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 U2 manager still thinks ISPs are freeloading
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U2 manager still thinks ISPs are freeloading
Source: http://news.cnet.com
This month's U.K. edition of GQ Magazine contains a fairly substantial article from U2 manager Paul McGuinness in which he blames Internet service providers and technology companies directly for the falling sales of recorded music. As he notes in the article, he made a speech on this subject about two years ago and was roundly criticized by various "anonymous bloggers." I've never been anonymous, but I did point out some of the factual inaccuracies and weird assumptions in his speech at the time.
U2 at Madison Square Garden in 2005
U2 still packs shows, but their albums don't sell like they used to.
(Credit: Zachary Gillman via Wikimedia Commons)
I can't speak for anonymous bloggers everywhere, but I've never said that recorded music should be free. It shouldn't! What I have said is that the recorded music industry must come to terms with the fact that it's competing against free. That's reality, and no amount of wishful thinking or legislation will change it. The problem didn't arise with the Internet. It arose with the Redbook CD standard, which didn't have digital rights management or copy protection built in. It has for a long time been trivially easy to rip an audio CD to a non-protected format, then share the resulting file--not only through the Internet, but through simpler methods like exchanging flash drives and CD-Rs.
The other big problem: McGuinness still seems to believe that many broadband customers signed up primarily to download and share digital content. As he asks in the GQ article, "Do people want more bandwidth to speed up their e-mails or to download music and films as rapidly as possible?" The assumption that the latter is true grossly oversimplifies the scope of the Internet. Has he heard of Facebook? Ever try uploading family photos via a dial-up connection? What about Skype--how does that work via dial-up? Video chat? Online gaming? There are 25 million Xbox Live users now. Does he think that most of them signed up for broadband primarily to download free content?
This is all hair-splitting because, as I said last time, I agree with his solution. The only way the music industry can survive is by embracing subscriptions and working with ISPs to offer subscriptions bundled with broadband and/or mobile access.
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 0 comments |  Write Comment | August 21, 2010, 02:49:07 am | by: Emilio
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Will Palm's sale create a windfall for U2's Bono and partners?
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Will Palm's sale create a windfall for U2's Bono and partners?
Source: http://www.businessweek.com
Q: What's the connection between one of the world's top rock and roll performers and a sinking U.S. smartphone maker? A: Venture capital.
Bono, lead singer and a guitarist for the Irish rock group U2, is one of five professionals on the investment team for U.S.-based Elevation Partners, which has invested in Palm. News broke this week that Palm is actively looking for a buyer.
Palm's new smartphones failing to fuel sales
"U2's Bono set for multi-million pound Palm windfall" declares an enthusiastic headline at the U.K.'s Telegraph news site.
Of course, the same could be said of the other four members of the investment team, but they're not rock stars, at least not real rock stars.
There's only one problem with the Telegraph's prediction: How much of a windfall, if any, Bono and the other Elevation investors will get depends entirely on what a buyer is willing to offer. In fact, there's a chance Elevation may not even recoup the more than $400 million it has invested so far in Palm.
Elevation struck a "strategic recapitalization" deal with Palm in 2007, buying $325 million of a new series of convertible preferred stock, giving the fund about a 25% ownership stake in the handheld company. It brought on Jon Rubinstein, former senior vice president and head of Apple's iPod division. Also part of the deal: $400 million in new debt.
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0 comments | Write Comment | April 23, 2010, 01:21:08 am | by: Emilio
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U2 Easily Tops 2009 Money-Making Tours List in the U.S.
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U2 Easily Tops 2009 Money-Making Tours List in the U.S.
Source: http://www.gather.com
U2, no strangers to rolling in dough, was the biggest musical money-maker Stateside in 2009, according to Billboard. Touring, record sales, and other royalties brought Bono and the boys some $109 million in revenue for the year, easily besting second place Bruce Springsteen at $58 million, Madonna at $47 million, and AC/DC at $44 million.
One shudders to imagine just how much the group could have made if their current album, No Line on the Horizon, had actually spawned any memorable hits.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Britney Spears, Pink, Jonas Brothers, Coldplay, Kenny Chesney, and Metallica.
Billboard's rather arcane way of measuring income should be noted. The magazine used flat royalty rates of 20% for "superstars" and 16% for newer artists in arriving at its recorded-music sales income figures, and credited touring acts with 34% of gross tour receipts -- ballpark figures that are decent estimates, if not precisely exact.
Michael Jackson was named the top earner in the CD and ringtone-only category, but finished just 20th overall. Had his planned London concerts not been, um, interrupted, he most likely would have finished higher.
0 comments | Write Comment | February 28, 2010, 03:02:39 am | by: Emilio
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