Porter Wagoner Tribute

In honor of Porter Wagoner's life, he was a legend and a master songwriter. He will be missed.

Sugarfoot Rag:

Albert Erving:

I'll Fly Away:

Advice for Indie Musicians, Part 2:

Below are some brief video interviews from part 2 of my two part series on advice for musicians by musicians. All four videos come from Artists House Music. In the first video, Guy Erez compares working in the music business to running a marathon, because focus, stamina and determination based on a deep desire to be in the music industry are all required just to survive, and even then you may not ever make it.

According to Kirk Whalum only musicians that "are called" with a God given talent should be in the business. And the only way they will make it is if 1) they are serious about their music and 2) they are "doing their thing very, very well."

Here, Brad Wavra, maintains that passion, discipline, patience and persistent are all critical to making it in the music industry. He suggests that if you don't possess those qualities than you should do something else.

Lastly, Alan Ett suggests that you have to believe in yourself and keep an open mind about your role in the industry, as there are so many things one can do in the music business. So, if you don't make it as a musician, maybe you could still work in the industry you love doing doing something different.

I hope you found these videos helpful. At the very least, they should have been inspiring. As always, I welcome your comments. Peace.

The Ethics of Filesharing

Below are two really good videos on the ethics of filesharing. No matter which side of the argument you support (pro-artist/revenue model or pro-consumer/free model), these expert interviews are thought provoking, providing an intelligent discourse without emotional pleas from those that just want to have it their way. As I've stated before, there has to be a middle ground. Both videos come from Artists House Music, which is arguably the best site out there for indie musicians and I highly recommend you subscribe to their feeds.

The first video, an interview with Professor Russell Rains discuses the general ethical issues surrounding filesharing with an emphasis on the legality of filesharing.

The second one is with Lawrence Lessig, also an attorney and a professor, and the founder of Creative Commons. He discusses the pros and cons of filesharing. Note how he believes that filesharing is currently being misused and he does not support that kind of activity, but he also offers insight into a potential middle ground between utilizing P2P filesharing networks as a technology, while at the same time protecting the rights of the artists. I couldn't agree with him more, and I've been saying this for years, as that's what it will take to make it viable for both parties. While it's an older interview, it's still very good and applicable, and should be watched by all consumers and musicians:

IMHO, P2P as a technology will only continue to grow, but it may not remain free. As Professor Lessig alludes, P2P filesharing networks will become an integral part of the Internet, but there will also be built-in technology that will protect the rights of the artists - it's just a matter of time before that part of the equation is developed, and no, I'm not talking about DRM.

As always, I welcome your comments.

Advice for Indie Musicians, Part 1:

I've pulled together three brief videos from Fett, Technology Editor for Performing Songwriter magazine and Co-Founder of the Azalea Music Group in Nashville, Tn. that offer some quick practical advice for indie musicians. The first one talks about how to submit your demo to the press:

Eric Clapton's Latest Creation: The Autobiography

EC's new book, Clapton: The Autobiography looks fantastic! I will definitely be reading it soon, as Clapton is one of my all-time favorite musicians.  The accompanying 2 disc set looks really good as well, but I already have those tracks in my collection.  One thing is for sure, all indie musicians can learn a thing or two from Slowhand. Check out this trailer for it:

And a brief interview clip discussing some of the content from the book:

AdaptiveBlue Releases SmartLinks

Early this morning, AdaptiveBlue released its latest product offering for blogs and web sites called SmartLinks. Essentially, SmartLinks automatically provides your readers with the ability to see detailed information about movies, books, music, restaurants, stocks and more every time you create a link to your favorite band, film, company, etc. on your blog or web site.  For example, click on the small blue square (AdaptiveBlue's logo) to the right of Chuck Leavell to see detailed information about this legendary musician. As you can see, useful and relevant information about Chuck Leavell is aggregated from a variety of places. You can also see below how I used SmartLinks in a previous post, as I was a beta tester for their product:

SmartLinks will help indie musicians market themselves, as music enthusiasts reading content online will be able to quickly see detailed information about you (e.g. links to your videos, blog or discography) when they see your SmartLink on another site. It's another angle at helping you reach new listeners through music discovery, so spread the word!

SmartLinks works on all major blogging platforms (e.g. WordPress, TypePad, Blogger, etc.), and you can easily turn it on for your web site with this simple line of JavaScript:

<script type="text/javascript" defer="defer" src="http://s1.smrtlnks.com/js/bluelink-window.js?auto=true"></script>

To get started, or for more information go here.

What Indie Artists are Thinking...

There is a great deal of discussion about the changing landscape of the music industry and how a free music model might impact indie artists, so I thought I would highlight some of what indie artists are saying and thinking. These 10 quotes were taken from here:

1) "The argument that "musicians should make their income on the road" bugs me...

No Free Music Lunch for Indie Musicians

Ever since the release of In Rainbows, there has been a flood of posts claiming that music will soon be free... Really? Is that what an indie musician wants? Who's going to pay for the production of the music you want for free? For indie musicians, these costs are significant. For example, most good recording studios in the US charge at least $1,500 per day and you would be lucky to record an entire album in two days. Than you have to consider mixing, editing and mastering costs which add about another $1,000, so you are looking at a minimum of about $4,000 in recording costs alone. Sure, you can find less expensive studios and even inexpensive online mastering, but

The Return of the Single?

About 20 years ago, I used to purchase cassette singles of my favorite bands of that time (e.g. Guadalcanal Diary, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Smiths, etc.). Typically these kinds of tapes had the top two cuts from the LP and/or a track that was not included on the final release. It was an inexpensive way for me to find new music without buying the entire album. But, most bands stopped producing singles in the late eighties, as there was more money in selling a full length CD instead. So like most everyone, I had to buy entire albums and would just skip over the songs I wasn't a fan of.

RIAA Angst

Why is there so much anxiety about the RIAA? In the 24 hours since Jammie Thomas was found to have infringed on some copyright laws there have been several articles that seem to insinuate that the RIAA and the major record labels are trying to mandate how a music enthusiast can listen to his or her purchased music. For example, some believe they are trying to prevent music enthusiasts that have purchased and downloaded music from playing it on multiple devices like an iPod, laptop or car stereo. That's just not the case. What they are saying is that if you want to listen to music that you do not own, then you must pay for it, and not download it from places like free P2P sites, or rip it from a friend. What's wrong with that? If you built, created, painted, developed or engineered something to sell to the general public, wouldn't you want to be compensated for your work? Hardworking people created the music you listen to, and most artists want to be compensated for their efforts, even if it is just a few bucks a month. I don't understand why some post-modern consumers feel as if they are entitled to free music, but I'm open to hearing the reasons why.

Please note, I do believe Jammie Thomas' judgment was far too harsh, and I do hope she is able to work out a monetary agreement far less than what the jury awarded. If not, than the RIAA and the labels will be making an unfair example out of her.

I am also aware that there are some musicians and bands that do not want to charge for their music, as they believe by not charging they will actually develop a larger audience. That's a bit misguided, as 1) people are willing to pay for quality music and 2) poorly written free music does not equal a larger fan base. However, there's a simple solution for these individuals - give your music away for free. That is your prerogative. No one is making you sell your music not even the RIAA, but for the musicians that do want to sell their music, it seems only fair to have some systems in place that help prevent widespread free sharing and royalty-free distribution of their music.

Now, I too am not a fan of DRM in its present form, but there has to be some kind of middle ground where musicians can be fairly compensated and their music protected from royalty-free sharing and distribution, while at the same time providing listeners with the flexibility to play music they have purchased in any non-commercial way they desire. We can't have an "us vs. them" mentality.

As always, I welcome your comments as I really would like to hear your thoughts on this subject.

Peace.