We have been working on a document entitled, Defining the Music Industry Crisis, for some time.  It has been through 5 editions prior to this new version.  Each addition was edited based on feedback from our extensive network of music industry professionals.  This version (the 6th edition) has been retitled, The Last Word on the Music Industry Crisis.  It is in a pdf form as it has been picked up by an entertainment magazine with a July release. print it, download it, share it!!  The full version is available below.  Enjoy!!

 The below document is best viewed in full screen or downloaded and viewed on your computer.

We made contact with the U2 camp this week and they requested info.  We wanted to share our short pitch with you as it seems to strike at the heart of our purpose.  We have omitted certain details, but you should get the idea.  We are hopeful that they will be interested in our initiatives.  The RMF loves U2!  I for one (Chris) am a BIG fan of their message of Love.  Enjoy our pitch!! 

We will be targeting key individuals and brands each week so stay tuned.  We have a plan and change IS coming.  See our U2 pitch below... 

 The below document is best viewed in full screen or downloaded and viewed on your computer.

We finally published the FINAL crisis document yesterday.  With that behind us, we are now ready to talk of solutions.  We have added two new sections to our site, Solutions & Goals.  Please give these new sections a look over as it will give you a clear understanding of what we (The Restoring Music Foundation) are here to do.   I will be announcing information on our 501c3 by the middle of next week.  We are now an official non-profit, but I want to iron a few things out before I publish the info.  Stay tuned...

Like what you see?  Use the comments below to tell us about it...

“To every problem there is already
a solution whether you know it or not.” 

                                                   -Grenville Kleiser 

 In politics, when a crisis occurs a council is appointed to define the problems. A document is then outlined, written, and continuously amended. It is only after everyone agrees on the problems that solutions can be developed and implemented.

With that in mind, this document is meant to identify the main problems that have threatened to destroy the vision that was born on the streets of Tin Pan Alley. The following list is in no particular order but rather listed for the sake of finally getting them all in one place. I urge readers to use the comment board following the article to get involved in the process.

1. Internet Radio

Internet radio providers can not sustain growth due to the growing licensing fees for streaming music and a lack of clear revenue models. New distribution outlets could provide a new paradigm in radio as a whole if revenue models could be clearly defined.

2. 360 Deals

Music industry sales are down more than 50% from 1999's record breaking year. Labels and other funding partners have adopted a new model of business, The 360 Deal.  The result is less money for growth and less focus for individual partners. One partner does the job of 5 partners, many of which only have experience in one of the five fields. In the end 360 deals strain everything and everyone causing countless problems yet they are a necessary evil for struggling funding partners.

3. Web 2.0

Social networks and other web 2.0 outlets provide easy and personal access to fans yet the growing number of music networks dilutes the overall message and dramatically increases the time spent marketing.

4. Apple

Apple has been an incredible innovator in the quest to a brighter music industry. We owe them a great debt. However, their unprecedented high market share in digital music sales mixed with their unwavering business models leave no bargaining room for funding partners (labels, publishers, etc..). Growth and innovation in this important industry sector (digital music retail) is therefore stifled without the ability for competitive trials. In addition, Apple's 30% take on each track sold leaves little for artists and songwriters.

5. Physical Sales

Physical Retail stores have lost the ability to turn a profit unless attached to a one stop business model (i.e Walmart, Hastings, Best Buy, etc.). As a result the true music pushers, independent music retail stores, are almost extinct.

6. Traditional Radio

Traditional radio, though still an important promotional front, has lost much of its glory to the on demand world of iPads, iPods, satellite radio, and Internet radio. It has therefore become increasingly more difficult to predict market trends without a standard radio format to follow. The result is a much higher risk/return ratio for funding partners (Labels, Publishers, etc..), which in turn limits the number of acts that ever see a major market entry.

7. Live Nation (Updated in this edition)

The recent merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster has once and for all centralized the live music industry into what could become a monopolizing empire.   This kind of power is usually never a good thing, as it limits the market's growth potential and provides the opportunity to gouge prices due to the simple science of supply and demand.  If they account for 90 percent of the live music business revenue, they control the market.  We are not pointing fingers yet, but this music juggernaut could prove to be a problem if left unchecked by a lack of competition.

8. Lawsuits

The RIAA in an attempt to combat the growing number of music pirates, proclaimed war on piracy by means of civil suits with individual copyright infringers. Many average American citizens were made an example of with outrageous and bizarre settlements. The music industries' minds were in the right place. They had intended to create the perception of risk for stealing music and in turn, change consumer thinking. In the end however, it only generated the image of a "Greedy Recording Industry". This wall between the consumer and the industry has instead furthered the cause for this viral pirating trend.

9. Media Sharing

Video and audio sharing networks act as a breeding ground for the spread of illegal music in the form of audio and videos. These new networks cut into the profits of funding partners (labels, publishers, etc.) yet act as a wonderful way for independent artists and major artists alike to receive viral promotion. In addition, simple mathematics states that all of the illegal media sharing portals can not be shut down. Lawsuits cost money, and the recording industry doesn't have much. Instead, the industry goes after the major outlets one at a time. But for every 1 that is shut down, 7 more are built in its place. Let us just say that this fire is out of control.

10. Piracy & Consumer Value (Updated in this edition)

Let us not forget that stealing music is still more convenient to the average consumer than buying music.  A twitter search for "pirating music" will result in hundreds of tweets (from just the past week or so), broadcasting their illegal violation to the world.  People simply DO NOT think music has any value, they do NOT feel bad about stealing, and they DO NOT care that it is illegal. The true battle lies in this delima.

In addition, the only way to fully shut down music piracy would be to turn on "Big Brother" and violate very important privacy privileges. Therefore, it can never truly be stopped as long as we live in a democratic society. The solution must lie in the consumer's thought process. Though it may appear that the RIAA is doing more harm then good, they have it right. The battle ground is in the mind.

11. An Unclear Future

The music industries, both production and business, are now intimately and infinitely tied to digital and to the Internet. The systems that govern digital music across the web are not yet fully realized by the core of the music industry. A clear vision for the future of these newlyweds (music and Internet), has not yet been defined. The marriage is still rocky and working out its kinks. Without a clear understanding of this it is hard for any organization in music to effectively plan for the future.

12. Music History (Updated in this edition) 

Music is a form of evolution.  It has evolved in the US from the Jubilee singers at the turn of the 20th century, to the discovery of jazz and blues across the southern US, to the Rock and Roll King at the center of the century, to the British invasion in the 70's, to MJ's invention of the pop machine, to U2's purification of LOVE from the 80's till today.  In 1999 the pop machine was FULLY realized with record high sales by N'Sync, Brittany Spears, and the lot.

Maybe the majors simply lost sight of this rich history of music.  They began generating factory made pop revenue vehicles out of highly conditioned Mickey Mouse Club alumni. The industry hit a record high and the system simply broke.  "But alas, to err is human."  Let us not make the same mistakes again and remember that music is art before it is a pay check.  1999 is also the same year the market was freed by Napster. Ironic?  Maybe...

Also, the masses need to be educated on our countries rich history of musical genius.  The average US listener has very little knowledge of what GOOD music sounds like.  Help us educate them!

Conclusion (Updated in this edition)
We have been working on this project for more than a year and a half, which finally brings us to what I feel is a complete document. Your feedback has been golden along the way, I couldn't have done it without you.  We will no longer talk of problems (unless something new arises).  

This document will now be used to write a comprehensive restoration plan.  We have 5 council members so far and we are looking to recruit 15-20 other key thought leaders in industry.  Stay tuned for more details.  PLEASE use the comments below to let us know if you agree.  Is this a comprehensive list of our problems?  

Are you a blogger, journalist, or PR person?  PLEASE republish this document and help us spread the word in the press.  We MUST build our notability to get the attention of the thought leaders who NEED to be apart of this important cause.  HELP US!  Drop us a line if you do...

Everytime you illegally download a track, you kill another one.

There is NO budget to develop new artists in 90% of the Indies.
Labels, on average, have reduced their staff by 50% in the last 5 years.
It only takes 5000 sales of a single on average to enter the top 30. (It used to be at least 30,000)
The last Motorhead album reached #30 on sales of 3500 (1st week sales).
If you sell 200 copies of a CD from a new artist, you've done well.
You only need sales of 650 singles to enter the Top 75 (1st week sales).

Sobering enough?

Peace,

Frenchy

Our goal is to gather 100 facts just like the one above.  We will use them in the coming years in our National Music Industry Crisis Awareness campaign.

The Restoring Music Foundation's first universal business model.

Music By: Mike Anderson.
Free Album: MikeAndersonSound.com

The Three Legs of the The Restoring Music Foundation's Restoration Strategy.

1. To provide awareness for the music industry crisis and facilitate a change movement.
2. To write and carry out a comprehensive restoration plan aimed at creating opportunities for everyone.
3. To build an infrastructure for industry growth by incubating new music startups/models in line with the Foundation's goals and by educating the next generation of listeners about the value of music.

There is more music available than ever.  The ability for anyone to easily produce music at low cost coupled with an increase in available distribution channels, makes scarcity and control of music a thing of the past.  This is compounded by the proliferation of online piracy, that has made a significant dent in the revenues of the music business over the past decade.  Competing with "free" music is a challenge.  This has resulted in a devaluing of music, which has affected every stakeholder in the supply chain, from the record company to the musician.  This devaluation is the central reason for the Restoring Music Foundation.

In 2009 we defined the economic crisis in the music space with the help of our wonderful network of industry supporters.  We want to personally thank all of you that pitched in your opinions and helped us ask the big questions.  The campaign was a massive success and it was all because of you.  We hope you will continue to stay involved in the ongoing Restoring Music Dialogue.  Thanks again!

Here at The Restoring Music Foundation, our goal is to create and implement solutions to the crisis and in turn, create an economically sustainable road map for the restoration of the music industry. You can get a quick overview of  some of our councils innovations in 2009 over in our Innovation Section.  We have seen some amazing new technologies emerge in the past few years that we believe to be essential components of the restoration process.  We have much to be thankful for and we have nowhere to go but up.

Value is the main factor in which we will focus our attack.  Thoughts are a tricky thing, if there is a perception of value we WILL buy something.  We can all drink water for free out of a faucet, however we WILL buy bottled water.  The reason for this is the value proposition that says that this water will be clean and refreshing.  The same principals apply with music.  The fact is, the choice to download or steal music is based upon the honors system and the only way to fix this problem is to turn on big brother and violate privacy.  Therefore we must aim our attack not at battling the behavior, but instead at battling public thought. 

To help achieve the Foundation's goals, we are currently recruiting a Council of thought leaders to aid in writing and carrying out the restoration plan.   The Council will house leaders in the major music spaces as well as in many other industries, as to aid in the overall effectiveness of the project, and bring together perspectives from other industry champions.  We will publish updates on the Council as things move forward.  In addition we will be incubating new startups and universal business models all year long that fall squarely in line with the Foundation's mission, so please be sure to check back for updates.

At the Restoring Music Foundation we will continue to provide progressive education for the professional community, the musician, and the listener.  Make no mistake, it will take us awhile to bring about the kind of movement we need to truly tip things back in the right direction, but we are all in this for the long haul and we all share a common purpose.  Why not work together and ensure we reach our goal? It is like a star, the more density in a unit the stronger the gravitational pull.  In the end, the recording industry is all about consumer gravity anyhow.  We might as well unite for restoration. 

“The true battle ground is in our minds.
We must all commit to change our thinking, we must unite to restore."
- IAMwe Music

Best wishes,

Chris Purifoy and Philip E. Daniels
Co-founders of The Restoring Music Foundation
http://twitter.com/RestoringMusic

Find out more about the RMF and our mission:

Defining The Music Industry Crisis - 5th Ed (Final).

The Music Truth Campaign - Sobering Fact  #1.

Sign the Deceleration!

Reach Out!

THIS ARTICLE IS OUTDATED, SEE NEW EDITION.

“To every problem there is already
a solution whether you know it or not.”  -Grenville Kleiser 

 In politics, when a crisis occurs a council is appointed to define the problems. A document is then outlined, written, and continuously amended. It is only after everyone agrees on the problems that solutions can be developed and implemented.

With that in mind, this document is meant to identify the main problems that have threatened to destroy the vision that was born on the streets of Tin Pan Alley. The following list is in no particular order but rather listed for the sake of finally getting them all in one place. I urge readers to use the comment board following the article to get involved in the process.

1. Internet Radio

Internet radio providers can not sustain growth due to the growing licensing fees for streaming music and a lack of clear revenue models. New distribution outlets could provide a new paradigm in radio as a whole if revenue models could be clearly defined.

2. 360 Deals

Music industry sales are down more than 50% from 1999's record breaking year. Labels and other funding partners have adopted a new model of business, The 360 Deal.  The result is less money for growth and less focus for individual partners. One partner does the job of 5 partners, many of which only have experience in one of the five fields. In the end 360 deals strain everything and everyone causing countless problems yet they are a necessary evil for struggling funding partners.

3. Web 2.0

Social networks and other web 2.0 outlets provide easy and personal access to fans yet the growing number of music networks dilutes the overall message and dramatically increases the time spent marketing.

4. Apple

Apple has been an incredible innovator in the quest to a brighter music industry. We owe them a great debt. However, their unprecedented high market share in digital music sales mixed with their unwavering business models leave no bargaining room for funding partners (labels, publishers, etc..). Growth and innovation in this important industry sector (digital music retail) is therefore stifled without the ability for competitive trials. In addition, Apple's 30% take on each track sold leaves little for artists and songwriters.

5. Physical Sales

Physical Retail stores have lost the ability to turn a profit unless attached to a one stop business model (i.e Walmart, Hastings, Best Buy, etc.). As a result the true music pushers, independent music retail stores, are almost extinct.

6. Traditional Radio

Traditional radio, though still an important promotional front, has lost much of its glory to the on demand world of iPods, satellite radio, and Internet radio. It has therefore become increasingly more difficult to predict market trends without a standard radio format to follow. The result is a much higher risk/return ratio for funding partners (Labels, Publishers, etc..), which in turn limits the number of acts that ever see a major market entry.

7. Lawsuits

The RIAA in an attempt to combat the growing number of music pirates, proclaimed war on piracy by means of civil suits with individual copyright infringers. Many average American citizens were made an example of with outrageous and bizarre settlements. The music industries' minds were in the right place. They had intended to create the perception of risk for stealing music and in turn, change consumer thinking. In the end however, it only generated the image of a "Greedy Recording Industry". This wall between the consumer and the industry has instead furthered the cause for this viral pirating trend.

8. Media Sharing

Video and audio sharing networks act as a breeding ground for the spread of illegal music in the form of audio and videos. These new networks cut into the profits of funding partners (labels, publishers, etc.) yet act as a wonderful way for independent artists and major artists alike to receive viral promotion. In addition, simple mathematics states that all of the illegal media sharing portals can not be shut down. Lawsuits cost money, and the recording industry doesn't have much. Instead, the industry goes after the major outlets one at a time. But for every 1 that is shut down, 7 more are built in its place. Let us just say that this fire is out of control.

9. Piracy & Consumer Value

Let us not forget that stealing music is still more convenient to the average consumer than buying music. In addition, the only way to fully shut down music piracy would be to turn on "Big Brother" and violate very important privacy privileges. Therefore, it can never truly be stopped as long as we live in a democratic society. The solution must lie in the consumer's thought process. Though it may appear that the RIAA is doing more harm then good, they have it right. The battle ground is in the mind.

10. An Unclear Future

The music industries, both production and business, are now intimately and infinitely tied to digital and to the Internet. The systems that govern digital music across the web are not yet fully realized by the core of the music industry. A clear vision for the future of these newlyweds (music and Internet), has not yet been defined. The marriage is still rocky and working out its kinks. Without a clear understanding of this it is hard for any organization in music to effectively plan for the future.

Communication

At the core of the iSchoolBand platform is a social network reminiscent of Facebook. The big difference is that the network is private to each school and secured using a series of codes and passwords. Social networking technology offers a form of communication that is yet unprecedented. The iSchoolBand platform uses that technology to offer five major communication features: messaging, group messaging, comments, announcements, and status updates. In addition, it offers a dynamic address book and email notifications to make sure no one misses an important message. They will be extending the notification reach to the cell phone sometime this fall.

Organization

The iSchoolBand platform has been tailored to fit the needs of school bands and orchestras by offering features for individual instrument groups, boosters, parents, and other support groups. It automatically organizes students and parents into groups as they sign up. This saves hours of work for the directors when it comes to setting up the network database. It also allows administrators to easily specify who media items (sheet music, audio files, and drill charts) and documents (permission slips, medical forms, sign in sheets, etc.) are for by simply checking the name of a group. This allows our system to automatically organize media & documents into user backpacks, group profiles, and student profiles. Never again will directors have to reprint a document.

Management

The Administrator Control Panel allows directors to manage every aspect of their school's network. The platform allows directors to specify student and parent administrators, allowing star parents and students to help carry the administrative load.  Individual permissions can be set to allow admin groups to only have access to areas the director specifies. A content filter has been included to keep the content clean and comments and news feed items can easily be deleted by administrators. In addition, every bit of content on the network can be edited including: group, student, and parent profile information.  A dynamic event management package is due soon as well. They had inteded to include it in the initial release but time constaints forced them to put it on hold. Look for it this fall.

With any luck, the iSchoolBand platform will change the face of music education and provide a foundation for a new generation of school bands and orchestras.  The network is currently in a private BETA phase of development.  It is due to launch in September and plans to officially release the service this December at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago.  You can learn more by visiting their website: http://www.ischoolband.com. 

http://www.restoringmusic.com/problems/2009/7/2/defining-the-music-industry-crisis-4th-edition.html