McCartney, Manilow And More: Innovation In Media Nostalgia

There’s an unmistakable rush to cash in on nostalgia in the media business – from a series of near-octogenarian rock star concerts to a renewed excitement over movie theaters to the revival of long-dead vinyl record sales. But after my own nostalgia immersion in recent weeks, I can’t help thinking that a little bit of innovation would go a long way in boosting the long-term prospects for expanding on these blasts from the past.

The list of live performances for aging but perpetual rock stars has exploded with the end of most COVID-related restrictions, with filled arenas and hard-to-crack online ticket queues. My own personal attendance list included 80-year-old Paul McCartney and – don’t judge me – 79-year-old Barry Manilow. This was hardly even the tip of the iceberg. The summer concert scene includes The Rolling Stones (led by Mick Jagger at 79), Elton John (75), Van Morrison (77), and, in dueling tours, The Beach Boys with 81-year-old Mike Love and (for legal reasons) “Beach Boys founders” Brian Wilson (80) and Al Jardine (79). Of course, James Taylor is still going strong as a spring chicken-like 74. Legends all, but it’s almost getting as old on the concert stage as it is on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Bruce Springsteen is still a ways from 80 – a mere 72 – but the controversy over sky-high ticket prices for his 2023 tour may presage some limits to the senior rock tours. Ticketmaster (with of course the permission of the artist) instituted “dynamic pricing” with “platinum tickets” going for up to $5000 for some seats. These prices are hardly unheard of in the secondary market but sent some shockwaves through the initial ticket-buying fandom. For the music business, there’s not too many Bruce-clones to generate that level of cost-ignorance and it doesn’t look like much of a strategy to build a longer-lasting concert fan base moving forward.

Like many, I headed back to the familiar confines of a movie theater to watch Top Gun: Maverick. The movie has benefitted from near-universal raves from critics and movie goers and a pent-up demand for a film with an “old fashioned” movie star, a dearth of CGI-special effects and a human story at its heart. But if my experience was at all typical, theaters are still living off of even more insanely priced concessions and the mostly bizarre set of coming attractions hardly portend an easy return to pre-COVID times and an enduring appeal for mass audiences.

I was late to the return-to-vinyl party but I’m now giddily re-immersed in world which isn’t limited to but clearly boosted by nostalgia. My family alternately loves and laughs at my new obsession with finding record stores – remember them? – wherever we go. Having sinfully abandoned my massive record collection years ago, I’m now curating a tiny but precious group of albums unavailable on streaming or that benefit from the still-precious sound of an analog-based turntable. This is no lark – vinyl record sales rose 61% in 2021 to surpass $1 billion a year, approaching double that of CD revenues.

The flood of extraordinary spending on content libraries in the last few years demonstrates the faith in the power of older artists and iconic content catalogs. Bob Dylan’s music publishing and recording rights were sold for a total of $500 million. Springsteen’s went for a similar amount. David Bowie’s rights attracted $250 million, and only half of Neil Young’s library rights went for $150 million. Sony alone has spent over $1.5 billion on acquiring publishing and recording rights. And of course, beyond music, Discovery just merged with the former Warner Media, in part by assuming over $50 billion in debt from its prior owner AT&TT
. If that isn’t a bet on the value of a content library, I don’t know what is.

Owning the rights and exploiting them are two very different animals. I’d suggest at least three areas that are worthy of a particular focus for those looking to maximize their return on investments in “nostalgia” – from hallowed brands to content to talent.

Invest in the user experience

The resurgence of vinyl isn’t about owning a large round disc inside of a cardboard envelope. And it is rarely about accessing the music itself. The overwhelming amount of music content – especially with any meaningful historic or nostalgic value – is available on streaming platforms. But listening to vinyl permits the user to physically handle the music, to place it on a playing device, to hear the needle drop as a cue that the music is about to start, and then to hear the music (if the speakers are good enough) with a warmth and immediacy that is markedly different from listening on a phone or smart speaker.

Producers of live concerts and movie theater owners should take note (actually lots of them) on how they can innovate their own customer experience. Do you think you could serve food other than the mostly fast-food volume play? For Manilow in New Jersey, they didn’t even open up the kosher food service. Maybe they know their demos better than I do, but it doesn’t say too much about even a moderately customized experience. How about creating more unique mementos than t-shirts and CDs which even older audiences aren’t interested in? These are passionate fans! As for movie theaters, despite changes on the fringes, it is resolutely no better than it was prior to COVID. No lessons learned there.

Invest in the older audience

Decades ago, at CNBC we preached the value of an older, affluent audience, pushing our advertisers to pay attention to – and to pay higher prices for – viewers who actually bought their high-end products rather than slavishly paying more for 18-49 or 25-54 year-olds. That’s no longer an unusual position for a TV network. This isn’t to say that promoters and venue owners should plaster sponsorship banners for pharma companies at Beach Boys concerts. Instead, look at the lifestyle choices of people who have plenty of money to spend, and how you can reach them in new ways and an on ongoing basis. What are the value drivers for those audiences outside of simply higher ticket prices to see older acts in their “farewell” tours?

Invest in next gen tech

There isn’t a much more toxic word now than crypto in many media circles, but this shouldn’t dissuade a sober-minded development of exploiting valued, nostalgic content on platforms such as the Metaverse (aka Web 3.0). During COVID, the newest users of video games were roughly 66% female and 56% over 45 years old – these are “gettable” audiences. As odd as buying virtual clothing or NFTs may seem to many today outside of a young demo, there are plenty of opportunities to leverage the technology of digital assets to create not just a one-time but lasting value from uniquely edited content clips to personalized digital “signatures.” The more familiar and beloved the underlying IP, the more value can be unlocked. As long as content owners are working as brand stewards rather than quick buck artists, there is plenty of rationale for business creativity here.