Amanda Palmer and Warner

Nine days into the new year - time for a diatribe!

Funny story - one I heard from Amanda Palmer (she told the entire audience from the stage, and also from reading her blog), and from various other blogs and people. I don't know every detail, but think I have the gist of the story - please correct me if I'm wrong.

Amanda's a musician - one-half of the punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, and currently touring her first solo effort, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? She has put out several CDs on Roadrunner Records, which was purchased a while back by Warner. It is therefore now a "Major Label," susceptible to idiotic ideas like forcing YouTube to remove videos of all of their artists by threatening legal action (Amanda's and the Doll's videos included).

Amanda and the label have been having a bit of a tiff lately. You see, the Label would like to see some "hits" written and performed by Amanda. I guess they want her to get some radio airplay exposure - like that is where it's at in the music business. Can anyone tell me (WITHOUT GOOGLING IT) who is number one on the charts this week? What song is at number one? I don't know who's been in the top ten in the past DECADE and I listen to TONS of music. I guess Coldplay's probably been there, but I don't know for sure. I just don't listen to the radio (with the two exceptions of NPR and our fabulous local community radio, WSCA 106.1 FM Portsmouth).

The label also got upset over a video in which Amanda's belly (her preferred term for her midriff) is exposed. Of course it's not because she's exposing skin - she keeps way more covered up than say, The Pussycat Dolls or Britney (ok, that's not saying much). They're upset because they think she could lose a bit of weight. Give me a break. She's TINY. What do they want, Lara Flynn Boyle?

What Roadrunner, and Warner in turn, doesn't get is that Amanda is actually DOING things to promote the CDs on their Label. Not just being ushered by handlers onto the sets of irrelevent MTV shows and DJ interviews. She has connected with a fanbase. Hasn't anyone at Warner taken a marketing class? She has LOYAL fans. They buy CDS - not download singles. They listen to and learn EVERY song. Buy concert tickets and merchandise. Why not work on building on her strengths? I'll tell you why. Because that's not where the instant buck is. Sure, a small team of people can make a decent living for a long time working together to connect with a finite fan base. But where are the big corporate dollars? What will be Amanda's "Who Let The Dogs Out?"?

This year we MIGHT get to finally see if a well-oiled machine can succeed doing what Amanda does, but on a larger scale. Without a Major Label. I'm eager to see what happens with Prince's new online effort. He's never been a friend to Major Labels. And this year he will release three albums on his own. Warner and every other label should be watching this story carefully. Because there are artists out there, signed by the labels already, artists like Amanda Palmer, who are poised to find success in this new paradigm. Will the labels help? Or will they die? We'll see.