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

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