A&R spends became wildly high when TikTok started yielding viral "hits." Thankfully the industry learned pretty quickly that virality on TikTok does not equal real fanship, aka a durable recording career. This post makes me realize what the A&R teams have figured out, maybe the mktg teams have not.
I'm not totally sure I agree on that point about A&R learning re: TikTok. It's possible they did relative to TikTok itself, but I think the whole practice of chasing bands because they're "doing great stats" on any platform is still quite prevalent...
It's all about quick returns, profit optimization, that's what McKinsey preaches and many managers who are now in important positions were trained and advised by this company. In Switzerland, banks, public transport, they advised Swissair and CreditSuisse (we all know what happened there). McKinsey has one of the largest alumni networks in the world, and this also leads to the influence of this company becoming ever greater...a catastrophe for humanity, and also for the sustainability of many companies and their employees.
Amen…. and the stories I've been hearing about McKinsey's advised cutbacks at labels is sounding like something from a Spinal Tap-style mockumentary. Which would be funny, if it didn't involve scores of people being made redundant from perfectly functional, profitable roles.
A&R spends became wildly high when TikTok started yielding viral "hits." Thankfully the industry learned pretty quickly that virality on TikTok does not equal real fanship, aka a durable recording career. This post makes me realize what the A&R teams have figured out, maybe the mktg teams have not.
I'm not totally sure I agree on that point about A&R learning re: TikTok. It's possible they did relative to TikTok itself, but I think the whole practice of chasing bands because they're "doing great stats" on any platform is still quite prevalent...
Yep, I certainly agree with that. There's been a certain restraint if the virality was from TikTok itself, not so much from other places.
It's all about quick returns, profit optimization, that's what McKinsey preaches and many managers who are now in important positions were trained and advised by this company. In Switzerland, banks, public transport, they advised Swissair and CreditSuisse (we all know what happened there). McKinsey has one of the largest alumni networks in the world, and this also leads to the influence of this company becoming ever greater...a catastrophe for humanity, and also for the sustainability of many companies and their employees.
Amen…. and the stories I've been hearing about McKinsey's advised cutbacks at labels is sounding like something from a Spinal Tap-style mockumentary. Which would be funny, if it didn't involve scores of people being made redundant from perfectly functional, profitable roles.