🔵 Want to take on the majors? Stop talking, start acting.

The only way to take on the majors is by outmanoeuvring them - and some companies are starting that fight.

It has been a whirlwind few weeks, in which I feel I have barely had time to keep up with industry goings on.

One story I am admittedly late to was Sony Chairman Rob Stringer's investor call in which he talked about how The Orchard has upwards of 26,000 label partners, and how AWAL works with 20,000 plus artists. He also talked about how The Orchard has minority interests in over half of its top 20 clients. He also talked up the company's data analytics potential, and how it generates valuable data insight for Sony and its partners.

This led to an interesting post over on CMU, where Sam Taylor suggested that this exposed Sony's worrying level of insight and influence, and how this is so over-arching that this is almost handing those battling Universal's Downtown acquisition the perfect stick to beat them with.

Elsewhere, I noted my buddy Hunter Giles suggest that this was the "Amazonification" of music - i.e. suggesting that Sony (and indeed Universal) could use these insights and relationships to undermine the very people it is distributing - the reference point being the way in which Amazon allegedly uses/abuses its own data insight to field lower-priced competitor products against the items it knows are selling well.

So far, so horrible.

Here is the thing though: we cannot blame Sony for making full use of the things it has at its disposal. I would go as far as to say that if Sony were not using all of that data to further augment its position, someone should get fired on the basis they were failing in their role.

Do I like that it is happening? No - but do I feel it is inevitable given where we find ourselves? Yes, absolutely. As I remarked in my last article: don't blame a shark for acting like a shark. These companies are simply behaving as they are mandated to.

The critical question is actually this: if certain quarters of the industry don't like the way things are going, then what are they going to do? Only at some point, action is far, far more valuable than talk.

To that end, I wanted to shine a light on the people I think are working to provide alternative solutions. In this case, one I felt warrants a mention is Absolute, the UK-based artist and label services company.

Now, Absolute are a company I've known about for a long time. Ironically, we at MU have never even discussed working together, putting them in an amusingly small bracket alongside the entire Beggars Group, among others. (An arrogant statement I know, but after 14 years running MU, there are genuinely only a few companies at or above a certain size whom we’ve never worked with or even spoken to about working together!)

My own writings here about AI prompted Simon Wills, the MD there, to drop me a line, telling me about the AI assistant they had built and what it was achieving. At the time (back in Feb) I was amazed at how far along they had gotten. I was also mildly jealous, as they were ahead of us here at MU on this front (ie building and deploying AI tech to assist company function), so naturally when Simon invited me down to Absolute's HQ to check out what is now known as Anthology, I jumped at the chance. Frankly at that point, few people were acting on AI in general (something I’d argue remains the case - anyone disagreeing, do get in touch and let’s compare notes!), and I leapt at the chance to talk shop with someone else keen to explore the potential.

Being taken through what Absolute had built was quite the revelation. In short, atop a terrific management platform, they had built an AI layer, integrated via a non-binary character called Ant, which was capable of answering all manner of questions and queries. At any time of day, a client could - via a number of channels, including WhatsApp, simply ask Ant for (e.g.) complex data insights, and it would reply, near-instantly, with the info requested along with wider commentary and more. A funky-looking music industry Jarvis, if you will.

What impressed me about this all was the way in which this had all been built to leverage all the good parts of AI - because yes, there are some! It could handle queries about streams and revenue with ease, but could also deal with support desk-type enquiries as well, such as help with Content ID copyright claims on YouTube videos. In that regard, it very much heralded how this tech could empower artists even further by providing instant responses to queries, further guiding decision-making and a general “how are we doing?” sense of what’s going on there. There’s an agility to this all that let’s artists get insight and act accordingly, and that is massively valuable.

This is not meant to be a hagiography for either AI or Absolute, however. What Absolute has realised, to its credit, is that the only way the indies, non-majors, non-corporates, call them what you will, can take on the likes of Sony or Universal, is to provide compelling alternatives that battle these companies on all fronts.

One line of attack is most definitely the IMPALA route. However at some point the battle still needs to be won by simply outplaying the competition. In opening up its Anthology platform to everyone (something I am told is happening later this year), Absolute is at least bringing some firepower to the battle here.

And really, that is my point: if everyone does not like what the majors are doing, the solution is to outplay them. It can be done, too. These massive companies are like oil tankers which take three miles just to stop. Smaller, more agile companies are like speed boats, able to move quickly and seize those moments. In that respect then, they can most definitely take these companies on and win.

Recently Ted Gioia published another piece I really enjoyed: "Indie Culture Is Great - But What's Coming Next Is Even Better". In it he underlined five key ways in which indie culture could thrive:

taken from Ted Gioia’s post of the same name

I refer you to points 2 and 5 above. I'd argue Absolute has stepped up on both counts (assuming it makes good on its promise to make Anthology available to all).

The question therefore is simply this: what can you do, and what can you bring, that elevates the game and takes on the majors competitively, and in a manner that speaks to building a better indie culture for all?

Only that is what is needed now: we must out-compete on every level, and what we have on our side to manage that is agility. All competition is fair: I bear no ill-will towards the likes of Sony or Universal (and, truthfully, am of the view that Sony is doing a brilliant job with The Orchard and AWAL right now). However this is all becoming one-sided, and if only in the interests of maintaining a healthier marketplace for all, I feel it is time more companies take a leaf out of Absolute’s book and start looking at what can benefit everyone, bringing some power back here.

It has been done before, and it can be done again - and I’m happy to be part of that movement too.

Step up, or step aside!

Have a great evening,

D.


🎶 Listening to Theon Cross’s excellent “Live At The Blue Note” album. I like jazz, but struggle with it often. However Theon Cross has constantly fascinated me. On paper, it’s arguably a tough sell (sorry Theon!): a British tuba player, leading his own band. However the reality is that Theon is delivering some of the most exciting music out there: a kind of psychedelic, explorative jazz sound that absolutely captures me. This live album is a wonder, and I cannot recommend it enough. I would argue in an age where AI delivers identikit rock dross, this is the kind of music AI could never replicate. It is simply too original.

📺 Watching a demo of Mozart, an AI-powered DAW that allows you to make music using prompts. Suno this is not; it allows chord generation and control over FX and whatnot, but it’s safe to say this one lit up our Music Makers Slack channel like a firework, with much vitriol aimed its way. I’m a little more sanguine about it; it certainly walks a line wherein a human is still part of the creative process, but when you’re drawing upon AI, which is inherently rather bland, can you really create anything interesting? I suspect not…

🎮 Playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows. I got this for my birthday, and I’m a huge fan of this entire series, so I’m now taking this in like a man does a fine wine. I get into a real flow state with this stuff, and that’s a wonderful thing.

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Other items of note…

• Hyped to confirm I will be doing a keynote and moderating a panel at the brand new Music Frontiers event in Berlin, which takes place September 4th & 5th. This is an evolution of the very excellent Music Tech event I attended last year, so I can’t wait to head back. I highly recommend it as an event, not least because attendees have more range than I’ve seen at many conferences. This was where I met the very excellent Will Freeman last year, which in turn led to our panel at the Games & Music conference in Tileyard earlier in the year. See you there!

• Motive Unknown’s socials have had a do-over! We’re switching up things a little there, so will talking a little more about strategies as well as who we’re working with, as well as featuring more content from our lovely team too. Check our Insta page here, or follow us on LinkedIn for more there too.

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