Why the Entertainment Industry?

First and foremost we will be going a little off track this week as I want to start of this week’s blog by asking my readers a simple question, “ What makes you happy?” This is the exact question that I asked myself right out of High School, and although it took me a while to figure out, I finally came to where I am today as a Live Sound Engineer/Artist Manager. One of the main reasons that I love being a part of the live entertainment industry is because of the direct contact with my artist’s fans emotions. What do I mean by that? Well when you are at a concert and you are screaming your favorite bands music at the top of your lungs, how does that make you feel? Awesome, right?! Well imagine helping someone craft his or her music into something that people, like yourself, want to scream or clap along to. After all the work put into the music is done, that is the ultimate benefit in my eyes, not the money, not the fame, but the emotions that the music (or my artists music) you helped create is able to pull out of the fans. It’s the small moments like that that give me the push to make it to the next day. This is a quote from Steve Jobs that I try to abide and ask myself everyday, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.” My answer to this question hasn’t been “no” yet and I hope that it will never be. Finally, I want my readers to look in the mirror and ask yourself the same thing. What are your answers? What will you do if your answer is a “No?”

 

Reference:

Good Reads. (2013). Steve Jobs Quotes. Retrieved on April 22, 2013, from; http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/412696-i-have-looked-in-the-mirror-every-morning-and-asked

The Next Step in Live Entertainment?

Over the past decade the music industry has become an ever-changing landscape that continues to develop, grow, and change before our eyes. According to the New York Times, technology has allowed global music sales to rise last year for the first time since 1999 (New York Times, 2013). Technology and innovation have been the front-runners that have affected the music industry and my career as a front of house engineer the most; however, what will be the next big transition that the Entertainment Industry sees? One of the most notable transitions over the past decade that I remember was one that took us from the buying a physical CD to single mp3s. Do you remember how amazing it was to be able to put every single album that you owned in your pocket? The idea and application of the iPod as well as iTunes was amazing for everyone involved; however, the notion that someone could buy just one track off a full 12-song album really impacted sales and the total income artists were seeing. Artist managers everywhere, including myself, scrambled to find ways to keep people buying the entire albums; however, the decline of full physical CD sales inevitably led us to focus on other forms of income. The music industry as a whole began to focus on making touring revenue and concerts the main source of income for artists. Coupled with album sales (even though they were and still are declining), concerts and tours are where artists make the majority of their money. According to Billboard’s Ray Waddell, “the touring industry was robust in 2012 and is teed up for continued growth” (Mashable, 2013). Artists make money off of the ticket sales and merchandise but where else could we generate revenue? I keep asking myself this question and always come to the same conclusion, which is that the music industry needs a dedicated in Home Live Concert Streaming Service. Is that not where every industry in the world right now is currently trying to migrate to and monetize? It would benefit the artist a lot if they were able to bring their concerts into their fans homes without them actually having to attend. It would be an amazing way for them to reach out to a bigger demographic or even around the world. The streaming service would be set up similarly to that of Netflix where you can pay a monthly fee and watch all the live shows of you your favorite artist or pay per show, kind of like pay-per view; however, these tickets would be at a discounted rate because you would not be physically there. The discounts could expand to package deals on their merchandise, physical albums, or even including a live concert DVD for an extra fee.. EVNTLIVE is on the forefront of providing a service for streaming live concerts and will soon be offering invitations for people to try it out. EVNTLIVE’s CEO Judy Estrin stated, “We will offer webcasts of live concerts” and “our focus is a combination of signed, popular indie [artists] that have strong followings up to the top brands.” This is something that I see becoming another great source of income for artists and will be watching out for it to go public in the future.

References:

New York Times. (2013). Music Industry Records First Revenue Increase since 1999. Retrieved on April 11, 2013, from; http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/27/technology/music-industry-records-first-revenue-increase-since-1999.html?_r=0

Mashable. (2013). Live Concert Streaming Platform EVNTLIVE Begins Offering Invitations. Retrieved on April 11, 2013, from; http://mashable.com/2013/04/09/evntlive/