The Lefsetz Letter
KZLA
by Bob Lefsetz
As if you needed convincing terrestrial radio was about advertising... America's number one country radio station changed formats Thursday because...you just can't make it appealing to white people. Yup, that's what the head of EMMIS Radio said. In the melting pot of Los Angeles, appealing only to shitkickers, and their middle-class baby boomer brethren who've abandoned rock for country, leaves too much money on the table. Advertisers want to reach MORE people, YOUNGER people, so Emmis took the station urban. That's what L.A. needs. Another urban station. That's an underserved market, what with Power and the Beat and all the Top Forty stations playing the city sound. And there you have what's wrong with terrestrial radio. It's not about the listener, it's about the ADVERTISER! Hugh Panero had it right at XM. In the beginning. XM was an ALTERNATIVE! You had multiple stations in each genre, all of which played many more tracks than their terrestrial counterparts (assuming there was such a thing). As a result, XM was a religion. Sold by its customers more than its advertising. But then Scott Greenstein hatched a star formula at Sirius, and Mel Karmazin was brought into effect it. Suddenly, it was no longer basic cable, but HBO/PAY CABLE! Look at the history of cable TV. Its first inroads were for people who couldn't get a good signal. And then it was about additional choice, a refuge from the bullshit. FINALLY, it became about superstardom, perching atop network TV, looking down. Sirius and now XM are pursuing an HBO/Showtime model, when really something more basic is needed, something just like the initial XM, a cheap place to find refuge from all the bullshit. Fuck Eminem and Oprah and all the dazzling lights no one cares about. Just give us what we used to have, but BETTER! Give us music without commercials. Give us genres that have disappeared from the terrestrial brand. Treat us like friends. We're nomads in the desert, HELP US OUT! But the service with all the momentum, Sirius, isn't really very different from terrestrial. Not only do they have Howard Stern, WITH COMMERCIALS (I'm paying and I've still got to listen to ads?), the music channels have the same jive jocks that used to be on terrestrial, with playlists so tight that the only advantage is the LACK of commercials on music stations. Shit, on Sirius "Free Bird" isn't a tune-out, it's something everybody wants to hear. Makes me puke. In other words, meet the new boss, same as the old boss. I.e. Mel Karmazin. XM, blinking, followed Sirius' lead. They brought in Jon Zellner, who tightened playlists. They signed Oprah for a zillion dollars and she's not even really gonna APPEAR, other than in name. They drove their financials down. They fucked it all up. KZLA's grounding is a HUGE opportunity for satellite. To say HERE WE ARE! WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS! But why would a country fan want Sirius? That's the Howard Stern station. Who knows WHAT the fuck they do in country, if anything. And XM... Isn't that baseball? If the fan knows anything at all? Yes, the satellite services have become known for their HBO-style/klieg-light product and their regular services, which would truly sell them, get no ink. I don't want some celebrity spinning discs, I just want the TUNES! Lee Abrams got all of the above. XM needs a video of his presentation. About segmenting the audience. How sophisticated fans no longer need to hear "Stairway To Heaven", yet you've got to tailor to the unsophisticated too. But Lee was marginalized as XM followed Sirius' steps into the graveyard. So, it looks like the customer is fending for himself. While big business is caught up in an endless circle jerk. Your customer has to be first. Not Wall Street. Everybody in power today is driving listeners to an unregulated Internet, to their iPods, where they have refuge from the bullshit. XM has got country wired. They should have an instant campaign to appeal to country listeners in L.A. But the behemoth moves too slow, and always looks at the dollars first. So XM will probably blow this opportunity. As Sirius runs ragged over them and ruins the business. New York Times 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.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
A word about submissions: We post what you give us, so please don't include your email address or any personal info. Your comments reach Rhino, not necessarily the writer, so don't expect a reply from them (or us, see our help section for contact info). We gather and post your submissions in batches, so do expect a short delay. And don't get bent if we edit your comments. We probably won't, but we reserve that right.
Comments:
exactly right.Glad he didn't review my old records w/bands I was in -he would have been brutal!
Subscribe to Feed
