Only 3,279 people have watched Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris on YouTube. And that's CRIMINAL! You'll be mesmerized by Knopfler's licks, but just shy of three minutes in, when Emmylou starts kicking her legs backward in time to the music, you'll exclaim VOILA, she's fucking KIKI DEE!
I've got the music in me. And you do too. But resonance is infrequent. Because oftentimes the music is trapped. Under a cloak of marketing. Sold to us by soulless men believing in a lowest common denominator. So we're not used to it, we're not prepared when we feel it, for it's been SUCH A LONG FUCKING TIME!
Funny how you've got to steal the product to have any progress in this world. I don't see record labels scurrying around trying to get all their assets up on the Web. God, they've fired the people who do the legwork. And don't you know there are RIGHTS ISSUES! The act doesn't look and/or sound the way it should, they've got an asshole manager, and their LAWYER! WHEW! Our hands are TIED!
But the public is free. To digitize everything and distribute it at will. You see there just aren't enough COPS to handcuff everyone. It's hysterical to see the old fart execs, like Lorne Michaels in Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse", saying COME BACK HERE WITH MY SHOW!
And isn't it just like SNL. Whose "Lazy Sunday" distribution on YouTube gave newfound cred to a show that was passe before the eighties hit. If you don't free the copyrighted material, you will make no MONEY!
Let people do what they will with your assets. THEN charge them for this usage. Don't tell them they can't do this or that, which they can do with virtual impunity anyway. Just find a way to monetize what's ALREADY HAPPENING!
Have you searched YouTube?
Try it. Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and plug in the name of your favorite act. You'll be STUNNED what comes up. It's a fan's DREAM! But, of course, record labels aren't interested in fans.
That's what a fan wants, EVERYTHING! The more he sees, the more he likes and ultimately believes in the act. And when he's hooked, he'll give you ALL HIS MONEY!
Why the fuck should I watch David Letterman. Never mind Jay or Conan. Why should I bother to record the performances on these lame shows when I can find them INSTANTLY, on YouTube. Oh, they're there, just search for them.
They're not on Dave's site. They're not on the record company site. But the FANS have captured them and placed them on YouTube. Doing the label's work FOR THEM!
Shit, you should be able to watch EVERY act on Letterman RIGHT AFTER IT'S AIRED! As many times as you would like. Almost none of the target audience is viewing when they're shown. You're spending all that money on travel, never mind makeup and hair and backup musicians. Why not get something for your buck. Why doesn't EMI announce EVERY TV APPEARANCE OF THEIR ACTS WILL NOW BE INSTANTLY AVAILABLE! SOMEWHERE! Actually, it's just about the announcement, since, as stated earlier, so much stuff is ALREADY posted.
And this story gets the Johnny-Come-Latelies to go to YouTube, the same way they went to Napster when the P2P service was on the cover of "Newsweek", and become enraptured.
Did you read that article on the front page of the "New York Times Magazine"? Digitization is HAPPENING! To fight it is insane. As Martha would say, it's a GOOD THING! Embrace it.
(Just go to YouTube and plug "knopfler this is us" in the search box and you too can watch the video.)
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