seattlepi.nwsource.com — What happens to the music itself when the way to build a career shifts from recording songs that ordinary listeners want to buy to making music that marketers can use? That creates pressure, subtle but genuine, for music to recede: to embrace the element of vacancy that makes a good soundtrack so unobtrusive, to edit a lyric to be less specific.
Dec 29, 2008 View in Crawl 4
watchtDec 30, 2008
No just a realist.
smokesteamDec 30, 2008
RTFA, its come to this.
smokesteamDec 30, 2008
MeatyMcBeef,You have a point. I dont think its about "real" art or artists or not though. Even within minor genres there are popular songs. I've worked on a few "name" projects over the years and alot of projects no one ever heard from again. Some of em were deeply artistic, some bubblegum (even within industrial, bubblegum exists) and some just pops. In some ways being a musician is just the same as any other job. You show up, you play the same songs you played last night, you get paid (hopefully). Sometimes its art, but what does it feel like to paint the same picture over and over again for years? I dont know the answer myself, I've never done a record that someone asked me about 10 years later.
smokesteamDec 30, 2008
thingamajig765,You are confused. Very confused. I'm going to assume you've only heard the "information wants to be free" side of the story though, or that you've never looked at the real breakdown of numbers, costs, etc. for non rockstar musicians.I make music, I run a small label. These days I sell at best a few hundred copies of each record. Ten or twenty years ago, I might sell a few thousand copies of each release over time, but now thanks to downloads, I can literally see the effects of downloads. It hurts my pocketbook (now you can say you've heard a musician say that). It costs money to press and distribute records, and yes there are still people out there who will only buy physical media. It costs money when I have to rent studio time to record anything I cant do in my own studio (which wasnt setup by a charity, that cost money too). For bands like the one you mentioned, probably 10% of that gig fee went to their management, some of the rest went to pay for gas, food and lodging (touring expenses). I pretty much doubt each member really "took home" $500 for the show. For music that is impossible or impractical to get paid touring, sales or licensing are it.Piracy is no blessing for me and G-d has nothing to do with it. IIRC, His opinion was "thou shalt not steal".I've heard this cry of net.revolution for about a decade now, longer if you consider its just a rehash of what punks in the US called for in the 80s. The difference is that lots of punk bands actually did something about it instead of bitch about The Man. They went and started up their own studios, labels & distribution. Oddly enough even if some of those bands got "big" people still paid for their records.As for the big labels, sure they play alot of dirty pool, but they are basically venture capitalists, investing in the work of musicians which may or may not produce a return. I'm sure you've read Steve Albini or Courtney Love's commentaries so I wont go into them here.
professorriffsDec 30, 2008
Yeah, and that kinda sucks. I like indigenous music and every place and person having their own sound. It helps make and keep the musical world rich in sounds. I have long held the internet largely responsible for the homogenization of music. It used to be that if you traveled 50 miles you found people playing a different style & sound of music... now everyone is influenced by everyone and it's all starting to blend together.
rama6091May 1, 2010
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