Ashley Kahn’s profile of Bruce Lundvall in The Wall Street Journal captures the Blue Note label president’s importance as a developer of talent and identifies his partial retirement as a marker of what is happening to the business of recorded music.
To many, Mr. Lundvall’s exit from Blue Note’s day-to-day operations, officially announced earlier this year, symbolizes the forced transition of an entire industry. Rocker-songwriter (Richard) Marx says: “I know Bruce has been very
frustrated in the changes that have eliminated this thing called ‘artist development.’ The way the industry is heading, it’s really not the kind of thing that Bruce would want to be a big part of anyway.”
Mr. Lundvall’s words express as much: “This is the most challenging time I’ve ever seen in what used to be called the record business, now the digital music business. People download and don’t want hard copies of music. Jazz and classical buyers will probably help keep the physical formats going for a long time, but the idea is to try and monetize the digital world. It’s not easy to make a lot of money in this business anymore.”
Kahn’s article is titled, “Dr. Yes Will Hear You Now.” To find out why and read the whole thing, go here.
In an alternate universe, not so far from our own, you are the head of Blue Note, Prestige, Impulse, or maybe even Atlantic. At least some physicists say things work that way.
Those would be nice universes.
PLus, among all his other talents, Mr. Lundvall hosts a great weekly ‘Blue Note Hour’ radio show on Sirius/XM. If he could only catch his breath while speaking(an apparent impossibility for him as a New Yorker!), it’d be easier to listen to, but hey, ya gotta love the man for all he’s done/doing for jazz!