Well how about that!

Right on. My last post about Simmons Records made it to the front page of their website, http://www.simmonsrecords.com/.

Mr. Simmons, it's quite alright that you don't know me, or my accomplishments, and you certainly don't need my advice, but hey, at least you didn't have to pay for it. : )

I do, sincerely, wish you all the luck in the world in your endeavour and do, in fact, admire the empire you've created.

I stand by my assessment of the music industry though. Change is inevitable and those that don't roll with it will be left behind. Now is the time to be on the bleeding edge of innovation and not relying on the "tried and true". When we stop looking forward with an eye to make new paths, we get tangled up in the weeds where we stopped to nap.

Our Savior!! Or Canada's maybe????

So, Gene Simmons from Kiss has decided that he's what the "talented" but neglected Canadian music industry needs, so he's forming Simmons Records.

It appears that, in a serious bid to jump start the ailing music industry, Ol'Gene is fully embracing the standard business plan of the 20th Century record label. Seeing as how the same old tactics and such are garnering such stunted sales in most categories these days, it should work really well for him (/sarcasm).

In all actuality, I wish him luck. He's not a dumb guy, a little set in his ways and unable to cope with a changing musical climate maybe, but not dumb. Maybe he has come up with a plan that the Majors here in America are not willing to try. Maybe he's got a secret weapon that is going to convince millions of music listeners around the world to buy more CDs and stop sharing music files. Maybe he really can take the "superior talent" of Canadian musicians and turn them into the next Beatles (or since they're Canadian, maybe the next Glass Tiger, or Loverboy), or maybe he just plans on trying the same thing again, and again, and again, and expects a different result. I truly hope not.

Mr.Simmons, if you find this, as you appear to be awfully adept at sniffing out criticism, please understand that the game has changed. If you expect to come in and do things the way they have always been done, you are not going to succeed. Use that Entrepreneurial spirit that got you where you are to innovate a new plan and a new path. The Old Road is overtrafficed.

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/01/27/gene-simmons-starts-canadian-record-label-hates-on-the-doubters/

Later,

Dealing with the "Change" -------- Music Edition

I'm back!! I hope the New Year is finding everyone well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Music Industry is changing. No way around it, nothing we can, or in my opinion, should do about it. It's going to get bumpy, but it's high time that we, the artists, take back control of our futures.

Gone are the days of the multi-million dollar deals and the diamond encrusted advances. We're in the "Final Days" of an evil empire, and we're witnessing the death throes of an industry unwilling to change with the times.

We have to start taking responsibility for our own successes and failures. We're coming up on a time when we will have to start doing whatever it takes, again, to be heard. We thought it was tough before, but we won't be able to ape the last band to draw a decent crowd and get away with it anymore. We have to develop a plan and be willing to implement it. It never takes as much courage to jump on a trend as it does to speak with your own voice.

We can't deceive ourselves in thinking that it's enough to just be ourselves, though, and we have to get real inventive when it comes to funding our pursuits. Every band does the typical swag. T-shirts, cds, buttons, sticker, blah, blah, blah. The fact is that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over and over, always expecting a different result, and the truth is that the "typical" has been oversold. There are millions of bands out there trying to get noticed and every one of them is using the "tried and true" formula that every other struggling artist is using. If we continue to emulate the "struggling" what do we expect to achieve? "Necessity is the Mother of Invention" folks, and conventional wisdom dictates if you're not getting the results you want with the process you have, it's time to change.

Here's and interesting approach. (note---this isn't an endorsement, just pointing out that people are looking for alternative means to accomplish their goals)

http://www.thelicensingplate.com/musicians-and-performers-invite-fans-to-invest-in-their-success/

Or you could try the Sebastian Bach approach to protecting his income.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212202294.shtml

I wonder how that's working for him.


Later,