ITS ABOUT TIME

Phil Ramone petitioning Bloomberg about NYC's recording business

Nov 5, 2007, 01:11 PM | by Shirley Halperin

Categories: In the studio, Music, Music Biz

Legendary producer Phil Ramone, the man behind career-defining albums by Billy Joel and Paul Simon, is mourning New York City's dying studio business and plans to petition Mayor Michael Bloomberg to do something about it. "A lot of people are out of work here," he told us last week while promoting his new book, Making Records: The Scenes Behind The Music. "[People have said] it was the end of an era when Hit Factory closed. Two weeks ago, when Sony Studios shut down, that was not nice. It's scary. So I'm trying to come up with a reason to go sit with Mayor Bloomberg and talk about how to put the music scene back in New York. There's no encouragement to develop stuff. It's kind of a drag."

Ramone thinks the city should treat the recording industry the same way it does the film industry, by offering tax breaks and other incentives to keep sessions local. "[Bloomberg's] a business man," says Ramone with both hope and resignation. "I don't know what else to do for my hometown except get him to understand."

Music Business? vs. Technology

So, there are multiple arguments for each side. The Music Business is on a major decline because the majority of labels shot themselves in the foot. The business is no longer going to be the razzle dazzle of wealth; It's 15 minutes are up. The labels are not coming close to the gross of money they previously collected. This leads to a salaries much lower than before, making the people who were a part of industry during its prime very cautious, stingy, and stubborn. Budgets for productions are non-existent due to no one taking a chance on an artist. I realize that its a risk and there's a high cost. It just dawned on me how excruciating of a vicious circle the relationships have become between the artist, the label, and studios. This is also where technology takes it's toll on the industry.

So, here's what fell on my head. A musician wants to share his/her music to the world. The label is an access to that through distribution. The studios provide a space to truly capture the message of the musician. OK, so technology has advanced to the point where people can record in bed and put their music on the internet. Thus, musicians get heard without the need of labels or studios causing a loss of money to the industry. Labels don't back projects, studios close down, and the business begins to decline.

Now, I'm not criticizing technology because I love the ability to record at any time anywhere. The ease of it all is great. What I'm acknowledging is the quality of music thats being pumped out. There are records out there that just don't have the magic of musicians actually playing together in a room. It is amazing the audibility of the disconnect in the music between the musicians. Plus, I hear all of the time of people cutting tracks in their home, sending the track to the other member of the group to record at his/her place.....etc. Really, what it comes down to for me, is that I miss the collaboration and the vibe thats created in a room between musicians.

It's time for a musical renaissance!!!

Music and Technology- Forever Linked

Music and the industry is evolving, but this change is nothing new. I think sometimes we forget how intricately linked technology and music are- they have been and will always be a part of one another. It’s crazy how far computers and the like have advanced in even the last ten years—and music cannot help but to have been impacted. Think of what a difference it made to the world when it from record to tape to CD! In the past several years, the business has taken a big hit with illegal downloading, major studios closing around the world, and many other setbacks, but it is my hope that though the business may change ,the essence of what music is will not. Technology changes and suddenly music undergoes a metamorphosis… but I am optimistic about it’s future. Music still has the ability to touch us. I don’t deny that there are some big problems out there for new producers, engineers, and artists to catch a break— but music can makes it through these times. Music still speaks of the artist’s/songwriter’s soul and reflects the producer’s and engineer’s talent. Though technology changes and brings a whole new set of problems, music hopefully will transcend those issues.

Paige Graham

Music Industry is BAD!

The music industry today, to me, is bad. I think too many artists are worried about what the listeners think, than what they want in music. Its all about money, theres alot of fakeness in the game. I believe we've stretched the standard of "entertainment" too far. Every artists out there sounds the same to me, and the real ones don't get appreciated as much as they should. I really miss the way music sounded 50 to 10 years ago. I've just realized that todays music is so bad that it makes me appreciate artists and songs that I didn't like back in the day. Labels will take anything if they thinks its gonna sell and we have nobody to blame except the fans. I'm probably looked at as a hater but not everyone should be in music, and the industry is telling the whole world that anyone can be an artists even if your songs dont make sense or have any meaning, just as long as it sells.

- DP from Connecticut

People Complain... Don't We All

I've had some great conversations about why the industry is in a slump. The explanations rest on a broad spectrum and the reasons are countless. One reason deals with downloading being the issue, another acknowledges the labels not moving with the times, and a major one is that technology has made record making too easy.

Well, I must say that I agree with all those statements. The issue with the labels not working to be ahead of the game is quite true. The labels were warned in the mid to late 90's that the access to music is going to be easier via the internet. Companies like Music Boulevard, CD Now, and Amazon, developed and pioneered the online CD, and LP sales. From there, even though better encoding was available, MP3's became the popular choice, why? Well, it didn't take up that much space and for those who forgot, it was not that long ago when computers 500Mb to 1 Gb. Thus, with the help of Napster and other Peer-to-Peer sharing, and the need of instant gratification, MP3's were the option of choice. Whether or not music should be free is another debate. Are writer's writing books for free? Are accountants cranking numbers for free? Other than donations, is anything free?

Another issue that labels neglected to realize is that the old way of conducting business, i.e. record deals, publishing deals, and royalties are not going to fly in this day and age. The labels waived the option to develop a new era of deals at the same time they did nothing about internet sales growth. They really thought that people would agree to pay $18 for a CD when the public knew the price to produce a CD was $0.10 cents. Typically, common sense would say lower the price a little bit at a time. Or a marketing plan of when a CD is first released the price stays a $15 for 6 months. Every 6 months there after, the price would decrease by $0.50 cents until it reached $12. I will admit any day that I am the least savvy marketer or business expert, so if I can come up with this....WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE LABELS!!!

Moving on to technology. It is great how easy the process is to record music. Editing and recalling mixes have become instant and thankfully the quality has gotten so much better with higher bit and sampling rates. On a side note, ironically enough, people have come to accept low-fidelity, bad quality music while the digital recordings are becoming more complex. Anyway, as recording music has become easier, more and more "crap" has flooded all music genres. With the help of myspace.com and youtube.com the overflow is not improving. On the up side, it has given an window to people with talent that would have been overlooked. Ultimately, the search for that one needle is now in a bigger and thicker hay stack.

My complaint is lack of artist development. People complain that music out now is horrible. That songwriting is a lost artifact. Well, my reason for that is the public. What do you expect when you don't pay for music? People lose jobs, specifically artist development and marketing. then labels and producers have no budgets to make "quality," "great sounding" records! You get what you pay for!!!

The Industry: Chasing it's Tail

Think of the last band that really had an “impact.” Radiohead, you might say. Some might say U2 (sorry, wrong). Nirvana, maybe? After the unfolding of grunge in the early nineties, rock music has taken a wonderfully horrific downturn, becoming the car accident everyone slow down to stare at. Instant emulation is hard to get away from, but when almost every band is trying to sound like Greenday, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, you have a problem.

Let me get one thing straight here: I have no problems with bands showing their reverence for those who came before. I have a problem with EVERY SINGLE MALE VOCALIST in a hard rock band sounding like Layne Staley. I have a problem with bubble-punk outfits with numbers in their name recycling not only chord changes but lyrical themes and attitudes. There is a difference between reinvention and mimicry (listen to U2 ape their previous catalog, it's a trip!)
Everyone knows that the Music Industry does not support art. They support profit. If the money-making act happens to be able to make great art AND great money, well, that's just a happy coincidence. Many band have signed that lucrative contract only to realize how that little piece of paper ties their art to other interests. Their art, their singular vision, now belongs to someone else. What was once a hobby, perhaps a sole reminder of one's vitality, is simply a blank check. The impetus lies on the artist to fill that check with zeros for whomever is collecting. Otherwise, consider your art a failure. Read that again, your art is a failure in the corporate world if you do not sell.
Interest in your art is measured by how many units you sell. Forget that the cost of each unit is outrageously inflated, and that only a select amount of the population can afford to waste 20 dollars for ONE COMPACT DISC.
The cost of manufacturing a CD is approximately 80 cents. This includes the jewel case, the encoded CD, and the liner notes. 80 cents.
The price of an average CD this day and age: 15 dollars.
It's humiliating to the consumer to have to spend that much on a compact disc. Humiliating. Major labels don't see it that way. They see profit, and people gullible enough to spend.
Instead of listening to people complaining, record companies added DVD features to “enhanced” CD's, bonus tracks, whatever they could pile on to justify the inflated price. At which point they boosted prices up another two or three dollars. These people do not care about you. At all.
This is why the internet is so important in the Digital Age. It is a form of the media that the Industry cannot control. Before napster, the only way an artist could distribute their own songs was by hand, through magazines, or independent deals through major labels. All processes were cost consuming and could break a band's back in a matter of months. Who wants to go through all of that bullshit? What if no one liked the music? The specters of profit and livelihood haunt every artist’s existence, whether or not they'd like to admit it. So as evil as the Industry is, it was a necessary component for band willing to take the next step.
The internet changes everything, and the Industry knows it. Sales are down, and only now are they figuring out how to tap into the on-line market. Internet-based record labels are springing up everywhere, and provide a cheap and wonderful way to get your music heard by the masses.
The web has made it possible for people to listen to whatever they want to hear, which is the opposite of what record companies want. They would rather you sit at home on your couch and wait for THE NEXT GREAT ALBUM to come out. There would be a great number of articles written about the band/record to drum up interest, and then radio stations simply add the single to the playlist. That's all it was from start to finish. Hits were made,
Radio is another matter entirely. For the past ten years (at least) radio stations have been operating a transparent operation. Clear Channel bought up as many radio stations as they could, and pushed out the rest into anonymity. If you didn't know that this happened, count yourself among the few. Playlists on your average modern rock station do not play what the DJ is interested in. All songs are predetermined, and radio stations simply act as the middle-man between record labels and audience.
Where does this leave us, the music lovers? In a great position, possibly the best position we've ever been. With artists relying less and less on the machinations of the industry, the industry is scrambling. CD sales are not increasing or flat-lining, they are decreasing. Not until the industry finds a way to control music on the internet will we be at the behest of the industry. Believe me, they're trying to find ways to crack the code. Why do you think that upon purchasing The Rolling Stones “12x5” I could not download it onto my iTunes? Same with Bobby Dylan re-issues, blocked by Columbia Records. What's funny is that the companies are paying MORE money to block theft when it is happening all around them, uncontrollably. To account for the extra money it takes to protect their own music, the companies charge even more for albums, thusly alienating a fresh base of potential customers into looking for free music elsewhere. THEY ARE FUNDING THEIR ENEMIES EVERY DAY, HOW STUPID CAN THEY BE? For every Napster, there are at least 100 Kazaa's. I think “fix a leaking a leaking dam with a fingertip” is an appropriate metaphor for the situation.
They are no longer in control. The sound you hear on the radio, on MTV and VH1 is the sound of fear. By saturating the airwaves with youth oriented, label-grown (controllable) talent, the companies are attempting a last-ditch effort to save themselves. The fabled 15-30 year old bracket of music fans has been lost. They can only count on youth and the new-age/AOR to hold onto whatever profit they can still accrue.
College radio, myspace.com, internet record labels and free compositions are blossoming, and we are on the verge of realizing that great dream every artist has wished: music for everyone, not just for those lucky enough to afford an expensive habit.
Music is not dead. It's just going through a period of transformation.


-J. Temperance

Grammy's 50th a success

So, it seems that the Grammy's this year, after 50 years of existence, was a success. The WGA gave a waiver allowing writer's to contribute their talents to aid the speeches of the presenters. The performances this year actually seemed to be well thought out and surprisingly performed well!!! Kayne did his thing, performed great and pissed off other artist's. The chip on his shoulder is quite amazing when he is in public. However, one on one, he is a wonderful human being...ironic, don't you think?

Brad Paisley was great. Singing his profound lyrics of " I want to search you for ticks" Feist, a wonderful Canadian, performed as a pro, while Josh Groban and Andrea Boccelli blew everyone away with their vocals. The most amazing collaborations of show was the segment with Tina Turner and Beyonce. Who knew after all those beatings, Tina could still sing and dance with the stamina of Beyonce. What a WOMAN!!!

On another note, I can't forget the most expensive performance of the show, the Foo Fighters. They are always amazing and with a Jason Bateman introduction, no one could ask for more. The Foo Fighters rocked the public square in across the street from The Stapes Center, I guess I should mention that it was the Nokia Square, outside the Nokia Theater. Ahh yes, major corporations and music!!! (whole other story) Anyway, if you would like to see the grammy winners this year click the link below.




http://www.grammy.com/GRAMMY_Awards/



-BJ Ramone

Valentine's Day

Don't send a lame Valentine's Day eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Part 2: Art and Entertainment are Two Different Things

Part 2 of my opinion
Maybe I am misunderstanding everything but I think media has really made people’s habits evolve.To say reality TV would be a generalization, but let’s take Paris Hiltonfor example people magazine, a sex tape ,a hit record and merchandising. Sting now has his music in a car commercial for the launch of his album and to think we destroyed Peter Frampton just for appearing on the cover of rolling stone with his shirt off!

That was the 70s.
We are now having to compete for kids attention ,we have video games.
before Atari was not as entertaining as Ozzy but Tekken 3 or Grand Tourismo—that’s a pretty hard act to follow. I was in France for 4 weeks over the Christmas holidays and I hate to give the French credit—great food, great wine, great women but back to music—they have a TV show which is on weekly called" Taratata.” You canwatch you tubes of it , and all of your favorite American artist passing through France play this show but the idea of the show is to have an act come on play their hit live and do an interview and then perform a cover of their favorite song.
I was blown away i saw acts from countries all over the world performing great songs live

Where is our platform in America for signed artists?
MTV has flavor of love
Vh1 has some videos on in the morning but I think American media is once again underestimating the intelligence of the viewer and there is a real gap in the market.
I am not a tv producer but I know that people would love to watch their favorite artist perform in prime time like this. Take the artist pink for example. On a show like this we could all actually see that she is an amazing singer and not just watch a movie style video and have to listen to a
grossly over produced song. Imagine hearing and seeing Incubus or Oasis or Rufus Wainwright. If you want entertainment buy a bag of coke and hire a couple of call girls.

Art and entertainment are two different things. The problem is, is that it’s too intertwined. No one can tell the difference anymore cause like our presidents, it’s not a live performance. I think we need in the media more live exposure of music , for it to progress and get popular again!
adrian lechaczynski

Part 1: MY OPINION, EVERYONE HAS ONE

People over 30 tend to buy music josh grobin james blunt nora jones toby keith etc. Also, there are a lot of very poor illiterate people in this country who don't have computers there for are not freely swapping music and they go to their local corner shop and buy a rap cd which caters to the same audience over and over again people wanting to make it big in a stupid
superficial way aggression and a rich lifestyle that the artists don't even live themselves. The strokes, the libertines, starsailor, radiohead.
Why are they not selling 10 million albums?

Well, ipod wearing educated people tend toknow how to find their way around a computer easily and swap songs forfree this is a shame cause if you cant even pay your rent and you devote your life to your music it really is off putting who's to blame well no one its evolution look at global warming population growth its only normal that we would end up being able to communicate more efficiently what's cool well we can have web cam chats for free send tracks back and forth via email but if you have the talent to write an album like all that you cant
leave behind U2 nothing can stop you before people did what they were best at now days they want to boast that they did the whole album themselves cause of useless record
companies its a shame i am sure we could nurture another patsy cline but the cool critics would say, "Oh shes just a singer and her record company would not be able to find her good songs anyway I am sure we could encourage another burt bacharach to write a classic etc.

Doing it all your self is great, if you are as multitalented as prince but in most cases even the beatles its a collaboration. So, in a way home studios have given more people access to making music but the standard has gone down plus no kid has 18 dollars for a cd with only 2 good disposable songs on it so in the late 90s the record companies did it to themselves I dont know the future but i know people who love music will still listen to it people who like to write it will still write it people who like to perform it will still perform it we just need some real music lovers back behind the desk and chairs like the founder of atlantic records or Chris Blackwell island records with the means and ears to encourage and attract another, tea for the tillerman, cat stevens, bob marley, crosby stills and nash and young etc.

- adrian lechaczynski

Music is at a Crossroads

I have two differing philosophies on today’s music industry. First of all (to begin with the less positive of the two), technology has allowed for new super editing devices that allow anyone off the street to be transformed into a singer (see Lindsay Lohan, who is on her third album I believe.) It’s sad to see famous artists get up on the stage and lip sync at a concert that the public spent at least $30 or up on. Where did the talent go? Though music’s new technology is amazing, and it’s great if it enhances an artist’s song/album, it should NEVER be a substitute for talent. It’s practicably just an accepted norm nowadays that artists will lip sync at a concert (luckily there are always true talents like Chris Cornell, Alicia Keys, and Kanye West to lighten the spirit.) I say if I’m going to pay money to go see a prerecorded show, I’ll just go watch a movie. At least you don’t have to pay to see someone dancing around on a stage pretending to sing to their CD.

Secondly, on a more positive note, ITunes, MySpace, YouTube and the like are revolutionizing artists’ marketing chances! Now that record labels are no longer the only chance (and in fact are in the process of demise) that a band has to be noticed, artist’s can represent themselves and get discovered. A whole new way for music to exist has been created. MySpace is free and anyone can use it!

I think the business can go either way. It is at a crossroads right now. Music is at the dawn of a brave new world, and hopefully, talent will prevail.

Ellen C.

A NEW GAME IS AFOOT

Things are changing. A new game is afoot. While this is utterly terrifying to the old ways of doing music business, that old dinosaur that is lurching around trying to push glossy, highlighted, tweezed and overly reverb-ed nonsense down our throats and ear canals, for the musician, this is a time of change, opportunity, revival and renaissance. THIS IS EXCITING! I must disagree with Rose below; this is NOT the end of the road for many musicians. It is just the beginning! It is the exit off the main highway for sure, to a thousand different streets …some will be dead ends, some won't; but if you're in it for life, because music is your passion, because it is the only thing that you can do and you have to share that with anyone who will listen, then you will find a way in this new wild and wooly digital world. And those musicians, those "lifers" if you will, are the ones that people are DYING to listen to, to connect with, to grow up with! You could never ever hear these cats on the radio! Generally speaking, acts like this aren't getting signed to big labels anymore, and why on earth would they want to? True A & R has become much more rarefied.…the system isn't set up like that anymore, to find, develop and support life- long artists like this. I think that the real talent recognizes that. This talent has gone off the grid so to speak. There is so much fanfuckingtastic music being made… All I have to do is look as far as my circle of broke, unsigned friends hoofin it out here in Los Angeles. People listened to and MADE music long before the music BIZ ever existed, and they will continue to do so. They are doing it. Maybe MTV sucks, and we now lack a real tastemaker to let the public at large know what's good, but nonetheless, good music is playing as we speak. You may have to work a little harder to find it. You may have to work a hell of a lot harder to MAKE it. But, the pendulum is swinging back towards the real deal…it has no choice!! It's coming back to the honest and sincere, the all heart and no money kind of music, the music that means something to people, and doesn't care if it's not able to be sold to the Disney Channel. So don't lament. Figure it out! Now, excuse me while I get back to my day job. J

Most sincerely,

Samantha Farrell