is this binding?

So as I was discussing an upcoming Ron Paul (I am NOT a supporter) march on Washington, my memory was jogged of another interesting march I have been hearing murmurs of in the music community. This August, as If our nation’s capitol didnt have enough else going on, there will be a Million DJ March on Washington. As a former turntablist, and consummate fan of DJ’s, DJ music, and the culture in general… this kind of sets off some mixed emotions floating around in my head.

First of all… as we all know, Million Whatever Marches rarely accomplish anything other than press coverage by TV news crews that would rather report on the event than real news and raising public awareness of a cause. What ever came about from the Million Man March? Anything? Well, other than great press for the movement, there was an influx of Black Male voter registration following the march. This may be the gleaming success story in the long litany of groups who have marched on Washington since the civil rights marches of the 60s (these actually worked!). The primary objective in most cases is to bring awareness to a cause though. The thing that bewilders me about the Million DJ march is WHAT CAUSE ARE THEY MARCHING FOR? Respect? My problem with this is where do you draw the line? When does it stop. Should the club owners that own danceclubs that promote music march on Washington?

My issue is, I have DJ’d for 15 years. Both Professionally and as an amateur.

I chose to DJ because I enjoyed playing music for the crowds of people who danced for me. Not because I wanted an industry to recognize and thank me for all that I do. Radio DJs are much in the same vein as club djs… most of the folks working in radio do so because the love what they do, not because they want recognition…

The following lines are taken verbatim from the march website.

“Labels and major businesses who reap the rewards of default publicity, need to pay more attention and give more recognition to DJ’s for the promotion they provide.”

This whole event seems to be an excessive abuse of taxpayer’s dollars. I certainly don’t want to foot the bill for crowd control and police presence simply to convince major business to say “Thank You for all that you do to a bunch of DJs.”

My Solution: In an effort to settle the debate on this and avoid the inordinate expense of such a rally, I am willing to help the cause by making the following statement on behalf of the recording industry (I am NOT in any authority to make this statement!)… hopefully hey will now call off this silly march.

Thank you DJ’s!. I am one of you, but I also work for a Major Independent Label (albeit Classical). I (we) certainly appreciate all that you do to help promote and support the music industry. I also appreciate the fact that (like me) you chose your career not because of major financial or social aspirations, but because you LOVE MUSIC and want to spread that love to all that are willing to listen. We love you for all that you are and all that you want to be (Jerry McGuire line). You truly are the Sunshine of our lives! Thank You again!

Now Hug it out bitch!

Just returning from NAB in Vegas, my mind is ripe with new and reinforced ideas about the broadcast industry. In my short two days attending functions and working my way through scores of exhibits, I came away with a few ideas about what is going on in this industry as it pertains to Music Licensing and the Music providers in the field.

1. IP TV is king
The hot topic around the exhibit floor was IP TV. According to Wikipedia, IPTV (IP Television) is a system where a digital television service is delivered using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks. There were loads of various back-end providers peddling their wares. As a general rule of thumb, more access is better for everyone. I dont believe that the proliferation of IPTV will actually bring more music revenues, but it does offer more people the chance to experience the production…

2. Music Library Competition is STIFF
In the realm of production music there is some stiff competition. Production libraries and falling prices continue to make my job more difficult as a licensing agent. This combined with the fact that major labels and publishers are now buying their way into the game with the purchases of companies like NonStop Music and others makes it ever so important that the independents learn to compete in this market. (Two of the most disturbing things I saw were companies named Gratis Music , and of course Royalty Free Music . com)… Disgusted.

We are going to have to start playing the game their way in order to compete (unfortunately). One great thing we have going for us is the fact that our music is actually performed by musicians, rather than midi keyboard and it appears that there is little competition in the Classical field. So this ought to be an interesting year as we embark on bringing in more content revenue competing with a mass market of inexpensive alternatives.

3. The NAB is an event to hit every year and to prepare for on the backend. For us, that means laying tons of infrastructure groundwork to create a real product to take to that market. It is no longer going to be acceptable to simply roll in saying “we’ve got a crapload of music”. The customer today wants to hear that music. They want to search that music and experience that music. That is where the good companies are separated from the greats in the industry. The same applies to anyone in the broadcast field… not just music libraries. This show is FOR REAL. It is the closest thing I have found to CES size-wise. I am looking forward to putting my gameface on and rolling into town with my guns-a-blazin next year.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock over the past week or so, you already know that Warner has tasked Jim Griffin (former head of Geffen digital) with designing a scheme whereby Internet Service Providers will charge a premium fee to customers ( a music tax if you will) in exchange for unlimited P2P and Torrent streaming of Major Label content. They have dubbed the initiative “Feels like Free”… or “One Big Tip Jar” that all of the labels and artists would divvy up.

I have kept quiet for much of this discussion as I tried to dissect the various commentary from the blogosphere and come up with my own take on the situation. Well here it is…

This concept (while utopian) is a good one if you can excuse the fact that the very same labels that sued Shawn Fanning’s (Napster) tail off 6 years ago because of the evil nature of P2P are now endorsing it and wanting to take P2P to market. This move is a day late and a dollar short. I do not understand why our industry takes so long to jump onto popular tech initiatives. I mean… I would have been selling digital music on Myspace 3 years ago if I had been in a place to make such a decision. This whole concept (rooted in the Future of Music) of music being all around us… in our lives in every possible way is a good one. The problem is how do we legitimize it? I know that is what Warner and the isp’s are trying to do, but I fear it is the wrong way to do it. I am concerned about what happens to legitimate e-tailers. What about iTunes revenues? What about eMusic? Will the checks coming from these giants start to diminish when everything is flowing like water? I think so… Than we are in a worse quandary than we are in now. Furthermore… where are the independents in this? When we have a giant pool of revenue to be split by the majors and the independents, I am afraid our little slice of the pie just might not be enough to justify this huge change in business model.

On a positive note, I am glad that the majors are looking at opportunities such as this. It often takes a major player to be the catalyst for change. I just wish they would find a more feasible model.

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Alright, it that title doesn’t pull you in, you probably have not yet put down your sega genesis controller and are still thrilled with 16 Bit video games.

For the uninitiated, Guitar Hero is the video game phenom that has swept the nation over the past year or so. With several incarnations it was a great way for the everyday little guy to overcome his lack of talent and ambition only to be a star in his own mind for the entirety of “Bulls on Parade.” I have to admit, I own Guitar Hero III and have played it a bit, but as I sat in my living room strumming along to my favorite rock songs it hit me all of a sudden… If I spent nearly the amount of time learning how to actually play the guitar that I have spent fiddling with this nifty controller gizmo, I would probably be an alright guitar player… and might actually be able to play those hits of yore.

This annoyance has been bouncing around my head for a few months now, but today several articles popped up on my Google reader that really made this whole subject boil over for me. According to an article I cannot seem to find, now that I am writing (should have tagged it for delicious), the Guitar hero franchise has brought in over 1 Billion Dollars for Activision. Being a capitalist pig, I am normally thrilled to hear of a company’s successes, but this financial report was then followed with the fact that Fender, one of the largest guitar manufacturers in the World turned in a measly few hundred Million Dollars last year. You mean the cheap fake guitars outsold the real ones…? What kind of effed up Wal-Mart society have we turned into?

So in protest, I have been scouring the internet for good links to Guitar Hero blog posts and news stories and have assembled them here for good measure. I think after all of this, I am going to go buy myself a guitar and actually practice… that way if I want to call myself a “Guitar Hero”, the title will be warranted.

Gods of Guitar Hero


Lego Guitar Hero

Tools for the real Guitar Hero

And the best use I’ve seen yet for the Guitar Hero

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