The Biggest Music C.ck-Ups
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US music magazine, Blender, has a great feature this month - The 20 Biggest Record Company Screw-Ups of all time. You can read the full article here, or enjoy our abbreviated version.
# 20 - Rather than signing Nirvana in 1989, MCA decided to get into hair metal band by signing Pretty Boy Floyd, one of the cheesiest bands to emerge out of the LA scene (and who, at the time, had only played eight shows).
# 19 - The industry laid the groundwork for free music by killing the CD single because it cost as much to produce as a full-length CD. This means that kids - who can't afford more than a single - started looking for free alternatives. And you know what came next....
# 12 - We've been waiting for Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy for years - and Geffen Records has been paying for years. In 1998 they gave Axl Rose $1m upfront with the promise of another $1m when it was delivered, and until 2001, spent approximately $244K per month on expenses, bringing Geffen's output to $13m for a record that will probably never come out (although we, of course, hope it will).
#10 - At the turn of the millennium, Columbia records lost Alicia Keys (who left because the label tried to turn her into Whitney Houston) and dropped 50 Cent (his being shot nine times made him a risky bet). Alicia Keys has gone on to sell 20m records at J Records, and 50 Cent has made a gazillion dollars for himself and his current label, Interscope.
#8 - When the US political right put pressure on rap music, Warner got cold feet and sold Interscope Records to Universal Music Group. Interscope - largely due to hits by Tupac, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent - went on to be one of the most powerful record labels, UMG became the biggest global record company and Warner was finally sold in 2004.
#5 - In an attempt to get peer-to-peer sharing under control, the Recording Industry Association of America (which represents all of the record companies) sued a single mother of two who earned $36K per year. They got her for illegally sharing 24 songs, and fined her $222K per song. She's filing an appeal, but seriously, guys.
And the worst of all?
#1 - The RIAA shut down Napster instead of trying to figure out a way to capitalise on it (and accepting their billion-dollar settlement offer), and since then, illegal sharing has only grown - a billion music files are shared every month, with no decrease in sight.
And you thought bad decisions were made in finance.
# 19 - The industry laid the groundwork for free music by killing the CD single because it cost as much to produce as a full-length CD. This means that kids - who can't afford more than a single - started looking for free alternatives. And you know what came next....
# 12 - We've been waiting for Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy for years - and Geffen Records has been paying for years. In 1998 they gave Axl Rose $1m upfront with the promise of another $1m when it was delivered, and until 2001, spent approximately $244K per month on expenses, bringing Geffen's output to $13m for a record that will probably never come out (although we, of course, hope it will).
#10 - At the turn of the millennium, Columbia records lost Alicia Keys (who left because the label tried to turn her into Whitney Houston) and dropped 50 Cent (his being shot nine times made him a risky bet). Alicia Keys has gone on to sell 20m records at J Records, and 50 Cent has made a gazillion dollars for himself and his current label, Interscope.
#8 - When the US political right put pressure on rap music, Warner got cold feet and sold Interscope Records to Universal Music Group. Interscope - largely due to hits by Tupac, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent - went on to be one of the most powerful record labels, UMG became the biggest global record company and Warner was finally sold in 2004.
#5 - In an attempt to get peer-to-peer sharing under control, the Recording Industry Association of America (which represents all of the record companies) sued a single mother of two who earned $36K per year. They got her for illegally sharing 24 songs, and fined her $222K per song. She's filing an appeal, but seriously, guys.
And the worst of all?
#1 - The RIAA shut down Napster instead of trying to figure out a way to capitalise on it (and accepting their billion-dollar settlement offer), and since then, illegal sharing has only grown - a billion music files are shared every month, with no decrease in sight.
And you thought bad decisions were made in finance.
