The State Of The Industry, In The County Of Kings

Thanks to friend and label-owner Daniel Glass, I recently found myself on a panel discussing the state of the music industry for a group of students at Brooklyn College. The seminar was part of a regular series of events that the college holds to give students a window into industries they might like to learn more about.

Welcome to the Student Center

I was joined on the panel by the esteemed Samantha Cox, the Senior Director of Writer and Artist Relations at BMI, Irving Fain, who handles online content at Clearchannel and their vast network of websites, and the aforementioned Daniel Glass, currently heading up his new project Glassnote Entertainment and well known for his tenure at Artemis, Universal, and many other record business highlights.

L-R: Daniel Glass, Samantha Cox, yours truly, and Irving Fain

We started off by sharing our paths to the music business, and while everyone had a different story, Daniel (an alum) had the most compelling tale for the crowd in attendance as he recounted his days as a teenager in the 1970's spinning records at Brooklyn College's radio station, a gig he got in part because of his fluency in "dance music and R+B" -- or what was beginning to be known at the time as disco.

But most of all the conversation touched on the many changes everyone has seen in the music world, and some predictions for changes to come. I was impressed as the floor was opened to questions, and the very first one asked about 360 degree record deals.

Daniel reported that in his recent convention trips this has been the number one topic of conversation, and he shared his opinion that the success or failure of such deals will really depend on the degree to which labels can add value to careers. According to Daniel, at worst it's just another way to get money from the artist, but when it's done right (and it often isn't) then it can represent a real partnership that's better for everyone, though he admitted that he was pessimistic about the prospects for 360 deals catching on.

The Audience At Attention

Irving touched on the ways that Clearchannel is reacting to the massive changes brought about by online music. He said they consider it a must for radio stations to react in a world where people are used to hearing whatever music they want, whenever they want it. He's been hard at work with their network of websites, which face the challenge of engaging users on the internet while continuing to support the core business of Radio.

On the publishing side, Samantha talked about the life of a publishing executive. As a publicist we often interact with the performing rights organizations only tangentially, but it's interesting how similar our jobs are. She recounted the challenge -- and the thrill -- of being a music generalist, needing to keep tabs on everything from whatever the next burgeoning scene in Williamsburg is to music being made by reggae artists.

Irving Hangs After The Panel To Take Questions

Everyone was eager to know where we saw the business going in the next 3-5 years, and we all had our chance to say something. I'd be lying if I said I knew for sure, but all of us found we had surprisingly similar opinions. It may be harder to sell records, it may be harder to to find a broadcast outlet that can really reach the majority of the country (unless you're Simon, Paula or Randy), but it's easier than it ever has been to find great music and listen to it.

It's arguable but I think there's as much great music being made now as there has been at any point in history. If anything we could look at the late 1990's as an abberation, a time we were post-media consolidation, but pre-internet. Artists with just one hit single were reliably selling millions of albums, sometimes tens of millions. If anything the current scenario -- marked by quality niche independent labels, some people with great ears at major labels, and lots of non-traditional ways to get music out -- isn't too different from the days when Sam Phillips was driving around the south trying to get DJ's to play a single by a new "R+B" singer from Tupelo.

To subvert a famous Paul Simon lyric, the music business may suffer some growing pains from time to time, but the music thrives.