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ugh.
i was on Fox Business Network this morning
to talk about the state of the concert/music industry.
ugh, again.
it did not go the way i would have liked.
i was not particularly concise in my answers…
and it was sort of akward and unnatural to talk to a camera.
not a person. not a monitor. just a camera. and an ear piece.
in a room. and it went by SO FAST.
i definitely have a new found respect for good politicians…
being able to convey a point. with emotion. and grace.
i just couldn’t boil it down into soundbite-y stuff fast enough.
the first question was something like, “the music industry is fucked…
why and will it recover? and GO… 30 seconds!”
yikes!
an A.D.D. nightmare!
i guess the reason it rubbed me wrong, is because i am SO
passionate about this subject… and have SO MUCH to say!
my friend bruce and i have been
going back and forth about this for awhile now…

anyway, enough whining.
it was still super cool to be a part of….

i thought i would share the pre-interview questions i was sent,
and the (significantly more articulate) written answers i sent back.
i still didn’t flesh out my points as much as i would have liked.
but hopefully it will spark discussion for you all.
—————————————————————————————-

1) Why do you think there is disinterest in seeing major tours for 2007?

this question has a bunch of answers..

first, there is very little, if any, loyalty between newer artists and their fans.
this is the music industry’s achilles’ heel. years of strip mining acts for
one or two hit songs and underestimating the crucial step of artist
development through good old fashion hard work and mystery.
skipping this step has finally come back around to bite major labels in the
ass, because there are very few acts now that have loyal fans, who have
grown with them and who are willing to follow them through their careers…

the second part is that there is TONS of competition
now for peoples entertainment dollar and for their attention span.

third, the internet has changed the discovery process.
there is no mystery anymore.
going to see shows is not as exciting as it used to be, when someone
can download the show on you tube.
the zepplin reunion wasn’t half as cool to talk about, when you could see
it 10 minutes after it happened. where is the myth? the myth is CRUCIAL.
would dylan plugging in at the newport folk festival have been nearly
as cool if everyone could have seen it?
this brings up another point, which is: interacting with a computer. and files,
is NOT interacting with human beings.
and there is no substitute for that. and technology is creating
a whole generation who are growing up IN that
environment, with computers in hand. so to them,
the act of seeing a band live doesn’t really hold the same
significance as it might to someone from another generation.

fourth, ticket prices for most shows are TOO HIGH!.
tickets+parking+t-shirt+drinks etc= a pricey night.

2) Will this trend in the music industry continue?

yes. the trend will continue until a new music industry
business model is created that is more effective at promoting
music without overexposure… while building an artist to fan loyalty
at a more organic pace. the music industry has to work WITH
technology from here on out, if they want to survive. for so long it’s
been, and still is to some extent, the music industry vs. technology.
that kind of fear based business model is what got the industry
in trouble in the first place

3) Is there still a place for singer songwriters?

yes. singer/songwriters are the cheapest way to tour.
and touring cheaply allows you to do it
for longer. to build the fan base brick by brick which is,
at this point, the only real proven way to
make a living playing music that is (mostly) not subject to outside forces.

4) What is it like to carve out your own niche in the music business now?

for me, it is the same as it has always been. brick by brick. fan by fan.
i have seen MANY of my peers come and go. i use the analogy that
i’m taking the stairs in my career.
if it’s too good to be true, especially in this industry, than it probably is…
all the hype. and push. and money
it takes to ‘break’ an act… it doesn’t hold a candle to winning
people over through true discovery on their part, and the
organic build that happens with time.

5) Has the internet helped or hurt you as an artist and why?

the internet has done both. it has helped spread
the word about artists. and touring.
it has become INVALUABLE in this way. in an instant,
people can know where you are playing and how to
quickly buy tickets. but it has hurt the industry in the same way,
in regards to the music itself. in an instant a person can hear
your song. download your song.
and play it. all without lifting more than a finger.
this lack of human contact… with the store. the clerk.
the record bin. the CD itself, this difference…
between a person interacting with a record/CD
as opposed to interacting with a digital file…
this difference is CRUCIAL.
and as a society we underestimate the negative
impact this has on us as human beings and,
consequently, on music.

6) What artists are still having great tours now that are
appealing to broad spectrums of people and why?

i’m hard pressed to come up with too many
examples of bands with mass appeal
to a broad spectrum, but the ones that come to mind…

- nostalgia acts. big bands that built their fan base
in a different time. and either reunite or continue
to put out records now. (police, U2, genesis, springsteen)
-tween acts. acts who sell from television shows. hannah montana. etc.
-country acts. country is amazing because that genre STILL sells CDs.
fans of country music STILL go to the store to buy cds…
- dave matthews, o.a.r., dispatch- bands that are
destination spots for people.
a place where it is the event of going
and hanging out with your friends, with music happening around you.
music is part of a whole. not the whole itself.

bands like radiohead. wilco. pearl jam. my morning jacket.
these are what we, as artists, can aspire to be.
they are realistic bands to try to emulate.
bands that can tour because of their loyal fan base.
they keep ticket prices low.
and they use technology to their advantage.
these are the bands we are going to see in the future.
bands that don’t get to the scale the same heights…
but are able to constantly tour and make money and grow.
because they build organically and constantly evolve.
and challenge their audience.

i just finished watching radiohead’s
live new years broadcast thing.
i tivo’d it.
it was cool…
and the new record is cool.
but kind of in the same way math is cool.
to watch them play it.
gave me perspective.
gave the music more identity.
but it just doesn’t MOVE me the way
i used to get moved by them.
it just feels like long division with good flow.
i miss The Bends. and i miss Ok Computer..
fuck, at this point, i miss Kid A.

i never really dug the 60’s. the music.
i mean.. i dug dylan. i loved the who.
but i never really appreciated how crucial
rock and roll was back then, culturally.
and how there were so many amazing bands
constantly changing and shaping the landscape.
i just finished a book called ‘white bicycles’ by joe boyd.
and one called “i’m with the band,” by pamela des barres.
and they both deal with the ’60s.
and the music of the ’60s.
so i’m feeling pretty deep in that time.
and i guess i’m a little jealous that
music doesn’t do that anymore.
not on the scale it did.
records and bands aren’t crucial to the fabric of
our society like they were then..
or in the ’70s. or 80s. or even early 90s.
it’s rarer and rarer that people invest
their emotional weight into a band.
into music.
and i miss that.
and i wonder if it will ever get back to being
essential again… on a large scale.

‘i wish it was the sixty’s, i wish i could be happy,
i wish, i wish, i wish that something would happen’
-radiohead.

i’m totally over dessert.
especially caramel popcorn… ugh.
that shit is the devils work!
it is jan 2nd.
the time for food as recreation has passed.
i am now onto phase 2…
food as survival.
that is all.
goodbye cookies. and caramels. and gingerbreads.
and cakes. and waffles. and chocolate. and ice cream.
and goodbye evil, cruel, manipulative caramel popcorn!