DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS of the RECORD BUSINESS
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DIRTY BUSINESS/MUSIC DIRTY $24.95 (CAN $33.95) “An accurate and well-researched exposé of the surreptitious, undisclosed, W hat happened to the record business? and covert activities of the music industry. Hank Bordowitz spares no It used to be wildly successful, selling LI one while exposing every aspect of the business.” LI outstanding music that showcased the T producer of Talking Heads, T performer’s creativity and individuality. TLE SE —Tony Bongiovi, TLE Aerosmith, and the Ramones Now it’s in rapid decline, and the best music lies buried under the swill. “This is the book that any one of us who once did time in the music SE business for more than fifteen minutes and are now out of the life wish This unprecedented book answers this CR we had written. We who lie awake at nights mentally washing our hands CR question with a detailed examination LITTLE of how the record business fouled its as assiduously yet with as much success as Lady Macbeth have a voice DIRTYLITTLE ET DIRTY in Hank Bordowitz. Now I have a big book that I can throw at the ET own livelihood—through shortsighted- S liars, the cheats, and the bastards who have fooled me twice.” S ness, stubbornness, power plays, sloth, and outright greed. Dirty Little Secrets o —Hugo Burnham, drummer for Gang of Four, o f of the Record Business takes you on a former manager and major-label A&R executive f the the hard-headed tour through the corridors ofof thethe of the major labels and rides the waves “Nobody should ever even think about signing any kind of music industry SECRSECRETSETS contract without reading this book. Reading it may not save lives but it of corporate radio to explain just why RE will certainly save some careers.” RE so much of the music you hear sucks. C — , author of Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts C Here is a close look at just how the Dave Marsh ORD ORD machinery behind the popular song “Through my decades as an artist and producer working with both major RERECORDCORD broke down, including: and indie labels, I have never read as comprehensive a history of how BUSIN BUSIN the recorded music and broadcast worlds arrived at their sorry artistic Ω The corporatization of the record state. I’ve lived the quicksand economics and conflicting intra-industry business Hank Bordowitz is a veteran music motivations that Hank Bordowitz so succinctly explains. If you want to Ω Why stockholders play an important journalist, former recording artist, music understand how and why we got here, this is the book to read.” role in what you hear business consultant, adjunct professor of ESS ESS the music business, and the author of —Larry Fast, keyboardist for Peter Gabriel and Foreigner BUSINBUSINESSESS Ω How radio went from an art to a seven critically hailed books, including Bad science, and what was lost in the “Brilliantly written, insightful, a good history, and a great read.” Moon Rising: The Unauthorized History of change songwriter, producer, manager, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, Every Little B —Jack Ponti, B Ω How the record companies alienated ORDO Thing Gonna Be Alright: The Bob Marley record company president ORDO WhyWhy SoSo MuchMuch MusicMusic YouYou HearHear SucksSucks their core audience Reader, Turning Points of Rock and Roll, Ω Why file sharing may not be the bogey- WIT and Billy Joel: The Life & Times of an $24.95 (CAN $33.95) WIT Angry Young Man. He lives in the exurbs $24.95 (CAN $33.95) man the record industry would have Z of New York City with his wife of 25 years ISBN-13: 978-1-55652-643-5 Z you think it is ISBN-10: 1-55652-643-1 and three children. Ω Technology’s effect on what you hear and how you hear it Jacket design: Rattray Design Front jacket photo: Getty Images Ω And dozens of other reasons that all Author photo: Gene Gaus HANK BORDOWITZ add up to the record industry’s current Printed in the United States of America HANK BORDOWITZ financial and artistic woes DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS of the RECORD BUSINESS HANK BORDOWITZ An A Cappella Book Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bordowitz, Hank. Dirty little secrets of the record business : why so much music you hear sucks / Hank Bordowitz. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN-13: 978-1-55652-643-5 ISBN-10: 1-55652-643-1 1. Sound recording industry—History. 2. Music trade—History. 3. Music and technology. I. Title. ML3790.B678 2006 338.4′7781640973—dc22 2006023253 Cover and interior design: Rattray Design Front cover image: Getty Images © 2007 by Hank Bordowitz All rights reserved Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated 814 North Franklin Street Chicago, Illinois 60610 ISBN-13: 978-1-55652-643-5 ISBN-10: 1-55652-643-1 Printed in the United States of America 5 4 3 2 1 This book is dedicated to: Dick Thompson, who opened my impressionable eyes to the wider world of music out there Steve Julty and my cousin Harold, for exposing me to cool stuff early on all the people who attempted to teach me the guitar, Ron Andriuli and Tom Conners in particular Kenny Barron, Dan Goode, Joe Zitt, and the Opium Den Mothers, who refined and redefined music for me John Swenson, Dave Marsh, Dave Sprague, and all my other colleagues who turned me on to so much good music Marc Jaffee, a music teacher in the mold of Dick Thompson my wife, Caren, who once accused Ornette Coleman of playing “that cat-swinging music” to his face, in public (I guess you had to be there) my son Mike, who keeps bringing home these arcane Japanese bands my son Larry, who has the potential to be a real keyboard prodigy my son Bill, who, at seven years old, wants to write songs my late Grandma Goldie, who always wanted to hear me practice my folks, who always encouraged my music, even though they couldn’t stand it anyone who has ever told me, “Man, you’ve got to hear this.” As long as there are people like this in the world, music will not suck. “The music business has always had the nurturing instinct of a great white shark.” —Paul Taylor, Manchester Evening News “The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” —Dr. Hunter S. Thompson “That’s not a dirty little secret. It’s a fact. Take away the incentive for major or minor financial reward and you dilute the pool of musicians.” —Courtney Love “When a forest catches fire, you have death, but there’s also birth that comes from it. I think that’s what we’re seeing.” —Sharon Corbitt, Ocean Way Recording —Studio, Nashville Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................xi Introduction..............................................................................xiii Part I | Playback and Payback: How the Record Business Drowned in Its Own Success 1 Who’s in Charge Here? You’re Kidding!..............................3 2 Answering to the Stockholders, Not the Audience ............10 3 Who Does What to Whom: A Brief Tour of a Fictitious Record Company.............................................................18 4 Q: How Many A&R Guys Does It Take to Screw in a Lightbulb? A: We Can’t Screw Anymore—They Cut Off Our Balls! .........................................................................28 5 Charting the Course: How Changes in the Charts Changed the Biz...............................................................34 6 Control Issues: Did Home Taping Kill Music? ................41 7 Panic in the Suites: Napster, Grokster, and the Last Kazaa .......................................................................47 8 150 Records = 50 Percent of Revenue...............................66 9 The Fable of the Elephant and the Rabbit: How the Indies Are Eating the Majors’ Lunch..............................72 Part II | The Messy Suicide of Commercial Radio 10 Airwaves of the People, for the People . Yeah, Sure ......83 11 Regulations? We Don’t Need No Steenking Regulations .....87 12 The Death of the DJ: The Curse of Selector ....................92 13 The Process: How Songs Really Get on the Radio .........98 14 Payola Isn’t Dead. It Always Smelled Like That...............105 15 We Don’t Do Payola. We Let the Independent Promotion Companies Handle It ......................................................119 16 Arbitron Rated #1 in Symphonic-Punk-Country-Disco: Fragging the Format ......................................................129 17 Are You Sirius? Can Satellite Radio, Webcasting, and Podcasting Save Broadcasting (or Even Themselves)? ..................................................................134 Part III | Retailing Records 18 Rock and the Hard Place: Records Become a Commodity and Face Real Estate Prices and Profit Margins...........145 19 Censorship: Wal-Mart Tippers the Scales ......................158 20 A Voyage Down the Amazon.com...................................165 Part IV | Technology 21 We Recorded This in Only Three Months! From One Mic to 128 Tracks ..........................................................173 22 The Internet: Friend, Foe, or Just a Tool? .....................185 23 Hardware and Software: On Demand and on Your Hip ........................................................................197 Part V | We, the Audience 24 A Touch of Grey: Boomers Grow Up and Grow Old...211 25 The Lost Audience: How the Music Business Broke Faith with Its Main Supporters ..............................................216 26 An Embarrassment of Riches: Entertainment Options Today—“Hey, Kid, Wanna Buy a Record or a Video Game?”..........................................................................223