Techno-stress

This year I’ve converted from PC to Apple with a Macbook Pro, but not without it’s growing pains. I gradually getting to know Reaper but it still stresses me out with it’s plethora of right-button commands and endless preferences. It can be a headache just to do one action sometimes.

Add to that getting familiar with the itunes/mac universe and using a newly purchased ipad, and starting to tear out my hair. iTunes is not designed to work with books and pdfs on the ipad, yet I’m forced to go through it just to organise my reading. I have my files on the desktop organised a certain way, and I hate the lack of flexibility in iTunes. If it wasn’t for recording (quietly), I’d revert back to the PC universe.

Anyway, that’s my rant for the week. I was going to share an electronic file I’ve made on Reaper via Soundcloud, but the files too big at the moment so needs a bit more work.

Couds alooming…

Since people didn’t ascend at the end of the world…

Hope for Taiwans Recording Industry…

I’ve read in a couple of sources that the size of the Taiwan music recording industry in terms of revenue is roughly one tenth of its former self of the 90’s. Even in the 90’s priracy was a problem with the illegal distribution of pirated copies but in the internet era illegal downloading is just rampant:

　

“Citing statistics from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Chang previously noted that, despite Taiwan’s top-notch domestic talents and thriving music scene, total music revenue dropped sharply from NT$13 billion [US$442.3 million] in 1997 to NT$1.5 billion [US$51 million] in 2008 – with piracy and illegal downloads mostly to blame.”
　

However, in one of my latest blog readings there’s apparently a glimmer of hope with all the top labels and orgs getting behind a website called “omusic.com.tw” with the aim of supplying legal music to the Taiwanese and Chinese consumer. But it’s hard to compete with free…

 
And here’s a quote from the Omusic Chairman: “Omusic sets the precedent for the cooperation of music labels in Taiwan, as we work together to hopefully revamp the country’s digital music ecosystem and to further influence the market in Mainland China. With full support from the artists, record labels, music copyright industry, music industry groups and telecom operators, Omusic’s comprehensive digital-music platform hopes to help take Taiwanese pop to the forefront of the licensed online music market across Greater China.”

Omusic Launches Chinese-Language Online Music Store

http://www.hughsnews.ca/omusic-launches-chinese-language-online-music-store-0018043

Quitting your day job

“Were it not for Yout Tube, we’d still be a bunch of kids palying ukeleles in our bedrooms, working day jobs.”

I still work a day job, but I definitely appreciate You Tube, and how it’s really revolutionising media and how people communicate -not just for indies who seek to make a living from music. The above quote is from Alan Lastuftka, President of DFTBA records, which stands for “Don’t Forget T Be Awesome”. I came across it from Music Think Tank: “Is You Tube Destroying or Saving Muisc?” which I found immensely interesting.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/is-youtube-destroying-or-saving-music.html

For me, Youtube is a great outlet for my songwriting… which reminds me, I’m still in the process of my current song which is taking forever to complete. (Info is on this site: http://donakrv.blogspot.com/)

iTunes IMO

In Australia, itunes songs should be no more than $1 rather than the current $1.69 -It’s demotivating when you have to involve difficult maths but if you know $30=30 tunes then you feel freed up to explore a bit more.

And the samples should be 45 seconds instead of 30 seconds.

And there should be more choice of format.

And the files should include the lyrics and ‘sleeve notes’ as well as the picture of the album.

Otherwise in this day and age it doesn’t seem great value -IMO anyway.

Not so down on iTunes afterall…

I’ve written previously about some of my frustrations with the iPod and iTunes, and it’s probably partly because I feel they seem to be dominating etc… But I have been using iTunes and there are some pro’s compared to walking into a CD store… And I mention this because I have been getting into some Chinese and Taiwanese bands -stuff I’d never be able to buy in a record store here, even in Chinatown.

I’m a bit of a fan of the indie and underground scene of Taiwan (thought more last generation) -such bands as Tizzy Bac, 1976, 8mmSky and To A God Unknown.

I’ve also become a fan of Cui Jian, often referred to as the ‘father of Chinese Rock’. I’d actually bought a cheap tape of his in Chinatown (Sydney) -it was in the sales bin, but the quality was poor. I’m guessing it was a ‘daoban’ -pirated copy, unless the record company just did a botch job.

Anyway, the plus side of iTunes is that it’s easy to check out overseas acts, you can listen to a 30sec clip and ‘cherry pick’ -the very thing Record Companies don’t want consumers doing. So, maybe CDs are cheaper, and if you’re lucky, you can find your favourite band for $10, giving you at least $1 per track, you don’t have the option of cherry picking, or avoiding the ‘fillers’.

But there are still drawbacks to iTunes -some bands I still can’t get hold of. One of my favourite bands from Taiwan is ‘The Chairman’ -and I’ve been dying to get their lastest album but can’t find it on itunes. Maybe I need to use their Chinese name, but I think I tried that.

Another draw back is even popular Chinese artists don’t have their back catalogue on iTunes. I’m not a huge fan of Coco Lee, but she has an amazing voice and there some old songs I wanted to track down, but not available on iTunes unfortunately…

Tizzy Bac

Cui Jian

Streaming in royalties… (cartoon)

 

I originally did this cartoon after getting a vibe of disappointment from musos about digital streaming services and the ridiculous amount of spins one needs to generate a modest income. I thought I was exaggerating until I came across the Lady Gaga story with Spotify -I’m not sure how true it is but it seems the percentage in my cartoon is better than the rate Lady Gaga received!

By the way the ‘Digital Royalty Payout Office’ is just a figment of my imagination for comic effect… as is the fact that many of my characters are chain smokers and drinkers, and indulge in their habits with impunity (I’m not a smoker if you’re wondering).

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/apr/18/sam-leith-downloading-money-spotify)

Mood swings against free?

Funny how the mood has changed regarding the concept of free content on the net. The Camper Van Beethoven interview has shed light in more detail on how difficult it is for bands to make any money with recorded music on the web (and off it) and the recent news about Andrew Zolli changing his tune: “the idea that we internet visionaries sold is a total load of crap. …companies were supposed to make back the money by… “monetizing the attention economy”…”

Without the product being forced with a physical item, it’s almost impossible to hold the same leverage to make a sale… So the IT industry holds the leverage: the music industry shrinks while Apple and Google get richer…

But it does seem ridiculously unfair: the world expects content creators to produce, whether it’s music, writing, reporting, photography or video -it all requires time, effort, training, skills and expertise… What would the internet be without creative content? It would probably be limited to merely a platform for business transactions -banking, travel, shopping etc… Imagine how much less people would go online if there was no creative content. The ad revenue would be vastly reduced as well.

But the rules are changing. It’s as simple as that.

90% of my news-reading is done online. I buy the Sydney Morning Herald occasionally, but generally go online. And if it wasn’t free online, I’d read another newspaper anyway, it wouldn’t force me to buy atom copies.

And I read newspapers from Asia (有的时候看中文报纸-。。。练习一些）, and I access a few articles and blogs relevant to the music industry -including Billboard. It would’ve been a lot harder to access those 15 years ago.

A simple fact is that physical newspapers can’t delivery up-to-date news like the online network and blogs anyway…

And further worse news for content creators of all kinds -as the barriers of entry lower more people are doing it for free. I don’t suppose what the futurists preach would make a huge difference. The transformation from a passive consumer society to a ‘prosumer’ society is taking place. From a global perspective, information and culture has become more far-reaching, freely available and communication more efficient -it’s just that the techies will be the ones making all the money.

DIY artists on Youtube

When I’m on Youtube I’ll try to follow any ‘DIY’ artists and singer-songwriters that I come across, and the following two seem to have made a lot of impact. The main common feature about them is their hard work and perseverance….

Mary Win -Singersongwriter:

And Alex Chudnovsky -An Australian guitarist.