Andy Lykens

Music Publishing & Licensing Expert.

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The tipping point.

Check this out. It’s an article about the beginning of the end of an obnoxious, intractable and downright foolish “business” mentality.

This is the first evidence that the labels are no longer going to be able to sue their way to generating income. They have been a huge pain to deal with, they have refused to adapt, and now they’re “Hoping Apple Can Force Amazon and Google Into Cloud Licensing.” Nope.

Apple doesn’t care about licensing or playing fair with the music industry they just have a better relationship with the labels and more clout in negotiations. Apple deals with the majors because it’s easy for them, not because they think they need licenses and to appease them. Why would Apple’s deal force anyone to do anything?

Now we’ll see the majors start to scramble for income. They’ll start sacrificing rights, prices will drop. I mean REALLY scramble.

Mark my words folks, this is the beginning of the end. It took a long time but the labels are officially no longer in control. They’re down to a 49% say in digital licensing. The tipping point has been reached. Big change is coming in music licensing. Big change is coming in copyright valuation. It won’t be too much longer – maybe a few years max.

The snowball is rolling down the hill.

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A quick brainstorm on the current music industry vs. Apple.

Comparing and contrasting these two industries is an interesting exercise. One continues to fail in most all areas, while one continues to grow in most all areas. One focuses mainly on lawsuits and legislature. One focuses on perfectionist design.

Subscription content continues to make meager headway into the mass market. Music publishing (licensing) continues to generate growth. RIAA continues to try using the law to restrict access to copyright. Major labels are still run mostly by lawyers and boards of trustees who have little to no knowledge of music licensing, how it works, and why its successful. Steve Jobs and Apple have ALWAYS put design first and will continue to do so. Apple has just had it’s first $50-billion quarter. Streaming is inconvenient when no wireless connection is available. Apple products go out of their way to make things convenient – not free – but convenient. Apple just passed RIM in their market share. Apple sells copyrighted content and devices that access, and utilize that content seamlessly. The music industry has access to loads of copyrighted content and executes its exploitation poorly. The music industry consecutively sees revenues fall.

What can the music industry learn from a company like Apple? What can Apple learn from companies like WMG and EMI? If you had to rate Pandora as a music provider, what would you give it on a scale of 1 to 10? How would you rate Apple as a music provider? If you had to rate your iPod as a music player and content purchasing device, what would you rate it? How would you rate Pandora as a music retailer? How do you rate a major label as a music retailer? Post your thoughts to the comments!

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Billboard Music in Advertising Keynote with Kid Rock

At the BBMiA conference waaaay back in June I was simply blown away by Kid Rock. Not having really listened to his music (other than not really liking Bawitdaba’s radio domination years ago) I wasn’t sure what to expect.

What I heard at his keynote was:

1) A guy who has worked his butt off from day 1.
2) Someone who’s taken the time to learn ALL aspects of his craft (creative, business, etc).
3) A very down to earth individual with a fantastic outlook on life.

…and more. I was able to record some of the Q&A at the end of the session with my phone and I’m posting it here. I hope you enjoy it!

Kid Rock at Billboard Music in Advertising