State of the Music Business....

[LG]

We've kicked this subject around for a long time over the last few years, everyone knows that the music business is going through a convulsion and what it looks like 5-10 years from now is anyone's guess.

I highly recommend anyone who's interested in how the game is played now watch an excellent documentary.

"Who the F**k is Arthur Fogel?"

He runs the most successful promotion company in the music world right now, the heavyweight artists all depend on him to help them put on the very best concerts while maintaining a bottom line that makes sense for everyone.

In this documentary there are all kinds of music veterans talking about what's going on today and how it will affect the future of the way artists are promoted.

I really enjoyed this look inside the business.

Who The F is Arthur Fogel Official Site

 

[Vehicle]

You saw it already?

I watched the trailer, and a couple other things I scrounged up on YouTube.

I'm piqued.

 

[LG]

^^I saw half of it a couple weeks ago, and managed to see the whole show last night on our HBO channel. Eye opening stuff Vehicle.

 

[Vehicle]

I have HBO.

Wonder if it's on there. Now I hafta go look.

 

[Magic]

Interesting!

I did a bit of reading on this man......since I can't watch the Documentary ( did find a download for it though).

Forbes had an interesting interview.

Forbes: What changes in the business have most surprised you?

Fogel: When I started the record companies and the whole business was calibrated around the selling of records. I never could have imagined that live performance would become kind of a vortex of the business. It’s such a seismic shift really. I could have never imagined that would happen, and I think part of what is woven into the film is that shift.

Forbes: Some people are critical of the outrageous ticket prices for some of these shows. You’re behind the scenes, putting these shows together, so how do you justify the cost?

Fogel: For me and for the artists I work with there’s a true embracing of the show. It’s not just about getting on stage and playing a guitar and singing your song. There are so many young bands I go see and it’s just them playing their music, and that’s great. The truth is, people go to shows because they want a show. They want showbiz. When people talk about a show they saw it’s not because they heard a song, it’s because they were excited and geared up about the show. In the context of ticket pricing it is all relative. It’s not just picking a number out of the sky.

Forbes: What goes into producing these shows? Do they really need to be so extravagant?

Fogel: When smart, show-driven artists sit there and figure out what they want to do creatively and what kind of show they want to put on you end up with large productions with sometimes hundreds of people employed for the tour, and you’re moving around the world in trucks and planes. It’s expensive. When you lay it all out it leads you to a ticket-pricing model that will make sense. I think most people respect that. It’s the people who pay a lot of money and don’t see a show, who just see somebody standing there singing their song, where you kind of go – that was expensive. People want to see and experience what it is they’re paying to see and experience.

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

The profile of the average rock performer these days has changed beyond recognition. The '70s/'80s model is dead and gone. These performers have to work their asses off to move themselves forward. Drugs are a complete no no, and in many cases they are non-drinkers. I was reading up on Black Stone Cherry, who have a new album out this week. All of them are regular church-goers, and one of them lives with his parents. All very level headed guys, and they have been working to a business plan for several years now to steadily improve their profile. Bit of a change from the debauchery of old

 

[Sox]

This made me think of the horror stories about bands being ripped off in the sixties by money hungry promoters and management, the more you make the more they take. I think Peter Grant was a key figure in putting the band first and handing over the lion's share of profit to the artist ? Times have changed and I don't think we'll see the crazy money bands once made from record sales. I choose not to pay heaps of cash for the stage show if I can help it. There are plenty of bands knocking great sounds out at affordable ticket prices, that said I can understand the costs that need to be covered when putting on the biggest bands, the stagecraft and logistics involved.

 

[Khor1255]

I don't know who he is either. But if the state of the music industry is any measure, he is someone long overdue for near death horsewhipping.

 

[mrJim]

hmmmm. Interesting if it tell any of the reality of the business. old and new.

obviously Bona seems happy so Bono must be making big coin working with him.. cause coin make Bono Happy ugh

Jim

 

[Aktivator]

Could be an interesting documentary however if he is trying to tell us the music industry is in decline he is full of sh*t.