So Much For That Plan: Google CIO Doesn't Even Last A Year At EMI

from the whoops dept

Mon, Mar 23rd 2009 4:47pm — Mike Masnick

Nearly a year ago, we were surprised, but hopeful when it was announced that Doug Merrill, former CIO of Google was joining EMI to head up its digital initiatives. It definitely seemed like the big record labels could use a nice injection of Google-style thinking -- though, we were worried that Merrill would be pigeonholed as a "techie" rather than someone integrated into the wider strategy. And, indeed, watching EMI continue to make a series of self-destructive moves left us wondering how much influence, if any, Merrill had on the firm. Just a few weeks ago, we pointed out that Merrill should be ashamed to be associated with a company that is actively stomping out innovation left and right.

Who knows what the real reason is, but it looks like Merrill didn't work out at EMI. Less than a year after taking the job, Merrill is no longer employed by EMI. Neither side is talking about why -- though EMI said something about how it's unnecessary to have a separate "digital division." That goes back to our original fears: suggesting Merrill was limited just to digital issues, rather than overall strategy. But, the fact that he's totally gone from the company so quickly suggests that perhaps he tried to shift the direction of the company and was unable to get very far. That's a loss for EMI and the big record labels, who never seem to miss an opportunity to make things worse for themselves.

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Filed Under: digital, doug merrill
Companies: emi, google

33 Comments

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Weird Harold, 23 Mar 2009 @ 5:01pm

.... or perhaps he walked in and said "Do the Mike Masnick! Quit now because you are doomed you dinosaurs!". It took them a year to stop laughing long enough to let him go.
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- Dave, 24 Mar 2009 @ 6:44am
  
  Re:
  See, it's things like that that get you called a troll.
  
  Its much more likely that he went in as someone trying to set up their own digital sales infrastructure, and then EMI realized they couldn't compete with iTunes and killed off the division.
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  - Weird Harold, 24 Mar 2009 @ 7:20am
    
    Re: Re:
    yeah, but really, can't you picture the tight asses in suits over at EMI laughing out loud with some of the stuff this guy likely brought to the table? Sort of on the same level as the flat earth guys being told the world was round. I didn't suggest they are right, I am actually suggesting their heads are probably so hard they won't even get the basics, let alone a complicated strategy that asks them to ditch their entire business model for a new and unproven one.
    
    Yes, you are right too: If I looked at Itunes (with drm), I would say there is little reason to compete with them. I suspect the rates charged by Apple on this are lower than the costs that most record companies would see trying to do it themselves. Sort of shows where middlemen come from.
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Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2009 @ 5:07pm

I don't think Mike has ever said they should quit because they are doomed. If my memory serves me, and it usually does, he said change or you are doomed, and if they choose to continue on their current path, he may be right.
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xyz, 23 Mar 2009 @ 5:54pm

Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
Somehow, I just knew that the first post would be from our favorite under the bridge dweller.

I'm sure it went down exactly as Harry has said.
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- Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2009 @ 6:05pm
  
  Re: Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
  Is he a troll, because his opinion defers from your own? See I am being a troll right now, but I am confused.
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  - xyz, 23 Mar 2009 @ 6:36pm
    
    Re: Re: Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
    "Is he a troll, because his opinion defers from your own? See I am being a troll right now, but I am confused."
    
    You're new aren't you ...
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    - Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:57pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
      he's a troll because he is the first to comment on many posts. His opinions differ from other people around here ... is that a bad thing?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2009 @ 8:19pm
    
    Re: Re: Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
    No he's a troll because of his posting history. I pray that no one can be truly that naive, dense, and outright ignorant on such a consistent basis.
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- Vincent Clement, 24 Mar 2009 @ 4:45am
  
  Re: Do the Troll Dance - Do the Troll Dance - Yeah !
  Please stop feeding the troll. Lets just stick to the issue at hand. And lets not make this personal.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Jesse, 23 Mar 2009 @ 5:59pm

I guess time will tell, WH. By the way, didn't you steal that name from Fat Albert? Fair use doesn't exist...you can't put words together that have ever been used together by somebody else...all ideas come from a vacuum...yadda yadda yadda...you are a thief. Pay up: $150,000 for every time you post; you've already defended these fines so you shouldn't mind.

But yes, keep spewing that crap, see all the good it does you.
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- Weird Harold, 23 Mar 2009 @ 6:10pm
  
  Re:
  Sorry, but (a) fat albert was before my time, and (b) I am not a cartoon character or a drawing.
  
  Nice try troll.
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  - Azrael, 24 Mar 2009 @ 2:32am
    
    Re: Re:
    No, but you have used someone's else idea and that is copyright infringement so pay up and stop using it.
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  - Dave, 24 Mar 2009 @ 6:45am
    
    Re: Re:
    Fat Albert was also a (very bad) live action film released a few years back.
    
    Definite infringement. Pay up! I'll take a cheque.
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AnonCow, 23 Mar 2009 @ 6:59pm

Leaving Google to join a music label? Maybe EMI realized that they had hired an idiot?
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xyz, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:22pm

After moving, Doug probably realized that he had better things to do.
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Snake Plissken, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:24pm

WH
Congratulations, WH. You have reduced every single comment session here to meaningless trollery and attention to you and your "commentary." Yay for you.
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- Attention Whore, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:53pm
  
  Re: WH
  Yes, ok - but ...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Only A Disciple, 24 Mar 2009 @ 4:15am
  
  Re: WH
  Snake is that really you?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
RD, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:53pm

Nope
"Sorry, but (a) fat albert was before my time, and (b) I am not a cartoon character or a drawing.

Nice try troll."

Ignorance of the law is no defense. You are trading on the name of a copyrighted character. Figure you have stolen the name and used it without paying at least dozens of times on this site alone. You are guilty of theft. Pay up, $150k per offense.
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Weird HaroId, 23 Mar 2009 @ 7:58pm

Yeah well nobody reads my blog so I guess being an attention whore here is the next best thing.
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- Dave, 24 Mar 2009 @ 6:48am
  
  Re:
  I read your blog. It's a lot more reasonable than many of your comments here.
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  - Weird Harold, 24 Mar 2009 @ 7:22am
    
    Re: Re:
    I didn't post that previous comment. Someone is just being an ass (probably the same guy that keeps my spamarrest account busy).
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    - (not really) Weird HaroId, 24 Mar 2009 @ 8:24am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Nah, I just troll you here, man, I don't care about your mailbox.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
bulljustin (profile), 23 Mar 2009 @ 8:08pm

perfect opportunity
Seems like Doug Merrill now has the perfect opportunity to show EMI, WMG, et al what's what in the new distribution system. Since he now has a year of "music industry" experience he should have enough contacts to draw personnel from EMI and others to start a company. This company being headed by progressive thinkers instead of lawyers could be just what the music industry needs to see they need to change or perish. I hope he does something with this, and Mike I hope you can help him. Maybe you should mention it at the next music conference you go to.
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Cheese McBeese, 23 Mar 2009 @ 8:56pm

Could it be lack of competence?
Why does everybody think Google is so great and the people who work there are geniuses? They have a really good search engine and a very tightly integrated ad model - all of which is surrounded by a lot of mediocre (or crap) applications.

I'm not surprised that when Google execs re-enter the real world that they find it's more difficult to walk on water. You have to add value. You can't just get away with a trendy haircut and an "I used to work at Google" mentality. I guess that might work at Facebook or Twitter, but I can't think of any other good job prospects for these people at real companies. Can you?
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Jesse, 23 Mar 2009 @ 9:53pm

"Sorry, but (a) fat albert was before my time, and (b) I am not a cartoon character or a drawing."

How is (a) a defense? The fact that fat albert was before your time underscores my point. It was there first. Your usage of the name was there second. You copied it; copyright doesn't care if you meant to.

(b) What is that, an attempt at a fair use defense, or trying to use trademark law. Either way, according to copyright fanatics like yourself, fair use doesn't exist, and according to trademark fanatics (consider Monster Cable) any usage of a name, no matter of context, is a violation.

What is your blog, I want to read it. Maybe I'll be your first hit.
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Scott Gardner (profile), 23 Mar 2009 @ 10:08pm

RD & Jesse
I know I shouldn't feed the trolls, but here goes:

You can't get copyright protection for a fictional character name. A character name in and of itself is not a literary work, and is only protected as part of the work that the character appears in. I could write a western novel and name the ranch hands "Travis Bickle", "Forrest Gump" and "Jack Sparrow", and there's not a damn thing anyone could do about it.

Even if you could copyright a character name, misuse would be infringement, not theft.

It is possible to get *trademark* protection for a fictional character name, but Bill Cosby's "Weird Harold" character doesn't qualify for such protection. The *visual likeness* of Weird Harold from the TV show & movies might be protected, but WH isn't using the visual likeness in his posts.

And on an unrelated note, Cosby's "Weird Harold" character actually pre-dates "Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids" by quite a while. He's mentioned on the 1966 album "Wonderfulness" (in the "Go-Karts" routine), as well as 1967's "Revenge" (He's a big part of the "9th Street Bridge" skit). He may be on the older albums as well, but "Wonderfulness" is the oldest BC album I own.
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- Weird Harold, 24 Mar 2009 @ 4:15am
  
  Re: RD & Jesse
  You aren't feeding the trolls. All you are doing is confirming what I said, and saying it better.
  
  Thank you.
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yogi, 23 Mar 2009 @ 10:25pm

What's a troll
A troll is someone who's comments add nothing of value to the discussion and whose comments therefore incite , over and over again, a futile discussion on the merits of said comments, thereby rendering each comment thread useless and unreadable.

As of now I would say that WH fits the bill.

The only way to stop a troll is to disregard him or her.I suggest we do so immediately.
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wheatus, 24 Mar 2009 @ 12:23am

What if...
Is there anything stopping Google from actually partnering on content with new, unsigned artists? Googlerecords.com...50/50 sounds fair.

I understand this may be an absurd question, but I'd really like to know if it's actually illegal? Is there a monopoly issue?

I'm only bringing this up because with that amount of consolidated presentation power these Majors wouldn't last passed August. Someone needs to put a sickle to this corn already.

....And then Techdirt could write about all the great new developments like DSD and Korg 1 bit players, as there would be no more of these stomach acid troll festivals and WH could go back to bat breeding or what ever he does.

bbb
wheatus.com
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Not anyone you know, 24 Mar 2009 @ 4:58am

EMI/Douglas Merril
Douglas was released for being long on ideas, and short on action.
EMI is very much so innovative and will continue to be so.
Reading into this as anything more than an employee coming up short and management letting him, is ridiculous at best.

The world of PE is short on patience and rightfully so.
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Dave, 24 Mar 2009 @ 5:34am

Bonus
Did he get a huge bonus when they fired him?

If not, maybe AIG could use some help. :)
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