosterman over Rick Rubin, but he’s definitely right about this, sorry Brent. That Rubin article from the NYTimes Magazine is one of the dumbest examples of music writing in the past year, committed, unsurprisingly, but the celebrity sucker Lynn Hirschberg, whom the Times always brings out to write the Sunday mag “think pieces” on complicated subjects like Natalie Portman and the vapid guru Rubin. Take the second sentence of the article, which references a “new band called the Gossip,” a clear sign that the rest is complete shit. I believe I first encountered The Gossip on a Believer CD insert round about 2004!. The error is inconsequential since the brilliant Rubin “has always been into newer and older stuff,” anyway, wow, and soul-stirring profundity mixed with ingenious business acumen just continues from there. Please save the music industry, Rick, we need you! And isn’t it shocking that his business model — a flat monthly fee that looks suspiciously similar to the cable TV system — has gone absolutely nowhere! Savor these morsels from Rubin. I didn’t make these up, promise:
“For some reason, most people will write 10 songs and think, That’s enough for a record, I’m done. When they play the songs for me, invariably the last two songs they’ve written are the best. I’ll then say, ‘You have two songs, go back and write eight more.’”
“I’ve always been attracted to both new stuff and older stuff,” he said as he opened the door to a plush screening room. “When I came to Los Angeles and started producing more, that became clearer to me.”
“It’s inspirational to live out here,” Rubin said as he settled into a lounge chair with linen cushions facing the sea. “You feel the rhythm of the planet more keenly. I am never this aware of sunrise and sunset when I’m in town. The daily changes of nature at the beach can be deeply affecting.”
April 10th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Others are pushing the flat monthly fee idea also. Yea, it’s gone nowhere but its not as if the record industry has come up with a better idea.
Rick Rubin’s new age blathering was more entertaining when he did, uh, get the art right. That was awhile ago.