Three girls with guitars, Santa Claus, a muscle car and a spanking…
David Byrne: “Do you really think people are going to keep putting time and effort into this, if no one is making any money?” | Salon
Start the stopwatch for the synchronized swimming rapid response team… David Byrne in Salon:
The musical genius shares his songwriting secrets, opens up his finances and ponders the future of art and the Web
Lots of us believe that musicians, along with other artists, are struck by inspiration and have this emotion which they must express and share. But you argue in your book that it is actually the opposite — that the idea of the songwriter pouring heart, soul and autobiography into his or her music is wrong-headed. “The accepted narrative,” you write, “that the rock and roll singer is driven by desire and demons, and out bursts this amazing, perfectly shaped song that had to be three minutes and 12 seconds. This is the romantic notion of how creative work comes to be, but I think the path of creation is almost 180 degrees from this model.”
READ THE FULL STORY AT SALON:
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/21/david_byrne_do_you_really_think_people_are_going_to_keep_putting_time_and_effort_into_this_if_no_one_is_making_any_money/
The 10 Most Important News Stories of 2013 |CoS
#8 Musicians Declare War on Spotify
Why it matters: Musicians like David Lowery and Damon Krukowski have been questioning the royalty practices of streaming services and online radio for years. When it’s the frontman of the biggest band in the world calling bullshit, though, people start listening. Streaming was supposed to be the next evolution of music consumption, but if the royalty models are really as bad as they’ve been made out to be (and by all accounts, they are), that particular evolutionary branch may be stunted. In the end, that might be for the best: a financial model that doesn’t support new artists will, inevitably, cripple the music industry.
Yorke called companies like Spotify “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse” and said, “What happens next is the important part.” This is where Neil Young and his long in-development PONO music service might have to step in. Set to launch next year, PONO reportedly solves the audio loss issues Beck pointed out, though there hasn’t been much word on pricing models. Still, Yorke remarked that musicians “can build the shit” themselves, and Young’s company may be the first step in a new direction. Either way, the medium listeners absorb music is going to keep changing for everyone involved. –Ben Kaye
READ THE FULL STORY AT CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/12/year-in-news-2013/
Pandora loses BMI court battle over music licensing | Circa
Pandora has spent more than a year in legal battles with music publishers over exactly what songs the online radio service has access to.
A federal judge in New York has ruled that Broadcast Music Inc., a performance rights organization, may allow its members to prevent their music from being licensed to Pandora. The Dec. 18 decision means that Pandora may soon lose access to music from publishers like Universal and BMG.
READ THE FULL POST AT CIRCA:
http://cir.ca/news/pandoras-music-licensing-battles
Goldie Blox – SPIN’s 2013 Hall of Shame | SPIN
Goldie Blox sets the new gold standard as the enemy of artists. Spin reports…
Though the rap legends had suggested it was copyright infringement, in a tender letter to the company they mentioned that the late Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys had a “no advertising” clause in his will. Whether Goldie Blox made a parody or not, really shouldn’t matter. Contriving a viral moment (their CEO has made other controversy-baiting spoofs before) with a riff on a song from a man whose will explicitly asked that his music not be used in commercials is just plain gross.
READ THE FULL STORY AT SPIN:
http://www.spin.com/articles/spin-2013-hall-of-shame/?slide=9
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UNSOUND : Cut Chemist discusses ‘pay-what-you-want’ [VIDEO]
From the forthcoming documentary Unsound, Jurassic 5’s Cut Chemist discusses ‘pay-what-you-want’ and the impact it had on independent artists.
Pussy Riot to finally walk free this week | Salon
A report from the Guardian suggests the imprisoned activists could be home as early as Thursday
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, the two incarcerated members of Pussy Riot, will be released from prison this week, potentially as early as Thursday, according to a report from the Guardian.
The Russian parliament voted Wednesday to approve an amnesty law that would grant reprieve to first-time offenders, minors and women with young children. The deal still must be signed by President Vladimir Putin, which is expected to happen this week.
READ THE FULL STORY AT SALON:
http://www.salon.com/2013/12/18/pussy_riot_to_finally_walk_free_this_week/
Graham Henderson: “Of what is and is not broken…”
The Canadian Independent Music Association just completed a study that pegs the average musician’s income in Canada at $7,228. This echoes an earlier study undertaken by Professor Doug Hyatt of Rotman which put the number at $16,491. Income at these absurdly low levels render it virtually impossible to pursue music as a profession. It starts to look and feel more like a hobby. And let me tell you that this is a far cry from the conditions that could be obtained prior to 1999.
The “middle class” for want of a better term is in a state of what appears to be terminal decline. This is a phenomena that has been remarked on and discussed in many fora but rarely as it applies to the creative class. We now live in a world where a very few musicians have become fabulously wealthy, leaving almost everyone else with very little on the table. Was not digital technology supposed to have done EXACTLY to opposite? Successful bands today have become more brand than band, diversifying into luxury goods, film, television and beyond. This is in strident contrast to musicians of the past who would have been horrified beyond imagining to have their art, their political speech, associated with mere products. I knew artists who turned down absolutely fabulous sums rather than shill for an advertisement.
READ THE FULL POST AT MUSIC CANADA:
http://musiccanada.com/newsitem.aspx?scid=65834
GoldieBlox Dismisses Case Against Universal, Warms to Task of Destroying Artists
If you don’t think Google is aggressively anti-artists… read this.
By Chris Castle
Now that those pesky Orrick lawyers have been replaced by Google darlings Durie Tangri in the GoldieBlox case regarding the use of Beastie Boys in a YouTube viral commercial for GoldieBlox, a new strategy may be emerging. According to a court filing, Durie Tangri is now in the driver’s seat and have voluntarily dismissed the corporations to get the case down to suing the people they really seem to specialize in litigating against: artists. (Read a good synopsis of the case in Spin (“Shady Toymaker Attempts to Run and Hide from Beastie Boys Lawsuit“) or Vulture (“Ask A Lawyer: GoldieBlox v. Beastie Boys“).
Yes, GoldieBlox–that gutty little startup with big time legal representation–unilaterally dismissed their claims against Island Def Jam, Sony/ATV and Universal Music Publishing. Yes, get the deep pockets out of there and quickly before they answer the strange declaratory…
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UNSOUND : Zoe Keating Interview : Part 1 [VIDEO]
Zoe explains her background and how she became a DIY artist. She also explains how streaming services like Spotify don’t work out so well for independent artists.
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