Paul McGuinness, has been managing U2 since they were teenagers; quoted in the FT Dec 5, 2009 he said a few prescient things as a 58 year old who knows a bit about the cliposphere:
"But what dismays me a little about the online universe is that these corporations, like Google and MySpace and Apple, don't have anything that's the equivalent of artist relations" In fact YouTube does have a bit of that however how much? Not enough for certain.
The next comment from McGuinness however is one that really needs listening to:
"One day, tech groups will have their own talent scouts and digital versions of record labels....." Any business like YouTube needs to up their game right now, hire some of the great A+R people out there, and be actively encouraging acts to "sign" to your "tech" entity.
Yes I mean an artists signing deals with YouTube or MySpace; not with some old world recording company like EMI, or a talent agency, certainly not anyone still pushing out content on polycarbonate discs.
These "tech" companies all need to be scouting (scouring) their own platforms and those of their competition for talent. That may be singers, bands, comics, drama shows and creative writers or even TV show presenters.
YouTube could have signed singer Esmee Denters for a song early on in 2007.
YouTube could have done a deal with Jeff Dunham in late 2007 as his now 100 million view video sensation "Achmed the Dead Terrorist" started to bite.
They had all the relevant data at their fingertips to see sensations in the making; yet did nothing much with it commercially.
Moving to sign the right people fast of course takes skill, let alone backing, developing and nurturing that talent with music, TV, and film development teams; are the "tech" guys up to the challenge?
One thing's for sure; there are a lot of "old" music and media industry people out there looking for work right now ... the talent pool is sitting there right under the noses of MySpace, YouTube, Google and Apple ...
Creative Aitists Agency, Warners and the like better all look out ...
... YouTube may soon hire Ari Gold!
