Music future = musician >< fan

Bravo to Ian Rogers of Topspin in a recent speech on music value. He takes the approach that the future of music lies in the artist and the fan. If you are neither artist nor fan then you must question what value you add in the music ecosystem (between artist and fan).

I also liked his comment that when Nine Inch Nails offered Ghosts at five price points he was really asking, “How big a fan are you?” in relation to freemium pricing of content.

twittering

someone twitters a plane crash: http://twitter.com/2drinksbehind?page=2

I'm not sure about this - someone turning to technology at a 'life defining' or possibly life ending moment. Is the value of reading his words worth his effort?

Note also that in Australia we can't use mobiles on board aircraft - it causes crashes.

Christmas evil

Years ago Santa's (Saint Nicholas) job delivering presents to the children of Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland, and north Italy was split into good and evil. Santa carried a big book listing which children had behaved and which had been naughty or lazy. Santa would visit homes and always check his list twice.
While Santa delivered presents to children who had behaved, a ghastly evil, ferocious goat-horned human/beast spirit called the Krampus followed him. Krampus was usually dressed in fur with a long red tongue and tail. Naughty or lazy children were shackled then put into Krampus's bag and spirited away into the night to be hurled into the flames of hell, or he threatened to spank them with birch branches and bad dreams. sometimes he would scare the children to death with his evil looks.

So this year make sure you ask children if they've been good this year.....

last night I learnt

that if you sprinkle nutmeg on a fire it sparkles

Sirens

I'd love to see David Lynch do a movie set in outer space. With lots of floating.....

'Song to the Siren' by This Mortal Coil

On the floating, shapeless oceans
I did all my best to smile
til your singing eyes and fingers
drew me loving into your eyes.

And you sang "Sail to me, sail to me;
Let me enfold you."

Here I am, here I am waiting to hold you.
Did I dream you dreamed about me?
Were you here when I was full sail?

Now my foolish boat is leaning, broken love lost on your rocks.
For you sang, "Touch me not, touch me not, come back tomorrow."
Oh my heart, oh my heart shies from the sorrow.

I'm as puzzled as a newborn child.
I'm as riddled as the tide.
Should I stand amid the breakers?
Or shall I lie with death my bride?

Hear me sing: "Swim to me, swim to me, let me enfold you."
"Here I am. Here I am, waiting to hold you."

"Listen closely to what I tell you now....
First you will raise the island of the Sirens,
those creatures who spellbind any man alive.
whoever comes their way. Whoever draws too close,
off guard, and catches the Sirens' voices in the air...
The high, thrilling song of the Sirens will transfix him...
Race straight past that coast!"

citizen journalism

Was this a secret marketing ploy by News Corp? Or was it real? Wouldn't it be delightful if it was real!

“SPECIAL” NEW YORK TIMES BLANKETS CITIES WITH MESSAGE OF HOPE AND CHANGE

Thousands of volunteers behind elaborate operation

* The New York Times responds:
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/pranksters-spoof-the-times/

Hundreds of independent writers, artists, and activists are claiming credit for an elaborate project, 6 months in the making, in which 1.2 million copies of a “special edition” of the New York Times were distributed in cities across the U.S. by thousands of volunteers.
The papers, dated July 4th of next year, were headlined with long-awaited news: “IRAQ WAR ENDS”. The edition, which bears the same look and feel as the real deal, includes stories describing what the future could hold: national health care, the abolition of corporate lobbying, a maximum wage for CEOs, etc. There was also a spoof site, at http://www.nytimes-se.com/.
“Is this true? I wish it were true!” said one reader. “It can be true, if we demand it.”
“We wanted to experience what it would look like, and feel like, to read headlines we really want to read. It’s about what’s possible, if we think big and act collectively,” said Steve Lambert, one of the project’s organizers and an editor of the paper.
“This election was a massive referendum on change. There’s a lot of hope in the air, but there’s a lot of uncertainty too. It’s up to all of us now to make these headlines come true,” said Beka Economopoulos, one of the project’s organizers.
“It doesn’t stop here. We gave Obama a mandate, but he’ll need mandate after mandate after mandate to do what we elected him to do. He’ll need a lot of support, and yes, a lot of pressure,” said Andy Bichlbaum, another project organizer and editor of the paper.
The people behind the project are involved in a diverse range of groups, including The Yes Men, the Anti-Advertising Agency, CODEPINK, United for Peace and Justice, Not An Alternative, May First/People Link, Improv Everywhere, Evil Twin, and Cultures of Resistance.
In response to the spoof, the New York Times said only, “We are looking into it.” Alex S. Jones, former Times reporter who is an authority on the history of the paper, says: “I would say if you’ve got one, hold on to it. It will probably be a collector’s item.”

idol

Someone asked me to nominate my idol. I replied Hedy Lamarr.

But I completely misheard them - they were talking about Chris Isaak appearing on Australian Idol.....

now reading

Bad Girls & Wicked Women by Jan Stradling. isbn 9781741960433

The lives and times of 22 of history's most ruthless, ambitious women. Sassy, powerful, shocking, amazing, thrilling, dangerous, brilliant, vicious, cunning, unstable, tough-as-nails- they are products of their times, women who defied mainstream boundaries and ethics. These anti-heroines battled against the odds and often against the status quo, succeeding in turning the power structure, if only for a short time, directly on its head. Some of them were cruel, others visionary, yet others blinded by ambition or love. All were driven by a powerful combination of primal forces.

Yay Obama

here is some interesting stats: http://adultaddstrengths.com/2008/11/05/obama-vs-mccain-social-media/

I think the whole world is breathing sighs of relief and euphoria over the Obama win - wonderful, momentous and about bluddy time. Now back to local matters.....

I met 2 people last week that I'd call online addicts. One of them said she was online entirely through the day and night. She usually has about 70 tabs open on the internet at once and emphasised she reads everything on them all. I asked her if she ever finds time to get out and exercises etc. She responded that she rides a bike, an exercise bike and places her laptop on the front handle bars..... Another one could not get through half an hour without opening his computer and checking stuff online. His attention span was all over the place, very short term. They reminded me of me 2 years ago.

But another point is that they both have brilliant brains and are very very switched on. It seemed like they had electricity in them.

read #3

the apple app media from a couple of days ago is the way in which all this below can work. This is getting old now but I can't see any bands doing it well yet (?):

Music 2.0: a web native Music Industry, by Gerd Leonhard

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: riaa flat rate)

read #2

iPhone Apps could be the new Myspace
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/10/iphone-apps-wil.html

Some light reading that I agree with (except on a Google android not the iPhone)! The article has pics which make it look 'real&now' and not theoretical. And it's not too far away.

Key quotes "IPhone apps are becoming a viable platform for the promotion and distribution of music. "

and this is a key bit:
"Songs, images, news, videos and other content can be distributed for free directly to fans using iPhone apps that contain 'buy' links to the iTunes music store. If your favorite band has an app for iPhone (or Android) and you have one of those devices, you're going to download the app. At that point, the band has a friendly, band-branded Trojan horse on your phone to import whatever content it wants you to have, as well as an easy way to convert renewed into sales.

The bands mentioned" in the article "plan to use these apps to promote their music but the next step could be actual distribution, leveraging the iTunes store's ability to sell apps to offer band subscriptions. I would pay $40/year to have the latest recordings, photos, news and other material from The Fall sent to my iPhone in near real time, and I'd be willing to bet that others would be willing to do the same with their favorite bands."

Some thoughts:

interaction, immediacy & location

The article assumes the user is passive, it doesn't mention is what could happen when everyone with an iPhone/Android attends the bands' gig....... (and ties it with location based services ie virtual networking even when they are in the same room; blogging; interaction with band; other user generated content etc etc) ; chat groups via mobile device etc. These could all be included in that $40 band subscription (which I saw in the comments section of the article that someone deems is too costly)

I saw in the comments to the blog that omegaparticle deems $40 too costly - however they may be prepared to pay $40 if it gives them access to, and interaction with, a band/musician. The smaller the bands subscriber numbers, the better (more 'intimate', more frequent response rates) the interaction, the higher premium may be charged?

and for those suffering app-oplexy or app-ophobia, I refer you to the articles linked on the same blog -

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/nine-inch-nails.html
"Dedicated fans of any band would probably pay $10-$50 per year to have everything an artist creates -- songs, ringtones, videos, photos, drawings, voicemail greetings, interviews, wallpapers, pithy phrases and audio clips delivered to them via a dedicated mobile application." and

"While the idea of subscribing to millions of songs hasn't attracted many consumers, the idea of subscribing to a band could find wider traction, and iPhone/Android apps could be the perfect platform for that strategy."

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/09/apple-readying.html
"iPhone and iPod Touch users will soon be able to access extended, interactive album art for certain records by installing apps from Apple's App Store that include artwork, behind-the-scenes photos and lyrics"

Album art and liner notes are a key thing missing from digital music stores, fans tend to hunt out those details via band websites etc.

Review of CMJ: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/arts/music/27cmj.html

key quote: "it’s clear that music remains far healthier than the music business" ; and "A music business in bewilderment and disarray, fueled far more by musicians’ compulsion to create and perform than by any assurance of a career. Perhaps that’s the same as it ever was, only with the Internet twist that while record labels hold less power and sales potential than they have in decades, music can reach more listeners more quickly than ever. It’s a great moment for musicians who want to be heard and a difficult one for musicians who need to be paid." and "Many musicians who strive to support themselves onstage are writing material that doesn’t strive for radio-style catchiness but mesmerizes and clobbers live audiences instead" and "For much of CMJ, the large-scale music business might as well have been on another planet. Money is tight. Although overall attendance (including musicians) was up 5 percent from last year, there were surprisingly few exhibitors at convention booths in the Skirball Center at New York University, where CMJ’s panel discussions were held. The bands lugging their amplifiers around the Lower East Side and Williamsburg were envisioning not arena audiences and big royalty checks but the congratulations of a new fan or two and the chance to be mentioned on a music blog. Their music can now spread worldwide instantaneously, but in the meantime, they have to make it to the next club gig."

street art

think #2

thought for the day: If you can't be a good example then you might as well be a horrible warning.

copyright issue #1

Excerpts below from an email discussion group - contact me if you want the source:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-mongols22-2008oct22,0,754213.story

..."But the most lasting blow to the San Gabriel Valley-based bikers may be down the road: In an unusual maneuver, the feds are also seeking to seize control of the Mongols' trademarked name, which is typically accompanied by its cherished insignia -- a ponytailed Genghis Khan-like figure riding a chopper. U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien said if his plan is successful, the government would take over ownership of the trademark, and anyone caught wearing a Mongols patch could have it seized by law enforcement on the spot.

"Not only are we going after the Mongols' motorcycles, we're going after their very identity," O'Brien said in a telephone interview early this morning. "We are using all the tools at our disposal to crush this violent gang.""


Imagine this scenario:
"excuse me, sir, you may not be aware of this, but the copyright for the tattoo on the back of your head is held by the US government; I'm going to have to ask you to remove that, or at least wear a hat."

Fortunately for him, the copy on his head (which is, by definition, a "copy" under the U.S. Copyright Act) is not an infringing copy, since it was "lawfully made" before the seizure. Whoever owns his head (hopefully the guy) is free to distribute it without the consent of the copyright owner (unless, according to the Ninth Circuit court of appeal, the tattoo was made ouside of the U.S., in which case the U.S. has a right to prohibit him - or at least his head- from entering the country, so he should limit his travels to domestic).

But he need not wear a hat so long as the display is not "public", and the law is written so that he can take his hat off in a restaurant, for example, but can't post the photo posted above here on the Internet. When he dies, the gravedigger will need U.S. Authorization to dispose of it.

create

www.melodyvonrock.deviantart.com

and am currently sewing some cushions (with piped edges) for on top of upturned milk crates

Update: have sewn cushions and also made a shopping trolley out of a cattle grain bag:

think

am pondering:

1. the issue of control versus enablement in digital information
2. the effect of location on creativity
3. and why oh why did I drop my phone and break it. I refuse to buy another phone until the google phone arrives and can't go back to a nontouch screen phone...... and just realised I haven't backed up my contacts, calendar, notes, phone photos.....

listen

www.last.fm/user/melodyangel

Future copyright mechanisms should be based on reimbursement by play rather than acquisition of a piece of music.

read

am reading about the Weimar Republic culture :Gay, P. Weimar culture: the outsider as insider. isbn 0393322394

am fascinated by the intense creativity during the Weimar republic and then how it was all destroyed. I went to Weimar hoping to find more history but apart from the Bauhaus could not find much at all.

watch

Last night I saw Orpheus. Mirrors are the doors through which death comes and goes. Look at yourself in a mirror all your life, and you'll see death at work, like bees in a hive of glass.