( E )ven ( M )ore ( I )nvestment?

If I was a shareholder in EMI, the big question I'd be keen to hear answered this week would be - what exactly are you planning to use my £100 million for?

As the home to some of the world's biggest artists - who continue to be as popular as ever, despite the company's insistence that the massive defecit is due to the recession and the "continuing rapid decline of the physical market" - one would think EMI would be able to maintain a strong position in the industry. The analysis this week of the company's position hints towards continued mismanagement and bad deals.

Like many sectors, the music industry is beginning to fall foul of lack of trust and transparency. Music fans are turning away from physical products and refusing to pay what they now believe to be too high a price for compact discs - which have for most become obsolete anways. Fans don't respect big record labels. But they are still investing time and money in the music and artists that they love. The superbrands under EMI - Kylie, Coldplay, Pet Shop Boys, The Beatles - all have huge asset potential beyond recorded music.

Its the equivalent of Unilever somehow suddenly failing to release that people still need deodorant.

EMI has stated that it will be producing a new business strategy in return for continued investment. Surely this is too late - especially if the business plan is just "more of the same but with emphasis of digital and less on physical products". They are going to have to come up with something remarkable, and fast. It is no wonder that the big players continue to get left behind, with faulty strategy resulting in both artists and music fans turning their backs. If they havent been paying attention, everything is changing. Keep up and stay ahead, or the banks will take control. And if that happens, another formerly great British business will certainly be over.

Revolution(ary)

I sent a copy of the new single "Revolutions" to a musical colleague of mine last week. His critical (and unsolicited, as it usually tends to be) response was that it was "nice, although not so spectacular as the title hints".

Perhaps he has misinterpreted the meaning of the song -  it is not titled "Revolutionary". There is quite a difference between the two words. Indeed "revolutions" holds several different interpretations. The sentiment behind the track is referenced in the lyrics --

"Will our history come around again

Another era in a time of men"

Over and over we repeat ourselves. A continuous cycle of cause and effect, invention and reinvention. Conflict and resolve. The cycle gets faster - yet we seem to be further from the epiphany that will set us free. 

"Revolutions" is a simple pop song. It does not need to be more than that - and in creating it I certainly did not try to be revolutionary. To set out to do so is almost inevitably to fail musically - I believe it is more important to create something that is emotionally successful than to make it the Next Big Thing. To me the track is everything I intended it to be.

What is revolutionary in music? At a glance we could maintain that the past century has seen more creative revolutions than ever before. Musique concrète. Jazz. Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring". Minimalism. Rock'n'roll, pop, house, punk. Erm - nu rave? Perhaps not.

I feel that there have only been two significant revolutionary moments. Without them the musical world as we know it today would not be the same - and the impact of which will lead us to the next (whenever that might be - in the current musical climate this might not be in our lifetime ...)

John Cage - 4'33" (1952)

By composing a piece where not a single note is actually played, liberating the performer and allowing chance to conduct the experience, Cage brought philosophy to music and pushed the boundaries of what we accept as art. He paved the way for generations of composers who finally had permission to let freedom of sound into their work. Electronic music would not have been the same without him.

The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show (1964)

Before appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show, The Beatles were relatively unknown in the US. With television becoming a force in mass media, the marriage of rock'n'roll with the excitement of live performance broadcast simultaneously to millions heralded in the British Invasion and the beginning of pop culture as we know it. 

Of course there have been other milestones since these two events, and indeed many new forms of popular music - but they all relate back to these important moments. It will take some time to go beyond this - as a musician today, all we can hope for is to add to our collective musical history.