Hello again everyone. Hope you guys had a nice, restful weekend like I did. Now I hate myself for doing this and I apologize for this being a mindless self-plug, but as I have stated before I am a musician and am continually experimenting with different avenues of music creation. With that being said, I would like to present my first original track ever. It is not the best that it could be but it was good enough that I decided to put it out here on the interwebs. I created this track using midi sequencing in the program Digital Performer and recording and editing through Audacity, which is an open source audio editing software. Listen to it and tell me what you think because I would like to see if this is a worthwhile future endeavor. For a hobby of course....
Cavalier by xXWraithXx
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Interview w/ A Third Party
Interviews, interviews, interviews, where for art thou interviews? Well I do not know about interviews plural but I got a single interview right here that is just what you guys are looking for. In this interview, which will most likely be my final one due to time constraints, I decided to go about the process differently. I approached one of my classmates who I know somewhat well but is still more of an acquaintance than a friend, we will call him Matt. He is a total video game junkie and has absolutely no time for music, save for a small amount of gangsta rap on the side. This provided for a fairly interesting exchange.
Me: Do you still buy CDs primarily?
Matt: I don't really buy CDs period. I'm more of an agent for free downloads than anything else. Plus I hardly ever listen to music.
Me: You hardly ever listen to music?? May I ask how that is possible?
Matt: Well outside of listening to the radio while I drive or a friend's mix CD while they drive, I spend all my time online in other fashions.
Me: Care to elaborate a little bit?
Matt: I play games online, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft mostly. I love playing team deathmatch over Xbox live, so much so that it occupies all of my time.
Me: I still find it hard to believe that you don't listen to music.
Matt: Well its not like I don't listen to music at all. I do enjoy the occasional N.W.A or Freddie Gibbs, but outside of that my knowledge of and exposure to any other kind of music is virtually none. Music just isn't a priority for me like it is for a lot of people. I don't have headphones in my ears 24/7 and the only sound quality I have to worry about is the master game volume for whatever game I may be playing on whatever monitor I may be playing it on.
Me: Well that is good to hear though it is interesting you have little to no exposure to a decent portion of the musical spectrum. I apologize for my prodding.
Matt: Its cool. A lot of people are usually shocked to hear that so you're not the only one.
Me: Since you have very little exposure to music as a commodity, how much do you know about the industry that produces it?
Matt: Nothing at all, but I assume the fact that you're asking me about it means that something is going on, am I right?
Me: That's just the thing, there isn't anything going on. The industry is just in a state of transition and everyone is freaking out over the change.
Matt: I'll take your word for it.
Me: Do you still buy CDs primarily?
Matt: I don't really buy CDs period. I'm more of an agent for free downloads than anything else. Plus I hardly ever listen to music.
Me: You hardly ever listen to music?? May I ask how that is possible?
Matt: Well outside of listening to the radio while I drive or a friend's mix CD while they drive, I spend all my time online in other fashions.
Me: Care to elaborate a little bit?
Matt: I play games online, Call of Duty and World of Warcraft mostly. I love playing team deathmatch over Xbox live, so much so that it occupies all of my time.
Me: I still find it hard to believe that you don't listen to music.
Matt: Well its not like I don't listen to music at all. I do enjoy the occasional N.W.A or Freddie Gibbs, but outside of that my knowledge of and exposure to any other kind of music is virtually none. Music just isn't a priority for me like it is for a lot of people. I don't have headphones in my ears 24/7 and the only sound quality I have to worry about is the master game volume for whatever game I may be playing on whatever monitor I may be playing it on.
Me: Well that is good to hear though it is interesting you have little to no exposure to a decent portion of the musical spectrum. I apologize for my prodding.
Matt: Its cool. A lot of people are usually shocked to hear that so you're not the only one.
Me: Since you have very little exposure to music as a commodity, how much do you know about the industry that produces it?
Matt: Nothing at all, but I assume the fact that you're asking me about it means that something is going on, am I right?
Me: That's just the thing, there isn't anything going on. The industry is just in a state of transition and everyone is freaking out over the change.
Matt: I'll take your word for it.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Interview w/ A Friend
So do you remember that interview that I posted the other day? Well guess what, I enjoyed doing that interview so much that I decided to do another one! You are welcome. For this one I chose to ask a close friend of mine who we shall call Rick from this point forward. Rick is a long-time fan of all types of music who is my age. Let us see what he had to say.
Me: So can I just start off by asking whether or not you still purchase CDs?
Rick: Sure do. I always have bought CDs and always will buy CDs. I remember back when I was really little and I had a Sony Walkman and my parents bought me cassette tapes. If they still sold cassettes regularly nowadays I would still buy them.
Me: May I just ask why you are still so energetic about CDs, because I have to say that I haven't even thought about buying a CD in years?
Rick: You must be one of those people that is all about online piracy and torrenting. I really dislike those things because I feel that they take away from the artists who create the music we listen to. I remember when I got my first CD back in '97, it was a copy of Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind. I thought it was so cool and I felt so honored to be playing it in my boombox. It was at that point in time where I decided that I loved music, simple as that. There's just something about CDs for me that just makes my music collection seem complete.
Me: Do you subscribe to the theory that CDs are predicated on greed and capitalism?
Rick: I can't even really say I know what you mean by that. Compact discs were a way to be more practical with recorded sound. Vinyls served the same purpose when they were invented.
Me: Do you not feel that online downloads, piracy or not, are also a more practical way to use and distribute sound?
Rick: Yeah it may be more readily available but what about the musicians? You download a song for free, you think they see any profit from that? I'm sure you would like to think that they do.
Me: So what do you think about the lackluster CD sales and price drop for purchasing CDs?
Rick: I can't say that I know anything about "lackluster" CD sales but I can say this: if people aren't buying CDs they should be, in order to show support for their favorite bands. I do my part. And in all honesty I have noticed a steady decline in the average CD price over the past few years. Now I don't know much about economics and I don't really feel that its a sign of anything. I do know that it can only be better for me the cheaper CDs are.
Me: So can I just start off by asking whether or not you still purchase CDs?
Rick: Sure do. I always have bought CDs and always will buy CDs. I remember back when I was really little and I had a Sony Walkman and my parents bought me cassette tapes. If they still sold cassettes regularly nowadays I would still buy them.
Me: May I just ask why you are still so energetic about CDs, because I have to say that I haven't even thought about buying a CD in years?
Rick: You must be one of those people that is all about online piracy and torrenting. I really dislike those things because I feel that they take away from the artists who create the music we listen to. I remember when I got my first CD back in '97, it was a copy of Third Eye Blind by Third Eye Blind. I thought it was so cool and I felt so honored to be playing it in my boombox. It was at that point in time where I decided that I loved music, simple as that. There's just something about CDs for me that just makes my music collection seem complete.
Me: Do you subscribe to the theory that CDs are predicated on greed and capitalism?
Rick: I can't even really say I know what you mean by that. Compact discs were a way to be more practical with recorded sound. Vinyls served the same purpose when they were invented.
Me: Do you not feel that online downloads, piracy or not, are also a more practical way to use and distribute sound?
Rick: Yeah it may be more readily available but what about the musicians? You download a song for free, you think they see any profit from that? I'm sure you would like to think that they do.
Me: So what do you think about the lackluster CD sales and price drop for purchasing CDs?
Rick: I can't say that I know anything about "lackluster" CD sales but I can say this: if people aren't buying CDs they should be, in order to show support for their favorite bands. I do my part. And in all honesty I have noticed a steady decline in the average CD price over the past few years. Now I don't know much about economics and I don't really feel that its a sign of anything. I do know that it can only be better for me the cheaper CDs are.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Springsteen Plays Monopoly
Now I am not 100% sure how pertinent or topical this is, but I heard of this story a little while ago and thought that it was somewhat interesting. I feel that it ties in very nicely with the recurring tales of how artists feel and what they do to cope. What is even better is that this story is about yet another big time musical artist; the one and only Boss.
Bruce Springsteen is a name that is synonymous with what is known as heartland rock. He and is backing band the E Street Band have been singing about America since the early 70s. Let us face the facts, if you do not know of The Boss and his E Street band you have obviously been living under a rock for the greater part of half a century and should be strung up by your ear lobes and beat with a rusty pole. Be that as it may, you need some learning thrown your way so I shall do what I have done previously and provide you with links to Wikipedia and The Boss' site which should provide you with all the relevant information you need.
Now Springsteen and his band are allied with a record label, Columbia Records to be specific, and to my knowledge have never had too many issues arise due to their agreements with said label. That being said, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are somewhat of a finely tuned business machine. They promote their own concerts and retain a decent portion of the marketing and distribution rights to their music. While they may be on good terms with their label, it must have still seemed prudent to Bruce to branch out a little bit. Back in December 2008, he struck a deal with corporate giant Wal-Mart that gave them exclusive rights to release his new greatest hits album and sell it for fairly cheap.
To start off, the majority of fans and consumers alike were strongly opposed to the creation of this agreement and I will tell you why. It was primarily due to the fact Springsteen is known for his advocacy of the blue collar workforce through his lyrical content and people see his deal with Wal-Mart contradictory to his message because of Wal-Mart's track record. Wal-Mart is famous for their disrespect of their low-wage employees, their refusal to recognize unions of any kind, and their working climates rife with discrimination. Their conduct paints a picture that does not exactly fit in with what Bruce Springsteen sings about. The Boss went on to admit that the deal was a huge mistake, but fans noted that he still did not pull out of the deal. Bruce Springsteen, one who is normally very good with executive decision-making, hurt his image a decent amount because of all of this. This just goes to show that while artists may make decisions to branch out and succeed tremendously, there are some times where it just is not the right decision and things backfire.
Source(s):
Bruce springsteen. In (2002). Wikipedia Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
Byrne, D. (2007, December 18). David byrne's survival strategies for emerging artists — and
megastars. Wired, (16.01), Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
Clark, A. (2009, February 1). Springsteen says wal-mart album deal was mistake. The
Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/01/bruce-springsteen-
wal-mart
Derrick, L. (2008, December 25). Springsteen sells out -- to wal-mart!. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-
out--to_b_153441.html
Kreps, D. (2008, December 22). Bruce springsteen plans wal-mart only "greatest hits". Rolling
Stone, Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bruce-springsteen-plans-
wal-mart-only-greatest-hits-20081222
Bruce Springsteen is a name that is synonymous with what is known as heartland rock. He and is backing band the E Street Band have been singing about America since the early 70s. Let us face the facts, if you do not know of The Boss and his E Street band you have obviously been living under a rock for the greater part of half a century and should be strung up by your ear lobes and beat with a rusty pole. Be that as it may, you need some learning thrown your way so I shall do what I have done previously and provide you with links to Wikipedia and The Boss' site which should provide you with all the relevant information you need.
Now Springsteen and his band are allied with a record label, Columbia Records to be specific, and to my knowledge have never had too many issues arise due to their agreements with said label. That being said, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are somewhat of a finely tuned business machine. They promote their own concerts and retain a decent portion of the marketing and distribution rights to their music. While they may be on good terms with their label, it must have still seemed prudent to Bruce to branch out a little bit. Back in December 2008, he struck a deal with corporate giant Wal-Mart that gave them exclusive rights to release his new greatest hits album and sell it for fairly cheap.
To start off, the majority of fans and consumers alike were strongly opposed to the creation of this agreement and I will tell you why. It was primarily due to the fact Springsteen is known for his advocacy of the blue collar workforce through his lyrical content and people see his deal with Wal-Mart contradictory to his message because of Wal-Mart's track record. Wal-Mart is famous for their disrespect of their low-wage employees, their refusal to recognize unions of any kind, and their working climates rife with discrimination. Their conduct paints a picture that does not exactly fit in with what Bruce Springsteen sings about. The Boss went on to admit that the deal was a huge mistake, but fans noted that he still did not pull out of the deal. Bruce Springsteen, one who is normally very good with executive decision-making, hurt his image a decent amount because of all of this. This just goes to show that while artists may make decisions to branch out and succeed tremendously, there are some times where it just is not the right decision and things backfire.
Source(s):
Bruce springsteen. In (2002). Wikipedia Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
Byrne, D. (2007, December 18). David byrne's survival strategies for emerging artists — and
megastars. Wired, (16.01), Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
Clark, A. (2009, February 1). Springsteen says wal-mart album deal was mistake. The
Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/feb/01/bruce-springsteen-
wal-mart
Derrick, L. (2008, December 25). Springsteen sells out -- to wal-mart!. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-
out--to_b_153441.html
Kreps, D. (2008, December 22). Bruce springsteen plans wal-mart only "greatest hits". Rolling
Stone, Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bruce-springsteen-plans-
wal-mart-only-greatest-hits-20081222
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Interview w/ An Uncle
Alright everyone, today I have a special treat for you all. I took the time to contact my uncle who lives up in Philadelphia (who we shall refer to as Ron from here on out) and ask him a few questions pertaining to the music industry and his take on everything that is going on at the present. Some of you might be wondering why him? Well not only did he grow up during the time of musical geniuses, he is also an audiophile and works as a DJ. He does not work for a record label per say, but he has ample experience in the realms of production and distribution as well as music marketing. I felt he could provide a unique perspective on the topic at hand, so I asked him a few questions to get a good idea of his range of thoughts. Enjoy!
Me: So let me just start off by asking you whether or not you purchase CDs anymore?
Ron: Absolutely. I love music and have always kept a fairly good-sized music catalog. I honestly prefer vinyl but I have tried to keep up with the times.
Me: Have you ever heard someone reason that the CD was created out of greed?
Ron: I have heard people say that. It is plausible to think that they would expressly want people to replace their record collections with smaller, better quality discs but I feel that it was just the natural progression of technology. Sound and the ways we use it are amazing and compact discs were just destined to be another notch in the evolution of music.
Me: Okay let's get down to it, you're a DJ so I assume you know a tad bit about the music creation process within the context of the music industry. What is it all about exactly?
Ron: I haven't done too much full-time work in the industry, I have more just worked as an overall sound engineer, but you are right in assuming that I have had a little experience in producing music. I've always found the whole process a bit daunting to tell you the truth. I'm a stickler for detail and what qualifies as producing music nowadays does not lend itself to its appreciation for attention to detail. When I output a sound I want to know that its going to sound good and I have thrown my hat in on some projects that completely threw creativity and passion to the wind and would've completely fallen apart if not for serious support from the guys upstairs. I regret nothing that I've worked on but I normally just work on my own projects.
Me: When you say serious support from the guys upstairs, you mean....?
Ron: The pieces we were working on were devoid of substance and proper technique and were so full of management changes and lack of time and structure that we almost dropped everything entirely and went about our merry ways. But the big guys in charge wanted the projects to happen so we followed them through to completion despite all the bugs.
Me: Sounds like you've had some bad, dare I say traumatic, experiences working directly with the industry.
Ron: Not particularly. Like I said, I regret nothing that I've worked on but I do have my preferences. I am not exactly a recording artist so my options are a little more diverse I guess you would say. In the end, my knack for attention to detail basically requires that I stick to my own devices.
Me: Why is it so important that you stick to your own devices?
Ron: Isn't it obvious? Working on my own projects with my own equipment at my own pace is just my lifestyle. It works for me.
Me: So what I'm getting is that you don't feel you fit in with goals and schedules of the industry?
Ron: Kind of what it comes down to if you think about. Its somewhat depressing because I love the products of the process so much, that is the great musical artists and tracks, and yet I don't fit in with the process because it is a process so fraught with rules and checklists. Its all kind of beyond me.
Me: So overall, what is your opinion of the business of making music?
Ron: All I will say is this because I feel that it sums it up nicely: that really depends on how you view and/or define the "business of making muisc."
Me: So let me just start off by asking you whether or not you purchase CDs anymore?
Ron: Absolutely. I love music and have always kept a fairly good-sized music catalog. I honestly prefer vinyl but I have tried to keep up with the times.
Me: Have you ever heard someone reason that the CD was created out of greed?
Ron: I have heard people say that. It is plausible to think that they would expressly want people to replace their record collections with smaller, better quality discs but I feel that it was just the natural progression of technology. Sound and the ways we use it are amazing and compact discs were just destined to be another notch in the evolution of music.
Me: Okay let's get down to it, you're a DJ so I assume you know a tad bit about the music creation process within the context of the music industry. What is it all about exactly?
Ron: I haven't done too much full-time work in the industry, I have more just worked as an overall sound engineer, but you are right in assuming that I have had a little experience in producing music. I've always found the whole process a bit daunting to tell you the truth. I'm a stickler for detail and what qualifies as producing music nowadays does not lend itself to its appreciation for attention to detail. When I output a sound I want to know that its going to sound good and I have thrown my hat in on some projects that completely threw creativity and passion to the wind and would've completely fallen apart if not for serious support from the guys upstairs. I regret nothing that I've worked on but I normally just work on my own projects.
Me: When you say serious support from the guys upstairs, you mean....?
Ron: The pieces we were working on were devoid of substance and proper technique and were so full of management changes and lack of time and structure that we almost dropped everything entirely and went about our merry ways. But the big guys in charge wanted the projects to happen so we followed them through to completion despite all the bugs.
Me: Sounds like you've had some bad, dare I say traumatic, experiences working directly with the industry.
Ron: Not particularly. Like I said, I regret nothing that I've worked on but I do have my preferences. I am not exactly a recording artist so my options are a little more diverse I guess you would say. In the end, my knack for attention to detail basically requires that I stick to my own devices.
Me: Why is it so important that you stick to your own devices?
Ron: Isn't it obvious? Working on my own projects with my own equipment at my own pace is just my lifestyle. It works for me.
Me: So what I'm getting is that you don't feel you fit in with goals and schedules of the industry?
Ron: Kind of what it comes down to if you think about. Its somewhat depressing because I love the products of the process so much, that is the great musical artists and tracks, and yet I don't fit in with the process because it is a process so fraught with rules and checklists. Its all kind of beyond me.
Me: So overall, what is your opinion of the business of making music?
Ron: All I will say is this because I feel that it sums it up nicely: that really depends on how you view and/or define the "business of making muisc."
Monday, November 28, 2011
Stax On Deck
So with the creation of SoundScan, record label execs saw an opportunity to put more than their foot in the door and take control of the creative process of music production. They knew what to market to consumers and what areas of the market to target so they felt that they knew the proper method of music creation. They took over every aspect of the production process in order to have artists create a vision that was not their own. The corporate finagling took the industry and turned it into something that it was not. And that was to remain the standard for years to come....
The sad thing is, like most other situations of this nature, this corporate takeover and reshaping tragedy that beset the music industry could have very well been avoided if the corporate suits had remembered their industry history. Musical woes stemming from corporate tug-of-war have plagued the music industry one time in the past. That is right, its story-time.
There once existed a quaint little record label called Stax Records. Stax was set up in Memphis, TN in 1957 by Jim Stewart and and his sister Estelle Axton under the name Satellite Records. In September 1961 the name was changed to Stax and the label was already producing R&B and blues hits from well known artists of the time such as Earth Wind and Fire and Sly & the Family Stone. They even had a partnership with Atlantic Records, another major label back in the day, where Atlantic would have first choice on releasing Stax recordings, which allow the people at Stax to focus completely on the music and its recording process.
As the years went by, Stax signed more and more popular artists which garnered them more and more success. All they released were hits. Their success peaked in 1967 right before tragedy was to strike. Atlantic Records was sold to Warner Bros. who called for a renegotiation of the Stax/Atlantic partnership. It was found that Jim Stewart had actually signed over ownership to all of Stax's master recordings from 1959-1967 and Warner Bros. refused to return ownership to Stewart. Because of this, Stewart did not renew his Atlantic partnership deal and decided to sell Stax Paramount Pictures in 1968.
Stax was now an independent label and needed to rebuild its catalog of recordings which it did. Despite regaining momentum though (they even put on a concert in 1972), their overall situation was unstable at best. In 1972, Stax's new president took complete financial control of the label and struck a distribution deal with CBS. A few executive decisions later though, some people at Stax lost their jobs and CBS's interest in Stax disappeared. The label was getting no profits despite high consumer demands for Stax recordings. In 1975, the president was arrested for bank fraud and Stax Records was forced into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 19. And thus marked the end of a great contribution to the music industry so early in its timeline.
Source(s):
Callahan, M. (n.d.). Jim stewart and estelle axton's stax records. Retrieved from
http://www.history-of-rock.com/stax_records.htm
McDonald, H. (n.d.). Stax record profile. About.com, Retrieved from
http://musicians.about.com/od/indielabels/p/staxrecords.htm
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Montier, P. (n.d.). Stax story. Retrieved from http://staxrecords.free.fr/staxstory.htm
Stax records. In (2003). Wikipedia Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stax_Records
The sad thing is, like most other situations of this nature, this corporate takeover and reshaping tragedy that beset the music industry could have very well been avoided if the corporate suits had remembered their industry history. Musical woes stemming from corporate tug-of-war have plagued the music industry one time in the past. That is right, its story-time.
There once existed a quaint little record label called Stax Records. Stax was set up in Memphis, TN in 1957 by Jim Stewart and and his sister Estelle Axton under the name Satellite Records. In September 1961 the name was changed to Stax and the label was already producing R&B and blues hits from well known artists of the time such as Earth Wind and Fire and Sly & the Family Stone. They even had a partnership with Atlantic Records, another major label back in the day, where Atlantic would have first choice on releasing Stax recordings, which allow the people at Stax to focus completely on the music and its recording process.
As the years went by, Stax signed more and more popular artists which garnered them more and more success. All they released were hits. Their success peaked in 1967 right before tragedy was to strike. Atlantic Records was sold to Warner Bros. who called for a renegotiation of the Stax/Atlantic partnership. It was found that Jim Stewart had actually signed over ownership to all of Stax's master recordings from 1959-1967 and Warner Bros. refused to return ownership to Stewart. Because of this, Stewart did not renew his Atlantic partnership deal and decided to sell Stax Paramount Pictures in 1968.
Stax was now an independent label and needed to rebuild its catalog of recordings which it did. Despite regaining momentum though (they even put on a concert in 1972), their overall situation was unstable at best. In 1972, Stax's new president took complete financial control of the label and struck a distribution deal with CBS. A few executive decisions later though, some people at Stax lost their jobs and CBS's interest in Stax disappeared. The label was getting no profits despite high consumer demands for Stax recordings. In 1975, the president was arrested for bank fraud and Stax Records was forced into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on December 19. And thus marked the end of a great contribution to the music industry so early in its timeline.
Source(s):
Callahan, M. (n.d.). Jim stewart and estelle axton's stax records. Retrieved from
http://www.history-of-rock.com/stax_records.htm
McDonald, H. (n.d.). Stax record profile. About.com, Retrieved from
http://musicians.about.com/od/indielabels/p/staxrecords.htm
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Montier, P. (n.d.). Stax story. Retrieved from http://staxrecords.free.fr/staxstory.htm
Stax records. In (2003). Wikipedia Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stax_Records
Sunday, November 27, 2011
SoundScan Rising
Now time and time again I have consistently talked about the importance of CD sales in the music industry. I have talked about how record labels follow sales statistics to a tee and base all of their time, efforts, and resources into making sure their pop hit sells the most and makes them the most money. Now as much as we all hate talking about corporate dealings, it is sometimes prudent to talk about its origins. Where did all this corporatizing begin and how and why did it originate? To understand any of that, we need to learn a bit about a little thing I like to call SoundScan.
In all actuality it is not something that I like to call SoundScan, it actually is called SoundScan. For those of you not aware of what it is, Nielsen SoundScan is the system created for the express purpose of accurately tracking music and music video product sales. It was thought up by marketing analysts Mike Fine and Mike Shalett back in the early '90s, March 1, 1991 to be exact. You see, before SoundScan came into being and was adopted by Nielsen Media Research, album sales were tracked in a fairly haphazard fashion with retailers having to venture a guess as to approximately how many units they moved then sending in their figures. As you can probably already tell, that method was fraught with errors in distinction and retailers committing fraud.
On May 25, 1991 the first Billboard charts were released using SoundScan sales data and days of those old methods were no more. It now worked in a way that had retailers track their cash registers figures and submit it electronically. They would track all music product barcodes scanned and the quantities sold on a weekly basis. SoundScan was designed to consolidate all of this data from millions of retailers and spit out rankings based on said data. Naturally, the more units a specific album sold, the higher the ranking said album would gain.
With a good portion of Nielsen SoundScan's clients being all major and many independent record labels, it is easy to see where labels get all of their sales data. Not getting it yet? Here is the main point I am trying to get across in talking about SoundScan: in the days before legitimate album sales tracking, sales were tracked horribly. More often than not, the numbers that record labels would end up getting were fairly far off from what the sales figures actually were. Yet without knowing which way was up and what color was purple, music was still produced, bought, and sold and the industry was progressing, if not thriving. Give record labels the real numbers, they start knowing where they can afford to cut corners and what they can sell "pop." So corporate label execs got more involved in the creative process and started tailoring the music to their own design, a design that sells. It is not a design based on value or lyrical content or even talent, the most obvious deciding factor. It is simply a design that will maximize profit. SoundScan was and still is the music industry's tool for acquiring the almighty dollar.
Source(s):
Cloonan, M., & Williamson, J. (2008). Popular music: Rethinking the music industry.
Byrne, D. (2007, December 18). David byrne's survival strategies for emerging artists — and
megastars. Wired, (16.01), Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
McCourt, T., & Rothenbuhler, E. (1997). Soundscan and the consolidation of control in the popular
music industry. Media Culture & Society, 19(2), 201-218. Retrieved from http://mcs.sagepub.com/
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Nielsen soundscan. In (2009). Wikipedia Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_SoundScan
Phillips, C. (1991, December 8). Rock 'n' roll revolutionaries: soundscan's mike shalett and mike fine
have shaken up the record industry with a radical concept. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-08/entertainment/ca-85_1_sales-figures
In all actuality it is not something that I like to call SoundScan, it actually is called SoundScan. For those of you not aware of what it is, Nielsen SoundScan is the system created for the express purpose of accurately tracking music and music video product sales. It was thought up by marketing analysts Mike Fine and Mike Shalett back in the early '90s, March 1, 1991 to be exact. You see, before SoundScan came into being and was adopted by Nielsen Media Research, album sales were tracked in a fairly haphazard fashion with retailers having to venture a guess as to approximately how many units they moved then sending in their figures. As you can probably already tell, that method was fraught with errors in distinction and retailers committing fraud.
On May 25, 1991 the first Billboard charts were released using SoundScan sales data and days of those old methods were no more. It now worked in a way that had retailers track their cash registers figures and submit it electronically. They would track all music product barcodes scanned and the quantities sold on a weekly basis. SoundScan was designed to consolidate all of this data from millions of retailers and spit out rankings based on said data. Naturally, the more units a specific album sold, the higher the ranking said album would gain.
With a good portion of Nielsen SoundScan's clients being all major and many independent record labels, it is easy to see where labels get all of their sales data. Not getting it yet? Here is the main point I am trying to get across in talking about SoundScan: in the days before legitimate album sales tracking, sales were tracked horribly. More often than not, the numbers that record labels would end up getting were fairly far off from what the sales figures actually were. Yet without knowing which way was up and what color was purple, music was still produced, bought, and sold and the industry was progressing, if not thriving. Give record labels the real numbers, they start knowing where they can afford to cut corners and what they can sell "pop." So corporate label execs got more involved in the creative process and started tailoring the music to their own design, a design that sells. It is not a design based on value or lyrical content or even talent, the most obvious deciding factor. It is simply a design that will maximize profit. SoundScan was and still is the music industry's tool for acquiring the almighty dollar.
Source(s):
Cloonan, M., & Williamson, J. (2008). Popular music: Rethinking the music industry.
Byrne, D. (2007, December 18). David byrne's survival strategies for emerging artists — and
megastars. Wired, (16.01), Retrieved from
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
McCourt, T., & Rothenbuhler, E. (1997). Soundscan and the consolidation of control in the popular
music industry. Media Culture & Society, 19(2), 201-218. Retrieved from http://mcs.sagepub.com/
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Nielsen soundscan. In (2009). Wikipedia Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nielsen_SoundScan
Phillips, C. (1991, December 8). Rock 'n' roll revolutionaries: soundscan's mike shalett and mike fine
have shaken up the record industry with a radical concept. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from
http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-08/entertainment/ca-85_1_sales-figures
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Scoring Goals with a Yellowcard
As we've seen multiple times in these past discussions, the record companies seem at fault when concerned with the health of the music industry. Greedy corporate industry preying upon the (mostly) talented musicians that produce audible works of art shames and defaces the image of the music industry. Fear not, dear citizens, for I have seen the beautiful flower in this relationship between contract signers and keepers, and its name is Yellowcard.
From humble beginnings to avid rock stars, the members of Yellowcard enjoyed a blissful, healthy relationship with the record company that produced their early popular albums, Capitol Records. The band was on top of the world for a brief moment, before they announced an 'indefinite hiatus,' meaning the band was going to take a break from producing music for an undetermined amount of time. Two years later, the band drops their contract with Capitol records and produces their latest album, “When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes” with Hopeless records, a lesser known 'indie' record company. Sean Mackin, the violinist of the punk pop band, stated in a later interview the breakup between Capitol Records was on positive terms, or at the very least, non-negative terms.
“[...]we had a great relationship with our old record label until they got bought out and restructured.” Sean reported to Infectious Magazine.
Sean went on further to talk about their new partners in producing, Hopeless Records, with great enthusiasm.
“We still feel like the only band on Hopeless Records, and they’re really focused on making sure everyone has the new Yellowcard record and we’re working very hard just to make sure that we can be as successful and take advantage of every opportunity. You can’t ask for anything more in any situation.“
Hopeless Records and, for a time, Capitol Records treated Yellowcard with mutual respect and dignity, not careless greed and manipulation. While not a major contributing factor to the band's success, I feel the band was not hindered by interacting with their managers, as so many other bands seem to have this problem. I feel if other major contributing record companies would follow this beautiful relationship Yellowcard and Hopeless records have developed, the music industry would be better for this change.
Written by Matt Prince <http://chordsandcords.blogspot.com/>
Source(s):
DeAndrea, J. (2008, April 28). Yellowcard on Indefinite Hiatus - News Article . AbsolutePunk.net - Music
Mends Broken Hearts. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from http://www.absolutepunk.net
/showthread.php?t=314190
Yellowcard. (2011; May 13). Infectious Magazine . Retrieved November 22, 2011, from
http://www.infectiousmagazine.com/yellowcard/
Saturday, November 19, 2011
For Customer Service, Dial 867-5309
You are all probably wondering what all of this means. This is a lot of information to take in, I know. But where does all of it lead? Does this spell the end of music and the industry that once flourished as we know it? As I have continually stated throughout the tenure of our time here together, no the music industry is not on its way out and music is not going to disappear from the face of the earth. I believe what we have discussed thus far proves the contrary.
I am sure by now it is blatantly obvious that the majority of the industry's problems originate with the record labels. The issues can all be summed up in one sentence: the music industry is no longer about producing and releasing good quality tracks, it is about record label execs lining their pockets with as much money as possible. Musicians exist in a world where they are not judged by the quality of their music but by the amount of albums they can sell, because the more albums they sell, the more money they make their record label. At some point in time, greedy corporate figures took complete control over bands by manipulating the industry in such a way that musicians were moved to the bottom of the totem pole and basically told that the creations born of their mind and soul were not theirs. Some artists who have been around long enough to really be able to know for sure reason that it was sometime in the late 80s to early 90s around the mainstreaming of the CD and the inception of SoundScan, which is a story for another day that I just know you are going to love.
The question remains is what could possibly be done about any of this? Well the obvious solution is for record labels to wise up and get with the program. Their clients, the musicians, are their most valuable assets and they could certainly start treating them as such. Artists are sometimes mistreated and overworked to the point that they feel the need to do everything on their own. Also, the unflinching dependence on CDs is sealing the inevitable downfall of record labels.
What it really comes down to is this: the music business is changing with the times and the industry is in a period of transition. As we learn from the past, one media source always rises up to eclipse the previous one as technology progresses, and mp3s have risen up to eclipse the CD. Record labels live in denial though. They would stay with the CD and sacrifice talent for higher sales numbers instead of progressing along with society. It is this rift between record labels and reality that leads people to think that the music industry is failing. CD sales are lower than they have ever been so naturally we must prepare for music's demise. Music not only embraces progress but transcends time, how could it possibly fail? What me must prepare for is either an overhaul of record labels or the end of record labels as we know it, which if you think about it, may not be the worst thing that could happen.
Source(s):
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
I am sure by now it is blatantly obvious that the majority of the industry's problems originate with the record labels. The issues can all be summed up in one sentence: the music industry is no longer about producing and releasing good quality tracks, it is about record label execs lining their pockets with as much money as possible. Musicians exist in a world where they are not judged by the quality of their music but by the amount of albums they can sell, because the more albums they sell, the more money they make their record label. At some point in time, greedy corporate figures took complete control over bands by manipulating the industry in such a way that musicians were moved to the bottom of the totem pole and basically told that the creations born of their mind and soul were not theirs. Some artists who have been around long enough to really be able to know for sure reason that it was sometime in the late 80s to early 90s around the mainstreaming of the CD and the inception of SoundScan, which is a story for another day that I just know you are going to love.
The question remains is what could possibly be done about any of this? Well the obvious solution is for record labels to wise up and get with the program. Their clients, the musicians, are their most valuable assets and they could certainly start treating them as such. Artists are sometimes mistreated and overworked to the point that they feel the need to do everything on their own. Also, the unflinching dependence on CDs is sealing the inevitable downfall of record labels.
What it really comes down to is this: the music business is changing with the times and the industry is in a period of transition. As we learn from the past, one media source always rises up to eclipse the previous one as technology progresses, and mp3s have risen up to eclipse the CD. Record labels live in denial though. They would stay with the CD and sacrifice talent for higher sales numbers instead of progressing along with society. It is this rift between record labels and reality that leads people to think that the music industry is failing. CD sales are lower than they have ever been so naturally we must prepare for music's demise. Music not only embraces progress but transcends time, how could it possibly fail? What me must prepare for is either an overhaul of record labels or the end of record labels as we know it, which if you think about it, may not be the worst thing that could happen.
Source(s):
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Friday, November 18, 2011
Guilty of Greed
Now what happens when record labels actually do embrace digital downloads as a pertinent form of music distribution? It all comes down to the fact that the industry is moving towards a new age of how people find and consume music. This means that no matter how much resistance major labels put up, they do still have to cater in some form or fashion to the digital market.
This is where things start to get a little sketchy. Where current musicians see a new horizon for the music industry, record label execs see an easy way to make a quick buck while simultaneously screwing over their clients. The labels are able to do this through use of poorly delineated contracts. Many new artists that want to sign on with a record label can only do so by signing a contract that states the artists' obligations to the label, what will be expected of them and so on and so forth. Here is the catch though; for new artists, the sections pertaining to digital download royalties are usually very poorly worked out and end up with the label taking a major portion of the profit, even though selling music online costs the record label less than making and distributing plastic CDs.
For artists that were signed with a record label before the dawn of digital downloads it can be even worse. Because they signed a contract back in the day that did not outline provisions for digital sales, the record label is able to lay claim to all the royalties while leaving these long time artists without what is rightfully theirs. Naturally, one would get pretty ticked off about this pretty quickly, their own label robbing them blind while the label execs fill their pockets. It is simply not right and many bands are willing to do things differently in order to turn a better profit.
As talked about previously, the alternative rock band Cake distanced themselves form their record label and struck out on their own by building their very own solar powered recording studio and independently releasing their music. Now I am sure most if not all of you know the band Radiohead. They have been around since the 80s and are extremely popular. If there are those of you still not in the loop check out the band's website or Wikipedia page. Now they too were fed up with their record label for constantly jerking them around especially when it came to download royalties. So in 2004 they left their record label and went on hiatus. After three years of being on hiatus, they released their seventh album In Rainbows as a digital download on their website. The real draw was that consumers could name their own price for the album download, they could even get it for free.
In Radiohead's interview with Stephen Colbert, when asked about their decision to release their new album directly to fans, the band's guitarist Ed O'Brien was quoted as saying, "We sell less records, but we make more money." So breaking away from their record label's obsession over CD sales and shortchanging was obviously a positive move. They have also released their eighth album, The King of Limbs in the same fashion and plan to continue doing so in the future. This method of distribution is not as clever as a solar powered studio, but it is another example of bands becoming independent and changing along with the climate of the industry, leaving the record labels behind, which is how it should be. Record labels can be so underhanded in the ways they rob artists of their royalties. This state of affairs is a travesty really and is a sign of not only greed and absent-mindedness, but also of strife and desperation on the part of the record labels. It is no wonder many people believe that the industry is dying.
Source(s):
Anderson, N. (2008, January 2). Radiohead: artists often screwed by digital downloads. Retrieved
from http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/01/radiohead-artists-often-screwed-by-digital-
downloads.ars
This is where things start to get a little sketchy. Where current musicians see a new horizon for the music industry, record label execs see an easy way to make a quick buck while simultaneously screwing over their clients. The labels are able to do this through use of poorly delineated contracts. Many new artists that want to sign on with a record label can only do so by signing a contract that states the artists' obligations to the label, what will be expected of them and so on and so forth. Here is the catch though; for new artists, the sections pertaining to digital download royalties are usually very poorly worked out and end up with the label taking a major portion of the profit, even though selling music online costs the record label less than making and distributing plastic CDs.
For artists that were signed with a record label before the dawn of digital downloads it can be even worse. Because they signed a contract back in the day that did not outline provisions for digital sales, the record label is able to lay claim to all the royalties while leaving these long time artists without what is rightfully theirs. Naturally, one would get pretty ticked off about this pretty quickly, their own label robbing them blind while the label execs fill their pockets. It is simply not right and many bands are willing to do things differently in order to turn a better profit.
As talked about previously, the alternative rock band Cake distanced themselves form their record label and struck out on their own by building their very own solar powered recording studio and independently releasing their music. Now I am sure most if not all of you know the band Radiohead. They have been around since the 80s and are extremely popular. If there are those of you still not in the loop check out the band's website or Wikipedia page. Now they too were fed up with their record label for constantly jerking them around especially when it came to download royalties. So in 2004 they left their record label and went on hiatus. After three years of being on hiatus, they released their seventh album In Rainbows as a digital download on their website. The real draw was that consumers could name their own price for the album download, they could even get it for free.
In Radiohead's interview with Stephen Colbert, when asked about their decision to release their new album directly to fans, the band's guitarist Ed O'Brien was quoted as saying, "We sell less records, but we make more money." So breaking away from their record label's obsession over CD sales and shortchanging was obviously a positive move. They have also released their eighth album, The King of Limbs in the same fashion and plan to continue doing so in the future. This method of distribution is not as clever as a solar powered studio, but it is another example of bands becoming independent and changing along with the climate of the industry, leaving the record labels behind, which is how it should be. Record labels can be so underhanded in the ways they rob artists of their royalties. This state of affairs is a travesty really and is a sign of not only greed and absent-mindedness, but also of strife and desperation on the part of the record labels. It is no wonder many people believe that the industry is dying.
Source(s):
Anderson, N. (2008, January 2). Radiohead: artists often screwed by digital downloads. Retrieved
from http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/01/radiohead-artists-often-screwed-by-digital-
downloads.ars
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Folly of Record Labels
Let us take a step back for a second. In talking about Cake before, I mentioned how the band is fairly in tune with the growing trend of music being a downloadable and sometimes free commodity. While Cake is only one of the many bands that understands that trends come and go, not everyone is ready and willing to adopt such an attitude. The top offenders are the ones that you would least expect, your friendly neighborhood record labels.
Record labels have been around for decades and have usually went with the natural ebb and flow of technological progress in the music industry. What is it that makes it so difficult in this day and age for them to accept change? The main reason is that the majority of the internet is public domain and with so much file sharing and piracy, most record labels are afraid to move their market online for fear of not turning a profit. The labels' reliance on CDs as their main media source drives them go at great lengths to protect their music rights, therefore removing said media from said media source and sharing it on servers across the web goes against their supposed claim to the royalties. The real kicker is, while the musicians are the true artists behind the music and deserve the majority of the profit, not only do record labels pay them less than they are owed they more often than not withhold royalties from the artists claiming some kind of contractual obligation.
Here is the sad part; it is because of this love affair with CDs that record labels, and the industry as a whole, are suffering. Not many people buy CDs anymore. A lot of people have the capability to find whatever song or album they might be looking for on the internet for either free or very cheap, so why would they go out and pay $20 for a CD? Record labels are not moving anywhere near as many CDs as they should be and they are in some dire straits presently, so it is reasonable for a lot of people to think that the industry is on its last breath.
The good news: The music industry is not going anywhere. The fact of the matter is that music actually does sell online. The majority of mp3 sites (that have songs for as low as 99 cents at times) have recently seen surges in their consumer base. The best part about selling the music online is that all the money goes into the hands of the musical artists who created the tracks. There is no greedy middleman micromanaging every detail of production in order to push a plastic disc with a pop hit on it, which is why many artists, like Cake, have decided to branch off on their own. The profits are better and the only micromanaging involved comes with a personal touch which more often than not leads to a better quality track. Now you cannot beat that.
Source(s):
Anderson, N. (2008, January 22). A brave new world: the music biz at the dawn of 2008. Retrieved
from http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/01/state-of-digital-music-2007.ars/1
Record labels have been around for decades and have usually went with the natural ebb and flow of technological progress in the music industry. What is it that makes it so difficult in this day and age for them to accept change? The main reason is that the majority of the internet is public domain and with so much file sharing and piracy, most record labels are afraid to move their market online for fear of not turning a profit. The labels' reliance on CDs as their main media source drives them go at great lengths to protect their music rights, therefore removing said media from said media source and sharing it on servers across the web goes against their supposed claim to the royalties. The real kicker is, while the musicians are the true artists behind the music and deserve the majority of the profit, not only do record labels pay them less than they are owed they more often than not withhold royalties from the artists claiming some kind of contractual obligation.
Here is the sad part; it is because of this love affair with CDs that record labels, and the industry as a whole, are suffering. Not many people buy CDs anymore. A lot of people have the capability to find whatever song or album they might be looking for on the internet for either free or very cheap, so why would they go out and pay $20 for a CD? Record labels are not moving anywhere near as many CDs as they should be and they are in some dire straits presently, so it is reasonable for a lot of people to think that the industry is on its last breath.
The good news: The music industry is not going anywhere. The fact of the matter is that music actually does sell online. The majority of mp3 sites (that have songs for as low as 99 cents at times) have recently seen surges in their consumer base. The best part about selling the music online is that all the money goes into the hands of the musical artists who created the tracks. There is no greedy middleman micromanaging every detail of production in order to push a plastic disc with a pop hit on it, which is why many artists, like Cake, have decided to branch off on their own. The profits are better and the only micromanaging involved comes with a personal touch which more often than not leads to a better quality track. Now you cannot beat that.
Source(s):
Anderson, N. (2008, January 22). A brave new world: the music biz at the dawn of 2008. Retrieved
from http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/01/state-of-digital-music-2007.ars/1
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Cake's Basic Facts of Life
So were any of you aware that you CAN have your cake and eat it too? So many people have told you throughout your life that you cannot but today I am here to tell you that you indeed can. That would of course require you to acquire your own baked delicacy. I am of course referring to alternative rock band Cake. For those of you not quite sure who Cake is, they are a rock band that have been around since 1991 and have released such hits as "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "The Distance." If you would like to indulge your appetite for some Cake, check out the band's website or Wikipedia.
The reason I bring up Cake is because of their recent album release Showroom of Compassion. When the album was released back in January it became the lowest-selling number-one album on the Billboard 200, with 44,000 copies being sold. I mention Showroom of Compassion not for its stellar success and critical reception, but for the methods by which it was produced and distributed.
To put it lightly, Cake was fed up with all the hoops they had to jump through with their major record label. They also were more in tune with the growing trend of music being a downloadable and sometimes free commodity.The band's solution was simple really: build a solar powered recording studio and independently release all of their future albums on their own label. This method is certainly not conventional but it was obviously what the band was looking for. They went about leaving their old label and created their own, ILG, which would also serve as their distributor. In an interview with Electronic Musician, Cake's lead singer John McCrea had this to say,
"It’s our own label, and we’re pretty much doing it ourselves, and it’s all on our schedule, which is great. One of the things that frustrated us and a lot of other bands is having to work so hard on recording your album and then handing it over to somebody and being really at their mercy, being at the mercy of things that we’re not related to at all, to their business model, or their hiring and firing of employees—just random corporate hi-jinks. The stupidity of corporate culture sometimes affects something that you’ve worked on your whole life."
It is just like I said, this move was obviously what Cake was looking for. Now Cake is no stranger to independent releases; they released their first album independently by selling it out of their tour van. This bold move is no van store though; the band has multitudes of overhead. Every single thing they do they must pay for, but I am sure that the solar panels help with that.
Cake is showing us how to be creative in order to keep up with the changing times. Who else would have thought of building a solar powered recording studio? The idea is clever and aims to be very successful, albeit with longer periods of time in between album releases. They are also a prime example of musicians distancing themselves from all the corporate micromanaging of record labels to set off on their own. They are representative of a transitory climate that many refuse to recognize. As metal band Metallica would say, sad but true. Until next time.
Source(s):
Levine, M. (2011, March 1). Cake- nothin' fancy. Electronic Musician. Retrieved from
http://emusician.com/interviews/feature/cake_showroom_compassion/
The reason I bring up Cake is because of their recent album release Showroom of Compassion. When the album was released back in January it became the lowest-selling number-one album on the Billboard 200, with 44,000 copies being sold. I mention Showroom of Compassion not for its stellar success and critical reception, but for the methods by which it was produced and distributed.
To put it lightly, Cake was fed up with all the hoops they had to jump through with their major record label. They also were more in tune with the growing trend of music being a downloadable and sometimes free commodity.The band's solution was simple really: build a solar powered recording studio and independently release all of their future albums on their own label. This method is certainly not conventional but it was obviously what the band was looking for. They went about leaving their old label and created their own, ILG, which would also serve as their distributor. In an interview with Electronic Musician, Cake's lead singer John McCrea had this to say,
"It’s our own label, and we’re pretty much doing it ourselves, and it’s all on our schedule, which is great. One of the things that frustrated us and a lot of other bands is having to work so hard on recording your album and then handing it over to somebody and being really at their mercy, being at the mercy of things that we’re not related to at all, to their business model, or their hiring and firing of employees—just random corporate hi-jinks. The stupidity of corporate culture sometimes affects something that you’ve worked on your whole life."
It is just like I said, this move was obviously what Cake was looking for. Now Cake is no stranger to independent releases; they released their first album independently by selling it out of their tour van. This bold move is no van store though; the band has multitudes of overhead. Every single thing they do they must pay for, but I am sure that the solar panels help with that.
Cake is showing us how to be creative in order to keep up with the changing times. Who else would have thought of building a solar powered recording studio? The idea is clever and aims to be very successful, albeit with longer periods of time in between album releases. They are also a prime example of musicians distancing themselves from all the corporate micromanaging of record labels to set off on their own. They are representative of a transitory climate that many refuse to recognize. As metal band Metallica would say, sad but true. Until next time.
Source(s):
Levine, M. (2011, March 1). Cake- nothin' fancy. Electronic Musician. Retrieved from
http://emusician.com/interviews/feature/cake_showroom_compassion/
Sunday, November 6, 2011
The Hard Truth
Now last time we were together we talked about where music started and how it evolved to where it is at today. While music's history is interesting and the path it has blazed throughout the years is no less than amazing, it is time to take a step back and look at where that path has lead. A lot of artists and music enthusiasts feel that the music industry is in some dire straits.
The fact of the matter is that what the music industry is actually all about is selling CDs. The individual record labels throughout the industry really care about finding the lowest common denominator in popularity and making said track or artist the main focus. Basically what it boils down to is this; record labels micromanage every stage of a band's production period in order to create the most popular hit. They judge whether or not such a hit has been created by watching the CD sales. If a band sells x amount of CDs, x being a fairly high number one would assume, the record label puts all its energy and resources into selling that band's album, whether or not another artist on the same label might be getting a better mainstream reception. Then to top it all off the record label takes the greater majority of the royalties from said CD sales and leaves the musical artist out in the cold.
This is the sad truth of the music industry presently. A band might be selling out all of its concerts and racking up major downloads online, but if they do not have the CD sales to "back up" how good they are doing then it can be very difficult for them to get anywhere in the industry. Without stellar CD sales, a record label will not even bat an eyelash towards a band, which means a lot of raw musical talent goes unnoticed and unappreciated. With the industry being this way a lot of artists are deciding to not even bother with record labels, which may be the best solution. Some bands are noticing the trend of the industry to be a cold and cruel mistress and are developing other methods of production and distribution. "What are these methods?" you ask. "Please tell me, I NEED TO KNOW!" you scream. Well my compatriots you will be taught in good time, but you must be patient. These solutions are things best left for another time.
Source(s):
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
The fact of the matter is that what the music industry is actually all about is selling CDs. The individual record labels throughout the industry really care about finding the lowest common denominator in popularity and making said track or artist the main focus. Basically what it boils down to is this; record labels micromanage every stage of a band's production period in order to create the most popular hit. They judge whether or not such a hit has been created by watching the CD sales. If a band sells x amount of CDs, x being a fairly high number one would assume, the record label puts all its energy and resources into selling that band's album, whether or not another artist on the same label might be getting a better mainstream reception. Then to top it all off the record label takes the greater majority of the royalties from said CD sales and leaves the musical artist out in the cold.
This is the sad truth of the music industry presently. A band might be selling out all of its concerts and racking up major downloads online, but if they do not have the CD sales to "back up" how good they are doing then it can be very difficult for them to get anywhere in the industry. Without stellar CD sales, a record label will not even bat an eyelash towards a band, which means a lot of raw musical talent goes unnoticed and unappreciated. With the industry being this way a lot of artists are deciding to not even bother with record labels, which may be the best solution. Some bands are noticing the trend of the industry to be a cold and cruel mistress and are developing other methods of production and distribution. "What are these methods?" you ask. "Please tell me, I NEED TO KNOW!" you scream. Well my compatriots you will be taught in good time, but you must be patient. These solutions are things best left for another time.
Source(s):
Byrne, D. (2007, December 18). David byrne's survival strategies for emerging artists — and
megastars. Wired, (16.01), Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne?currentPage=all
Mellencamp, J. (2009, March 22). On my mind: the state of the music business. The Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Industry History 101
Now let us be honest here; music itself has been around for centuries. Ancient races and civilizations were singing folk songs around the fire before anyone ever conceived the idea of taking sound and putting it on a device that captured the sound and played it back. Because of this, I feel it is important to start off with a history of recorded music. I promise it is more exciting than you think.
It all starts out a little further back than you would guess, back in the 1870s, when Thomas Edison of all people created what is today known as the phonograph. The phonograph was the first piece of equipment that could record and playback sound and originally used aluminum cylinders to record. This creation was closely followed by the first official recording. The first recording was of The Lord's Prayer in 1884 and was done by Emile Berliner. Three years later in 1887, Berliner discovered that one could not only record sound much more successfully on a disc, but could also mass produce said disc so a greater portion of the world could listen to it.
By the early 1900s, recorded music was a staple of modern society and the next great stride came in 1903 when 12" vinyl records started getting commercial use. As time went by, their popularity only rose as the popularity of the foil cylinders dropped. Then in 1925, it happened. The first electrical recordings were done, which lead to a huge shift in the flow of the industry. Then came WWII and advances in the music world did not stop, only slow down. It was not until 1948 that true-to-life LP's that we know today were created. They remained the best medium for recorded music for years.
Then came stereo recording and stereo LP's in the mid-1950s. In a nutshell, this allowed for isolation of the left and right hand tracks so they could be tweaked separately. This was followed shortly by the inception of the cassette tape in 1963. Cassettes would grow to be an extremely popular format for recordings over the next few decades. Speaking of recording formats, we now come to the moment in time when vinyl LP's started their slow crawl towards their demise. Compact discs were announced in 1978 and were set to revolutionize the music industry as it was known back then.
Now we fast forward to 1982 when CD's were finally released and slowly began to eclipse records. By the late 1980s, vinyls were all but gone and CD's were known as the future of recorded music. As we moved into the 90s, CD's only became more popular as cassette tapes also started to go the way of vinyls. Time continued to pass and around 1998 is where we will complete this history lesson. In '98 mp3s, or digital music recordings, started to make their way onto the scene, which leads us to where we are presently. CD's are still the main hard copy format of music but they are on their way out. Digital mp3 downloads make up the majority of music purchases as CD sales decline more and more. You now know the past, but what does this mean for the present and future of the industry? Well my pretties, that is a lesson for another day.
Source(s):
MacQuarrie, R., Gu, Y., Guerra, E., Corredor, N., & Hill, W. (2000, April 2). Music
cd industry: The history of recorded music. Retrieved from
http://www.soc.duke.edu/~s142tm01/history.html
Goldman, D. (2010). Music's lost decade: Sales cut in half.CNNMoney, Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/
It all starts out a little further back than you would guess, back in the 1870s, when Thomas Edison of all people created what is today known as the phonograph. The phonograph was the first piece of equipment that could record and playback sound and originally used aluminum cylinders to record. This creation was closely followed by the first official recording. The first recording was of The Lord's Prayer in 1884 and was done by Emile Berliner. Three years later in 1887, Berliner discovered that one could not only record sound much more successfully on a disc, but could also mass produce said disc so a greater portion of the world could listen to it.
By the early 1900s, recorded music was a staple of modern society and the next great stride came in 1903 when 12" vinyl records started getting commercial use. As time went by, their popularity only rose as the popularity of the foil cylinders dropped. Then in 1925, it happened. The first electrical recordings were done, which lead to a huge shift in the flow of the industry. Then came WWII and advances in the music world did not stop, only slow down. It was not until 1948 that true-to-life LP's that we know today were created. They remained the best medium for recorded music for years.
Then came stereo recording and stereo LP's in the mid-1950s. In a nutshell, this allowed for isolation of the left and right hand tracks so they could be tweaked separately. This was followed shortly by the inception of the cassette tape in 1963. Cassettes would grow to be an extremely popular format for recordings over the next few decades. Speaking of recording formats, we now come to the moment in time when vinyl LP's started their slow crawl towards their demise. Compact discs were announced in 1978 and were set to revolutionize the music industry as it was known back then.
Now we fast forward to 1982 when CD's were finally released and slowly began to eclipse records. By the late 1980s, vinyls were all but gone and CD's were known as the future of recorded music. As we moved into the 90s, CD's only became more popular as cassette tapes also started to go the way of vinyls. Time continued to pass and around 1998 is where we will complete this history lesson. In '98 mp3s, or digital music recordings, started to make their way onto the scene, which leads us to where we are presently. CD's are still the main hard copy format of music but they are on their way out. Digital mp3 downloads make up the majority of music purchases as CD sales decline more and more. You now know the past, but what does this mean for the present and future of the industry? Well my pretties, that is a lesson for another day.
Source(s):
MacQuarrie, R., Gu, Y., Guerra, E., Corredor, N., & Hill, W. (2000, April 2). Music
cd industry: The history of recorded music. Retrieved from
http://www.soc.duke.edu/~s142tm01/history.html
Goldman, D. (2010). Music's lost decade: Sales cut in half.CNNMoney, Retrieved from
http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Greetings and Salutations
Hello to all and welcome to my blog. Let me just start off by saying that if you did not read the name of this blog fully, this is not a blog about the rock band Dire Straits. While they are an amazing band and a personal favorite of mine, I created this blog to talk about the state of the music industry past, present, and future.
Now who am I? I am an avid music listener and basically need music to survive. I myself am not apart of the music industry (nor would I want to be right now), but I am a musician and a concerned citizen. Am I an expert? No I am not an expert by any means, nor do I claim to be one, but I do follow the industry close enough to understand it to a certain degree and know where it has come from and where it could possibly go.
Right now you are probably thinking to yourself "What could this guy possibly have to talk about? There is nothing wrong with the music industry, music is doing fine." Believe me I am not here to announce that music as we know it is going to die, far from it actually. Music is not going anywhere anytime soon. What is going somewhere is the music industry itself. The industry is not the same as it was back in the day, and in this case that is not exactly a good thing. Have I caught your interest? Do you want to know more? Well you will just have to stay tuned in because I intend to inform you all in due time.
Now who am I? I am an avid music listener and basically need music to survive. I myself am not apart of the music industry (nor would I want to be right now), but I am a musician and a concerned citizen. Am I an expert? No I am not an expert by any means, nor do I claim to be one, but I do follow the industry close enough to understand it to a certain degree and know where it has come from and where it could possibly go.
Right now you are probably thinking to yourself "What could this guy possibly have to talk about? There is nothing wrong with the music industry, music is doing fine." Believe me I am not here to announce that music as we know it is going to die, far from it actually. Music is not going anywhere anytime soon. What is going somewhere is the music industry itself. The industry is not the same as it was back in the day, and in this case that is not exactly a good thing. Have I caught your interest? Do you want to know more? Well you will just have to stay tuned in because I intend to inform you all in due time.
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