Free Music

We live in a digital age. Perhaps you were unaware of such a fact. But it is undeniable that in 2011 technology and being constantly connected is something that is constant with all of us. Most people cannot even leave their house without their smart phone, or they feel naked and need to drive back home and get it. This has had an indelible effect on the music industry, as much or more so than just about any other industry.

It all started back in 199 with the formation of the music sharing website Napster. It allowed people to share their musical libraries with others. This did not cost anything to use, so people were able to get a hold of music they did not have from someone else free of charge. Now right wrong or indifferent, that is just what happened.

From an artists standpoint, and one who is going into the music industry myself, I can understand how scary this must have been both for the record labels that ultimately had the budget and the lawyers necessary to shut Napster down, and especially the artists themselves. Now on a usual record deal with a label, a band may see if they are lucky $1.00 from ever record that they sell. So each and every record sale is crucial if they want to be able to put food on the table. So for this reason, I do not personally hold any resentment to bands who took a stand against the sharing of music online.

That being said, let's fast forward to the present day. While Napster is no longer around (at least not in its original state) But there are countless other sites that offer the same service. Music downloads over the interweb for free. (BitTorrent being my personal favorite, but that's neither here nor there.)

One can make an argument both ways as to whether or not online music sharing is illegal or not. I personally have downloaded 1000's of songs in my day, so I cannot begin to sit here and try and say that it is completely illegal. Immoral at best. But I think in some small way it illustrates an important point. Music IS FREE whether you like it or not. Any album that has ever been produced and released IS available somewhere on the internet for free. Now as an artist, this certainly is a tough pill to swallow. But with every struggle comes an opportunity.

With this connected world, artists can be closer to their fans than they ever could before. Sure this may take away some of the mystique about artists, but it should not take away from their art if you ask me. Kanye West is a piece of shit. Everyone knows he is a piece of shit, even Obama. But Kanye is one of the best rappers out there, and people still go out and purchase his records to further fuel his already massive ego. But also with this connection it allows bands to distribute music in a whole new way. Freely to their fans. The problem with releasing music freely if you're trying to make a living doing so, is obviously that there is no money in releasing music freely. That is why in addition to giving all their music away, an artist can come up with cool limited edition releases that THEY would want to own if they were a fan.

Some have argued for the "pay as you want" scale that Radiohead employed for the release of their album In Rainbows. I have a problem with that. Besides the fact that it was a cool publicity stunt that worked once for one band. They are a huge international band that had already made so much money they did not give a shit how much people paid for it. This worked one time, for one band. And chances are any band you are in is not going to have the international success and fame that Radiohead has achieved. In addition to this, I think placing a value on music DEVALUES music. I know at first this sounds like a contradiction, but allow me to explain.

Say you're in a band, and that band has just released a record. Now assuming that you put as much heart and soul and passion into creating that album as one always should when creating music, you would not want a fan deciding "Well I am only going to pay $2.00 for this album because I only like 2 songs on it." This will quickly lead to a resentful relationship with ones own fan-base. This is your work! And your livelihood! Hearing someone say they are only going to pay what value they place on your work which may have involved reaching into the darkest parts of your soul in order to create something truly beautiful that you are truly proud of.

The truth of the matter is, the entire industry is in flux right now. No one knows what will happen next. Few things are certain though. The record industry as a whole failed to stay current with the technology and distribution methods that are out there, and instead of working hard and playing catch up, have decided just to sue anyone who distributes music "illegally."

But I think that there is hope for this much maligned industry to figure itself out again. I sure hope it does, both as a fervent listener, but also as someone who is entering into it. As Neil Peart has said, "Popular taste is cyclical, not to say fickle. And eventually the public always returns to musicianship and qualities of professionalism. Eventually."

J Swave

The State of the Album as an Art Form

We're going to take a look at the musical album as an art form, something which is extremely lacking in today's musical culture. Some of the main ideas in this article are from a great on written by my favorite musician Steven Wilson, but mostly 2/3's of it is my own rambling bullshit.

Let's take a trip back to the beginning as it were and speak about the golden age of the musical album. To me, the 1970's up until the advent of punk rock. Back in those times albums and bands and new music was treated in an entirely different fashion then it is now. During these times, bands would put out music at a much faster rate than we do today. Bands would write an album, go on tour and write the next album while out on that tour, finish the tour, record the album, and the cycle would begin again.

This was fueled by record companies near constant craving and demand for new music. This would push artists take more experiments and musical chances on each album. If the album was poorly received, then so be it. There would be another coming along probably later in the year to balance everything back out. Consider that in the early 1970s, Elton John released 10 studio albums, two of them doubles, and two live albums—all of high quality; Neil Young’s output from the late ’60s to the early ’70s covered singer/songwriter material, country music, and heavy rock. Not to mention that at almost any time during Frank Zappa’s career, you could expect a jazz album, a classical album, a box set of guitar solos, a rock opera, or a doo-wop album.

Once punk came along, however, the idea of the album as an artistic statement came to be seen as old-fashioned and pretentious. And while many bands continued to make fine albums, the advent of MTV in the mid-’80s brought music back to the level of image and artifice, as the golden age of the artist gave way to the golden age of the A&R man. Album releases were spread out more as companies shifted their priorities from putting out as much music as possible in the hope that some of it would hit big, to micromanaging album projects to ensure that every release was a potential blockbuster.

As a result of this, the length of time between albums was greatly lengthened to a period of almost 2 or 3 years. This made the stakes riding on each album astronomically high, and one poorly received album could kill a band's entire career before the next one even rolls along. This results in a play it safe mentality where no band wishes to stray too far from what "works." Record companies pour millions of dollars in ad campaigns for the next album with promises that generally boil down to "more of the same." Creating records became more of trying to become a hit machine rather than follow the artistic muse.

But this posting is not just bad news and rantings against the modern music industry. Which is not something I need to get started on at this hour, as I would not sleep for the next few days. With the advent of the internet and an artists ability to release music independently of the major labels and distribution can be placed largely in the hands of the artists who can have total creative and release control over their ART. Which is also a subject which deserves in own article which will be shown in the coming days. With this technology, artists are basically freer to release and produce albums their way since the dawn of the music industry.

For all the apocalyptic clamor about the death of the album, this is actually a very exciting time for recording artists. The decline of commercial radio and music television has swung the focus away from the idea of selling your whole concept in the space of a three-minute pop video, and pushed the emphasis back to artists who make albums and tour. And because the Internet has created a stronger bond between fans and artists than ever before, the artist once again has the freedom to experiment and take chances, releasing several albums a year in wildly different styles if they choose to.

Just like they used to back in those golden days.

-J Swave

Word Usage

Today as I was standing around at work doing nothing. I heard a little something that intrigued me. Two men were talking about something, I have no idea what. The one guy said to the other "Dude, Kelly walked in, and it was hilarious." He used the word hilarious to describe someone walking into a room. Now are you necessarily aware of just what the word hilarious means? It means that something is so funny, that it nearly drives you to the brink of insanity. There is simply no way that a girl walking into a room is that funny. Even if she is as good at telling jokes as Lewis Black, and as funny looking as Steve Buscemi. Just jumped right up the ladder of words to describe humor and picked hilarious. Idk, I found it intriguing.

-J Swave