A Change Gonna Come…

In the digital age, it would be easy to suggest that print media has gone the way of the do do. People are becoming less inclined to pay for information that they can easily dig up on the internet in their daily blogs or social networking sites, and subscription magazines are starting to feel the effects. Whether it is the result of our busy lifestyles or our increasingly short attention spans, the magazine business is seriously hurting these days. One might say that it’s easy to revolutionize the internet (as the rules of the game are still so new), but print press has certain guidelines and codes to stand by that it seems advertisers are not too willing to bend.

In 2007, Paste Magazine took a page from Radiohead’s book and started offering a pay-what-you-want subscription to its monthly magazine. While subscriptions went up, advertisers started pulling out, and Paste Magazine is now on teetering on the edge of its demise. As a last ditch effort to keep the print media alive and well, Paste has launched a “Save Paste” campaign that allows fans and readers to donate any amount of money in exchange for some rare, exclusive tracks that artists such as The Decemberists, Neko Case, Indigo Girls, The Avett Brothers, and Band of Horses have donated to the cause.

As you can imagine, this particular form of fund raising has generated quite a bit of low-level whispering amongst the industry folks, but I for one find it refreshing. For so long, magazines like Rolling Stone and Spin were the make-all or break-all of an artists career, and lately we have been showing the print press no love. People have grown accustomed to logging into their daily blogs and getting their fill of the latest gossip and CD Reviews without considering that many of these bloggers have little or no experience in journalism. People go to school for this. People spend the greater part of their adult lives hoping to someday interview their idols for Rolling Stone, and I think the bloggers have made all of this just a little too easy. Sure, you met the next big thing backstage at a dive bar in Brooklyn, but does that make you the authority on rock bands in the new millenium? Probably not.

I know it’s probably not in the best interest my blog stats to be ragging on the bloggers (oh the irony), but I think it’s time we really consider how and where we get our information. Paste Magazine has been a reputable music magazine and a great supporter of independent music for over 10 years, and I am happy to see that so many artists are finally giving back to the press that has helped build their careers. We have become so comfortable blaming the press for the mishaps and missteps in people’s careers that we neglect to realize that many of these people would not have careers to speak of without the media. Now I’m certainly not condoning the stalker-esk behavior of the paparazzi or any of that business, but good print is good print, and Paste Magazine is good print. Promote the people who promote you, and all will come full circle.

Fortune Cookie:

Go to your favorite bookstore or magazine stand and pick up a copy of a small music magazine.  Paste, Performing Songwriter, and Jazziz are all great ones to check out.

Listening to:

“Been and Gone” – Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen

Recession, recession…

That’s right, folks.  I used the new four-letter word….wait, 9….you get the idea.  We all knew this post would come eventually, and I’m afraid it’s time.  I (along with everyone else in the country right now) am starting to feel the effects of this downward spiral that we refer to currently as our “economy.”  Times are getting tough, and I wake up every morning hoping I still have a job to go to the next day.  At this point, I suppose it’s important to mention that I am self-employed.  This being said, I am not immune to the possibility of a job loss.  Private music lessons aren’t exactly in high demand right now, and I am finding myself wondering how I am possibly going to make ends meet this summer, as many of my students will be leaving for extended periods of time.  Pretty much the usual, you know?  So the next logical step is to start looking for alternatives.  I, myself am a fan of logic, and here’s what’s been floating around in my head for the past couple of weeks:

A) I have a college degree.

B) It’s in music performance and music industry studies.

C) You don’t actually need a degree to do any of the above.

D) I have the same job I had through most of college.

E) No, I did not get a raise when I graduated.

As you can see, all of this presents a potential problem, the solution to which I have decided is law school.  Yeah, shocking I know.  It’s not like every misguided college graduate I know hasn’t already gone down this road (for better or for worse), but the current status of our nation’s economy should be making you think about your own job security right now and what you can do to lock that shit down.  This begs the question: in an industry where people can become wildly successful with little or no college education, is it necessary to have a college degree?  This is something I teetered back and forth about for a long time when contemplating college, but it has become quite clear to me that the answer is both yes and no.  As you can see, I also like extremely vague statements…

The music industry is so much different from pretty much any other industry (still going strong with that vagueness).  In this industry, you can truly excel in your field with sheer street smarts and a good work ethic if you put your mind to it.  However, I struggle to think of any aspect of this industry where a juris doctor WOULDN’T make you a more desirable and invaluable employee.  Yes, I am aware that the world is over-run with lawyers, but not entertainment lawyers….no sir!  We are now, more than ever, in dire need of people who have a thorough understanding of the law and are dying to share it with others.  There are so many high-powered people in the music business who have no idea what they’re getting themselves into when signing a contract that it’s almost scary to conceive of the dire possibilities.

Yeah yeah, this whole law school thing does require several hundreds of thousands of dollars, but that’s a small price to pay for job security, if you ask me.  A full-time job with an almost inherent license to kill?  Now that’s something I could get used to…

Fortune Cookie:

Spend some time thinking about how you can make yourself invaluable to your employer.  If you are your own employer…start a website or blog.  It’s free and wholly necessary as a marketing tool!

Listening to:

Frank Sinatra – “Chicago”

Music Conferences=Love?

I just got back in town a couple of days ago from the Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN, and it was a really refreshing experience.  I was in a bit of a funk after the CD Release Party I put on for Andrew Duhon in January…months of hard work culminating into one final day of payoff will inevitably lead to a crash.  This particular conference came at the perfect time.  It can become very easy to start feeling isolated in this industry, especially in New Orleans.  New Orleans is the smallest big city you’ll ever find.  Most of us industry folk down here know each other already, and those that don’t are bound to meet through others, so there’s not too much opportunity or necessity for big industry gatherings.  We can all find each other at the corner bar, for the most part.

This being said, I love immerssing myself in these big industry get-togethers from time to time.  It’s like one big brainstorming session with people who actually understand what it is you do.  I love getting fresh, new ideas about how to market an artist or a company and just generally enjoy the opportunity for intellectual conversation.  I think it can become far to easy to get locked into a particular niche or groove in this industry, and it’s very important to get out and meet new people.  You never know where your next big lead might come from.  Always be professional, but allow yourself to be personable, as well.

All in all, this conference reminded me that it’s essential to stay in touch with your fans and the people who support you.  I haven’t necessarily been doing the best job of that lately, as I’ve been holed up in my apartment writing press releases and desigining press kits.  Now as much fun as that is, I’m gonna hop back on this blogtrain and get going.  Apparently some of you out there actually like what I have to say, so I’ll start saying more of it.  I’ve never been one who is afraid to speak my mind.

Fortune Cookie:

Go catch a new artist at a venue you’ve never heard of.  Bring some friends, and make it a special event!  You never know who you might meet!

Listening to:

“Fall In Step” – Jadiohead

Where is the love?

Apparently it’s not on the cover of Vanity Fair. So in the latest news on teen celebrity’s gone-bad, lovable Disney princess Miley Cyrus has been catching some flack about her recent “artistic” photo shoot for Vanity Fair. It almost pains me to even write about this subject as it has become so cliche for teenage girls to exploit their sexuality in this industry, but I think this occurrence might be a little different.

Now I’m no Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus nut, but the girl and her father have done an incredible job managing her career. Like her or not, she has become an undeniable force in this industry and is a millionaire at age 15…you can’t really knock that. Sometimes a picture is just a picture, but the particular picture we’re talking about here shows a topless 15-year-old girl in what looks like a bed sheet appearing just a little too cracked out for my taste. What’s the motivation here?

It’s become increasingly obvious that teen stars can no longer expect to “just be teenagers.” 10 year-olds dress like 15 year-olds, and 15 year-olds dress like 22 year-olds, so why are we all surprised? In this case, you have a young girl who has created an image around her innocence and has millions of young fans looking up to her as a role model. Why can’t media and industry folk just allow a young girl to be young without pushing the envelope? Have we not learned from the walking disaster that has become Britney Spears?

When you’re dealing with people who are unfathomably famous at a young age, such as Ms. Cyrus and Ms. Spears, it’s easy to forget that at the end of the day, they are just people like you and I. How far can we expect to push these young stars before the backlash becomes bigger than the profits we make from them? Artistic or not, should posing topless in a bed sheet even be an option for a 15-year old girl? I’m not sure who is at fault here, if anyone, and I don’t really wish to speculate. All I know is that this girl should be allowed to act like a kid while she still is one, and I’m afraid the scandals are going to become all-too-prevalent for her to do so…as they usually do with these things.

Fortune Cookie:

Go pull out your favorite teen star’s album from back in the day and give it a spin. Remember what it’s like to be a kid, and encourage your kids to embrace that.

Listening to:

“Something to Look Forward To” – Spoon

Clear Channel, Shmearchannel

Quite an interesting forum we had over at the good ‘ole Loyno tonight…my last, might I add. We had John Simson, head of SoundExchange, come speak to the music industry students about the controversy that has stemmed from SoundExchange’s attempt to distribute royalties to performers based on webradio spins. Strangely enough, the room did not burst into flames as we all suspected, and no, Mr. Simson did not grow little red horns out of his temples. Quite unexpectedly, Mr. Simson made some excellent observations about the state of the radio game and the PROs that should be shared with the big wide universe out there in cyberspace.

So check this one out: Mr. Simson has set up a system whereby “small webcasters” pay $500 for the year to operate their stations on the internet until 2010, at which point congress will re-address this whole “SoundExchange” issue. Companies such as Pandora, Live365, AOL, and Yahoo will be paying a substantially larger amount as their audience is much wider in scope than these “little guys.” So here’s where the confusion sets in.

I’m pretty sure that most people aren’t really aware of what SoundExchange is and why they are charging webcasters to begin with. SoundExchange is a not-for-profit…let me say that again, NOT-FOR-PROFIT company that distributes royalties to performers, back up singers, and musicians that appear on recordings played on webradio, satellite radio, and XM. This is THE ONLY company in America that attempts to pay the performers, as all the PRO’s such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC are established to pay the songwriter and copyright holder of the song. European countries have been doing this for years, so what gives?

Here’s the fun part. Essentially, terrestrial radio stations have flat out refused to pay the same rates to SoundExchange as the webcasters and satellite guys. In fact, terrestrial radio has refused to pay AT ALL on account that they have been grandfathered in the system. How can they do this, you ask? It’s really quite simple…because politicians and those lovely people that hang out in Washington count on radio for promotion and votes, there’s a huge elephant in the room. Nobody wants to say anything because everyone is concerned with saving their own skin. So while your average Joe running his internet radio station from his basement has to pay SoundExchange for his hundred listeners a day, Clear Channel doesn’t have to pay for their millions. As it usually does, this all comes down to politics.

So here’s my thought…this is America, people, and we claim to be on the forefront of pretty much everything. You are responsible for holding your politicians responsible for themselves. Write a letter, send an e-mail, shout it out on a rooftop…whatever it takes. And if you’re looking for some ugly figurehead to point the finger at for all this SoundExchange business, blame Clear Channel and all it’s nasty behemoth friends…you know you want to anyway. SoundExchange provides an invaluable service for the artist that, up until now, nobody else has even attempted. Once again, we find yet one more reason to hate the big guy, and I must say…it feels good.

Fortune Cookie:

If you are an artist, join SoundExchange, and do a little research on how this can benefit you as an artist. If you’re not an artist, but a caring citizen as you should be, write your local congressman about this issue and demand some action from the terrestrial radio stations.

Listening to:

“Go to Mexico” – Cassandra Wilson

An interesting outlook…

Last week I was priveledged enough to enjoy a seminar featuring music industry giants Don VanCleave (of the Independent Record Stores Coallition), Steve Ralbovsky (A&R for A&M), and Gary Gersh (manager for the Counting Crows, Foo Fighters, Matisyahu, etc). Of course, everyone in the room had their pre-conceived ideas of these speakers merely based on their resumes. For example, most of us are conditioned to believe that A&R people are evil and will bring about the downfall of the industry…although this may be a little harsh. As these speakers described their early careers in the music industry, it became increasingly evident that they were just regular guys trying to help out artists they liked, just like the rest of us. Unfortunately, not all of us are fortunate enough to have discovered the Talking Heads while we were in college, but I suppose these things aren’t entirely outside of the realm of possibility.

The point is, these people have very successful careers working with very successful artists. More importantly, they haven’t had to compromise themselves to achieve that…which is a success in itself. When asked about the state of the industry, all of us expected to hear the typical “doom and gloom” answers involving the words “corporate,” “major record labels,” “free downloads,” and the general loath of the song ‘Crank ‘Dat Soulja Boy.’ Shockingly, we heard all three guests speak up to their personal beliefs that the music industry is really doing pretty well. Gary Gersh quickly responded that the music industry is ripe for change, but one’s outlook on the direction of that change is what can take it in a better direction. He told the audience to stop thinking about the record industry and start thinking about the MUSIC: what a novel idea.

I think that it’s important to note that there are some very influential people in the industry with an overall positive outlook for the future of the music industry. There’s still great music floating around in the never-neverland that is your local record store…you just have to look for it. We’re going back to basics here, people..so turn off MTV, turn off the Clear Channel radio, and go find some music that YOU like. There’s more out there than they want you to think.

Fortune Cookie:

Pretend like you’re 16 again, and it’s time for your Friday afternoon paycheck. Go to the record store and spend some quality time with some physical product. It’s amazing what actually holding a CD in your hand and reading the liner notes can do for the morale.

Listening to:

“Underneath the Apple Tree” – Carmen McRae