Music: The Industry, Artists, Electronic Music.... Chapter 1

[Brandi_B]

*Note these are my own thoughts and do not reflect those of WATMM, Warp Records and other labels, Electronic Musicians, or the internet *

 

Due to length, I have attached this as a word document for your convenience.

 

Chapter 1

 

Music: The Industry, Artists, Electronic Music and other Genres, Labels, and Distribution.

 

 

By Caitlyn B

 

Introduction:

 

This is chapter 1 of some ongoing thoughts. There will be more as find ways to extract them from my head.

First of all, I really want this to be a serious topic. This is not a screw the industry, hate on bands, or hate on corporate greed thread. I myself, value the input of members on here, because despite the silly threads that most of us, myself sometimes included, participate in, there is a decent wealth of well informed people on here. Also some of this I really need to hear myself say (or type) for my own benefit that could easily just sit on my hard drive in a word doc until I die and someone finds it and says what is this internet thing?

Since trying to organize my thoughts and really say what I have to say would be a books worth of rambling, im just going to type some little ramble blurbs so hopefully this will go somewhere constructive. So if it looks long and you’ve made it this far just pick a paragraph or sentence and at least respond with something half serious.

 

 

 

Section 1: What are we doing with ourselves, and where is the idea of being an artist headed.?

 

I come to WATMM, to vent some thoughts I’ve been having while finishing up an album that I have poured my soul into. The music I create may be mediocrity to you, and to the rest of the world. Fine. It is over ambitious, conceited, and vain to me right now. But it’s finally getting to an “I’m happy with it” stage.

 

I chose to dismantle what had been a finished 45 minute long album, and take the direction somewhere else, and its been working out fantastically, even though I thought I was content with it before. Even if it’s mediocre to the masses, it’s still the best thing I’ve ever created artistically, and universally. Why the change? I got rejected form a major label for the 1st time. I’ve sent out demo’s before, but never heard back. This time I got a nicely typed rejection letter in the mail. Long story, not going into details, but I didn’t know until I got rejected how much it meant to me, and it turned out to be a pretty big deal of a label, and they had come comments for me which were so confusing, angering, but also inspiring and some of the best advice I’ve ever had in my life. I have plenty of other opportunities, that’s not the point of all this though, just the fluttering butterfly wings.

So I come to WATMM to unleash some thoughts that have been in my head while sitting alone for hours at a time in front a computer, creating music. This is not about my disappointment of being rejected, but mostly about the mind boggling task of trying to understand what, I as a musician am aiming for that I maybe could’ve had 10 years ago if I had not gotten side tracked by whatever I got side tracked by.

 

So, why is WATMM so special? Numerous reasons, but to prevent an even longer tl’dr essay, I will simply say the majority of us here have personal experience with a very unique genre of music. Not just IDM so to speak, but electronic music as a whole. Here in the states, anything with a 4 on the floor beat, or a trance lead from a Roland Alpha Juno, or nowadays refx Vanguard, is assigned to the term “techno”. A term that once (in the early 90’s) was kind of like what saying punk rock meant in the late 70’s. It was mostly indefinable, but fit somewhere that was universally understood by those involved. In Europe, Electronic Music is a bit more understood, or in a record exec’s mind “marketable”. Granted a lot of European record companies are now conglomerates of American based record companies, which are now part of a larger conglomerate that is a “entertainment company”.

So what ARE we doing? The internet is full of slimly talented and non-artistic people who fire up acid, garage band, a Korg triton, and churn out some “stuff”, and upload it. If they are popular people with lots of friends already, or they live in a big city, (or have pretty faces) they get noticed. If they aren’t, well there are more tricks that will have to come into play, like spamming, flaming, or creating 1,000 different MySpace pages. They may even upload their music to every torrent site in existence and tag it with words and phrases they hope other people will search for, and by accident download their “music” thinking it’s something else.

 

So what else do u have to do if you don’t want to sink to a “low level” of shameless self promotion. You are not one of these amazing pleasures or a person to look at. Maybe you are too busy with your day job, relationship, illness, debt, depression, or garden/lawn maintenance obsession to have a lot of friends. And sure if you had the money to have a manager do all this for you, no problem, but your job really doesn’t pay that well, and you spend all your money on equipment or food and shelter. The most crucial response then is you push back at the lack of response you’ve gotten.

 

Let’s say theoretically, you as an artist are represented by a person walking down the street. People see you but they look away. But you want their attention! You have to share with them this amazing creation of yours. Your music, your soul, your life force! Well, stick your tongue out, at least maybe they will smile, maybe they will bite your tongue, I don’t know, but they will at least remember you. Stick an acoustic ballad in the middle of your 60 minute opening and closing of a filter over pink noise and lots of reverb. Do a cover of a pop song that you hate, but don’t do it funny, act like you’re so serious that the artist you are covering is your personal god. Travel to some remote spot in the ocean and record some whales, and put out and album. However, along with the whales, add the kazoo and harmonica while banging on a pan from the ships kitchen song you wrote while in isolation, and during the realization that putting out field recording doesn’t make you a musician, more of a documentarian or even scientist (!).

 

 

 

 

Section 2 : WATMM and the internet

 

This message board alone, is full of talent. Sure there’s stuff you have to wade through to get to the really in depth things, but they are here. Things like EKT are awesome. It allows even some of our most talented composers to fire off a short mp3 that is really just an “idea” while sitting on a library of great fully completed material. So maybe not everyone realizes there’s a really talented artist behind that 45 second noodle made whatever hardware/software. But they are here.

So why don’t we all shut up, stop posting on a message board, and surfing the net for endless hours, and for those that play online games, why don’t they take off their headsets and go play a show. Well there’s a simple answer….

 

…And its not money. It’s alienation. Who the goes to shows anymore. What are we back in middle school going to an all ages club to watch horrible redneck metal bands because that’s apparently the coolest thing to do that has to do with music. No. Few appreciated it then, fewer will now. Everyone needs more now. More than just a band on stage doing the same ol’ same ol’ rocking out, singing here and there, guitar solo, ballad, etc. Maybe they are acoustic. Maybe they have some cool world percussion. But they are just there playing. Not very amazing to watch. People crave more. People need stimulation, fun, excitement; they need more than someone on a stage behind a freaking laptop.

 

 

Section 3: Live performance of (non-pop) electronic music

 

If you are or can become one of the most influential artists in electronic music history and create some of the most amazingly programmed music (not aiming at one person here)…then you can step it up even further and DO SOMETHING ENTERTAINING. It’s a no wonder not many people go to electronic shows. If you are going to be “different” than pop electronic (trance house, dubstep, etc) that people can dance to and not have to think about the music, then please give them something other than a blue face that looks like they are proofreading a physics exam. I’m not saying there aren’t people that are trying, there are, there’s a few on this very board, and congratulations to them. Unless something changes over the next few years, you are likely being more innovative than the people you were influenced by simply, stepping away from the computer screen and interacting with your audience, or at least instrument.

 

So. Why do people have the short attention span for a performance THEY paid to see? I don’t know. Blame a younger generation, blame yours, blame mine, blame tv, computers, internets, games, video rental stores, walmart, the death of chivalry, whatever. I don’t see a fault, I just see it as where we are, and arguing about the record industry “failing” or people “not wanting to spend money” is just an excuse to not evolve. Sure there’s great technology in the wake for concerts, amazing light shows, video screens, balls to bounce around at festivals. David Bowie played on of the first interactive shows via the internet to people all over the world, and talked to them back and forth while he did it. Neat. He’s also already down in history, and is brilliant musically and monetarily speaking especially. Ever heard of Bowie Bonds? Look it up. He gets his fans to pay for his next album before he ever sets foot in the recording studio, and allows them to turn a profit if he makes one. Which really, these days doesn’t so much pay for the recording, so much as it does marketing and touring. Most artists of his stature have the leisure of a rider contract where they are guaranteed a certain amount per performance, but you would be surprised at the big names that still don’t know if they are going to get paid for playing to 4,500 people on their own headlining tour. Let alone be able to pay the opening band.

 

 

 

Section 4: The Music Industry

 

Yes the music industry is in a state of change, possible mutation, but not death. That’s evolution though and we’ve come a long way. Back during the renaissance, many a new art form was birthed, or rather surfaced into mainstream culture. However, playing in front of courts & the rich and famous was the main way to get noticed or paid. Royals, & the rich and famous with influence controlling art!? They were the main ones that had power over the masses and with their support you could be rich and famous too! Wow a lot has chang…oh wait. No it hasn’t. Sure lots of details of the music industry have changed, but the CORE components have stayed the same, with the exception of getting more powerful, richer, and completely global. Still, same wealthy and famous people, just with a bigger entourage (and more lawyers).

 

So that’s what this whole new internet and digital push is about right? Go digital, download, here’s a free cd I burned myself, I’ll play for free, here’s my album on a memory stick, I’ll do a collab with someone completely different than me but that has more fans to prove I’ll do anything and the man can’t label me and hold me down… right? Artistic freedom, integrity, longevity? Bigger shares, less middleman. Well it’s a double edged sword that I will go on about in a later chapter.

 

Back to these big wigs. The “man”. The Wealthy and Famous. Here’s one difference between the mdern age of music and the renaissance. Back then, if you were lucky after writing NOTATION (ie. Music on staffs, which required understanding music theory, having the knowledge of multiple instruments, and basically knowing what every note and its associated symbols would sound like if being played for you. But there was no monitoring, continuous playback, or even general midi *gasp*. For months you would spend on an opera’s music would typically be preceded by months spent on the operas story and finding your libretto. Even with just a symphony, no matter how simple, or how complex, it still required knowing what it would should like as you wrote the notes out, not hearing it as you wrote it. So where’s all your money coming from while you’re slaving over your art.

 

Surely you can’t hold a day job when every waking moment is dedicated to the next piece of music that if it proves a success, not to the public…no no …not them yet, the courts! Yes them. They typically must approve before it goes to the masses, surely that can’t have music in their kingdom they don’t approve of. Then if your performances were successful with their people, you would then be given SOME money. But most of all the CHANCE to play to the masses (ie: poor common people), where you actually got paid for performing your art and entertaining people. Not providing the upper class with bragging rights to YOUR art, because they made, and control you. This meant if you didn’t come from a wealthy family, you were most likely in poverty the majority of the time, unless you got older and acquired a court job.

 

Even Mozart lived in poverty, but then again he spent all his money on alcohol and in brothels. Tchaikovsky was gay and lived in shame and madding isolation that no amount of money could help, until he finally accepted himself and all the while created some of the most divine music and linked it to dance in a way that changed the world forever, not with a hard sloppy drunken kiss, but with the lightest of pecks on the cheek. So light it was barely felt, or thought about Until more generations came, and people truly saw the absolute divinity in his music. He was his own worst critic and while he knew success while alive, he mostly prevented himself from enjoying it. Which is kind of where I see myself going, but that’s okay. I guess that’s my path. The point of this is artists suffer, and the music industry has NEVER been fair. Trent Reznor, Radiohead, way to go. I’m glad you are breaking new ground. But its for successful artists. Not the ones that need the connections to be introduced to the people that will help MAKE THEM successful artists.

 

 

 

Part 5: Conclusion.

 

So that’s it. Thank you for your time. I hope this has at least gotten some ideas floating in your head. I admit it is not the most lucid thing you will ever read, but if you read it you’ve gotten at least something out of it, even if it’s the desire for you to have the time it took to read this back. Too late. At least talk about what you didn’t like. Any discussion is good discussion. Music will thank you.

 

<3

 

Music___The_Industry__Artists.doc

[Guest Benedict Cumberbatch]

fucking lol

[Guest my usernames always really suck]

Tours shmours. I'd rather just publish music like an author gets his writings published.

[Guest mrcopyandpaste]

bless

[Bob Dylan]

tl;dr

 

 

(p.s.: Sini?)

[Guest mrcopyandpaste]

/Brandi_B

[Guest Deep Fried Everything]

do you know a guy named paul, lives in raleigh? he's a good friend of mine from high school who i haven't talked to much lately, give 'im a shout out for me if you can.

 

ps what?

[Guest Enter a new display name]

Sinicalypse and Brandi_B: 2 likely souls brought together by the same message board. In theaters 2010.

[Brandi_B]

you guys are awesome! :) keep up the responses

[Brandi_B]

do you know a guy named paul, lives in raleigh? he's a good friend of mine from high school who i haven't talked to much lately, give 'im a shout out for me if you can.

 

ps what?

 

 

if he plays music maybe? I hang out in Raleigh on occasion. I play open mics sometimes and have met a few pauls at guitar meetups. If he's a guitarist its quite possible. I am actually living in Raleigh till the end of summer, the going back to chapel hill. i miss the free public transportation and everything being in general walking distance or easy to get to on a free bus. Raleigh is a giant piece of concrete and government :(.

[Guest beatfanatic]

too long, didnt read

[Brandi_B]

Sinicalypse and Brandi_B: 2 likely souls brought together by the same message board. In theaters 2010.

 

nah, not to fond of the internet hookup thing. Besides my heart belongs to my cat :)

 

Sini is cool though, i've enjoyed some of his threads.

 

too long, didnt read

 

this is my thesis, if you'd read you would understand.

 

maybe I should've posted a copy of 1984 and the Viacom/Sony/BMG/Universal, etc conglomorates.

 

Did you know viacom owns nintendo *shivers*

[Guest Adjective]

What am i doing with myself, and where is my idea of being an artist headed?

i've come to a point where all i desire is a device with which to make music and the music made. the more i excelled at my job, the less energy i had to work on music. so i recently quit my job to work on music with an unstressed mind. i'm going to rent a small room from a friend to minimize expenses and work on music or whatever best satisfies creative urges. i've never been more excited about anything and never more optimistic about music making!

it's been sort of nonstop music flowing out of me since i've made what friends and family are treating as one of he worst decisions of my life.

 

and about "dismantling," i'd say that's the most important part of my writing process - letting go and trying again. nearly any song i've made has had more than twice its length discarded. anything worth sharing and adding to your identity is worth that sacrifice

 

watmms

it's one of the only places i can go to discuss what it is i spend the majority of my free time doing. i've got one IRL friend that even knows what "braindance" means... this place makes me not feel crazy for crawling around my apartment on hands and knees, building a sound dampening fort out of couch cushions and chairs, and recording 100 takes of myself thumping a wine glass.

 

i was really going to type a lot more but it's too hot to think and i have to stand outside and pray for a breeze now.

no AC + Texas = awesome

[Brandi_B]

@ adjective...

 

that was crazy i thought that was something I had written for a second. I've been in a *safe place* where I don't have to worry about income for a little while since i have some saved up for my lease this fall. And its been the most productive and creative time of my life!

 

awesome.. :)

 

 

 

[Guest Franklin]

holy fuck. bless this brandi fellow.

 

"Back during the renaissance, many a new art form was birthed, or rather surfaced into mainstream culture."

 

Once upon a time one of my good friends wrote an essay for uni that was from the perspective of a cat. That essay was marginally better than what I just read. please stop writing/drinking.

[Guest abusivegeorge]

I say give her a break.

 

Have a kit-kat.

 

I haven't read it because from looking at the titles I wouldn't understand a fucking thing, all I do with music is listen to it, at least someone has taken some time and effort to make a fucking thread for once.

 

Fair play to Adjective for responding properly.

[Velazquez]

The cat went up the stairs because it wanted to.

[Guest Franklin]

oh you wouldnt understand it alright.

[Guest abusivegeorge]

oh you wouldnt understand it alright.

 

Come on it can't be that bad? Or do you just mean I'm thick?

 

Either way you're right.

[Guest chax]

one of the less-cohesive rants ive readon the music industry so far, very un-inspiring while not putting forward any solutions or creativity

 

2/10

 

also please see me after class

 

[Brandi_B]

@ chax

I'm not really trying to provide any solutions. THat's what kind of sparked this whole rant was the fact that I don't know whats going to happen and no one elses comments on the topic (in media outlets) have really offered anything i can see as workable imo, but that's just my opinion and hopefully someone will have something or something will work out soon before music becomes a sport...

 

 

edit: started to rant there. Instead of typing more.

 

In all seriousness not being sarcastic, do you have any ideas, suggestions, goals for the future of musicians and the industry as a whole?

 

2nd edit : thx for the input btw :) much appreciated ...any feedback is worthwhile to me.

[YEK]

well i definitely see musicians using software over hardware more and more. hardware will eventually be for the collectors

[Guest chax]

yes, i've thought a lot about this topic but i'll go into it more tomorrow because right now i'm exausted and need sleep plus this emoticon is just drivingme insane with how much fun it is

 

 

this is so fucking awesome

 

 

derp derp derp

[Guest abusivegeorge]

Fuck off chax.

[Guest Franklin]

while you guys talk about that shit, I'm going to chill and listen to a 20 min version of Haq Ali Ali