Comments on: Hey Obama: Reboot the music industry!

If we can bail out the auto industry and spend at least a trillion dollars to save the financial system and reinvest in infrastructure, surely we could spare a dime for the music biz.

[aj37viggen]

Great -- but if the government is going to invest in education and training, tax breaks, stipends and infrastructure investments for the music industry, why not for other creative-arts industries such as painting, dance, graphic design, poetry, etc., etc., etc.? Rosoff's arguments would apply just as well to any of these, and they're all deserving.

But where would you stop? If kids' school days had to make time for music appreciation, art appreciation, architecture appreciation, dance appreciation, poetry appreciation, sculpture appreciation and so on, there wouldn't be enough hours left for the now-mandatory coursework in multicultural free-range condom application and whatnot, let alone dumb, unglamorous stuff such as spelling and math.

And would you really want some Soviet-style cultural apparat doling out tax breaks and stipends to individual musicians and venues? Inevitably you'd wind up subsidizing musicians who were good at politicking, at the expense of musicians who were only good at music. Since those two kinds of talents are somewhat mutually exclusive, the end result would be that overall, music would get worse rather than better -- as the real Soviet Union, and most local and state arts council grant programs, demonstrate all too painfully.

[Pete Bardo]

Yeah, the music industry needs to reboot with one swift kick in the a...

[bmn_1213]

Why should we? I could name off a dozen industries that need help before music. This is what I hate about CNET, they have these liberal writers that include their opinions. We don't need that, we need tech news, not your bias. This is purely a call for a big Government solution to have it's hands in EVERYTHING. Giving nightclubs tax credits for hiring musicians? Our you kidding me? And where will this money come from to repay the tax? Good musicians are doing fine - even when I get their content from the Pirate Bay, the sucky ones, well they just don't survive. Now that's Capitalism.

[thescale]

You hate it so much you continue to read it just to spite those pesky liberals. Good work, my son. Have a cookie.

Yeah, that was sarcasm.

Happy Holidays!

[bmn_1213]

Said like a true Liberal. No, it's just that us Conservatives are able to hear and accept the other point of view, unlike Pelosi and the Fairness Doctrine.

I think I will have a cookie, and pie. Have a Merry Christmas (That's right, I'm not afraid to say it, but don't fret too much with a reply, you might contribute to carbon emissions in some way.

[zeryck]

This is an editorial.

[protagonistic]

If it weren't December I would think this article was an elaborate April Fools piece. The sad thing is i feel the author is serious about this. Apparently the author feels we should reward the RIAA for producing a mediocre, and I am being overly generous here, product and pursuing an unsustainable business model.

If the government invested money through the RIAA it would only serve to stifle the independent artists who have figured out how to make money in the digital era and who are actually producing a product worth buying. The major labels deserve to die a not so painless death. Maybe then we can actually have music worth paying for. I buy exclusively from independent artists these days.

[GRobLewis]

The problem is that the music industry came to view ever-increasing profits from ever-bigger blockbuster artists as the "normal" state of its affairs. In fact, it was a historical blip originally enabled by the arrival of mass media and widespread prosperity, and now de-enabled by the Internet and the coming economic contraction.
Like everything else, music is probably going to have to get a lot more local.

[Nicholas Buenk]

The music industry is being punished for it's lack of willingness to be at the forefront of innovation and it's lack technological prowess. I see nothing wrong with this, it'll be reborn stronger without the governments help once they figure out better business models.
Bail outs should be left to only crisis aversion, or you're constantly rewarding failure.

But the essential issue is that these guys treated technology as the enemy for a long time and are justly being punished for that stupidity.

[jimmyhoops]

This is a horrible idea! It's time for the music industry to work out their own woes or die an agonizing death. Any "bailout" is non-essential and a waste of money. The music industry will reorganize itself. It must if it wishes to survive, but will most likely take on a new business model to do so.

[MadLyb]

Just because we have been bailing every other idiot doesn't mean we should do it for more.

Music (along with other arts) will survive and quite honestly, the industry needs to rebuild itself based upon the digital era. Until they truly do that, I will have no sympathy for them.

BTW, the RIAAs campaign did not end, it just changed targets to one that is less of a PR disaster.

[SeizeCTRL]

Salary cap the CEO's and force them to spread the wealth around. You can't have the head of Sony BMG making multi-millions while proclaiming that the industry is in such bad shape. Nothing irks me more than companies doing layoffs, cutting wages etc. while the big wigs in the corporate offices are getting bonuses, flying around in leer jets, and making 6 figures. Perhaps if you cut the pork up at the top and spread it amongst the people who keep you in job like the music producers, the studio sound techs, and the like, you might have a better public image.

Also stop producing ****** music. I think we are sick to death of Britney Spears pop crap and we are sick to death of CDs containing only one or two great tracks with 10 mediocre filler songs. It's rare to stumble upon a disc where every song is quality! Stop focusing on that one big single and focus on just a solid great album.

[baconstang]

Good article! Obviously beyond the grasp of the creatively impaired that have responded.

[kr3bstar]

Dear president: The typwriter industry is struggling. How 'bout a few bucks?

[karpenterskids]

Screamo on NPR? I'd actually enjoy that... :)

[coryschulz]

I'm all for funding education and the actual musicians themselves, but it would be a terrible idea to give money to a major label. I don't support anything related to the RIAA. I download all of my music from P2P sources because of the RIAA. Or I purchase directly from the artist, because then I know the RIAA isn't getting any of the money.

But Obama only is really looking to invest money into sources where it will be repaid to the taxpayers. The auto makers will have to abide by this. So I doubt he'd give money to bands and such.

[lordmorgul]

Oh please. The very last thing the music industry needs is ACORN getting involved.

[angelkrush]

many, many DOLTS making comments, not even getting the point. art and music is essential to culture and society- period. since america only cares about..um..MONEY, of course we are going to have the drones screaming bloody murder to such an important thing in EVERYONES lives- even their own damn children growing up. bunch of fools. Sure you can disagree, but at least act like you are understanding what he is saying. What a shame. Must be some "hockey dads" or "real americans" up in here.

And for the record, if art/music training in this country wasn't such a joke, there wouldn't be posts like this in the first place. sheesh.

[blacksmyth2025]

WOW!! Bail out the music industry?? Should we bail out Hollywood next? This is ridiculous to put it mildly. I think certifiably insane is more like it! Entertainment should be the very last person on the list to even be considered for government help. It's the musicians' responsibility to make it big. It's not the government's responsibility to make sure musicians are putting food on the table. I think what you are forgetting is that the government giving money to different industries is really us giving money those industries through taxes. The government is not a magically bunny that creates money out of thin air (or at least it shouldn't be). If you want to support the music industry, even if you think their products suck, then you should, but forcing the rest of us to "subsidized" the music industry is a WRONG! PS: Obama isn't going to solve all of our problems...

[gsekse]

I really hope this is a "joke" article. You missed the date for it, April 1st is a few months away.

If your serious... You have issues about what runs the economy and the actually realities of the music industry in general. Take a few days to research the history of the entertainment industry from the great depression on, you might learn something.

[CCmanyfjhgfjyghj]

Your point is well taken and I agree arts/music could probably use more support within the American educational system. Nice way but not so subtle to bring attention to it, I'm sure many people will comment on the horrifc idea of a bailout for the music industry.

[An Honest Opinion]

The last industry that needs a bail out is the music industry! If they want to spend money on anything musically related, send it to the schools. There's plenty of ways for people to sell their music without the fat pig music companies getting their grubby hands on it. I rarely listen to radio anymore because I'm tired of people telling me what is worth listening to. Want to find something new and rare? Head over to YouTube. The music industry only has themselves to blame for not keeping up with technology. I'd rather give my money to an up and coming band than a commercially viable one.

[lorcro2000]

No, no. Step one will have to be to take out one of the underlying factors that cause poor music sales and kills musical diversity - re-regulate radio to the way it was before the Clear Channel days. The rule used to be that any one entity could only own a few radio stations and that was even regulated based on area covered and so forth. Payola still happened then, but not the institutionalized and ritualized version that goes on now where the studios pay the so-called independent promoters who in turn pay the radio behemoths for airplay.

Since pay-to-play is not only alive and well but booming, the studios go for "sure things" that in reality are just warmed over old leftovers... re-regulate radio and take out the darn middlemen and maybe music as a whole could recover again, radio play of music is an important factor.