In the '70s and '80s there were national promoters. Concerts West, run by Jerry Weintraub, was promoting Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Frank Sinatra and Neil Diamond in arenas across America. Agents and promoters were concerned that national tours would put them out of business. It didn't happen. The first amphitheaters opened at that time. Nederlander created a new venue — fans loved it, artists loved it and agents loved it (they had not yet created surcharges). Yet, arenas were suddenly concerned about summer events ruining the arena business. It didn't happen.

Labels were already starting to merge and create numerous banners under corporate headings. The cry of too many albums, not enough airplay, no follow through on records and play lists not being open became an all too familiar refrain. Promoters bitched that the deals were too tight, agents bitched that promoters were ripping off the artists and everyone bitched that the catering sucked.

....So flash forward again, to the '80s and '90s. A new technology, the CD, comes along — kills the LP, kills the cassette, thank God the 8-track was already gone, and creates new revenue and new life for artists, labels, agents and promoters. Another new innovation, MTV, is created and the purists scream bloody murder: It will kill the touring business and the radio business. But innovators see opportunity.

A whole new generation of artists and music emerges. And, a new generation of promoters, agents and innovators starts to come forward. Rick Van Santen and Paul Tollett start Goldenvoice. Seth Hurwitz starts a club in Washington, D.C. There is Lionel Bea, John Peters, Monqui Concerts, and Perry and Amir in Detroit.

We see new tours, new venues, and artists like Perry Farrell creating Lollapalooza or Kevin Lyman and Darryl Eaton creating Warped. Consolidation, a la SFX, was innovative and changed the paradigm, which some embraced and some denounced.

But even consolidation could not stop innovators, who today create events like Coachella and Bonnaroo; two festivals originally created by innovators without a Clear Channel, AEG or House of Blues.

New indie labels emerged against the tide of Wall Street starting to sniff around music. Sub Pop, Vagrant, Epitaph and Matador. We had new agencies like High Road, Leave Home Booking and Pinnacle. There are numerous great new managers who have brought a fresh, innovative and rule-breaking view to the artist development process.

So, what do we learn? Technology changes, obstacles have always existed, stagnation tries to hold an industry back, complainers and negativity always abound. And yet, through the clutter of the noise, every generation manages to find its innovators and entrepreneurs.

....There is a great book by Clayton Christensen called "The Innovators Dilemma."

Its premise is that large companies that are segmented are unprepared to deal with disruptive technologies. What is a disruptive technology?