G&E Music

Most people are opting to stream music on portable devices using Pandora and Spotify so says a new CNN article.

Never mind the ads and the terrible quality.  Is an entire generation of music fans being deprived of a stunning audio/musical experience of a great captured performance?  Is the craft of music recording and capturing a performance being tossed aside for a generation who prefers listening to 128K mp3's?

It is unbelievable how much great music is available.  We like it all.

"How Many Ways Can YOU Rock a Beat?"

With singing/musical competitions like "American Idol," "The X Factor," "The Voice," "America's Got Talent" (basically), "Platinum HIt," "The Glee Project," and "The Sing Off" and musical scripted series like "Glee" and "Smash" already clouding the television atmosphere, can audiences handle a new wave of musical shows? 

Well...whether you're ready or not the TSUNAMI is coming! NBC is set to debut the new music reality series, "Opening Act" on July 9th @10pm, giving rising YouTube performers the opportunity to take the stagewith an A-List artist including, Nicki Minaj, LMFAO, Brad Paisley, Jason Mraz, and Jason Alden amongst others.

ABC is also preparing to launch its new show "Duets" on May 24th @8pm, where judges Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles and Robin Thicke set out to find an undiscovered singer to be their duet partner. 

BUT WAIT, there's more! 

OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) is premiering "Real Life: The Musical" on June 9th @10pm, which gives people the chance to (literally) sing their hearts out to that someone special when they are at a loss for words.

And finally,

Oxygen is releasing "NEXT BIG THING, THE: NY" on June 12th @11pm, where NYC Trapper Felides (NYC performance coach & musical director) will give performers the hard truth and direction to help them prepare for their next career changing audition.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good musical show as much as the next person but...it's getting hard to keep track of all of them now...

Anyone else feel like this?

On another note, just discovered the website Fandalism today...a space where musicians can meet and discover other (more unknown) musicians. It's like a bit like creating a Myspace artist page but with more search capabilities (instruments, styles, sex, age, country...) and video uploads. Is this the next platform for hidden talent to rise to the occasion? Let's check back in a little later...

      I've heard this suggestion time and time and again, giving away music for free as a promotion for the band's concert and merchandise. This sounds like a great solution to piracy, so is this the new model that our industry should be exploring more or is it just "selling out?"

Watch this short 5 minute video where the BBC takes a look into the rap band, Odd Future and their new business model. With the creation of hand-made merch, pop up stores and 20+ FREE albums, can this model be replicated throughout the entire music industry or really, should it?

*One thing to note is that one of the reasons why this model works well for Odd Future is because they own all of their tracks. They are the only people that would need to be compensated for their tunes, whereas you have a number of artists who do not write their own songs. In this case, how would the songwriters be paid, a percentage of all merch sales? What proportion of that pie would they take and would it really be fair? If you had multiple writers on every song you've ever performed, the breakdown would get extremely complicated...

And the biggest question of all is, if music is completely given away for free will all of the potential CD/music sale revenues cross over to merchandise sales to support the bands?

One would hope so....

                     Please share your thoughts with me here or on:                                                                                     

                                         The Healing Power of Music! 

Music transforms, music transcends and music heals. Watch Henry, an unresponsive man who's been in a nursing home for 10 years, come alive when he listens to the songs he grew up with. It's pretty exciting seeing how giddy he gets over the experience. He truly does come alive!

Music speaks to all of us in different ways but it never ceases to amaze me how much of an impact it can make in one person's life.

A little dated, but we are sure glad to have stumbled upon this still developing technology!

"Siftables aims to enable people to interact with information and media in physical, natural ways that approach interactions with physical objects in our everyday lives."

Siftables seem like an amazing interactive learning tool for kids and adults. 

@4:50, Merrill demonstrates how you can create music with Siftables! What a new direction! 

Copyright infringement & piracy have long played a role in the great fall of the music industry. I don't want to repeat the long history i've discussed in past entries, I just want to inform you of the new system that is arising to fight this problem, so moving on...

The Center for Copyright Information (CCI) is starting a program that hopes to educate and inform the public about the laws prohibiting Online Infringement and encourage legal and alternative means of obtaining digital works (film & music). 

As "gatekeepers of the Internet," ISPs are said to be in the best position to prevent illegal file sharing. They are introducing a graduated-response program (3 strikes protocol, like the HADOPI law used in France) that first sends letters educating the accused on what they have just done (strike #1, a warning). If you choose to continue they will "increase the pressure" and the consequences. Although not stated specifically in the article, if this graduated response program runs anything like the HADOPI Law in France, then the 3rd strike is cutting off your Internet access for a number of months (ekk!).

If you want to read more about it, there's a pretty lengthy and cool (I think) memo about it here.

                                                           PIRATES BEWARE!

As an Austin, Texas native and lover of the Austin music scene, it’s always a joy to partake in the bustling, hectic, international, practically weeklong music and film festival known as South by South West (SXSW).  I’m sure you’re wondering, “what makes it so special?” And, “is it even worth trekking across the nation (or world) to go to, given the massive amount of people it now attracts?” The answers to both of these questions are yes. Yes, it is worth your time and I’ll tell you why it’s so successful and will continue to be.

Before we get to some important points, SXSW takes place in the city known as the live music capital of the world. The festival always takes place during the perfect time of year – in the middle of March where the weather in Austin isn’t blistering hot.

Now for a secret: you don’t really need a badge, or even a wristband (unless you plan to frequent panels and press-ridden, extremely hyped up nightly showcases.) However, the festival is not exactly “teenage friendly”; it’s much easier and cheaper to go as a 21+ year-old individual. All shows during the day are free to the public whereas the night showcases vary – you can pay a cheap fee as you go to each showcase, enter if 21 and older, or enter for free with a badge or wristband. All that being said, the majority of artists playing in the evening will most likely play a day show throughout the week, so plan to see them (for free!) then.

Aside from the widespread locally-supported eateries and food trucks, strange individuals perpetuating and spreading the “Keep Austin Weird” mantra through their appearance, and the marriage of outdoor and urban vibes the city creates, SXSW is a breeding ground for musical progression. Here’s a list of some things you will most likely encounter:

1)   You’ll likely run into the yuppie band member who is overly ecstatic about their release and/or show that week. Choose wisely which eager, young fellow you decide to lend your time and ears to.

2)   As the festival continues to grow each year, the crowds get larger and the lines get longer as the days turn into nights. So make sure to get to showcases early and stay put!

3)   Showcases will be based on a variety of things: a company or event party, a magazine, music pertaining to specific local and regional areas of the world, a particular genre, etc.

4)   The venues range from large-capacity, popular venues, like tents and outdoor lawns that host big name artists, to small, intimate dive bars and restaurant or store parking lots. However, the amount of concentrated venues lining the expansive downtown area that can house a live show makes it difficult to keep track of who’s playing, and at what time and where.

5)   The fact that there are over 2,000 bands practically guarantees that whatever kind of music lover you consider yourself, you’ll be able to find an artist that satisfies your particular musical palate.

6)   You’ll find an assortment bands and artists: some that are just starting out with solely local exposure, to those with international fame and decades of experience. So, if you’re looking for an up-and-coming artist showcase or something more familiar and predictible, both are available.

7)   Take the live experience with a grain of salt. Bands don’t always play their best at SXSW; they’re constantly on the go with little to no sleep and some are playing more than one show in the span of five days.

The future: It’s always a possibility that a festival becomes too popular and crowded, too commercialized, and too expensive. However, given that it’s a one-of-a-kind event with so many different pricing options and styles of music, it’s doubtful these will become true issues for SXSW. The film section of the festival seems to be the only concern.  Given the growth of the musical aspect of the festival, it’s tough to say if the film aspect will be overshadowed in years to come.

Bands - Oldies and Newbies that played SXSW 2012: The Shins and Counting Crows played a free, outdoor show at Auditorium Shores.

Jack White played two sets at The Stage on 6th, one set with an all guy band and the other being all girls.

Fiona Apple and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine brought back memories as they drew in dedicated, life-long fans.

Cage the Elephant, a band who signed with Relentless Records at SXSW in 2007, held a live online streaming show sponsored by Vans.

Some NYC and Brooklyn bands at SXSW: Bear in Heaven, Oberhofer, Hospitality, Grimes, Citizen Cope, and Cymbals Eat Guitars, to name a few.

Austin local artists to check out: David Ramirez, Bob Schneider, Alpha Rev, and Mother Falcon

Bruce Springsteen made the SXSW keynote speech to an audience of select Badge and Wristband Holders, and a few lucky ticket winners. Check out some footage below:

http://www.latimes.com/videogallery/68856841/Entertainment/We-Take-Care-of-Our-Own

      Whatever the case may be, the music industry has taken a huge hit this past decade+ and even if the numbers are slightly skewed upward, the effects are not.

             As we’ve all experienced, the start of the peer-to-peer network, Napster, in 1999 drastically changed the music industry, causing us to suffer tremendous drops in sales of recorded music. Though the launch of the iPod and iTunes turned some things around with a la carte purchases, we’ve never been able to fully recover.

       Although I understand the publicity that pirates claim outweigh the money artist’s would have potentially made in sales, I truly think that some pirates really underestimate the value of a song because creativity, ideas/brainstorming, and the time put into its creation are not things we can physically see. It may not be done purposefully, but things are often overlooked, especially when there’s instant gratification involved, like the song you want on your iPod, right in front of you for the taking. It’s a mix of temptation and the unlikelihood of getting caught that makes it that much more irresistible.

       But, as we all know this debate will go on forever and it’s not about stopping piracy anymore, it’s about moving forward, developing new technologies, initiatives, better content, promotional and marketing tactics and finding the trends to jump on.

                                               What do you think?

              With "Live Tiles" that let you see live updates of your calls, inbox & social network counts, it seems like the Windows Phone is heading in the right direction.

As Microsoft brings this product out into the market, (smart) phones are not the only industry being challenged. Interestingly enough, Microsoft is planning a strategic move by integrating the lost Zune into their operating system, making it so that every Windows Phone owner will now also own a Zune player, which, they hope, will satisfy the owner's music cravings.

Depending on the demand,  this could be Microsoft's way of revitalizing the hype and usage of their poor music player. 

Why is this important?

This brings another contender into the ring! More competition can drive even our most beloved companies/ brands into doing better, being greener & building more products and services we love!

Microsoft will be gearing their phone towards their XBox Live subscribers by adding mobile gaming across all their mobile platforms, a feature and marketing strategy they hope will carry over to the demand for their Zune feature, which is perceived to be a hybrid download and subscription service.

     To those of you who missed out on the 84th Annual Academy Awards Show, it was quite a night of glamour, laughter and a sweep between The Artist and Hugo (each taking home 5 of the 24 coveted titles). 

Special acknowledgements for:

Ludovic Bource winning Best Music (Original Score) for "The Artist"

Bret McKenzie for winning Best Music (Original Song) with his cute track, "Man or Muppet" from the Muppets.

Philip Stockton & Eugene Gearty; winner for Best Sound Editing in "Hugo"

Tom Flesichman & John Midgley; winner for  Best Sound Mixing in "Hugo"

Can you forgive the bias? :)

One sad & surprising part of the awards were the measly 2 nominees for Music (Original Song). Did this mean not enough original songs were written, or no other tracks could compare to the 2 nominated?

Whatever the case may be, we need to make more of an imprint in that category!

According to Section 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976, copyright owners are given the chance to reclaim their copyrights back from the music they have licensed or transferred, terminating the contract during a five year period beginning 35 years after the publication or 40 years after the grant of the rights (whichever comes first).

This act was created to protect content owners and give them a second chance to change their minds about their decision.

Taking note that there is a very short time window for when you can reclaim these writes, a few requirements need to be fulfilled first:

1. The work cannot be a work for hire. 2. Must be executed by the author.  3. Cannot be a grant made through a will.

Now, prior to receiving your rights back, one needs to submit a notice to the current copyright holder 2-10 years prior to the termination. With the act first applying to copyright holders in 1978, the first termination is coming up shortly in 2013.

Why reclaim your rights?

Reclaiming your rights gives you the opportunity to increase your revenue flow and royalty distribution fee tremendously. It also gives you the right to grant licenses on your own- the less middlemen, the greater your share in the pie. There may be sentimental reasons attached as well- songs are a songwriter's babies, wouldn't it be great to finally get custody back?!

With bands and artists such as the Village People, the Eagles, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty's copyrights coming up, I sure hope they've submitted their proper notices. 

Possible problem?

Music labels and and publishing companies know how valuable these rights are and will not stop at anything to make sure they maintain ownership of them. That being said, many are claiming that these artists were work for hires and that they never owned the pieces because they were written in the studio while they were signed by the labels- arguing that these poor authors have nothing to reclaim.

I'm not sure how their claim is going to stick but it definitely is an argument that if proved, can be detrimental to all songwriters and the hopes they have of obtaining their copyrights back.

                           Please share your thoughts with me here or on:

ReDigi is a platform that lets you buy & sell pre-owned DIGITAL music (MP3s). Basically, in my mind, a legal P2P Network. Interesting how this was also the concept of the short-lived 2008, "Bopaboo" platform. I wonder what happened to them...

Now, this new "online marketplace" is stirring up a lot of commotion with copyright owners so naturally, I want to explore some pros/cons and the legality of it (perhaps in a few entries). 

How does ReDigi work?

*You have a bunch of (legally) downloaded music that you don't listen to anymore, and want to get rid of it so, you decide to sell it on ReDigi*

1. Download the ReDigi Media Manager which sorts through you music and notes which songs are eligible- those are the only songs that you will be allowed to upload to the ReDigi Cloud.

2. The songs that you upload go into the ReDigi cloud can then be sent to the ReDigi Marketplace in exchange for a coupon. 

3. The song stays in the marketplace until purchased. Every purchase gets you $0.10.

       *Catch- all songs must be purchased legally through iTunes to work*

Is this really legal?

According to the First-Sale Doctrine which states that, "a person who buys a legally produced copyrighted work may "sell or otherwise dispose" of the work as he sees fit, subject to some important conditions and exceptions," it seems as if it is.

However, focusing on the "subject to some important conditions and exceptions," there's a distinction between phonorecords and digital phonorecords and thus a different application of the law. Read more about the legal differences here. (will be discussed in future entries!) 

______________________________________________________________________________

So if, ReDigi sounds like a great and simple idea, why are people so worked up over it? 

      Here's my selling physical goods (CD) vs. digital goods (MP3) breakdown:

    Dangers?

People can buy the song for cheaper on ReDigi, save a copy on their computer and then in an instant, upload it back on the ReDigi Marketplace and sell it again, which would then give them some of their money back!

But in another perspective, as least someone is making money off of these music sales, where as with piracy, no one makes anything!

I’m just glad to see that we’re at least moving along in this industry and coming up with ideas on how to work with the notion of piracy and not against it. Let's see if ReDigi will end up like Bopaboo.  

Congratulations SoundCloud, this is exciting news!...although not the focal point of this entry... 

I think the real news lies with what SoundCloud really does, which is, in my opinion, similar to what we, at G&E Music do with Producer's ToolBox (minus the licensing deals). 

They make their content available to the public and users are able to search through the catalog from various artists through typing in key search words. This is a key component to music licensing. Film and TV Producers, Ad agencies etc... need a quick and efficient way of finding music for their visuals and the only way that can occur is if artists are meta-tagging their music correctly and well (not overly specific and not too broad). 

SoundCloud offers you a free platform to get your music out there and with the power of creating your metadata in your own hands, marketing and getting your music out there is really in your control.

With these features, it's no wonder why SoundCloud is growing so well!

So, how can you best tag your music? 

Well, the best advice I can give you as a music supervisor is to picture yourself in the producer's or content-seeker's shoes and not as a musician. As musicians, we can often get too specific on genre and end up tagging our songs with made up words or not fully see from an outsiders perspective who we necessarily sound like and it can get a bit messy.

Film and TV producers, Ad agencies etc...have visuals and the words most frequently used in search bars describe the scene (action, drama, sappy/ love story), mood (happy, sad, tense) and feel, which really depicts what emotion they want their audience members to experience (scared, inspired), which is a bit different than mood.

Those are the basics, now if the producer knows music well, they may get specific on instrumentation which you should briefly mention as well, especially, I feel, if it is something unique or popular at the moment (i.e. ukeleles, mandolins).

STOP THE SOPA & PIPA BILLS FROM PASSING!

                 I hope all of you have been staying bundled up & toasty this winter!

As we move into a new year, new developments and improvements are being made and a couple to check out include:

1. Tubalr- the app that turns YouTube into a Music Player (very similar, I think, to the start of Songza). With access to YouTube's insane catalogue and pretty minimal (as of now) mentality, Tubalr seems like it'll be a hit in no time.

2. Spotify's New & Improved Radio: Instead of limiting yourself to choosing genres and decades, Spotify's radio now runs a bit like Pandora in the way it recommends similar music and artists. Best part? Spotify has massive data about their consumers and hopefully, they're using it to their advantage. With the capability of actually being able to hear and save the song that has been playing on loop in your mind for the past week (which I was never able to do on Pandora :( ), Spotify is taking great steps forward into the new year.

What: Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) aims to stop online piracy.

Who the SOPA is targeting:

1. Websites that upload or act as a platform for the selling or sharing of copyrighted material illegally 2. Strongly focusing on offshore, foreign domain names (websites) not ending in .com, .org, or .net

Controversy: protecting copyright vs. internet security & possible stifling of innovation. Where they are at now:

Republican Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas held off voting to press in on issues that may arise with the Internet's core infrastructure if this act is passed.

The vote has been rescheduled for Wednesday, December 21st.

Read the full articles on: Wired & CBS News

If the act had been passed and was in affect now, I wonder what would be happening in the case: Megaupload vs. Universal.