In an article titled “Is Take That’s songwriting democracy a publishing bottleneck in America?”, we explored the reasons for the lack of digital availability of Take That’s post-reunion material in the US. We loved hearing from all of you through your comments. There were some interesting and valid comments that popped up in the “comments” section of our post. This post is meant to be a sequel to our last post on Take That. So if you have not read that one, we strongly suggest you do by CLICKING HERE.
Here are some of our ideas to make Take That’s post-reunion material available in the US while increasing their exposure in the US:
Merging publishing rights for the US: The publishing rights of Howard Donald, Jason Orange, and Mark Owen should be licensed to Gary Barlow’s publishing company exclusively for the US. That way, no new sub-publisher needs to get involved for the publishing rights component of post-reunion Take That material being released in the US.
Leveraging data to measure US demand for Take That: 10 Management (Take That’s management company) should run a Musicmetric and NextBigSound report to count the number of “pirated downloads” and “social plays” respectively. This number can be used to calculate the amount of “foregone revenue” tied to Take That’s post-reunion material due to the lack of legal digital availability of the music. This number would help quantify the business problem associated with NOT releasing Take That’s post-reunion material in the US. Unflattering numbers usually get the attention of music executives. Take That’s “foregone revenue” could be one such number. This number will definitely convince the decision-makers to release Take That’s music in the US. Choosing what music to feature should be “based on gut” but choosing WHERE to promote music should absolutely be a “data-driven” decision.
Music aficionados looking beyond terrestrial radio for their music: This suggestion might sound like a shameless effort at self-promotion at first but in reality is not. People in the US should TUNE OUT of terrestrial radio if they do not like what they are hearing. Terrestrial radio served a great purpose at a time when we could trust music connoisseurs to curate and expose us to great music. These music aficionados (i.e. DJs) have been extricated from the playlist programming process over 16 years ago and have been replaced by folks that claim to use market research to determine what “works” on the radio. This is flawed on two levels. Art cannot be dictated by market research. Second, the method used for market research by these folks suffers from a common flaw in business called the “confirmation bias”. That basically involves the market research team making a decision on a set of songs and asking people to validate their decision by asking them questions that would not help uncover limitations in the playlist programming process. If our current music ecosystem does not lend itself to breaking and nurturing artistic talent, we need to rock that ecosystem to ensure that balance is restored. Pop music is a part of our artistic and cultural heritage and the longer we leave its reins solely in the hands of corporate “incompetents”, the more likely it is that we will have nothing left to love in music. Simply accepting the highly flawed music radio ecosystem will lead to music being undermined in the long run. It could lead to the eventual death of the sacred art form of music. That truly would be a tragedy. Why should it matter that terrestrial radio does not play Take That? Tune out of that medium. If there is a mass exodus from terrestrial radio, the folks that control playlists WILL listen to us as opposed to forcing us to listen to what they want us to listen to. There are plenty of internet music radio station (ours included) that features a format that all of you know and love. The mainstream absence of Take That in America is a symptom of a much larger problem. Contrary to popular belief, the pop world in the US does not have to revolve solely around Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, David Guetta, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus!
Any thoughts or comments on our ideas? Please feel free to let us know!
RADIO ALERT: We might be one of the few American radio stations that plays Take That’ music regularly. We are definitely the ONLY radio station in the world that plays the solo material of Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, and Mark Owen regularly. Currently, “Candy” by Robbie Williams is getting 5 plays a day on our radio station. IF you are reading this on a mobile device (smartphone, tablet etc.), CLICK HERE to listen to our radio station. If not, listen to our station from ANY part of the world by clicking on the button below.
Logical solutions. The merging of publishing rights is the necessary first step. This could be easier than expected since Howard Donald and Jason Orange’s publishing rights were released earlier this year. The major hurdle seems to be convincing Take That they have the US fan base to warrant the cost and effort. Unfortunately I doubt main stream radio will be influenced since they do not seem to care about the listeners at all. Sponsorship is their only concern.
@Marissa: Thanks so much for the comment. Convincing Take That should be fairly straightforward. I think the issue here is their management NOT looking at the right data sources. Sales, pirated downloads, and social “shares” in a country together paint a pretty good picture of region-specific demand for an artist or band. Obviously, they have to make projections for potential demand with promotion that does NOT involve mainstream radio play. With those projections for sales, they can then decide whether promoting Take That in the US is worthwhile. Right now, I think they are making a decision based on “gut” (euphemism for ignorance in my opinion). A lot of unrealized value is being left on the table here.
Hi, it is me again. Thank you for posting this article. I think that the members of Take That do not have enough convidence to break into in America. They are always so modest and when asked about conquering the States, they do not seem confident enough and they always say that they are not interested. I hate their attitude, but going up against 1D is going to be tough and they know that. It is weird isn’t it, that legends like Take That will not prove America that they can kick ass. Everytime I see articles about 1D’s success it makes me sick. Take That should have their success. They broke barriers and brought pop to a whole other level. Maybe we should show their managment that we are f***** serieus!
@Sharon: Their lack of confidence is because they are NOT looking at the right data. Like their management, they are making a gut-driven decision and not a data-based decision. Going up against 1D based on artistic merit is actually very easy. Getting the same exposure they do in the US is the key.
Maybe they need to have a little help from the fans. But Take That fans are so passive. They do not seem to care either. Only 2 people signed my petition. WTF!!
@Sharon: Many fans signed the last petition for releasing Take That’s material in the US but it did not end up getting picked up by the media. Quite a few blogs highlighted the petition but when that did not work, many people lost faith in the petition. That is fairly typical when a petition does not work successfully in terms of steering some sort of concrete action.
Maybe we could send the petition to record companies or to magazines?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2012/11/28/the-worlds-highest-paid-musicians-2012
Proof that Take That are still in the game!!
I think the problem is with their Record Label management of TAKE THAT there in USA. In Europe, Universal Record are collaborating with Tour & Concerts Agent, so that TAKE THAT can tour in Europe! They even make small Halls Concert for about 2000 people, why not there in America? I also think, if there’s any Tour and Concerts Agencies booked TT4, even for a small promo concert or a gag, the 4 Lads will definitely come to USA. Bcoz they also want to be sure that is serious and not a joke! Why don’t you ask or write the 4 Lads in their Twitters. I think they have not been invited to come to America to make their USA Fans even for a short happy moment together with their Idols. I’m also sad for you guys. We are really lucky here in Europe!
@G!e: As a fan and a radio DJ, I definitely find the absence of acts such as Take That in the American music scene VERY frustrating. This frustration has a lot to do with our decision to launch Radio Creme Brulee back in 2007. We wanted Americans to have an alternate or more balanced avenue for music. Our terrestrial radio has the masses fooled into believing there is only room for six or seven artists at a given time all of whom sound identical to each other. Our radio programming in this country is geocentric and VERY ageist. I personally think the reason TT is not promoted in the US is (a) their publishing deals are not global (b) They believe that at their age, they are better off re-establishing themselves in territories where they actually have a legacy – as opposed to chasing new markets. (c) Terrestrial radio still calls the shots in the US and they are poised to get worse over time – unless most of American decides to tune out and move to more alternate venues for music discovery.