The Future

 It’s a very uncertain world we live in right now. On one hand, the music industry feels so far away right now. It’s summer and no shows and more or less no releases. At the same time, the whole machinery is going on under the surface. Negotiations with new clubs, festivals, and other outlets. The difference is that you might now if it will happen the dates you are talking about. It will happen, just witch time?

I guess it is all one's death other one's bread. I just got several jobs during this crisis. Probably because people that didn’t make it want over to another business. I guess this is the time where we see who has to be on the stage as a living and who are just there because they think it’s a fun hobby that they just keep up.

The changes will be quite severe. And in many cases in unfavoured for an established big artist that is not in the top 50. Many that are semi-famous or live out of an old career will find themselves in a totally new world. A world that changes in a much more rapid way then we are used to.

Just a simple thing like the American election can change quite much. If Donald Trump gets re-elected. My guess the country will go deeper in the rabbit hole it’s already in. More debts and now with the crises in full swing and china that are in a position to market shares. What would that have for the music industry? Quite an easy choice USA would be the last market to enter. The restrictions would hold on longer and the crisis will prevail and be quite uninteresting to invest money in a career there. Instead, we would go for more secure territories to start invest in.

But USA has the infrastructure you say? Not even developing areas are more interesting since the whole infrastructure is crashed we all have to start all over again.

What happens if Joe Biden becomes president? Then you have a guy that is forced to clean up the mess the former president made. At the same time probably release quite many rescue packages which will tear on the economy. The result is almost the same. It will be kind of hard to invest in USA on a new artist career.

In Sweden we have a saying that however, you turn you always have your ass in the back. Already now I’m looking at witch new territories that are waking up first and also give the money in a smart way to build up a new infrastructure for the live industry. There is where the money will be. That music dies is not even an option. It just will develop but not in the areas we might be used to. 

Don’t even get me started with UK that just left EU and now has to handle the crisis as just one country.

The only good thing about this is that these changes will open up so many new opportunities. The question are you connected enough to grab these opportunities?

The algorithm can’t predict the future!

Well the tech guys want us to believe that the algorithm is that magic that it actually can predict the future in the big data. Maybe in a George Orwell future, it can, but I really don’t want to live there.

I got this idea for this text from a press release of another company doing site with an algorithm that goes on the mood. In this case for sync placements. For me, that feels like 2010 when several companies did that. If you really want that search engine goes top Spotify that found out that people that want playlists just want mood playlists. And yes, sad playlists are the most popular right after workout playlists. The problem that now occurring on Spotify is that the audience is not6 listening to the music they just use it as background music on other things. It’s like the music in the ceiling of the supermarket. It’s there but no one really don’t care what it is you are too busy shopping.

What an advertising firm really want is not just mood music, it’s a cool artist with it. And if they can find someone cool as Taylor Swift for no money at all they will take it. But how can an algorithm find a cool artist? And especially cool artist when you have a low budget?

It’s all about the future. Let say I have an unknown Canadian band with a really nice song. But I also know that this band is booked for these three cool festivals. Also, I know they are recording for a new album that is released around the same time as the commercial and on top of that, I know they will be in the sofa of the best morning show. This info is really crucial. But the algorithm will only find out this (if ever) when it already has happened. This is not written in any public records. And when it has happened it’s dead on arrival. Yes, knowledge is power.

So, the only way an algorithm would know if its ear dropped on you. Or for speaking out loud, spying on you. Yes, we have all that experience that you talked to a friend about new speakers for the living room and boom hours later you get online commercials just around speakers. We know that big companies listen to us with their speakers, on our phones, etc. Even though none of them would admit it.

But that is the only way that an algorithm would have a chance to predict any future. Because if it just gets to the info when you search for these speakers online. The chance is just that you also bought them and the commercial you get later on is just annoying since you just bought your new speakers.

This only goes for really big companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft. It won’t work when you need special people like supervisors. That is too narrow to get into. Spotify is to small to eardrop on you. And how on earth would they find out when you really start to like a song or a new artist? If that is going to happen the algorithm has to be implemented in your brain. And I hope we have sense enough to stay away from that.

The algorithms today mainly just goes on old info. The algorithms would say that this artist is totally out, but don’t know that the artist might just wrote the song of their lives. In that way recommended the whole wrong thing to the buyer. They would have loved to be part of that great song that just was written and have their brand connected to it. The artist might have liked the brand and could get some extra marketing money for it. I would have seen the algorithm that could predict that Queen was taking over Live Aid 1985. They were counted out as going away. But their live experience took over and they came out as a new hot band.

I hope we never goes so far that the algorithm should be able to predict the future. It’s enough that it spies on what we do and learn from that. That is still a guess, to leap that it can read us is not a pleasant thought.

Back to work

Yes, I have been a bit slow past two weeks. Quite much work with Live at Heart and me trying to have some vacation (which didn't succeed with) I now have figured what's next on the whole blog and other things. I guess the things people really want to read is the drama or something that can relate to them. So more drama and more persons.

From time to time I also tried to introduce new music in the blog. I feel I failed in that. It's a lot about the industry but really whats drive the industry is the music. I also feel that I get less and less exposed to new music.

So just posting once a week, and this time with marketing. See how it goes. And then we get it on with our new thing. I got my own radio show on Cashbox radio. Last time I had a radio show was like 25 years ago. It was a student radio show at a school and we were just mainly talking rubbish on air. This time it will change. I want to have the drama, I want to have new music.

So yes I want to interview your band. Or you as a person if you are working in the music industry. But you have to be prepared to answer the hard questions.

So my premiere? You know ....I have to start this series with an interview with Dee Dee Ramone. I have been holding this gem in the drawer for almost twenty years. I just finished editing the stuff. Soon it will be the start of my new radio show.

I was right, here comes the future.

Every ten years has been big changes in the music industry for me. Almost like a new chapter has opened up. 1999 it was Napster and the whole change to digital opened so many new opportunities that it launched my new company Musichelp. It was rewriting the whole game and over ten years.

2009 was the streaming. Launch of Spotify and the start of the showcase era. The changes were massive and opportunities plentiful. And also rewrote the game quite much.

In both cases, just before the big change, I felt it was all over. The industry was not changing and many things had been streamlined. Then a minor meeting opens up a whole new world. The opportunities were back, suddenly everything was great again. You got like a blueprint of where you were heading and a receipt that you were doing the right things. In both older cases, I can pinpoint that meeting that changed everything. And now I know when the feeling is right.

This The Great Escape held just those meetings. That it happened here was more a coincidence. It happened to be the right time and place this time. I had three meetings that could change the future of my career, change the game completely. I would just be glad for one. But with three I'm pretty sure we are going a very bright future ahead.

And I can touch the changes right now. Sadly I cant reveal more maybe in a year or two I can reveal the stories.

Get these blogs updates straight to your mail.
Enter your email address:

2009 and 2019 years when it all change?

Yes, 2009 was really a change year. The depression was an all-time low. A new company opened its doors called Spotify. Still many organizations were laying off people. In some cases good layoffs. Many useless people got fired and old people quit. We streamlined the industry and created new ways.

I feel the same way now. I was sending out a mail to industry people around a request working with an artist. I haven't done that in a while (usually I do it in personal ways) so I went through the list to look at the names. The list was over 1500 people. Mainly, people, I have met during the last five years. 

I was looking through the list to take off people I know not any longer worked on their position or even in The music industry. In there I took off a hundred. Then I went through all people if the actually could offer anything that was a benefit for this case. in practical they could get something done that I can't do. Here 95% of the Swedish industry was taken off. The few left, I sent a personal mail. 

Then I took off old people that really have no updates on what is going on.

After all takeoffs, I was down to 600 out of 1500. After send out I got also many automatic replies telling me that people had left their chairs or left the industry.

Then I got some answers from people that really didn't know what was going on. Things like we can put in them into sync for both master and publishing. Or old dudes that thought that just because they worked on a major we should just go for it.

Down and all it was just 350 in that address book that was interesting and updated enough to be for any use. And that was the same in 2009. It's so written on the wall that a new change has begun. Maybe even bigger than 2009.

Lika a good friend use to say "many are called, few selected“.

What is 2019 gonna hold!

I have been reading many blogs from the music industry and what they think will dominate the industry next year. And there are many good suggestions. Like the positions of Chinese streaming services going forward ( of course, streaming is just about numbers so more people you have more you get) as well as India, and Brazil. Markets that might take over the playlists.

One person in a very high up company said we will see the start of the downfall of playlists. They are to scattered and people don't want to have a playlist where 95% of the content is unknown to them. This will form more lists that are mainstream.

Spotify survival against Youtube music and Apple is also interesting since the market right now says that the Apple streams are more likely to be real than the other two competitors.

AI is coming stronger. It's not a dream its reality. Still, will it find new good artist for me as a listener? No, it will just sort in my own private library.

A lot of blockchains is still there but it seems like there is to many of them right now.

And then they also namedropped several new companies in the music sector.

But what have it all in common? Nothing of this is really caring about the artists. These companies are mainly building stuff for a vast majority to use. Fine with that but it won't help an artist career? You don't win a formula one race by giving the driver a bunch of nuts and bolts and vague dream of putting the car together.

And this is what I see. Right now we are just building tools for the industry. Sure I will use these tools, but the manual for these tools are hidden in algorithms that no one can see.

The ones that build companies that take artist careers forward and not build on mass systems (yes no one is breaking through Spotify, Reverbnation, Bandcamp etc) and can master these systems and get a top ride in several of them at the same time. Now we are talking. That is what is going on.

And it's actually starting to be that way. There is a whole new world and system ongoing, but far away from the eyes of the stock market and the tech guys. In the end, music is about feelings and that is mainly handled down between people, not computers. I think we will start to see these networks rise during 2019.

I got the same feeling in 2009 when Spotify came around. it was liberty to get rid of old grumpy men. Today Spotify is that old grumpy man. same with the people that made that liberation. Time to change team again.

This is why old men die!

Get this blogs updates straight to your mail.
Enter your email address:

Tell me about your future!

One of the more fun things to do is to ask very simple direct questions to artists. Usually, the come up to you and describe their music in the way of...we are a band playing psychedelic pop like Kim Karnes and Sonic Youth had a baby that looks like Pete Dorothy.

Of course, that will tell you nothing and it's not even interesting either. I mean I will listen to the great songs later. What I'm interested in is where are you going. and let's pretend this is an elevator pitch ( a fast one you don't have much time). The conversation would be like this:

- So what is your plans?
- We want to release a great song, we are very good and we think we would suit the market.
- Yes, I will listen to the music later, but what is coming up next?
- We gonna start to record an album...
- No one needs an album, besides the music what is the next things with the band?
- What do you mean?

They are so focused to tell me about the music, which I rather hear on later if they are interesting enough to listen to. So this pitch is mainly to tell me what is the key points to get me to be interested to listen to the music. And I can tell you that in 95% of the cases tehy can't tell me anything.

So what is it that I'm after? The music has to be great but that is a later question. The problem is that I assume that you have a great music if you don't have that you are a hopeless case.
I want to know what key steps are you doing put the music aside. Like...

*Are you doing any live shows, any tours? This is nothing you wait for the music to get out to get.
*Taking any new pictures?
* Doing any new videos?
* Any special social media campaigns?
* What are you trying to achieve, what are the goals for the next year and your way to reach there?

A problem that I very often bump into is that people take all these things comes after your releasing music. But in reality, they can be done ahead so you won't be delayed.

PERSONAL:
Heatwave over Europe and I'm inside with all fans I how stashed over the years. When I can't walk I have almost not been out of the house. So still with all this sun, I look like a Tylenol. And it has been not much of festivals this summer either, just things abroad. Still got some cool stuff off eBay so I'm waiting right now for packages.