If I ran a Record Label, I’d make sure that everyone who worked for me read Courtney Love’s speech from the Spring 2000 Digital Hollywood conference in New York. This is probably the single most brilliant thing I’ve ever heard or read about the music business in the digital age. Read it.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d understand that artists were successful before labels existed and will remain successful after labels disappear.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d realize that the product I had been successful in selling until digital distribution harshed my world was not music, it was a container — and we were great at making, selling and distributing containers but mostly suck at understanding music as an intangible medium.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d understand that the businesses of manufacturing and distributing music containers were essentially commodity businesses that relied upon scarcity and/or saturation in the marketplace. If an artist didn’t have access to containers, the odds of them ever having their art available to the world were slim — and container listening folks were only able to to access the containers presented to them in their local record/cd store.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d go out of business before demanding or requesting ISPs and Countries support my quickly disintegrating business propositions with blanket subscription fees. I’d know that in most “blanket” music levy situations, only a select few highly promoted artists (and subsequently their publishers and labels) are disproportionate recipients of the collected funds. Recipients of 50% of the Canadian blank media levy are identified by their presence in an annual 14-day sample of commercial and state-operated radio stations across Canada.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d understand that the only music-related business to improve it’s control over the consumer in the digital age has been the ticket scalp^H^H^H^H^Hbroker. I’d work with artists on improving or optimizing the ticket-buying experience of people attending their live performances.
If I ran a Record Label, I’d forget everything that I and my industry had ever done to control the productization, packaging and distribution of containers and focus on helping my artists connect to and maintain a relationship with people who appreciate their art. There is no such thing as a “used” relationship.