Music Delivery in 2020

Today is October 14, 2020, the day that I pay my bills. I switched over to online billing a long time ago, and my statements routinely show up in my e-mail inbox. I log-on and pay my cell phone bill, my Netflix bill, and my internet bill. The bill for my internet seems a little high, so I look into things a little closer. It appears that the introductory rate on my music add-on has run out, and I am now being charged full price.

Social Media for Musicians

I am amazingly fortunate to have a young lady named Sarah Cicuto (@cicutoface) on my management team. She does all of my bands’ release writing, sponsorship proposals, marketing plans, one-pagers.. All of the stuff that I’m not nearly eloquent enough to handle. She is an invaluable member of my organization, and I cannot stress enough my appreciation for her time and effort.

Sarah and I were presented with an interesting circumstance last week. I had an artist telling me that social media sites like Twitter, Foursquare, etc. were not game changers. Essentially that they were not worth the time. I was decently appalled. I pride myself on the education of my artists, whom I constantly forward articles from Music Think Tank and 9GiantSteps, but this wasn’t enough. My artist thought the information was anecdotal, thought these sites offered trivial gains. The words used were, “marginally successful.”

If I was decently appalled, Sarah was fuming. She began talking in the third person. “Sarah is upset,” I read. “Let’s do something about this,” I said. Then Sarah went back to her day job, applying social media and engagement  plans for giant corporations. I thought that maybe we would do some research and send off an e-mail blast to my clients. Three days later, I got the following. It is a comprehensive article regarding social media and online presence. To say that I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement.

I really think that Sarah nailed it. Here we have a wealth of information in language that any band can understand. After the jump, her article in full.

Today We Learn About: Led Zeppelin & the Blues

Baby, baby, I’m gonna bring it on home to you

I done bought my ticket, I got my load
Conductor done hollered, “All, aboard”
I’m-a take my seat, ride way backand watch this train roll down the track

Baby, baby, I’m gonna bring it on home to you

-Willie Dixon “Bring It on Home” (1963)

Baby, baby, gon’ bring it on home to you

I’ve got that ticket, I got that load
Join up, gone higher, all aboard
I’m-a take my seat, ride way back
and watch this train roll down the track

Gonna bring it on home, bring it on home to you

-Led Zeppelin “Bring It on Home” (1969)

The popular English rock band Led Zeppelin has been brought to court for their multiple instances of copyright infringement. These cases have settled out of court, but are outnumbered by the startling similarities that reside in the remainder of the band’s catalog. Through an examination of the blues as an art form and contemporary copyright law as it stood at the time of Led Zeppelin’s fame, it will be shown that the band went far beyond the tradition of shared concepts, rhythms, and structure that is present in the blues. Led Zeppelin has committed the unforgivable; they have not only taken ideas, lyrics, arrangements, melodies, and rhythms without any credit, but they have taken these musical elements from a population that has been historically exploited. Led Zeppelin is yet another in a long line of western light skinned appropriators that have taken what they deemed just from African-American culture without fair compensation. This practice has not been isolated to labor and culture, but expanded to creative works that are protected under internationally recognized laws. Called into question is the African-American community’s ability to combat such appropriation. Often the artists themselves are not responsible for litigation, but their record label or other representative who act of the musician’s behalf. We will examine this tendency and its implication for what can be seen as a broad, unrecognized cultural theft.

Today We Learn About: The Implications of Business on an Art Form

The music business is changing because the record business is changing. While touring, merchandising, and licensing continue to flourish, the sale of CD’s has diminished in recent years. While CD sales decrease, digital music retailers like iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody and eMusic set new revenue records almost yearly. Companies like Tunecore allow artists to become their own record label. A shift in revenue source, a focus on singles over album sales, the creation of new mediums for delivery, and the ease of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) distribution have drastically changed a landscape that for decades has relied on an unwavering business model. In changing times, a business model must change as well. Along with this shift in business model must come a shift in regard for the very art form that has driven the music industry forward since sheet music was sold from Tin Pan Alley. Likewise, a shift in regard for those who create this art must also take place.

Geeking Out: Acopolyptic Views of the Record Business are NOT the Entire Picture

this is going to be really quick. thats the intention, but i could go on and on. but i’m gonna keep it informal. like a deal point memo, i reserve the right to expand this entry upon either parties request.

holy jesus christ almighty. can we please stop with the wah wah wah record sales are down, the world is ending bullshit?! record sales are not the music industry. the music industry is doing decent enough, the record business is utterly fucked. and its not because no one buys records anymore.

Geeking Out: This Bastard Stole My Blog Idea

Complete with the exact page that I linked to… unbelievable! At least gimme a shout out!

http://news.discovery.com/earth/so-many-earthquakes-the-end-is-nigh.html

What a dick. Please view my blog post below.

Today We Learn About: Saltwater v. Freshwater Drowning

Most people are familiar with the term drowning. It has become known as suffocation and death caused by the filling of the lungs with water or other fluid.  But the type of fluid a person drowns in has a significant impact on the effects and processes that take place in the body.  For example, freshwater and saltwater drowning bring about differing processes within the body even though the end result is death.

Geeking Out: Earthquakes.

Here’s why there’s bad news on the horizon.

Look at that link. It’s all the earthquakes this year. Look at the pattern. Ring of Fire. Big Shakers. What does this mean??

Today We Learn About: Etruscan Religion

There is little evidence of Etruscan religion thus there are many differing opinions as to it’s definition, none of which are able to be proven. In her small section on the subject of religion in Etruscan Civilization, Sybille Haynes puts forward the idea that early Etruscan rituals took place outside and later temples were built in which to worship. Her and Helle Anderson share the idea that votive offerings were a large part of religious practice. Anderson seems very convinced that gods had very little to do with religion. Faith centered on deified ancestors.

Today We Learn About: The Roman Empire

All things must end, and the Roman Empire was no exception. The Roman Empire did survive in the form of the Byzantine Empire, then the Holy Roman Empire, but the glory days of Rome, the days of Augustus and Marcus Aurelius came to an end in 406. One of the theories Cahill puts forth in the beginning of his book How the Irish Saved Civilization is that the Empire fell so slowly that not even those who were living in it noticed, nor did many of them probably admit it when it did happen. Although we can certainly say that when the tribes of Europe continually invaded Rome that the Empire was dead, it was dying much before this. The theory that all empires must end and that Rome slowly fell out of power seems the most plausible. Cahill speaks of the evasion and harm of taxes, the collapse of the army, and the beginning of illiteracy being the slow murderers of the great Roman Empire.