tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161694830669099204.post2874270566325703665..comments2024-03-17T18:53:56.416-07:00Comments on Cosmic American Blog: Thanks Peteryoggothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00233852251148460524noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161694830669099204.post-72645204021402842762009-11-10T17:02:48.880-08:002009-11-10T17:02:48.880-08:00for the record, I rarely buy CDs either. I do pay ...for the record, I rarely buy CDs either. I do pay for music through iTunes occasionally, but mostly I just don't buy new music because I don't like most of it. <br /><br />I guess I'm the scourge AND the plagued.Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161694830669099204.post-63572206130312238772009-11-10T16:59:47.198-08:002009-11-10T16:59:47.198-08:00Well, here's my bizarro insiders perspective:
...Well, here's my bizarro insiders perspective:<br /><br />I am in a band that signed a small deal with a big indie label. Small to the tune of 10k, which we put entirely into recording a full length album (it is, apparently, still pricey to work with a producer). Then they decided to only release it digitally, and not promote it, and not pay us our advance on royalties because they're laying people off and it seems wrong to fire someone and then cut a check to a band that can't sell MP3s. <br /><br />WELL. <br /><br />We wouldn't have gotten rich; we were expecting about 2000$ each. But that would have allowed us to take time off work and rent a van and tour, where we could have sold actual hard copies and actual tickets and, more importantly, gotten fans who would give the album time to warm up and gotten feedback from listeners across the country. Now we have mp3s floating in cyberspace, two years of wasted time trying to meet label expectations with our craft, and not much else.<br /><br />I totally agree, as a listener, it's awesome just to youtube the new jingle from the Chrysler ads until I'm sick of it, but as a musician, it's tough. The labels push you to find your "edge", or lame gimmick that will garner your ten minutes of web buzz, but everyone I know has given up on the idea of music as a career and that's sad. If most of the trends in current music are gimmicky, I think it's not because most of those bands lack the ability to create lasting work with aesthetic value. I think the market pressures keep us from doing it.<br /><br />And it's fair to say the people buying music don't see a value in it, and therefore won't pay, but since the division of labor way back in our history, people have collectively agreed to recompense musicians for their craft- through gifts of food, exchange of labor, tickets to performances, patronage, or tips in the hat. If you want people to take the time to craft great things, you have to provide them with a living.<br /><br />It's a death of a creative dream, not unlike the dream of become a full-time newspaper journalist, or employed Master of the Arts. It just happens to be one of MY dreams, and we were really really close, and that sucks.Sarahnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161694830669099204.post-4509782155704862942009-11-07T06:46:31.317-08:002009-11-07T06:46:31.317-08:00Don't mention it. Oh, wait...
In all seriousne...Don't mention it. Oh, wait...<br />In all seriousness, I don't necessarily think a massive upheaval in the structure of music distribution spells the end of good music. As you yourself have argued, it is at these times of change and newness within the medium (e.g. with recording technology for the 1950s and 1960s) that artists are challenged and will experiment - music needs <i>something</i> to push it forward.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15091878725089200945noreply@blogger.com