Money Matters

ROCK AND ROLLING IN IT

Watching a film about the music industry this weekend, I realised that there are different ways to look at the things we enjoy to bring meaning into our lives.

Music frames our memories. Particular melodies and key changes evoke emotions in us. Classical film scores do this job well. Good music has the power to lift a mood and the right kind of music soundtrack can evoke happy memories and revive nostalgic memories from our past. 

For a music A&R person however, listening to music so they can create the next chart-topping hit, is far from bringing emotional fulfilment. It's all about money. They see people: musicians/bands with their look, musical style and wider appeal as a gateway to financial wealth. They see beneath the emotional facade. They are looking critically at the prospect of success. Feelings just don't come into it at all. It's a difficult skill to master, being able to bypass emotional attachment to focus on money making potential. We generally take it for granted that success in the music business evolves organically - but it's not the case. Stars are created. It's business model is based on record and ticket sales, so the band or musician's persona is created to maximise on making money. This fact about what makes the world go round, lies at the heart of everything we value. Money creates value. 

The music industry has had many cash cows over the years, but it's become increasingly difficult to make the money through regular record sales. So that's why we've seen an emergence of talent spotting shows on TV. Discovering (or creating) the next big thing, is a gamble that not always pays off. So why not let the public decide up front instead! While this form of talent hunting has proven to be entertaining and fairly lucrative for the promotors and record labels, I'm sure, it's certainly played a role in diminishing the magic of what becoming a music legend once was, by revealing to all, the money machine at the heart of the music industry. 

Racing Fuel

As for music, watching the touring cars race at Brands Hatch this weekend, I was given a chance to look under the bonnet of what the motor racing industry is. It's essentially one of the key formats for the car industry to better promote sales of their vehicles. The race vehicles are a world away from their commercial road fairing equivalents. These finely tuned race cars are mostly fibre glass shells retro fitted over a chassis and roll cage. This chassis (and gearbox) is the same for all teams to ensure a level field for all competitors. It's only really engines and drivers that differentiate them. Having more money, will ensure the best talent and support are given to win more races. Racing is all about money. The manufacturers are promoting their brand's reliability and quality through marketing, PR and advertising streams - which is done on the cars, clothing and through televised racing, commentary and interviews. All the competitive spin between the drivers, is again used to promote the team, manufactures and all the other industry sponsors as much as possible. The spectacle of racing is there to attract viewers, just like the performances of bands & singers are tailored to excite fans to part with their cash. Its the promotors, labels, manufacturers and PR people that are creating the events and it's money that fuels them to do this.

Once we start to look more in-depth at the money-making motivations of those who run our entertainment industries, we can see where money matters most. And if we learn to control our urges, and emotional responses, we can weigh-up if our own efforts for creating money are being met with the value these entertainments give us.