Adam, great post, LOVED all your ideas. If the industry A-Holes doesn’t listen to thinkers like you, then you’re right, next few years will be the death of it.

Advice for the music industry…
Category: Music

NOTE: may contain spelling errors.

1.) Hey, we’re in a recession… we have been for the last year. Lower ALL CD PRICES BY 50%… no questions asked… trust me, this will work. Why would anyone pay $15-$18 for a new CD and $9.00 for a used album when they can just download it for free… you have to compete with yourself… I know it’s not fair, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Just to make sure we’re on the same page… new albums $7.00, used $5.00.

2.) Stop being about the bottom line. The music industry cannot continue to operate on a “profit” only strategy. There is no chance for sustainability when you do one-shot “make a hit” artists then throw them off to the side. You build no base, no following and no loyalty. Labels used to be as cool as the artist sometimes, with a majority of the most interesting labels closing up shop or being bought out and disappearing this is more important than ever, make the label stand for something instead of just marketing.

3.) Do away with “extra fees” and “charges” for concerts… what the hell is a convenience charge anyway? Reduce ticket prices by 25% - 40% No one (especially now) can afford to pay $140 - $190 for a concert ticket (you can buy a 3 day festival ticket for that much!), except maybe that small percentage of people who own a large percentage of the world wealth…

4.) Help save the record store. Offer these people some financial incentive for continuing to sell your crap. With sales down 20% from just this time last year, this will probably be the last year for a lot of independent shops. I’ve actually purchased music becuase it had a neat looking album cover, sometimes bad, sometimes good… browsing is the best way to discover new music. The record store is an intimate way of strangers communicating… like lost souls in a graveyard (quite literally now… no one is ever there!).

Anyway, simply put if you don’t consider some of these options you will see the collapse of the industry within the next few years… I mean sure indie music will always be ok… but things will just be harder and harder to find.

Assholes.

Love,

Adam