PC Pro: News: TV star busts AT&T bill with Twitter
July 1, 2009PC Pro: News: TV star busts AT&T bill with Twitter.
So does this help us? Does this tame AT&T into greater humanity? Or, does this just reinforce that “Stars” can get away with anything?
Clearly, $11k for web surfing is extreme, but “forgiving” his bill doesn’t necessarily change their onerous billing practices.
What my Daughter and Tic-Tac-Toe can Teach Us about the Music Industry.
June 24, 2009When my daughter was 5 years old she learned and readily mastered Tic-Tac-Toe. It is a game we all know, relatively simple in nature, and if you’re paying attention, always leads to a draw. For this reason, adults who are not playing with children, rarely if ever play Tic-Tac-Toe. Yet, at age 6, she managed to distill out of the game a life lesson, a keystone for rebuilding the Music Industry, that most adults never conceive.
Now, my daughter often says things that stun me with their worldliness. For example, the other day we had a memorial ceremony for our departed pet fish. When I suggested that we flush the toilet in salute, she said, “no, that’d waste water, “ so we made flushing sound effects instead.
And, at this age playing Tic-Tac-Toe, when neither she nor I could ever win, she really hit upon the essence of the game. I made the “mistake” of admitting once to letting her win. She knew she could not win on her own; a draw was an inevitability bore out by countless, fruitless games. This is not unlike most artists’ careers in music if we’re honest about it. Suddenly, she let me win a game. Then I let her win another. She gleefully accused me of letting her win, so she let me win the next one.
My six year old was pointing out the obvious: in a closed system, no one can win all of the time. Furthermore, the effort of trying to win all the time was wasteful, disheartening, and ultimately fruitless. Tic-Tac-Toe was much more fun when we played to let each other win in a pleasant and reciprocal fashion. We both got to enjoy a game that we had otherwise thought was a dead-end.
So, what has this got to do with music? Everything. The uber-competitive, “I have more talent than you,” scrambling over each other in the muck mentality has to stop. It is counter-productive, like trying to win at Tic-Tac-Toe. Cooperative, fair play leads to a better experience for all. Whether we are discussing musicians getting their music ripped off by self-righteous consumers, or studio owners having unsustainable rates forced on them by musicians unwilling to pay enough to cover the studio rent, it comes to the same thing. The world is getting smaller, people will do better, get along better, enjoy life better, make better art if they learn to value each other as participants and contributors to the game we are all playing.
JT’s Picks: Laurie Larson — A Striking Resemblance
June 1, 2009If you’ve ever wondered what it’d sound like to cross The Doors with Kate Bush performing deep sounding but essentially meaningless songs, here’s your chance. Check out Laurie Larson’s 2008 A Striking Resemblance. This is well performed music with touches of Raitt-esque slide guitar and other country-pop elements. The problem is that her vocals are weak and masked in dreamy reverb. Combined with the pedal steel or slide guitar, the effect is an out of place surf vibe. A Call to Action is a slow dreamy piece that channels Clannad (go figure). The title track, A Striking Resemblance, again evokes The Doors, but now with a chanteuse fronting the band.
It doesn’t do it for me. The disconnect between the music bed and the vocals is beyond me to get past. Maybe some of you will “get it”. Check her out at www.laurielarson.com
NYT: Isle of Man Plans Unlimited Music Downloads
May 29, 2009I’m not sure it this is a good idea. However, it is a novel approach to a serious problem, and this community seems like it’ll be a great test bed to see if it works. There’s a wise caveat part way through from Mr. Nash at Warner, that we wouldn’t want to actually lose revenue in favor of sales with any new model. It sounds like the majors are doing some interesting nee good thinking. Hope there’s a solution soon 
WSJ Editorial on IP Theft and Who Is Behind It All.
May 26, 2009Finally someone who says what needs to be said about stealing IP. It’s suddenly dawning on everyone that the music industry is not all that’s at stake. The whole house of cards is shaking at its foundation. Especially in the United States, a country founded on ideas, and whose economy, such as it may be, is moving from the tangible to the intangible, IP is all there is!
JT’s Picks: The Radio Knights — Happen
May 18, 2009The Radio Knights and singer Matt Dahan send their latest EP “Happen”. These are local boys from the south shore of Boston, and they recorded and produced this effort themselves (I assume at home, though they didn’t indicate). This record sounds good. Well recorded and well mixed; nice guitars, good harmonies. Good job! You get extra points for making an EP up front. After listening to your stuff on disc and on myspace, I’m wondering why the myspace mp3 actually sound better than the disc? Remastered maybe?
Occasionally the drums could use some work, occasionally the lead vocals could be stronger. However, my lingering qualms stem from confusion over who these guys are (as a band). They called themselves “power-pop” on their entry form. The EP cover has dark colors (blacks and browns) with yellow images of the band, the city, and other hard to identify stuff; the band is also hard to discern but the one visible guy looks like a Wolverine wannabe. So I’m already confused. The cover, and even their name, suggests 70s scag rockers, the form makes me anticipate bubble-gum, huh? The music is straight up pop-rock; a bit too smooth for me; makes me think of The Gin Blossoms or 3 Doors Down. Of course, the piano evokes Billy Joel who they mention as an influence. Again, it’s really well executed – it’s a great listen – just a bit background-y for me. A lot of “I really love you” songs and “we’ve gotta get outa here” songs. Is there any need for those after Bruce? These guys are really talented, now let’s push the envelope a bit, shall we?
Check them out yourselves at myspace.com/theradioknights. (BTW, every band should have their own website, not just a myspace page).
JT’s Picks: Katrin — Soul Wide Open
May 7, 2009Soul Wide Open is the 2009 release from Katrin (aka Katrin Roush of Weston MA) who bills herself as a pop/folk act. The CD is a pleasure! Not only is it an eye pleasing eco-pack, sent with the appropriate supporting document properly completed, it’s a great sounding musical experience. Katrin writes driving, moving acoustic oriented material, and the album is recorded immaculately. The arrangements are both straightforward and powerful. This one is a keeper!
I would take slight exception to her genre self-assessment. This is AAA material, bringing elements of pop vocals, acoustic rock arrangements, and strong overtones of country. Steppin’ Stones channels Faith Hill; Your Song evokes Bonnie Raitt; interestingly Pieces of Me hints at Destiny’s Child. Perhaps the closest overall comparison is Sheryl Crow. Not bad company! Do check out her disc at www.katrinrocks.com
Show Your Loyalties
December 4, 2008In an ongoing theme from last month when we talked about bringing humanity into the music business, this month let’s talk a bit about loyalty. Loyalty is a pretty basic concept and is really the heart of all good, long-term human relationships. It is also the key to both personal and business success. It’s a sadly lacking quality these days. If we are to fix the music industry, we’re going to need more.
In a study published last week, a California ethics institute surveyed approximately 30,000 high schoolers from across the United States and found that 65% admitted to having cheated on a test in the last year; 45% had plagiarized from the Internet; 35% had stolen physical items from a store! The conclusion of the ethics institute was that Americans are being raised with too permissive an attitude toward ethics; they are less and less able to tell what is right or wrong; or they simply see no reason to care. This mentality has a huge effect on what you’re up against as an Artist or music industry professional.
Consider your role as an Artist or professional: You too have to generate the goodwill and the connection to instill loyalty in your peeps.
How do you treat your fans? Giving them your work for free isn’t going to get you anywhere. You’ll end up with fans that don’t regard your work as valuable. Nothing free is worth much. Do you respect them? Do you give them something valuable? Do you make sure that they pay for what they get, and really, really get what they pay for? If free has no value, then Value is being so satisfied with something you paid for that you feel happy to have paid for it. And you’d do it again. That’s what you want your fans to feel. They will be loyal to the end and they will spend more money to buy your music down the road.
Just as important is how the world sees you behaving toward others. How do you show or “model” your loyalties? Consider your street teamers, publicists, managers, and booking agents. Sure, you pay them (you do, don’t you?) but you also know how hard they work for you. Do you let your fans know who they are, what they do for you, how much you appreciate their efforts? Does your web site, promo literature, EPK, album artwork feature them prominently and make it easy for fans and potential new clients to reach these professionals? Showing your loyalty to these people will only endear you to them, make them work harder for you, and as you show your fans your loyalties – that you are a real, caring person – your fans’ attachment to you will grow too.
I woke up to a local radio station PSA yesterday that said, “good music costs money”. That was it – simple, probably inexpensive, and yet loyal to artists and to the business. Here is a station taking action. Frankly, a radio station doesn’t make any money from record sales. Their motivation is simply promoting loyalty toward music in their audience. Of course they know that a healthy music industry is good for them too, but they profit nothing directly from this announcement. It’s just good business.
Consumers complain about “the big labels ruining music” to justify their own larcenous behavior which really robs artists of their livelihood. Artists complain about the “shark pit” of the music industry and how hard it is to get by. Certainly there is validity to both. However, the real question is what are you doing about it? As an Artist or a music professional, you can influence the future by bringing loyalty into our business and into our relationships with fans. Think about what you can do this month to improve your loyalty and generate fan loyalty as well.
How Not To Get Ahead
October 21, 2008As we think about values in the political arena for this approaching November, how so how about some plain-old Values for the Music Industry? If getting ahead, making money, and becoming famous is all you’re about then this article and, indeed, the music business is no place for you. Music is fundamentally about art, its connection to humanity, and the connections it fosters between people.
Selling this art is the business of music – and we can see how well that’s been going lately. The music business, if it is to be reformed, improved and resurrected needs to ground itself in its core value once again. A good place to start is with the values of its practitioners.
As I write this article I believe there is a particularly nasty PR stunt being perpetrated by a notable and vocal attorney, who I will not name. He is known for being iconoclastic and publishes an email newsletter, like I do, and a blog. At present he is writing a scathing series about CDBaby.com. He is way off the mark in his facts, but more importantly, he is serving no purpose other than his own self-aggrandizement.
As you probably know, CDBaby.com was founded by Derek Sivers in the late 90s as a portal for independent artists to sell their CDs to fans. Since it’s inception, CDBaby.com has sold millions of copies of CDs and provided revenue to artists in multiple millions. The service expanded mid-2000s to include aggregation to download sites like iTunes Music Store. CDBaby.com truly paved the way for many of its competitors; many of whose CEO were quoted in this attorney’s article. CDBaby.com has recently been sold to DiscMakers amid some controversy about Sivers’ management style.
It is despicable that this attorney is using Sivers’ retirement and the grumblings of a few former employees to make hay. His criticisms have ranged from issues of management style: this multimillion dollar business that thrived during the worst history of the music business was somehow started and run by a “too hands-off” boss; to the business model which, now as time has past, might seem in need of updating.
None of these issues merit Sivers’ public flogging Whatever Sivers has accomplished should not be diminished by the sale of the company or its circumstances, nor by the march of time and expectations. It is now up to DiscMakers to move forward, bring value, and satisfy their customers.
So what to make of the muck-raking? This is the key point. There is no good in intentionally harming the reputation of a good person, there is no good in tearing down another’s accomplishments. There is even less good in trying to build yourself up by raking up this muck. This attorney’s rant, in the thin guise of “education”, is really vituperrious and damaging. It has no place in our world.
It is my contention that constructive actions build careers better. It also helps to reverse the public sentiment that our business is all about sharks. If we want Artists to trust us as practitioners of art and business, we have to behave well and be supportive of each other. If we want music consumers to support our livelihood by purchasing our hard work, we need to give them every reason to remember that we are people, that our work matters, and their support matters.
