Music

A friend emailed me the MSN piece that I've posted at the end of this article. I read it savoring every sentence, each paragraph with that "knowing" little cheese-eating grin on my face. There was even a moment when a spark lit up my eye as it revealed with certainty that I MUST be among a discerning group of savvy, behind-the-scenes, know-it-alls who saw this coming down the pike years ago. After all, doesn't everyone remember when the RIAA said they were going to move the prices of CDs closer to the $10 mark...then years passed and the prices never dropped?

The truth is, although I'd like to think that I've been ahead of the game for a long time, like most people in or out of this business, I had no idea that anything was seriously amiss - let alone that a music revolution was occurring and I was in the midst of it. Of course like every other bottom-line watcher, I paid special attention to the trends, and of course, the periodic telltale signs of a smaller profit line on the big boys' 10K reports.

I think the industry really began to take note though, when the losses started showing up as double-digit percentages. But nothing in any of that signaled there was a paradigm shift afoot.

What I did know however (and made damned sure everyone else around me knew too) was that CDs were too damned expensive for what I know they cost to make in the first place. I also knew that if you kept ramming a fair amount of inanity and garbage down people's throats as a part of their daily diet, they would eventually opt for a diet of something that better suited their appetites and tastes. Many consumers chose to do this - and are still doing it.

In fact, music, in my opinion, is as well as it's ever been...as well as I've ever seen it. It is as vibrant and beautiful as ever and even more prolific. There are more writers and artists sharing their musical creations with us than ever before; and there is even more music available to us than I'm sure any one of us ever thought was possible. Not to mention the many distinctive "flavors" making their way to us from different geographies and cultures of the world.

But my one burning question remains. If the entire music industry is in such disarray, then why is there still so much beautiful music blaring at me from every end of the spectrum - through every conceivable portal that there is (radio, internet, cellular devices, cable, portable music players, games, films, tv, etc.)? Through these portals I'm even hearing incredibly amazing music from places on our planet I never knew existed.

It's clear from everything I've illustrated here that fundamentally there is nothing wrong with the art of music - only the business of it. And the reality is that the business can and will recover. It can be as vibrant as it once was - of course, with some paying of dues for the years of abject avarice and excesses that were the hallmarks of the big six...the big four...and now the big three!

We may have to start by REALIGNING our thinking and approach to how we treat music; and we may have to ELIMINATE that dreaded "box" we've all been told to think outside of. But for all practical purposes, music lives and will continue to thrive and prosper as long as art is alive. I'm sure of it!

NOW FOR THE BAD NEWS!

This is the MSN Article I mentioned previously:


No More Virgins in New York

Soon there will be one less virgin in New York City. And it could be worse than that.

Next February, the Virgin Megastore in Times Square will definitely be shutting its doors. This means no more record store in a neighborhood that used to boast at least two Sam Goody stores, Colony (when it featured its beloved, now lamented back wall of 45 rpm singles) and numerous other chains.
But this isn't all: the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, which was considered the anchor attraction when it opened more than decade ago, is being marketed by real estate agents. That means it will likely hit the chopping block as soon as enough shoes and ice cream can be found to fill it up. (What we really need is another bank or drugstore — not!) No decision has been made about the remaining stores, but the writing is on the wall.

This is all a result of Virgin's billionaire balloon traveler Richard Branson quietly leasing the existing 12 megastores to Vornado Realty and Related Properties last year. Branson, who made his billions in the music business, obviously wanted someone else to do his dirty work as the business died. Now the two real estate concerns control the fate of what's left of the 'record' biz.
In Manhattan, the end of the Virgin stores is particularly bitter. Tower Records is gone, so is Sam Goody, Coconuts, FYE and HMV. There are few record stores left and they are specialty-driven: Bleecker Bob's, House of Oldies, the Golden Disc, Disco Rama, etc. Only J&R Music World down on Park Row still sells CDs and even vinyl, but who knows how long that will last.

According to the New York Times, 80 record stores in Manhattan and Brooklyn have closed since 2003. Soho's beloved Rocks in Your Head closed in 2006, two years shy of its 30th birthday.
Of course, I sound like an old curmudgeon when I lament the passing of the record store. Idling away hours at such a place must seem like a big waste of time to today's 20-year-olds. But it was one of the most pleasurable experiences I knew as a youth — a community experience of discovery. And there was nothing like being there to get a new recording as it was released. You'd rush home to play it, and nothing else mattered.

How life has become so much less rich in a short time! Waiting in front of a computer screen for a download is not quite the same thing. It's just another soulless experience. And maybe that's why 'kids today' don't care much about music, the artists or paying them for their work. The passion is gone. So are valued New York haunts like CBGB's, the Lion's Head, the Cedar Tavern, Chumley's and so on. At least we still have Starbucks!

On a more serious note: the remaining record labels should be concerned about this occurrence. So should the big-name recording acts. Frank DiLeo, Michael Jackson's former manager, recently suggested that the labels get together and open a 'state' store, one in each big city, to carry their catalogs and new releases. It's not a bad idea. Otherwise, the record industry will soon have no public face at all.