Music and music business (they're not the same thing) blogger Bob Lefsetz makes his Variety debut with the editorial, Vimeo Killed The Radio Star.
Great headline. Vimeo must love it. But, it has nothing to do with the column itself, really. And if I had to guess based on the lack of snappy headlines from the Lefsetz Letter, it was probably contributed by an editor who knows how to move the viral needle.
The column itself makes Lefsetz's oft-repeated point that kids these days are more interested in technology than music, using Summly as an example.
The reason Summly sold for $30 million is because the potential audience is EVERYBODY! That’s what musicians just don’t get. They’re still living in an antique universe wherein if you’re anointed, you sell tonnage and get rich. Where exactly is that vehicle again? Radio is moribund and MTV plays no videos. There is no space program. Your only hope is to be the next Beatles, i.e. Adele, to create something undeniable, but all we’ve got is made by committee fads.
An unfair comparison, since a service like Summly is about finding succinct ways of engaging with what you're already interested in. Teenage developer Nick D'Aloisio isn't providing a finished work of art, like a musician does: He's presenting you with the framework in which you can collate and curate.
But Lefsetz might be onto something here — even if I feel like the real connective tissue he sees here is "technology makes tons of money" and the "music biz used to make tons of money."
The audience doesn't want to be passive anymore. They want control and they want to participate. Which is possibly why "Harlem Shake" took off: It provided a simple framework that almost anyone could riff upon and create and share. And maybe that's also why the remix culture, electronic music and hip-hop are growing by leaps and bounds.
Vimeo didn't kill the radio star. All it did was provide a means for artists to share their work. If anything, it amplifies the radio star's voice, assuming that musician is able to commission or inspire visual artists to do something great...
That said: Great title. And, don't forget that Summly is designed to help those who are "inundated with drivel," which you may perhaps find ironic here.
