Rhino -- The Lefsetz Letter

Maybe every record should be on Rhino.

What does Universal MEAN? Or Warner Brothers or Interscope or Sony or even Capitol. They're all record labels, but who KNOWS what they release. Hell, doesn't Capitol sell Sinatra, the Band the Beatles and YELLOWCARD? If you know somebody who wants ALL those acts...hell, you couldn't know a person like that.

Things used to be easier. There used to be fewer than 5,000 albums released a year. But now, with 50,000+ albums a year, HOW IN THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT'S OUT??

My friend Al Kooper combs the iTunes release sheet.

Hell, that's like combing the bins in the record store of yore, but with a BAZILLION more titles.

You can't know from terrestrial radio. Or television. They play almost NOTHING!

You can go to Yahoo Music, but you've got the same situation you do with the aforementioned labels, it's a SMORGASBORD! With the most generic, most hyped stuff right up front. Oh, you can dig deeper, but where in the hell are you going to GO? There's no MAP!

Rhino stands for history. If the act ever had a reputation, if anybody ever cared about them, if they sold any records, THEN they're on Rhino.

But you'd be stunned what's on Rhino now. LOGGINS & MESSINA!

Every single album the duo cut was on Columbia. How in the hell is it that they've now got a record on RHINO?

My friend Lisa is the point person at Loggins' management company and I STILL didn't know the album was out. Until I went to the Rhino homepage.

The label heads don't get it. You've got to build culture. Brand names now have to MEAN something. Because of the cacophony in the marketplace. Otherwise, the overwhelming plethora of product is too DAUNTING!

Many analysts say Mercedes-Benz fucked up. By trying to please everybody. Have you seen that little Benz, the one that looks like a Toyota? Sure, some wannabe twentysomething might lay down just shy of 30k to be a member of a club which... Hell, who wants to spend nearly a 100k for an M-B if the idiot down the street drives a cheesy, cheaper version.

BMW stands for performance.

Lexus stands for fit and finish.

Nonesuch...stands for quality. The company just doesn't have a big web presence.

The point is, how can you make people aware of your product.

There's the endcap at Best Buy, but that's only for label priorities.

As for the indie record shop, most people don't go there. And it's a schlep.

The public demands filters. They need the product sliced and diced. Rhino is doing this. Nobody else in the major label world is. Trying to reach everybody, they're turning off just about everybody.

That's why Victory works. You know what the label STANDS for.

Who even knows what Atlantic Records stands for anymore...

(In the spirit of full disclosure, I'm paid by Rhino, to reuse some of my material and to do podcasts. THAT'S why I went to the site and found out about the L&M disc. But, I got e-mail this weekend that Rhino is now putting out the Nicolette Larson tribute concert. That got me thinking. I've got to check out what Rhino's putting out. It's not what I expect anymore. It's not just WEA product.)

Bob Lefsetz, Santa Monica-based industry legend, is the author of the e-mail newsletter, "The Lefsetz Letter". Famous for being beholden to no one, and speaking the truth, Lefsetz addresses the issues that are at the core of the music business: downloading, copy protection, pricing and the music itself. His intense brilliance captivates readers from Steven Tyler to Rick Nielsen to Bryan Adams to Quincy Jones to EVERYBODY who's in the music business. Never boring, always entertaining, Mr. Lefsetz's insights are fueled by his stint as an entertainment business attorney, majordomo of Sanctuary Music's American division and consultancies to major labels.

While Rhino may occasionally disagree with some of Bob's opinions, we certainly agree with his right to state them. At the bottom of each column we give you, the reader, the opportunity to respond and we encourage you to do so. We will post select comments.

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Comments:

I worked in Retail music from 1971 to 1998 and watched exactly what you're talking about happen. Used to be, when you bought Asylum, you knew what you'd get. Sunny California folk-rock-pop with a very hip edge. Buddah would get you popy psychedelic bubblegum. Atlantic would give you great soul and powerful vangaurd rock. Elektra would give you legacy and under the radar folkies and arty, thoughtful rock 'n' roll. In fact, as a collector I collected LABELS: Buddah, Asylum, Elektra, Atlantic, Swan, Chess, and the list goes on. you have to understand, since I worked in the industry, I got to hear more than most and could follow the threads longer and deeper. And I collected, Oh how I collected. It did seem like certain major labels had vaguely discernable missions. When Columbia ditched Mitch Miller and brought Clive Davis on board, they left the Musical and Standards paradigm behind (though they managed to salvage the classical unit very well) and fairly leapt into the underground, suddenly becoming one of the hippest labels around. Same for Warners-Reprise as they shifted from Las Vegas gklitz and easy listening to progressive singer siongwriters and edgy rock. And you're right, Rhino DOES stand for something, which is why I follow the newsletters back to the site to look at what comes up. Put Sundazed, Wounded Bird, Shout Factory!, Hip-O-Select and Collectables on that list too, plus or minus a few differences. Why is the last "indie" label I can think of with any cred (besides Sire) 4AD also a thing of the past. All those indies like Factory or Stiff or Radar that I used to snap up are all defunct and NOTHING that I can find seems to have risen to take their place, save a few VERY underground Americana labels like New West or Casual UK which really interests me (and should you if you like country-soul-rock fusion with a swamp & gospel edge. I guess that why I look to No Depression to keep me up on what looks to be the only place I'll find that same consistency and committment from a label.

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