[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xAHGZG01AXb2m1exlG5WmI0Swyjbu2cn"] BESIDES Luddites and hipsters? (I'm borrowing here from the stage patter of the young folk duo the Milk Carton Kids.) Turns out, Japanese people still buy CDs. A country famous for loving technology and novelty are moving into the future by acting like it's the past. From a New York Times story: Japan may be one of the world’s … [Read more...]
“Is Spotify Killing Music?”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="AJwkTxpSjSsEeL7n5JFPH23s6m8blcVb"] TWO descendants of Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck make a good illustration of what's happened to the lives of musicians lately. A new story -- co-written by yours truly -- up on TakePart looks at how musicians are being proletarianized, and I don't just mean the lyrics. The story -- written with Kathleen Sharp -- weaves between … [Read more...]
What Can the Music Business Learn from TV?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ovgvpF5mVNWQ4VA6t0cWS8RxeXKTS2uP"] THE contrast is hard to miss: the great surge in television -- especially on cable -- as the music industry collapses. Culture writer Ted Gioia has written a short provocative post trying to make sense of the mismatch. He's also asking how music can replicate some of the success of HBO, Showtime and the others. Generally, Ted is … [Read more...]
The Joys of Record Collecting
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Ek7iyrlYHDOILDJGrQgtzksB1G6Fgw70"] IN these digital days of downloads and streaming, it seems like a truly ancient pastime to seek out old chunks of vinyl. Two new books get into the motivation and culture of collectors who amass 78s and 33s. I've not read either, but this New York Times review makes me want to check them out. It also reminds me how lucky I was to … [Read more...]
Can We Fix Music Streaming?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="gqUq5BWr0TyCF2J8po7C3NUJDqWArzLu"] MOST of the complaints about music streaming so far have been about the way the new system leaves musicians out in the cold. But a new story looks at the way they frustrate listeners. as well. Ted Gioia -- jazz pianist, music historian, and avid listener of a wide range of music -- recently signed up for the Beats streaming service, … [Read more...]
Memories of the Sasquatch! Music Festival
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="e8nNtZOoMQ1FttKvUUS4FJDZ3Ver3Pl8"] TODAY I am going to take a break from spreading bad news about the world of culture to offer some photographs of rock and hip-hop musicians. These shots are by Steven Dewall, an old colleague and friend, and former resident of Seattle, who travels back every year for the Sasquatch! festival and photographs a huge range of … [Read more...]
What if Music Streaming Collapses?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0C90MFj4yUbo92uYGLlqaqHIa9YPI4AC"] MOST critical coverage of Spotify, Pandora and the like has concentrated on the frustration of musicians. But a tough, provocative new piece asks, What if these streaming companies simply fail to make profits, and disappear? Here is Michael St. James -- extending the recent David Carr story -- on RebelMouse: Not one of the music … [Read more...]
The Dead End of Rock Touring
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Za9VcxtAw6iJYej9lpme3Ycia9NvqadT"] JUST go on the road! Musicians who've seen their earnings from recorded music collapse should just tour more often, digital utopians tell them. But a new report shows that even with ticket prices getting higher, a 60 percent growth in touring revenues since 2000, and a supposed recovery from the depths of the recession, the … [Read more...]
Songwriters Struggle in the Digital Age
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xeTmAux4K4TAnAkSYsPJtKcQYgjbcieM"] TWO more musicians have expressed their frustrations with the post-label era of music distribution, which many technologists tell us is the best of all possible worlds. The first is the estimable eclecticist Van Dyke Parks, who writes in the Daily Beast about "How Songwriters Are Getting Screwed in the Digital Age." (I know Van … [Read more...]
The Internet and the Future with Jaron Lanier
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="00XQfisENTTZHblrkmxnirfcWjtcoQHV"] THE technologist and Internet skeptic Jaron Lanier is someone I speak to every few months whether I need to or not -- he's got some of the sharpest sense of how digital technology has reshaped life for the creative class and the larger middle class it sits inside. It helps that he's also an experimental/classical musician who … [Read more...]