Hey Joe, the music industry is that guy on the street with a busker’s hat.

The changes in the music industry have eaten away at its core so that only a dried husk is left. What ideas can lead this important industry forward?

I put a lot of the breakdown of the music industry on the heads of musicians. I do that because the music industry I joined as a young musician was a place with a defined career path. Generations of musicians before me had worked to build unions and performance royalty organizations.

There were contract structures to define roles and compensations. Music support people like mixers and producers had fees established. People expected to make a living. I bought houses and sent kids to college. And all that is gone.

I’ll play all day and you give me a buck.

Performance royalties have not increased in thirty years. Union work is almost impossible to find. And the music industry? That guy on the street with a busker’s hat? He does not know what he’s doing.

The changes in the music industry have eaten away at its core so that only a dried husk is left.

What ideas can lead this important industry forward?