The IFPI have release some very interesting figures with regards to growth in 2011.
Digital trade revenue was up 8 percent to $5.2 billion.
That was the first year the growth rate increased since IFPI records began in 2004. Previously, growth rate of 10 percent in 2009 had sunk to five percent in 2010.
Globally, digital is now 32 percent of labels’ income, up from 29 percent (that is 52 percent in the U.S. and 71 percent in China). Download volume grew 17 percent to 3.6 billion.
Adoption of subscription services grew 65 percent to 13.4 million consumers. Remarkably, in Sweden, subscription contributes an impressive 85 percent of digital music revenue generally, thanks to its local hero Spotify.
If any of you own or have at any point owned a Nintendo DS, you might have come across a game called Electroplankton. In my idiotic and useless opinion, it was the first ‘music game’ that really worked on both levels as a game that you could really spend hour playing and as a genuine musical compositional tool.
The reason for its success was the simple interface and its ‘open’ music format. Too many music games tried to replicate a sequencer, which inevitably led to lots of people making very shi*t house music out of an extremely limited bank of samples.
Soundrop iPhone is an even more simplistic version of the Electroplankton model, that you can download for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
The interface really is as straight forward as; draw a line, let a ball bounce on it, when the ball hits the line a marimba sample will sound, draw another line, create rhythms and patterns. Before you know it you’ll think you’re a regular Philip Glass.
The free version of the app is fun enough, but if you can stretch to £1.19 you’ll get the pro version which allows you a broader range of sounds.
Very fun and addictive app that I urge you to try. You can find out everything you need to know by clicking here.
The internet is a wonderful thing. It has liberated the small artist and gifted them complete freedom over the release of their work. The result of this is artists who would have 10 years ago had no chance of building up a fan base outside of their home town can build intimate relationships through their music with people living anywhere in the world. What an age we live in! Music being in ‘the cloud’ excites me more than music being in a live venue. This is why I was delighted yesterday to hear that Alex Ljung had made it onto the Top 30 Power Players Under 30 Billboard list: Where then is the downside to all this modern age tomfoolery? Well, with such freedom artists hypothetically have nothing stopping them from releasing as much music as they want, which *might* cloud their judgment and on occasion disable their quality control filter. As a result a good artist could have their image tainted by releasing a few too many duds that a record label may have advised against.
Hello Inkysmudge! Does any of the above sound familiar?
The band have released 4 albums/E.P’s in 9 months according to their website. They are a band that I think perfectly demonstrate my above point. I don’t dislike Inkysmudge by any stretch of the imagination, at their best they reminded me of early Eels and seem extraordinarily charismatic.
Linked below is a track that I was emailed by a member of the band which he described as “the most representative” example of their work. Fine. It’s a perfectly good song that I’m sure many of you will like. The problem is that if you go to their website you will find far too many songs that sound pretty darn similar.
My initial aim was to review a record of theirs, but sadly I found all four too hard to tell apart and released too close together. Instead I published this rather unkind attack, which Inkysmudge certainly don’t deserve to have aimed entirely at them.
I hope that my thoughts have at least entertained you.
Hark! It’s The Harks, a Stockport-based work-in-progress currently offering two tracks to download for free from their myspace. I was pointed towards these and asked for my opinion. Here goes…
It wasn’t the most exhilarating of starting points; a drab myspace, the usual moody group shots, a pretty dry biography. I was prepared for forgettable, faintly emotional and poorly produced indie and ‘Last Call’ didn’t do a great deal to tackle my prejudices. The opening riff and the general starkness of the track reeked of a tamed Interpol with a swish of britpop not improving things, just localizing them.
I contemplated abandoning the review altogether after the opening bars of ‘I Know’ – its arpeggios hinted that some terrifyingly mediocre indie balladry might be following and I feared the worst. Imploring myself to keep listening, I was warmed when the wandering guitar was joined by a vocal straight from the glory days of 90s shoegaze. From there, as if my mind was being read, the opening soundscape stopped, chords and drums hit, and a song truly began.
Below the flat vocal and unfinished production of ‘I Know’ is the foundation of a classic pop song. The ‘I won’t be around’ refrain has an indie classicalism about it, staying with me and demanding replays. Goodness knows what it’ll do to teenage girls with crumbling relationships. Probably good things.
30th December 1915 – this is thought to be the date when a Public Address system was first used. It is humbling to know that a leap of only one hundred years takes us to a world of acoustic music by default. In this bygone world loudness is only available to large ensembles; a man alone can no longer fill a stadium with his songs or his kazoo.
Back in 2010, in southern England, there is a movement spreading named Pure Acoustica. This is not a record label or a genre as such; it is instead a collective of artists shepherded by the term’s founder, and fellow acoustic musician, Nick Tann. Nick is devoted to encouraging and promoting independent musicians – in particular acoustic musicians – and has a well-subscribed podcast that musicians/bands from around the globe are welcome to submit music for. Pure Acoustica is the alignment of Nick’s championing of independent artists with an ethos: the performance of music without microphones or amplifiers. While the pursuit of purity is nothing new, the intimacy that can be found in filling a room with an unaided voice is something worth pursuing. An audience must quieten to hear it; a performer must project their voice to an open space, not murmur softly into a hyped microphone like a latenight DJ.
But this article is not about a live performance, it is about singer-songwriter Tom Caulfield’s mini-album Bare Bones, recorded under the umbrella of Pure Acoustica. So how does Pure Acoustica translate to recording? An explanation can be found from Tom’s Bandcamp page.
[Bare Bones was] recorded the Pure Acoustica way; just a pair of nice microphones, all one take, no overdubs or drop-ins. No fancy effects, not even reverb. Just as if Tom was playing in your front room.
There is a problem when working to a strict ethos – it can sometimes sound better on paper than it does in practice. Audiences love to ‘see’ live performances, to match the artist’s physical effort with every nuance of the sound. But the abstract world of recorded sound is a cold blind place and it is for that reason that the quest for warmth and character on record has been so far-reaching.
Listening to Good You Got Away, with its hints of Bon Iver and its vivid storytelling, I am not wholly convinced by Tom’s vocal. I am sensitive to him holding back on some lines, while others flow much freer and without being able to watch him perform, the only story I can follow is what the vocal gives; the subtext of a man giving a single take is soon lost and forgotten. I’m inclined to wonder what it could have sounded like without the pressure of nailing it ‘all-in-one’ and with the facility to add a little reverb on his voice. This may have made an already sweet song even more magical.
Doomed To Be Beautiful is evocative of Tom Waits but lacking the incredible warmth of his recordings or grit of his voice. I do not think Mr Caulfield should aim to copy Mr Waits, but instead find a character to hang this delicate song upon. Personally, I would have loved to have heard some cello singing against Tom’s parched take. Catholic Girls confirms that Tom has a feel and talent for lyrics. ‘Everyone knows what Catholic Girls are like’ is a wonderful turn of phrase for a chorus and is a highlight of the album. Miss Valentines Last Stand continues with the rush of rhyming Jesus with Margaritas – very impressive – and the album closes with a gently funky guitar instrumental. I can’t help but wish it had some harmonica, or whistling or anything accompanying it, lovely though it is.
While Bare Bones is a fine document of Tom’s songs, this album trades magic for its ethos and this effectively stops it from flourishing. Pure Acoustica’s mandate makes excellent sense for live performances and I can thoroughly recommend going to see Tom and other Pure Acoustica artists live, in their natural habitat. For future recordings, I would suggest they either go to the great lengths of hiring chapels and candles to attempt the ultimate in one-take-wonders, or allow themselves a little more creative flexibility.
Buy a ‘Bare Bones’ CD (or download for free) here.
The much-debated Digital Economy Bill was yesterday ratified by the House Of Lords, to squeals of dissaproval from those worst hit by the bill’s contents. The “3 strikes” proposal at the centre of the bill will mean that repeated copyright infringers will have their internet connection disabled or slowed down, but other sections, such as Clause 17, which would have given ministers power to tear up current UK copyright law, have had their range diminished by the Lords.
ISP TalkTalk were among those to protest the ratification of the bill; their Director of Strategy and Regulation, Andrew Heaney said in the Guardian:
“The digital economy bill proposals create a new and unfair duty on broadband customers… It asks them to implement complex and expensive security measures on their connections to make it more difficult for their neighbours and others to use their connection for copyright infringement. The bill reverses the core principles of natural justice by requiring customers to prove their innocence.”
The bill will not pass into UK law until it has been passed by both the House Of Commons [who will doubtless chew it up a bit more before it hits the real world] and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth – whose approval is usually a matter of protocol, but who knows; she might be a big fan of bit torrent sites… Her Navy is bigger than any pirate’s.
In a flurry of activity over the week, Sellaband was attacked by pundits for failing to help Public Enemy fund a new album, put its site offline for ‘maintenance’, declared bankruptcy, was bought out, bailed out and replaced its CEO with the German entrepreneur heading up the purchase of the business.
Johan Vosmeijer (left) stepped down as Chief Exec yesterday, ceding the big chair to Michael Bogatzi (right), with a post on their blog saying that he’d been right all along, despite the difficulties his site has had:
There is no doubt in my mind that ‘crowdfunding’, as they call it, is a blessing for artists in the 21st century and that this concept has the potential to cure what’s been ailing the traditional music industry for so long. SellaBand is and will always be the first of its kind. I am proud to have been part of this very exciting journey from day one and because SellaBand will always be dear to me, I will stay active as a ‘Believer’ on the website and have offered to be on stand-by in case my assistance is needed. I am also very excited to announce that the man who has been standing side by side with me in those past 4 years, Dagmar Heijmans, will continue to be part of the new team and will work closely together with Michael Bogatzki, the new CEO of SellaBand GmbH.
All in all, today is a day of joy. Some other time perhaps, I will take a moment to look back and share my story with the outside world. Right now I only want to look ahead and hope you will all join me in giving the new team a warm welcome and find out what bright future still lies ahead for SellaBand.
Avoiding bankruptcy must be a pretty big relief… Bogatzki was similarly positive but more terse.
Dear Artists and Believers
We will continue to advance this fantastic platform while acting in the spirit of the SellaBand community and its founders. We are thankful for the exceptional work of Johan Vosmeijer and his team.
Starting from today we proceed with this unique concept and maximize the potential of SellaBand with the trust and faith of all Artists and Believers. In personal I am proud to be part of this idea and I am aware of my responsibility for done work and successes. I will take care about the community and spirit of sellaband.com with your help and confidence.
Seth Godin is a marketing guru and a regular feature on the panels at music industry exhibitions. In this in-depth interview he chats to Music Marketing’s David Hooper about the seismic changes that are happening in the music industry, and how you as a musician can best place yourself in the digital market.
From the luxurious position of having a major label deal with his main band, Blink 182, singer and guitarist Tom DeLonge can afford to experiment with his other project, Angels And Airwaves. The band are releasing their third album, imaginitively entitled “Love”, without the support of a label. The first two A&A albums were put out through Geffen, and sold in the hundreds of thousands, but “Love” will be offered as a free download, with premium versions comprising extra tracks and bonus material available to buy. The band will also be touring and selling $6.95 a month ‘memberships’ on their website. The hope is that these and other efforts will compensate for the recording and promotion costs of the album. DeLonge told Billboard in an interview that they’re hoping to get 20 million downloads of the album, and that:
“If only 5% of that 20 million came back and interacted with the Modlife platform that powers our Web site, the revenue would far exceed anything we’d make from a major label, in any way, shape or form,”
In this blogger’s opinion a 5% response rate is very optimistic, but it’s great to see bands pioneering different propositions in the modern digital-heavy marketplace. Presumably the album won’t be available on iTunes, or any of the other music stores RouteNote distributes to, which will mean that a lot of music users will not be able to access it through their normal channels, a closing of avenues which may cost a lot to replace in terms of product awareness.
How much sample makes a cover? Some of the biggest selling rap songs do little more than add lyrics to great songs someone else has written. I don’t want to detract from the achievments of the superbly successful rap artists in this playlist, success is hard to argue with. On the contrary, it’s just interesting to hear the songs that they’ve given a second shot at the charts.
