If you'll look to your right (no, not that far), you'll see the new "The Podcast" section, which includes the widget for the "Are You Really Experienced?" podcast I've been involved with for the past month-plus, and to which I'll likely remain involved with for the immediate future.
(At least until Michael Sean Wright and Dr. Tony Shore figure out how much of a closet Luddite I actually am when it comes to matters musical, and start declining to unmute me when the showtime rolls around...)
"Showtime? What's that you say? When do you blithering twidiots (idiots with Twitter accounts...I'm trademarking that momentarily) actually spout this nonsense?"
So glad you asked...we're live on the interwebs every Monday night at 9 pm Central/7 pm Pacific/1 pm Guam. (Just in case we have any hardcore music 'n' tech fanatics tuning in from Guam.) Once again, here's the link: Are You Really Experienced?
On this most recent epic, we delve more into the Live Nation/Ticketmaster marriage, what 360 deals really mean for artists and the companies that offer them, what Nashville's Belmont University (my oft-times employer) does for its students seeking interaction with the music industry, how we were completely unsurprised that Sirius XM is/was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and so much more.
Our bantering is fleshed out by Joe Kirk from NoiseTrade.com, who usually sits kindly by as MSW, Tony and I flail away, and then jumps in with the proper cogent comment.
Take a listen, if you will...let us know what you think.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What if...you don't really, really like it?
This week on “Are You Really Experienced?” we talk about what was right and wrong (and what Michael Sean Wright thought was wrong) with the Grammys, the ongoing Ticketmaster/Live Nation effort for a virtual ticketing monopoly, a mini-RIAA invasion of the DoJ, what the average person knows/cares about the PROs, and hey, we actually talk about some music! Listen as MSW, Dr. Tony Shore, Joe Kirk and I blather on for an hour about the music ‘n’ tech issues o’ the day…
Let me try to crystallize some thoughts that have been racing around in my head for a long time.
If T Bone Burnett decided he wanted to lead a coup d'état on the nation of Music, sign me up as a foot soldier. I trust his leadership on matters musical implicitly.
However, his comments backstage at the Grammys seem to echo a growing notion of abandonment of music as a method of mass communication, one that I don’t think bodes well for our society as a whole.
“What I think is that there is a limited number of people who like music. But those people really, really like music,” Burnett said. “The record industry got into the business of trying to sell music to everybody. If you make music for people who really care about music, you can do well.”
But if music – the “universal language” – starts to become a mode of communication solely intended for those who “really, really like” it, don’t we all lose in the long run?
The pure idea of mass media products – books, music, film, good writing, solid and credible information – becoming democratized so that those higher ideas are available for all who want them has been watered down over time, and that process of erosion has certainly sped up with the advent of easily available technology.
So much so that pretty much the only thing we’re left with is the lowest common denominator. We, the root level consumer, get the dregs because they’re easy and cheap to produce, and we’re told to like it.
And when you combine that with the flip side of a great and growing number of “consumers” who think, illogically, that all this content should be “free” because they’re unaware (or unwilling to become aware) of the economic structures involve with producing said content, it reinforces the content producers idea that the only thing they should produce is the product they absolutely know will sell. Not “think” will sell…know.
So what happens to the mass of potential music fans – those people who might “really, really like” great music if given the opportunity of exposure to it – don’t get that opportunity if the people who make the music don’t reach out past those who already love it, the people who distribute the music don’t bring it to the much-vaunted “marketplace of ideas,” and audience members don’t think they should have to part with anything other than some hard drive space?
Simple: they don’t become music fans.
Do I think everybody who even ever-so-slightly loves music should listen to and learn to love "Raising Sand"? Absolutely. Do I wish everybody I know who has even a passing interest in music would rush out and buy Burnett's classic "The True False Identity"? Absolutely.
But do I think Burnett and his oh-so-talented co-horts should only make music for those who "really, really like" it? Absolutely not.
Let me try to crystallize some thoughts that have been racing around in my head for a long time.
If T Bone Burnett decided he wanted to lead a coup d'état on the nation of Music, sign me up as a foot soldier. I trust his leadership on matters musical implicitly.
However, his comments backstage at the Grammys seem to echo a growing notion of abandonment of music as a method of mass communication, one that I don’t think bodes well for our society as a whole.
“What I think is that there is a limited number of people who like music. But those people really, really like music,” Burnett said. “The record industry got into the business of trying to sell music to everybody. If you make music for people who really care about music, you can do well.”
But if music – the “universal language” – starts to become a mode of communication solely intended for those who “really, really like” it, don’t we all lose in the long run?
The pure idea of mass media products – books, music, film, good writing, solid and credible information – becoming democratized so that those higher ideas are available for all who want them has been watered down over time, and that process of erosion has certainly sped up with the advent of easily available technology.
So much so that pretty much the only thing we’re left with is the lowest common denominator. We, the root level consumer, get the dregs because they’re easy and cheap to produce, and we’re told to like it.
And when you combine that with the flip side of a great and growing number of “consumers” who think, illogically, that all this content should be “free” because they’re unaware (or unwilling to become aware) of the economic structures involve with producing said content, it reinforces the content producers idea that the only thing they should produce is the product they absolutely know will sell. Not “think” will sell…know.
So what happens to the mass of potential music fans – those people who might “really, really like” great music if given the opportunity of exposure to it – don’t get that opportunity if the people who make the music don’t reach out past those who already love it, the people who distribute the music don’t bring it to the much-vaunted “marketplace of ideas,” and audience members don’t think they should have to part with anything other than some hard drive space?
Simple: they don’t become music fans.
Do I think everybody who even ever-so-slightly loves music should listen to and learn to love "Raising Sand"? Absolutely. Do I wish everybody I know who has even a passing interest in music would rush out and buy Burnett's classic "The True False Identity"? Absolutely.
But do I think Burnett and his oh-so-talented co-horts should only make music for those who "really, really like" it? Absolutely not.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Are You Really Experienced?: The Boss
I don't get a chance to weigh in on what I thought about Bruce Springsteen at the Super Bowl, but Michael Sean Wright and Dr. Tony Shore do. I do, however, get to pontificate on the Sony/Apple slapfight, how young bands can spend too much time on their digital lives and not enough learning how to be a band, and a plethora of other topics on this week's edition of "Are You Really Experienced?", the weekly talkcast of music and tech.
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