So Obama hasn’t cerated three million new jobs in two years. What the hell were you expecting? I know I wasn’t counting on a government check to pay for a personal assistant for me, as much as I know I need one. How is it possible that people who believe so strongly in the power of the free market can turn right around and blame the government for not solving their problems? I’m an American, I will fix my own damn country.

As usual, let the music industry be an example of how the future’s going to look. They had a business model for decades that went something like this:

Photo by Arne Hendriks

1. Sign artist to label.
2. Record album that label owns 90% of.
3. Send artist on back-breaking tour schedule to promote album.
4. Bribe or outright own radio stations to promote album and tour.
5. Profit.

If you haven’t read any articles or watched the news lately, you might assume that this model still works. I’m sorry to tell you that the little-round-disc industry (formerly the music industry) isn’t making a profit like it used to.

1. Why sign new artists when it’s easier to manufacture them for a pre-existing marketing plan? Or just sign a 15-year-old starlet that’s too young to understand the way contracts work, too young to stand up for their rights, and too young to sing on key with any semblance of soul.
2. Albums can now be recorded in basements with an iMac. No label required.
3. Gas is over $3 per gallon in many places, making touring expensive and keeping concert-goers from driving anywhere.
4. Radio’s still big, but Pandora’s getting bigger. And it’s not controlled by people… the robots pick the play list!
5. Blame, demonize, and eventually sue alleged “pirates” to recoup less than a million in lost profits. Spend multiple millions doing so.

So what do we do to “save the music industry”? Do we write to our government asking for money or tax breaks so major labels can hire more people even though they’re not actually making a profit any more? Maybe we should ask the government to bring back the 1960′s, that would be about as effective.

How about we change the whole industry instead?

The reason I say “the little round disc industry” as Chris Penn calls it instead of “the music industry” is because the music industry is doing perfectly fine. Entrepreneurs and small startups are popping up left and right- many of them failing, many of them succeeding -and doing the jobs that the old industry used to do profitably. Independent artists like Derek Sivers started bypassing the labels and selling their own music, and we all know how that turned out. The internet has made PR, distribution, and promotion much more affordable and much easier for guys like me to flourish.

I made my own job. I make an American product with American labor. I export that product to other countries. Though it’s kinda tiny, I do indeed make a profit. When I get the money to do so, you can bet your ass I’m hiring some American help.

I know not every industry can evolve the way my industry is changing, but I sure as hell hope that people aren’t expecting the government to wave a wand and make more jobs. Make your own jobs. Make better products. Provide better services. Hire American workers and spend your money at American businesses. You’re the only one that can create jobs.

Hell, we should get Obama to wear a State Park Ranger hat and just hold a press conference saying, “only YOU can prevent unemployment.”

You all know one. They’re that guy or girl who’s really “out there”. Over the top, outspoken, flamboyant, and infamous are all on their resumé. They’re entertaining, to be sure, but is it something that’s genuine? Are they just really good at a particular act so they run with it?

I’m constantly wondering if I should shift my outward image to something more like a character and less like me. The Elton John with the funky sunglasses. The David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. Prince as… well, whatever the hell’s been wrong with him for decades now. In a word, GWAR. All of them are icons, permanently embossed into our cultural history, but is it an organic process?

I guess my fear is that any image I try to maintain will seem contrived. At worse, if the image is successful, the legitimate personality inside begins to atrophy until all you have left is… well, you’ve seen Little Richard lately, right? On the other hand, will anyone even pay attention to someone who’s just… a nice guy?

Nice guys never win, that’s a fact of life. Well, except for Barack Obama.

It’s a very fine line to walk, and it works for some. Bowie launched a career of his own personality on the platform of Ziggy Stardust. Could I be that lucky if I tried my own image adjustment?

So should I pick up the mantle of space pirate captain or giant bird creature, re-tool my PR machinery to run with that 24/7, and save the real me for the quiet, private moments with my loved ones? It might be more entertaining, you never know.

Like a lot of my friends and colleagues, I woke up this morning feeling like I’m in a new America. After suffering the incompetence of a guy I’d wanna have a beer with, I look forward to working with a man who I want to follow into the future.

I voted for Barack Obama not because I believe he can change America, but because I believe he can inspire me to change America. I believe that his election signals a change in the American outlook. The people of this nation are ready to do what’s necessary to make America great again, and they know it will not be easy.

I must mention, of course, that I am proud to have voted for our first non-white president. I’ve touched on this a few times in Twitter and other conversations, but some people just don’t get it. More than one person has heard me comment about our first black president and immediately assumes that’s why I voted for Barack Obama. Do these people think I voted for Al Sharpton in 2004? Are they really that naive?

Let me be clear: I voted for the man I thought best suited for the office, but I am also capable of grasping the magnitude of what we have just done. To assume that I voted only for a black man or only for a Democrat is to suffer from a very narrow mind. I would hope that my readers/followers/subscribers/fans have a larger grasp than that.

So now it is November 5, 2008. The first day of the struggle to pull my country out of the hole. Where do I begin? I believe that our president-elect, Barack Obama, will have the right answer.

My good friend Whitney Hoffman just stitched together a really cool photo show from some Obama rallies… and she laid it all down on top of “Join The Conversation“. Check it out!

And yes, I want one of those Obama cookies. Mmm, smells like Hope.

We as Americans face difficult economic years ahead. So what?

Once upon a time a young prince named JFK proposed a voyage to the moon. No one knew how we would get there. Throughout the voyage we endured a money- and life-draining foreign war, a faltering economy, constant saber-rattling with Russia, and the assassination of three of our most inspiring leaders. With the exception of the latter, we’re in the same boat now as we were in the 1960′s.

So there we were- broke, bleeding, and bound for the moon. Because of our ability to focus on a unified vision, we somehow survived. We shot, landed, and brought back souvenirs from the moon like Velcro, advanced food preservation, advanced electronics, a new understanding of of our universe, microwave ovens, and mylar. Oh, and some rocks.

We created hundreds of thousands of American jobs and created new industries. We invented technologies that spread to the rest of the world. These jobs and technologies didn’t necessarily put men on the moon either, they made models. They assembled lunch boxes and action figures. They marketed the image of the astronaut as a rock star comparable to the Beatles (who also broke up during this period).

We have a bright future ahead of us. It may not be a voyage to the moon, but as Barack Obama has suggested, it may be a voyage to energy independence. Imagine the jobs, technologies, and prestige we can build with American hands if we commit ourselves to clean power.

FYI: Flames will be deleted, flaming will land you on this blog’s blacklist.

[tags]Matthew Ebel, piano rock, Barack Obama, Yes We Can, YouTube[/tags]