thinks

Fred Wilson pointed out a New York Times article about one major label considering releasing tracks as MP3 files, which, ironically enough, seems to be the format their customers would like. Huh. Imagine that. The music industry looking out for its customers. Who woulda thunk it? Chris Hedgecock and Jeremiah Foster at O’Reilly each provide interesting analysis of the article as well. Foster, in particular, wonders about such a move’s impact to iTunes. Definitely worth keeping an eye on that.

As I noted in July and even earlier, the music industry has shot itself in the foot repeatedly over how it prevents its customers from consuming its product. This may signal a sea change for all producers of intellectual property with limited distribution costs. Chris Anderson, who thinks about these changing models far more often and far better than I do, picked apart one label’s point of view earlier this week. Check out his book, “The Long Tail,” for more on this. It’s well worth the read.

No one argues that content creators deserve compensation for their creation. I run AdSense ads and use an Amazon affiliate ID to help pay my costs here, for instance. But fundamentally preventing your customers from accessing your creation in ways that they choose is simply dumb business. Google has shown repeatedly that you can monetize content in a number of ways. It’s time for the music industry to wake up to a new reality and figure out new ways to:

1. Satisfy its customers
2. Promote its product
3. Turn a profit doing it

Huh. That sounds almost like a real business, doesn’t it? We can only hope.

Anne Zelenka just asked an important question: “Would you rather do a few things well or a lot of things badly?” It’s something I hadn’t considered much, though the answer came to me easily. I’m definitely a “do more” type. I’d rather fail for trying too much than trying too little. Clearly, “too much” means different things to different folks. Your mileage may vary.

Anne also wonders whether she shouldn’t be putting a greater focus on balance. While I think Anne’s talking more in terms of work vs. life (which I think of as a bizarre dichotomy - since when is work not part of life?), aren’t the extremes where the action is? Seth Godin, in “Free Prize Inside”, calls it edgecrafting. Disney calls it plussing. I prefer a term from baseball, one that led to great success for some of the best pitchers in history. It’s called painting the corners. Whatever you call it, find your edge.

Seth Godin talks about the need for folks who can manage high volumes of data as we move forward. I think he’s right. But, as the volume of data accelerates around us, those that can pull their head out of their, um, data streams and see the broader contexts have a distinct advantage over those who simply skim the surface. Both are necessary. Each can benefit the other tremendously. Which one would you rather be?

I mentioned the other day that I’m shopping for an interactive agency at work. A couple folks wrote asking how my group approached the effort. Here’s what works for us:

1. You must understand what you’re looking for. Different agencies bring different skill sets and competencies - regardless of how diverse each might claim to be. Their skill sets need to match your goals.
2. Reach out to a broad range of agencies. If you think you’re just looking for a search firm, talk to some integrated shops, too. And vice versa. Finding the right fit takes looking around.
3. Make sure all stakeholders in the organization share the same goals. Nothing ensures a failed agency relationship like finding out later that your e-commerce and marketing teams have different expectations of the agency.
4. Make the compensation package fit your goals, too. For interactive/search agencies, I prefer performance bonuses built into the contract based on the agency meeting given goals. If your candidate agencies are unwilling to accept that type of arrangement, keep looking.
5. Finally, make sure the personalities between the teams mesh. You’ll work with these folks everyday going forward. It won’t work if you don’t get along.

Yesterday I stared at a blank screen for several hours, hoping for some flash of inspiration. Pieces I had in the works weren’t working. Scraps I’d previously cast aside remained scraps. By the time I called it a night, I’d written eight sentences. Every one of them was crap. Not spectacular crap, remarkable in its failure, the kind that sparks Simon Cowell’s scorn on “American Idol.” No, this was boring, bland, barely-worth-mentioning crap. No train wreck, just a fender bender. But one that left the vehicle stranded. And today, at first, wasn’t much better.

Nothing inspired me.

I read. I surfed. I chatted. And still, bupkes.

At work, I’ve got enough to do that I can easily put aside one task for another when I simply can’t get my head around the first. Here, no such luck. It’s write or go dark. Finally, I thought about what drives me. I recognized the thing that inspires me is the process. I like to see nothing become something. I like to hear the words in my head and watch them scroll across my screen. Instead of focusing on the finished product, I concentrated on a single step. Then another.

It wasn’t always pretty. But I finished. Tomorrow I’ll do it again.

I know we all go through it and we’re not always in a position to just let it go. I’m curious how everyone copes. What gets you moving when you’re just not feeling it?

Today was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 78th birthday. Seventy-eight. Not 100. Not 200. While he died over thirty years ago, Dr. King could easily be alive today. Could be, but isn’t. He stated - the day before he died:

“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place, but I’m not concerned about that now… I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.”

King’s messages have lived longer than he did as a public figure. I normally try to relate things like this to the business world. It shouldn’t be much of a stretch today. But I can’t. Dr. King stood for so much more than trivial issues of “did I make more money for me/my company today?”

It’s a shame we need a day to remind us of what Dr. King tried to accomplish and of how far still remains to go. A man his age should still be here to remind us what needs to be done. The only way anyone will get to the Promised Land is if we think about Dr. King and his legacy more than once a year. And do something about it.