I don't know. It's probably not what you think. You know how most major label bands only have one song i.e. name a one hit wonder band? The latest atrocity is how that lame new show the OC who promotes these stupid bands with vids at the end but their show soundtrack kicks ass (The bands actually helping the show along are Interpol and other true Indies - Some half cool music marketing advisor doing the best he can Im sure) The messed up part is that the faces are these LAME Major Label constructions and ones you hear during the show are actually good. Talk about music leeching. I hope this farse pisses you off a bit, make sure to point it out to your kid sister/brother, and that it really makes you want to dig down when you hear something decent left of the fuckin' dial. Don't be so lazy.
The Death of the Album
Well what if they said lets start making the standard an Ep's worth, instead of an Album's worth again. It's fairly common knowledge that a Cd cost about 25 cent to manufacture(average Major Indie about 8k to record and 5k to promote) Majors Labels spend about 25k to record and 50-100k to promote new bands, pay them less what they could make working at Starbucks to tour a full year until their record flops or breaks. Total investment 250K
laughter on the way to bank: priceless
The slick Fuckin Suit says "Hell the band only has one song in them, lets exploit it with target flash marketing-- buy some Air time (look-up payola) and get a quick return on our minor investment (usually 10-1) See where this is driving too? I found this article (below) that kind of goes more in depth and strikes a few chords, and if you are truly good at Google you might find the Article Steve Albini wrote with better math than mine on why major labels suck.
If you really want to go back, Major labels learned what an Album was through The Beach Boys Pets sounds and The White Album. What? We can change the format from a 7" singles to long playing (LP) and charge them more for about the same prices as it costs us to making something. Note: Lp/cds the Music Industry had always promoted just one song and still forced you to buy the whole thing instead of only the good stuff. Thus the concept of a B-side from singles. It was the ancillary consolation prize to appease the artist.
Kids we the public have been snowed for years,(since the 50's) which is why you would never see me even step foot in a chain store, the second I did the math. Even if my ears were bleeding with loneliness and they do these days on the train sometimes. Why has it worked for the Industry all these years? Mass marketing is to blame and lazy American attitudes. (Blue Print is byFugazi says it all)
Last point: If you owned all the stores on the block; you're sure ain't goining to promote that Indie Joe around the corner whoe makes higher quality music are you?
I know this rant was scattered but I did it for love of music.
The moral is dont buy major label stuff if you can avoid it.The compromise is because some major stuff is decent, find the best deal you can and don't forget to support your local Artist.
Making music is easy
and making friends is much the same
finding time hang out is oh so lame.
I enjoyed your post! However, being more of an optimist, and the lead vocalist of a DIY band, I have to say that it's easier than ever to self-produce your own work. We market our own product on our website, produce hand made copies as needed, and post our music to the web, where it's instantly available to anyone in the world. Furhermore, it's cheaper than ever to digitally record, and to press CD's. We aren't backed by a massive corporate media machine, so naturally, we're broker than dirt, but we are able to produce the music we want to and get it out there. We take advantage of both the album format, and often release single songs on our website. So I say, things they-are-a-changing, but it's definintely not the death of the BAND. It's just that popular taste sucks!
yes 'puters make things easier, Almost too easy for some and i will say that some bands just should not even bother, and there is this huge learning curve to actually get it all to sound good. etc. There certainly is no excuse to put out music that looks shotty. Don't get me wrong, i love live music. I Just saw an awesome band play [www.trueloverocks.com] that sings and writes the best music ever, they practice all the time but are so despondent when it comes to doing all this "music" marketing in such a tighly gripped corporate owned world they just don't bother. To kick more dirt on the death of the band, when I hear that the Clearview channel who owns not only all the radio waves across amerika but a fairly large venues like Irving Plaza in nyc; it all hurts even more. The chances for your DIY band to ever be heard and be appreciated are like such a looooooooong shot in the dark, it's sorta sad. Which i guess always make me root for the underdog, also coming from a DIY mentality myself: from doing my own college radio promotion, putting out fanzines in the day, doing my own press and booking my own shows.(you name it) Over all It's such a pain in the ass, for such a slim reward and HUGGGGGGE debt and all just for that on ancillary moment of rock glory, which i do underneath it all completely love. Sometimes it worth going out to see and take chance on band and sometimes it's best left for your imagination.
I also feel that if your' under 30, and you have a cynical view of music, you really quite honestly have not earned the right yet or sampled all that is really out there; it's just youth talking out it's own ass. So keep the faith in rockn'roll...
cheers.
null* THIS TUESDAY 9/9/03 AT RARE (Formerly The Cooler) 14th st( betwn 9th/10th) in New York CIty come ALL Ye SG lovers to see THE SLOW WIRE (10pm)
Remours have it the band you love to hate,aka the strokes, will be playing there soon as well as QOTSA because they also hate dealing with corps like the Clear view channel.... word.
ovidmang
I'm lost
June 2003
SEP 06, 2003 06:40 AM