We are in a
turning point. I have written about it before. It happens around every ten
years. When I started my record label at the end of the eighties, then CD
became a household thing, vinyl and cassettes went away. In 1999 I meet a guy
online called Shawn Fanning and just before that Dagfinn Bach both important
people around the mp3 format. Suddenly out with the CD in with Mp3 player.

2008 I had
a meeting with a guy that proclaimed that streaming was the next thing. Daniel
Ek:s Spotify made the mp3 player and download useless in 2010. Now we are in
2020, yes, I waited for some change it was in the air. Still, I could not
imagine Coronavirus and the global change. Before all changes have been in
format, this time the change is the live industry.

The big thing in all the changes in how the network changed. In all of the different paradigms, we changed networks. People that you sought after in period and never could have
a meeting with because they were so busy and important, in just a few years
time just became a nobody.  Suddenly the realization
that the people you meet on the way up you meet on the way down.

We are exactly
in this time right now. I just feel the big powerful networks that are in movement
under the surface with a totally new generation of people in the music business.
The funny part is that it’s not about age about what you see out there, how you
are in the mind. Because at the same time I see the new networks are building I
feel the desperation of the people that are on their way out old as young. The
ones that still sit around and wait for the Covid to end and just think it will
go back to what it was before. The people that don’t realize that the start of
change almost happened after the two first month in the pandemic. The people that
we always leave behind in every turning point that happens every ten years.

When I speak at conferences, I usually say this I the golden era to work in the music
industry. The changes are greater and it opens up quite much more doors. The situation
I was in when I started my record label was much harder. Vinyl and cassettes
changed to CD was an easy transition for an already established record label. You
just sold the same shit again in a new format. The same people stayed in their positions. Enough though for me to push me into the
market. Not big but just enough to get in.

And it was
tough. I spent eight months trying to get a distributor for my records. Finally,
I got a meeting with one of the bigger independents to show off what I had. In
the meeting, they laughed at my releases. Never became a deal. Instead, a friend
had started up a new company and was nice enough to let me go on there.

The funny
part is that my friend’s company went highly successful and could join the ride
so long that my company could start our own distribution. The big indie that
laughed at me went bankrupt and got into a big finance scandal. Nothing of that
company survived. The people that laughed are now seeking employment in my
companies. The problem here is that their best before date passed even before I
meet Daniel Ek. Right now, with the big change they probably I better off
seeking a job at Mc Donalds. Their knowledge and network are like having an Mp3
player into today’s smartphone world. The changes are bigger than many belief.
I’m not even so sure Daniel Ek is safe trying to buy football teams and abandon
music on Spotify for podcasts. Those things can make you be a nobody in a very
few years, you never know.

My skill
has been that I have been in the networks in all of the periods. Yes, during
the nineties I was a small indie label with little power, trying to be connected. During 2000 I started
with help of friendly big people letting me in building the companies and people
I needed. During 2010 many of these friends became the new young bosses. I
started to invest in a younger generation that was on their way up but going
back to the roots and scout showcases around the world. Now when a totally new
network is ongoing, I’m in the center of the storm and I just love it. It has
been a hell of a ride but it’s time to the magic new things and build a new
music industry.

It’s time
to leave some people behind. It’s business, it’s not personal. See you when you
get there if you ever get there! Who is in?