14 DAY TRIAL // The record labels have not been seeing eye to eye with Jobs over how music should be purchased by customers, and this has led to all sorts of disputes. While none can argue, at least not with a straight face, that iTunes pretty much handed the music industry a lifeline and showed them the way to the future, the music industry is still not happy, because the new model means more freedom for the customer and less "money for nothing" for them.
While the big labels don't generally make elaborate statement regarding their views on the future of the industry, you can see what things look like from the inside from the middle men of the industry which are not overly careful about what comes out of their mouth. Case in point, Mr. Jermaine Dupri, president of Island Urban Records, and his blog for The Huffington Post.
Some people find it hard to understand my man Jay-Z's decision not to let iTunes break up his American Gangster album and sell it as single tracks. They say he's fighting the future and losing out on sales from fans who only want to download singles. But I say it was a stand somebody had to take in the music industry. Jay is speaking for all of us.
He's not the first. He's not the lone cowboy in all of this. Radiohead and AC/DC have turned their backs on iTunes for the same reason. Doug Morris, the CEO of Universal Group, has been fighting Steve Jobs on this for a minute now. But Jay is at a level people are going to pay attention to. He's had 10 number one albums. He may run Def Jam but he's also an artist who put his heart and soul into something that he wants people to hear all the way through. As the creator and investor, he has every right to demand this.
Not only that, I believe he's starting a movement that's necessary. More artists and producers are gonna take back control of how their art is sold because his strategy has paid off. Maybe Hova coulda sold another 100,000 to 200,000 units by playing it iTunes' way, but he still had the number one album last week. He STILL sold 425,000 units. Even more, he's proven you can still sell an album without those guys.
Amazingly enough, despite actually offering the only business model that actually had a future, Apple is now seen as the enemy of the recording industry. Why the labels, and some artists seem to equate Apple with actual sales is mind boggling. Apple only offers the product for sale, it is the actual customers that are buying those songs and albums, Apple is no more representative of them as they are of the record labels, they are simply the middle man. There is no stand to be taken against Apple, this stand is being taken against the actual customers.
Jay made everyone realize that iTunes taking what we give them and doing what they want with it isn't the way it has to be. He put the light on and made other people realize, "Oh these guys are just selling our music, they ain't making it." If anything, WE made iTunes. It's like how we spent $300,000 to $500,000 each on our videos and MTV and BET went ahead and built an entire video television industry off of our backs. We can't let that happen again. These businesses exist solely because of our music. So if we as artists, producers and label executives stand up, those guys at Apple can either cooperate, or have nothing for people to buy and download on their iPods. Once again, we can see how the music industry is paramount to all things, including the industries that actually make it happen. Damn the printing industry for making money off of the back of the poor writers, damn the CD manufacturing and player industry for making money off of singers? oh, wait. Exactly when the music industry will start catching on to the fact that Apple is just a reseller and that it is the actual customers that call the shots is unclear. Here's a newsflash: before the iTunes Store there were other such retailers, and even subscription services; the only reason why iTunes is so popular is because customers have voted with their wallets, not because they are Apple and not because of the iPod. iPods were popular before there even was an iTunes Store, and time and again, surveys have shown that only a minuscule percentage of the music on iPods comes from the iTunes Store, the bulks coming from songs imported from CDs.
Apple thinks that's never gonna happen. They think that we as the record industry will never stick together. But Universal sells one out of every three records. All it'll take is for Warner Music to say, "You know what, I'm with you," for us to shut 'em down. No more iPods! They won't have nothin' to play on their players! We can take back the power if we're willing to sacrifice some sales to make our point. Amazing how a Grammy-award winning music producer, and president of Island Urban Records can just come out with such threats. Can anyone spell anti-trust? Can anyone actually see the labels simply walking away from digital sales when they are constantly growing and CD sales are constantly declining? Can anyone remember the days of Napster? Why is it that Apple only gets a small percentage of each song sold on iTunes, from which they have to maintain the store, secure storage for the content and also pay for the transfer costs, and yet the music industry still thinks that Apple is somehow magically dependant on the iTunes Store.
These days people just assume that you need a number one single to have a number one album. But look at what's really happening. Soulja Boy sold almost 4 million singles and only 300,000 albums! We let the consumer have too much of what they want, too soon, and we hurt ourselves. Back in the day when people were excited about a record coming out we'd put out a single to get the ball going and if we sold a lot of singles that was an indication we'd sell a lot of albums. But we'd cut the single off a few weeks before the album came out to get people to wait and let the excitement build. When I put out Kris Kross we did that. We sold two million singles, then we stopped. Eventually we sold eight million albums!
Did consumers complain? Maybe so. But at what point does any business care when a consumer complains about the money? Why do people not care how we - the people who make music - eat? If they just want the single, they gotta get the album. That was how life was. Today we should at least have that option. Yeah, it's about the money, but it's also about quality. Creating each album as a body of work that means something gives the consumer something better to listen to, It's that simple. Otherwise all anyone would care about is making a bunch of ringtones.
And here things go from bad to worse. Actually coming out and insulting the people who are supposed to buy your product is never a good move. Neither is reminiscing about the good old days when you used to rip them off. Nor is threatening them. It's a clear bet that things were much better back in the day when the customer didn't have the choice, but those days are gone, and nothing will bring them back. People will no longer buy the filler that makes up the bulk of the albums available today. Obviously this upsets the people that used to 'eat' off of these filling, but the cat is already out of the bag, and it cannot be put back in.
While obviously Mr. Dupri is not in an official position to speak for the entire music industry, his words are loud and clear, echoing of what we have heard and seen from the big labels over the past years. With luck, this will serve as a wake-up call to consumers everywhere, and serve as a reflection of how the music industry sees and treats us, the people that sustain it and make it what it is. For too long we have been taken advantage of, forced into buying sheer crap simply because it was the only option available. It is obvious that these artists have no actual interest in the album as an art form, or they would be equally opposed to playing single songs on the radio or showing single video clips on television. The only thing they care about is money, and with luck, starting today they will be seeing less and less of it.