We knew it would happen someday. Back in 1989, Andres Serrano busted open a simmering debate over whether it’s right (or even effective) for tax dollars to support arts. As a high school student at the time, I got worried…
I caught a little bit of the dust-up on Twitter today about this article in the Atlantic that targets the—shall we say—sanitized nature of the National Association of Campus Activities conventions. Today’s college students can’t seem to take a joke…
Here in Philadelphia, a core collection of 160 “arts and cultural groups” has issued an urgent plea for $1.4 billion in philanthropic funding. This, only five years after a report noted the challenges of making significant social impact when creative…
Steve Stoute’s a little angry at NARAS. Every year, folks complain about a Grammy snub. But Steve’s wondering aloud, in an open letter to the New York Times, whether the Grammy voters have consistently snubbed “pop culture” with its selections…
By the late 1980s, MTV’s programmers weren’t content with scattershot ratings, so they experimented with original series and specialty programming blocks. Today, MTV’s harshest critics blast Jersey Shore and The Hills as having nothing to do with rock and roll,…
It seems like the music journalism community has decided that this is the week they can finally pile on Taylor Swift. In the past 36 hours, I’ve read headlines about her “career-ending” Grammy performance, bloggers and columnists have called for…
Everyone I know has a newfound respect for P!nk. Apparently, she’s been doing the wire act from last night’s Grammy Awards as an encore in her live set for some time now. That it was the standout moment in the…
Some things show up in four year cycles, like the Winter Olympics, leap years, and complaints about Talent2K. In the past few weeks, I’ve found myself again facing a stack of mail asking whether Talent2K is “legit,” whether they’re “reformed,”…
Lots of friends and colleagues from abroad have hyped up Spotify to me, and I don’t doubt that it’s an awesome service. As we hear more about Spotify, especially involving mobile apps and in-car services, I fear we might be…
Nekesa Mumbi Moody chronicles a common complaint, especially among high-ranking women in the music business: If you don’t look better than you sound, the recording industry doesn’t want you. And it’s true. Armchair quarterbacks are already noting that Melinda Doolittle…
Brian Austin Whitney writes about the challenges he’s facing putting together the next Just Plain Folks Roadtrip. A lot of our long-time readers are also JPF members (as am I), and the Roadtrip has always offered a great opportunity to…
In general, this story about a favorite Irish pub in Boston is inspiring. For every club owner that moans about how hard it is to grow a following and stay in business, this should be mandatory reading. These guys lost…
A2IM has published the “Rules of Engagement” document that evolved from the settlement agreement with the country’s four biggest radio chains. In some ways, it feels like a throwback to twenty years ago. In the pre-web days, to bend the…
More about the threat to internet radio from our friends at Kurt Hanson’s shop: First, the SoundExchange guys say, “don’t blame us.” And they’re right. Any time I’ve dealt with the folks there, they’ve always been kind, gracious, and really…
A few weeks back, I caught a little heat for using the phrase, “selling older music to older people.” I was actually quoting Jimmy Guterman from PaidContent, who was commenting on the aging hipster element at the Grammy Awards. While…
At a recent music business workshop in Jamaica, some experienced artists and managers remarked that a good manager can cut the amount of time it takes for an artist to become profitable in half. However, many people with the potential…
About once every few days, we get a phone call from an otherwise well intentioned operator from YP.com who wants us to upgrade our business listing. Despite our repeated requests to be removed from their list, they keep calling. And…
I tried hard to be diplomatic, but the volume of hate mail and the truly bizarre comments about Burnlounge have driven me over the edge. Previously, I posted that I did not feel that Burnlounge was a ripoff. It’s a…
The guys at MusicBiz.com, with whom I usually agree on a lot of things, are taking an oddly defensive tone to the recent report from the Future of Music Coalition exploring how government-sanctioned consolidation has choked off a once vibrant…
Either someone’s out astroturfing for a competitor of CD Baby, or somebody must have had a freakishly screwed up order. Someone calling themselves John Miller is sending e-mail and posting forum and blog comments to just about every independent music…
[Thanks to a Stereogum commenter for a great headline.] In my books, I’ve written about the ways that baby bands would push hard to get a date at a venue like CBGB, then complain when a talent buyer would insist…
Despite my intention to not stir up debate, a whole mess of folks are rolling through the site looking to defend Burnlounge. Judging by some of the e-mail I have received, some readers might have confused my opinion with what…
Bob Baker’s saying it better than I can, but I’ll elaborate. If you’re sitting around, pissing and moaning about your scene or the business or the A&R guys that don’t get it, you’re never going to succeed as a working…
Ray Beckerman has posted the most definitive guide to the RIAA’s practice of scaring the wits out of consumers with copyright infringement lawsuits. At the crux of the strategy is the realization that many of the “John Does” in each…
Analysts are already calling Taylor Hicks’ post-Idol career an uphill battle. Will the folks that phoned in to see him win actually plunk $17.98 for a Taylor Hicks record? Two things going on here: 1. Record company expectations are too…
About once a week, folks will ask me about another new service that’s supposed to “get your music heard.” And some folks will try these services out and report that they got a hundred new people on their mailing lists,…
David comes to the aid of Delta in an earlier post (at least someone’s getting some good service from them), but brings up a bigger issue. If you believe that something sucks going in, it probably will suck for you.…
Have you noticed lately that no matter what station you tune your radio to, you just keep hearing the same songs over and over again? There is a great and looming danger that America is losing any appreciation for quality…
Curt’s thinking about the ways that we impose limits on ourselves, using the “four minute mile” barrier as a great example of how humans are capable of talking themselves out of great achievements. I meet musicians all the time that…
I remember the days of record players. Then there were cassette tapes, and then CDs. And now, it seems, everything has gone digital. Has everyone gone digital, too? When you download songs off of the Internet, do you tend to…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has new figures that should send a chill down the spine of folks that want to start making more money as working musicians. 22% of Americans’ “entertainment budget” now goes to cable and satellite TV,…
First, there was Napster. Then, there were lawsuits. What’s your take on the downloading debate? Should there be anti-piracy software on CDs to prevent people from burning CDs more than a certain number of times? Some people think that such…
Not only does today’s news of a Pearlman-backed, American version of the esteemed BBC series Top of the Pops raise some eyebrows at Fark, but the story contains one of the most questionable headshots of a recording industry executive ever.…
Weeks are flying by so fast around here, and I realize I hadn’t even weighed in on the CDBaby/BestBuy.com mashup. Basically, if you go wayyyy down here into the cellar of their site, there’s a “Browse CDBaby” button and a…
Why? Why do industry experts insist on coming off as crotchety old hillbillies, sitting on the porch, talking about how “in my day, we didn’t have no dadgum eye pods. We had heavy laminate discs you had to spin around…
Thanks to Emily and other Arctic Monkeys fans for reminding me that the band does not actively maintain a MySpace page — that page is a fan creation. Which jibes with our contention that MySpace is not quite the mighty…
There’s a term in the tech world called “not invented here syndrome” which refers to companies that refuse to get on board a new trend or idea simply because they didn’t think of it. Radio and music television in America…
In the trade rags, I see column after column about “lousy” ticket sales and “lousy” CD sales. “Lousy” is right, if you’re used to selling out arenas every night and going triple platinum in three weeks on the charts. As…
SvN explores Ian MacKaye’s concept of running a record label like a bakery — focus on the love of a good product and a steady stream of happy customers. (In the comments, folks also chat about Fugazi’s stern stage announcements…)…
Was he in a particularly dark mood when they asked him to make this iTunes Celebrity Playlist?
I’ve been lamenting to my clients that we’re always in need of fresh, new holiday songs. So Rhonda and Pale Beneath the Blue have whipped up the Snow Emergency EP. “Christmas Break” is definitely fresh and different — and it…
As usual, Lefsetz speaks only truth. “The ship is leaking at the bottom” is one great quote, plus the refrain that my clients are used to hearing: audience is built on touring, where you can overcome in merch sales what…
Mike Matney realizes he’s buying most of his music in digital form. So do I. So are lots of folks, especially the kind of tastemakers that can spread the word about your songs. So, why are so many independent musicians…
Bob Baker has unleashed even more of his most outrageous music marketing ideas, and one strikes me as having tremendous potential for the right artist. Have you noticed the thread in popular culture right now that audiences love looking for…
Would you be okay with that? Seriously, if you knew the clock was ticking, and you had little more than the length of a Kubrick movie to roll over the highlights of your life… What conversations do you still need…
Newsweek’s international edition picks apart the state of EMI, now the third largest record company in the world. What’s the master strategy they’re following? Stay flexible and ready to react to the next completely unexpected thing that consumers want. WHAT?!…
Ritch Esra smacks down Lyor Cohen and the rest of the Warner Music executive team, for cashing $21 million in salary and bonus checks (three times the company’s net operating revenue, on paper, anyway) in the same year they dropped…
A few folks have been asking me to comment on EMI’s new deal with Korn. In a nutshell, the band is trading 25% of their across-the-board revenue for a $15 million upfront advance. It’s a risky move on both sides,…
Thanks to David and Bob for sharing my September 1 letter with their readers!