We’re drinking, my friend, to the end of a brief episode / Make it one for my baby, and one more for the road. ~ Johnny Mercer
Brian Bergeron was the man who first brought to my attention the horrible contest Capitol and Coldplay put together, which I wrote about here and here. Seems fitting that he’d be the one to close this chapter as well.
To recap, Capitol Records hosted a contest with Live Nation, where bands could submit videos for the chance to open for Coldplay. Turns out, some serious terms and conditions were burried in the fine print. Entering gave Capitol a total royalty-free license to use the entry song for any reason, and the exclusive option of give a contestant a record contract, the terms of which were not negotiable, and quite tilted towards Capitol (even moreso than a standard, first-record contract from a major label). The prize for all of this? 20 minutes of play, with no guarantees that the artist would play in any place of prominence, either physically on the stage or any decent time slot. Payment for this barely would cover the costs of preparing for an arena gig.
While the winning conditions have yet to change, after a couple days of complaints from a variety of places, the terms and conditions changed to remove most of these aforementioned traps. I was cautious at best with these results, however. I stressed that this is an indicator that Capitol wasn’t going to play nice in this contest, although I did applaud them for responding to popular concerns. Many artists, including my friend Brian, took this change as a chance to submit their stuff and see how they could do.
Turns out, my suspicions of Capitol were well founded. Brian reports that the finalists were selected from the contest before the submission period had even ended, effectively ending the contest for all but the finalists.
I spent yesterday with the band working in Haverhill, MA to throw together a video for the Coldplay opener contest. It looks like they had straightened the rules out and made it fair for the competitors. We scrambled to track an entire song and take plenty of video footage and I spent a few hours with Bob today going over the material and putting together a power-packed four-and-a-half minutes. I committed a full day to make sure this would get done in time.
I should learn to expect this kind of thing from these competitions, however…I logged on my computer to submit it to the contest (entries clos’e at midnight tonight) to discover that the winning videos have all ready been CHOSEN. This is BEFORE the entry period is over and once again, the music industry has acted in an irresponsible and unreliable way.
It takes an extra special sort of gall to put forth a Faustian contest - luring artists with promises of equal chances and big exposure and then stealing the very songs artists live and die with under fine print in back pages of the contest site - and then go forth an not even abscribe to the rules you made in the first place. It’s like challenging a person to a game of Calvinball, clubbing them in the knees, and when they still beat you in a race claiming that “first is the worst and second is the best.”
I see no reason why Capitol, Live Nation, and WFNX felt the need to break the rules here. Perhaps this is a small thing to complain about, but the wanton mistreatment of artists throughout this whole contest is another painful example of how much of this industry is forcing itself into a cutthroat, business-driven “us vs. them” market, and how little is the cooperation of all to bring out the best this very music world has to offer. It’s a sad example of how far from music companies like Capitol Records have gone. I hope Johnny Mercer can’t see his company now.
In spite of this, there are silver linings to be had. I’m nearly certain the nominated bands did nothing wrong and had nothing to do with this strange breaking of the rules. I wish the best for all of them. The contest will bring popularity to some Boston-scene bands, and the rising tide will raise all boats. Second, and closer to Brian’s story, he did put together a solid video showcasing a new song of his. According to the blog, he’ll be back in the studio in August, which is most exciting. I’ve been listening to and performing with Brian for nearly five years, and it’s wonderful to watch an already-unique style such as his mature and grow with the help of a full band. Here’s their submission:
I predict this is the last I will write about this particular situation. I hope Brian’s video helps bring it full circle: back to the music; back to the dream. Mountains like the music industry aren’t scaled through contests and sweepstakes. Most certainly, luck plays a role, but so does the support of fans. Support artists like Brian and all the others entering this contest. Let’s show Capitol we don’t need their graces and large stages to find the next big band. Indeed, we’ll know about them long before they ever come aware.
Roommate, friend, and hot shot movie extra Oscar and I got into a lively discussion a couple days ago about the world and our role in it. Our discussion mainly consisted of me posing hypothetical acting roles for organizations that Oscar may not like, and seeing if he would accept them (e.g. “would you appear in a Blockbuster commercial?” “Would you take a part in a McCain Campaign ad?” and so forth). His answers, as I’m sure he well knows, frustrated me by their neutrality towards all moral compass. He’d either take the gig or take the gig “as a joke.” My pleas of “Wouldn’t you be helping the enemy here?!” were met with “Wouldn’t it be hysterical?” There was no making a stand or sticking to your personal guns in light of monetary gain.
This speaks to how he and I view the world quite differently. At heart, I always feel like a feisty little world-changer, and I consider my actions important signals of my feelings. I’ll pay a little extra to buy something at a local store instead of going to Wal*Mart, as if my dollar is going to make the Walton family turn their heads. I boycott. I protest. I write letters. I get a little outspoken at times. I try to lead to the world as an example, knowing that if everyone did the same we’d be in a much better place. I know full well the world isn’t watching me, but I don’t care. Oscar, on the other hand, laughs at the world as it goes by. He takes the discount where he can get it, jokes and ridicules political absurdity rather than getting up-in-arms about it, and lives mainly for his own gain. I wouldn’t ever say he is any less of a world participant than I, or he is “wrong” while I am “right.” He’s a brilliant man and a wonderful influence on me and the world around him. At heart, he and I just play a different game. He threw a Horace Walpole line at me in our debate that’s been sticking with me since: “Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.”
I think Oscar could learn a lot from me, but I probably could learn even more from him. I’ve been snarking more at the world recently, though I still try and stay the feisty advocate. It’s been a complicated balance, but I think it is working. This morning I found a piece on Crooks and Liars that the advocate in me would be all upset about, but I’m beginning to appreciate as an observer. The Washington Post ran this piece by Dana Milbank, which is pretty good as a read, but really captures its alma as a video. Enjoy.
(Edit: For some reason the player is being a little finicky. See the original post here.)
Now, from an economic standpoint, we’re hurting. This has been a terrible year for many of us, in our industry and in our lives. There’s an active role we can take in considering the economics of the candidates and lobbying for better care taken in the assessment and treatment of our economy.
But it does feel kinda good to laugh about the situation, doesn’t it?
Hello, and Happy Independents Day! To coincide with the national observation of our Independence, Independent record labels across the globe are taking today as a chance to celebrate their role in music. From the official website:
This is the first ever global celebration of independent music, a sector first home to artists including The Beatles, Elvis and Coldplay and still home to the likes of Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys and Bjork.
Coming out of a week of some downright evil maneuvers from EMI subsidiary Capitol Records, it’s refreshing to take a look at those labels that are keeping it small and caring. You too can celebrate by downloading the Independents Day MP3 Album, with tracks from Devandra Banhart (covering Oasis), Dr. Dog, Frank Black (and Hanson and Slipknot…). This album might be worth it for the Banhart cover alone, a rather shuffled version of “Don’t Look Back In Anger.”
Revenues from the sale are split between multiple good people, including A2IM, The Worldwide Independent Network, MusiCares (one of a rare few groups dedicated to the health and welfare of musicians), and a newly formed fund to be distributed to musician programs in Central America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. In addition to the album, you can also check out their series of EBay Auctions including a shopping spree with DJ Spooky, the chance to be CEO for a day at Shadow Beggars Group, and a Guitar Hero jam session with Dragon Force.
Independent labels are in a tough spot these days. While technology has equaled the battle in distribution, as online sellers like Amazon and iTunes are careful to allow equal treatment of majors and independents (on the front end of the site, at least), the path to total music equality has some serious hurdles. The latest online battleground has come to light after a rather famous Billy Bragg editorial in the New York Times: social networks using music as a feature on their site are now being asked to pay for royalties as these websites become tremendously popular and profitable.
Bragg:
The musicians who posted their work on [social networks] are no different from investors in a start-up enterprise. Their investment is the content provided for free while the site has no liquid assets. Now that the business has reaped huge benefits, surely they deserve a dividend.
What’s at stake here is more than just the morality of the market. The huge social networking sites that seek to use music as free content are as much to blame for the malaise currently affecting the industry as the music lover who downloads songs for free. Both the corporations and the kids, it seems, want the use of our music without having to pay for it.
The claim that sites such as MySpace and Bebo are doing us a favor by promoting our work is disingenuous. Radio stations also promote our work, but they pay us a royalty that recognizes our contribution to their business. Why should that not apply to the Internet, too?
As of now, the major labels have been able to leverage their politcal influence to receive royalties from these companies, but independents have been too small to sit at the table. Lucky for the independents there are unionizing movement afoot. Wired last month ran a great piece showcasing Merlin, a group that represents 12,000 independent artists and labels, growing to represent as large a share of the market as EMI and earning the title of “The Fifth Major” in some circles. Even more impressive is the fact that EMI still has a larger catalog then the Merlin groups, proving to some degree the point that independent labels are better at finding successful music, as they take an equal market share with a smaller catalog. Merlin now is looking to negotiate with music-driven social sites such as Last.FM, MySpace, and imeem. PaidContent has the story.
So while we’re all munching down hot dogs and watching fireworks tonight, take a moment to put your favorite local artist on the stereo (or perhaps the aforementioned mix) and toast one to the labels that haven’t forgotten the music end of the music business.
And Happy Independents Day, no matter how you spell it.
(Update: See post here and gripping conclusion here)
“I get so tired of listening to the way everyone treats music. I keep feeling they’re selling out.”
~Johnny Mercer, songwriter, on his founding of Capitol records
And you thought that we were faking
That we were all just money making
You do not believe we’re for real
Or you would lose your cheap appeal? ~Johnny Rotten, songwriter, on Capitol’s owner, EMI
As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently touched base with old friend Brian Bergeron, who brought this story to my attention via the blog post of fellow artist The Everyday Visuals. The story also made grumblings on LemmingTrail today.
Capitol Records has decided to hold a contest to select openers for Coldplay’s latest tour for shows in San Jose, Philadelphia, Chicago, Hartford, DC, and Boston. Bands may submit a video to YouTube of their best song, and the winner gets a chance to take the stage before the headliner and play to no-doubt sold out audiences of tens of thousands, assuredly launching them into superstardom and earning the love and respect of one of the largest rock bands of our time.
Below the cut is the terms and services of this agreement, outlining the very worst contest rules and conditions I have ever seen. Seriously, Faust would be loving this.
Hey everybody - thanks for waiting, and happy Canada Day. Everyone may remember the War of 1812 and the only invasion onto the continental US soil by another nation’s army (Canadians, as a British colony), but did you know we also fought between Maine and New Brunswick in the Aroostook War in 1838? It was a bloodless war, so I guess no harm, no foul - and I’d forgive Canada on behalf of Americans everywhere, but I’m not altogether certain if my family had moved to Massachusetts from Newfoundland yet, so it’s entirely possible it should be me asking forgiveness of my neighbors. Be it as it may, Canada runs deep in my blood and I hope you can take some time to hug-a-Canuck today.
I’m going to do a quick news brain dump for now, and get into some more quality writing a little later today. Here’s some of the stuff I missed while spending time with some of my favorite people up on Mount Desert Island (the land mass with an identity crisis):
As a followup to what I wrote in early June, the House Subcommittee on the Courts, Internet, and Intellectual Property approved the Performance Rights Act on Thursday. The act requires radio stations to pay royalties on sound recordings as well as compositions, as does webcasting since 2007’s Copyright Board ruling. Reactions abound from the ruling from the two major parties involved, musicFIRST and the National Association of Broadcasters, and analysis from Coolfer and Ars Technica, where Nate Anderson does an excellent job laying out the issues and showing how the merits of the cases are obscured by strange lobbying and PR tactics.
Alex Leavitt, a young man I met at Berkman@10, delved into ethnomusicology on Friday with an analysis of enka music mixed with hip-hop. Enka was a popular early-20th-century form of pop music, best known in the US for its frequent inclusion in Tarantino films. It’s an interesting case of East mixing with West, then mixing again, such as what you see in Ghanaian Highlife (and more recently, Hiplife) music. Both enka and Highlife are favorites of mine, and on this balmy humid Boston day Nigeria Special! is one of the only things keeping me cool.
Public Knowledge signals the importance of today (aside from this being Canada Day and all) as the first day in which Copyright claimants can register online, with a reduced fee. PK is well-known for their backing of the current Orphan Works bill, which inverses my opinion of the aforementioned Performance Rights bill - whereas the latter represents an issue I typically oppose but can appreciate the compromise in the details, the current Orphan Works bill represents an issue I usually support (that is, letting unrepresented works pass into the public domain) that loses my support in the details. Be that as it may, Alex Curtis does a great job showing how an online copyright registry can be opened up with a little API love to help users navigate the records easier.
Copyright guru William Patry put on his Constitutional scholar cap on Friday and drew some fascinating parallels between the DC Handgun decision and Constitutional interpretation of Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 - the sentence that gave us copyright. His point, and I heartily agree with him, is to cast serious doubt in the majority’s opinion of dismissing the first part of the Second Ammendment (”Because a well regulated Militia is necessary to the security of a free State,”) as a mere prefatory clause, and cutting to the second part (“the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”) as the actual “right.” It’s dense and referential reading, but shows quite cleanly that if we are to agree with Scalia that this first part was just fluff, it would be the first time we ever regarded any part of the Constitution as prefatory.
Aquarium Drunkard gives us their take on a curious release from this year that seems to be slipping under the radar: Stax Does the Beatles. Included in their assessment is a curious anecdote: Did you know the Beatles were originally slated to record Revolver at Stax, but for security reasons the band opted to stay at Abbey Road in London?
I recently reconnected with an old friend and performing buddy Brian Bergeron. He informed me of his blog, which is now added to the blogroll on right. Today’s post is a deeply personal and excellent read about how the slumping economy is impacting street performers like Brian, who you can see frequently up at Faneuil Hall. Brian also fed me a story that I’ll be writing about a little later as well. Stay tuned.
I want to take a second to wish the best of travels to my good friend, online mentor, and all around champion of the people, Mr. Colin Ashe. Colin is taking the next long while to see the rest of the world (via Brazil, and then Thailand, and hopefully I can join him next spring in a motorcycle trip from Bangkok to Beijing). He is a tireless advocate of good things, and the States will certainly miss him while he’s out there over the next year or two. His influence in my own life has been most profound, helping me craft an interest in everything from online intellectual property, to Wilco, to Twitter.
Two of my favorite DJs happen to also be two of my favorite people in the Boston/Northeastern music scene: Ryan, aka DJ Ghostdad, and Aaron, aka Aardvark Chekhov, aka my roommate. Last week we saw the melding of their musical minds on Ghostdad’s MoFo Radio on WZBC. Ryan’s got the link on his blog. Give it a listen. It’s quite solid.
I have a hunch I’m in a race with OhRyan to repost this. A bunch of my friends and former co-workers did up a series of sketches for a work project that was canned before it was ever released. I for one was afraid these comedy bits would never see the light of day. Now they’re back and better than ever as an independent release. From Evan, Taylor, Jake, Paul and Dan, here’s WowManWow:
I want to end the night with an exclusive recording done by three of my best friends. Two of my bandmates, friends, and nearly newlyweds - Jackie and Stacey - have rocked my radio shows for years with their ambient noise experiments and general comedy fun. Last week they wrote a straight-up pop song (kinda), recorded by dear friend and Sitcom Mom Bethany. Here’s the result:
The name of the track is “Green Vinyl Shoes (Walking Down Beacon Street On A Cold Autumn Day With My Love On My Mind)” it hits a really lovely Moldy Peaches sort of aesthetic, which is wonderful for these too (and Bethany’s fandom of the band comes through quite well in her production). Hope you enjoy.
In keeping with the irony theme of today’s first post, here’s one from Paste that’s worth reposting. The best charting metal album of all time came from this year. From a dude in Boston. Who’s a comedian.
From Paste:
The Dethalbum [by pretty-much-faux band Dethklok] debuted at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 charts, breaking all sorts of records even without a needlessly pedantic title. Dethklok may not be the biggest band on the planet yet, like they are in Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse, but Nathan Explosion is one step closer to that gigantic death metal fortress in the arctic wastes of Norway.
Creator Brendon Small has taken the self-aware element of acts like GWAR and honed it to a razor’s edge, crafting face-melting metal that, for once, doesn’t take itself seriously. Small writes the music and scripts for the show, as well as doing voiceovers for several of the characters and taking the helm on lead guitar and vocals.
I’m plum tickled that Brendon Small has made such a big splash in all that he’s done. While born in Illinois, he’s Berklee and Emerson trained and spends his days at Soup2Nuts, based right up the road in Watertown, where the world met squigglevision and amazing shows like Dr. Katz, Science Court, and Small’s own Home Movies.
