Why #Google’s new #music service might actually work

With the stock skyrocketing this week to over $900 bucks might it be a good idea to pay attention to this? Or do we keep going to #Youtube #iTunes #Spotify to find the beat where looking for?

http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/15/technology/google-music-subscription/index.html?iid=HP_River

It used to be about muscle. Now it’s about smarts. That was the majors’ ace in the hole. The ability to squeeze radio, where records were broken, and retail, where they were sold. But now radio, although important, means less than ever before. And iTunes is not about shipments and dating and all the other shenanigans of the past. Anybody can play. But everybody’s afraid. Or not interested, since the amount of money in music pales in comparison to finance and tech. But it’s about the artists. Imperfect yet transcendent. That’s what Daniel told Jimmy, it’s the only reason to be in this business, to shepherd great talent to its deserved audience. And so many say they want to do this, but they don’t have the patience, never mind the skill, to deal with these impossible acts who can make great music but are frequently thorns in your side. But it’s much easier if there’s trust. A family is not without arguments. It’s not without a father. But it contains a bond transcending any business relationship. You know your back is covered. You know if you get in trouble there’s someone to bail you out.

 http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ 

Amanda Palmer talks music and about her #KickStarter campaign which is the highest crowd funding music project to date. 

The #ALBUM

1. Is a revenue producing item for the label, it’s how they get their money back.

2. Is a trigger for publicity.

3. Is too long. On vinyl, you were loath to put more than forty minutes of music on a side. The most classic of double albums, and the cliche is there’s not one that could not be a single, fit on one CD no problem.

4. On vinyl there were four key tracks. Openers and closers on both sides. The CD is incomprehensible. You don’t know what songs you should check out, so overwhelmed, you ignore everything but the hit.

5. Had its breakthrough with “Sgt. Pepper.” If you’ve got a rock opera or something to say over ten or twelve tracks, be my guest, create an album. But I can’t even remember the last cohesive album statement that was any good. This is a straw man.

6. Mainstream publicity is the weakest of them all. Because the mainstream constantly needs a new stream of info. And your product gets brought down by the crap they feature the following day or week. You want word of mouth publicity. And word of mouth publicity doesn’t work on albums, but tracks. You want to go viral. This depends on a cut, not an album. The days of hearing a song on the radio and buying the album so you could hear that and more are done. There’s not a single in existence that you can’t hear alone on YouTube.

7. CDs at gigs are souvenirs. People don’t buy them to listen.

8. The fact that your hard core listens to your album is fine if you’re satiated with only reaching your hard core. But if you find a musician who’s satisfied with the size of his audience, he’s not a musician.

9. Network news was killed by cable news which was killed by the Net. People want the latest on demand. And you’re dropping an album every year or so? And the radio is eking out the music track by track, if you’re lucky? In today’s world you want to be in the public eye constantly. I’m not saying you should make less music, just that you shouldn’t see it as an album.

10. With the cost of production and distribution so low, it’s time to experiment, which is anathema to the dying majors. If you’re a metal band with country roots, cut a country song, why not? The album release cycle was a prison, you’ve been unchained, why do you want to stay inside?

11. The audience has no time. There are too many stimuli. You’re looking for the one track that can set off the explosion. And you never know what track that will be, which is why you must keep creating. Otherwise you can make an album that stiffs and your career can be over.

12. The audience is looking for great things. If you create something great, there’s a plethora of people ready to spread the word. This is more powerful than any newspaper or radio station. But your track must be great, otherwise virality stops cold. You can buy a few YouTube views but you can’t fake virality. The old days of paying radio to play your middling song into a hit are dead.

13. Labels don’t want to abandon the album because it changes their revenue model. You’ve got to pay for the exec’s car, his kids’ private school, his vacation… He likes the old way, he’s gonna fight for the old way.

14. The acts listened to albums so they want to cut albums. Not realizing the way you become a hero today is to do it the opposite or a new way from your heroes. You don’t want to do what’s already been done.

15. The album will not die overnight. But it’s dying as we speak, look at track sales.

16. Sales are miniscule compared to listens. We’re going to a listen world, i.e. streaming. It’s not whether you sold it, but whether people listened to it!

17. You’re the victim of too many bad albums before you.

18. There will always be a demand for superstar albums. But are you a superstar? Furthermore, there are fewer stars than ever before. People don’t have time for more.

19. You want a career. Careers live in the minds of listeners, not gatekeepers. The listener wants nothing more than new music. You don’t want to go on a date once a year with the love of your life, but constantly. And you don’t want to go to the same places and do the same things.

20. Albums were originally collections of 78s. Don’t let the format dictate the music. That begat Napster, when there were too many overpriced CDs with only one good track. You’ve been freed. Then again, it’s a wilderness and you don’t know where to go.

21. Think outside the box. Don’t do it like everybody else does. Make a twenty minute single. Or a two minute one. Issue a challenge to yourself or your audience. This stimulates and creates heat. And what you want is heat.

22. Albums ruled in the classic rock era because of scarcity. You couldn’t hear much and you couldn’t afford much. You played every cut because it was all you had. It’s kind of like dating. Once upon a time you were limited to the people you bumped into physically, now your universe is…the universe! You can even hook up with Russians online! Tell someone to date someone undesirable while they’re hanging out at the Playboy Mansion. That’s kind of like telling someone to listen to your crap when they can listen to the best music made, which is just as free online.

23. Artists need to be leaders, not followers. In this case, the audience wants singles and it’s the artists who are locked in the past. Artists need to get in front of the audience, they need to lead, to titillate and entrance!


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A look back at the year in #music, #dance, #theater, #art, #television and #film

#YOUTUBE “Because it’s free”. “Because everything’s available”. “Because its the nation’s #radio station”.

THE INTERNET

1. It allows me to reach all of you.

2. It puts the history of recorded music at my fingertips. What was once rare is now standing in plain sight. People might be financially-challenged, but music, the elixir of life, is right there for them to grab and listen to. It’s music’s heyday.

PSY

He showed a chubby man could break all the rules to become the biggest star in the world essentially overnight. His music did not sound like the mainstream, he was neither broken nor controlled by radio, and his sheer creativity shone through in his video, which soon became the most played YouTube clip ever.

It demonstrates that what’s inside one’s head is more important than money when it comes to both creativity and music. Just when you think you’re locked out, PSY comes along with the key that shows how to open the door.

JUSTIN BIEBER

Because he discovered Carly Rae Jepsen, he single-handedly took her from a “Canadian Idol” wannabe to international star based on the sheer hookiness and unforgettableness of “Call Me Maybe.” If you don’t think “Call Me Maybe” is a stone cold smash, you’re probably living in Brooklyn and staring at your shoes. Just because something is mainstream and monstrous that does not mean it’s not good. “Call Me Maybe” is a classic. With many more teeth than “The Macarena.” It will stick with kids for the rest of their lives.

Furthermore, the audience no longer sits by and listens passively. A veritable industry exploded on YouTube of “Call Me Maybe”…lip-synchs and parodies. Once again, you might not be rich, but that does not mean you can’t play in the new music world.

APPLE

Because the iPhone 5 is so damn good. Android may sell more units, the stock may be challenged, but using the iPhone 5 is an utter pleasure, akin to having a communicator from “Star Trek.” It’s intuitive and it just works. Remember when the first iteration of technology was crap? Those days are long gone.

KID ROCK

For finally going on iTunes. AC/DC too.

Used to be musicians were leaders, now the stars play last.

Sure, it might have been about the album, but people have been cherry-picking tunes since the advent of the CD. Make a whole album that hangs together with a story and we’re interested, but for all the pontificating that seems to happen twice a decade.

Now if only the holdouts could sign on to every streaming service, from Spotify to MOG to Deezer. Streaming is the way. Did people refuse to put their music on compact discs?

YOUTUBE

Because it’s free. Because everything’s available. Because it’s the nation’s radio station.

However I’ve come to hate the ads. Can’t I just pay ten bucks a year to get rid of them?

GOOGLE

Forget antitrust. Isn’t it incredible that you can get the answers to all your questions immediately? We need no Bing if we’ve got Google.

SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA

For stealing the show at Coachella, and then breaking up, just like the superstars of yore. You’ve got to follow your muse, not the money.

ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL

Caught the powers that be flatfooted and single-handedly made the rest of the industry aware of the power of electronic music. Sure, the sound has been around forever, and ULTRA and other festivals triumphed too, but EDC is like Woodstock. It showed that what the mainstream thought was a sideshow is actually bigger than the main event. Furthermore, EDC, unlike Woodstock, happens every year. And there are more porta-potties!

PAUL MCCARTNEY

For continuing to try. His album sucked. He dyes his hair. But his live show is the best in the world, and he even played with the remnants of Nirvana. Most people are afraid to fail. McCartney keeps trying. Give him props. There’s no one to replace him when he’s gone.

PAUL TOLLETT

Single-handedly started the festival scene in America. He believed, he lost money, but he kept on trying. The site is nowhere near as good as AEG says it is. The sound bleed is terrible. Many in attendance don’t care about most of the acts. But this is the granddaddy, it’s about the experience, it’s done for the fans, and that’s the way it always should be.

LED ZEPPELIN

For not getting back together. For being honored by the Kennedy Center. For never apologizing for past behavior. For being rock stars through and through. You can’t ask for more.

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

For giving meaning to the Juggalos. The downtrodden and the overlooked. We all need someone to believe in. In a nation where everybody envies the rich, the ICP banded together the losers. Give them credit.

NEIL YOUNG

For playing his own Sandy benefit and refusing to join in with the cluster… in NYC. It was about the money as opposed to making the scene. Neil isn’t as admirable as everybody thinks. He loves money. But even more than McCartney, he keeps playing, he keeps taking chances, he follows his own muse, he’s our number one still active rock star.

ROLLING STONE

For finally realizing we live in the Internet era. “Rolling Stone” has better musical updates on the Web and on Twitter than any other music source. Whether everybody will eventually realize this is…another thing.

GILBERT GOTTFRIED

For having the best Twitter feed and refusing to grovel to get his AFLAC job back. When you’re right, double down, don’t apologize.

VERIZON

For rolling out LTE before most people even knew what it was.

ELON MUSK

For being the new Steve Jobs. SpaceX, Tesla…”no” doesn’t exist in Musk’s lexicon. Furthermore, he not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. He doesn’t bitch and moan and say he can’t, he just does. Individuals make up this country. They push the envelope. The Doors were nothing without Jim Morrison and Apple is suffering without Steve Jobs. But thank god there are people like Elon Musk to pick up the slack.

JIMMY IOVINE

For convincing Americans that good sound is worth it. Beats may be substandard, but suddenly crap headphones were no longer good enough. Someday in the future we’ll have enough bandwidth and high fidelity will reign once again.

NATE SILVER

For illustrating that facts and data matter. The days of the bloviator are over. If you operate in a quantifiable field, your opinion means nothing without the data. Music is not a data-driven enterprise, it’s all about concepts and creativity. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream…and come up with some