Major Labels

Unviversal’s Morris Hypes The Markets: ’07 Will Be “Best Year Ever”

Despite a general malaise hovering of the record industry powerful label veteran Doug Morris predicts that his Universal Music Group will have a banner year in 2007.

"I think that next year we’re going to have our best year,"Morris said
at the Reuters Media Summit in New York. "I think our revenues and our
profits will be the best we’ve Doug_morris_2ever had."  He believes Universal Music will benefit from new albums by Eminem, 50 Cent and two albums from Mariah Carey.

"You
can see there are myriad streams of income starting to come into the
record companies," said Morris. "We’re going to make money from
MySpace, we’re going to
make money from YouTube, we’re going to make
money from Zune…we will make tremendous amount of money from
telephones."

Universal_8Is this hype for investors or does Morris really believe that a few recycled superstars and money from new technologies and new media will replace revenue lost to file sharing and disinterest?

Read more from Morris’ interview at the Reuters Media Summit and grab some audio here.  Other highlights include settling Universal’s MySpace lawsuit and  asking Apple for a royalty on every iPod. 

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2 Comments

  1. Here we go again. That tired old American mantra that technology,
    can and will save us via another brain-dead and out of touch record
    head, Doug Morris.
    Yes, it’s truly laughable that he wants us all to believe that all this hyper-technology, and the revenues it may reap, is going to add up to a bang-up sales year for Universal. What a load of bunk! Today’s technology is just another tool in the shed, not a
    cure-all.
    In the face of losing sales over the past five years, and a 50% decline in music revenues, Morris is one of these demi-gods pushing a contrived game-plan, and dream theories, that just don’t pan out
    or add up.
    The golden rule has always been that if you have a great product,
    and a great artist, then all you need is solid promotion, and that will,or should, account for better sales. Promotion is the best way to get the most sales generated, and the best way to promote, is to take the artist/act directly to the People via live concerts, i.e.: touring.
    Mr. Morris,of all people, should know better. Yet, here he is backing old artists/acts that have had terrible track records when it comes to touring and the benefits that touring yields. It’s sad to say, but it’s a fact, that Hip Hop artists, and Carey-types, don’t put butts in seats and bring in those badly needed tour sales (gates fees.)
    As every school kid knows, in today’s market, the labels want to share in all the artist-generated revenues, and that the primary, or Big Money, is tour sales, followed by merchandise, then publishing revenues, and then record sales*
    (*this total comes from the sales of ALL formats.)
    Sure, there’s are exceptions to the rule, but for the most part, these axiom(s) still hold true. So, why isn’t Master Morris, and Co., “acquiring and releasing” great new artists/acts, with great quality music, and that has the
    talents to do great tours??
    For one thing, it takes vision. Not prince-kin like Administrators of Art. Second, it takes good taste and the courage to act on
    that vision and engage new
    careers. But more importantly, after all that is achieved; it takes dedicated funds,lots of elbow-grease, and sweat and toil. That is what is called…you know,
    WORK. …and demi-gods, like Doug Morris, hate to work.
    Senator O’Brien

  2. So let me get this straight,
    Maria Carrey Ringtones, youtube and Myspace is going to make baot load of money in 2007?
    heh he…

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