artists who do not work hard enough…

02007-11-13 | Uncategorized | 4 comments

EMI boss threatens to axe artists who do not work hard enough | | Guardian Unlimited Business
EMI has suggested that it is prepared to axe artists who do not work hard enough as the group takes a fresh approach to the music business under its new private equity owners.
Guy Hands, head of the buyout group Terra Firma, has said in a memo to EMI staff that his initial views on overhauling the recorded music division included more rigorous demands on artists.

Well, art is messy and fuzzy and NOT linear and pie-chart-able. An artist may appear to be doing nothing much at all from the outside and yet the internal process may be developing something amazing… how is a suit going to recognize that?

One move by EMI’s new owner was to draft in Tony Blair’s former adviser and notorious cost-cutter John Birt to its supervisory board, tasking him with reviewing how it treats its artists.

Could this be a fundamentally flawed approach, to hire an advisor/politician? They don’t like the arts to begin with…

4 Comments

  1. eric

    I think most suits are not familiar with that kind of depth of emotion. Artists evolve just like any other form of life. In order to survive in today’s market you have to be business minded enough to know you’re not getting screwed and free enough to allow the different transference of energies that come through an artist’s perception of representation for those emotions.

    My advice to artists, form a major label run by artists not suits. I’m sure there are suits out there who understand this and would love to work for a label that wants nothing more than to put out good music.

    Music is more than just a business.

    Reply
  2. steve

    I think that creative pursuits in general are “messy and fuzzy and NOT linear and pie-chart-able.” I used to design high speed analogue circuits. I did so for two decades, and would think for long periods of time about how I was going to accomplish something. I would get accused of “not doing anything” because I was just sitting there “staring into space” and apparently not “making progress.” Many of my colleagues used to joke that we had to “invent on schedule.”

    The business man makes decisions based upon business. The law maker makes decisions based upon precedent.

    Business, law, and creativity more often than not work at cross purposes, and in my opinion, and based upon some pretty decent inside knowledge, EMI is approaching this from the completely wrong angle. They need to work on their infrastructure, and their business model, not mandate throughput numbers from their artists.

    Reply
  3. Carol

    C’mon! Jump to it! Create something quick. I’ve been standing waiting for over an hour and nothing. I thought you were supposed to be a great artist. Get with it!
    Michelangelo threw plaster at someone for trying to hurry him up.
    You can’t hurry greatness.
    It’s quite a thing for a person to be an artist and a businessman, but many are I know.

    Reply
  4. yumiko

    I did not read anything about producing quality in the work. Creativity does not turn on instantly from 8 to 5/Mon-Fri.

    Reply

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