Idolator

I hope they get around to remastering those Doors CDs a couple more times before they say "Th-th-that's All, Folks!"

the fact is that job cuts are an acceptance wall street tactic for all companies that are underperforming in the stock market. job cutting is fashionable. the music industry is just like any other underperforming sector that is traded on nasdaq or nyse. job cuts will continue as long as the stock "underperforms."

Am i the only one who thinks they should just fire the top 10 or 20 executives? Or gee, maybe it would be a good idea to cut back on needless first class flight tickets, endless expense accounts, and stupidly high end stereo gear. No, that would justbe too much to ask.

you didn't mention that the company will reportedly hire for digital-related positions (mentioned in the same article). so, to answer hypebot's question (and some of its other overstatements), no, this does mark the end of the record label. also note the other wmg news today, the launch of a production team, and take note to the rumors that wmg will acquire a leading management company. companies are making changes. there will be less recorded music, and we might not want to call them "labels," but they will be relevant for years to come. (yeah, i know, some people will hate them until they drop d.r.m. and allow their music to be traded on P2P.)

the next three or four years may be painful, and the majors will certainly shed more jobs and will need much more restructuring, but it has to be this way. regaining financial health won't be easy.

at wmg especially, old media jobs are being replaced by new media jobs. this isn't because of its stock price, although investors should like the kind of news. it shows a commitment, not just talk, to different business and distribution models. (stock is slightly down today, but no official statement was made by wmg.)

people have been declaring the death of the major label since the first napster in 1999. same with the cd, still by a country mile the dominant recorded music format. it's 2007...when do the statute of limitations on these predictions run out?

@coolfer:
yeah! coolfer! yeah!

re:
the next three or four years may be painful, and the majors will certainly shed more jobs and will need much more restructuring

can we all agree to call music industry job shedding as "bloodletting"?

@coolfer:

It's SO easy to work in the digital era, I doubt they'll be hiring more than 30 people for the digital-related dept. Also, is it me or is hiring an in-house production team for a major label just the worst idea ever? Yes, it worked for indies like Motown in the 60's, but especially as music is criticized for being too generic, why would you want less music recorded but all done by the same people?

Come on Idolator, learn the difference between "there" and "their". 3rd graders know that, don't make me brake down an English lesson...

also "lose" and "loose", sheesh

@DirtyPistol: We don't copyedit cut-and-pasted quotes. (You can tell it's a quote because it's in pink.)

Signed,
Late-night sports desker for three and a half years

@DirtyPistol: you could have at least spelled "break" right.