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

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