This has really been feeding my soul of late...

ASCAP tries to Squeeze Apple & iTunes

The music makers are in a quandary. By failing to embrace digital downloads early on, they failed to create a revenue stream on their own terms via the internet and are now dependent on Apple. When they want to increase their revenue stream, they can only do so with the help of a company that only sells music in order to sell iPods and iPhones. They have been trying to get Apple to raise rates and increase royalties, and have failed. So now they are taking their fight to Congress to charge even for previews.

Songwriters, composers, and music publishers are making preparations to one day collect performance fees from Apple and other e-tailers for not just traditional music downloads but for downloads of films and TV shows as well. Those downloads contain music after all.
These groups even want compensation for iTunes' 30-second song samples.
At a time when many iTunes shoppers are still fuming over Apple's first-ever increase in song prices, the demands by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), and other performing-rights groups, would likely lead to more price hikes at iTunes. For many, this would also undoubtedly confirm their perception that those overseeing the music industry are greedy.

While I appreciate the pressures the Great Recession is having on the music industry, they need to be more careful or they may unwittingly drive customers back to BitTorrents. Creative workers need to be paid, but they also need to be wise.

Connecticut Weirdness: The Ballroom Polka

I remember with dismay my elementary school years when my teachers tried to get me to memorize such trivia as the state bird, state flower, and state instrument. How, I wondered, could anyone care about this kind of stuff? It must be a relic of a bygone age, right? Not so much - apparently, some Connecticut residents are trying to get the state government to designate a "state polka". The supporters seem quite passionate about it. Personally, I never knew "passionate" and "polka" could be placed in the same sentence. The candidate polka is in the YouTube video below. And I will grudgingly admit it is impressive, and somewhat catchy.

Just what makes a Stradivarius or Guarneri a Stradivarius or Guarneri?

It appears to be how the wood is treated. Joseph Nagyvary, a former biochemistry professor has dedicated 33 years of his life towards proving that chemicals are what makes the difference in the sounds of different violins.

This hit me just right today

Hidden Tracks

I used to like when you'd listen to a cassette tape and all of a sudden realize that there was a hidden track at the end. It was a nice bonus... felt like you got more for your money. I've seen CDs do something similar where they'll list 12 tracks, but then have a 13th track that wasn't listed on the case. The thing that doesn't make sense to me is when an artist puts the hidden track after a bunch of blank space on the last track. In a day and age where we rip our music for our portable players, why would you put in about 6 minutes and 15 seconds of blank space between your final track and your hidden track. It's obvious that when the song ends and there are still minutes left on the track that there's a hidden track in there somewhere.

Free Christian Music

iTickets.com is offering a free Christian single of the week in exchange for registering. I have just registered, so I can't comment on the amount of spam, but as always when registering with an unknown site, use an e-mail address you don't care about. You can get the free song here.

Proof that there is NOTHING more powerful than a man with too much time on his hands

Mario Theme Played with RC Car and Bottles - Watch more free videos

RIP Larry Norman

Most of the writers on this blog grew up around the glow of the Christian music industry. Whether it was Petra, Steve Taylor or Geoff Moore and the Distance we were all fans of some Christian singer or group. On Sunday Larry Norman, the man most responsible for the development of what we now know of as the Christian music industry, died. While I never listened to a Larry Norman album and only heard him sing on a couple of occasions, I know of his impact because of the way those who grew up in his era remember him. Larry was a culturally relevant singer that had no qualms in singing or talking about Jesus to anyone or singing about the torture of seduction and yet his music was as good or even better than a lot of what was coming out in the 1970s. It's too bad his legacy, the Christian music industry, has become so culturally irrelevant and generally not as good as their mainstream counterparts.

iPhone: The Band

The future is here, and apparently it sounds vaguely like Final Fantasy.

Free Streaming Music

Last.FM, having been bought out by CBS has announced that the four major labels will offer free streaming content at Last.FM. The catch? You can only listen to full albums 3 times, unless you delete your cookies.

The Republican Primary and CD Sales

The National Review has an interesting article comparing the Republican primaries to the state of CD sales. One of the most interesting quotes, CD sale-wise was, "At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. That was the moment we realized the game was completely up."

More Music Now Sold In MP3 Format

Warner Music has joined EMI and Universal by allowing Amazon to sell its entire catalog in MP3 format. (EMI and Universal, I believe, only offer some of their catalog.) What's more, Warner music does not watermark their MP3's. While I don't care so much about the watermarking, some consider it a privacy concern. Sony/BMG is now the only one of the four major music labels not selling their music in MP3 format.

Update 1: My bad, it's all of their digitized catalog. Oh well, that's still something.

Free Music

inpop records is offering a free download of their iPop 2008 album. It includes a few bands I've heard of such as Newsboys, Tree63, and Newsboys as well as some I haven't heard of. Great chance to grab some free music.

Note: You should receive the e-mail to the download immediately. When I entered my e-mail address in FireFox, it did not send me an e-mail. When I re-entered it in Internet Explorer, it worked fine.

Rock Band vs. Real Band

I love music, all sorts of music. I used to play many different instruments and sincerely appreciate the skill it takes to play an instrument with skill as well as the skill required to compose and spontaneously create music. For some reason the video game marketers decided that we needed a way of imitating all the things about music that I love. First there was Guitar Hero and now EA is releasing Rock Band. The guitarist for Sleater-Kinney (a band I know only by reputation) has taken on the challenge of comparing Rock Band to what it's like to be in a real band. It's an interesting article that makes some good points for the music aficionados amongst us. (Note: there is one instance of crude language). It's worth a read.

And, really, if you are going to play the game with a group of friends for more than a night, shouldn't you just form a real band? There is something sad about the thought of four teenagers getting Rock Band for Christmas and spending all of their after-school time pretending to know how to play.

Music: Free and Legal Downloads

I heard about this from Wired, but today was the first time I went to RCRD LBL. What is RCRD LBL? To quote their about page, "RCRD LBL is a network of ad-supported online record labels and blogs offering completely free music streams and downloads from emerging and established artists." The good? They offer music that you can stream or download for free. You don't even have to create an account. It seems that they might get that giving away music is a cheap form of advertising. The bad? The site design needs some help. It took a while to figure out how to download a song. The trick is to "Jump to an artist" from the main recrdlbl.com page (don't go to one of the sub-pages or you'll have to make sure the band you want is part of that sub-label), click on tracks, and then click the download icon that looks like a down arrow above a line. Not easy or user friendly, but it is free. You won't find the big, popular bands here, but I did find a song by a group called Cold War Kids that I saw on an episode of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno so they're not completely obscure bands either.

Update 1: Looks like some songs, such as tracks by the aforementioned Cold War Kids, are available for streaming only.

Finding truth in pop culture

One of the things that I've struggled with for some time is where should the line be drawn for what Christians partake of in popular culture. Some people, for instance, won't watch a movie if it's rated more than PG while others have no problem watching an R rated film. Some will only listen to music they can find at the Christian book store or on Christian radio, while others have no problem listening to Rage Against the Machine or other such acts. I've heard lots of theories for why we should or should not take part in popular culture. If you've been around this blog for long you know that I tend to fall on the more liberal side of the argument, though I can totally understand the conservative perspective. Well, I finally found an article that breaks down the whole concept quite well and will help to direct my thinking on this subject for some time to come. (Note: the article is fairly long)

Setting a Positive Trend or Making a Rough Road?

Trent Reznor of NIN fame, has left his label once and for all, and claims that he will never again produce music under any label. Radiohead has already followed suit, and it looks like at least two other major bands of the past decade are also considering the same move.

Now this could end up being a huge deal if this sets a trend. The recording industry is just about at the breaking point and there is a core of acts who have simply sat on their resentment at the prosecution of little girls and grandmothers for too long. With a group carrying a fanbase as large as NIN's and Radiohead's, others might really be persuaded to leave the draconian RIAA behind. This would be an incredible move for the sake of inovation and it would open the market up to some real options. Men who never listen to music might actually have less control over what is sold then those who do. And I'm all for that.

However, there are serious potential challenges ahead. Not the least of which is that many, many struggling bands are given large amounts of money by the record companies to front their recording process. They will have to pay it back, of course. But many of these bands cannot afford the equipment or studio time to make a quality release on their own. They are dependent on the money put forward by the lable to carry them through until they make it on their own. So, this trend could potentially stifle some bands' ability to get there message out there. Of course, then we might actually return to the band that has to play their hearts out on the road and bulid up a fan base and earn their success, rather than having it all made in a studio for them.

Either way, it will be very intersting to see where this movement goes, if anywhere at all. And to see what it might do to the music industry if it is successful.

Who knew Cellists could be so cool?

Happy Birthday Sgt. Pepper

For those of you that don't know, today is the 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. I've been reading things all over the web about it today - some funny, some poignant, some condescending, but I finally found an article that I think truly sums up the importance of this album. It was my first full Beatles album and so in many ways it's my favorite. Is it the best Beatles album ever, probably not - for me that goes to Abbey Road though many would say Revolver. Nonetheless, it is an interesting album with some captivating lyrics, fun songs - and also a little bit of odd stuff. But the best part about it, is that it's a cohesive album. From an era where the single wasn't so highly valued and artistry (even if it is drug induced) is celebrated. So here's to you Sgt. Pepper, I promise to still love you when you're sixty four.