Surprise! Its a new Think Tank album from Paul Robb

This is worth getting an emusic (or other) account to grab because you gotta have it right now!

There is a piano war going on You Tube over dressing up Für Elise.

If You Tube and the internet had hit 25 years earlier this is totally the type of stuff I would have been doing.

I have been reading recently about a paper written in 1970 by George Akerlof called “The Market for Lemons”. What originally drew my attention to it is Bruce Schneier citing it in a recent post where he applies the theories illustrated in the paper to the computer security market.

As Bruce states:

A used car market includes both good cars and lousy ones (lemons). The seller knows which is which, but the buyer can’t tell the difference — at least until he’s made his purchase.

As part of my work I am subjected to more and more of the music industry here in the US. The people I am working with just don’t understand why they aren’t getting uptake on music product like they were 20 years ago. They all point to piracy as the culprit, but I have always cited lack of a quality product and consumers getting smarter. As the labels consolidated they started putting out fewer artists and their marketing model changed. They lost touch with their customer.

As a music buyer I know I personally felt ripped off when I bought an album. Technology allowed the performances - even live ones - to be fake. Technology fails from time to time and this was exposed. Did people really think Paris Hilton could sing?

In a market where the seller has more information about the product than the buyer, bad products can drive the good ones out of the market.

There are big differences in the music industry in the US and that of Europe. In Europe performances tend to drive sales and its easier to be closer to the fan base because its not as distributed.

Don’t completely blame the music industry. American radio has had a part in the music marketing game and could have taken a more active stance in promoting real talent.

One last quote from Bruce’s article:

we have to rely on a variety of mediocre signals to differentiate the good…products from the bad…we choose…products based on the reputation of the company selling them, the reputation of some..wizard associated with them, magazine reviews, recommendations from colleagues or general buzz in the media.

The reputation of the music industry is their biggest block to sales right now, and they over-leverage copyright laws to control the media buzz and even magazine reviews. When some underground marketing takes place and turns into a success, they try to mimic and re-create that in their next marketing campaigns - in process putting controls in place and breaking down the very elements that came together to make it happen.

Revisiting George Akelof’s paper, a “lemon market” has these criteria:

1. Asymmetry of information
* no buyers can accurately assess the value of a product through examination before sale is made
* all sellers can more accurately assess the value of a product prior to sale
2. An incentive exists for the seller to pass off a low quality product as a higher quality one
3. Sellers have no credible disclosure technology (sellers with a great car have no way to credibly disclose this to buyers)
4. Deficiency of effective public quality assurances (by reputation or regulation)
5. Deficiency of effective guarantees / warranties

It certainly seems like the Music Industry in the US qualifies as a lemon market. I wonder if consumer response and piracy could be used as research to further the underlying Nobel winning economics principals. I’ll leave that for the economics hounds.

My rule of thumb is to know and like at least 3 songs from the CD before I buy the CD. That seems to keep the buyer’s remorse down and I can blame myself when I don’t follow my own rule.

Rob Paravonian on Pachelbel. This is really funny, especially if you ever had to lug an instrument to school that was bigger than you were.

Wow its January 2007 already.

If you are looking for some music to beat the winter blues (no pun intended), Ministry of Sound has put out Clubber’s Guide 2007. This year there is a US edition and the usual European edition.

As if there is good dance music in the US. The European one is what I am recommending here.

US dance music is generally sampled hooks covered by bad vocals with lyrics that are all metaphors for anal intercourse.

On the Ministry of Sound album you get the best club music from Europe - which is still greatly inspired by 80’s pop and alternative (new wave) music. And the lyrics…well lets just say they are more wholesome. For example what could possibly be innuendo in the phrase “I’ll lick your ice cream…and you can lick my lollipop”? (DADA Feat. Sandy Rivera & Trix on CD 1) . It is practically saying “I’m not looking to Chingy you up the butt right thar!”

2007 promises to be a better year for music than 2006 and 2005 where everyone from Alanis Morissette to Zero 7 just put out greatest hits albums. There is a new Yello album due out this year as well as Sneaker Pimps and possibly even Information Society. I certainly hope The Benassi Bros get it to together for a new release with new material.

2006 wasn’t all bad. The new Basement Jaxx rocks and Koop’s new Koop Islands CD shows that they can to even back further to revive classic jazz.

You know that you’re getting old when they call the music that you blared home from your graduation ceremony “classic rock” or even “oldies”. D’oh!