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Inspired by Jason Kottke’s awesome digging in the newly-opened NY Times archive, here are some items from the archive documenting music and recording history. The first reference to Edison’s phonograph seems to be this satirical piece from November, 1877. At least, I hope it’s satirical: There is good reason to believe that if the phonograph […]
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Ben Goldacre writes the fantastic column Bad Science, in which he takes journalists to task for reporting poorly researched conclusions. I wonder if he’d consider expanding his field to include bad audio technology writing. He might start with Lee Gomes’s article in the Wall Street Journal, Are Technology Limits In MP3s and iPods Ruining Pop […]
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Like most folk, I enjoyed the recent NY Times’ article on Rick Rubin and Columbia Records. And while the portrayal of Rubin as larger-than-life-messiah borders on caricature, the article still advances some sage thinking on Columbia’s woes: Columbia didn’t want Rubin to punch a clock. It wanted him to save the company. And just maybe […]
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David at Digital Audio Insider wrote an interesting article on using Last.fm Statistics to Quantify Audience Devotion. Audience devotion here refers to how many repeated listens a band’s tracks receive. Basically, do people keep listening to the band?: I thought it’d be fun to use Last.fm statistics to try to devise a measure of “audience […]
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While it has nothing to do with music, this story of Lego’s success with Mindstorms hints at some powerful lessons: Lego […] realized that their proprietary code was loose on the Internet and debated how best to handle the hackers… Some Lego executives worried that the hackers might cannibalize the market for future Mindstorms accessories […]
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A couple of weeks ago, Avril Lavigne found herself facing allegations that she’d plagiarized a 30 year old song. (Here’s some quick background.) It’s old news now, but worth revisiting because some aspects of the case could be important for amateur producers and home recordists. … Lavigne and her co-writer didn’t rip off The Rubinoos. […]
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I’m Canadian, so I glaze over in most discussions of U.S. domestic policy. Accordingly, I have basically ignored the debate over Internet radio royalty rates. But my interest has increased after reading two well-reasoned opinions on how the debate bears directly on independent musicians. The first, in Business Week: The outrage against the CRB rates […]
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Some recent articles you may have missed: … I daresay most indie artists experience a visceral glee while reading these words in Rolling Stone: Just a few years ago, many [music] industry executives thought their problems could be solved by bigger hits. “There wasn’t anything a good hit couldn’t fix for these guys,” says a […]
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Over the last few months Andrew Dubber, on his site New Music Strategies, has compiled a list of things you must know about music online. He deals with changing realities in the music industry, and the strategies indie labels (though the advice applies to the major labels too) and artists will need to succeed in […]
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Brad posted a great article this week on which CD sales approaches pay independent artists the most. His experience mirrors mine: Direct sales are the most profitable, followed by CD Baby, then the various online distribution methods. Says Brad: No big surprise, buying direct from me is the best (for me). Direct digital sales… is […]
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Boy do I ever have a huge backlog of links to post. Here are a few stories from the last few weeks relating to indie artists and the music industry. Can Music Survive Inside the Big Box, from the Wall Street Journal, discusses the increasing power of Walmart, Best Buy, and Target over the (traditional) […]
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Here, Mark and Howard from The Turtles educate us on dealing with a record label: Now, aren’t you glad you’re an independent artist?
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Some weeks, I can’t get enough Bob Lefsetz. Here are his thoughts on why CD sales are tanking, and what we should do about it: 4. Embrace The Indie Stores – They survive, they’re loyal. Boost them because that’s where acts develop. I think the CD is dying a quick death, but until it does, […]
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For indie artists and producers serious about marketing their music in the coming decade, Bob Lefsetz has another great rant about the impending collapse of the major labels: unless you make mainstream pop or hip-hop music, WHY BOTHER WITH A MAJOR LABEL? They’re not interested in artist development. Hell, EMI won’t EXIST by time you […]
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These two videos (15 minutes in total) are excerpted from a fascinating documentary about the recording studios in London during the 1960s, including Decca and Abbey Road. Most of us take multi-track recording for granted. But as noted in the video, until the early 1960’s “musicians had to be note perfect” once the tape rolled. […]
Read the full post ...Is the FCC’s Radio Payola Settlement Really a Watershed Moment for Independent Music? While it’s nice lip service from the FCC to request that radio stations program playlists based on “merit,†the reality is that program directors have to make money. And they make money by playing what’s familiar. They’ll sacrifice some low-rated hours to […]
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The Toast of MySpace Tries the Music Business Tila Tequila, born Tila Nguyen, became famous last year for having the most friends — currently about 1.7 million — on MySpace.com… She is now trying to break into the mainstream music industry. Her single “I Love U,†which was produced by the rapper Lil Jon, will […]
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Gizmodo is calling for a boycott of the RIAA in March. Gizmodo is declaring the month of March Boycott the RIAA month. We want to get the word out to as many people as humanly possible that we can all send a message by refusing to buy any album put out by an RIAA label. […]
Read the full post ...I re-watched the Wilco documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart last night, and I’d forgotten how good it is. If you’re a Wilco fan, of course it’s required viewing. But even if you don’t like or are unfamiliar with the band, the indie artist and producer in you will find I Am Trying […]
Read the full post ...Here are some pages open in my browser that I haven’t had a chance to write up: Backman is a free VST (Windows only) plugin that “Reverses incoming audio signal in sync (it will follow host BPM)… especially useful on live gigs to make that ‘back spin’ effect.“ Grammys exclude popular independent artists. Yet there […]
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Gearwire has a 3-part interview with Dave Huizenga, who scores and records the music for Cold Case Files (part 2, part 3.) Dave discusses his equipment, techniques, and philosophies, offering lots of great behind-the-scenes details, especially for those who dream of adding Music Director for National TV Show to their resume. (It could happen! Dave […]
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Independent Artists Embrace Technology The other highlight for me was a fireside discussion with Terry McBride, the founder and CEO of Nettwerk Music Group… Here is [sic] some of the points he made during the discussion: On the subject of DRM: • DRM will go away this year. • If the major labels get rid […]
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Here, Stevie Wonder takes us through the recording of I Wish. This is a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process (and on a much grander scale than my experience with Gert.) However, it also illustrates the importance of talent in a creating a great record. The lesson for amateur producers: Capture a top-notch performance, and […]
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Did you watch the Grammys last night? Did you find the whole affair a little self-serving? You’re not alone. Peter at CDM sagely advises against upgrading to Vista just yet. Microsoft’s own developer tools for Vista are still in beta. Basic hardware drivers are missing… Unless you have drivers in hand for your computer, your […]
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Newsweek has a good summary of Steve Jobs “jeremiad” (available here) against DRM in digital music: Jobs is far from the first insider to argue for this. His essay is only the latest contribution to a growing movement to drop DRM from legally purchased songs. The RIAA’s response today seems to have missed the mark: […]
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I follow the tribulations of the major music labels with something akin to glee. It’s partially the petty satisfaction of watching a bully get his just desserts. But as an indie artist, I also have practical reasons for rejoicing. With the traditional business model failing, it seems that future success in the music industry will […]
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[updated 06/06 per poorsod’s comment below] Mike at Garagespin brought my attention this morning to Lightspeed Audio, a company promising real-time internet musical collaboration. Lightspeed claims: “[Our] media collaboration technology platform allows musical enthusiasts to create digital-quality audio over the Internet in real-time.” Their technology, as described (it’s not available yet,) differs from existing offerings […]
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You could spend $1000 having Bob Katz master your CD, or you could save a few bucks, like Ry Cooder did, and simply entrust the job to iTunes: Then Mr. Cooder noticed something else: When he burned a copy of the album using Apple’s iTunes software, it sounded fine. He didn’t know why until one […]
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Toys for making noise While the U.S. recording industry continues to slide under pressure from illegal downloaders and file-sharers, the other side of the music world — businesses catering to those who create the music — has nearly doubled over the last decade to become a $7.5-billion industry. Indies aim to grab share of online […]
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It’s been quiet around Hometracked for a few days. Was I at the Winter NAMM show? Well, no. But lots of people were. And while I like to focus here on technique and tips, it’s hard to completely ignore the importance of technology in the lives of home recordists. So, for those who aren’t yet […]
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Bob Lefsetz has compiled his predictions for the music industry in 2007, covering ground from Rhapsody, to Bono, to the future of the Grammys Sometime in the next twelve to eighteen months CD sales are going to decline so precipitously as to cause the major labels to rethink their digital strategy. With the iTunes Store […]
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AllofMP3.com Ignore RIAA Suit? AllofMP3 countered the music industry’s claim, stating the service is completely legal in Russia as all necessary fees have been forwarded to the Russian royalty collection firm, ROMS Year’s chart-topping album fails to crack 4M sales … in a sign of how piracy, a la carte single sales, the closing of […]
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Music labels have to prove sharing With today’s ruling, it appears that the record labels will have to demonstrate that someone actually infringed on their copyrights by downloading music from Lindor’s computer. That’s a step beyond the RIAA’s argument that making files available for download constitutes infringement. Beatlemaniacs publish books on their own Now, if […]
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Ticketmaster Invests in Music Site Ticketmaster hopes to use links to iLike.com to help ticket buyers learn about new music, while iLike hopes Ticketmaster can help its users find out about scheduled concerts. Record Labels Finally Sue Allofmp3.com It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit turns out — as it was filed in […]
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From the film Before the Music Dies, this is basically “anti-Hometracked”:
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Net Music Makers acquires My Virtual Band The website will allow bands and solo artists to create personalized websites, join a band, collaborate, and mix tunes. The new site will also provide a multi-channel internet radio station to showcase original songs. iTunes sales ‘collapsing’ While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the […]
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Stripping away digital rights management could shake up online music. Last February, Yahoo Music chief Dave Goldberg told Music 2.0 conference attendees that record labels should try selling music online without copy protection.It has taken nearly a year to see that sentiment put into play because content owners are hesitant to open up music files […]
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Music Labels Smell Money in Second Life Sony BMG has cast the longest musical shadow in the virtual world so far, purchasing an island in Second Life called Sony Music Media Island, where residents can listen to music and watch music videos. Music lovers mourn ‘whole universe’ of jazz history destroyed in Katrina These deeply […]
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From the Muse’s Muse: “Singing and playing a great song is almost as good as getting a lesson from the person who wrote it.” With recording and mixing, lessons from experts come even easier when the engineers and producers volunteer to share their knowledge. Michael Tretow, the engineer for all of Abba’s studio albums, offers […]
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The definitive takes on the loudness war are probably The Death of Dynamic Range, and Rip Rowan’s Over the limit. Most articles on the subject, though, are addressed to engineers, by other engineers and producers fed up with the hammering their mixes receive at the hands of overzealous mastering engineers. For the average music consumer, […]
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Apple gains control of critical digital download patent With this patent in hand, Apple will eventually be after every phone company, film maker, computer maker and video producer to pay royalties on every download of not just music but also movies and videos ‘Before the Music Dies’ Diagnoses an Ailing Industry In fact, the business […]
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Royalty checks not in the mail for artists In September, SoundExchange announced a Dec. 15 deadline for collection of fees generated by Internet plays between Feb. 1, 1996, and March 31, 2000. The company made public a list of the artists with unclaimed funds. Digital music market to reach nearly $14.9 Billion by 2010 The […]
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There’s lots of chatter in this discussion about whether or not matched mic pairs are worthwhile, but lots of great information too. Keep in mind that, if the mic’s specifications are +/- 2dB, that means that there’s a possibility you will find two mics that are 4dB apart at some point in their frequency response. […]
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Sigur Ros discuss their studio in this Sound on Sound article. The Mosfellsbær building is comprised of two levels, the lower of which once housed a public swimming pool and later, an art gallery. “It’s a really peaceful place…” Jonsi recounts. “We had to tear the roof off the house to get the mixer in. […]
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RIAA president speaks out on Fair Use Sherman took an accusatory stab at the CEA and Digital freedom stating that their campaign is not only based on false and incendiary rhetoric, but tries to sully their name saying that the CEA is not concerned at all with consumer rights. The Beatles will go online ‘soon’ […]
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This thread on hr.com is packed with information about the business of running a small studio. Slapping up a web page and hope people come is not going to benefit you short term, don’t let your ISP fool ya Word of mouth is by far the best method in which to acquire new customers, because […]
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Are you tired of folks constantly asking why you haven’t been signed yet? Wish they would leave you alone to focus on your music? Here are 8 reasons why you might want to avoid a major label record deal. Many contracts still apply deductions for packaging, free goods and returns reserves in calculating an artist�s […]
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