Reply #64: Recorded music business. [View All]

[stopbush]

And, if I may suggest politely, you miss the point.

First off - the guy who turned that company around was a major-league asshole. That didn't diminish his business abilities one iota.

Second - that major league asshole's abilities had the effect of creating hundreds of good-paying, full-time, fully benefited, vested, health-benefits, 401ks etc jobs for the majority of employees in the company. There was also room for part-timers who wanted it that way.

Third - this was during the early Clinton years (92-96) when the economy was humming. There wasn't a full timer that I knew who was making less than $35k a year. Part-timers were being paid $20-35 per hour depending on their skill level and the position they held. Most middle/upper management types were earning in the low six-figures, $120k-170k. Ie: the highest-paid employee was making about 5Xs the salary of the lowest rung. That's not obscene.

Fourth - I still think the guy who made all that happen was worth $1MM per year.

And before you get on your "unless he was finding a cure for polio" soapbox, may I relate a story?:

Near the end of my first year in music school, a music theory class evolved into a philosophical discussion of what music means in the world. Some of us saw it as indispensable. Others found that it was a luxury that didn't add much to the equation and paled when compared to the good works being done by humanitarians.

Then, our instructor chimed in. He related how he had visited his brother out in the farm belt. He watched as his brother got up every day at 3:30AM, worked his ass off until dusk, fell asleep at the dinner table and did the same thing all over again, seven days a week. After a few days of this, our instructor raised the same issue with his brother: his brother was doing hard, important work that fed hundreds of thousands. There were tangible benefits. Our instructor's career in music seemed so insignificant in comparison, his workload seemed as a vacation when compared to his brother's.

"It just doesn't seem like I'm really contributing," said our instructor. "What am I doing to improve the human condition? My life and career seems so privileged and useless."

"But, Walter," said his brother, "don't you realize that if I didn't have music I wouldn't be able to get up every morning and do what I do?"

We all have our place in the puzzle.