Got an idea? Good, because the record industry hasn't got a clue...

My job has me conflicted.  Working for a record label is a love/hate relationship.  I love it because it keeps me working with music and technology, exploring the new music landscape, working with good people and helping to bring great music to the world.  

I hate it because it’s very much Label 1.0, and even in the five years since I’ve worked here, I know I’ve developed habits that only hamper my ability to bring success to a Label 2.0, like Penny Distribution.  

It’s a strange feeling then, when I feel lucky to have only been “exposed” to Label 1.0 for five years.  

The veterans of this industry, who’ve had a great time of it over the last 15-20 years, continue to make fools of themselves when they describe their plans for the future.

Edgar Bronfman, CEO of Warner Bros., seems to be completely confused about how to approach scarcity in regard to Music 2.0.  (check out my last post for a brief explanation).   His “plan” is to restrict the amount of digital deals Warner signs this year and next, claiming that it’s the ubiquity of music that’s killing the recording industry.  His argument:  If we make the music less available people will have to pay more for it.  

If you’re a music fan, it’s clear that this is exactly what not to do.

Sadly, it’s true of my employer, just as it’s true of Warner Bros.  The one thing they want desperately is control.  And as any good file-sharer will tell you, The “how, what, when, where and how much” of music is firmly in the hands of the consumer. 

The results of this approach, i.e. pissing off consumers, shrinking the market, providing opportunities to companies that embrace the ubiquity of music, are obvious to everyone who’s ever downloaded a file (paid or unpaid), shared a playlist or had their world routinely rocked by all the great music they’re hearing.  

It’s not obvious to Edgar Bronfman, a full 8 years after he raved about assembling an army of lawyers to destroy file-sharing and Napster in a megolomanical speech for the ages.  

And these ideas, admittedly on a smaller scale, are part of the policies of my own employer, because experience has made it so.  And I have to ask if that’s a good influence on me, or not.

Update:  In a post on 8/13 Paul Resnikoff, editor of Digital Music News, details the control issues at labels.  Maybe E.B. Jr. should take a read and catch himself on.

Update 2:  As if by magic, Universal are also trying to manufacture scarcity.  As this article explains, they're threatening to sue US retailers who sell Import copies of Amy Winehouse's debut CD (which they plan to release state-side on Nov.7)  While retailers try to sell an in-demand CD, Universal are suing them and all the while, seemingly unbeknownst to the Corporation, the music is freely available via P2P.  It absolutely defies any kind of logic...