LilBambi’s Blog – BambisMusings

I sure hope this was a tongue-in-cheek political statement about the absurdity of bailouts, but I fear it could be the real deal.

Big 4 record labels “ripe for government bailout”

p2pnet news view Music:- With the US already authorising billions of dollars in taxpayer money for American banks, the four major labels (and Merlin) are similarly, “ripe for a government bailout,” says Tommy Silverman in an A2IM (American Association of Independent Music) post.

The Big 4 are:
* Vivendi Universal (France)
* Sony BMG (Japan and Germany)
* EMI (Britain
* Warner Music (US, but controlled by a Canadian)

p2Pnet also stated,

If the Big 4 had spent as much time and money establishing themselves as major users of P2P technology in the 21st digital century, instead of launching bizarre campaigns to sue their own customers into becoming compliant consumers of corporate ‘product,’ and trying to gain exclusive control of how, and by whom, music is distributed online, they’d now be sitting pretty.

Which was confirmed by the CEO, Edgar Bronfman Jr., who, in a turnaround bit of honesty, commented to the audience at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress:

We used to fool ourselves…We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.

Based on a A2IM commentary by Tommy Silverman entitled, “Commentary: Save The Music,” AKA, “A Modest Proposal For Government Intervention” by TOMMY SILVERMAN

Now that the government has bailed out the banking system, it should take action to rescue the four major labels and the independent companies represented by Merlin. The U.S. recording industry, worth $14 billion in retail value when George W. Bush took office, has fallen to $9 billion today.

Could it be a coincidence that the music industry boom ended in 2000, just before the 8-year slide in the American economy? Music has been one of America’s most important exports, as our inventions; jazz, blues, rock & roll and hip-hop are all enjoyed worldwide. Rock & Roll did more to bring about the fall of the Soviet Union than the CIA. A strong music business is a matter of national security.

And this tidget,

Of the four major labels, only the Warner Music Group is an American company; the others are owned by the Japanese, British or French. Just as the government prevented a Dubai company from safeguarding American ports, it should take steps to stop rock & roll from slipping away to foreign control. At the very least, they should fund the purchase of the Elvis Presley catalog back from the Japanese.

Like the auto industry, the music business needs loan guarantees to retool to adapt to new technology. The government should fund a five-year, $25 billion loan package industry to pay for artist development and marketing and retooling for and adaptation to new technologies during the transition period. As a condition, it would limit salaries and bonuses and temporarily eliminate golden parachutes for top executives.

And this,

What remains perfectly clear is that the recording industry is ripe for a government bailout, long overdue for the support that almost all other countries recording industries get. The industry is worthy of that investment as benefits accrue not only to the companies but also through trickle down to publishers, radio, venues, artist managers, booking agents, merch companies, CD and component manufacturing facilities, recording studios and their employees. Through a strong American music business and strong American music, we bolster consumer confidence which, at its core, drives the financial markets and America’s standard of living.

But apparently even Warner Music Group (WMG), although it supposedly is the only stand-alone music company to be publicly traded in the United States is apparently is controlled by a Canadian?

I thought that Warner Music Group was sold to a group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. in March 2004. Where does Canada come into it? Is the main money investor in the group a Canadian?

Although that is neither here nor there really.

Since when should the American Taxpayer feel the ‘necessity’ to bailout any entertainment industry? Especially since 3/4 of the music industry are not even Americans to begin with.

And what makes them think that the music industry deserves a bailout by the taxpayers –many of which have been sued with no mercy even to the poor by the the music industry through their RIAA?!

I just don’t get it. I get so sick and tired of this. Why doesn’t our government and the world just hook up an IV bottle and suck us dry. Most of us in America are not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. The majority of Americans are poor or low to mid-income range.

Besides, the world of music certainly won’t die even if the Big 4 go away.