Here in the new music industry, the paradigm is shifting. There's a clear lack of synergy between the next-gen music makers and the major label gatekeepers. As a result, there's a clear lack of revenue caused by and resulting from illegal file-sharing by the disenfranchised youth movement. While some may claim a certain Luddite pretense by those in control of the industry, it's easier to claim that they're disconnected and reluctant to embrace new technologies. Maybe you've heard this bullshit before? I thought so.

Our industry, and our patience for hearing new music, is contracting. We're increasingly overtaxed/conditioned by technology so that if it doesn't come to us instantaneously, and stand out at the same time, we just move on. The act of musical discovery and exploration has been relegated to music purists who make up an increasingly small piece of the consumerist pie. So what's YOUR shtick? Why do we care about your music? And don't say "because it's good ... " That's a bigger cop-out than the last five Rolling Stones albums.

I wanted to come up with a more profound title, but I couldn’t.  Although, a declaration of true love seems pretty emphatic, don’t you think?  Staying up with the trends in the music industry is important to me.  In particular, I remember the brouhaha surrounding Qtrax.  They...

I figured something like this deserves a bigger title than just “Something I’m Gonna Try.”  In my capacity as mild-mannered marketing consultant, I spend a fair amount of time at Nimbit.  No surprises there, and honestly, I like the product and believe in its...

Direct-to-Fan is the dominant trend in today’s music space. Whether it’s Trent Reznor telling us, or anyone else, the ability to engage with fans and provide unique, compelling offers is tantamount to success. What’s disturbing though, is that you’ve labeled Tunecore as a frontrunner in the direct-to-fan space. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As Facebook eats the lunch of just about every competitor, I have to wonder -- what happened to MySpace? Are they the spurned middle child between Friendster and Facebook? Do they have a Jan Brady complex that causes them to sit in their bedroom dreaming up imaginary boyfriends?

Anytime you give a track away, people should be buying it -- and the currency of choice is an email address. Second to that, let them pay with a tweet, by becoming a Facebook fan, or creating a post about your music. Any of those currencies may actually be more valuable than the 99 cents they may (or may not!) want to spend.

To Whom It May Concern: I’m Scott Feldman — no, not that Scott Feldman, another one.  I live in Boston, and I’m a Red Sox fan.   As you might imagine, being a Sox fan is required by law here in Massachusetts.  But to share a name with your star pitcher presents some...

During my own time at Berklee, I took advantage of everything I could. As a piano player, I spent most of my time playing Hammond B3. While I didn't plant on being the next John Medeski, I welcomed the opportunity to play an instrument I'd like never own on my own.

We've been conditioned to vote for change. Even when that change is actually reverting back from the change we voted ourselves out of just two years ago. Sometimes irony is indeed quite ironic.

As I watch my partners and competitors engage in battles of marketing will, I’m amused by the way they turn the super strategic, high level actions into their own raison d’etre. The belief seems to be that creating these massive partnerships, awesome viral campaigns, and strategic...

Odds are you didn’t read a newspaper this morning.  In fact, newspaper readership is down roughly 20% this year alone.  Daily circulation of American newspapers peaked in 1984 and dropped 13% to 55.2 million copies by 2003, according to the Newspaper Association of America.  At the same...

Respectivize.  What?  Huh?  I’m tired of incentivizing the userbase, and I’m beginning to think that it doesn’t work.  Instead, it’s time to focus on respect rather than incentives.  In the long run, respect goes a lot further. Here’s an example:  A little...

Everyone reaches their own version of a breaking point. It’s the moment when the incalculable doom of your current situation demands you to do something. Divorce attorneys are experts at exploiting that point in marriages, and music bloggers (you know who you are!) are very quick to...

Over the last few days, I’ve been wondering about what we say. Admittedly that’s a wide, open-ended type statement. But think about how you say what you say. Do you actually take the time to choose the word that’s most applicable, or the most industry-pleasing? Do you...

Judging from this week’s media hype, 9/09/09 is the next coming of the Beatles. The folks at Harmonix are releasing RockBand: Beatles Edition, and all things Beatle are flooding the market. I just got back from Blockbuster, where you can pick up Bealtes Monopoly, Beatles Trivial...

I was poking around on Craigslist this morning, and alongside a sweet deal on a Rhodes, I noticed that roughly 60% of the marketing job listings were for internships.  None of which offered pay, temp-to-perm opportunities, or really any promises beyond “something great for your...

Lots of folks will tell you how to do things.  In fact, everyone probably prides themselves on being an expert on something.  I’d rather spin things a little bit and tell you what NOT to do.  You see, folks that cover the music industry are even more compelled to prove their expert...

This is a column by Al Kooper for EQ Magazine back in 2001. I wanna start off by saying I chose the music business back in 1958 to express myself and to make a living. I’ve shared apartments with rodents (the furry and fleshy kind) in New York City, and...