Before I begin with my lengthy, random, and unnecessarily long analysis of a Lady Gaga interview by the Wall Street Journal Zach sent my way, I have to get a few things off my chest.

• yes…I spent longer than the seven minutes the interview lasted writing some of her answers down and ended up watching most of the interview sections more than a couple times.
• I’ll admit that, while laughing the majority of the time, I can’t deny being pleasantly surprised by her attitude towards some key topics.
• get used to lengthy responses by me.  Zach gave me this to watch one answer, and now I’m going way overboard with analysis

The media monster that is Lady Gaga can easily be considered the current music industry’s only hope.  Name even two artists today that come close to her popularity.  If you think you can name more than two, well, you need to stop listening to so much Top 40 radio and listen to some good tunes.

The point here isn’t to bash LG (my nickname for her for the rest of the post).  I actually find it quite funny and admirable how she’s so much better at marketing herself than most members of her music industry family, that they simply let her do her own thing and she ended up building her own army.  When asked in this interview if people needed major labels anymore, her response said a lot more than she probably meant.

“Well I certainly need mine.  But, no.  Not everyone needs a label.  If you have a flashlight, a cell phone, and a good idea, you can make a lot happen with the internet.”

While I have no idea what the hell she uses that combination of objects for in her songwriting process, I can analyze the first bit.  At this point in her career, LG is beyond music.  If it was strictly about selling albums, she could put her music solely on her site and make a very decent living because we’re all smart.  We’d eventually figure out where to buy the albums.

The major labels exist today mainly to put on very big concerts, and subsequently, spend every waking moment marketing each of those concerts because they know, just like we do, that the only money to be made in our current major label system is through touring.

It’s not through album sales, that’s for sure.  Name the last time you were in Best Buy and actually saw someone sifting through the cd aisles.  I know I can’t.  Of course, it is kind of hard to tell with all two aisles left of the cd section hidden in the opposite corner of the store.

The decline of the cd has left labels in a panic, like saving cd sales will somehow change the fact the the internet has changed everything.  I do admire LG’s answer regarding Amazon selling her album for $0.99, and couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony of her follow up statement to clarify things.

“Amazon sold your record for $0.99.  Don’t you think your record is worth more than $0.99?

No, I absolutely do not.  Especially for mp3’s and digital music.  It’s invisible, it’s in space.  I applaud Amazon for equating the value of digital versus the physical copy and giving the opportunity to everyone to buy music.

It also wasn’t really $0.99.  b/c amazon paid the difference on all those purchases as part of a promotional campaign for one of their new services.”

So, even LG finds the exposure these mp3′s bring to an artist being the greatest value of digital music, and not as a money making device like the CD.  Obviously, financially she can pull this off because she sells out Madison Square garden.  And the same goes for Itunes in a round-a-bout way.  They can charge everyone $0.99 a song no matter what, and no one raises their hand in protest because Apple’s a trendsetter and we’ll follow them off a cliff like Lemmings if they tell us to.

I’ll get back to Itunes and their $0.99 a song download monopoly sometime in the future, but I still think it’s funny how she added that last bit to her answer.  The label doesn’t need the download profit either, and welcomes the exposure Amazon brought to them with the promotion, but damn them to Hell if they think we aren’t getting our cut of those sales, they say.  You can do the $0.99 thing all you want, but you still owe us the extra $9 for each download.  Really labels?  Really?

The last thing I’ll rant about (I mean analyze…), is her attitude towards fans.  One thing that I couldn’t agree more on.  While I can’t necessarily stand her music, she knows the importance of fans.  You’ll find us at Music Revolt spreading the Gospel of the fan over and over.  We firmly believe that given a reason to support a musician or band personally, the fan will do so 99% of the time.  Name one artist like Johnathan Coultan, who does everything on his own, involves fans directly, and makes them an integral part of his music community, that hasn’t found his fans more than willing to support him and buy his merch because they know it supports him directly.

Labels simply can’t figure this fact out and it always baffles me.  They scream “Buy This Album!” and wonder why anyone but kids aren’t feeling the pressure to buy a physical product, when smaller bands who talk to you at the show, find supporters everywhere they go.

The current music industry truly astounds me, and I do get a slight bit of pleasure seeing big wigs run for cover as it’s been collapsing around them these last few years, but I guess I can temporarily tip my hat when the industry’s biggest cash cow in LG recognizes the industry needs a change.  Something’s got to give, and when it does, it will be glorious.  As glorious as how LG finds her inspiration for songs, and how I find a way to write crap like what you just read…

“Well like inspiration, like a dream.  Like a big rainbow across my brain.”

As always, leave your comments below or head to the forums to discuss my ramblings, the state of the industry, your secret love for LG, or how much you love/hate me.”