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Subject: RTP-area local music and culture

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  • From: "bendy(a)lostpla[dot]net" <"bendy(a)lostpla[dot]net"@example.com>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: If the Indy award posed with a gun, would you vote anyway?
  • Date: Wed, 06 Oct 2004 10:14:52 -0400

grady wrote:
The real question is: what albums have you bought over the past year which took advantage of the format as an artistic medium?



In my world, the EP is the dominant medium; 4-7 songs in around 20 minutes seems to be the current optimal release quantity for a lot of local bands,

I've been having the same thoughts- I think it's interesting that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Wire (in their latest incarnation) launched careers on EPs, not full lengths, and indeed those EPs have been stronger than subsequent albums.

The only real *album* I've heard in a while is Liars latest, _They Were Wrong_. Song by song it makes no sense. But it ranks with Halber Mensch and Holy Money as a sustained bit of noise terrorism when heard in sequence. Marty Cassidy, you out there?



Re: labels: I'm consistently amazed at the number of musicians I meet/encounter who're still actively looking for a label to put out their music.

Do they seriously cling to dreams of CMJ top20 status while maintaining their day jobs & their comparatively comfy home lives? Surely they don't want superstardom.

Or they just want some vague method to share their music with other people with good taste, out there in the world somewhere. To them I say: meet the Internet.

Or, if you like packaging

Did anyone post this article here already? I keep getting referrals to it...

http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/44/features-bemis.php

Anyway, the article's point is that the age of the music superstar is over, but there are more lower-midlevel acts than ever. Bands that sell in the ten of thousands. And that the music industry can't adapt to a market that doesn't have scarcity. There is a similar article in Wired this month, too. Main point of the Wired article is that it's now cheaper to release than to evaluate, and even if you are offering 100,000 titles, nothing get overlooked. Amazon sells at least one copy of everything they stock each month.

Nora Jones is big because she appeals to people who can't figure out how to download a song.

Indie bands are doing better than ever because of their obscurity: you have to spend quite a bit of time searching to pirate a Kill Rock Stars level band. Easier to buy the record for 10 bucks.

I think indie bands still flirt with all sorts of traditional means of distribution 'cause they're as confused as the Industry. Also, they don't know exactly how to promote their music, which is more than half the battle to unloading those 500 copies. And figuring out how to register a domain, get your files up there, and so on, is still hard for folks who don't spend all day on computers. What I think is funny is when a band does go through all the trouble of putting up a website, then doesn't put complete songs up there, or tries to make them stream-only or whatever. That's really overestimating the value of your artistic creation in this day and age. I'm thinking 50 cents a song will be the maxium soon.

Its wonderful that we're exiting the age of rock stars. Like you said- you are starting to mistrust stuff that isn't self-released. It is already starting to imply some level of ego and poseurishness. I think indie labels are still valid, though, as brand names. 'Cause I find I'm likely to enjoy a band if I like the label, and it's truer now than ever.

Bendy





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