Economics & The Music Industry

A PopStar Wannabe

One afternoon last week as we dawdled on home from school, via the ice cream shop of course, Miss Charlie and I were chatting about money – dollars and cents and it’s value. It was a perfectly logical conversation to be having, seeing as she’d just finished a big Unit of Work on money at school and given that she gets ample opportunity to implement its application each afternoon when paying for her purchases. I’ll usually give her a couple of dollars, and throw in a random 0.60c here or there, and she has to work out how much change she’ll get in return. It proves to be a rather educative exercise considering that she can never seem to settle on the one ice cream and so each day it’s a different one and a different price. Variety is the spice of life I guess!

On this particular occasion Miss Charlie stumped me with a challenging request as she proudly pocketed the leftover change. And although I’m more than happy to contribute to her money-box savings, I did mention that she’s got a keen eye for “forgotten” loose change. Eyes of a magpie!

‘When we get home, can you please help me write a song?’

Of course I can, we’ll get started on it right away. She has piano and violin lessons at my house, hence the interest in music and her turning to me for assistance.

‘Yay! Let’s go to your place. We can use the big piano instead of my little toy pink piano. It needs to be a really good song. How soon do you think we’ll have it finished? Should we make it rhyme? I’ve got some dance moves to go with it. Do you think we should make it a happy or sad song? We’re going to be rich!’

Gosh, to be a 6-year-old again, full of creativity and busting at the seems to make it all happen without even the slightest hint of a doubt that it might not be possible.

• Firstly, why do you want to write this song?
• Secondly, why is there a rush on it?
• Thirdly, I totes like the sound of some matching dance moves!
• Fourthly, what are we writing/singing about? That might determine how we feel when we’re writing and therefore whether it’s happy or sad.
• And lastly, wait, what. We’re going to be rich?

‘Because when I was with Mum and Dad we saw this amazing house that we like. But Dad said it was selling for AUD $5 million and that it was a little too expensive for us to buy. Even if I gave them my money-box savings!’

So I was thinking about it and practising my music really hard this week and I decided that I would write a really good song to sell on iTunes and YouTube. I’d sell it for dollars (definitely not cents) and make millions! Then I’ll give it to Mum and Dad so we can buy that house. But I think I need your help to make it really good. It doesn’t have to be ‘wow’, it just needs to be catchy and light and loud so that people hear it and can’t get it out of their heads.

iTunes? YouTube? Sell music? Make millions? How on earth does she know about things like this, she’s six! She’s subliminally caught on to everything that is wrong with our pop music industry! And I wouldn’t be so quick to turn down her money box savings either, she’s got half of my forgotten loose change stashed in her money box!

So, I only see a couple of issues with this here. Firstly, the pop music industry is a pretty tough one to crack into first go (even if it does suck). Secondly, it’s going to take a while to make our millions, especially if illegal downloads are anything to go by. Thirdly, I’m really not that talented. Incredibly flattered, even if it is blind naivety, but a pop star in the making I am not. Sadly.

That being said, in the interest of being a good sport, I shall facilitate her request. So listen up y’all.. I am now taking suggestions about how to be the next Katy Perry. Or to simply replace the existing. Did you catch her ‘sing’ at the EMA’s? Unfortunately I did. 

You can drop an anonymous idea in the suggestion box (currently being used as a makeshift money-box) or you can leave a comment below. We’ve got $5 million to make, better get writing. Oh and also, I promise to credit all royalties where due. Not a word of a lie. See, and this is why musicians don’t make any money.

Do your kids get carried away with such great ideas? Do they also make it hard for you to support creativity and aspirations with plain old simple reality and physics?

And I’ll say it again: iTunes, YouTube. Sell music to make money? It doesn’t need to be good, just catchy?! Well this here is where the problem is at!