The dream is over.
According to hitsdailydouble, "Dreamgirls" didn't even break 60,000 this week. In a few hours the SoundScan numbers will be in, with the statistic that sales are off in double digits once again.
This is not a Levy and Munns problem. This is not an isolated circumstance. This is a fucking DISASTER!
Blame it on vapid music. Blame it on bad radio. But first and foremost blame it on a failure to deliver the tunes the way the people want them, in a mix and grab collection that is vast in quantity, but low in price.
These are all public companies, these majors are. They can't sit by like an independent and wait for better times, they've got shareholders, they've got to DELIVER!
Sue more file traders?
That didn't seem to stanch the bleeding.
CD extras?
Who wants the CD?
Single track sales for a buck at the iTunes Store?
It's not the copy protection that's limiting sales, but the price. Yes, in a world where so much is sold for a flat price, an all you can eat price, music SEEMS expensive. The key is to get more money from EACH individual and give them more in return. Make EVERYBODY a music customer instead of the few now partaking.
Every day people e-mail me YouTube links. The best ever has been this, from Harold Bronson:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0P_XaWvp2M
People are excited about music videos. They used to be excited about the music itself, when Napster lived, the ORIGINAL Napster. When people are excited about music, everybody profits, the label, the performer, the writer, the concert promoter, the trickle down effect is stunning!
The spigot must be turned on again. People do want music, just not the way those in control are selling it to them.
Think about it, if the iPod is almost every owner's most treasured possession, isn't that because of the music it contains? What's a car if you can't drive it?
No one with any power is making any changes. It's never too late to save your business, to save an industry. Recorded music must live. People should pay for music acquisition. Just start charging them for what they're already doing, trading P2P. Or else watch your stock sink in a death spiral.
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