The Music Biz Gets a Clue
After years panting behind the curve on illegal file sharing, then alienating what remained of its dwindling legal customers by suing everyone from kids in sweatshirts to satellite radio outfits it's refreshing to see a record label that's trying something innovative for a change.
This morning we awoke to learn that EMI's Virgin Records has hitched up with USA Networks - the first ever marriage between a major record label and a television network.
Under the deal, Virgin will provide music from its recording artists, who include the Rolling Stones, Korn, Gorillaz, and Lenny Kravitz, among others, to hype USA Network's shows. It's high irony that EMI Music North America, the planet's third biggest music company has just settled with the New York State Attorney General's office, ending Eliot Spitzer's painful, two year investigation with a check for $3.75 million.
If we look a little astonished, it's because even with the success of "American Idol," it took the labels this long to figure out a way to promote their music on good, old-fashioned TV.
What's more, it's such a stark departure from its old promotional methods, which usually involved bribing radio stations to play songs on the air. Those allegations dominated this and last year's headlines, and resurfaced again at the start of this month threatenting to potentially derail ABC Radio Stations announced $2.7 billion merger with Citadel Broadcasting.
If the EMI/USA deal works, look to other companies like Warner Music and Universal Music to follow in EMI's steps. The truly odd part: Warner Music is no longer owned by Time Warner, and Universal Music Group is no longer owned by NBC Universal; perversely, it's only after their parent companies divest themselves of their record labels that 'synergy' can happen.
In this respect, the old song remains truer than ever: You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
The good news? Once it's gone, you can actually make some hay with it.