ACROSS THE UNIVERSE

I don’t go to the movies these days. I have a home entertainment system I’m quite proud of and I subscribe to just about every movie service there is. I figure, if the movie is any good at all, it will come to me. So, when Across the Universe came out in DVD this week, I leaped at the chance to consume it.

If you are a Beatles fan and you have not seen this movie, well… then your life is basically a pathetic, empty hole. Even if you’re not, this movie is one of those perfect pieces of production, blending superb and uniquely original renditions of songs we’ve heard a thousand times before (hats off to T Bone, Teese Gohl, and Elliot Goldenthal who produced the soundtrack) with a new treatment of the 1960’s peace movement. Despite the fact that it did not win an Oscar for best soundtrack, or anything really, it is probably the best movie in the past few years and a testament to how music will be sold in the next decade.

After only the first thirty minutes I went to my Amazon one-click account and bought everything to do with the flick: the soundtrack, the special collector’s DVD, and just for fun I also bought the DVD for Backbeat, the best bio-picture ever made about the Beatles or just about any rock band.

Between the movie rental and my three purchases, costing me a total of about $40, I generated around $25 in royalty revenue for the so-called beleaguered music business. It took me less than 5 minutes to do this from my home computer. I will own these forever, enjoy them, time and again, plus, labels, publishers and artists got paid. Best yet… no crime was committed.

So, for those searching for new business models in the music space, I have a fresh suggestion… stop whining and produce something truly great. See what happens.

Mo out