Latch Music's Ezine #3
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* "The Zine" content is contributed by Dave Latchaw and colleagues who use the Internet to promote their musical projects. You can check out previous issues at "The Zine" Archives.
- Article: "MP3.com, Napster and the Record Bizz" by Dave Latchaw
- Guest Artists:
Jeff Bragg - Guitarist and composer with cool diversity.
Brian Derek - Bassist, composer, and one of the grooviest guys I know. - Featured Web Site: Music Business Solutions
- Featured Web Video: Allan Holdsworth
- CD Pick: Trey Gunn "The Third Star"
MP3.com, Napster and the Record Bizz
by Dave Latchaw
What a surprise I had watching CNN lump MP3.com's lawsuit into the same segment with Napster without explaining the difference between the two. Napster is just bad, bad, bad. The artist should have complete control over how their music is distributed. Metallica should have the complete right to keep a fan in one place in the world from distributing Metallica's music to another fan in another part of the world who they don't even know.The way Napster is set up a fan could enter an artist's name and the track they want, and then be given a list of names and computers where they can download it for free. I am not against free downloads, but it should be up to the artist to decide how this happens. The artist should have control as to when and where they make their music available to fans. MP3.com is currently using a model that allows the listener to download free music, but with the artist's consent. The artist has the possibility for 24/7 global distribution from a centrally located site (or sites). This has the old record business freaking out. The artist can now do many of the things that only the record company could do in the past. The record company wants to control the number of artists that the consumer has access to. If the record company can limit the listener to just the artists on their label or in their backroom coalition (The Big Five), all the money gets sent straight to the record company bank accounts. Of course most of that money bypasses the artist completely. We as musicians and fans of music should do all that we can to promote independent music. It will benefit everyone, artists and consumers. The major record companies want to dumb down the listening public so that they can promote the "lemming approach" of music consumption. They want to pump out new acts all the time just to go for the quickest buck. Most acts no longer get the support that they would have 10 or 20 years ago. The record company does not want an act to get too powerful. It cuts down on the bottom line for the record company.
With Napster receiving all of the press that it did prior to and during the case with MP3.com, it surely has biased Judge Jed S. Rakoff, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. This judge is trying to control how you listen to music. MP3.com thinks that if you purchase a CD, then you should be able to listen to it from a computer database. Of course this is very upsetting to the record companies. You would be able to access your record collection from a computer at work or school or wherever. MP3.com's system was set up so that you could only stream the audio, like radio. You also had to have physical proof that the disc was yours. What has annoyed the record companies is that it left them out of the loop when it came to such a great idea. They want a piece of the pie, but they already get their piece when you buy the disc. They are trying to bilk the consumer once again for more money. MP3.com has worked out deals with Sony, BMG, EMI and Warner. Only Universal is holding out. If Sony, BMG, EMI and Warner figured it was a fair deal, why doesn't Universal? Has MP3 not kissed up to Universal well enough? To hear Universal complaining about MP3.com and suing them is the typically fake corporate jive. They have embraced the same concept as MP3.com with a company called Musicbank.com.
There is an MP3.com e-mail march for people who believe that they should be able to control the way they consume music. Check it out. There is a new bill being presented by Rick Boucher (D-VA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Fred Upton (R-MI)and Ray LaHood (R-IL) which is called the Music Owner's Listening Rights Act 2000. We need to be engaged. Read the letter to Congress written by the sponsors of this bill. Write to your legislators. Support independent music!
Related Sites
Jeff Bragg
#1 List any bio information that the reader may not find at your sites.
Gee, ah, a little over average height. Writes right handed. Loves dogs and kids.
#2 Describe your newest project and what you want the listener to get from it.
Zen Engine is a combination of several musical loves; the impressionist/romantic period of the late 1800's and early 1900's, which much of prog rock was originally based on, orchestral percussion music of the 20th century and world rhythms and vocal sounds. The hope is that a music will be created that will truly be perceived as progressive.
Unlimited Temporal Access is a follow up to Open Souls, so it's a noisy fusion band. It's for people who want too many notes.
#3 What are your feelings about Napster, MP3.com and other Music websites?
What a great idea. All of it. I'm going to make a statement that may make a lot of folks upset, but it is heartfelt and it has evolved over a lifetime of making music. I think a new business model is needed if music, art and true culture in general are to flourish again. And I don't think it should or will be another greed based model. I don't think that a very few artists that the industry selects and in some cases creates, should have all the attention and live lavish lifestyles while the vast majority of artists suffer obscurity because of the industry's control of all access to the market. Have you ever thought about where the real bottleneck in the music business is? Why there are so few really big acts that seem to make all the money? Couldn't it have to do with the big players, BMG, Sony, etc., having the force to shout louder in ads and on TV and in Congress and basically buying the attention that local and regional artists also deserve. Don't they also have control of the distribution channels? And don't they ship most of the product to all the large (and there are only large) music retailers? Also, in my experience, many artists make almost nothing from their big record company contracts and end up worse off for their participation. Just read what everyone from Courtney Love to Robert Fripp have to say about the music industry. Robert is especially vocal.
It is my hope that these technologies can help to truly level the playing field and open up our culture to the participation, profit and enjoyment of all. I think that Gnutella, Napster and MP3.com can and will change that and they should be able to broadcast ALL music artists freely. I don't think that the economics should be tilted toward a few multimillion dollar behemoth artists, like Metallica and Dr. Dre. I think music in this sense should be FREELY accessible on the Internet. As far as album sales and piracy goes, I think Peter Gabriel put it well.
When asked what he intended to do about his album being SO bootlegged in Asia, he hesitated and then replied something to the effect of, "Let it hit critical mass and then tour." Doesn't that seem wise?
I think artists should make most of their living performing. Or at very least "appearances." I think that they should sell special editions of their music at their shows and websites. More of an incentive for artists to put more creativity into their packaged music and more incentive for fans to come to shows. That would certainly be beneficial to more bands. If you've ever looked for gigs, you know what I mean. Also, artists also need to band together and promote their own shows and festivals.
#4 How has the Internet changed your musical game plan?
I plan to be putting up more free music on MP3 or wherever. Come see me play, when I come around and then you can get the really nice music packages that I offer. Those don't make it on-line (except at my site!) or in the stores, those are for the fans only.
#5 What improvements to the Internet would help to make your efforts more efficient?
Oh, bandwidth, more bandwidth, that's it.
#6 What sites do you go to when surfing?
Music sites mostly. There's a lot of good stuff out there. You should check out this guy named Armen Chakmakian, he's on MP3, too.
#7 At which sites can people find you and your projects?
Well, the overall site is, http://tuned.universe.home.mindspring.com and then you can also find me on MP3.com, IUMA.com, Riffage.com, that's about it. Thanks.
Brian Derek
#1 List any bio information that the reader may not find at your sites.
Started playing bass at 13, jamming to Motown and rock and soul of the sixties, as well as British invasion stuff; studied at Berklee College for a couple years, left school and started down the professional path: gigs with the Brubeck brothers, Mike Stern, met Pat Methany (while in Boston); after Boston, hit the road, gigs in Florida, Chicago, taught in Athens, Ohio for about a year and a 1/2; back to Florida (another house gig), eventually moved to Chicago (teaching private lessons on and off in Ft. Wayne and Chicago or wherever else I was camped out at); have been involved with many recording and performance projects (off-Broadway shows, cruise ship gigs, CD's of varied styles-jazz to Irish pop to alternative); have also worked with a lot of the "big" names in jazz and feel very fortunate to have those experiences under my strings! Am now working on my original world jazz project "COSMIC TRUTH", blending jazz harmonies with world and Latin rhythms and orchestral settings in original music. Similar artists might be Jaco Pastorious, Josef Zawinul, Wayne Shorter etc.
#2 Describe your newest disc and what you want people to get from it.
My latest disc is entitled "JAH ZAMBANGO"; it has all the "world fusion" characteristics mentioned earlier, plus a tribute to one of the biggest influences on me, John Coltrane. The tune "Ascension (to John)", is based on the tune "Giant Steps", it was a big leap for me the day I could play that tune (Giant Steps) and be saying something with it. Ascension is a fast Latin-bebop tune with fretless bass and percussion. I am attempting to meld many aspects of music on this disc showing that when the vision is clear enough, anything works (almost)!
#3 What are your feelings about Napster, MP3.com and other Music websites?
I really welcome the competition to the music business big wigs (the Warners, Sony etc.), that these sites on the internet are bringing to the table, I think that we have seen a precedent set by the rulings on Napster and mp3 though,; that the music business system has been in place for decades (taking advantage of the artist!) and it will be very hard to break down the walls of payola and will probably take quite a while before we as artists see much of a change in the system, but I also think that we as artists should familiarize ourselves with this digital medium (i.e. computer tech.stuff) and take full advantage of all the free (basically), world-wide access we have to the internet, what better way to have free publicity for your original music and be heard 'round the world! As long as these companies (Napster,mp3,etc.) do it "right" legally, then maybe there's a chance for a music industry revolution to occur in the next decade. VIVA LE REVOLUTION!
#4 How has the Internet changed your musical game plan?
The net has made it possible to produce original music and "get it out there" at an amazingly affordable price. Now artists don't have to tie up a lot of money in product (cd's) and can put out as much product as possible in as short a time as never before. One of my major concerns as a studied or professional musician, is that I'm concerned about how all this technology will affect the "real instrument" players (or the number of players that might possibly lead to real innovation on an instrument), no longer do you need to study music and practice your ass off on an instument to sound like a musician, now all you need is a computer and some software!; but at the same time, the cats that have put the time in and who also have access to this technology can do some amazing things like make music with real vision and not just a bunch of loops stacked on top of each other. So my advice to younger cats is to learn an instrument thoroughly in whatever style they prefer, and study up on some harmony, and then use all the tools at our disposal, the music that can be made today with all these possibilities are endless, but I hope we don't see the end to the virtuoso approach to musical performance! Only time and the next generation of musicians will tell! Also I think it is VERY important to still be a "gigging" musician and not just stay home and play with yourself (there's a name for that!) and this technology, we must still get out there and communicate with an audience and other musicians, otherwise you'll end up living in a vacuum and will stagnate and produce mindless dribble instead of cutting edge music and will cease to grow as an artist.
#5 What improvements to the Internet would help to make your efforts more efficient?
I guess it would be helpful to have clearer defined stylistic categories for music at some sites, but it has always been difficult to categorize some music, and very limiting to say the least, to put labels on things. I am (for now) limited to just having modem access to the net, so it's a little slow going sometimes, I hope to change that soon though! Getting more familiar with the internet system though (search engines, keywords, etc.) is crucial to making the system work for you, if you've got the time!
#6 What sites do you go to when surfing?
..... well besides TEEN BABES:<) (just kidding!), I usually try to find all the relevant sites for my music as I can, sites to list bio info or to place CD'S for sale or download, and to link all these together; and whenever possible, to check out other artists that have music sites up and to network with them, but, alas, it's always a time issue these days that limits that.
#7 At which sites can people find you?
I have music available to purchase or download at: mp3.com, Down Beat Jazz.com, IUMA, musicbuilder.com, icast.com and a few others I can't think of now; as well as band listings on several sites: Jazzfrom a to z; muzic street; Cjazz.com; UBL.com; indiegroup.com and more. My major jump station home page is here.
Music Business Solutions
Information is power. The better educated a person is about their chosen field, the higher their chance of being successful. Music Business Solutions provides a great variety of links, organizations and books for anyone interested in a career in music. Check it out!
Allan Holdsworth
Allan Holdsworth is a musician's musician. He is one of those artists that makes every other artist say, "Wow!!!!!!" His speed, phrasing, harmonic choices and solo development are impressive to all improvisers. Besides Allan on guitar, this clip features Dave Carpenter on bass and Joe Taylor on drums. They interpret Allan's music wonderfully in this 40-minute concert setting video. Depending on net congestion, this is one of the better sounding videos I have come across up to now. The video quality is decent (depending on your bandwidth). This is a video that is intended for sale in the future, so they currently only allow it to be viewed in a small screen format. The small screen is a drag, but it's still worth a stare.
Related Sites
- Allan Holdsworth.com
- The Unofficial Allan Holdsworth Web Site
- Innerview.org
- Oneiric Moor
- Fusenet
Trey Gunn
"The Third Star"
This is Trey Gunn's second solo recording. He has done a variety of musical projects, but is probably best known for his work with Robert Fripp and King Crimson. Trey's primary instruments are the 8 and 12-string Warr guitars. The Warr guitar has a variety of great sounds and has a range similar to that of the piano. With or without the addition of various processing techniques, it is a very expressive instrument. Of course in the hands of a master musician like Trey it makes for very interesting music. Produced by Trey Gunn, this project is a great study for anyone who wants to keep expanding their musical horizons. It blends the needed qualities of discipline, adventure, confidence and expression into an outstanding musical presentation.
Musicians for "The Third Star"
Trey Gunn: 8 and 12 string Warr guitars, Chapman Stick (tr. 4)
Toyah: Vocals (tr. 2)
Alice: Vocals (tr. 5)
Serpentine: Vocals (tr. 10)
Bob Muller: Drums, Tabla, Bandir, Percussion, Cluster Flutes (tr. 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 & 10)
Pat Mastelotto: Drums, percussion (tr. 6 & 7)
Tracks for "The Third Star"
- Dziban
- Symbiotic
- Arrakis
- Sirrah
- The Third Star
- Acquiring Canopus
- Kaffaljidhma
- Yad Al-Gawza
- Kuma
- Indiera
Click here to learn more about "The Third Star"
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