Do music industry moans tell the whole story?

Two stories in today's Observer don't quite sit right with me side-by-side and make me think I'm either a hopeless cynic or somebody isn't doing enough to challenge 'received wisdom'.

The first talks of a crisis at record label EMI:

Rampant piracy, falling prices, confusion over where and how to buy music and a consumer downturn – it is a torrid time in the record business...

You've heard this all before and we've long been urged - by the record industry of course - to believe this is true. Meanwhile, the second story in the Observer states X Factor finale gives ITV a bonanza:

...phone lines are expected to be busier this time as people now have a whole day to make their choice. This should generate about £1.5m from the premium line vote, while the show's sponsorship deal with Talk Talk is estimated to be worth £500,000 for the final. When these sums are added to advertising from the X Factor website, income for the weekend may pass £20m. Sadly for ITV, much of this will go into Cowell's pocket... He is also about to renegotiate his deal with the channel, worth £20m over three years. 

So, some people in the music industry are actually making more money than ever before. Undoubtedly the channel and value proposition have changed but ultimately the moaning looks more and more like the griping of those quarters of the music industry who didn't spot the evolution taking place. Likewise, is there no correlation between Simon Cowell's wilful blanding of the end product by focussing his efforts on the production line, and people's unwillingness to pay for CDs or downloads?

I'm surprised the Observer didn't challenge EMI's self-diagnosis a little more aggressively. It reminds me of the host of newspaper reports supporting landlord and BBPA calls for lower taxes, citing falling beer sales, while electing to either ignore or not enquire about rising cider, wine and food sales.

At a time when newspapers are giving the oxygen of publicity to the lunatic fringe of climate change deniers, it seems strange they wouldn't at least question a self-serving agenda of finger-pointing from the record industry. 

Comments

[Simon hb]

Thing is, EMI's problems have nothing to do with the music industry. EMI has a nice little business, ticking over quite well in a difficult, transitional market.

But it was bought with a massive packet of debt - billions and billions of debt. You'd need to have X Factor finals three times a week for a year to even start to cover EMI debts.