A brief reflection on time in the political sense

Consider.

Four weeks ago, Barack Obama delivered a big ol’ speech to a big ol’ bunch of people, while there were some tiny initial rumors about a plane flight from Alaska.

Seems like a thousand years ago now, yes?

And it’s STILL not October.

I’ve been saying this privately for a bit but I figure I can put it on the blog too. Back on September 3, I said this:

I predict Palin will make a firecracker of a speech tonight that will be welcomed with huge applause and cheers by the crowd. And I suspect that will be the highlight of her entire time as vice-presidential nominee.

I feel my prediction was far too limiting. It’s turning out to be the GOP’s highlight of the year in general.

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“There was still a chance of making a profit. Now, it’s doubtful.”

Will be a busy day for me already, I can tell, but anyone interested in the economics of music in America — or, indeed, the economy — would do well to read this Idolator post that just went up courtesy of Lucas Jensen, talking specifically about how the ‘you-make-your-money-on-tour’ model of bands’ surviving these days is taking a major hit. This isn’t just a simple rant or observation, but a detailed breakdown and invitation to ask for more data. Absolutely essential. To quote a chunk:

More and more of my artists were telling me that they had to work a day job and couldn’t hit the road. At first, I thought they were missing out on golden opportunities. Hit the road! Make new fans! Do it the way our indie forefathers did it! But these days, a day job seems like a way to go. Unless someone provides me with a statistic that people are going out to shows more, I’m gonna assume that they aren’t. Going out costs more for music consumers: ticket prices are higher, traveling costs are higher… hell, beer costs are higher. Bands have to ask more from clubs. Clubs have to charge customers more to cover the bands, etc., etc. It’s a downhill slide that ends with the music consumer eating a load of crap.

And that’s all before the hard data gets posted. Give it a read, and also read Kate Richardson’s piece and linked article from yesterday.