Back to Part I

People may be down on the Internet at this point in time but if they continue to ignore it they may end up going the way of the dinosaurs.  I will conclude with the story of a company that was at one time the leader in its industry but resisted adopting to new trends in it�s marketplace and faltered. 

Lotus burst onto the new personal computer scene and gave the IBM personal computer it�s killer application, Lotus 1-2-3.  1-2-3 was a powerful spreadsheet program that gave businessmen a reason to purchase a computer because this program gave them faster more efficient ways to do things. What would have taken them hours to do by hand they could now do in just minutes. It opened new doors and helped them run their businesses more efficiently. Lotus soon became the largest software company in the world. But they got fat and complacent with their success. They figured they had the market cornered, people knew and trusted their product. So when Microsoft told developers about a new operating system they were developing for the IBM PC, Lotus ignored them.  Windows? Who needs it? Our program works fine under DOS. Microsoft never misses an opportunity to attack a new market, especially when the competition drops the ball. So they decided since Lotus wasn�t going to port their spreadsheet program to Windows, they would retool their own spreadsheet for the Macintosh over to Windows.  When Windows caught on in the market place Microsoft�s Lotus killer, Excel, became a best seller. Lotus rushed to recapture the market they once dominated but their first Windows version of Lotus was riddled with bugs. A few short years later, Lotus a company that was once the largest software company in the world was sold for a song to IBM. 

Will we see the major record labels suffer the same fate as Lotus? Will their resistance to the Internet leave them in the dust, while up-start Indy�s move in on their turf and dominate the market because they used every tool in their arsenal?  As far-fetched as it may seem, it is a very real possibility if they don�t wake up to the 21st century soon.  The bottom line is always to get the music out to the people. It's important for new artists to get exposure so the music scene doesn't become stagnet, so if the majors fumble the ball by not playing by the new rules of the game they may end up losing to up-start indy's who use every angle they can find to get their artists the exposure they deserve.  Just remember this the next time you seek out content on the web for your favorite artist. If you have a hard time finding it, chances are it wasn't the publishers who decided not to cover the artist but the record label or publicist who dropped the ball.  So the reluctant publicist and their artists aren't the only ones who lose, you do too.