The Biz

In recent years, AES shows have tended to be measured quantitatively, particularly in the wake of the 2001 terror attacks in New York City. That year, the annual U.S. iteration of the audio technology convention and exhibition was scheduled to take place literally within a couple of weeks of 9/11. Most of the organization's own assessments of the shows since then tend to emphasize its size, while exhibitors would be naturally inclined to assess the show based on floor traffic.

I was sitting in Nashville airport one day in July, waiting for weather to clear at LaGuardia. My gate shared a seating area with the adjacent gate, where delayed Los Angeles-bound passengers were also waiting for air traffic control to give their flight the all-clear. Someone tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around to see Bruce Bouton, pedal steel player extraordinaire, standing there surrounded by other top studio Nashville names, including guitarist Jerry McPherson, whose work appears on tons of records for artists like Amy Grant and Toby Keith, and keyboardist Jimmy Nichols, who has equally impressive credits. What was more surprising than finding this concentration of studio talent together outside of a recording studio was that they were all part of singer Reba McEntire's touring band, headed out to play the last date of her 2005 tour in Paso Robles, Calif.

The ongoing consolidation of the audio business took another giant step forward in June when Yamaha announced that it had established a joint venture with French line array and live sound technology developer NEXO. The agreement calls for the two companies to join forces in future product development and gives NEXO's line arrays and other high-end PS products a much deeper reach in the critical American and Asian markets via Yamaha's distribution and marketing capabilities. Good for NEXO, which has long made what many in the industry feel is a quality, competitive product that has been hamstrung by a marketing culture out of its depth here.

The word "counterfeit" is easily associated with "money." But dead presidents are not the only things that whet the appetites of commercial criminals around the world today. Common counterfeit products include auto parts, airplane parts, apparel, cosmetics, sunglasses, computer software, fragrances, children's toys, medicines, health and beauty aids and food products. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, losses to U.S. businesses from the counterfeiting of trademarked consumer products are estimated at $200 billion a year, and professional audio products are a slice of that cake.

Someone once said, there are three kinds of lies: "lies, damned lies, and statistics". Looking at the stats of the music business in the last couple of years can be dismaying: despite a bit of a bounce last year, CD sales remain relatively stagnant and down more than 20% over the last five years; last year, of course, was a fairly dismal one for pop music concerts, and since neither all the king's horses nor all the king's men can put Ashlee Simpson together again (although CAA will try), it's possible the public's mistrust of when it's live and when it's Memorex could become a hardened attitude.

I remember once being invited to a manufacturer's demonstration of a digital microphone in Nashville. I had been truly looking forward to it–the notion that one of the last two pieces of the pro audio puzzle that had evaded digitization was about to be brought into the fold was exciting.

When I arrived, the microphone was set up on a stand for the throngs to marvel at. But cynic that I am, I began to sense that the Emperor's New Clothes might be hanging on this rack as well. Chatting up the sales rep, I kept asking how the "digital microphone" worked, and kept getting elusive answers. However, each question brought us closer to the core of the matter, which was that this was a perfectly normal powered transducer that, like all microphones, turned the energy of moving air into a variable pulse palpated by the diaphragm and turned that into (very analog) electrical impulses. The digital part had to do with an A/D converter that was mounted in the rear of the microphone casing. This was a digital microphone in the same way I'm a pilot because I sit in the first row behind the cockpit on an MD-80.

Recently, LOUD Technologies–parent brand of Mackie, Tapco and EAW, among others–announced that it had acquired St. Louis Music in a deal valued at more than $30 million, according to an 8-K filing. The move reflects an inexorable truth in the pro audio business in general, and for live sound in particular: the large will get larger and the not-so-large had better start looking for partners. Because when the winds of Wall Street blow, it's like no SPL you've ever encountered.

Apropos of nothing in particular, it's time to discuss insurance. I put it that way because, like death and taxes, insurance is neither seasonal nor optional. Like the mythical Miller Time, insurance is timeless.

That's trying to put a handle on a topic that is, to most people, about as tedious as watching paint dry. Unfortunately, it's also a lot more complex (except down at the molecular level, but only for chemists). FOH mixers present a challenge to the insurance industry. First, what you do is seemingly obvious but has a lot of nuance: many mixers will toggle between subcontractor and independent status, with stints of out-and-out employment along the way, collecting both W-2 and 1099 forms in a single year. In insurance, as in life, when in doubt, always base decisions on the broadest indicators. For FOH mixers, that means carrying your own equipment and liability policies.

The rehearsal facility has been the quiet link in the touring chain for decades, though like the late Rodney Dangerfield, they rarely get the respect they deserve. And like most other components in the industry, larger forces are reshaping their business terrain. From the top-tier through the middle of the market, rates are feeling downward pressures. However, a greater diversity of services is the counterstrategy that seems to be working well in many cases.

A little more than a year ago, I wrote about the nascent business of CDs being burned and sold right at the concert venues. It looked as though this would be a new area that would get some early traction–no less than Clear Channel was backing the largest effort.

Last month, I had occasion to write about non-disclosure agreements, which are becoming a fixture in the touring sound business as celebrity outstrips talent and Rolling Stone gets regularly scooped by the Enquirer when it comes to pop star reportage.