Category: Movies, Entertainment & Media

Radiohead: A Case of Strategic Mismanagement


Images-1Speaking of Radiohead (I am referring to my last "Quote of the Week" post)… 

No, let me first say that I LOVE Radiohead.  They are one of my top 5.5 (it's complicated, ok?!) favorite bands.  I have been to their shows, with pit tickets, standing for over seven hours in line to be in the first row, in front of the stage with big Ed's shoes in my face, watching Jonny Greenwood perform his musical voodoo, observing Thom Yorke drooling all over the mike, while articulating "I salivate like with myxomatosis," as if he was actually afflicted.  I saw them perform "True Love Waits" for the first time ever.  Good times!

And even though I usually religiously adhere to my own rule of separating the Artist from the Man (otherwise you end up hating everything – people, including geniuses, are nasty creatures), I agreeably pay attention to some of Radiohead members' personal principles: anti-music-establishment, free distribution, less flying, and stuff like that.  At the same time, I am very objective.  I don't idolize anybody.  If something is stupid, I'll call it that, regardless of who did it.  Plus, this is a CFO's blog, so when it comes to executive decisions I am especially vigilant.

Soooooo, the latest incident involving Roseland Ballroom (NYC) concerts really irritated me as a blatant display of a gross strategic mismanagement.  Supposedly to make sure that real fans get them and not the scalpers, the release of tickets for September 28th and 29th concerts was held off until Monday, September 26th, 10 AM.  And what was the wonderfully unique channel of distribution?  The fucking Ticketmaster!!! 

How out of touch with reality these people and their support staff are???  Don't they know that the days of conventional scalping are long gone? Today, you can be sitting somewhere in Nebraska with your little reloading software, buy tickets and immediately start electronically scalping them as PDF attachments.  

I personally clicked "Find tickets" at 10:00 AM.  The fucking Ticketmaster advised that my waiting time was 5 minutes.  Nevertheless, in 3 minutes flat, I was informed that the tickets were not available anymore.  180 seconds – God bless the electronic age!  Obediently I went to the "resale" (read – scalping) TicketsNow site (owned by the fucking Ticketmaster) – the tickets were already listed with prices ranging from $650-$1,500 for GA.  The concerts turned out to be the exclusive events for people with money.  Most of them cared more about the status of attending than about the music.

Talking about a complete failure of a business action plan!  Is there anybody around Radiohead with a common sense to suggest a more intelligent strategy?  You want to deliver yourself to your true friends? You are a super-group.  Instead of going through Live Nation, you can rent your own venue and sell the tickets the old-fashion way: at the box office, with a limit of two tickets per person.  Your real fans will sleep on the street through the night for a chance to see you!  It's really not that complicated.  But I guess, like with everything, it's too much to ask for a logical reasoning nowadays.          

Essentially, a rock band is a small business – no different then, let's say an advertising agency.  The set up is the same – there is a core creative staff and a bunch of supporting functions around it: administration, financial management, legal services, etc.   My readers know how important small businesses are to me – I believe they need to be cultivated and nurtured as the only option for saving the world's economy.  But, again, I am very sensible about it.  It's not all businesses that need support – only the ones that are well organized and have smart leadership. 

Hey you music fans, don't get mad at me (I'm on your side), but it's possible that most rock bands, after riding the initial fandom wave, eventually end up sucking because they don't know how to run their business well.  There were only five really great songs on "In Rainbows" and this last album Radiohead finally squeezed out (I did say I was very objective) is really just so-so. 

From time to time Mr. Yorke says that it "didn't jive in the studio," and I keep worrying that, after 26 years together, they will go out of business.  I don't want that to happen, because I am sure many people, including me, would be happy to see them doing OK Computer, Kid A and Amnesiac stuff on stage for another 25 years, even if they don't write anything decent anymore.   But they really need to figure out a sound business model to be able to do that.  And, please guys, get some strategic management advice about that "tickets to real fans" program.  I promise you, this will make already eternally grateful fans happy.

 
Radiohead – 15 Step (Grammy 2009)

Quote of the Week: Occupy Wall Street


Protesters-in-chicago-jump-on-the-occupy-wall-street-bandwagon-which-has-spread-to-a-number-of Intro to the quote:

Observing Occupy Wall Street protesters right there by Zuccotti park, my cynic mind could not help itself to see social, rather than political event.  Guys and gals hanging around, having a good time.  Many analysts from all over the world have been trying to understand if these people have any agenda, if their protesting have some sort of intelligent purpose.  And there is nothing… Just young people with nothing better to do being upset that they cannot become rich and famous overnight.  Very few of them have attained above average complex of general knowledge and they know nothing about work ethics.  In their poorly constructed bursts of words they bring up "disappearance of the middle class," but none of them understands that you are not born into middle class – you have to work for it, and maybe after 20 years of professional excellence you can claim your rightful place among its members.  The paper wealth of Wall Street phenomenon is a perversion, no question about that.   But securities balloons are not the only reasons middle class disappears in this country.  None of the protesters want to work real jobs to earn their daily bread, or start small businesses that would keep them physically and mentally busy 24/7.  Instead they want to magically transport themselves into the very places occupied by people with million-dollar bonuses they claim to despise.

And then there was that September 30th plot concocted by the protest organizers in order to get more people on location by announcing a Radiohead appearance?!  People who supposedly oppose the concept of misleading, blatantly lied to the general public!  What's up with that?  There could only be three possible explanations why these protesters did not run away in shame after the falsification was exposed – they are either blind, stupid, or really have nothing else to do.

Meanwhile, the electronics were polluted with the false news of Radiohead's "spontaneous concert", and exchanges among some people I know have produced some wonderful pearls (I know a few very smart people).  One of my funniest friends felt sorry for the "poor hippies crawling over each other's stomped bodies." 

But the first prize definitely goes to the following quote:

"It's the perfect cherry on top of their worship of spectacle rather than substance."

                                                                                Zach Caceras

Trying to Impress by Talking Too Much? Ur Doin It Wrong.


Images-1 Life screws with people: neglectful parents, inconsiderate spouses and partners, selfish children, boorish bosses, and disdainful co-workers create scores and scores of attention-deprived people desperately seeking approval.  Most frequent manifestation of this subconscious desire is excessive, out-of-place talking – lengthy stories with self-boosting subtext. 

This type of behavior is usually classified as social awkwardness.  I don't know a single person capable of keeping a grip on himself under any circumstances.  Once in a while certain conditions come together and something activates the stupid switch even in the most brilliant people.  I've seen some pretty impressive humans falling into this mode during lectures, important meetings, fundrasing parties, and social gatherings. 

During 2010 New York's World Science Fair, I attended a panel Consciousness: Explored and Explained with the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation) and the neuroscientist Giulio Tononi.  It was monitored by the actor and director Alan Alda (better known as Hawkeye Pierce of M*A*S*H) – a fairly smart guy who got close to popular science by hosting PBS's Scientific American Frontiers.  One concept that Giulio Tononi has described was too much for Mr. Alda to grasp.  He restated the scientist's words once, was corrected, then again, and again.  Finally, he realized that he wasn't getting it, but he couldn't help himself – he kept talking, and talking, and talking…  

Hey, sometimes I catch myself doing it and thinking, "What's going on?  Why am I relating my interpretation of A Streetcar Named Desire to this uninterested person?" But only very self-aware people are capable to recognize the symptoms and stop themselves.

Consequently, the degree of this affliction widely varies.  In some people it gets triggered by a selected audience (sometimes even one particular individual), or specific circumstances.  I had a sort of a paralyzing effect on my boss of two years ago.  He would be acting his aloof self around everybody else, but every time he would come to my office, he ended up ranting.  Eventually, I became wary of starting even super-important discussions with him.  It was always, "Let me tell you,.." and we would be off on an absolutely irrelevant tangent.  At one point he was telling me that he shares a surfing coach in East Hampton with Gwenyth Paltrow and Chris Martin.  I kept thinking to myself, "I am not impressed, dammit!"         

In many people this trait blows up to extreme proportions: people simply cannot stop themselves.  They don't need any special circumstances or triggers – they grab every chance they get to talk, even if they have nothing to say.  In public these people are usually extroverted, talking non-stop.   The overwhelming popularity of Facebook and Twitter is the testimony to the pandemic proportions of verbal diarrhea.

In social situations you can simply walk away, or turn your phone off to stop seeing three tweets per minute.  However, you cannot do the same at work.  You have to deal with it one way or another.  Ok, so not everyone can find the right way to tell their bosses to shut up.  And my advice – don't do it.  Even if it seems that you've done it in the mildest way possible, they never forget it.  And, as we all know, no one can hold the grudge as long as bosses do.  On the other hand, when it comes to your peers or subordinates, the issue must be addressed if it interferes (and it does) with the normal course of a meeting, an assignment, or a working day.

The best way to approach it is with a friendly private talk.  Most likely the person is not aware that what he is doing is an obvious display of insecurity, and that people recognize it as such.  Explain to the person that he achieves the exactly opposite results: while trying to impress and seeking approval, he gets co-workers and supervisors annoyed.  To earn this person's trust, you can share your own experience in similar situations (just like I did here).  Most importantly, tell them that the best way to make a difference and get appreciated is by doing the best job they can. 

Everyone Loves Lucy


Images-1 Last week Lucille Ball would have turned 100 years old.  Not every celebrity achieves the level of popularity that justifies posthumous birthday announcements, and I am glad that it applies to this great comedienne, who entertained people for so many years.   (As a side note, I must mention that it is a testimony to our electronic dependency that Google doodles have become integral parts of establishing people's immortality – I love them too, by the way.)

And I love Lucy, who also undeniably belongs in this blog as a brilliant businesswoman – one of the most powerful Hollywood women of all times. 

The business success started with Desi's shrewd decision of setting up a television company Desilu (with Lucy's effigy right there in the logo), equally owned by the spouses and responsible for production of not just I Love Lucy, but also Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, Mission:Impossible, The Lucy Show, Our Miss Brooks, The Jack Benny Program, and many others.  Only three years into its existence, the company was considered such a powerful television presence that it became a natural choice of  many consumer product conglomerates, including Phillip Morris, for production of high quality TV advertisement.

Desilu was one of the first entertainment companies to recognize a power of merchandising – an entire line of I Love Lucy products, from pajamas and dolls to furniture sets, was a tremendous success.  In 1954 alone they brought a net profits of $500,000 (over $4 million in today's money).  After purchasing RKO's facilities, Desilu Productions has become the largest studio in Hollywood, running 33 sound stages (more than either MGM or Twentieth Century Fox).  When Lucy bought Desi out in 1962, she became the first female head of a major studio.

I've seen different numbers estimating Lucy's worth at the time of her death in 1989, wildly ranging between $25 million and $65 billion.  It does not really matter.  One thing we can say for sure – she did well for herself. 

Many biographers, TV historians, and ardent fans, have been arguing for decades, about whose contribution was most important in Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's financial success.  While Desi did present the company as a President, we may never know whose idea it was was to do this or that deal.  Without a doubt, Lucy was always a bankable asset.  Moreover, it is a known fact that the artistic merits and public appeal of such long-lived franchises as Star Trek and Mission: Impossible, that still continue spawning new feature movies, were evaluated and approved by her personally.  

But the most remarkable lesson in Lucille Ball's shrewdness as a business woman comes from a very personal matter.  Many enterprises fall apart on account of minor tiffs between unrelated partners.  Lucy and Desi Arnaz stuck together through marital problems for a long time and got a divorce only after the final episode of Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour was filmed.  Moreover, they managed their business separation in the most civilized and mutually-beneficial manner, remaining friends for the rest of their lives. 

 

Life’s Mind Tricks


When I was a senior in high school and it became apparent that I will not be allowed to become a theater theorist, a cultural critic, or an art historian, and would have to settle for something more practical like finance or engineering, I went to see my history teacher to pour my frustration on her metaphorical shoulder.  And it was just that – a metaphor: I was upset, but I was not going to cry.  The roots of the tough Frustrated CFO that I am now were already forming then.  No, I was not planning on shedding a tear over it.

I wasn't, but the teacher cried.  This hard core, no bullshit lady couldn't stop crying.  I made tea, put it in front her, and asked, what made her so upset.  She replied that these were tears for my mind.  She got me slightly worried, not for my mind, but for hers.  What was she implying?  That the forced career choice will make me crazy?

When she calmed down, she explained her empirical theory that, regardless of your natural intellectual inclination, your occupation (note the key word – it occupies you!) little by little changes your brain; reshapes it comply with the job requirements.  She said, "If you are going to count money and look at numbers 60 hours a week, it will change you forever.  Your mind will never be able to respond to a movie, a play, a piece of music or art, the same way it can now."

"It will never happen to me!!!" – that was my answer.  And I can proudly say, it didn't.  Through MBA, PhD in Economics, and over 20 years in accounting and finance, somehow, I retained my ability of unadulterated absorption of any artistic expression.  Don't get me wrong – my profession affected many sides of my personality, and not in a good way, but somehow I retained the sensitivity to the arts.  Maybe I subconsciously resisted the alteration of the mind because I was warned?  Who knows?  But, I am a rare exception.  Years of observing other people proved to me that my old history teacher's theory was correct.  Life does play tricks with most people's intellect. 

A month or so ago I attended a philanthropic event headlined by Andrew Bird.  I really love his eclectic music that combines classical technique with rock-n-roll melodic structure and folky stylistics.  It always has a tremendous emotional impact on me.

I was there with a group of people, some of them big time art philanthropists, including one hedge-fund guy, who supports many art organizations in NYC and around the country.  In his youth he was a follower of the Great French Mime and a member of a street performing group, but then Life called him away to become a multi-millionaire.  He never saw Andrew Bird before and after the concert talked to me about him.

The first thing he said was, "What a technical range!"  Considering that my heart was just shredded into pieces by the beauty of the performance, I was secretly taken aback by such cold, mechanistic assessment.  Then he picked my brain about the artist's career, and I relayed how he was classically trained as a child, but lost all his fancy scholarships as soon as he made a shift to rock.  The response was, "I'd say, he's done well for himself, regardless."

And that's how I was reminded about my old history teacher's theory again.  Youthful artistic endeavours – that was all in the past.  Now, the cold mind of the big-money-maker cannot absorb the emotional outpouring of the musician he just heard!  He reacts with "Professional skills!  Career achievement!"  His mind is twisted towards that train of thought and there is nothing anybody can do about that.