The notion of waiting for the right place and time is a recurring theme for veterans of the music business.  According to biz.yahoo.com, “Musical artists left homeless by the soulless big machines that are today's mega-labels don't have to look too far to find sanctuary.”  The US representation of the British Sanctuary Group record label provides artists “who may not be at the top of the charts, but who are still artistically and commercially viable” a place to call home.  Sanctuary offers a safe haven for acts such as Kiss, The Allman Brothers, Blondie, and Morrissey.

How individuals and businesses treat others is a clear demonstration of what they value.  It is very informative to watch how a person treats even a sales clerk or waiter to discover her/his own self-perception.  At the same time companies such as Wal-Mart make news, demonstrating how not to treat employees.  Wal-Mart currently faces litigation over gender inequity in salaries and promotions, and illegal anti-unionization efforts, as well as criticism for poor health coverage for employees (What do they value?).  On the other hand, companies such as Costco and Target are praised for higher-than-average salaries and generous health benefits, even to part-timers.  Target is openly committed to community, diversity, and the environment.  Whether it’s avoiding the swarm of negativity or basking in the buzz of praise, treating workers and customers well continues to mean building morale and loyalty, which translates into staff retention and profits.

Better Business

The heart of the solution to the problem starts with a focus on values.  “Integrity” is a firm adherence to a code of moral or artistic values.  A return to traditional values would restore some sense of decency and civility to this almost spiritually bankrupt music industry.  The irony in it is that the business itself is driven by art.  Creation is the very soul of the industry that is in such serious financial decline partially because of the heartless machine that runs it (“By the way, which one’s Pink?”).

From a personnel perspective, it is imperative to identify and hire those who exemplify Integrity.  One Marine in Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men admonishes the casual attitude toward values: “We use words like honor, code, loyalty.  We use these words as a backbone to a life spent defending something.  You use them as a punch line.”  In addition to workplace honesty and sincerity, a restoration of decency coupled with a stronger work ethic will begin to provide businesses with the financial rewards that are due to that kind of behavior.  Its essence is the key ingredient for “an honest day’s pay.”

Slichter offers a view on patience in waiting for value: “When the band's first effort fails to sell millions of records, as is almost always the case, the label has to then decide whether or not to hang in there or drop the band.  It's expensive to promote a band, and in recent years, major labels have faced pressure from their parent corporations to produce instant blockbusters instead of finding bands whose appeal grows slowly but endures.  That's too bad, because many great bands (R.E.M. is a good example) take years to reach their peak success, even though they are all the while making great music.”

Jacob Slichter, author of So You Wanna be a Rock & Roll Star and drummer for the group, Semisonic.

Second, an effort must be made to uphold industry stability.  Retention of employees in business is a challenge faced in so many companies today.  The cost of hiring and then training new staff makes it even more urgent to reduce corporate turnover.  By maintaining industry workers, artists will form greater alliances with their business partners, the record companies.  The components to successful employee retention are not secret, either.  Fair wages, appropriate rewards, accurate and frequent praise/encouragement, opportunities for personal and professional development, and goal setting all go a long way toward building employee loyalty.

The third necessary factor for better business is the possession of foresight.  Many companies have a foresight department, more commonly referred to as Research & Development.  According to Slichter, “Just like discovering and marketing a new gizmo, launching a band takes time.  Who should produce the album?  Which songs should be recorded?  What's the first single and what radio format best suits it?  Those are vexing questions, and not surprisingly, record companies are stumped as they look for answers.”  Having forethought and insight are not always natural skills for everyone.  These, however, are the alchemist’s tools that turn potential into gain.  It takes the right group of advisors to see and plan for upcoming events.  The former BMG employee (quoted earlier) suggested that record companies should have “more musicians as executives and fewer ‘suits’ sitting on the boards.”

Forecasting and preparing for the future could not have been more valuable than when illegal Internet downloading was hot on the radar.  Artists like Todd Rundgren and David Bowie jumped on the downloading bandwagon years ago and have used it to their advantage ever since.  Dale Carnegie promoted the idea of cooperating with the inevitable.  Downloading music was a reality not to be stopped.  Those who cooperated with it (no thank you, Metallica), were able to change with the times and profit from their own flexibility.  Some let the wheel of change roll.  Others hold on and are dragged.