How did we get here? There is always the possibility, suggested by many, that America is sinking into an Idiocracy-style dystopia, but that explanation feels too pat. Rather, the success of Trump’s campaign is at least partly a reflection of the way the news media has changed. In addition to (sometimes literally) providing the candidate with a stage, the media used to act as a filter between candidate and voter, couching the candidate’s unvarnished spiel with context, contrary opinions, facts. This is no longer necessarily the case; instead, the media increasingly tries to collapse the space between the politician and his constituent, thrusting everyone, media included, into a shared chaos known as social media.
You are watching a battle that is primarily being conducted by avatars, in a flattened space about the size of a phone, where everyone, from activists to reporters to campaign flacks to President Obama, is braying for attention. As I type this, dozens of operatives are spinning the debate we just watched, dragging an event from the physical world into the digital realm where we spend more and more of our time, and where every gesture, every upload, every expression of outrage, empathy, kindness, or anger, is simultaneously a performance.
Apple Invention Looks To Revive The Mixtape, With A Digital Twist
Described in a patent application titled “Digital mixed tapes” published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday, Apple’s idea is to tap into the nostalgia associated with swapping analog cassette tapes. More specifically, Apple is investigating methods by which personalized albums can be created, purchased and gifted from a cloud-based music service.
The system’s mechanics are based on existing digital storefront technology and would therefore be familiar to anyone who has used iTunes or similar online services. Users select songs, movies, images and other digital media from their own library or an online store, then arrange the content, playback options and more to suit their needs.
This could be seen as further evidence of the influence of Apple’s ‘tech-savvy musicians’ I mentioned previously, finding inspiration in how some pre-digital methods of sharing music created meaningful connections. The ‘mixtape’ idea is also a creative extension of the popular ‘For You’ tab as Apple doubles down on curation and playlisting. Of course, they could damage the idea by making it too complicated, as Apple is wont to do with their music applications. Granted, it’s only a patent filing but there’s a lot packed in there … is the option to “restrict a recipient’s ability to fast forward” really worth adding an extra button?
Now, complexity be damned, if Apple wanted to go all out they could integrate this with GarageBand, adding some Ableton-like syncing capabilty, so users (non-DJs) could share and post ‘mixed’ sets from the Apple Music catalog. Boom.
Art Of The Record Sleeve
The ‘arty’ alternative bands of the 80s like New Order and Joy Division rarely used type over their imagery, and Peter Saville (graphic designer and art director of Factory Records) had always sold that as a way to create a global secret. A secret that would only be known by 500,000 fans, but anyone else going into the record shop wouldn’t have a clue who the group were. There were many record covers that came out looking obscure but that certain indie aesthetic wasn’t seen as commercial back then. But now there has been a 180-degree turn as the way that people browse and consume music has changed and is entirely online. – Philip Marshall
DJBroadcast is serving up a great series of interviews with record sleeve designers. It’s both inspiring and a tad melancholic, as I of miss the days when cover design (whether digital or physical) wasn’t the afterthought that it seems to be for most labels now.
Anyway, the site is two parts deep into the series. Part 1 (HERE) speaks with Philip Marshall who has done work for ZTT, one of my favorite labels with regards to design. Part 2 (HERE) features Lindsay Todd of Firecracker Records who uses his own printing press to fulfill his sleeve design dreams. Good stuff … I’m looking forward to future installments.
Beatport Freezes Payments To Labels – And Gives Artists Just 5% Of Streaming Money
In a letter to music rights-holders sent last night and obtained by MBW, Beatport told labels that SFX’s ‘going private’ procedure had “trapped certain earned label payments”. Beatport believes the process will be “coming to an end in the next few weeks, at which time all payments will be able to be made”.
The big problem for the small labels we’ve spoken to is one of cash flow: this blocked payment covers three months of income, from April-June, and was due to be paid last Thursday (July 30). With Beatport accounting for 90% of digital income for some dance labels, such a delay in a primary revenue source risks badly damaging their stability.
This is pretty bad news for the labels concerned, and I’m sure Beatport’s actions here are not as villianous as some in the online world are making it out to be. They are a corporation, and this is the kind of thing corporations do. However, any label deriving 90% of its digital income from one source — and one that’s outside of its control — should be prepared in advance for situations such as this. (And — broken record time — that also applies when labels depend on something like Facebook for their entire fan outreach strategy.)
Meanwhile, Beatport is now taking on SoundCloud by permitting anyone to upload and monetize their own original tracks onto the platform. But there’s a big catch for artists: according to the terms and conditions of Beatport, it will only pay a measly 5% of income for plays of these user-generated streams. That’s for all rights, too.
I was hopeful when Beatport was just setting this up … I spoke to someone there about how they were aiming for this service to be seen as a monetizable alternative to SoundCloud. Using embeddable players that might pay some royalty would be a game-changer, as long as including advertising on our content wasn’t the trade-off. This 5% figure is disappointing, but I don’t understand where it’s coming from. This implies there’s another 95% that is going elsewhere. Their agreement speaks of the payment coming from a ‘pro rata share of funds made available for the payment of streams.’ So, there’s a pool of funds for this royalty (as I understand it), and then a set share of that pool designated for each play, but the label / artist only gets 5% of that. Hmm? Anyway, I look forward to someone explaining this further.
Update: Sources Tell Music Week Beatport Has Paid ‘Trapped’ Royalties To Majors
According to Music Week sources Beatport has already released those “trapped” royalty payments to major labels, but neglected to do the same for indies. Music Week understands that the UK’s indie trade body AIM hasn’t taken kindly to the treatment and has contacted Beatport demanding to see its members paid within 24 hours.
Whoa, if true, but not surprising. The three majors presently have a hold on the ‘new music economy’ via their consistent threats of litigation and non-participation. The Louis CK model more and more seems like a great idea for indies and self-released musicians who want to avoid getting involved in the mess.
Optimo Music Clashes With Sony Over Post-Punk Compilation
Sony’s objection is to the compilation’s original title, Now That’s What I Call DIY! (Cult Classics From The Post-Punk Era 1978-82), which it says infringed its copyrighted Now That’s What I Call Music! series. Optimo Music head JD Twitch told RA: “I couldn’t reach an agreement with Sony to modify the existing sleeves that was either satisfactory to them or cost effective to me, so the original sleeves will be destroyed.” He says the process cost “several thousand pounds,” adding: “While the whole thing has been a nightmare and extremely annoying, really, the only person I am angry with is myself for not even considering it might be an issue.”
Oops. Regardless, the compilation looks very interesting. I’m stumped by most of the track list and that era’s loosely defined ‘post-punk’ is probably my favorite genre. I’m on board.
Follow Up – re: Spotify’s Discovery Chart
Stefan Prescott writes to us:
Before you dismiss (Spotify’s) discovery chart, remember it’s the same model as we had at our record stores when folks would come in and we would hand them a pile of records. Spotify have nailed doing this at scale based on listener’s data. I love the list; every week so far I have added music from their discovery chart to my various playlists. They have also solved the issue that iTunes and Amazon have not been able to do in their downloading model: offering visibility to millions of songs that are not necessarily new releases that folks would never hear otherwise. This list is not something derived from record label / artist manager marketing efforts. It works because the data is personalized. Finally, from experience, nobody recommends with 100% accuracy, but at least I am getting thirty tracks a week that I am interested to hear.
Great comments, which inspire me to investigate Spotify’s auto-curation a bit further.
I responded:
I am mostly interested in the differences in methodology rather than any outright dismissal, and I see Spotify’s as more rewarding for emerging artists which is where my preference actually lies. I just know, on a visceral level, the ‘For You’ tab on iTunes Music _feels_ more personalized, even though Spotify’s discovery list may actually be more so.
Those seemingly intangible factors that can make digitally delivered music connect or not connect with individuals … this is something that I will certainly be exploring further on this page.
What Happens When An Artist Gets Dropped?
From Noisey, a bit of a glimpse into the major label – artist business relationship and why signing that big deal is often more stick than carrot:
One thing Mike Smith (President of Music at Virgin EMI) is clear about, is that artists need to establish their own level of autonomy, so that their reliance is not entirely on the label. “Now more than ever it’s beholden on an artist and a manager to put the artist in a place where they are not vulnerable. The more work that an artist can do themselves, the stronger they’ll be. Because, what often can happen is an act can get signed on the vision of an A&R person but there just aren’t enough other things going on.”
Basically, whenever an artist enters any situation with a major label, they need to keep grounded, and keep their own worth at the forefront of their minds. “An artist gets it to a point where they’re already self sustainable and then labels swoop in and there’s going to come a point where these artists realize the reason why they’re swooping in and giving them all this money is because they can make ten times as much if they just keep doing what they’re doing,” JMSN (Christian Berishaj) says. “Take Chance the Rapper, he’s been offered million dollar deals and turned them down because obviously if they’re offering you million dollar deals then labels know they can make a whole lot more than that from you. When I meet with labels I ask, ‘What can you provide me that I’m not able to do myself?’ and more often than not there’s not a solid answer besides radio. Who the fuck is going to radio to discover music anymore? We live in a different time.”
Music Break: Steve Cobby
Highly recommending this wonderful nearly two hour mix of pleasant sounds from Steve Cobby (who you may remember from his exploits with Fila Brazillia):
Inside Spotify’s Plan To Take On Apple Music
(Spotify’s) Fresh Finds takes a central component of The Echo Nest’s original methodology—its web content crawler and natural language processing technology—to mine music blogs and reviews from sites like Pitchfork and NME and figure out which artists are starting to generate buzz, but don’t yet have the listenership to show for it. Using natural language processing, the system analyzes the text of these editorial sources to try and understand the sentiment around new artists. For instance, a blogger might write that a band’s “new EP blends an early ’90s throwback grunge sound with mid-’80s-style synthesizers and production—and it’s the best thing to come out of Detroit in years.” If this imaginary act goes on tour and writers in Brooklyn dole out praise of their own, the bots will pick up on it. It helps address an issue some people have voiced early on with Apple Music, that its selections aren’t adventurous and it tends to recommend things you already like rather than things you might like.
I have the feeling that Apple Music is closer to getting curation right than Spotify. People respond to recommendations when there’s a personal aspect … like when it’s a mixtape from a friend (or someone you admire), or a recommendation from that blog writer whose taste is so spot on, or that guy at the counter in the hip record store who is always handing you cool 12″ singles. Apple Music’s apparent understanding of this might be in part because they have publicly hired tech-savvy musicians to oversee these things, while Spotify seem to be bringing on music-savvy techies.
Are Apple Music’s playlists a bit obvious? Sometimes … but I was recently surprised by a dance-oriented playlist focusing on Factory Records that contained songs I’d never heard before (and I thought I was a Factory completist), and a space-rock playlist compiled by a musician I hadn’t heard of which turned me on to a few other new artists. Apple Music’s playlist recommendations can get a bit uncanny (in a good way) once it gets to ‘know’ your taste.
Spotify’s idea of intensively data-sourced curation is intriguing, and I am sure they are utilizing some amazing innovations bordering on artificial intelligence to try to make it work. But a playlist delivered weekly under the same headline — that the recipient knows is auto-generated — is easy to ignore. And the discovery-bot will inevitably get it wrong a few times, throwing in curve-ball songs that are completely outside of the listener’s taste-zone. I don’t know about you, but something like this is only allowed a few times to get it wrong before I’m not interested.
That said, the emphasis on discovery that the streaming services are embracing makes me hopeful. If Spotify’s system does start turning people on to emerging, self-released artists then that’s an amazing thing. Likewise, it would be nice to see Apple Music’s playlists include more emerging artists. I think having regular (monthly?) playlists from notable tastemakers — music bloggers, cutting edge musicians, and even non-music types like fiction writers and film directors — would add to the ‘personally curated’ touch and increase the chances of discovery.
Apple Music also needs to improve their Pandora-like ‘radio’ function. In my experience there is zero amount of potential discovery going on there. When I tell Apple Music I want a station that sounds like The Slits, that doesn’t mean I want to hear The Slits every other song, and it certainly doesn’t mean I want to hear “The Killing Moon” for the dozenth time. Pandora has this problem, too, though not as pronounced as with Apple Music. Maybe this is where Spotify can find an advantage?
Of Scalpels and Synthesizers: The Music of THE KNICK
In the context of 1900s New York, (the musical score) is so blatantly anachronistic as to risk undermining any possible suspension of disbelief the director might have achieved through the show’s painstaking set design and costuming. And this may well be the point.
I’m quite looking forward to the return of THE KNICK in a few months (check out the Season 2 teaser trailer HERE). Though not without its faults, the show is beguiling, especially in its remarkably organic potrayal of the early 1900s as a setting. It can be seen as a bit of an artistic ‘passion project’ of Steven Soderbergh as he dedicates himself to each episode as director, cinematographer, and editor (though he is credited in the latter two capacities under pseudonyms for some reason). Soderbergh’s close involvement makes for a tightly consistent series. Also remarkable is Cliff Martinez’s revelatory ‘out of time’ score. When I watched the first episode I honestly was initially thrown off by the music, and I was worried the accompanying cold and rigidly sequenced synthesizer score would keep me from immersing myself in the show’s time period. I was wrong. This excellent analysis of Cliff Martinez’s score delves in to just what makes it work.