sounds of SANTANA vol. LVCMXXXXXIVIII

though i might have to call "living on my own" a pile of crap.

i dont understand how people can throw knives at queen, but like stuff like journey. or def leopard.

somehow after a couple queen numbers his shuffle has moved onto a weird obsession with the crappy band songs from the official release of "the basement tapes" ... go back to the queen, machine

or im putting kim fowley back on.

if it doesn't screw with the negotiations, no reason not to send him a polite advance message that you're already hoping for reissues... I'm definitely mixed about mp3 blogs, the idea that out of print albums are fair game definitely diffuses the incentive for anyone to reissue physical copies, all I can say is there are still maniacs there to invest when someone does, I bought the Cluster reissues on Water even though I already owned the Sky CDs just because they looked so fantastic, I am a sucker

well... gosh

x-post

im just going to sit here and think about brian mey's hair for a little while....

a lot of music critics for one. I think Queen really give diehard rockists fits, because it's very tough to deny they were a good rock band, yet they're so completely not cooperating with any notions of what's supposed to be cool -- EVEN WHEN THEY TRIED. When they did disco or punk or blues or whatever, it still just sounded like Queen. "Fun It"? Nobody played music like that except them. "Sheer Heart Attack" is maybe the proggiest punk song ever and it so completely rocks that I can't go on anymore.

ennio morricone - 'white dog' ost
faron young - greatest hits
cage/camu - nighthawks

I had some good connections to try to reach him but never heard back. I still hope. I try not to let the idea that something's been shared online stop us from pursuing a project, but it depends how obscure something is. Of course any music deserves decent treatment and artists paid and whatnot, but with some of this stuff, if a big blog posts an entire record (or discography) and the 20 people who would be excited get it, by the time it comes out legit, it may feel like yesterday's news. Whereas if you do it legit first, maybe those 20 people would get excited enough to help spread the word?

if it doesn't screw with the negotiations, no reason not to send him a polite advance message that you're already hoping for reissues... I'm definitely mixed about mp3 blogs, the idea that out of print albums are fair game definitely diffuses the incentive for anyone to reissue physical copies, all I can say is there are still maniacs there to invest when someone does

I've tended to talk about too much in advance, I hate to have to put my foot in my mouth so I'm avoiding asking people to take down stuff that I'd like to release, only when I'm pretty confident it's going to happen.

oh, wait a minute -- reissue as downloads?

Yeah. I think it's how everything's going to be soon enough. I'm just getting tired of the idea of us putting out CDs, maybe making our money back(especially since some of these "releases" are REALLY obscure, everybody's just going to share them online anyway, then you're stuck with another physical object that's just going to go out of print and end up on ebay with the original records. Just so everyone can buy the CDs, put them on their computer and listen on their iPods...Things like Apple's iTV and the Squeezebox are going to take over very soon and I think its worth making the music available in a legit way.

like Dan has said before I think vinyl (for the die-hards) + downloads (for the iPods) is gonna be the way things will go. CDs already feel pretty obsolete but I don't think people will stop pressing up collectors' edition vinyl anytime soon.

the problem with the death of labels and immediate accessability (whether via online sales or share) is quite obviously the glut. its going to take a lot of time for things to start really working out for those people looking to supply music (currently, the distribution systems online favor the "consumer").

i love that we can share things and that i can hear things. but hell i still go to the shops every week. thats impt. and i hate having music as "files", but like milton and dan, i will accept where this is most likely going

Milton- what you have to realize is the technology is moving fast. Compressed files? Hours downloading? These won't be issues soon. For the former, there's already a service or two that specializes in selling lossless files. Our distributor is looking for others to work with, and I plan to point people in that direction, with that concern. Even among the services that exist, different kinds of compression have vastly different results. As far as hours...the bandwith is increasing, compression technology is improving. I guarantee within a few years we'll all be laughing about the idea of waiting for files to download.

As far as it being an insult..I think if we offer something worth downloading, we may not invest in manufacturing, but in remastering, in promoting and in getting the artist paid. And with each download you'll know the artist and label will get paid. Right now there aren't enough people downloading this kind of stuff to make it seem worthwhile, but when we move in that direction, it'll be alot easier to turn a profit. You may feel good paying for a CD of some obscure reissue, but half the time, the artist and label aren't getting anything out of it more then exposure!

cutty...yeah. I don't think many artists OR labels even appreciate what that means any more. Investing in an artist and a career over the long run. Indie labels offering tour support? etc...

I know all the drawbacks about this direction...I stay up all night thinking about it. I hope that the technology will deal with it. I hope that when you download a song from some services, they have a record of it so when you're computer blows up you can get it again. Stuff like that do concern me. But regarding having a physical product over a digital file, if you're someone who listens to music on the computer/iPod/squeezebox, what are you paying for? The right to own a printed copy of the liner notes.

but on the whole I haven't heard very much of their stuff

definitely rooting for you Dan, you've got a great label, and points taken about the download fees going directly to label / artist when downloading (if downloading from a label website -- i've seen my albums offered for sale online from people I've never heard of who are obviously not legit, including several albums that were never officially released -- which is insane)

if you're someone who listens to music on the computer/iPod/squeezebox

90% of the time this isn't me, but... I'm increasingly in the minority

i wrote one...ummm lesson one? and i wrote a theoretical grrrrrrls review the other one was....hmmm...(xpost to dan)

"if you're someone who listens to music on the computer/iPod/squeezebox
90% of the time this isn't me, but... I'm increasingly in the minority"

me too (hell i cant even recall the html to make things into italics), but i think we are a dying breed

I like Queen, but Dave you gotta hear more Sparks.

Ben, I have a Lesson review from you, an Ascension review from Repellent with no credit and no review from you for Theoretical Girls.

no online music service gets taste right. some might come close. but nobody has replicated the taste aspects of a good record store and good record stores were pretty intimate with the labels. i see insound is trying downloads now and you could argue that emusic and audio lunchbox have tried hard to court a certain feel over the years.

but rhapsody and napster and itunes are for shit. they totally are. it's a sea of randomness. granted, there's diamonds in that sea, but...

m.

UNKNOWN PASSAGE: THE DEAD MOON STORY.

most inspiring thing since the first time i heard the godz.

in the new paradigm, iTunes and the like can be seen as UPS or something. Just the means of delivery. If labels really focus on downloads, then that's what they'll be promoting. Rough Trade is selling mp3s, Other Music will soon as well...but the thing is, even with "well curated" stores...part of why things are curated is because you can only carry so much stuff. Online outlets like iTunes and eMusic can carry everything and anything. I know people at eMusic try to influence you like a good old indie-store clerk, so that element is there. Is Other Music going to carry (tries to think of something totally unhip that can't be justified by Other Music) downloads just because it can? I don't know, but even if they do, they won't focus on it.

But even iTunes "curates" with what it features...but it's a big service with wide appeal, you're not going to see the Urinals on the front page. For the record they've hired quite a few hipsters to help organize stuff, like in their ultimate mix-tapes section where you can get just the basics or dig deeper, they have some people who know what they're talking about. But you're not the market for them for the most part.

As to whether labels can get smart about it, we'll see. The question to me is still, are enough people going to pay for it?

Title:

UTD:BENEATH THE ODD-EDGE SOUNDS TO THE TWILIGHT CONTRACT OF THE BLACK FASCIST/THE WEALTH OF THE PENETRATION IN THE ABSTRACT PARADIGMAS OF SATAN

http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/

http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/images_cat/24_1_300.jpg

but to what msp was getting at: thats the trouble. if lables go down the tubes with shops, someone has to take their place...and we cant go leaving that to bloggers, now, can we?

were beginning to get a bit misdirected here and this might best be taken up over in ilm (were it not overrun by youknowwhats), but Dan, how do you look at marketing/promoting in a dwnld and self releasing marketplace...(still easier for a label than an act alone)?

and now youve half gotten to it

apple is clearly in the business of making itunes totally lifestyle based, and therefore slighty more aware of how to push records than most labels.

ive been wondering recently about the labels and outlets that clearly understand what the record buying public wants

Labels aren't going down the tubes unless people totally stop paying for recorded music. And if labels go under, a lot of artists are gonna wonder where they're going to get their advances from. The labels aren't the curators as much as the press I think...it's just the lazy press that depends on the labels so they can say "everything on such and such is good". If the whole music industry was just 1,000,000,000 myspace artists, it'd be up to the press to help tell people what's good. And maybe as listeners we'd pay that press to curate that shit for us, or maybe we'd pay someone else to curate it and help us obtain it, like say, a label.

Marketing and promoting in this scenario is easier for the label because they're more easily able to create a brand. If I started a myspace page and put up some music, I'd just sit around waiting for people to discover my site, and if I wasn't connected to the press, I'd have to work my ass off to get it out there. I guess that's why labels are and will still be important. The label picks out the artist, stamps it with that seal of approval. I'm honest when I talk to people now, if you want to you can cut out the middle men and offer music for sale directly. But how many people will it reach. And if you were to say chose me as your middleman...is there anything I can offer that might get you more attention? Like access to press, like access to people who trust my taste, like access to fans of the other music on my label...these are the things that the label is good for. That and money.

I dunno, I'm finishing my site soon, it's not much but I think it'll be good, and we'll see how some of these releases go is the most I can say.

ben, I know I got us into this conversation, but at this point I'd probably not want to discuss it in the wider realms that is ILM! For various reasons!

for probably the same reasons and concerns (also i wouldnt want you to feel pressured talk to directly about plans being put in place -- was more interested in general perspectives)

well, with the way the economy looks from my angel, dominique -- esp once all our dads get into the retirement -- were going to have to have day jobs and prayers w/our music and/or other persuits. but im feeling damned pessimistic about the future of the world this week.

http://images.monocerosmedia.com/gallery/d/53232-2/TwiztidWolf-1.jpg

seems like pre-download, nobody was getting rich off of indie stuff. same with record stores. the general vibe is: enjoy the blessings of the thing while losing your shirt. granted, whereas at one point they could sort of half survive, now it's total brokedom. it's also hard to acertain anecdotal evidence of some folks.... "oh it's downloads!" ... meanwhile you look at what they're releasing and it's all either awful or what's becoming less and less relevant to the NKOTB.

i agree totally with the itunes = UPS analogy... even tho amazon wants in and you know they'll turn their "customers who bought bang tango also bought the marine girls" tech on first chance they get.

i wonder how insound gets in on the action? it'd be interesting if emusic/itunes/etc would give % cut to mp3blogs linking to their wares. that's basically a small record store in a nutshell.

joel, i know i don't say it enough, but you rule.
m.