What is the Future of the Music Business?

Managers at the top and labels at the bottom. Is this the new power paradigm in the music business? Some view that power managers like Scooter Braun, Guy Oseary and the Maverick consortium, are now in control of the music business, driving the deals where record labels once reigned.  Steve Barnet, Capital Records President, expressed in a Billboard interview that maybe any radical power shift is over stated:

We’ve been through a couple of different eras where managers thought they could change the course of the business and obviously that’s not the case, because managers don’t actually own or control anything — they’re managers; they represent clients.

Marc Geiger makes the point in this MIDEM keynote address that roles in our business are changing, but the paradigm shift to be most aware of should be the potential revenue growth from music access and advertising.

Shorten the adoption period of streaming, license your music, get meta-data in order, get out of the way and start supporting the future of the music business. Make great music.

Here’s an agency executive that leads one of the most successful live entertainment companies in the world, telling the record industry what they need to do to be successful. His advice seems contrary to the actions of almost every record executive that continues to fight tooth and nail to retain lucrative CD revenue.

 

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