Bronfman’s Epiphany an Insult

Last week digg had an article entitled “Warner Music chief has epiphany, praises Apple”, which linked to this story on AppleInsider which “borrowed” from this MacUser article. My oh my what have the apple fanboys brought us now?

In the article(s), Bronfman Jr. is quoted as saying:

“We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”

Wow, at first glance this seems like an intelligent, albeit late, and well articulated insight. But let’s get into context here. Who the hell is Edgar Bronfman Jr. and why does him saying something most intelligent people know already make news?

Well, he is currently head of Warner Music, owners of little labels like Atlantic and Bad Boy. Put it this way, someone waaaaaaaay down on the org chart from him cuts Puff Daddy’s checks. Where did he get all this paper? The old fashioned way of course, he inherited it. Loooong story shorter, he sold off the assets of his family’s company Seagrams (you drink it we distill it we used to bootleg it), including a 25% stake in chemical giant DuPont for $9 billion, so he could invest in his real love which is entertainment. He did this by buying stakes in various production houses like MCA and Universal Pictures, but pretty soon he realized he needed a partner. Enter Jean-Marie Messier and Vivendi, a multi billion dollar french conglomerate that was also moving out of their traditional businesses into new media and entertainment. In 2000, Edgar thought it would be a great idea to merge the two companies into one and form a internet-music-movie giant in a move that cost him all his remaining shares in Seagrams and his new media company. He resigned as chief in December of 2001, just before the value of the company plummeted more than 80%:

In 2004 he bought Warner Music Group for $2.6 Billion and here we are. Along the way he has always been very vocal about his opinions on Music and Technology. In 2000, he likened the use of Napster to slavery and communism which garnered a shockingly intelligent response from Courtney Love. After becoming head of Warner, he endorsed the RIAA’s lawsuits against consumers, going as far as to say that parents should be held accountable for their kids downloading habits. That was of course before he admitted his kids download unauthorized music too.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Jean-Marie Messier when they came to San Diego to buy MP3.com for $372 million in cash and stock. I distinctly remember having a bad taste in my mouth as he stood at the podium telling us all that we could “put the ugliness of my.mp3.com behind us” and “move forward in cooperation with the majors.”

Listen you jerk, you bought the solution you are looking for now in 2001, but were too (stupid? arrogant? ignorant? smart?) to realize it. Now you are giving advice to the mobile industry whose ringtone business has supported your sagging bottom line for the last 4 years on how to handle their consumers, and how you shouldn’t go to war with them. I know you didn’t go to college (neither did I really), but that one should be common sense. Trying to buddy up with the mobile industry now and seem hip to all your consumers who do what they want regardless of the whims of an entertainment tycoon will not work. How about you step up to the plate and do something real, like condemn the RIAA’s CONTINUING practice of suing your customers. Funny how you think its ok to make a lot of public statements on how pirating music is tantamount to evil, but you can mince words and beat around the bush when you are admitting you were wrong. Just say you were wrong, and then actually DO SOMETHING to correct the practice of “going to war with your customers.”

In the words of Michael Corleone, “I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they have now besmirched it.”

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