Water Into Wine
One day, in the not too distant future, music will be like water. One low monthly payment will buy you all the music you want. Filling your iPod will be as cheap and easy as filling your bathtub. Just turn on the tap, and out comes the music.
Have you heard this one? All the future prognosticators are saying it: the music industry will be saved by the subscription model, making “music” flow like water. Great. I can’t wait.
The scary thing is that the prediction is probably right. The reason that this prediction scares me is that we’re already beginning to see what it means. Could it bring to an end some of the industry civil wars being fought over file-sharing, 99 cent price-fixing, and the like? Sure. But what if it also means that music actually becomes
about as interesting and valued in our culture as…well, old dishwater.
I like water. So do you, I suspect. It’s good to have around when you need it. But unless one happens to be in the desert or some town in Florida that has particularly foul-tasting water (why is that, anyway?), none of us give our water a great deal of thought. We take it for granted. It’s just…there. In a nutshell, this is about where the music industry is about to find itself: sandwiched in between every other diversion from gaming to fashion to social networking. Just.. there.
If you don’t believe me, if you’re sure that music will always remain the driving force in pop culture, take a look at the music market in Western European countries like France, Italy, and Spain. If you can find the music market in those places, that is. It’s not that there isn’t a music industry there. And they do sell some records, although fewer and fewer all the time. Of course, those local populations do listen to music. It’s just that no one cares all that much. Music is just another element in society. It’s of mild, passing interest, but no great consequence. As incredible as it might seem to Americans, politics is probably a more relevant subject to most university students in Europe than the hot new band.
What we are seeing– in Europe first, and I fear, eventually in America– is that when music is ubiquitous and so inexpensive as to be virtually free, it may gain exposure, but lose value. Everywhere you go, anytime you want you can hear all the music you want, and pretty soon…. you just don’t care.
The truth is, as a musician, and a composer, and a music business executive, I don’t want the public to view music as water. I want music to be like wine. People hardly know what they pay for water– it’s essentially free. But people will fork up a hundred dollars, or much more for a fine wine– because they’re passionate about it. It’s special, important, and defining. They feel that it elevates their life.
I spoke today with the manager of legendary guitarist Larry Carlton, who distributes his music largely through his own label– and sells plenty of it, often at prices over $20 for a CD. The philosophy is that a recording of Larry Carlton and Robben Ford together is special, and guitar fans will be willing to pay for it. A novel idea, I know. But so far, it’s worked. On the flip side, lesser known artists on the label are priced lower. This is called turning water into wine.
The old vaudeville entertainers had it right: leave ‘em wanting more. If you give the audience all the music they want, all of the time, for nothing– they’ll put about that much value on it. Perhaps the way to rekindle interest in pop music is to offer the public a little less access, rather than more– or price things based on their desirability. As the old blues song put it: you never miss your water…until your well runs dry.
