tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342025782024-03-14T04:43:35.861-05:00FrequenciesMusic, audio, film, the arts, technology, pop culture...a veritable potpourri of topics!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.comBlogger208125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-57148315084178977732014-02-27T01:05:00.004-06:002014-02-27T01:05:42.765-06:00I Have a New BlogIt's been a while since I posted here. However, I am posting from time to time on the blog connected to my website. Come check it out, if you get a chance! You can find it at <a href="http://michaeljjohnsonmusic.com/blog">http://michaeljjohnsonmusic.com/blog</a>.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-64274073576061318202013-05-31T17:43:00.000-05:002013-05-31T17:43:40.227-05:00Indie Artists: Singles or Albums?Here's a question I've been pondering recently: Now that the CD is becoming extinct, why is everybody still making "albums?" Does that model still work, or are artists and bands just doing it because that's the way it has always been done?<br />
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In the early days of Rock and Roll, as I understand it, artists typically released singles. The recording process was fairly simple back then, especially before overdubbing technology was available, so this meant that a single with two songs could be recorded, mixed and mastered fairly quickly. This meant that fans did not have to wait very long before a new pair of songs were released by their favorite artists. Albums were often collections of previously released singles, released almost as an afterthought.<br />
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Sometime during the 1960's, this changed, and artists and bands began making albums, from which singles were taken. As the recording and mixing process became more complicated, fans had to wait longer between albums. There were other factors contributing to this increased time, of course, but it was not unusual to wait 2 or more years between album releases.<br />
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The other unfortunate byproduct of albums was the existence of "filler material." You had your singles, which were often front-loaded on the record, but at times the quality of the other songs was subpar. When I was buying records in the 1970's and 1980's, you always took a chance when you bought a new album. If you were lucky, you had a friend at the record store who would let you hear some of the deep cuts before you spent your hard-earned money. Otherwise, you had to hope that the few songs you heard on the radio were indicative of the overall quality of the radio. Over the years, I bought many records on the strength of one song, only to find that the rest of the album paled in comparison. Remember, we had no internet, so if they didn't play the songs on the radio, or you didn't have a friend who already owned the record, you had no way of knowing what you were getting!<br />
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Of course, with iTunes and other forms of digital delivery, artists can no longer afford to release "filler material." Listeners can sample every song, and if they don't like everything, they will buy only the songs they like. There is no longer an incentive to buy the entire album. So now, artists are sometimes taking even longer between album releases, and I suspect this may be one of the reasons. Take Phoenix, for example. "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" came out in 2009, and their followup record, "Bankrupt," was issued very recently, in 2013.<br />
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For most businesses, waiting four years before releasing their next product would be the kiss of death. Can you imagine what would happen if Apple had waited 4 years between releasing the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5? Modern consumers have short attention spans. Successful companies keep innovating and releasing new products or updated versions of existing products, in order to ensure that customers don't forget about them. Perhaps we, as musicians, should be doing the same.<br />
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Today, the tools to record, mix and master a song are available to practically anyone. You no longer need to go to an expensive studio, because you can make a record in your bedroom. You no longer have to send your masters out to a record plant and wait several months for the discs to be pressed. You can upload a song to an aggregator service, and have it on iTunes, GooglePlay, and a variety of other services in less than a week. In fact, using a direct-to-fan solution such as Bandcamp, you can be selling your new masterpiece within minutes.<br />
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This leads me back to my initial question: Do albums really work anymore? If a band or artist waits four years between album releases, will they still have an audience? They will undoubtedly go through artistic changes during that time, and how can you guarantee the audience will be happy with those changes?<br />
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What if, instead, a band or artist releases a new song every few months or even every few weeks? Your fans will not forget about you, and they will be able to track your evolution as an artist. Indeed, I have noticed this phenomenon on SoundCloud. I must admit, I didn't really understand SoundCloud until recently. I've had an account for many years, but I didn't really use it. Recently, however, I put a few tracks up, and I noticed that many of my friends use it to let their listeners know how they are evolving as artists. I have spent so much of my artistic life afraid to let anyone hear a song until it is perfect in every way. And yet, I see many artists who post works-in-progress to SoundCloud, and I see true engagement with their fans!<br />
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Until recently, I was working on an "album." Truth be told, I had been working on the album for many years. I see a lot of my fellow artists who are still releasing full-length albums as well. I have decided this does not make sense for me, however, and I encourage all indie artists and bands to re-evaluate how you are releasing your music. Is the old model still working for you, or is it time to shake things up?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-11916916234256678302011-07-17T12:02:00.004-05:002011-07-17T13:09:11.139-05:00Every Unsigned Musician Must Read ThisI have broken my self-induced exile from this blog because I found this article on The Quietus, published back in May: <a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/06318-how-the-music-industry-is-killing-music-and-blaming-the-fans" target="blank">How The Music Industry is Killing Music and Blaming the Fans.</a> It is fairly long, but it is definitely worth the read. I would love to hear your thoughts after you have read it, but first, a couple of points.<div><br /></div><div>In years past, I (and many others) had painted a rosy picture of a bright future for unsigned musicians. Sadly, the outlook is looking bleaker than I had imagined. A while back, I was savagely attacked by trolls on another website for sharing my optimistic views, which in turn led to my self-induced exile. Turns out the trolls may have been partially right, although I still maintain they could have been nicer about it. Seriously, there is simply no justification for acting like a troll. (I apologize if I offended any trolls with that last statement.)</div><div><br /></div><div>It is also quite probable that the Quietus piece goes too far the opposite direction, although the author makes some great points. I hope the reality is somewhere in between the two viewpoints. </div><div><br /></div><div>James Marshall Crotty of Forbes online wrote an analysis of the original Quietus post today, and made an interesting point: "One must also remember that for most of music history, musicians, en masse, made very little money. There was an anomaly in the sixties that convinced musicians and labels that they could all get rich. Not true. Never was true."</div><div><br /></div><div>Maybe there is a glimmer of hope after all.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sources:</div><div><a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/06318-how-the-music-industry-is-killing-music-and-blaming-the-fans" target="blank">http://thequietus.com/articles/06318-how-the-music-industry-is-killing-music-and-blaming-the-fans</a></div><div><a href="http://blogs.forbes.com/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/07/17/the-quietus-opinion-black-sky-thinking-how-the-music-industry-is-killing-music-and-blaming-the-fans/" target="blank">http://blogs.forbes.com/jamesmarshallcrotty/2011/07/17/the-quietus-opinion-black-sky-thinking-how-the-music-industry-is-killing-music-and-blaming-the-fans/</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-20091073194939536162010-12-14T09:31:00.003-06:002010-12-14T09:54:33.677-06:003 Recent Books For Your Holiday Wish List<div>I have been doing quite a bit of reading lately. Here are three books that I highly recommend:</div><div><br /></div>1. "Life" by Keith Richards and James Fox.<div>The autobiography of the Rolling Stones resident pirate and bad boy is indispensable reading for any rock and roll fan. He even answered my most burning question: "Did they really replace all of his blood?"</div><div><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=kANEHwAACAAJ&dq=life+by+keith+richards&hl=en&ei=bI8HTerfO4H-8Aax9tjwDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA">Google Books Link</a></div><div><br /></div><div>2. "Al Jaffee's Mad Life" by Mary-Lou Weisman and Al Jaffee.</div><div>I grew up reading Mad magazine, and always admired the work of Al Jaffee, especially "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions" and the fold-ins. As it turns out, he has lived a very interesting life as well. The beauty of this book is the fact that he also illustrated it!</div><div><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=aENyAspwwaIC&lpg=PP1&dq=Al%20Jaffee's%20Mad%20Life&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">Google Books Link</a></div><div><br /></div><div>3. "The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop" by Dan Charnas.</div><div>I'm currently only halfway through this book, but it's a great read. A truly comprehensive history of hip-hop, and highly recommended.</div><div><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=9To9DDfyPhEC&dq=The+Big+Payback&hl=en&ei=sZEHTeyfKIK78gbs1ZDYAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAQ">Google Books Link</a></div><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-81421124863513564412010-07-09T16:05:00.004-05:002010-07-09T16:26:25.782-05:00BGV Tips<div>(Note: I posted this answer to a question about rock BGV recording a few days ago on Quora.com, and I thought I should post it here as well. I added a few things for this post.)</div><div><br /></div>I generally record my own backing vocals. I usually do either 3 part harmonies or 4 parts with the bottom note doubled up an octave. I overdub each part a minimum of 4 times, so there are at least 4 voices on each note. I then evenly distribute each part across the stereo field. <div><br /></div><div>When I am recording other singers doing backgrounds, I typically have people switch back and forth, so one voice is not dominating any specific part. I usually ask for a very forward placement, with extremely bright vowels, especially for rock. Having a male sing high falsetto in unison with a female also produces a great effect.</div><div><br /><div>I lightly compress each track, and I usually bus all the tracks to the same reverb I am applying to my instrumental tracks. As far as EQ, I usually apply a high pass filter, and boost some of the mids and some of the highs, but specific frequency choices depend on what else is going on in the track.<br /><br /></div><div>When you have that many tracks, things like ending consonants are not always together, so I often edit out any late endings, and use just a couple of tracks to establish the ending consonants.</div><div><br />One more note on track numbers: If you are limited on tracks, it's a good idea to record all 3 or 4 parts once, then bounce those down to 1 track, and so on. I've always felt like that fills the sound out more than bouncing all the takes of one part to one track.<div><br /></div><div>(Originally posted at <a href="http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-ways-to-get-bigger-more-impactful-group-vocals-for-live-rock?__snids__=1529524#ans60421">Quora</a>)</div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-91283342855353313082010-07-06T12:10:00.005-05:002010-07-06T12:38:09.238-05:00Prince Vs. the Internet<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizeR05hMhyphenhyphenuRTVWCCOoBNSG4QpPOzrpT5YbYAAXz19RugVhF-THJpsFlGap7MXHmYLUvXlJZ25wCvgNy50zs4NmqE8e3gW-pNZ96sQwc8xSeWeaTfIZlsRIWW1dAnrLBklGepj5A/s1600/the_internet.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizeR05hMhyphenhyphenuRTVWCCOoBNSG4QpPOzrpT5YbYAAXz19RugVhF-THJpsFlGap7MXHmYLUvXlJZ25wCvgNy50zs4NmqE8e3gW-pNZ96sQwc8xSeWeaTfIZlsRIWW1dAnrLBklGepj5A/s320/the_internet.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490847997893613010" /></a><br /><div><br /></div>I have always been a Prince fan, and I have often found his eccentricity almost as interesting as his music. However, his latest pronouncement that "the internet's completely over" even has a diehard fan like me scratching my head. In an interview with The Mirror, he compares the internet to MTV, claiming that the web will become outdated just as the music channel did.<div><br /></div><div>Even more odd, he is releasing his new album as a free CD for subscribers of the print edition of The Mirror. That's it - no iTunes, no CD's available in stores, and he has even shut down his website. In other words, if you don't happen to live in the UK or subscribe to The Mirror, he doesn't really want you to hear his new CD.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can read the full interview at <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2010/07/05/prince-world-exclusive-interview-peter-willis-goes-inside-the-star-s-secret-world-115875-22382552/#ixzz0suM2UKGU" target="blank">The Mirror</a>.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-41441937578842200572010-06-14T13:45:00.007-05:002010-06-14T16:23:53.214-05:00On Musical SnobberyFor much of my life, I have been a music snob. I have often looked down my nose at "those people" who like "that style of music." This goes all the way back to my youth. In 9th grade, I was a huge fan of Cheap Trick until "Live at Budokan" came out. Suddenly, everybody liked them, so I could no longer be a fan. Later, in college, I was a jazz snob for a while. Believe it or not, I was even an opera snob for a short time.<div><br /></div><div>In retrospect, I realize this is all about exclusivity and elitism. We all want to feel like we are better than the masses. The idea that we belong to a select group of people who are "in the know" gives us comfort. Artistic people are especially prone to this, because we often tend to be insecure.</div><div><br /></div><div>Interestingly, you can see snobbery from many different camps. For instance, educated musicians often have a strong preference for more complex music. On the other hand, punk musicians (and many rock critics, for some reason) prefer less complexity. And they often hate each other, by the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>This brings up an important question: Who is right, and who is wrong? Sure, I have a doctorate in music, but is my musical taste more important than the average layperson? Many of the artists I love have little more than a cult following. On the other hand, does popularity trump all? Should I like Justin Bieber just because he is so popular?</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, in the end, these are all just opinions, and I believe our discourse on all matters of taste could benefit from that realization. I will refer to one of my musical heroes, alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. In his explanation of the concept behind M-Base (Macro - Basic Array of Structured Extemporizations,) he says: <blockquote>...the concept of which style is better than another style has no place here. Since the goal is the expression of culture and philosophy, there is no "better". There is only the perspective of the person experiencing the music and what this person hears is largely shaped by his/her own experience. In other words what the listener "hears" depends on who that listener is. The same music can be experienced many different ways by different people.</blockquote> </div><div>He is discussing this in the context of musical composition and improvisation, but I think it can apply to music listening in general. This is a model I hope to follow one day. I am not there yet. My first instinct at the mention of Justin Bieber is to turn up my nose. I am still overly annoyed at the amount of auto-tune in mainstream popular music and the TV show Glee. However, I am learning to respect the opinions of others, rather than judge them. Now, if we could all just apply the same attitude toward politics.....</div><div><br /></div><div>(Source: <a href="http://m-base.com/mbase_explanation.html" target="blank">http://m-base.com/mbase_explanation.html</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div>(If you are a jazz aficionado, Steve Coleman has just released a new album, which can be found at: <a href="http://pirecordings.com/album/pi33">http://pirecordings.com/album/pi33</a>. I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy free and avant-garde jazz.)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-16567544752107313302010-06-02T14:32:00.004-05:002010-06-02T14:41:13.271-05:00Off to La La LandOf course, I'm speaking of Lala, the streaming music service which Apple acquired several months ago. As expected, beginning June 1st, a trip to lala.com results in the following message: "The Lala service has been discontinued as of May 31st, 2010. <div><br /></div><div>Next week is the Apple WWDC conference. I'm betting that the Steve Jobs keynote will include a new cloud-based streaming music service. What do you think? Please comment!</div><div><br /></div><div>(Source: <a href="http://mashable.com/2010/06/01/lala-discontinued-apple/" target="blank">Mashable</a>)</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-52145968082563871952010-06-01T16:38:00.005-05:002010-06-01T17:30:39.271-05:00Final Thoughts on LostI was planning to post a long rant on why I didn't like the series finale of Lost. Truth is, I no longer care, and I've decided to move on with my life. <div><br /></div><div>The day after the finale, I posted this on Facebook: "I think I would like to travel to a parallel universe and see a different #Lost ending." I've changed my mind. I would rather use a time machine, travel back in time, and tell myself not to start watching the show in the first place! Of course, I can't be sure if this will affect my timeline or create an alternate timeline in which I never watched Lost. Will I exist in the alternate timeline or the original one? Perhaps I will forego time travel and interdimensional travel, and instead have all memory of season 6 wiped from my mind.....<div><div><div><br /></div><div>Several other interesting posts relating to the series finale, before I forget about it and move on:</div><div><a href="http://ihnatko.com/2010/05/24/never-raise-a-question-that-you-cant-answer/" target="blank">Never Raise a Question that You Can't Answer</a> by Andy Inahtko</div><div><a href="http://io9.com/5546603/what-anime-can-teach-you-about-ending-a-story" target="blank">What Anime Can Teach You About Ending a Story</a> by Madeline Ashby (io9)</div><div><a href="http://forum.lostpedia.com/someone-bad-robots-take-finale-t59261.html?s=a89b40f29f59fc4e62cd5c360bee5e42&" target="blank">Someone from Bad Robots take on the Lost finale</a> (Lostpedia)</div><div><br /></div><div>I would like to make one comment on that last post, by "Someone from Bad Robot." He or she claims that the writers knew how the show was going to end all along. However, check out this quote from James Parriott, creator of the short-lived sci-fi series "Defying Gravity:"</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Verdana, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“I love the show [</span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lost</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">], and Damon [Lindelof] and Carlton [Cuse]. I did a lot with </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Grey’s Anatomy </span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">during the first couple of years of </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Grey’s</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and that first year of </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Grey’s</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> was the first year of </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Lost</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">, and I did a lot of dinners with ABC buyers with those two guys and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shonda_Rhimes" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; vertical-align: top; color: rgb(107, 142, 35); border-bottom-style: dotted; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Shonda Rhimes</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> from </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline- vertical-align: top; color:initial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Grey’s</span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Carlton is a really bright and funny guy, and he gets up, and the first question out of the foreign buyers’ mouths is ‘where’s it going to go? Do you know where it’s going to go?’, and he said ‘I haven’t a clue.’ And then he sits down across from me at the dinner table, and I remember saying ‘Damon, come on, that’s bullshit, right? I mean, you know where it’s going to go.’ And he says, ‘Jim, I haven’t a clue. I’m four episodes out; that’s all I know.’</span></blockquote></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Source: </span><a href="http://www.cliqueclack.com/tv/2009/10/29/how-defying-gravity-would-have-progressed-straight-from-the-creator/" target="blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"How Defying Gravity would have progressed, straight from the creator"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> by Keith McDuffee (cliqueclack.com)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>'Nuff said!</div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-18014911427378776622010-05-24T23:08:00.002-05:002010-06-01T19:30:57.926-05:00NPR on "Lost" and Alternate Universes<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">I am probably going to rant about this in the next couple of days, but I wanted to share this article that my friend <a href="http://twitter.com/dexedge" target="_blank">Dexter Edge</a> shared with me. It hits the nail on the head for me with regard to my biggest pet peeve about the series finale of "Lost." (Warning: Spoilers)<br /><br /><a target="blank" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2010/05/24/127085764/?ft=1&f=114424647&sc=tw&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">'Lost' And The Science of Alternate Universes : NPR</a><br /><blockquote></blockquote></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-17421049416600820472010-05-11T12:31:00.006-05:002010-05-11T14:54:56.453-05:00Privacy 2.0<div>In the early days of social media, social networks were walled-in gardens where you could connect with a select group of friends, and share your thoughts, links, videos and photos. You had full control over who could view these things, so you could maintain a certain level of privacy. Let's face it, this is no longer true! The entire world has access to your online life. If you want something to be secret, you might as well keep it off of your computer!</div><div>In today's job market, this is especially important. Make no mistake, prospective employers will peruse your online footprint if they are considering you for a job. In fact, your current employer may be watching you online as well. Given the recent changes many of the networks have made, particularly Facebook, your privacy controls may not keep you as safe as you think.</div><div>Here are some steps I would recommend:</div><div><ol><li><b>Review your privacy settings</b> - as I said, many of the networks have recently made major changes. However, you should also recognize that the garden wall is now very short, and even the things you think are safe may find their way over that wall.</li><li><b>Stay away from "Hot Topics"</b> - It might be a good time to start following the old saying: "Never discuss religion and politics." If your online rhetoric is not particularly civil when it comes to those who disagree with you, a potential employer will most likely pass.</li><li><b>Keep your updates free of complaints</b> - I see quite a few people complaining about their current job or boss, and even about their friends. The thinly-veiled complaint, where you make the complaint but don't name names, is really not much better. It all serves to paint you as a "complainer." A potential employer will be turned off by this, and you could even lose your current job if you're not careful!</li><li><b>Remove the incriminating pictures</b> - You know the ones I mean: At the party, holding a beer, with a lampshade on your head. I would suggest you delete them immediately. If your friends have posted them, ask them to delete them. If they won't, remove any tags identifying you.</li><li><b>Above all, think before you type</b> - The internet has given us a false sense of anonymity, where we feel like we can say anything without consequences. While this might have been true a few years ago, it is no longer the case. If you wouldn't say it in person, you probably shouldn't post it either.</li></ol></div><div>In my opinion, there is no longer such a thing as privacy when it comes to life online. Assume that everything you say and do will be in the public record forever!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-72897971009916786272010-04-30T14:56:00.003-05:002010-04-30T15:36:22.681-05:00What Does Apple's Shutdown of Lala Mean for Streaming Music?It was announced today that Apple will be shutting down Lala.com by the end of May. When they purchased the music streaming service a few months ago, many speculated that they would use it to jump-start their own cloud-based music service. However, no such announcement has been made as of yet. This leaves us with even fewer streaming options here in the US. We still have Mog.com, Napster and Rhapsody, and Spotify has yet to grace our shores.<br /><br />If this development means that Apple will soon be rolling the Lala technology into iTunes, this is great news! However, there is also a chance that the opposite is true, and we have just lost another option for free streaming of music. What do you think?<br /><br />Related articles:<br />Wired - <a href="http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/04/apple-kills-lala-music-service/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29">Apple Kills Lala Music Service</a><br />PC World - <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/195319/apples_shutdown_of_lala_fuel_rumors_of_webbased_itunes.html/">Apple's Shutdown of Lala Fuel Rumors of Web-based iTunes</a><br /><div>Read Write Web - <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/apple_shuts_down_lala_here_are_5_alternatives.php">Apple Shuts Down Lala: Here are 5 Alternatives</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-65633528456391012592010-04-07T10:58:00.004-05:002010-04-07T11:04:49.835-05:00Metal Machine Music RevisitedThe Quietus has an extremely entertaining and informative interview with Lou Reed regarding his noise masterpiece "Metal Machine Music." It's a must-read! (via <a href="http://netnewmusic.net/reblog/" target="blank">New Music Reblog</a>.)<br /><br /><a href="http://thequietus.com/articles/04037-lou-reed-interview-metal-machine-music" target="blank">The Quietus.com: Lou Reed Interview: Metal Machine Music Revisited</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-19484368089978805882010-04-05T12:38:00.009-05:002010-04-05T14:51:16.772-05:00Is the iPad a New Musical Instrument?<div>Below are two videos for iPad drum machine apps. I see great potential for the iPad as a music device, especially for live performance, and here are just two early examples (<a href="http://www.ipadstudioblog.com/">via iPad Studio Blog</a>.) </div><div><br /></div><div>I have no doubt we will also soon see more apps for interactive, improvisatory, or algorithmic music-making, and it won't be long before we start to see laptop orchestras using the device with customized software! Say what you will about the closed nature of the device, etc., but I believe that Apple has just created a new musical instrument.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><object width="640" height="385" type="application/futuresplash"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/z_-LjPyk028&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/z_-LjPyk028&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/futuresplash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="231"></embed></object></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre;font-size:12px;"><object width="640" height="385" type="application/futuresplash"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/K4GMAi-3QYg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/K4GMAi-3QYg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/futuresplash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="384" height="231"></embed></object></span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-2068164332663665342010-02-10T13:04:00.004-06:002010-02-10T13:42:16.000-06:00It's Time to Stage a Coup!I don't know about you, but I'm growing tired of waiting for the old guard of the music industry to roll over and die. It's time we were a bit more proactive about this! Here's some things you and I can do to regain control of the music for artists and fans alike!<div><br /></div><div><ol><li>Support Local Live Music - You don't really need to pay for another Lady GaGa concert, do you? Save some money by heading to the club around the corner and supporting a future Lady GaGa.</li><li>Support Independent Music - Stop driving to Wal-Mart and buying the latest over-compressed and auto-tuned major label releases. Instead, stay right there in the comfort of your warm, safe home, point your browser to sites such as Bandcamp or ReverbNation, find some music you like, and buy it. While you're at it, become a fan on Facebook, and add your email to their mailing list so you can see them live. Your money will go to someone who really needs the money, the artist! The fat-cat major label execs have plenty of money!</li><li>Support Mom & Pop Record Stores - If you must buy the latest Ke$ha (if the dollar sign in her name hasn't deterred you, I suppose it's hopeless) please buy it from a local CD retailer, rather than Wal-mart or Target. Look, I know it's probably a foregone conclusion that brick and mortar music retailers will eventually go the way of the dinosaur. However, mom & pop record stores have always supported local music, and I have a soft spot in my heart for them. Besides, there has recently been a resurgence of interest in vinyl, and artists have been releasing new material on vinyl in the last couple of years. Maybe it's time to invest in a new turntable, get that record collection out of storage, put on your ray-bans and dance around the living room in your underwear! Or not, it's up to you...</li><li>Stop Watching the Music Award Shows - This is really just my personal pet-peeve, but after the most recent Grammy Awards show, come on! The industry uses these self-congratulatory spectacles to convince themselves they are still relevant. As long as you allow your children to continue their bad behavior, they will never learn! (While we're on the subject, I think we could hammer the final nail in the coffin if people would just quit watching Americal Idol. In my opinion, that is the last thing keeping the industry alive, but that's a post for another time.)</li></ol></div><div><br /></div><div>See, that's four simple things we can do to ensure a bright musical future for all of us. What have you got to lose? You might even discover some new music and help a young artist launch their career!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-49059405479224966752010-01-29T11:11:00.005-06:002010-01-29T11:11:00.400-06:00Eyes on the Pad<div>As many of you know, I've been an avid Apple fanboy for about 20 years. So, as you can probably guess, I will visit my local Apple store sometime within the next year and walk out with a shiny new iPad. I'm disappointed about a few missing features, but just like the iPhone, I'm sure most will show up within the next couple of years. I hate the name just as much as the next guy, but in the grand scheme of things, I really think that's a minor gripe.</div><div><br /></div><div>David Pogue has some great comments about the iPad on his NYTimes blog. It's especially illuminating when he compares it to the iPhone: "the bashers should be careful.....remember how silly you all looked when you all predicted the iPhone’s demise in that period before it went on sale." It's definitely worth a read:<div><br /></div><a href="http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad-first-impressions/" target="blank">The Apple iPad: First Impressions - Pogue’s Posts Blog - NYTimes.com</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-75138564668511781472010-01-22T21:32:00.002-06:002010-01-22T21:37:27.351-06:00"The Music Biz Could Cure Its Ills In One Week" According To Radiohead<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Ed O'Brien of Radiohead had some amazing things to say at the Midem Conference. Check it out on the paidContent:UK website:<br /><br /><a href="http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-radiohead-the-music-biz-could-cure-its-ills-in-one-week/">Radiohead: The Music Biz Could Cure Its Ills In One Week | paidContent:UK</a></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><a href="http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-radiohead-the-music-biz-could-cure-its-ills-in-one-week/"></a>(Via <a href="http://www.wellroundedradio.net">Well-Rounded Radio</a>)<br /><blockquote><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=60736e87-1e1d-8bff-89c5-843eb088339f" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></blockquote></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-36294617628296892992010-01-01T12:35:00.002-06:002010-01-01T13:22:04.730-06:00Happy New Year 2010!I don't know about you, but for me, 2009 was a pretty good year. For instance, I have always dreamed of teaching at Berklee, and now here I am, exactly 10 years after receiving my doctorate!<div><br /></div><div>2009 was a banner year for indie music as well. Even though "indie music" has been co-opted by the mainstream to some extent, we are finally beginning to see the emergence of a "musical middle class." Artists are now able to reach an audience without the aid of a record label, and some are actually make a living without donning a paper hat!</div><div><br /></div><div>I have recently seen several predictions stating that the major labels will finally "get it" in 2010. I don't agree. I think they have found their niche, and they will stick with it. As long as there are pre-teens consuming "High School Musical" sequels, and adults watching "American Idol," the labels will survive. They will have to learn to live with being smaller, and they will never again see the runaway profits of yore.</div><div><br /></div><div>I predict that we will see the continued emergence of the musical middle class in 2010. I believe we will also continue to see new and innovative distribution channels for music, although we are probably several years away from seeing any of them achieve dominance.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's an exciting time to be a musician, and I can't wait to see what the future brings. Happy New Year!</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-60580609730287004782009-12-16T14:15:00.000-06:002009-12-16T13:15:56.929-06:00What I Listen For In MusicI am an educated musician, but I am also an avid listener and fan. Ever since I discovered pop music, one of my favorite pastimes has been buying a new album, taking it home and listening to it for the first time. Of course, what I look for in a record may be quite different from the average layperson. As is the case with many musicians, I am an active listener. There is no such thing as "background music" for me.<div>I also feel that actively listening to music can be almost as creative as the act of making music. Listening to a piece of music I love opens up new avenues of creativity. It challenges me to create something that will surpass it! For me, this is not competitive. It is an act of admiration for the artist and composer. When I hear a great piece of music by another composer, I want to understand how they felt when they created it!</div><div>Of course, there is also the possibility of seeing the seed of an idea in the work of another artist, and taking that idea further than they could have imagined. That technique reaches far beyond art, for it is the cornerstone of invention. Thus, active listening may at times fall under the category of "research."</div><div>Over the years, in my own acts of research as well as creativity, there are a number of things I have searched for. One of my goals, for instance, has been to push beyond the accepted boundaries of music. This is done in a variety of ways, but the following have been of most interest to me, both as a listener and a composer:</div><div><ul><li>Fusion - Combining elements of different musical styles and traditions, as well as the use of nontraditional instrument combinations. This also extends to the fusion of artistic mediums.<br /></li><li>Tonality - Modal, atonal, polytonal, microtonal music, or any other method of moving beyond the major and minor scales.<br /></li><li>Challenging the traditional definition of Music - The genesis of this idea was in the work of the great John Cage, who was interested in stretching the boundaries of what can be considered music. The use of nonmusical sounds in composition has especially been of great interest to me.<br /></li><li>Elements of Chance - This includes improvisation, as well as effects or overtones caused by note combinations (especially in drones.)</li></ul></div><div>In other words, I am often most interested in music which thwarts convention in one or more ways, no matter how subtle.</div><div>Now, don't get me wrong, I still love a catchy melody, an interesting chord progression or riff, or a groove that makes you tap your feet. However, if you combine that with one of the elements in the list above, you have pure magic, as far as I'm concerned.</div><div>How about you? What do you listen for in music?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-9250805826393126642009-12-08T11:15:00.007-06:002009-12-08T13:43:29.632-06:0010 Years That Changed EverythingAs we near the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, we're seeing the typical year-end and decade-end lists that tend to make the rounds. As I think back on the last ten years, I see it as a time of major change for the music industry. Here is my list of some of the changes I have witnessed in the past ten years:<div><ul><li>Digital downloads surpassed CD sales</li><li>Independent labels became major players</li><li>Established artists like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails successfully opted to release their music independently, rather than sign a new record contract</li><li>The ever-shrinking major labels lost their mojo, desperately clinging to outmoded ideas and suing children, the elderly, and dead people</li><li>Numerous distribution avenues emerged, allowing independent artists to get their music directly to fans</li><li>Social media emerged, allowing artists to interact directly with fans</li><li>A new generation of music consumers emerged, ingrained with the belief that music should be free</li></ul></div><div>I'm sure I could come up with many more examples, but we'll stop there. Feel free to post your additions and thoughts in the comments.</div><div>All of these changes have left musicians and music industry types wondering where we will be when the dust clears. How do we make a living? How do we "monetize" our product if the conventional means no longer work? In fact, what is our "product," if not our songs? Many have come to believe that the way forward is to think of the artist as the product or "brand."</div><div>Meanwhile, the major labels are floundering. Frankly, they have lasted longer than I would have anticipated. One lifeline for them has been the popularity of reality television. If you doubt that, just look at all the buzz around Susan Boyle with her recent album release.</div><div>At this point, it's anyone's guess what the future will hold. Judging by what has happened in the last ten years, though, I'm convinced it will still manage to take most of us by surprise!</div><div><br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-69077430698762971692009-10-02T16:58:00.001-05:002009-10-02T16:58:16.432-05:00Amanda Palmer is Not Afraid to Take Your Money<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>Please read her blog post on this, and there is a link below to discuss it. However, I would also like to relate what happened to me this week. I was moving to another house in the Boston area, and we hired a moving company to help us. 3 of the 4 guys who showed up were musicians. Two are in "indie" bands that are currently active and fairly well-known (one of them recently performed on Conan and Jimmy Kimmel) and the other was in a band that was, until recently, on a major label. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that.<br/><br/><a target='blank' href='http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/200582690/why-i-am-not-afraid-to-take-your-money-by-amanda'>blog « amanda palmer</a><br/><br/><a href='http://www.theshadowbox.net/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=f16061d7c97489cb383dc306b8d89cf1&topic=9820.0' target='_blank'>Discussion on the blog post</a><br/><blockquote/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=0f936cf9-be7b-8030-a8c8-873dd10313b1' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-42674693344708156922009-09-23T10:33:00.006-05:002009-09-23T11:18:32.991-05:00Lily Allen Speaks Out on File Sharing<div>Last week, British recording artist Lily Allen posted a blog entry on her MySpace page in reaction to a recent article about the <a href="http://www.featuredartistscoalition.com/" target="blank">Featured Artists Coalition</a>, in the UK <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6828262.ece" target="blank">Times Online.</a> I think this quote from Pink Floyd's Nick Mason offended her the most: "File sharing means a new generation of fans for us."</div><div><br />Allen's response to this is thought-provoking: "Last week in an article in the Times these guys from huge bands said file sharing music is fine. It probably is fine for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent though, file sharing is a disaster as it's making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge." Later on comes my favorite quote: "the more difficult it is for new artists to make it, the less new artists you'll see and the more British music will be nothing but puppets paid for by Simon Cowell." </div><div><br /></div><div><b>See the whole controversy unfold:</b></div><div>Original <a href="http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6828262.ece" target="blank">Times Online article</a></div><div>Lily Allen's <a href="http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=36707169&blogId=510114316" target="blank">Myspace blog post</a></div><div>Lily Allen's blog <a href="http://idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com/" target="blank">"It's Not Alright"</a> created to discuss the issue further.</div><div>Response by the <a href="http://www.featuredartistscoalition.com/showscreen.php?site_id=161&screentype=site&screenid=161&newsaction=showitem&newsid=2549&dc=6&sn=News" target="blank">Featured Artists Coalition</a></div><div>Radiohead's Ed O'Brien <a href="http://www.nme.com/news/radiohead/47472" target="blank">agrees with Lily Allen</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-40460289357977451802009-09-03T11:54:00.006-05:002009-09-03T12:12:52.492-05:00More New Songs, and Another Option for IndiesIn case you've been curious as to why I haven't blogged much lately, I've got a whole batch of new songs recorded. I am also trying out a new service called "Gimmesound" (www.gimmesound.com.) Fans can download songs for free, and artists share in ad revenue. It's an intriguing model, and I'm interested in seeing how it pans out. I will let my faithful readers know!<div><br /></div><div>You can find my page at <a href="http://www.gimmesound.com/MichaelJJohnson">http://www.gimmesound.com/MichaelJJohnson</a>. Take a listen, and download what you like!</div><div><br /></div><div>There is a batch of new songs, as well as higher-bitrate versions of songs I did earlier in the year. The last seven songs on the player are a series of prepared guitar pieces I recorded. I am still mixing several more, and will probably have them posted by next week.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have decided to collectively call this new batch of songs "Manifesto," after the "<a href="http://michaeljohnson0664.blogspot.com/2009/04/artist-20-manifesto.html" target="blank">Artist 2.0 Manifesto</a>" I posted several months ago. All the files are high quality VBR mp3's, which means a bit longer download times.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've always been curious as to the effectiveness of an ad-supported model. We'll see.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-38037226016795849682009-08-24T14:10:00.002-05:002009-08-24T14:14:05.220-05:00Live on the Web: Matthew Ebel<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">My Twitter friend and fellow Massachusetts resident Matthew Ebel has been performing a weekly live web concert for some time now, and has been quite successful with it. As further proof of this success, NPR recently did a piece on him, which is a must-read:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wbur.org/2009/08/20/basement-musician" target="blank">wbur.org » News » Live From The Basement: Geek Rock!</a><br /><br />Conventional wisdom might tell us that an unsigned artist couldn't possibly garner an audience this way, much less make any money. Kudos to Matthew for proving the conventional wisdom to be wrong!<br /><blockquote><br /><br /><div class="zemanta-pixie"><img src="http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=59b53932-ce8e-86c9-9b5e-48b358397cb6" alt="" class="zemanta-pixie-img" /></div></blockquote></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34202578.post-33767958326951895722009-08-22T09:15:00.001-05:002009-08-22T09:15:33.165-05:00Prevent Your Bands Gear from Being Stolen<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>This is a great blog post from yvynyl, for all my touring friends:<br/><br/><a href='http://yvynyl.tumblr.com/post/168250028/how-to-prevent-your-bands-gear-from-being-stolen'>yvynyl - How to Prevent Your Band's Gear from Being Stolen</a><br/><blockquote/><br/><br/><div class='zemanta-pixie'><img src='http://img.zemanta.com/pixy.gif?x-id=f8fc5b5b-ba52-868f-8348-a46d7f62f7db' alt='' class='zemanta-pixie-img'/></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13574584923286363687noreply@blogger.com0