4 ms·

Bemoans Lily, "You don't start out in music with the Ferraris. Instead you get a huge debt from your record company, which you spend years working your arse off

by dtf 17y ago

Bemoans Lily, "You don't start out in music with the Ferraris. Instead you get a huge debt from your record company, which you spend years working your arse off to repay. When you manage to get a contract, all those pretty videos and posters advertising your album have to be paid for and as the artist, you have to pay for them. I've only just finished paying off all the money I owe my record company. I'm lucky that I've been successful and managed to pay it back, but not everyone's so lucky." Isn't that the whole problem? That the (rapidly disintegrating) status quo is more about financing, marketing and controlled distribution than it is about music? Technology has made most of this redundant. High quality recording equipment is within anyone's grasp. Marketing and distribution cost nothing but savvy and persistence. The piracy phenomenon hasn't arisen through tight-fisted teens not wanting to pay for goods. It has arisen because the middleman, despite realizing himself redundant, is refusing to let go of the goose.

brandnewlow 17y ago
In theory, I agree with this. In practice... "High quality recording equipment is within anyone's grasp." Therefore anyone can make a record that sounds like an 8. If you want to stand out, you either make it sound like a 4 or raise money somehow to put out a 9-10 sounding record. "Marketing and distribution cost nothing but savvy and persistence." This will get you featured on blogs and get you gigs in low-key venues. Anything bigger than that is corporate and requires relationships, ins, and access, which is what the record companies still have.
- bpyne 17y ago
  "Therefore anyone can make a record that sounds like an 8. If you want to stand out, you either make it sound like a 4 or raise money somehow to put out a 9-10 sounding record." I agree that good recording sound is important. Gone are the days of Buddy Rich: 1 mic over Buddy and 1 over the remaining 14 guys. However, the sound quality difference from 8 to 9 to 10 is well past most listeners' interest and possibly capability (sensitivity of the ear drums and processing of the messages they send differs in individuals). To get through the barrage of songs with looped lines from Top40 (regardless of the chart used) songs, a band needs to have a truly unique style. What makes a recording stand out is interesting music elements like song form, rhythm, tonality, etc... A band stands out to me when they use any polyrhythms and song forms away from the basic AABA or ABABC. I'd like to hear instrumentation other than the standard bass/guitar/vocals/drums. Something interesting and polished from non-Western 5-note scales mixed with our 7-note scales. I'd also like to hear songs get a little longer. While I don't need Rush Hemispheres length songs I want something more meaty than 3.5 minutes. Low-key venues is where every musician should start out. It's where you develop your skills as an entertainer and learn the business before there's a lot of money and legalities on the line. I choose to pay for songs because I want proceeds, however small, to go to the artists. My qualm is being restricted to a particular medium for the song and its implications.

by dtf 17y ago

brandnewlow 17y ago

In theory, I agree with this. In practice... "High quality recording equipment is within anyone's grasp." Therefore anyone can make a record that sounds like an 8. If you want to stand out, you either make it sound like a 4 or raise money somehow to put out a 9-10 sounding record. "Marketing and distribution cost nothing but savvy and persistence." This will get you featured on blogs and get you gigs in low-key venues. Anything bigger than that is corporate and requires relationships, ins, and access, which is what the record companies still have.

bpyne 17y ago
"Therefore anyone can make a record that sounds like an 8. If you want to stand out, you either make it sound like a 4 or raise money somehow to put out a 9-10 sounding record." I agree that good recording sound is important. Gone are the days of Buddy Rich: 1 mic over Buddy and 1 over the remaining 14 guys. However, the sound quality difference from 8 to 9 to 10 is well past most listeners' interest and possibly capability (sensitivity of the ear drums and processing of the messages they send differs in individuals). To get through the barrage of songs with looped lines from Top40 (regardless of the chart used) songs, a band needs to have a truly unique style. What makes a recording stand out is interesting music elements like song form, rhythm, tonality, etc... A band stands out to me when they use any polyrhythms and song forms away from the basic AABA or ABABC. I'd like to hear instrumentation other than the standard bass/guitar/vocals/drums. Something interesting and polished from non-Western 5-note scales mixed with our 7-note scales. I'd also like to hear songs get a little longer. While I don't need Rush Hemispheres length songs I want something more meaty than 3.5 minutes. Low-key venues is where every musician should start out. It's where you develop your skills as an entertainer and learn the business before there's a lot of money and legalities on the line. I choose to pay for songs because I want proceeds, however small, to go to the artists. My qualm is being restricted to a particular medium for the song and its implications.