This is so refreshing, Ted. I few like I’m getting personal McKinsey style insight from someone whose values actually align with mine. There’s so much to learn but such a resonant context. Thank you.
I agree completely with your analysis of Apple post-Jobs in both instances. And yet, if he hadn't been friends with Woz, who gave him a product to sell and to build a new company around, he'd never have climbed ANY corporate ladder. Nolan Bushnell tells the story of how Jobs had such bad b.o. and breath that nobody else at Atari would work with him, or even sit by him - but Bushnell still felt the kid had something. So he pulled Jobs aside and told him he was promoting him to night supervisor - except that the entire night crew at Atari consisted of Jobs and Woz. ;-)
TED....love this and other essays by you. Saw you on Rick Beato months back, and was inspired. I am in 1st round financing for my DHARMA DAWG Productions LLC [Multi-Media & Advocacy] in Austin, Texas. Have hired an IBM code project leader, to help me start and scale up to 'cloud' your notion of 'block-chain' music/intellectual property etc .. if you see this, I would so love your input. Tom Friedley at radiozeitgeist@protonmail.com thanks much for being you!!
I think the music industry - the record companies - was ripe for disruption, and it got disrupted by the big combines you mention, YouTube, Apple, etc.
AND, these guys are also ripe for disruption. They will be disrupted by organizations and structures made with the music in mind, by people who do it and like it. We already see some of that, we will see more.
I even wonder if it would have been possible to do this in one step instead of two, if indeed it only takes two steps. I'm not sure it would have.
But there are so many threads pointing in the same direction. Between Kickstarter and Patreon and Substack and Bandcamp, it seems clear that there's another future out there that is a lot less siloed.
Ted, oh, I love your stuff, you just gave Steve Jobs a pass. The iPhone is the single most destructive force in world culture today, including American guns, and nuclear armament.
Ted, while reading about Barnes & Noble and the employees' comments and views, two thoughts arose:
-> This new CEO Daunt seems to be taking the approach of Employees First, Then Customers, Then Shareholders - which in my experience often produces successful organizations through a virtuous spiral. Happy employees are more likely to work harder, provide better service, make better products that they actually care about, which leads to happy customers, which then improves company performance.
-> Daunt seems to have found the right leverage points to push on. If you haven't read Donella Meadows' great book Thinking in Systems, I think you would love it! All about creating great change by understanding systems and finding the leverage points.
(I mean, Steve Jobs didn't take a "happy employees first" approach and he built a great company anyway, so that's not the only possible approach. He was pushing on different leverage points - and they also worked.)
Loved this. For so many reasons. And: my brother-in-law is now a VP in software. He was a theater major, got his MFA in theater, the whole thing. He's in a Shakespeare-in-the-park production in his city once every couple of years. And has survived rounds and rounds of layoffs.
Miles Davis wouldn't have survived till noon! I laughed so hard at that one. This is a great look at corporate structure. But I'll tell you that poets are RUTHLESS. Take a look at The Poetry Foundation's business practices of the last few years.
I worked at Barnes and Noble for several years under the old leadership. I’ll never forget how “fast cashiering” and “always put the book in the customer’s hand” were supposed to be our main objectives. I love books, but sadly, that was not valued by management. It sure feels like something as uninspired as “fast cashiering” is the primary objective of what’s left of the music industry.
Hi Ted, I shared the original Barnes and Noble story with my teammates (we work in the publishing industry). Someone replied saying that this B&N information didn't really match the narrative, that total revenue was basically flat between 2021 and 2022: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BNED/financials?p=BNED. I'm basically illiterate when it comes to understanding this number. What would be your take on this?
Great piece, Ted! I’d say it’s a pretty big “if” about Miles surviving the kowtowing etc. I doubt it. I’m reminded of a story I heard (from his then-girlfriend) about bassist Teruo Nakamura in the 70s. He allegedly went into a contract meeting at Columbia Records, put his feet up on the desk and said, “tell me how you plan to f**k me over.” The meeting ended quickly and he never recorded on Columbia.
Beautifully & eloquently written Ted. A company founder or CEO needs to be able to both lead and inspire, helping each member of the team use their best talents, that combined produce magic. Sadly we live in the world where profit is placed above anything else
The resume of Wojcicki could hardly be worse, if you were looking for someone passionate about qwerty to run a company that was passionate about qwerty. Unless qwerty is something easily quantifiable that can be mass produced somewhere for the lowest costs per unit.
But then again, YouTube isn't really a music company now is it? And parent company Google, excuse me Alphabet, isn't really passionate about anything. Except maybe shareholders.
Most of this will get worse until it gets better, but the beatings shall continue until morale improves!
Love this Ted! Totally agree that CEOs really need to understand the fundamentals of their businesses especially in the cultural haven that is American culture! Please more CEOs that just ultimately make employees happier! It’s really that simple!😉😉
This is happening across cultural industries. Impacting the TV business too now, historically a "go-with-your-gut" approach. This is about the Global Head of Television at Netflix, which now informs, what, 85% of what people watch?
This is so refreshing, Ted. I few like I’m getting personal McKinsey style insight from someone whose values actually align with mine. There’s so much to learn but such a resonant context. Thank you.
I agree completely with your analysis of Apple post-Jobs in both instances. And yet, if he hadn't been friends with Woz, who gave him a product to sell and to build a new company around, he'd never have climbed ANY corporate ladder. Nolan Bushnell tells the story of how Jobs had such bad b.o. and breath that nobody else at Atari would work with him, or even sit by him - but Bushnell still felt the kid had something. So he pulled Jobs aside and told him he was promoting him to night supervisor - except that the entire night crew at Atari consisted of Jobs and Woz. ;-)
Many musicians hated or hate the business. They needed to make a living yes, but disliked the moguls who were in it solely for money.
TED....love this and other essays by you. Saw you on Rick Beato months back, and was inspired. I am in 1st round financing for my DHARMA DAWG Productions LLC [Multi-Media & Advocacy] in Austin, Texas. Have hired an IBM code project leader, to help me start and scale up to 'cloud' your notion of 'block-chain' music/intellectual property etc .. if you see this, I would so love your input. Tom Friedley at radiozeitgeist@protonmail.com thanks much for being you!!
I think the music industry - the record companies - was ripe for disruption, and it got disrupted by the big combines you mention, YouTube, Apple, etc.
AND, these guys are also ripe for disruption. They will be disrupted by organizations and structures made with the music in mind, by people who do it and like it. We already see some of that, we will see more.
I even wonder if it would have been possible to do this in one step instead of two, if indeed it only takes two steps. I'm not sure it would have.
But there are so many threads pointing in the same direction. Between Kickstarter and Patreon and Substack and Bandcamp, it seems clear that there's another future out there that is a lot less siloed.
Ted, oh, I love your stuff, you just gave Steve Jobs a pass. The iPhone is the single most destructive force in world culture today, including American guns, and nuclear armament.
Ted, while reading about Barnes & Noble and the employees' comments and views, two thoughts arose:
-> This new CEO Daunt seems to be taking the approach of Employees First, Then Customers, Then Shareholders - which in my experience often produces successful organizations through a virtuous spiral. Happy employees are more likely to work harder, provide better service, make better products that they actually care about, which leads to happy customers, which then improves company performance.
-> Daunt seems to have found the right leverage points to push on. If you haven't read Donella Meadows' great book Thinking in Systems, I think you would love it! All about creating great change by understanding systems and finding the leverage points.
(I mean, Steve Jobs didn't take a "happy employees first" approach and he built a great company anyway, so that's not the only possible approach. He was pushing on different leverage points - and they also worked.)
Loved this. For so many reasons. And: my brother-in-law is now a VP in software. He was a theater major, got his MFA in theater, the whole thing. He's in a Shakespeare-in-the-park production in his city once every couple of years. And has survived rounds and rounds of layoffs.
Miles Davis wouldn't have survived till noon! I laughed so hard at that one. This is a great look at corporate structure. But I'll tell you that poets are RUTHLESS. Take a look at The Poetry Foundation's business practices of the last few years.
I worked at Barnes and Noble for several years under the old leadership. I’ll never forget how “fast cashiering” and “always put the book in the customer’s hand” were supposed to be our main objectives. I love books, but sadly, that was not valued by management. It sure feels like something as uninspired as “fast cashiering” is the primary objective of what’s left of the music industry.
I wonder who music’s James Daunt might be?
Hi Ted, I shared the original Barnes and Noble story with my teammates (we work in the publishing industry). Someone replied saying that this B&N information didn't really match the narrative, that total revenue was basically flat between 2021 and 2022: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BNED/financials?p=BNED. I'm basically illiterate when it comes to understanding this number. What would be your take on this?
Great piece, Ted! I’d say it’s a pretty big “if” about Miles surviving the kowtowing etc. I doubt it. I’m reminded of a story I heard (from his then-girlfriend) about bassist Teruo Nakamura in the 70s. He allegedly went into a contract meeting at Columbia Records, put his feet up on the desk and said, “tell me how you plan to f**k me over.” The meeting ended quickly and he never recorded on Columbia.
Beautifully & eloquently written Ted. A company founder or CEO needs to be able to both lead and inspire, helping each member of the team use their best talents, that combined produce magic. Sadly we live in the world where profit is placed above anything else
The resume of Wojcicki could hardly be worse, if you were looking for someone passionate about qwerty to run a company that was passionate about qwerty. Unless qwerty is something easily quantifiable that can be mass produced somewhere for the lowest costs per unit.
But then again, YouTube isn't really a music company now is it? And parent company Google, excuse me Alphabet, isn't really passionate about anything. Except maybe shareholders.
Most of this will get worse until it gets better, but the beatings shall continue until morale improves!
Love this Ted! Totally agree that CEOs really need to understand the fundamentals of their businesses especially in the cultural haven that is American culture! Please more CEOs that just ultimately make employees happier! It’s really that simple!😉😉
This is happening across cultural industries. Impacting the TV business too now, historically a "go-with-your-gut" approach. This is about the Global Head of Television at Netflix, which now informs, what, 85% of what people watch?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/16/how-much-more-netflix-can-the-world-absorb-bela-bajaria
Very non-communicative about her own taste and sense of quality...
Wonderful article Ted! But what is to be done?