Posts Tagged ‘music industry’
Where Are They Now?
Dec.10.2007
Whatever happened to Le Studio? It has become Village Le Studio and Spa, a development undertaken by Maximoff Group. The developer will turn the former world-renowned recording studio into an exclusive, luxury log home community and spa. The resort will feature about 130 estates, a world-class spa, 5-star restaurant and conference center. Perhaps as an afterthought, or perhaps as a way to make the area unique, a history of the studio is included here.
Off the Record
Aug.09.2007
A friend passed me the link to an interesting article in Prospect Magazine about the rise and fall of the recording industry. An excerpt from the article:
There is a story doing the rounds in the US that says a lot about the state of the music business. It concerns a young rock band who decided to stop selling their CDs at concerts. Selling CDs has, for many years, been a good way for an act to reclaim the margin that would otherwise have been snaffled by a retailer. But it made no sense to this band once they discovered that by selling CDs for $10 they were cannibalising sales of their $20 T-shirts.
There are two points to note here. First, that a simple garment with a logo stamped across it, probably manufactured for pennies in a third-world sweatshop, now costs twice as much as an album of digitally pristine, highly wrought music recorded in a state of the art western studio. Second, most bands, however successful, now make their money from live work and the merchandising opportunities that go with it, rather than from recordings.
The full article can be found here.
Gibson Consumer Electronics
Jul.10.2007
Interesting. Gibson has entered the consumer electronics business offering things like surge protectors, hard drives, HDMI cables, and this really cool 1GB flash drive.
New Violin
Apr.07.2007
Solomon, Ex-Lambert, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1729, was auctioned by Christie’s house in New York. The presale estimate was $1 million to $1.5 million. It sold for a modest $2.7 million. I was looking for a new violin but decided that a used one would be a bit more affordable. I guess I was wrong.
Playing In A Band
Feb.27.2007
I always enjoy playing with a strong group of musicians. Experienced players think about the following:
- Am I leaving enough space in my playing for the other band members?
- Is my stage volume making it hard for other players to hear themselves?
- Are my stage tones clashing with anyone else?
- Does what I’m playing contribute to the mood and meaning of the song?
I have found myself in situations where players do not think about these questions.
Update: I had included some additional commentary for this post which I have removed. My intent was to talk about the important things to remember when playing in a band and not to single out any one person in particular. I have had to learn these lessons myself.
Rejection
Feb.06.2007
American Idol. I’m really not sure how to react to such a program. The rejected candidates shown on the program are typically awful. Not marginally bad, but truly awful. Absolutely no talent. And yet, they seem blind to the reaction to their audition. They deny that their talent is substandard.
The judges are certainly far more severe this season than I recall from previous years. And it was upsetting to see several of the candidates walk away in tears.
Perhaps they need the so-called Chinese Rejection. This rejection is an urban myth used to console authors with rejected manuscripts. I think it could be tailored easily enough for the judges of American Idol. And it would allow the very worst of the candidates to hold on to their bizarre view of their talent.
Here is the text of the Chinese Rejection:
“We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity.”
I Got A Nikon Camera
Dec.28.2006
Paul Simon released There Goes Rhymin’ Simon in 1973. Kodachrome was a big hit for Paul Simon. The catch lyric: “I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, so mamma don’t take my Kodachrome away.”
Kodak required the album to note that Kodachrome is a trademark of Kodak. Nikon did not make such a request. Paul Simon’s Kodachrome was a hit in North America. In Britain, the song was not played on radio because of the trademarked Kodak name.
I have a Nikon D200 camera. And I love to take a photograph. Digital. RAW. No Kodachrome.
The D200 is an excellent camera body with sophisticated controls manifest in hardware and software. The software supports up to four customized shooting modes. The variables are extensive and so I looked for some background on the camera and recommended settings.
I should have known. There is a very active online community called Nikonians. And I downloaded a comprehensive custom settings spreadsheet from here. I have set up four modes: point and shoot, portrait, landscape, and action.
Even if you do not own a Nikon camera, the site is rich with informative articles on photography. You will need to register and the free membership gives access to the forums and articles.
Recommended. And in the spirit of photography, here is one of the better studio shots of Paul Simon.
Top 25 Christmas Songs
Dec.20.2006
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) announced its Top 25 most performed holiday songs for the past five years, based on performance data tracked by radio airplay monitoring service Mediaguide.
Here are the songs:
- The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)
Written by: Mel Tormé, Robert Wells
Performed by: Nat “King” Cole- Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Written by: Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin
Performed by: The Pretenders- Winter Wonderland
Written by: Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith
Performed by: Eurythmics- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Written by: Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie
Performed by: Bruce Springsteen- White Christmas
Written by: Irving Berlin
Performed by: Bing Crosby- Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Written by: Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne
Performed by: Andy Williams- Jingle Bell Rock
Written by: Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe
Performed by: Bobby Helms- Little Drummer Boy
Written by: Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone
Performed by: The Harry Simeone Chorale & Orchestra- Sleigh Ride
Written by: Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish
Performed by: The Ronettes- Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
Written by: Johnny Marks
Performed by: Gene Autry- It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Written by: Edward Pola, George Wyle
Performed by: Andy Williams- I’ll Be Home For Christmas
Written by: Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram
Performed by: Vanessa Williams- Silver Bells
Written by: Jay Livingston, Ray Evans
Performed by: Kenny G- Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
Written by: Johnny Marks
Performed by: Brenda Lee- Feliz Navidad
Written by: José Feliciano
Performed by: José Feliciano- Blue Christmas
Written by: Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson
Performed by: Elvis Presley- Frosty The Snowman
Written by: Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins
Performed by: The Ronettes- A Holly Jolly Christmas
Written by: Johnny Marks
Performed by: Burl Ives- It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Written by: Meredith Willson
Performed by: Johnny Mathis- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Written by: Tommie Connor (PRS)
Performed by: John Mellencamp- Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)
Written by: Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman
Performed by: Elvis Presley- Carol Of The Bells
Written by: Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich
Performed by: John Tesh and the Christmas Symphony Orchestra- Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Feed the World)
Written by: Midge Ure (PRS), Bob Geldof (PRS)
Performed by: Band Aid- (There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays
Written by: Bob Allen, Al Stillman
Performed by: The Carpenters- Santa Baby
Written by: Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer
Performed by: Madonna
iTune Sales Plummet
Dec.15.2006
The National Post headline read: Sales Cut In Half: Revenue plummets 65% as consumers lose their appetite for Apple iTunes.
And with that news, spread broadly across the mainstream media, Apple stock dropped 3%.
The problem? The story is simply not true.
From the National Post:
Since January, 2006 the number of monthly iTunes transactions has declined 58%, while the average size per purchase declined by 17%, leading to a 65% overall drop in monthly iTunes revenue, U.S. market research group Forrester said in a survey among North American consumers.
National Post took the story from Reuters. Faced with numerous questions on the validity of the research, Forrester made a post on their blog to clarify their report. Here is an excerpt:
What an interesting couple of days it’s been. What follows is a case study in how information — and misinformation — spreads on the Net.
We put out a simple little report about iPods and iTunes based on credit card transactions and publicly stated Apple data. And for those who aren’t Forrester clients, I blogged the highlights. In case you are wondering, we ran the report by Apple, and they declined to comment.
Since then: – The New York Times ran a little fairly balanced pieced on the research. This got us on the media’s radar screen. Then . . . – A UK outfit called The Register and Bloomberg decided to dive in and highlight one finding of the report — that iTunes sales had dropped in the first six months of this year. We got treated to wonderful headlines about iTunes sales “collapsing” and “dropping” and “plummeting” and so on.
Now for the record, iTunes sales are not collapsing. Our credit card transaction data shows a real drop between the January post-holiday peak and the rest of the year, but with the number of transactions we counted it’s simply not possible to draw this conclusion . . . as we pointed out in the report. But that point was just too subtle to get into these articles. – Apple’s stock actually did plummet — 3%.
I started getting calls from hedge fund managers. Apple’s spokesman called and, although they refuse to go on the record with any facts, they’re clearly upset. And I also heard from the Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times, Financial Times, Toronto Globe and Mail, thestreet.com, etc. At this point I was trying to get people off the “65% drop” idea and onto some of the more interesting ideas in the report, with mixed success.
Now, you can’t unring the bell. But I will try to focus you on the truth here, which is this: iTunes sales are leveling off, the Journal did an article about it last Friday with data from Soundscan. Apple is not in trouble — it makes its money mostly from iPods, and iTunes is just a way to make that experience better. It’s the music industry that has to worry, since the $1 billion a year or so from iTunes, globally, doesn’t nearly make up for even the drop in CD sales in the US, which are now down $2.5 billion from where they were.
The researcher from Forrester got another point wrong. This was not a case study on how information and misinformation spreads on the Net. This was a story that leaped over to the mainstream media. And, in the spirit of diligent journalism, the papers simply grabbed a news feed and printed it for effect. No validation. No investigation.
In other words, the mainstream media became a parrot.
I have collected pictures of some of the most stunning recording studios in the world and you can travel through the set by clicking 
