'Retto Ruminations
By: Amy Sciarretto
Last updated July 22nd , 2010

First things first: late Friday night, I was playing Frank Sinatra and Fleetwood Mac in my kitchen, while doing some work on my laptop, when my five-month-old bulldog - he is nearly 30 lbs of muscle and love - showed his affinity for music. His ears would move in time with the beat. Whenever I listen to sports talk radio, his ears stay immobile. When I switch to music – usually Elvis Presley, Ol' Blue Eyes and, of course, Pantera, since his name is Higgins Hansen Anselmo-Sciarretto, in homage to My Fair Lady and Philip Anselmo- his ears move to the beat and he looks at the radio. No joke. I love seeing the effect that music has on my beautiful beast. Music is the universal language, even for a canine with no language skills! It's really amazing to watch his ears move to the music. And he does it every single time. It's probably an involuntary reflex and response to the sonic stimulus, but whatever it is, he has a reaction to it and that's what moves me ... much more than an inch.

Now, my main point for the week. I took my 11-year-old nephew to a Phillies game last weekend; I have Sunday season tickets for home games. He is a huge baseball fan, so he's very much into the game, batting practice, shopping at the Majestic Club House Store, looking at the water ice, soft pretzel and cheesesteak vendors, walking around the park and taking in all the scenery. Like me. By the end of the night, I had spent nearly $250 on the day, for nine innings, in the blazing got son, from the parking, to the cost of the tickets, to the cap I bought him and the carabeaner I bought myself, to the veggie tofu hot dog I ate and the Gatorade he drank. It was fine; I'd have spent $100 more, but it got me to thinking how so many more families and couples and people like myself spend a day at the ballpark (and it's usually a one off, not a biweekly thing, like it is for me, who wants to increase my season ticket plan package) and find themselves out $300 or more.  For one day, in the sun, at the park, win or lose. People do it, night in and night out and the organization rakes in the bucks. I bet two sold-out nights at the park ends up covering a large percentage of the payroll. Fans are loyal.

So why can't folks in the music industry figure it out the way that sports organizations have? I know it may seem like comparing apples to oranges, but it is really a matter of simple economics. If you build it, they will come, right? If you put out good music, music that changes lives, people will find it. Good music finds it audience. So while the playing field, to continue the baseball metaphor, has been shaped by the digital companies, not by those who sell the actual product, how does the seller adapt? How does the seller reach the buyer? Is it time to bring people from the digital era, who work for Apple and Microsoft and even Starbucks, since those HNICs know how to market, to work for the record labels, in positions of finance, marketing and digital technology? I don't meant wipe out those doing the jobs now. I mean working alongside them, enhancing them, helping them progress, etc.

We are working in an industry that is celebrating 100,000 copies sold and a #2 debut on the sales charts. A decade ago, the album that moved 100,000 copies in a week was hanging out in the 100 range on the chart, not number one. These diminished returns and these shrinking figures make me wonder what can be done to combat recorded, bought and sold music from going the way of T Rex. I never know the answer. I just pose the question, hoping someone out there does or is inspired to do. I know it's not easy, but it is reality.

The sports organizations continue to pull in cash hand over fist, no matter what. As a Phillies fan, seeing the organization let pitcher Cliff Lee go because his salary was $9 million and they needed to make overhead room to acquire Roy Halladay. While I love Roy and have three Halladay t-shirts and I think he is the best pitcher in baseball, we could have gotten him and kept Lee for a paltry $9 million. It sent a message to fans that the organization wanted to save money and when they are raking in what looks like billions overall, $9 million isn't much to spare to have the top two pitchers in baseball taking the mound for our team. But it doesn't stop me from buying the shirts, drinking the $4 waters at the game, scarfing down the tofu hot dog or buying a carabeaner because it has the Phillies logo on it. Why hasn't the music industry been able to keep the consumer as interested? I realize that you can get the music for free and that's what people are doing, but you can just as easily sit home on the couch in the air conditioning and watch a game. I know the industries are markedly different, but they are incredibly similar in that they inspire loyalty and people have passion so deep that it hits marrow for their sports teams and their favorite bands.

Maybe someone from the sports world can do a seminar or a weekend training session with those who run record labels to try and bridge the gap or show a template that can be tweaked for the music business where applicable and necessary. 

I think a lot about music and sports, two of my favorite things, next to my puppy. I wonder what one can learn from the other. ~ Amy Sciarretto  

[Tags] Rock, Metal

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