Headline: Industry After Madonna’s “Hard Candy” Like Dog In Heat
by Josh Livingston

Of all forms of art, there is most likely none older or more primal than song. One can only imagine that singing emerged in tandem with language, which is estimated to have developed at least 40,000 years ago if not far longer. From Homo neanderthalis celebrating the hunt to Madonna’s latest album debut this week, we’ve come a long way, baby.

Madonna is a fascinating case study. She wasn’t cut from the singer-songwriter cloth and her singing voice has never been anything more than serviceable. In fact, her prominence in the pop star pantheon is in spite of her musical talents, not because of them. Through wisdom, foresight or dumb luck, she branded herself a rebel and iconoclast, a role never abandoned, but whose particulars she’s modified endlessly. Like so many Barbies, “Wrong-side-of-the-tracks Madonna” begat “Glamour Madonna” begat “Gothic Madonna,” who begat “Cowgirl Madonna” who begat “Disco Madonna” who begat the Hip-hop infused reincarnation currently dominating the airwaves. While the targets of her cultural aggression (restrictive sexual mores, religious dogma, Hollywood hypocrisy) change, her dissatisfaction with the status quo does not.

Madonna’s seamless self-reinvention is the polar opposite of the recording industry’s struggle to redefine itself as the traditional business model becomes less and less profitable. Modern recording has gone through as many formats as the Material Girl has had looks - minus the cone bra. Her first album dropped in 1982, when compact cassettes and the Sony Walkman defined the decade. Both she and the industry thrived through the age of the CD, but the burgeoning digital revolution split their fortunes for good. While her sales have been estimated as high as 55 million albums worldwide in the last ten years, album sales across the industry slumped dramatically, falling 23% from 2000 to 2006.

The bete noir here is digitial distribution, beginning with the Napster revolt across college campuses in the late nineties and still emerging as the iTunes revolution. While Madonna challenged piracy by flooding the Internet with decoy downloads asking, “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” - she did it with humor and without alienating her fans - something the industry’s anti-piracy efforts have failed at miserably.

Despite the varying channel of distribution and cosmetic changes, some things never change. For better or worse, it’s all about the Benjamins. Record companies have long been accused by critics for indulging in risk-aversion by wimping away from what might be considered the best music. Madonna’s critics question her talent, artistic integrity and banal lyrics, but never her business savvy.

Her latest, “Hard Candy” is her last studio album under contract with Warner Brothers (a compilation is also pending). Her $120 million contract with the fledgling recording arm of top concert promoters Live Nation just may be her biggest rebellion yet. Everyone’s eyes are on her. And not for the first time. Success or failure will both bring big consequences and pose more questions than answers. What does this mean for the industry? Other artists will follow suit, but how many and how quickly? Is this truly a departure or will Live Nation be the new face of the same stale business model?

As she goes, so goes the industry.

Long Story Short runs every other Tuesday. Hard Candy Photo: Telegraph.

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