Then they go on and on with some self-important montage of the top 5 in whatever the top category is (Film of the year, Album of the Year, Short Story turned into a Live Musical/Comedy or animated feature, you get the jibe). Followed by a tribute to those who have passed on since the last awards gathering - which makes me say the following: Who was that? Oh yeah, I forgot they died. Oh man - they were still alive, I thought they died a long time ago? And of course, Who was that?
Well the Grammy's stood out in one way - the good way. At least they attempted to entertain by show casing the MUSIC. Again, not thrilled with all the noms or the missed nominations but I did appreciate more of the performances than ever before.
By far the stand out for me was Radiohead and the USC Trojan Marching band. Here is were I would normally show a clip from some grammys.com web site but alas, the real reason the music industry is dying is due to the fact they don't understand this 'internets' thing and aren't using it appropriately.
CASE IN POINT: Radiohead gave away their album - the very same album up for alternative album of the year (it won) - in a move that sent shudders through the industry. Well, those in the industry who even knew about Radiohead.
What happened? They sold more than 120,000 copies in the first week of release of the physical album almost 5 months after it was available for free on the web. Free - or actually 'pay what you want' - directly from Radiohead's website. They aren't saying how many people paid but millions downloaded the album.
So here I sit typing this up and would love to show you the clip - hell, directly point to it from the Grammy site, but alas it isn't online. And if it were on Youtube, they would only demand it get pulled down anyway. Instead of increasing attention and getting people to pay for a copy once they find it.
Turns out it works for video too. Check out this Monty Python experiment that is similar to what Radiohead tried. Sales climbed 23000%. No, that is not a typo. C'mon industry - realize people want to buy your stuff, *IF* its quality. Show them it is and BLAMO, instant sales!
