Pribek

I’ve really been trying to steer clear from the glut of bad music industry news. Really I have. May not seem that way because I have commented on a few things but, just scratching the surface. Anyway, this is significant; from Roger Friedman at Fox.

I’m told that Sony Music may have found a solution to their mess with Rick Rubin. They’re going to quietly offload him to a side label deal, and remove him from the main company.

Moving Rubin to a side label is like a major league baseball team moving the manager from the big club to the Double A team. Not technically fired but, just as bad; maybe worse.

This is what sources say, and it makes sense. As I told you last week, Rubin has been a costly adventure for Sony. He’s produced a hit album for another label — Metallica, for Atlantic — and several CDs that were interesting but failed to spark sales.

Here’s the thing about that: Sony can’t say that Rubin did something for Metallica that he wasn’t doing for their acts. They can’t say that he withheld some production technique, that he was sandbagging. Metallica is going to sell more records than Neil Diamond. And, there aren’t a bunch of Metallicas around.

What finally pushed the Sony chiefs to do something about Rubin? Maybe it was the stunning news last week that Rubin — who’s being paid a fortune by Sony — had been recording tracks with rival Universal Music Group’s U2 for their new album! And then to add insult to injury, U2 rejected the tracks. So Rubin’s work was totally for naught.

Maybe this was a surprise to Sony. Maybe they were stunned. I doubt it. Obviously, Rubin’s deal allowed him to do a major project with Atlantic so, it stands to reason that he had an open field.

Here is why this is significant; Rubin is a record man. He’s a real deal record man. It’s an endangered species, the real deal record man. Before Rubin was revitalizing career acts, he was breaking and developing new acts. To develop new acts, you have to be willing to take chances and suffer misses to find the next big thing. To develop new acts, you need a record man.

The fact that Rubin has spent his time, for many years, putting new faces on established careers, speaks to the fact that the whole industry has gave up the ghost before the turmoil was evident to the gallery. Whether that was his choice or the company store’s doesn’t matter. The road narrowed and the established act was the only viable choice.

Friedman’s piece seems to convey that Rubin had an attitude problem and there may be truth to that. But, he’s not getting the elbow over attitude. He’s out because Sony is losing money. If there is an act that is capable of a hit record in this climate, Rubin can produce it. If there is an act that has the juice to become a career act, Rubin just might be able to spot it and get the most out of it. He’s a record man.

If there is a future, if there is a new business model, you still need a record man.