“You need to look no further than Apple’s iPhone to see how fast brilliantly written software presented on a beautifully designed device with a spectacular user interface will throw all the accepted notions about pricing, billing platforms and brand loyalty right out the window.

And let me remind you, the genesis of the iPhone is the iPod and iTunes–a music device and music service that consumers love,” Warner Music Group’s CEO Edgar Bronfman gushed, according to a blog post by Simon Aughton on MacUser.

Am I the only one that enjoyed a hearty laugh after reading this clown wax poetic on how wonderful Apple is? If you look closely at what he said, you can almost see him kneeling at Steve Jobs’ altar begging for forgiveness. Now that is what I call comedy.

But why has Warner Music seen the light all of a sudden? After months of claiming that his company knew what was best for consumers, Bronfman finally found out the hard way that the music industry knows nothing about consumers.

Interestingly enough, a quick glance at the quarterly financial statements of Warner Music Group points out one alarming statistic: the company has been losing money over the past few quarters.

According to reports filed with the SEC, Warner Music Group witnessed a net loss of $27 million during the quarter ending March 31, and $17 million during the quarter ending June 30. Compare that with a profit over the previous two quarters and it looks like Warner is having some trouble.

Is this the reason why Bronfman decided to make Jobs’ head just a little bigger? Has he finally realized that Warner Music Group needs iTunes more than iTunes needs Warner Music Group?

You better believe it.

The future of the music industry has nothing to do with CDs and everything to do with downloading. Hasn’t the music industry learned anything over the past decade as its stranglehold on our buying preferences slowly released? Sadly, the answer is no.

As music downloading (and dare I say illegal downloading) continues to rise, these music companies bury their heads in the sand and blow policy out the other end. Instead of understanding customers and realizing that what we want is readily available music without DRM, Warner and its friends have decided to bully us in the hopes we’ll stop. We won’t.

Believe it or not, most people are honest and they don’t mind paying for music. After all, I think most people realize artists create music because it’s their job and they deserve to get paid for it.

Simply put, all we want is to be trusted. Get rid of the DRM and for goodness sake, get rid of that disgusting Recording Industry Association of America, and start trusting that consumers are willing to do what’s right if you don’t force them into a corner and make them do what’s wrong. Will there still be piracy? Sure. But believe it or not, a happy consumer won’t mind paying $5 to $10 for an album if you let them.

Warner, I appreciate your attempt to try to make amends, but actions speak louder than words. Call me when you strip DRM from songs, denounce the RIAA and lose the greed.

Originally posted at The Digital Home.

Imagine spending twelve months working on your new album. You shape the song structures a certain way to convey the emotion of each song, everything is precise.

Your independent label pays for you to record the album at a professional studio, costing them $30,000, with a contract saying that you will repay the recording and reproduction costs if the album doesn’t sell fifteen thousands copies.

Everything is planned. Six months from now the album will be released. Marketing plans are formed, photo shoots are scheduled, and your website is being redesigned. You lay awake at night thinking about the expenses that are adding up, but you trust that enough people will buy the album and see you perform on tour.

Two months before the scheduled release, your marketing agency begins to send out promotional copies to trusted music blogs and media sources. You’re excited to read the response as bloggers give you exposure. A demand for the CD is created, and a few mp3s are given away for people to preview… but that was to be expected.

Then something goes wrong. Someone that received the promotional copy decided to place the album on a Torrent site. Now anyone can download your album for free and you won’t see a single penny.

Though you want people to hear your music, you also want to fulfill the part of your contract that requires you to sell fifteen thousand copies.

Questions flood your mind: When the album is officially released, will people buy it? Or will they download it for free? If you can’t sell enough copies you’ll be required by contract to pay the record label back.

This is the situation that most artists are facing today. As consumers, we seem to feel entitled to have full access to music, and we wince at the thought of paying for it.

Yes, artists are given more exposure when albums hit BitTorrent sites. If the album is loved, album sales reflect this and some of the loss is recouped. Recording and marketing music isn’t free, and music consumers shouldn’t expect it to be.

When you consider the costs that fall onto the shoulders of artists and record labels, it’s understandable why BitTorrent sites are caught in litigation. Today, Oink.cd joined the list of BitTorrent sites that have been shut down.

For this reason Puddlegum encourages you to support the artists by purchasing their music and buying tickets when they bus by your city. We don’t agree with exorbitant prices that are placed on CDs, nor do we support the RIAA. But the list of options to purchase music DRM-free at an affordable price is growing.

Note: This fictional story is not about the business model used in the example. We are not proposing this model as being ideal. There are better models and approaches that embrace the album leak. But the majority of artists take a risk with this established model.

Here are a few DRM-free digital music stores that we support:
7digital
Amazon
eMusic
Insound
iTunes

In Michael Grecco’s new book, “Naked Ambition: An R-rated Look at an X-rated Industry”, Navarro, who recently directed a feature-length adult movie called “Broken”, says: “Rock and porn exist to break taboos. Rock used to have that rebellious ‘up against the world’ creed . . . That doesn’t exist anymore in the music world — but it’s alive and well in the adult industry.”

He adds: “It’s heartening to feel kin to a group of freewheeling individuals who don’t give a [bleep] about approval.” Navarro, once married to Carmen Electra, also slams music execs as “narrow-sighted dinosaurs,” noting, “Maybe that explains why porn is growing bigger and bigger and rock seems to be getting smaller and smaller.”

Reznor launched a stinging tirade against Universal Music Australia on Sunday at the group’s concert at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion, dismayed at the high price the label charged for CDs.

He called the record label “greedy f**king assholes”. It followed similar diatribes earlier in the year.

“Steal it. Steal away. Steal, steal and steal some more and give it to all your friends and keep on stealing,” Reznor, who has been dubbed the Ralph Nader of the music industry, said.

Read More…

That wasn’t a problem: Columbia didn’t want Rubin to punch a clock. It wanted him to save the company. And just maybe the record business.

Read More…