[NewMusic] [BA-NEWMUS:50] Re: 21 Grand Brass Band

Thu May 31 10:42:04 PDT 2007

illegal downloads affect us not at all, except for the possibility of 
more people hearing our music.

One of the biggest things keeping non-commercial musicians like us back 
is the desire to appear legit,  which leads us to ape some commercial 
model on a picayune level.  This was always a bad idea, but now that the 
big-time model is barely working for big-time artists themselves, it 
should be obvious it's a bad idea. 

There are great possibilities for us if we develop a distribution model 
more in keeping with the reality of our small audiences. We can give 
recordings away electronically, we can make cd's or other physical 
recording objects that are customized or hand made; we can sell directly 
to our audiences, and actually know everyone in our audiences.

As long as we pretend our situation is like that of big-time 'pro' 
musicians but on a smaller scale, we're like the small-town shopkeeper 
who votes republican because they're 'pro-business'.  (you and me  and 
ATT, we're all just businessmen oppressed by the gummint)

We're not making money on our music: accept it, and embrace the 
possibilities that affords.

T

Damon Smith wrote:
> Good stuff. emusic has the right idea: mp3s are not cds, and should not  
> be priced the same, and they sell unprotected mp3s which is pretty much  
> as safe or unsafe as selling cds. The only thing we can do is to have  
> our music digitally available as many places as possible.
> Albums will make less but they will also not have a  $1200 upfront  
> cost. Hopefully the manufacturers will learn to turn off the machine at  
> 2 or 300 soon.
>
> Tzadik took their catalog off emusic which basically an invitation to  
> download it for free elsewhere. I did buy the new Death Ambient album  
> from itunes, because I really wanted to hear it and it is great, same  
> with the Roscoe Mitchell on ECM ( with Barry Guy, Even Parker, etc.)
> As far as how illegal downloads as the affect us, it is the same as the  
> used cd market except a record store is not making money on it.
>
> Damon
>
> On May 31, 2007, at 9:48 AM, Phillip Greenlief wrote:
>
>   
>> Dear bListers,
>>
>> Well, I'm just full of them today...here's another piece on the "death
>> of the CD"...(or, a theme for Moe!'s 20th Anniversary Concert?).
>>
>> Cheers,
>> PG
>>
>> When The CD Dies
>> http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/05/29/when-the- 
>> cd-d
>> ies/
>>
>> "Everyone in the industry thinks of this Christmas as the last big
>> holiday season for CD sales," Mr. Sinnreich said, "and then everything
>> goes kaput."
>>
>> Plunge in CD Sales Shakes Up Big Labels
>>
>> Love it or hate it, the "New York Times" is the paper of record. If for
>> no other reason than most news organizations no longer DO any  
>> reporting,
>> they just rely on wire services and print commentary/opinion. "The New
>> York Times" sets the agenda. And when they go on a story, it has
>> legitimacy. Wall Street, the business community, they now know what
>> active music consumers know, that the CD is headed for extinction. With
>> everybody clued in, its death will be hastened. THEN what?
>>
>> 1. Indie Retail
>>
>> Survives. Just like vinyl has never gone completely away, there will be
>> people who will want to own discs in the future, whether they be CDs or
>> vinyl. Most of the indie stores that have weathered the crash will
>> continue in business, assuming their owners still want to keep the  
>> doors
>> open. Most have diversified, they don't rely solely on music to make
>> money. They will be kept alive by collectors. But they will not matter.
>> Just like vinyl doesn't matter. Disc sales will be a sideshow. If you
>> make a business out of it, more power to you, but most people just  
>> won't
>> care.
>>
>> 2. Big Box Retail
>>
>> Best Buy and its brethren are going to kill the CD. They're gonna  
>> shrink
>> floor space and titles and one day they're just going to stop selling
>> discs completely. This will happen long before record labels desire to
>> give up on the physical format. Retail is in tune with its customers'
>> whims, it has to keep moving forward to survive. Soon CDs will be
>> evidence of the past, and these stores want to be the future. Big box
>> retailers will kill the CD the same way the industry killed the  
>> cassette
>> and vinyl. They'll just stop stocking them, and the consumer will go
>> elsewhere.
>>
>> I think Aram Sinnreich's prediction is right. After this Christmas, big
>> box retailers will start folding their tent. Oh, maybe they'll sell a
>> few titles. But so do supermarket chains.
>>
>> 3. Radio
>>
>> Radio hasn't given a shit about CD sales for years. Radio exists in its
>> own little backwater, where the advertiser is king and the music is  
>> just
>> part of the sausage. Hey, so many of the records that zoom up the chart
>> are not available at ANY price! With indie promo essentially gone,  
>> radio
>> groups are not worried about losing the relationship with labels, there
>> are no more perks left to acquire. As for radio station shows and other
>> give-backs, you don't need the label for that, just the manager. The
>> manager will be more powerful than ever before.
>>
>> 4. The Promoter
>>
>> When the CD dies, Live Nation is going to be in even deeper shit.
>>
>> Oh, AEG will be too, but they tend to only want to be in the  
>> blockbuster
>> business.
>>
>> You see forever, the road took its clues from the labels. The labels
>> signed the acts, promoted them, created DEMAND! Now the promoter has to
>> create demand himself, and so far, he's shown no talent for it. Oh, he
>> could cede this development process to Net radio and other developing
>> exposure media, but that just means he'll have to settle for smaller
>> shows, and less revenue. Doesn't bode well for your stock price.
>>
>> 5. The Agent
>>
>> Will have to work in concert with the manager to help create demand.
>> This won't solely be the province of the promoter. The label did the
>> heavy lifting for seemingly EVERYBODY in this business, what happens
>> when the label goes KAPUT!
>>
>> 6. The Manager
>>
>> It starts with the manager. He creates the original demand. But the  
>> goal
>> used to be to sell to the highest bidder, to get the label to COMMIT!
>> And that commitment yielded exposure, which could earn you money on the
>> road, and in the old days, royalties. NOW WHAT?
>>
>> The manager has to piece together all those new media strategies, to  
>> try
>> to get his band traction. MySpace, music blogs, it's not about grand
>> slams anymore, not even home runs, but BUNTS! Spreading the word,
>> building demand, is like starting at the bottom of the minor leagues,
>> working your way up to AAA, and then entering the bigs. First in KC. Or
>> Seattle. Some secondary market. It's gonna be tough. And the manager is
>> going to be starving all the while, because fifteen or twenty percent  
>> of
>> nothing is nothing. Which is why the established managers only want
>> established acts, and a vacuum has been created for new managers to
>> develop new acts. But there will be starvation along the way, and only
>> the fittest will survive.
>>
>> 7. The Act
>>
>> Has to get a manager. That should be your goal, to create enough noise
>> to get someone to commit their money, time and effort to growing your
>> act. You can only go so far by yourself. After all, you've got to write
>> the music and play it! So, the act lights a fire, which burns up  
>> through
>> the manager, agent and promoter. As for the label?
>>
>> 8. The Label
>>
>> There will be no labels if you can't get paid.
>>
>> The online business presently doesn't deliver what the consumer wants,
>> which is ownership of a ton of unrestricted music for a low price.  
>> Those
>> wishing to sell recordings only have six months to solve this problem.
>>
>> It ain't iTunes. Even Steve Jobs says most people who buy iPods buy
>> almost no music at the iTunes Store.
>>
>> Thoughts on Music by Steve Jobs
>>
>> It's not Rhapsody or Napster. You've got to get a new player, when  
>> iPods
>> rule. And the public is not ready for rental.
>>
>> So.
>>
>> The only solution is some kind of legal P2P. But the labels and
>> publishers are not ready for such. Therefore, stasis and infighting  
>> will
>> kill the recorded music business.
>>
>> Sad, if you think about it. People should pay for music. But the owners
>> won't LET THEM! Not in the way they want to.
>>
>> It's not about mergers, or laying people off, the solution is on the
>> other end, delivering a lot of cheap music. But no one is prepared to  
>> do
>> this. It's fascinating watching the movie. As fat cats inured to an old
>> way of doing things proceed to destroy their business.
>>
>> 9. Publishers
>>
>> Will survive. And thrive.
>>
>> 10. The Public
>>
>> We haven't had that spirit here since. Well, if not 1969, then 1979, or
>> '89 or even '99. But 1999 was almost TEN YEARS AGO! The public thinks
>> that most mainstream new music is crap. And if the labels die, GOOD
>> RIDDANCE! In other words, most people just aren't paying attention.
>> They're not only not buying discs, they're not going to overpriced  
>> shows
>> with exorbitant ticket fees either. In an era where it's about getting
>> the masses involved at a cheap price, the music industry has catered to
>> an ever shrinking few willing to overpay for crap.
>>
>> Joe and Jane Public want music. But they'll just steal it. Or listen to
>> the radio.
>>
>> As for new stuff? You'll hear about it from your friends, if you're
>> INTERESTED! Otherwise, you'll just fire up your home theatre and watch
>> one of the 500 channels or a DVD.
>>
>> Music has turned itself into a second class citizen. Via greed, via an
>> inability to wake up and admit we're living in the future.
>>
>> It's not like this inevitability, the impending death of the CD, was
>> sprung upon the executives in the middle of the night. It was obvious  
>> at
>> LEAST seven years ago, when the original Napster gained serious
>> traction. The only person who saw the light? Steve Jobs. And he made  
>> his
>> money from selling iPods, and now iPhones. If the iTunes Store never
>> goes ga-ga, he just shrugs his shoulders and moves on. As for the music
>> industry??
>>
>> There will be a new music industry. But it will not look like the old
>> one. It will be run by youngsters, with different values, spreading the
>> word amongst their peers. They won't sell out to Madison Avenue because
>> Madison Avenue won't have any idea what they're doing. When the new  
>> acts
>> do get traction, will advertising even LOOK the same? Will anybody be
>> watching the commercials on television? Will we live in a Google ads
>> world?
>>
>> Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are duking it out online. Even AOL. You
>> wonder why AOL went free? For the EYEBALLS! There wasn't enough money  
>> in
>> selling online access to compete with the big boys focused on ads.
>>
>> Same deal in music. By catering to a select ignorant or addicted few,
>> willing to overpay for discs, the music business ignored the  
>> mainstream,
>> failed to see what the people wanted and where they were going.
>>
>> The people are digital savvy. It's in their DNA. Selling McCartney  
>> discs
>> at Starbucks is the last Hail Mary left. Whether it's successful or  
>> not,
>> you won't be able to do it during Christmas '08, Starbucks won't be  
>> able
>> to stand the hit to its credibility, its customers will LAUGH at them,
>> DISDAIN them.
>>
>> The disc is dying, are you prepared?
>>
>>
>> Phillip Greenlief
>> c/o Evander Music
>> PO Box 22158 Oakland, CA
>> 94623-9991
>> www.evandermusic.com
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
>> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
>> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
>>
>>
>>     
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bay Area New Music Discussion Group
> NewMusic at music.mills.edu
> http://music.mills.edu/mailman/listinfo/newmusic
>
>   