Jenny Eliscu wrote an article in the January 24th issue of Rolling Stone that documents that key executives were laid off at the end of 2007 and morale was deeply affected. I think you need to register to R/S, so here are a few excerpts:

"Days before Christmas, a crowd of music-industry honchos gathered at a New York dive bar for an increasingly common ritual -- to raise their glasses to a fired veteran record executive. This group, which included both current and recently laid-off A&R, promotions and marketing execs, didn't hide a deeply pessimistic view of the future of the record business. "Fxxk the major labels!" moaned one ousted staffer on the sidewalk front. There was also a sense of relief -- following weeks of stress, gloom and panic at the majors, where year-end pink slips have become a holiday tradition.

......"Every time a high-ranking person from the home office came to town, everybody was shivering in their boots," says Scott Yeckes, who lost his job as a UMG marketing manager last spring. "Everybody is constantly looking over their shoulders. They're scared to death."

Days after Universal's first round of firings, Sony BMG followed suit, cutting more than a dozen in publicity, video and marketing departments......

....Since 2000, more than 5,000 music-industry employees have lost their jobs, and industry insiders speculate that the lay-offs will continue until the labels figure out how to improve their margins. In 2007, album sales took a fifteen percent nose dive, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and crucial holiday sales fell twenty-one percent. "They're looking for ways to cut big chunks of money to make the numbers line up at the end of the year," says one former Sony BMG exec. "It comes down to bodies as a quick fix, because you can't force a hit record."

There's a lot more to this story, but it reinforces the tentative music industry environment.

I don't know what the answers are but I've been thinking about the state of music the last few days. I really think that the monoply and payola w/ the radio stations is a big factor. There is so much crap on the radio these days and yet so many great musicians that don't get their due. I know how few cds I've purchased over the last 5 yrs and I'm rarely motivated to buy new ones. Why is that? For me, it isn't because of digital music because I don't have an iPod or mp3 player, just that I don't hear enough good stuff to feel like buying it. Recently I've purchased the new Eagles cd (love it but love them) and some country cds for my daughter (including Bucky, Kellie and Carrie). I look at country music which I've taken to listening to over the last 12 months. They haven't held AI against their artists. The majority of their songs have lyrics that mean something to me and my kids can listen to.

I listen to classic rock, again, great lyrics and many of those songs, albums and artists are timeless.

It is time to let us decide what we want to hear on the radio, not what some exec thinks I want to hear.

The first thing that came to my mind as I read this article is the lack of productivity that goes with fearing for your job.

The very next thing I wondered is who's available to work as a consultant for Elliott's "team" to improve publicity and appearance opportunities in NY and other important East Coast "star making" shows.....aka Oprah.

Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Sk8888. Good to know, well, not good, but you know what I mean.

The album is dead, as a profit device.
Touring and merchandise is the new domain for money for entertainers.
Madonna, RadioHead, and many others know this. At one time, the tour promoted the CD; now the CD promotes the tour. Radio is anyone's guess.

But you can't get new people to buy tickets to concerts or buy merchandise if the other parts of the marketing aren't happening, i.e. publicity, appearances and video.

It looks like a new model is emerging where Indie artists, or recently dropped artists, have to bankroll the creative side of a CD, and then if someone at a "major" label likes it, they will take it on and market it. But, it looks like that marketing and publicity "machine" is getting disassembled.

If some of these people end up as consultants it may very well become a win-win situation. I'd love to see someone who truly loves Elliott's music and has the passion that we share for his artistry to be the person on the phone and taking people out to lunch in NYC working the publicity on the East Coast.

I'm not sure if I'm just more in tuned to what's going on, or it's happening more often now than ever. I see more music artists doing television spots, meet and greats, commercials... more use of their music in movies and tv shows. Lots of this used to be taboo when I was young. You just didn't want to be associated with such, you weren't cool. Times are changing.

Also makes me think of how there was once movie stars and then television stars. Today you see a lot of big movie names doing television. Timeas are changing.

It is not surprising. TOP 40 has the same sound over and over.. plus it has lost it's passion and feeling in it. So many great singers I can think of over the years that were not considered eye candy yet they delivered a great song. I think having videos today has taken away alot because the industry doesn't go for the voice or sound. They want a package that looks good too.. Elliott is so amazingly gifted but 19 entertainment passed over the best voice of all. They made a BIG mistake.

Many record buyers do follow what the industry says is good.. They buy the artists Cd's who get nominated , singers of music awards, hype and then passes over the more gifted singers that could bring back a good sound. Todays sound is bubblegum to me. Fergie , and Gwen S. would never appeal to me because I just don't like the bubblegum sound. The beat to songs today drags and has no quality to make me feel anything. JMO..

I also believe the reason American Idol got so big is because the singers sang songs from the era when we did have great music. If they sang all current songs no one would watch.
Elliott to me could be the savior to bringing back great music.. I listen to Elliott's songs everyday. I always want to hear his voice.

Another thought, It used to be a singer did not have to dance , the voice was enough. Now they want a dancer, a model, and it seems the singing is last. I listen to a CD and that is the priority to me.. I want a great voice first.. the rest is an add on. And personality and magnetism and great expression is also a plus to me which Elliott is KING!

Witness the ABC Carrie Ann versus Bruno Dance War program/contest. Who in the world decreed that you have to dance at the exact same time as you sing?
Okay, maybe once in a while in a stage show or a musical play or something, but the trend to favor that kind of performance is ridiculous.

When you dance while singing and sing while dancing, neither your dancing nor your singing is anywhere near its best, even when you're quite good at both.

I suppose it's just a further search for people who seem various kinds of hot and come-hither and so on on stage, but it's certainly contributing to the further degradation of pop entertainment, if you ask me.

I watched that show for about 30 min. That was enough.

How true taratove. Years ago before MTV came along, I couldn't even pick-out of a lineup half the musicians I listened to. The voice and the quality of the music and lyrics are what mattered most.

Taratova, :rocker: :rocker: :rocker: :rocker: :rocker:

These are the reasons we need to encourage people to BUY the music they like. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but our $ speaks volumes to the people in the industry - more than our requesting or streaming or voting.

Buyers generally buy something they have heard and they buy it.. that is why promotion needs to be done. Getting Elliott on the radio by requesting gets the song into the ears of the listeners and they will buy. Hype also moves many too.

There is the crowd followers who don't do much looking around so they buy what is usually dictated as good by the big hype machine .

Promotion is needed for every artist in order to sell their music. A good artist can be around for decades because their talent keeps their fans around. We need to promote Elliott because buzz is good and keeps the artist in the public eye. Good promotion for a talented artist is a part of the formula to make a star.

Also word of mouth can play a part too. A CD if it is good can bring in more fans just by hearing the music by one who has bought the CD. We all can keep Elliott's name and talent in the forefront by supporting him in all ways . Voting, requesting and commenting is a great way to promote and advance Elliott. :cheerleaders: :etrain:

Interesting article. It must be scary to be a record label executive in the current climate of record sales.