Today while at work with no functioning e-mail, I got the chance to really thoroughly read through some of the more interesting magazines that cross over my desk through the week. Among my stack was a magazine named "UTNE" with a great, informal and confident picture of Obama on the cover pointing his finger, his eyes shaded by Ray-bans, as if to say "you and I, we'll make it happen".
There were some really great articles in this magazine, all of which I wish I had the time and energy to respond to, but one in particular prompted this blog. The title "FEAR ITSELF", written by a Julie Hanus, and on the opposite page, the picture of a man bombarded by common fears such as terrorism, crime and germs. The objective of the article seems to be to uncover what it is that fuels our fear, how it affects our daily lives, and the consequences we suffer for living with such fears. It seems like commonsense to say that we all fear something. I fear losing my job, as do many others. My best friend has a fear of germs and keeping her children safe. It's interesting to me to think about what fuels these fears and what kind of decisions we then make based on them.
Granted this article has nothing to do with music, but it does have a very significant impact on our society and I think, in turn, this affects how we relate to our music.
Throughout the article the writer compares how we once handled fear in past generations compared to how we now handle our "comtemporary" fear. She explains that in the past, fear would pull together communities, "They were a source of shared identity and engendered camaraderie and trust." Our past generations used fear to being their communities together, forming a great dependence and trust with one another. She furthers the arguement by pointing out that today "The individual way we've come to experience fear contributes only to isolation and feelings of helplessness. Instead of seeing support or solutions, we add to our grim roster of perceived threats." Truthfully a well made point.
Over the past few months I have given a kind and attentive ear to a few friends who have voiced many of these concerns. Instead of looking at each situation as an opportunity to rise above, they simply hold their nose as the water overcomes them and give in. Someone or something is always responsible for the laundry list of issues we face each moment of our busy days.
"One explaination for the incapacitating nature of contemporary fear is that our brains simply are not wired to process modern life." But what is this "modern life" that is referred to here. What makes our modern life something that our brains are not capable of handling? Is it all the blackberrys? the overwhelming pressure of society from every aspect of life to feel a sense of acceptance and validation? Each day we watch the news and are bombarded with images of car wrecks, missing children, and disease only to then lie in our beds and create our own spinning web of fears.
A great example of how these fears affect our daily decisions would be the undeniable feelings we all conjured up after the events of 9/11. It is reported that for 12 months after 9/11, most people heeded a warning from their guts to avoid flying, thus putting millions more on the roads. In that one year, the fatalities due to car accidents rose and an additional 1,595 people lost their lives. Another great example "When out guts tell us not to let children play outside unsupervised, the sedentary lifestyle that ineveitably results exposes kids to a host of health problems far more dangerous than the slim probability of abduction". Children that are left in home are more apt to be consumed by television, video games and other mind numbing types of activity. This type of lifestyle not only creates a higher risk of obesity but also a lazy and unmotivated ethic. Children that are not encouraged to be outside, taking advantage of what the world has to offer, I feel are more likely to take it for granted in the future and less likely to feel motivated in other aspects of their life as well.
Another issue that so many people consume themselves with ignorantly would be germs. Our bodies have been built to be able to fend off general germs such as the common cold. Yes, sometimes we get sick if we let ourselves lose sleep or we don't treat our immune systems with the respect it deserves, but our bodies have evolved to be able to fight these bugs. It is very clear that we, as a society, are overmedicated and too lazy or impatient to take the time to simply care for ourselves. It is reported by Mother Jones that today there is more than 9,000 types of antibacterial products on the market, with 2,753 introduced in 2007. The Food and Drug Adminsitration did conclude in 2004 that between basic hand soap and antibacterial soap, neither was better at preventing infection. "Sales of antibacterial chemicals are projected to reach $930 million in 2009". $930 MILLION! That is insane. And for what?! so that we can train our bodies to never be able to fight off the common cold? And then people ask me why I chose a glass of water without the tylenol when I get a mild headache.
Our television has single handedly been able to reach into our homes and play with our most deperate anxieties. Even completely fictional law or criminal based shows such as Criminal Minds tend to lay blame on those that are not "fearful enough".
The author brings up an episode of the Daily Show With John Stewart, pre-election, where voters were rallying with fears worn on their sleeves. Reporter John Oliver concludes "There's no red America, no blue America. There's just one scared shitless America". I remember watching that episode, probably the one episode of the Daily Show I every really paid attention to and thinking what happened to us? what happened to a people proud of themselves, hard working and confident? Everyone waves their American flags and pumps their fist for our country but then runs home to cower behind their Lazy-boy, just hoping to make it to tomorrow.
Sasha Abramsky writes in an issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education "After centuries of tenchological progress, we think we can glimpse the promised land. We can envision a world in which cancer is merely a coldlike nuisance, in which stem-cell research banishes Alzheimer's, ... But the world today is far from a utopia. My guess is that we have become so fearful at least in part because we fear our intoxicating future's being snatched away from us".
A very clear, self explainatory point. We're spoiled. Recently, a great deal of New Englanders lost their power to an ice storm, some for lengthy periods of time. My parents were out of power for 6 days, and thankfully, we're New Englanders, this has happened before so we turn on the generator, light a few candles and cook dinner on the gas grill. but after 6 days my mother just said "This is getting really old" and I said to myself it's amazing to think we're that dependant on something, on anything. I can even say the same thing for my work today. Our e-mail is down and without it everyone has gone home, without the e-mail, there is basically no way to get work done. How is it that it has come down to a company not being able to function simply because we're not able to get an e-mail. Granted it completely cuts off communication, and with our music industry, communication is pretty much all that we have to go on.
"It's a bittersweet silver lining, but economic pains could provide just the sort of galvanizing force we need to recalibrate ourselves towards solidarity." This is, if we as one community are willing to give up our fears and work together as a team, which to me is doubtful. Call me pessimistic, but we don't have a good record of being able to get along with one another. With fear already taking over our country, Obama has been able to "make good on politics of hope, though, the American public must continue to demonstrate the resistance to fear they showed by electing him."
The article advocates an interest in learning our human nature, accepting our susceptibility to "misjudgments and miscalculations". We, as a people, need to remember what we are made of. We tend to take ourselves to seriously, and cower in the presence of humility. We have to learn to be grateful and compassionate, sharing these wonderful attributes with others, in learning to release our overwhelming sense of fear. But we must not completely let go of our sense of fear. Our instincts serve us well and we do have the ability to judge our situations and their risks with intelligence and sophistication. "When something doesn't quite sync up, gut to head, then it's time to pause and at least question what's causing the discrepancy".
Someday we may be able to let go of allowing our individual fears to define us. With giving up our fear, we "free poiliticians from fear inducing rhetoric or stymie fearmongering marketers..."
If we could take the opportunity to release these anxieties and concerns, we could take a larger look at our lives, putting our role into perspective and seeing how far we have come as a people.
We still have so many big steps to take, but releasing the fear makes way for hope to move ourselves further along.
So this has been quite lengthy and I apologize if I have bored anyone, but I must admit that this article really reached out to me. As I stated early, I have been approached by friends and family members with situations of such fear and anxiety, and I can sympathize, I have these moments of my own. It's very hard to be able to advise someone on how to be able to let go of these feelings in such a high pressure society, especially when I myself am not completely able to do so. I always try to remember that when I'm worried about what other people are thinking about me, 9 times out of 10, the other person is worrying about the same thing. And if they are sitting by making their judgements about me, they are also judging themselves, comparing their insecurities against my own. Our society has truthfully fed a generation of fearful adults. It seems as though we're always made to feel like our accomplishments are still not quite enough, our skills and talents are not enough to make us stand out in a pile of resumes. There is the need for continued education and experience in order to set yourself apart in the workplace. In personal life there is such pressure to be confident, unique and creative that even those who make the best friends and companions feel as though they can't quite live up to par, even though they try and teach us in middle school that we are all "special in our own way". And we are! We are all lovable, once we learn to love ourselves. We are all beautiful and intelligent as long as we can see ourselves in that light. So release the fear and find all that there is inside yourself as well as others. After that, the world is your oyster (as they say).
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Now you see it, now you don't
Well I guess there are a few things to bring up for this weeks business.
1) Warner pulls all content from YouTube
2) RIAA promises to stop suing
3) Myspace blocks project playlist
I think first and foremost the fact that the RIAA has finally decided to stop pulling lawsuits out of their butts is a huge positive note. Everywhere you turn the news articles are saying "now what?". Well, maybe the labels can start to regain some of their dignity back. A large part of me wonders if all the irrational legal action that the RIAA took on young kids, people that didn't even own computers, and others that were not even living only fed the fire for angry bitter "damn the man" teens to keep sticking it to 'em. There is always an air of carelessness when you're a teenager. You don't care if you risk cancer smoking a cigarette, risking your job when you get a tattoo, you most certainly don't care about risking getting sued by the record industry for illegally downloading music, especially when you're one of 20% of the country that does it. But you can't hide. As much as I believe the RIAA should have taken action on serious offenders, they were stupid about it. Almost every case looked like a joke to the onlookers and it was humiliating. They only hurt themselves, throwing fuel on an already unwieldy fire. The culture most certainly aids a generation of kids who are ready and willing to take that risk all to feel like they're setting themselves apart and doing their part to screw over big money making record execs.
The funny thing is, those big money making execs are suffering so bad now since you all decided to damn them, that they have to make sure that they are get every penny that they should out of all the other exploitations that are out there. And there are many, such as the YouTube and the Project Playlist. YouTube has been dealing with these kinds of issues since it started up. At least this time they are not being sued. Universal reported great results from their negotiations with YouTube, but Warner can not seem to settle for agreements that are not completely fair to the label, the artists, songwriters and publishers, which I agree with. They have every right to fight for what they feel is appropriate for everyone involved. If the agreement is rational and fair then everyone benefits, even YouTube. It is discussed that YouTube structured agreements with all four major labels to share advertising revenue, which is a good break for the labels and a concept that has been talked about in the past. With so much pressure to keep their heads above water, labels are in a position to create and fight for these kinds of deals in order to make the best profit for each and every available outlet. Warner will lose out of the great exposure for the time being, and the fans won't be too thrilled, but eventually a contract will be settled on that, we hope, will be appropriate and fair.
Project Playlist was also blocked on Myspace. Myspace has decided to "take sides" with the labels, pulling the widget at the request of rights holders. The labels have argued that Project Playlist's structure of their widget and the streaming encourages infringement. There have been other sites that have crumpled under pressure from the labels, in fear of legal action. There are a lot of programs that they could also make this claim about, but the disadvantage the labels give themselves is not stepping into a modern generations mind set to "seek and destroy" these third parties. Of course, the way things are moving at this point, for every site you close another will blossom and guaranteed it'll be better than the last. You'll never be able to fight the young generation, made up of tech savvy, opinions, and intelligence against a bunch of obsolete industry ideals that labels created 40 years ago. And the more the labels fight, the more society fights back harder and with better resources. We all know this to be true with most things. Project Playlist competes with the functionality of MySpace itself and Facebook has also made the decision to not block Project Playlist. So whether or not booting the widget is a good idea? probably a bad idea. But that's what we get for burning out CDs for everyone and their cousins. Losing the widget doesn't really benefit anyone, the labels lose exposure, and the fans are just going to keep getting pissed off without understanding why.
So good news and bad news for the industry. Glad to hear that there is no longer silly ego - trip lawsuits running around. Sad to hear that Warner and YouTube can't learn to get along. Truthfully, the RIAA will probably find another way to blatantly embarrass themselves. Warner will come to some kind of agreement with YouTube, seeing as it's the best promotional tool for anyone and anything, and Project Playlist? It'll make it's home on other community sites for the time being and I'm sure the labels will find someone else to complain about tomorrow anyway.
1) Warner pulls all content from YouTube
2) RIAA promises to stop suing
3) Myspace blocks project playlist
I think first and foremost the fact that the RIAA has finally decided to stop pulling lawsuits out of their butts is a huge positive note. Everywhere you turn the news articles are saying "now what?". Well, maybe the labels can start to regain some of their dignity back. A large part of me wonders if all the irrational legal action that the RIAA took on young kids, people that didn't even own computers, and others that were not even living only fed the fire for angry bitter "damn the man" teens to keep sticking it to 'em. There is always an air of carelessness when you're a teenager. You don't care if you risk cancer smoking a cigarette, risking your job when you get a tattoo, you most certainly don't care about risking getting sued by the record industry for illegally downloading music, especially when you're one of 20% of the country that does it. But you can't hide. As much as I believe the RIAA should have taken action on serious offenders, they were stupid about it. Almost every case looked like a joke to the onlookers and it was humiliating. They only hurt themselves, throwing fuel on an already unwieldy fire. The culture most certainly aids a generation of kids who are ready and willing to take that risk all to feel like they're setting themselves apart and doing their part to screw over big money making record execs.
The funny thing is, those big money making execs are suffering so bad now since you all decided to damn them, that they have to make sure that they are get every penny that they should out of all the other exploitations that are out there. And there are many, such as the YouTube and the Project Playlist. YouTube has been dealing with these kinds of issues since it started up. At least this time they are not being sued. Universal reported great results from their negotiations with YouTube, but Warner can not seem to settle for agreements that are not completely fair to the label, the artists, songwriters and publishers, which I agree with. They have every right to fight for what they feel is appropriate for everyone involved. If the agreement is rational and fair then everyone benefits, even YouTube. It is discussed that YouTube structured agreements with all four major labels to share advertising revenue, which is a good break for the labels and a concept that has been talked about in the past. With so much pressure to keep their heads above water, labels are in a position to create and fight for these kinds of deals in order to make the best profit for each and every available outlet. Warner will lose out of the great exposure for the time being, and the fans won't be too thrilled, but eventually a contract will be settled on that, we hope, will be appropriate and fair.
Project Playlist was also blocked on Myspace. Myspace has decided to "take sides" with the labels, pulling the widget at the request of rights holders. The labels have argued that Project Playlist's structure of their widget and the streaming encourages infringement. There have been other sites that have crumpled under pressure from the labels, in fear of legal action. There are a lot of programs that they could also make this claim about, but the disadvantage the labels give themselves is not stepping into a modern generations mind set to "seek and destroy" these third parties. Of course, the way things are moving at this point, for every site you close another will blossom and guaranteed it'll be better than the last. You'll never be able to fight the young generation, made up of tech savvy, opinions, and intelligence against a bunch of obsolete industry ideals that labels created 40 years ago. And the more the labels fight, the more society fights back harder and with better resources. We all know this to be true with most things. Project Playlist competes with the functionality of MySpace itself and Facebook has also made the decision to not block Project Playlist. So whether or not booting the widget is a good idea? probably a bad idea. But that's what we get for burning out CDs for everyone and their cousins. Losing the widget doesn't really benefit anyone, the labels lose exposure, and the fans are just going to keep getting pissed off without understanding why.
So good news and bad news for the industry. Glad to hear that there is no longer silly ego - trip lawsuits running around. Sad to hear that Warner and YouTube can't learn to get along. Truthfully, the RIAA will probably find another way to blatantly embarrass themselves. Warner will come to some kind of agreement with YouTube, seeing as it's the best promotional tool for anyone and anything, and Project Playlist? It'll make it's home on other community sites for the time being and I'm sure the labels will find someone else to complain about tomorrow anyway.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Broadcast yourself
http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=115838
http://www.tronme.com/
So here is an interesting advancement of interactive media. Very similar to another website I had found a while back called www.outshouts.com. Where you can record your own personal responses to your favorite music and share it with the world. The difference here I believe is that this can be used with YouTube, Skype, MSN, Facebook, and Myspace.
I think this is a great example of how our culture has enraptured itself with it's relationship to music. Our generation and the next has been consumed with the idea of defining themselves by their musical identities. To go even further, have they also become obsessed with defining themselves by the way they purchase/steal their music? by the way they react to it? the way they can relate to it and share the experience with their favorite musicians? Almost like they were friends, sharing stories.
With this interactive software, music lovers everywhere can become even more a part of the music that defines them. It allows them to be inspired and creative as well, which I think is great for those who are learning to write and compose their own music.
My one real question is, what is the copyright limits here? are there any? has tronme.com covered all the bases, or will consumers pay for having a little fun with their favorite tunes. The concept is definitely fed by the culture. A need to be as much a part of the musical society as possible. It fuels a great sense of creativity but also a sense of belonging, while still trying to be an individualist. Also, a great piece of a culture, becoming the same while attempting to separate yourself. It seems so time consuming to ensure your 15 minutes of fame and making every effort to slap your face on every online community site possible. It encourages a generation of people expressive and confident enough to share they're musical relationships with the world. And as much as I love to advocate confidence and creativity and making sure you share these things with people, I myself feel a bit too humble to truthfully promote it. I must admit though I am a bit of hypocrite with that statement seeing as I do write for this blog, so I clearly felt confident enough concerning my opinions, education, and writing ability. I also have a music myspace, which took a lot for me to eventually post, but I did because I wanted to be able to tell people "yeah I sing, check out my page", but then run for the hills as they type the URL.
I too am a part of this society, a part of a generation that defines itself with its musical relationships and its individualistic nature. It's a great feeling to be able to make yourself such a part of larger communities. I grew up in a small town and the only "big community" that I could say I was really a valuable member of was the high school choir, and mostly so because of my last name and the fact that my sisters and I were the towns famous singers. Then you leave your small town and realize that you're really not a part of much of anything.
Myspace, Facebook, Youtube: these online communities give our attention hungry generation more and more opportunities to feed. We become a part of the music, we can communicate with musicians and people we admire, we can show our support and love. Personally, I think that's important, to be able to feel close to people you look up to. When you feel disconnected from people you admire, the admiration becomes meaningless and whatever inspiration you would've gained is lost.
Has our need to be a part of these large communities created a loss of the sense of self? The loss of the ability to stand on our own without relying on others for comfort or validation could create a constant feeling of being alone and thus also fueling our need to create those relationships with our music. These moments that we make for ourselves with such resources as Myspace, Facebook, etc. makes us a part of these larger communities, and requires no self reliance. And although, as I previously stated, I encourage these great opportunities for people to express themselves and share it with the world, I also advocate our independence as a young generation fueled by creativity, education and exploration.
So let's define ourselves.
http://www.tronme.com/
So here is an interesting advancement of interactive media. Very similar to another website I had found a while back called www.outshouts.com. Where you can record your own personal responses to your favorite music and share it with the world. The difference here I believe is that this can be used with YouTube, Skype, MSN, Facebook, and Myspace.
I think this is a great example of how our culture has enraptured itself with it's relationship to music. Our generation and the next has been consumed with the idea of defining themselves by their musical identities. To go even further, have they also become obsessed with defining themselves by the way they purchase/steal their music? by the way they react to it? the way they can relate to it and share the experience with their favorite musicians? Almost like they were friends, sharing stories.
With this interactive software, music lovers everywhere can become even more a part of the music that defines them. It allows them to be inspired and creative as well, which I think is great for those who are learning to write and compose their own music.
My one real question is, what is the copyright limits here? are there any? has tronme.com covered all the bases, or will consumers pay for having a little fun with their favorite tunes. The concept is definitely fed by the culture. A need to be as much a part of the musical society as possible. It fuels a great sense of creativity but also a sense of belonging, while still trying to be an individualist. Also, a great piece of a culture, becoming the same while attempting to separate yourself. It seems so time consuming to ensure your 15 minutes of fame and making every effort to slap your face on every online community site possible. It encourages a generation of people expressive and confident enough to share they're musical relationships with the world. And as much as I love to advocate confidence and creativity and making sure you share these things with people, I myself feel a bit too humble to truthfully promote it. I must admit though I am a bit of hypocrite with that statement seeing as I do write for this blog, so I clearly felt confident enough concerning my opinions, education, and writing ability. I also have a music myspace, which took a lot for me to eventually post, but I did because I wanted to be able to tell people "yeah I sing, check out my page", but then run for the hills as they type the URL.
I too am a part of this society, a part of a generation that defines itself with its musical relationships and its individualistic nature. It's a great feeling to be able to make yourself such a part of larger communities. I grew up in a small town and the only "big community" that I could say I was really a valuable member of was the high school choir, and mostly so because of my last name and the fact that my sisters and I were the towns famous singers. Then you leave your small town and realize that you're really not a part of much of anything.
Myspace, Facebook, Youtube: these online communities give our attention hungry generation more and more opportunities to feed. We become a part of the music, we can communicate with musicians and people we admire, we can show our support and love. Personally, I think that's important, to be able to feel close to people you look up to. When you feel disconnected from people you admire, the admiration becomes meaningless and whatever inspiration you would've gained is lost.
Has our need to be a part of these large communities created a loss of the sense of self? The loss of the ability to stand on our own without relying on others for comfort or validation could create a constant feeling of being alone and thus also fueling our need to create those relationships with our music. These moments that we make for ourselves with such resources as Myspace, Facebook, etc. makes us a part of these larger communities, and requires no self reliance. And although, as I previously stated, I encourage these great opportunities for people to express themselves and share it with the world, I also advocate our independence as a young generation fueled by creativity, education and exploration.
So let's define ourselves.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Making Money on Piracy
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2008/03/music_levy
So how about it? Should we tack some more taxes on our already outrageous internet costs just for the 20% of America that can't keep their noses clean? Would it really save the industry, or even help it a little?
I'm not so sure. I think that file sharing has become such a significant piece of our society that it almost seems strange to think about dealing with the consequences for something that a lot of people don't even understand is wrong. And even the ones that do understand that it is wrong pump their fists and say "damn the man!" but turn around and want an industry job because it seems cool. Well the truth of the matter is people, musicians don't make money if the albums do not sell. Unless you're 50 cent and choose to slap your face on every endorsement that tickles your fancy, it is very tough to make a dollar from touring alone. Does anyone really fully comprehend the sheer expense that goes into touring? Everyone just seems take in the well lit stages, pyrotechnics, and band garb without considering how much is poured into that. And not only money but man hours. The extent of it all sometimes sets my head a spinning.
It is hard to put into perspective how simply burning a cd as opposed to "click to buy" has really hurt the industry, at least for myself it is. And I have an industry job, I have had to watch good friends lose their jobs and harmless holiday parties be canceled because no one wants to pay for a god damn CD. I'm guilty, my family is guilty, my friends are guilty and it's quite the internal battle of all hipocracies, to worry about the strength of my company but turn around and burn a CD. I will admit that I have never illegally downloaded a song in my life, I wouldn't even know where to find the torrents is someone asked me, but I have burned.
We have been saying for years now that someone somewhere has got to figure out a way to make money off the piracy or the industry will never survive. But is this really the right way to go about it? It's like in high school when no one could wear black just because some group of kids started a cult or hankerchiefs got banished because the elderly teachers thought it was all gang related. Whatever metaphor you want to use to help you understand, go for it, there is a million instances where this stuff happens. Other people paying for someone elses mistakes. That in itself is a piece of our culture.
An idea that had been discussed when I was in college was considering the labels working together with advertising companies that market to torrent sites. That to me, makes a bit more sense because at least you would be targeting your audience and you wouldn't be charging the public extra. Adveritising companies could chose to disclose their advertising opportunities on torrent sites and labels could choose to partner with them and take a small share if they felt it was a profitable opportunity. But the disclosure of torrents sites is another tricky venture. I think that labels have refused similar ideas because it would considered siding with the enemy. In order to keep afloat though, the idea could be revisted. Even still, it's a tough arguement because we know that those advertising companies do not only do advertising for torrent sites, so how do we disguish when a consumer is looking at the ad on Facebook or a torrent site? You can't make the people that use Facebook, but not torrents sites pay extra right?
The fact of the matter is that the people are going to pay, whether they're supposed to or not. That is, if this idea is put into action. Even if they are able to avoid charging every single cable viewer extra, they are still going to be higher costs somewhere. If labels want a piece of the advertising pie, then the ad costs will go up for the other companies purchasing ad space. If their costs go up, their product price goes up, and it'll all becomes a big trickle down affect. Or the ad costs could go up, and they could choose to just purchase less ads, thus leading to less exposure and less exposure would could potentially hurt their profits.
Which path to take. One has to be traveled, perhaps one that I haven't even seen or heard about yet. Perhaps one that has not been proposed yet. But the if the Music industry does not strive to push itself forward, then it will drown in this very spot it sits in, finger on the trigger and all the resources laying at it's feet.
Needless to say, this is the first someone good idea that's come about since CD sales really started falling in 2000. Let's hope that there is more brainstorming yet to come.
So how about it? Should we tack some more taxes on our already outrageous internet costs just for the 20% of America that can't keep their noses clean? Would it really save the industry, or even help it a little?
I'm not so sure. I think that file sharing has become such a significant piece of our society that it almost seems strange to think about dealing with the consequences for something that a lot of people don't even understand is wrong. And even the ones that do understand that it is wrong pump their fists and say "damn the man!" but turn around and want an industry job because it seems cool. Well the truth of the matter is people, musicians don't make money if the albums do not sell. Unless you're 50 cent and choose to slap your face on every endorsement that tickles your fancy, it is very tough to make a dollar from touring alone. Does anyone really fully comprehend the sheer expense that goes into touring? Everyone just seems take in the well lit stages, pyrotechnics, and band garb without considering how much is poured into that. And not only money but man hours. The extent of it all sometimes sets my head a spinning.
It is hard to put into perspective how simply burning a cd as opposed to "click to buy" has really hurt the industry, at least for myself it is. And I have an industry job, I have had to watch good friends lose their jobs and harmless holiday parties be canceled because no one wants to pay for a god damn CD. I'm guilty, my family is guilty, my friends are guilty and it's quite the internal battle of all hipocracies, to worry about the strength of my company but turn around and burn a CD. I will admit that I have never illegally downloaded a song in my life, I wouldn't even know where to find the torrents is someone asked me, but I have burned.
We have been saying for years now that someone somewhere has got to figure out a way to make money off the piracy or the industry will never survive. But is this really the right way to go about it? It's like in high school when no one could wear black just because some group of kids started a cult or hankerchiefs got banished because the elderly teachers thought it was all gang related. Whatever metaphor you want to use to help you understand, go for it, there is a million instances where this stuff happens. Other people paying for someone elses mistakes. That in itself is a piece of our culture.
An idea that had been discussed when I was in college was considering the labels working together with advertising companies that market to torrent sites. That to me, makes a bit more sense because at least you would be targeting your audience and you wouldn't be charging the public extra. Adveritising companies could chose to disclose their advertising opportunities on torrent sites and labels could choose to partner with them and take a small share if they felt it was a profitable opportunity. But the disclosure of torrents sites is another tricky venture. I think that labels have refused similar ideas because it would considered siding with the enemy. In order to keep afloat though, the idea could be revisted. Even still, it's a tough arguement because we know that those advertising companies do not only do advertising for torrent sites, so how do we disguish when a consumer is looking at the ad on Facebook or a torrent site? You can't make the people that use Facebook, but not torrents sites pay extra right?
The fact of the matter is that the people are going to pay, whether they're supposed to or not. That is, if this idea is put into action. Even if they are able to avoid charging every single cable viewer extra, they are still going to be higher costs somewhere. If labels want a piece of the advertising pie, then the ad costs will go up for the other companies purchasing ad space. If their costs go up, their product price goes up, and it'll all becomes a big trickle down affect. Or the ad costs could go up, and they could choose to just purchase less ads, thus leading to less exposure and less exposure would could potentially hurt their profits.
Which path to take. One has to be traveled, perhaps one that I haven't even seen or heard about yet. Perhaps one that has not been proposed yet. But the if the Music industry does not strive to push itself forward, then it will drown in this very spot it sits in, finger on the trigger and all the resources laying at it's feet.
Needless to say, this is the first someone good idea that's come about since CD sales really started falling in 2000. Let's hope that there is more brainstorming yet to come.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Our Culture
12/5/08
So today I began a little bit of Grad school searching. Looking at all the specializations of some of the professors began to make my mind tick a bit.
It's amazing to think about all the different perspectives that can be taken when it comes to the analysis of culture. The word "culture" alone connates so much.
Now I know that the idea of American culture is a long discussed topic. People feel that we are all essentially immigrants and that there is nothing that truly defines us as a nationality.
Do American's really have a culture? It's a loaded question, I know, but if you seriously take a look around and try your best to take into perspective the level of which our beautiful 50 states have become the "melting pot" it is, where does the culture come from? All of us have our heritage, even though some like to deny it, and there is always those people that exclaim "we're all immigrants!". So where is our culture, what defines us as Americans. Is it the sex-driven pop scene? The frialators? The Ford Excursions? or the Dunkin' Donuts. How do we say "here is how I celebrate my culture" - by driving 80 on the highway in a truck sized for 8 carrying 1, bobbing your head to Britney's "Womanizer", sipping double shots of caffiene noisely through a obnoxious orange straw and chumping down on a microwaved meal on the go.
Makes me proud. But please disagree if you feel necessary, I would honestly love to be proven wrong so maybe I could start looking at our "culture" as something to take pride in instead of looking like some kind of eutopian, greed/sex driven mish-mashed experiment. Almost makes me think about a really awful school project I did when I was a freshman in highschool creating a "eutopia" and setting down your own basis of laws and such. It was all based on reading "The Lord of The Flies" and the idea of whether or not a Eutopia could exist at all. But I'm getting off the subject.
So what is American culture? Do we have culture? Can we call ourselves a cultured nationality? Can we even call ourselves a nationality at all?
And how does this culture, or lack there of, fuel our musical interests, our industry and our marketing tactics. Does a person consider their heritage while creeping up and down the aisles of Newbury Comics, or if you're not from around here, Wal-mart/Target/Best Buy. Does a consumer of Irish descent feel the need to celebrate his love for the color green, drinking heavily, and punching fists by picking up the latest Dropkick Murphys album and humming along on the way to the liqour store. How deep does the subconscious affect of our heritage go when it comes to our musical interests?
I feel like there is a big part of the me that can not sympathize considering that my knowledge of my heritage is limited. As far as I have been told in no particular organized fashion that my ancestors range from Cherokee Indian, to Welch, to Scottish, to Portuguese. I just don't know what is truth and what is not. Does my feeling of not have any ancestry affect how I relate to music that is based on a strong ancestry? Sometimes I feel it does, that I can't connect with an artist on that level and it leads me to not be as interested in their compositions.
The search will continue, and next time maybe I'll have some research to base my incoherent ramblings on. That should make my opinions a bit more viable. Or not.
So today I began a little bit of Grad school searching. Looking at all the specializations of some of the professors began to make my mind tick a bit.
It's amazing to think about all the different perspectives that can be taken when it comes to the analysis of culture. The word "culture" alone connates so much.
Now I know that the idea of American culture is a long discussed topic. People feel that we are all essentially immigrants and that there is nothing that truly defines us as a nationality.
Do American's really have a culture? It's a loaded question, I know, but if you seriously take a look around and try your best to take into perspective the level of which our beautiful 50 states have become the "melting pot" it is, where does the culture come from? All of us have our heritage, even though some like to deny it, and there is always those people that exclaim "we're all immigrants!". So where is our culture, what defines us as Americans. Is it the sex-driven pop scene? The frialators? The Ford Excursions? or the Dunkin' Donuts. How do we say "here is how I celebrate my culture" - by driving 80 on the highway in a truck sized for 8 carrying 1, bobbing your head to Britney's "Womanizer", sipping double shots of caffiene noisely through a obnoxious orange straw and chumping down on a microwaved meal on the go.
Makes me proud. But please disagree if you feel necessary, I would honestly love to be proven wrong so maybe I could start looking at our "culture" as something to take pride in instead of looking like some kind of eutopian, greed/sex driven mish-mashed experiment. Almost makes me think about a really awful school project I did when I was a freshman in highschool creating a "eutopia" and setting down your own basis of laws and such. It was all based on reading "The Lord of The Flies" and the idea of whether or not a Eutopia could exist at all. But I'm getting off the subject.
So what is American culture? Do we have culture? Can we call ourselves a cultured nationality? Can we even call ourselves a nationality at all?
And how does this culture, or lack there of, fuel our musical interests, our industry and our marketing tactics. Does a person consider their heritage while creeping up and down the aisles of Newbury Comics, or if you're not from around here, Wal-mart/Target/Best Buy. Does a consumer of Irish descent feel the need to celebrate his love for the color green, drinking heavily, and punching fists by picking up the latest Dropkick Murphys album and humming along on the way to the liqour store. How deep does the subconscious affect of our heritage go when it comes to our musical interests?
I feel like there is a big part of the me that can not sympathize considering that my knowledge of my heritage is limited. As far as I have been told in no particular organized fashion that my ancestors range from Cherokee Indian, to Welch, to Scottish, to Portuguese. I just don't know what is truth and what is not. Does my feeling of not have any ancestry affect how I relate to music that is based on a strong ancestry? Sometimes I feel it does, that I can't connect with an artist on that level and it leads me to not be as interested in their compositions.
The search will continue, and next time maybe I'll have some research to base my incoherent ramblings on. That should make my opinions a bit more viable. Or not.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
An Introduction
Hi Everyone, my name is Suzanne Cabot (you can call me Sue) and I am a "music enthusiast". What does that really mean? Maybe someday we'll dig into it. But just for today I would like to introduce myself to the world of blogging and you. I am 23 years old, graduated from UMass Lowell in June of 2007 with a BA in Music Business and an English Minor. I currently work for a relatively small record label, Rounder Records, in Massachusetts.
Now, like most people in college, even though I had decided that I was interested and enthusiastic when it came to the Music Industry I still did not know where to go from there. I seriously considered law school to become a big time entertainment lawyer. I created a business plan for a free music industry publication that would allow me to write as a career and feel like I was providing something useful to society. I thought about music therapy and concert promotion in conjunction with my part-time position with Aveda. I tossed around lots of ideas in my head. All I knew was that I wanted to be a part of the world, not living off it. Always learning, always growing and always pushing myself to think about things differently even if it seemed totally way of base.
After walking across the concert hall stage at UMass, I interned with Rounder in the Sales & Marketing department. The internship was pretty basic: promo mailings, formatting spreadsheets, posting tour dates on Rounder.com, and working on several other tedious yet very important projects. I learned a lot but mostly from conversations with the employees over lunch. After leaving my internship in September I continued working for Aveda and soon after picked up a temp position with Bose Corporation for their inbound call center. They hired about 150 temps just for the holiday season, pretty crazy, but met some pretty awesome people. After being laid off in January, Bose took me on for another temp position with the Computer Information Services department. Technically, the position was called a "Course Translation Administrator" which ultimately meant I executed the translation of the text for SAP courses. No, I don't speak other languages. Let's just say it involved a significant amount of copy and pasting. Unfortunately, the project that we had for worked months on, was canceled in mid April.
A week later I received an e-mail from the Sales and Marketing assistant at Rounder. During my time away I had kept in touch with Rounder, met up for lunch when I could, and made sure I let them know what I was up to. Just thought it was a good way to keep myself in the back of their mind, plus I enjoyed working with them and kind of considered them friends if anything.
Anyway, the Sales & Marketing assistant at the time informed me that she was inclined to look for employment elsewhere and that she had recommended me to the Executive VP for the position. I can't tell you the excitement I felt, I thought I would burst. So to make a long story short, I went through the interview process and was offered the position. I gladly accepted and have been happily (and quite clumsily) tripping my way through learning the music business from my Sales & Marketing post.
So why the blog you ask? Well, back to the paragraph I wrote previously about all the wonderful ideas I had about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Lately I have been wondering where to go next from my post at Rounder Records. Granted, I am not complete with this step in my journey, but what was to be my ultimate goal? I want to teach. I have become, how should I say it without sounding like a snot, slightly turned off from the business aspect of the music industry. I know, it doesn't seem to make sense, but I have never been the type of person to fight over the all mighty dollar. I work because I like to, well the bills need to get paid as well, but mostly it's because I like to. I wanted to be able to inspire myself and maybe some others while I'm at it. I didn't want to be chained to a desk but still have to be able to keep myself up to speed with the industry, while at the same time studying the past.
While meeting with my undergrad adviser from UMass, I tried to really pin down what my next steps should be for moving forward with my education and my career. I thought about being able to teach about the history of the Music Industry, how it started, where it's been, what was said and where it brought us today. How the past affects our future. He directed me to the American Studies program and pinpointed a couple of schools. This program would allow me to write, to teach, and to keep up with the changes in the music industry while still celebrating the past.
So still, why the blog? Because I love to write and I love to study the industry. I love to link the industry to society, note the marketing opportunities and see where some things succeed while others fail. How does the industry affect different generations and how do those generations affect the industry. How far has the industry come from where it began to here, holding the key to it's success (or failure). This is my idea of good time I must admit.
So I apologize for the long - winded life story, but I like for people to know that I am average and must say that my position at Rounder can almost be blamed on luck. I have aspirations just like most people and would like to be able to speak up about my opinions and observations concerning the industry that I am most passionate about. Feel free to play devil's advocate.
Now, like most people in college, even though I had decided that I was interested and enthusiastic when it came to the Music Industry I still did not know where to go from there. I seriously considered law school to become a big time entertainment lawyer. I created a business plan for a free music industry publication that would allow me to write as a career and feel like I was providing something useful to society. I thought about music therapy and concert promotion in conjunction with my part-time position with Aveda. I tossed around lots of ideas in my head. All I knew was that I wanted to be a part of the world, not living off it. Always learning, always growing and always pushing myself to think about things differently even if it seemed totally way of base.
After walking across the concert hall stage at UMass, I interned with Rounder in the Sales & Marketing department. The internship was pretty basic: promo mailings, formatting spreadsheets, posting tour dates on Rounder.com, and working on several other tedious yet very important projects. I learned a lot but mostly from conversations with the employees over lunch. After leaving my internship in September I continued working for Aveda and soon after picked up a temp position with Bose Corporation for their inbound call center. They hired about 150 temps just for the holiday season, pretty crazy, but met some pretty awesome people. After being laid off in January, Bose took me on for another temp position with the Computer Information Services department. Technically, the position was called a "Course Translation Administrator" which ultimately meant I executed the translation of the text for SAP courses. No, I don't speak other languages. Let's just say it involved a significant amount of copy and pasting. Unfortunately, the project that we had for worked months on, was canceled in mid April.
A week later I received an e-mail from the Sales and Marketing assistant at Rounder. During my time away I had kept in touch with Rounder, met up for lunch when I could, and made sure I let them know what I was up to. Just thought it was a good way to keep myself in the back of their mind, plus I enjoyed working with them and kind of considered them friends if anything.
Anyway, the Sales & Marketing assistant at the time informed me that she was inclined to look for employment elsewhere and that she had recommended me to the Executive VP for the position. I can't tell you the excitement I felt, I thought I would burst. So to make a long story short, I went through the interview process and was offered the position. I gladly accepted and have been happily (and quite clumsily) tripping my way through learning the music business from my Sales & Marketing post.
So why the blog you ask? Well, back to the paragraph I wrote previously about all the wonderful ideas I had about what I wanted to be when I grew up. Lately I have been wondering where to go next from my post at Rounder Records. Granted, I am not complete with this step in my journey, but what was to be my ultimate goal? I want to teach. I have become, how should I say it without sounding like a snot, slightly turned off from the business aspect of the music industry. I know, it doesn't seem to make sense, but I have never been the type of person to fight over the all mighty dollar. I work because I like to, well the bills need to get paid as well, but mostly it's because I like to. I wanted to be able to inspire myself and maybe some others while I'm at it. I didn't want to be chained to a desk but still have to be able to keep myself up to speed with the industry, while at the same time studying the past.
While meeting with my undergrad adviser from UMass, I tried to really pin down what my next steps should be for moving forward with my education and my career. I thought about being able to teach about the history of the Music Industry, how it started, where it's been, what was said and where it brought us today. How the past affects our future. He directed me to the American Studies program and pinpointed a couple of schools. This program would allow me to write, to teach, and to keep up with the changes in the music industry while still celebrating the past.
So still, why the blog? Because I love to write and I love to study the industry. I love to link the industry to society, note the marketing opportunities and see where some things succeed while others fail. How does the industry affect different generations and how do those generations affect the industry. How far has the industry come from where it began to here, holding the key to it's success (or failure). This is my idea of good time I must admit.
So I apologize for the long - winded life story, but I like for people to know that I am average and must say that my position at Rounder can almost be blamed on luck. I have aspirations just like most people and would like to be able to speak up about my opinions and observations concerning the industry that I am most passionate about. Feel free to play devil's advocate.
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