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I
am appalled that Russell Simmons and Def Jam Records or Sean
"Puffy" Combes of Bad Boy Records isn’t
speaking out about this issue of Michael Jackson and his
comments about racism in the music industry.
For those that aren't aware, Michael Jackson and Rev.
Al Sharpton are claiming racism in
the music industry.
Why
am I appalled?
Because
you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
I
find the claims of racism to be malicious…….If Def Jam or
Bad Boy records doesn’t comment on the issue you are going
to find that, over time, white people will believe black
people are like the fable “the boy who cried wolf too many
times.”
Why
do I say this?
- Several
music labels are owned by black men nowadays.
Def Jam & Bad Boy Records are clear examples of
black entrepreneurship in the music industry Yes, the
biggest music labels are large corporations, run by
primarily old white guys, but they have been around for
ages. These
black-owned / founded record labels have been successful
because they know what the music listeners (the customers)
want. Additionally,
Def Jam and Bad Boy clearly show that they are willing to
hustle to get the business through excellent promotion.
- When
I watch MTV or VH1 I see lots of minority artists
performing. This
shows how all artists are getting their fair share of
exposure.
Perhaps all artists are being used as "slave
labor" by the music labels but not just black
artists. I personally don't think either is the
case.
- What
about BET? I
don’t see WET (white entertainment) or AET (asian
entertainment). I
believe that BET evolved out of the times and a belief by
a black entrepreneur that black artists were being largely
ignored and that there was a commercial opportunity for
them. He was
correct. Congratulations
to him and the hundreds of millions of dollars he made in
creating a network.
Why
wasn't Michael Jackson talking about racism when he was
selling more records? Now that the record sales aren't
as robust as in the past, and he is causing Sony to LOSE money
on his records, he starts to complain.
Here
is the reality and I would love to see Def Jam comment on it.
- Michael
Jackson sells records but his record deal clearly only
makes money for Sony if he sells a ton of records.
If you want $100 million you better sell a BOATLOAD of
records just to make the record company breakeven.
- Michael
Jackson's production costs and video are nothing cheap.
I believe that his videos account for at least 2 of
the most expensive videos in the history.
- Now,
as Michael isn’t selling enough records to justify his
record contract, he is using the race card to try and
weasel his way out of his contract.
I
would encourage Def Jam or Bad Boy Records to hold a press
conference or release a joint statement simply stating that
black artists can and do have a home established by black
entrepreneurs. More
importantly, I believe the bigger issue is that black artists
can succeed and make substantial amounts of money in today’s
music industry.
- However,
if artists (of any racial background) want huge contracts
and paydays they have to generate huge sales.
The business is as simple as that.
- Production
costs for videos and records are costs that have to be
taken into account in determining a profit margin, like
any good business person would do.
- Do
you, as an artist, want an expensive video?
If you do recognize that, at the end of the day,
the video better sell enough incremental records to pay
for the video production costs.
- Do
you, as an artist, want to spend a year in the recording
studio, which is running up production costs?
No problem. But,
at the end of the day the artist has to generate enough
record sales to pay for the recording costs as well as the
sales and marketing costs just before the label breaks
even.
The
simple point is that HIGH ROLLERS & BIG DOGS in the music
industry take big risks.
Those big risks better generate big returns or
businesses start to cut their losses.
The race card isn’t warranted by Michael Jackson.
I find his behavior nothing short of pathetic.
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