There are times when you know exactly what you want to say - but you just can't figure out where or whom to start with & then - boom - it finds you...

Universal Music CEO/supervillain Doug Morris Speaks... Recording Industry in Even Deeper shit Than We Thought...

Hold on... Even the mob admit it now!!!

In a recent article, when Morris is asked why the music business didn't work harder, in the early days of file-sharing, to build its own (legal) online presence, there's this exchange:

"There's no one in the record industry that's a technologist," Morris explains. "That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?"

Well... Personally, I would hire a vet. But to Morris, even that wasn't an option.

"We didn't know who to hire," he says, becoming agitated. "I wouldn't be able to recognise a good technology person — anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me."

Oh dear kids, the futures in his hands... Incidentally, many of us in the music industry are techno friendly... Take a look a the bloody gear we use Doug... its ALL technology...

The reason I refer to Doug Morris is that - 20-years ago he was the guy who gave me my 1st solo deal, with a track called "Take it Easy"... Doug paved the way for me to leave Duran Duran in 1986 - he was on the cutting edge of everything & destined to run the cartel... Oh & then I met Irving, but that's another tale...

The writer goes on further to say...

In a way, he almost comes off as cute, like if your grandfather were accidentally hired to run Google"...

That's just a killer line...

Even though we shouldn't be, we're actually a little shocked. We'd always assumed the labels had met with a team of technology experts in the late nineties and ignored their advice, but it turns out they never even got that far — they didn't even try! Understanding the Internet certainly isn't easy — especially for an industry run by a bunch of technology-averse sexagenarians — but it's definitely not impossible.

Some 20-years on, and without a label, (albeit as a consequence of distinctly different circumstances) - I was faced with somewhat of a similar choice - "CEO/supervillain Dougs way" or the "Information-Super Highway"...

Follow those old buggers into CD oblivion - Sell a million & not make a livin'... utter madness & Iam not quite ready for friggin' Starbucks deal yet (perhaps there's a new Canadian version that sells pot brownies) but otherwise - ughh... Ide rather watch back to back series 1 of Weeds & act it out...

I mean, what does it take to sell a fckuin CD today - donate one of your bollocks for reality TV... If I had 3 - I betchya somebody would suggest it (yeah I know you only need 1 but somehow I prefer the full 2...)

The music business has always been full of villains, dark arts & skulduggery - its a close second to politics, far more corrupt than the movie or TV business - indeed widely practised "old school' management skills, that got you & your acts to the top, often employed a "filthy bag of despicable tricks" and from the labels point money was no object, as long as their paws weren't on the DNA sample...

Radio - Records sales - MTV = Bottoms on seats... there were riches in the system - riches worth mauling the opponents for & the artist stood casually by, generally benign to the actuality or high as a kite - usually both...

And yes I had a huge life because of this madness - & no shame there either because its the songs stuck & not the muck... Currently there are an awful lot of dudes scratching their hair implants wondering which record label they can bill next for the 300k commission on the radio airplay deal...

Now in this time & space, most of the artists I work with will never see 1-million CD units sold in the UK or USA & if they do, the cartel will steal all their money in recoupable costs (well somebody gotta pay for the corruption still)...

Fortunately however, the younger class are the ones who understand how the internet works, a high school hacker probably has more collective knowledge than the entire board of the French water company that owns Doug's boys... (or used to - its so hard to keep up with this shit)

There's positively tons of great music out there because of the technology, its what keeps me optimistic and functioning - And now daft old Doug and the boys can't hold it in reserve any more - YES... even at my age the freedom of choice is exciting, and the fact that most of us on the planet are now officially smarter then Doug Morris is good to know...

And although artists are a strange mixture of tortured souls & greedy bastards - in the end we would all only want for one thing - & that is the opportunity to express the feeling, to make the groove, slam the rifff - sing the bloody chorus - wear the clothes & make-up - if its good, the riches will find you.

There just may not be as much cash for the private jet, unless its the one taking you to reality, celebrity-rehab - "Yee-Haa.. Gas up the Lisa Marie and lets go Elvis baby"

I don't care what ever the chattering crass may say - because it is still ALL about the music, & so much more now that the cartel has lost its grip & control - even the so called "clever stunts" bear no fruit these days because we live in a world where the "bawling Britney fan" gets more attention and views than the super-groups that once dominated our TV time -

"However - if you have a great song I would still bet the farm on it"... "But fellas make sure its a great song"...

Anyway... the time in my bunker has been spent almost exclusively creatively - the fruits of which are now on the studio pages - which weve started to re-vamp - adding the 6-song player to each page.

And I truly hope that the creative motivation is being passed down, because there's so much to aspire to if you are a young player or writer, but it just isn't gonna happen in the same way as it used to...

There are so many more "ears & eyes" - "listening & watching" & riches beyond compare in terms of subject matter - all of which one can freely investigate & regurgitate as your art, but for sure, the roadmap to the stars is being re-written - so get a copy of the new one fast...

A few old timers can't kill or control the greatest but one, sensual feeling known to man...

Rock n Roll Suicide... Call a vet, I can hear an old Dinosaur in pain...


Andy Taylor - nice to be back on the attack - Nov. 07...
[Edited 11/28/07 5:48am]