There’ve been several other books read between the last talk – usually about rock books, sorry if anyone was expecting anything else – and this one.
It would be tough, though, to read back to back two more different books about music than Fortune’s Fool and Rock and Roll Jihad. The first, by Fred Goodman, is concerned with money. The second, by Salman Ahmed, is concerned with life.
Goodman tells the story about Edgar Bronfman Jr. and his taking of Warner Music in the face of the recording industry’s collapse. Ahmed tells his own story of his unlikely rise to rock stardom in Pakistan.
Bronfman Jr. is a good subject who illustrates both how the recording industry might function if all billionaires were as conscientious and hard working as him, and instead why it is, in Goodman’s words, “an industry in crisis.” Bronfman comes from the Seagram family fortune but wanted to make his name in entertainment, in which he was an ardent believer. He made some disastrous decisions that made him a sitting duck in the trade papers – Fortune’s Fool – but seemed to be on the brink of redeeming himself when the music industry tanked. MP3s went on the upswing while CD sales went on the downturn.
He’s left hoping that somehow the music business can fashion a new model that will insure its survival. Its solutions, such as cutting itself in on merchandising, isn’t one of them but an inevitable stopgap that takes the recording industry further away from selling records and which, apparently, no act has had the guts to protest. It’s a small band aid for a big cut.
Goodman seems to have had a good time compiling his research. One of his most memorable findings is that 105,000 albums were released in 2008 of which only 110 were best sellers.
That probably explains why new signings to major labels are under pressure to sell a lot of records quickly, why so many are dropped immediately if they don’t , why the big labels move slowly and conservatively and why so many bands now are comfortable with small independents or turning a slight profit if they opt to go entirely indie.
All the while, the heads of these corporations have to satisfy the investors while making millions of dollars annually before other bonuses are counted. Goodman points out that these executives believe in pop music, but there is never the feeling that they understand it or even care about it. They only want keep the investors happy, increase the market share and get their bonuses.
With billions of dollars being thrown about, the recording act who is struggling to get a gig and possibly to get paid, is inconsequential. Doesn’t mean a thing. Unless they have a hit. Then, the big label pays attention. Hits increase the market share and potentially can assure a bonus. As well, the industry knows how to market a hit. Or it used to. MP3s, Napster, You Tube and other technology has changed the business and the industry’s initial retrenchment means that it is now trying to catch up and might never. Goodman seems to indicate that the industry will keep covering itself in band aids. Despite the efforts of Bronfman Jr. the industry will run out.
It’s a gloomy prediction, which is why Rock And Roll Jihad is reassuring. As long as there are believers such as Salman Ahmad rock and roll might endure.
Ahmad was privileged enough that his family moved, for his father’s career purpose, from their native Pakistan to New York City. In New York he discovered a wide variety of 70s rock and pop that became a driving force, especially once he learned to play guitar. After a few years, he reluctantly returned to Pakistan but realized there were others like him that wanted to rock. His first band, Vital Signs, was a hit but light and evidently not built for a long haul.
His next band, Junoon, overcame cultural resistance, political bans, death threats, riots and more. Junoon sold a lot of records and toured the world. For many, Junoon’s success would have been enough. Not Ahmad. Junoon albums dealt with Sufi poetry, Muslim culture, were politically charged as Ahmad constantly questioned himself and tried, through Junoon, to answer questions about his identity and purpose. Through it all, he falls back on rock and roll. It is his vehicle for expression and redemption. It’s a powerful faith. Some might call it naive. A song can’t change the world. However, it can be a forum for ideas.
Added together, rock and roll songs can be a guide through life. It can create a deeply ingrained attitude toward living that scares society, which might explain why rock and roll has met such resistance from society through the decades. Ahmad’s unshakable belief in rock restores faith in the power of music to make a change. Maybe that change takes years to take effect, and even then is not felt, but, if you look at the world today, it is so different from what it used to be. That, in small part, might be due to rock and roll.
Goodman’s book helps you to see how the world has changed, and Ahmad helps you to see why rock still matters. The best thing’s in life are free You can send them to the birds and bees I want money (Money, for Fred) It’s so hard to find One rich man in ten With a satisfied mind (trad. folk song for Salman)
