Kat Corbett Calls a Band "Intervention"

Kat Corbett hosts the Locals Only program on KROQ every Sunday night. She also is writing a column called "Where is My Mind?" for the fabulous Web In Front. In her first column, entitled "Intervention," Corbett offers up a heap of great advice for bands - check it out.

What I Missed on Making the Band

Sadly, I am about 5 or 6 episodes behind on one of my favorite shows - the P. Diddy vehicle, Making the Band. Since Diddy took over the Making the Band franchise, he has made some great television. Diddy has succeeded by discussing the show as just what it is - a brand. Most recently, he has used the show to create two groups and one solo artist, all of whom he sent on tour together earlier this year. But what Diddy understands so well is the importance of reality television. While the show purports to document a "real" situation, Diddy is able to "manufacture" drama that makes for compelling television. Simply put, he understands the show is more important than the music.

On this week's season finale, Diddy even kicked two members out of girl group Danity Kane, in a move that I have to think was planned from some time back. Even a reality show needs a cliffhanger of some kind, and what better way to set up a new season than to leave a void that needs to be filled. Most interesting is the fact that Diddy blames Aubrey O'day's handling of her own image for the negative impact it had on a group. I have to believe that any member of a girl group created on a reality show has ZERO control of their image. Essentially, Diddy as producer and the show's editors (really acting as writers) succeeded in creating this negative image for Aubrey which helped structure the narrative of the show.

Essentially, I wouldn't expect Making the Band to teach me a lot I can apply to my own music business - but it sure is entertaining to watch.

My Anticipation For Kanye's New Record Builds

When Kanye West releases an album, it is an event in my world. The release of a Kanye West album is something I anticipate for weeks, sometimes months. I did not even know I would be getting a new one this year, until last month, Mr. West revealed details of 808s and Heartbreak. I've only heard single "Love Lockdown," but this is said to be a dramatic departure. This week, he premiered the album at a weird LA party. Passion of the Weiss was there and shared a number of thoughts on it. Today, West leaked an unmastered version of "Heartless." I can't wait for this album.

On the subject of things Kanye-related, I heard a Common track on WOXY yesterday right after a new Of Montreal track and the Common track totally sounded like an Of Montreal track. I am not much of a Common guy, but this track was crazy experimental. Now if that Fonzworth Bentley album would just come out, I would be totally set.

Lawrence Lessig Editorial +Cassettes Won't Listen Mash-Up Project

This past weekend, the Wall Street Journal posted an editorial from Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig, adapted from his forthcoming book, Remix. The editorial - like much of Lessig's work - argues for drastic changes in copyright law. Copyright law as it stands, Lessig has argued, hinges on artistic creativity. In the editorial, and in his book, Lessig outlines ways copyright law can restated and rewritten to better suit present day media. Lessig did take some offense to the fact that the Journal published the adaptation under the title, "In Defense of Piracy." He stated on his blog:

Sorry to disappoint, but my new book, Remix, is not "A Defense of Piracy," whatever the Wall Street Journal's headline writers may think.

Lessig did use both Girl Talk and The Grey Album as forms of creative expression that copyright law should not inhibit. Following in a similar vein is the new project from Cassettes Won't Listen entitled Ludacris Democracy. Ludacris Democracy mashes up the new Ludacris album with leaked tracks from the long-awaited Guns 'n Roses epic, Chinese Democracy and you can download it here.

How will the Economic Crisis Effect New and Used Records???

The fundamentals of the music economy are not strong - though they have not been strong for some time now. I knew that when I started this label. This current financial crisis we are in, however, is somewhat ill-timed considering that we are putting out four new albums this fall. Then again, hard times are when I need music the most, so perhaps indie fans will still want to pick up albums and attend cheap shows. I didn't get into this for the money, so this doesn't throw off any financial predictions I had. Still, I figure this is going to effect the music business as a whole. Jason Gross at PopMatters sees the situation as pretty dire:

What that means is that people will buy less and may migrate even more to the unauthorized download services to get their music when they want it. Even Apple won’t be immune- less money flowing means less money for iPods, which is where they’d ideally be cashing in. It may also mean that the big retailers who sell almost as much physical product at their stores will cut back on CD’s even further with less demand. It may also signal even more music stores (big and small) closing down which were already suffering from the digital competition.

That doesn't sound good - and that is just what he had to say about "Music Sales."

So what does he suggest - "It’s obvious- you should break up and join a more lucrative business immediately, if there’s any left."

OK, he's actually a bit more optimistic:

Most of all, don’t throw in the towel. In bad times like this, we need good music more than ever. And for you consumers, try to support bands as you can and when you can. You’ll miss ‘em and you’ll need ‘em, trust me.

And that is the philosophy I am operating on.

Michael Moore Offers Movie As Free Download

Michael Moore is releasing his latest documentary - Slacker Uprising - as a free download. Starting today, you can download the documentary just for giving Moore your email address. Download it here.

The film chronicles Moore's 60-city tour in 2004, a jaunt in which he spoke at colleges, while attempting to register young voters and rally support behind John Kerry. On the tour, he was joined by the likes of Eddie Vedder, R.E.M., and Steve Earle - who also appear in the film.

Pitchfork Review Catalyst For Silverlake Music Debate

We mentioned last week that Pitchfork caused quite a stir around the LA music scene with their Airborne Toxic Event review. The fact that the band responded with an open letter and that the review also critiqued the current state of music in LA lead to debate and discussion across music blogs. Most interesting is the round table debate at the LA Times' Soundboard blog, while The Rawking Refuses to Stop also has some interesting thoughts on the matter.

Response To Pitchfork Review Spreads Across California

Yesterday, Pitchfork reviewed the debut cd from The Airborne Toxic Event - an LA band that has generated major buzz across the country. The album received a 1.6 from critic Ian Cohen who writes:

In a way, The Airborne Toxic Event is something of a landmark record: This represents a tipping point where you almost wish Funeral or Turn on the Bright Lights or Is This It? never happened as long as it spared you from horrible imitations like this one, often sounding more inspired by market research than actual inspiration. Congrats, Pitchfork reader-- the Airborne Toxic Event thinks you're a demographic.

Shortly thereafter, the band decided to respond with an open letter:

Dear Ian,

Thanks for your review of our record. It's clear that you are a good writer and it's clear that you took a lot of time giving us a thorough slagging on the site. We are fans of Pitchfork. And it's fun to slag off bands. It's like a sport -- kind of part of the deal when you decide to be in a rock band. (That review of Jet where the monkey pees in his own mouth was about the funniest piece of band-slagging we've ever seen.)

This response has become a sort of event in and of itself spreading through both the LA and San Francisco blogs, including Web In Front, Radio Free Silverlake, Anyone's Guess, and My Crazy Music Blog - all of whom have posted the complete letter.

RIAA Lawsuits a Failure?

Pop Matters lead me to this Wired article examining the RIAA's attempted crackdown on file-sharing:

But despite the crackdown, billions of copies of copyrighted songs are now changing hands each year on file sharing services. All the while, some of the most fundamental legal questions surrounding the legality of file sharing have gone unanswered. Even the future of the RIAA's only jury trial victory -- against Minnesota mother Jammie Thomas -- is in doubt. Some are wondering if the campaign has shaped up as an utter failure.

More Pop Matters: "Is Music Still a Product?"

I am just going to post some more links to articles from Pop Matters because a). they have been writing interesting industry-related articles recently, and b). because I have spent much of the past two days working on a press email campaign and I am just not in the mood to be wordy.

Pop Matters' Rob Horning asks, "Is Music Still a Product?"

The point is that the intense commercialism of our society prompts us to measure the worth of things by their saleability, by their price tag, and it encourages us to regard the value of our effort as residing in a paycheck rather than in the work itself. But making art is its own reward; it’s a considerable luxury to be able to have the time to do it at all. It’s extremely unsympathetic when artists then complain that the people who spend their own precious time acknowledging other people’s art (instead of, say, making some of their own) are somehow ingrates because they won’t pay for the chance. Popular music, a social art whose power rests in its ability to be shared, ultimately doesn’t lend itself well to becoming intellectual property.

Pop Matters Reviews New Indie Survival Guide

Justin Dimos at Pop Matters reviewed the new Indie Band Survival Guide last week. "Seems like not a year passes without one of these music survival guides appearing on bookshelves, claiming to have the solution to your band’s lack of popularity and empty piggybank," he writes, scoring the book a four out of ten. Still, Dimos says this book isn't so much about survival, but marketing, using the mantra "Brand your band." He acknowledges that statement's relevance, as it is one we have been hearing quite a bit these days. The Indie Band Survival Guide was written by Randy Chertkow and Jason Feehan and is available now in paperback.

Best Buy Acquiring Napster

Best Buy Inc. has agreed to buy Napster Inc. for $121 million, a deal that the consumer-electronics giant said it will use to reach new customers.

[Via Wall Street Journal]

Video: Apple Revamps iPod, iTunes

Smashing Pumpkins Premiering Song in Guitar Hero

We knew it was coming to this. Pitchfork sums it up:

Smashing Pumpkins are releasing a three-track single-- featuring a brand new song - as a downloadable add-on for forthcoming video game Guitar Hero World Tour.... The single consists of previously mentioned new song "G.L.O.W." bundled with old favorites "1979" and "The Everlasting Gaze." This is the first time a band has released a new song exclusively through a Guitar Hero game, though Smashing Pumpkins eventually will give the single a more traditional release too.

The Album's Not Dead Yet

One of the panels that I missed this year at Bandwidth was on whether we had lost the art of the "album." Preparing to review Beck's Modern Guilt today had me digging back to a 2006 issue of Wired where he discussed the future of "the album":

There are so many dimensions to what a record can be these days. Artists can and should approach making an album as an opportunity to do a series of releases - one that's visual, one that has alternate versions, and one that's something the listener can participate in or arrange and change. It's time for the album to embrace the technology.

Today, at New Music Strategies, Dubber writes that the album isn't dead but that "we’re going to have to redefine our notion of what constitutes an album."

What are your thoughts? Is it dead? If not, what constitutes an album now?

Muxtape Shut Down (For Now)

I guess the party couldn't last forever. the OCMD reports that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has shut down the popular site that we adored. A message was posted on the site's blog stating:

No artists or labels have complained. The site is not closed indefinitely. Stay tuned.

Between hearing about this and Pandora, this is turning into a pretty bummer day.

More Hope For Vinyl

Vinyl's not dead yet. Yet another article discusses the medium's resurgence - this time its in the LA Times. Read it here.

Pandora "on the verge of collapse"?

"We're approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision. This is like a last stand for webcasting." - Tim Westergren, Pandora founder

Bagel Radio's blog lead me to this article in the Washington Post, where Pandora's founder talks of the looming end for the popular streaming music site. As Bagel Ted puts it:

The success of Pandora's iPhone application, which has attracted tens of thousands of new Pandora users per day, may be the company's downfall -- the more listeners webcasters like BAGeL Radio and Pandora attract, the more it costs in bandwidth and royalty payments, but that does not yet translate into increased revenues, leaving webcasters in a pickle. Today's laws, rates, and marketplace conspire to require webcasters stay small in order to survive.

This issue of streaming radio and royalty rates has been ongoing, and the Post article hints at one possible sign of hope:

This week, Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.) is trying to broker a last-minute deal between webcasters and SoundExchange, the organization that represents artists and record companies. The negotiations could reduce the per-song rate set by the federal panel last year.

The two sides appear to be far apart, however, with Berman frustrated.

At this year's Bandwidth conference, MOG founder David Hyman discussed how current royalty rates make it a losing effort for websites to provide streaming music. He theorized that lowering the rates would mean more sites jumping on board and ultimately more profit for everyone, calling it, "A big unknown we haven't tested."

In fact, this issue has been discussed at both Bandwidth conferences I've attended, and I imagine it will be one up for debate for some time now. In the meantime, I better listen to my Pandora stations while I still can.

Movie Trailers Begat Chart Revival

Having your song on the radio will boost its potential. Television shows and commercials are influential, too. But what you really want is to have your song in a movie trailer. This summer, two songs have seen a sales revival due to prominent placement in popular trailers.

M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" is the number four download on iTunes - nearly a year after its release. The song is featured in the trailer for Pineapple Express and has now been declared "Song of the Summer" by MTV's Subterranean blog because "When’s the last time you heard a song make a chart comeback 8 months after it’s initially released?"

More interesting is number 91 on iTunes - "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning," a Smashing Pumpkins song that was originally included on 1997's Batman and Robin soundtrack. The Pumpkins had two songs on that soundtrack - the other was called "The End is the Beginning is the End." This obscure number is featured in the trailer for The Watchmen, and the LA Times recently saw its inclusion as a good time to catch up with Billy Corgan. You can download the MP3 and watch the trailer at Music Ramen.

Incidentally, neither song actually appears in the film.

More on eMusic's Renovation

Last week, we mentioned eMusic's new look. Well, Eliot Van Buskirk at Listening Post (Wired's music blog) has some more details:

Subscribers can now embed eMusic album art and song samples on Del.ici.ous, Digg, Facebook, StumbleUpon, Twitter and 13 similar sites, with others apparently set to be added soon.

In addition, eMusic album pages now include links to YouTube videos of bands playing live, photos of artists on Flickr and links to bands' Wikipedia pages. Users will be able to interact with Flickr and YouTube without leaving the eMusic site, with the ability to forward media to friends, write reviews, bookmark or embed photos and videos.

eMusic CEO David Pakman adds, "Blogs and recommendations from friends are now more relevant in music discovery than what music critics have to say, but what's missing is a place that brings that all together. eMusic is that place."

Thanks to Nick for posting this in his Google Reader.