Latch Music's Ezine #41
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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: "Goodbye MP3.com" by Dave Latchaw
- Guest Artist: Mat Britain - Pan-riffic!
- Featured Web Site: Live365.com
- Featured Web Video: Drummerworld
- CD Pick: Vince Guaraldi Trio "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Goodbye MP3.com
by Dave Latchaw
Goodbye MP3.com. As of December 2nd, 2003, MP3.com will no longer exist. It had it's faults but initially made a decent effort to be easy to use for both artists and listeners. In the early days musicians, bands, and especially electronic artists could actually make some money from MP3.com. There was so much capital put into Internet businesses that many had the false sense that the Internet was a cash cow. When the Internet bubble burst the companies with a low overhead and an actual product or service to offer that couldn't be found for free had a better chance of surviving. Investment capital can only go so far. Many companies thought that advertising on the net alone would support business, but the hugeness of the Internet made advertising next to worthless.
With any system where money can be made there will always be people who will try to figure out how to cheat the system. That was a problem for MP3.com with their "pay for play" system, especially in a world where many are computer savvy. Lots of artists figured out how to boost their plays and were able to create greater revenue for themselves by cheating the system. MP3.com should have employed programmers to develop a better computer system that would catch those people. The million dollars a month was great motivation for the musicians, but MP3.com had to somehow generate revenue that would offset the cost of it. When the Internet bubble burst and investment capital was no longer available, it was no surprise that MP3.com had to do away with the play for play program. Also, it didn't help MP3.com to be sued for copyright violations. It doesn't seem like it should have been too hard for MP3.com to make sure there was no copyright infringements. They were just not on top of their game.
Within a few years it became unrealistic for MP3.com to make enough money to stay in business. MP3.com eventually sold out to Universal, which made it a much more corporate situation. They began to charge artists for different levels of selling their music. Many artists became disillusioned with having to pay for a service that was initially free and stopped participating, which is completely understandable. I really didn't have a problem with paying some money for the MP3.com service, I thought of it as part of my advertising budget. It did help to increase traffic to my own site and also made an easy place to send people to check out my music and purchase it. Unfortunately, it eventually became clear that MP3.com had become a place for corporate artists to be promoted off the backs of independent artists. MP3.com really missed it's potential for sales of the independent artists that was initially an important part of their site. They could have offered a better way of selling content, just offering the opportunity to buy singles or compilation discs from a variety of artists would have benefited both MP3.com and the artists. In the early days of MP3.com they were blazing the Internet trail and should have been the leader in setting up MP3.com similar to iTunes or the current Napster. MP3.com just didn't get it when it came to adjusting to the Internet changes.
I have been involved with MP3.com for almost 4 years and had great fun for most of that time. When I first started to use MP3.com as a point of distributing my music, they were dividing a million dollars a month between the artists based on an algorithm of the total plays for the site and individual plays of an artist. So besides selling CDs an artist could make a bit of money from people just playing their music. This was exciting because the potential to make some money from your craft was even more possible. With the chance to make money, musicians were actively networking and promoting their work. This led to the possibility of hooking up with like-minded artists, which was great fun. MP3.com generated a respectable amount of traffic which made the possibility of potential fans from around the world discovering your music even greater. Before the Internet, worldwide exposure was next to impossible except for the major label artists because of the expense. A worldwide reach is now economically possible for everyone.
I still think it is early days when comes to music on the net. There will still be more growing pains but music has great potential for the future. Having your own site is still the best way to go as an artist. It gives the artist an jumping off point to find what is going to work best for them. I am still going to have a great time being a musician on-line. One exciting new thing I have going is a brand new radio station at Live365.com, called Latch Music Radio. There will always be places on-line to sell your music. I have had my music at Peacework Music Net for some time now because they take care of the distribution of my music and use the better quality wave files instead of mp3 files, and they also will sell singles. Enjoy and purchase my solo piano music on "Reflections", world fusion on "Glencoe", a jazz, rock, and electronic blend on "Jazztronica", and electronic world beat sounds on "Enhance My Trance".
The Internet is still a great vehicle for promoting and distributing music, but the kinks are still being worked out and you have to learn to tweak your efforts as you go. Be flexible and keep evolving with the changing times of music on the net. Goodbye MP3.com!
Mat Britain
#1 Who were your earliest influences and how did they inspire you to pursue music?
Growing up in the 60's one of my earliest influences was the Beatles and Ringo Starr. I remember joyfully banging along to the "Rubber Soul" album at age 5. I even tried talking with a British accent until my mom (who was a Speech Pathologist) made me quit! Influences through junior high school were mostly rock oriented ranging from early Genesis to Kiss. In high school it was all Buddy Rich, Gene Krupa, and other Big Band drummers full of chops. In college I was opened up to so much music. I remember one of my first days in the dorm walking past a room and hearing "Aja" by Steely Dan blasting out of the stereo. I couldn't believe the drumming! (Steve Gadd). I walked right in this stranger's room and stood there with my mouth open. Other "eye openers" were Elvin Jones, Art Blakey, Billy Cobham, Tony Williams, Mike Maneiri, and Gary Burton.
#2 How does a percussionist from the plains of Kansas get interested in the steel drum and end up performing with the Amoco Renegades Steel Band at the prestigious Panorama Festival?
I had never seen a steel drum until my second year of college at Wichita St. University (Wichita, KS). The percussion department had a set of steel drums donated to the school and our teacher invited anyone who was interested to participate. I fell in love with the sound. The great steel drummer Andy Narell was brought in to help our steel band get started and luckily Andy returned at least once a year to work with us. Andy taught me so much about the instrument and the culture of Trinidad and he is still a HUGE influence to this day. My interest led me to the birthplace of the steel drum, Trinidad, and the Panorama Festival which is like the World Series of the steel band where the champion steel band is crowned each year. The band I performed with, the "Amoco Renegades" has 120 members (what a sound!) and is a perennial powerhouse in the competition. The finals competition is held in a stadium that seats 35,000 screaming steel band fans. It was a great experience to visit the birthplace of the steel drum.
#3 What was your Drum Corps experience like, and how can it help one's chops?
The Drum Corps thing was great on so many levels. From learning the rudiments and striving for perfection to surviving on the road for an entire summer. You learn to remember your toothbrush or you could be without one for a few days! After a summer of practicing outside in the Kansas sun for 8-10 hours a day it was a piece of cake going into the air conditioned practice room for a few hours. Seriously, the musical and life skills I learned through Drum Corp were invaluable.
#4 What musical experiences and music education did you have that prepared you to be the percussionist for Grammy Award winning Country/Pop artist Lee Greenwood?
In a word "College". I use the Greenwood gig as an example whenever I'm giving a master class for college percussion students because everything I used on the Greenwood gig I learned in college. Lee Greenwood is a very versatile performer and his Theater show had a variety of musical styles. We did everything from "Earth, Wind, and Fire", to Latin stuff. We also had a "musical calendar" section of the show that went from Big Band (1940's) through the present. And of course we covered many of Lee's hits. In the course of a show I would play vibes, marimba, xylophone, bells, chimes, timpani, steel drums, congas, bongos, timbales, various hand held percussion, and even cover some string parts on a MalletKat (synthesizer). I was exposed to all of these instruments and musical styles in college.
#5 How did the Britain/Moore Duo start?
I met Dan Moore at Wichita State University. We were in various ensembles together and our musical interests and backgrounds are very similar. The Duo started by accident during a recording session for the WSU steel drum band. We needed one more tune for our project and while the rest of the band went to lunch Dan and I came up with our first "duo" tune. That humble recording was in 1985 and we've been the Britain/Moore Duo ever since.
#6 What do you want the listener get from the Britain/Moore Duo recording "Little World of Rhythm"?
I am constantly in awe of the vast world of "percussion". It is overwhelming to think of how many styles and percussion instruments are out there. On one hand "Little World" represents many styles of music that we've studied and that are close to our hearts and souls. In the big picture "Little World" is just our small speck in the huge world of percussion.
#7 How can one get booking information for concerts or clinics by you and the Britain/Moore Duo?
The Duo does at least two tours a year covering many parts of the US. We've played everything from middle schools, high schools, and colleges, to large jazz and percussion festivals. We are currently working on a web page, but until then you can contact me at Matbritain@aol.com.
#8 What future projects should people look for from you?
You can hear my steel drums on country star Kenny Chesney's next CD (title and release date unknown) which should be out in early 2004. Listen for a Calypso version of the "Regis & Kelly Show" theme song. The show is going to the islands for a week and I recorded the steel drums and percussion here in Nashville.
Live365.com
I have always been one who is inspired by lots of different music, so for me, being able to check out a lot of different music has been one of the coolest aspects of the Internet. Having one spot that was easy to surf around on and discover new music is one of the things I will miss about MP3.com. In the last months one could see the writing on the wall for MP3.com, so I went looking for a site that would fulfill my need to hear new music and also broadcast my own station to promote my music and my site. I found it at Live365.com, and you can check out my station here. Live365.com is great for both listener and broadcaster because it is easy to use. There are over 22,000 Internet broadcasters from 230 countries who work with Live365, making it one of the world's largest web casting services. They have about 2 or 3 million people stopping by each month to listen to radio stations. If you create a great station you could have the possibility to make some money or even just have some fun having your own station. The most important thing about Live365.com is that it's a place were one can have a global reach, and play and hear cool music that doesn't get corporate air play. If anyone thinks that radio is something they could be good at, they can have a go at creating their own station. As broadband and the integration of broadband with your television and stereo expands, there will be a bigger market for new music and a greater variety of it. Check out Live365.com for free, and if you get hooked on it, you can get a VIP membership for as little as $3.65 a month, and get all the shows ad free and with better sound quality.
Remember to come back here and use our link if you decide to become a VIP or a Live365.com broadcaster. With a VIP we get a one time bounty of a $1.50, and for a broadcaster we get a onetime $5.00. It costs you the same if you use this link or not, but if you do decide to go for it every little bit helps keeps latchmusic.com going.
If you're interested in broadcasting, the boston.com business section ran a cool article on netcasters bringing diversity online.
Drummerworld
Drummerworld is a noncommercial - nonprofit site run by Bernhard Castiglioni in Switzerland. This is a cool site for drummers and anyone who wants to check out amazing videos of great musicians playing drums. You will need Quick Time to watch these web videos. Some of my personal favorites are Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Peter Erskine, Bill Stewart, Dave Weckl, Dennis Chambers, and Jack DeJohnette, and there are plenty more to choose from! The web videos are only a few minutes each, good quality, and also load very easily. Go to the Drummerworld Video page to check out these great videos.
Vince Guaraldi Trio
"A Charlie Brown Christmas"
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is a must in one's music collection. It is one of the few Holiday recordings that is cool to listen to all year round. The playing is such a great example of groovy jazz piano trio music. Anytime I have played "Linus and Lucy" or "Christmas Time Is Here" on a gig there is always a strong sense of familiarity for the people that are listening. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" has been part of Holiday television viewing for children and adults for so long it has become part of society's collective conscious. The tunes from this recording always seem to brighten the mood of anyone who is on Holiday Overload and those who have fallen into the depths of "The Scrooge" mindset. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is simply great music and may even help one get through the Holidays.
Musicians for "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Vince Guaraldi - Piano
Monty Budwig - Bass
Colin Bailey - Drums
Tracks for "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
- O Tannenbaum
- What Child Is This
- My Little Drum
- Linus and Lucy
- Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental)
- Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal)
- Autumn Leaves
- Skating
- Christmas Is Coming
- Fur Elise
- The Christmas Song
- Greensleeves
Click here to learn more about "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
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