What They Call Music

Physical VS. Digital Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 18:08:00 +0000

I was very surprised when I read an article the other day about physical album sales. Apparently we won’t be saying goodbye to CDs any time soon. According to Neilson Soundscan’s 2011 breakdown two-thirds of all albums purchased in the United States are still CDs. 67.6 percent of albums sold last year were CDs!

I have to say I am kind of shocked and it was a bit ironic I came across this article when I did. I am currently in the process of moving and have been so irritated by the presence of CDs and CD cases popping up everywhere. For the longest time I have been so gung-ho about going out and purchasing those albums that are worth it. Although I still feel this way, packing all these CDs away got me thinking about the evolution of the way we listen to music.

The convenience of buying and listening to music has made me become somewhat annoyed with CDs. As I was packing them away and finding cases with no CDs and CDs with no cases I started to wonder if CDs will ever have the sentimental value that vinyl had. Will we still purchase CD players years down the line to listen to those old tunes we used to love or will we just scroll through our IPods? We have record players today so we can get that old record player sound we grew up with. What value does the CD hold, if any? If you ask me I would say the CD will fall in the same place that tapes did. The trash.

All that considered, I think it is positive news to know that so many people still care to have something physical to hold on to when it comes to their music. Although I did end up throwing away a lot of my old CDs, I did find it important to hold on the music that meant the most to me. At least for now.

References:

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120104twothirds#fmIvQWprR2eWu2tlUPGMUw

Mylo Xyloto

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:36:00 +0000

As I said, I am back to give my two cents on the new Coldplay album “Mylo Xyloto.” I have to say I am impressed and quite happy with the outcome of this album. I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one because I loved “X & Y” then they came out with “Viva La Vida” and I was less than excited about that one. Anyway, I think Coldplay nailed this one and here are a few reasons why.

The album starts out with a melodic short that grabs your attention. I think it is CRUCIAL that an album has its’ attention grabber right off the bat. There is nothing more discouraging than having to skip the first song. It has you wondering if you will be doing so more than once and that is no good. As you are listening to the intro you are pleasantly surprised by the upbeat tune that comes next. “Hurts Like Heaven” is the first song after the intro and instantly has you in a good mood and ready to move.

The next song, “Paradise,” honestly surprised me. Coldplay has always been more of a melodic, low-key band in my eyes and this song possessed a hip-hop/ R & B feel that I have never gotten from Coldplay before. I’m betting this song is the single that will have the most popularity with listeners. A top radio hit. Reason being, the song appeals to a wide variety of listeners.

The album continues to have fantastic songs that you won’t want to skip. Another single comes in at song number seven. “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.” This is the first song I heard off of the album and I heard it on the radio. This song is one of my favorites and I think it was smart to have this as a single. It wasn’t their best song but it was one of the best. This way you want to buy the album to hear more, but there are better songs so it isn’t all downhill from there. Listen here:

My recommendations include:

Paradise

Up With The Birds

Hurts Like Heaven

Up in Flames

The album set a new weekly digital album sales record and achieved the second-biggest first week sale of 2011 for an artist album

Strategic or Stubborn?

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:19:00 +0000

What does it mean when your favorite artist’s music doesn’t show up in your streaming programs? Well, in Coldplay’s case it means they are holding out on you so you will go the more traditional route and buy their album. It’s hard to say whether it’s a strategic move as far as sales go, or a stubborn move in an attempt to go against the new way of obtaining music.

Coldplay recently released their new album “Mylo Xyloto” and have withheld from sharing any of it with subscription streaming services such as Spotify. I have just recently become a user of Spotify and I can honestly say if my favorite artist’s music wasn’t available to stream I would buy it. This makes me think that Coldplay’s strategy is quite smart, but there is another angle to consider here. Times have changed and music is becoming easier and easier to obtain for free. As a musician you have to realize if you make quality music, it doesn’t matter if your music is out there for free, people will buy it.

I also think this strategy is one that can only be used by certain artists. Coldplay is big enough to get away with this and come out on top. Other artists would just be shooting themselves in the foot. If you are a smaller artist and looking to get your name our there, I think streaming sites are your best friend. Although this strategy is working for Coldplay now, if people aren’t impressed with this new album and feel they have wasted their money it may not work out so well next time.

I actually haven’t listened to “Mylo Xyloto” myself but I will be doing so and giving my review in my next blog.

Click here for a related article

Which Came First: The Addiction or the Fame?

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:06:00 +0000

The recent loss of another amazing musician has caused me to really think about addiction and substance abuse within the music industry. It seems to be so prominent that it doesn’t even surprise people when they hear their favorite artist is a drug addict. It sometimes seems as though it just comes with the territory and has since the beginning of music.

It seems that drugs were less talked about before the sixties. When the sixties rolled around it was made very obvious that drugs were a part of the music and a fuel for the music being made. Obviously there are a lot of great musicians that don’t take drugs and drink alcohol but it seems quite rare. This fact makes me wonder if creative minds have a tendency towards substance abuse and addictions. Becoming famous is that gateway to getting anything and everything and having the money to do so. Would the addictions have taken over if they hadn’t had the resources or would they have adapted the lifestyle regardless? This is a question I wish I knew the answer to.

It’s very hard to say whether or not musicians would be as successful if they didn’t have these demons that make them abuse drugs and alcohol. These demons are the basis of their music and the fuel to the emotions within their songs. In Amy Winehouse’s case, as well as many other musicians, she tried to take the road of recovery and it failed. I believe that in many cases brilliant creativity and deep emotions come hand in hand with an addictive personality. Although this is extremely unfortunate, it seems to be the case with so many of the great musicians of our time. The thought of fame and fortune will blind many from really considering whether they can handle the music industry and all it will offer, good and bad.

It was once quoted by Shannon Hoon, leader of Blind Melon, that “Whatever route someone’s going to take, they should look a little bit into it before they take that route.” That same year he died of a drug overdose at age 28.

The Evolving Role of the Artist Manager

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:34:00 +0000

As we all know, the music industry has changed quite a bit in the last decade for several different reasons and in several different ways. As the industry changes, so do the positions within it. The position that I will be focusing on is one that has been evolving for quite some time. This is the artist manager.

Because musicians are straying away from labels, the artist manager position has take on some of the roles that would normally be done by the label. A&R and artist development have shifted into more of an artist manager duty. Managers are now finding talent on their own rather than through a label, and developing the artist themselves as well. A lot of managers are taking on all the tasks that a label would normally be doing. They are promoting the music, selling the music, getting TV and film deals, getting major endorsement deals, arranging travel, and booking concerts for their artists.

The role of artist manager has always been to take artists as far as they can go in their careers. What has changed is what the artists’ career will look like. Before, the artist manger’s main goal would have been to land a huge record deal. Today, artists have so many different career goals and some aren’t even interested in a record deal. A lot of artists today want to stay independent rather than sign with a major label so it is essentially the manager’s place to do what the label would have done.

Before, a label was the heart of an artist or band and getting a deal with a record label was an artists’ main goal. Because of the changes within the music industry this has changed and artists are relying more on the manager rather than a label to get them where they want to go in their music careers. In my opinion, a good enough manager could take an artist to the top with no label behind them. The role of artist manager will continuously evolve as well as the industry itself.

What's Behind The Deals? Interview with Erin Hinjos

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:57:00 +0000

In the future I hope to be working within the music industry and the topic of focus this month has been on negotiation and deal making. With that said, I wanted to get a closer look at negotiations made within the music industry and a real-world perspective to better understand how it all works. This week I had the privilege of interviewing Erin Hinojos who has been working within the music industry for several years now. Erin is a good friend of mine who I met during our Music Business Bachelor’s degree at Full Sail University in 2009. During that time he kept me somewhat in the loop on his business dealings, but I wanted to catch up with him as well as ask him a few questions I had about his negotiation experience.

Currently, Erin holds two positions within the music industry. His main job is with a boutique artist management company called Vedette Productions working as an assistant manager of Caitlyn Moe which consists of helping with PR, marketing, and tour management for Caitlyn. He also assists with booking and does live sound at a venue in Brooklyn called Spike Hill. In his spare time, Erin manages his own artists under the RAMC Media Collective.

I asked Erin what kind of negotiations he deals with most of the time within his positions and he said mostly performance contracts. He has helped with a performance contract for Caitlyn, and is currently in the middle of a negotiating a contract for a producer/programmer he manages. This will be a songwriting contract as well as a contract with management.

Expanding on this, I asked Erin what kind of issues he has run into with negotiating with other parties. He replied saying that usually it comes down to agreeing on money, or the length of a term and that he’s been fortunate enough to work with people who have been easy to do deals with. Hopefully his negotiations continue this way, I’d say that’s pretty lucky!

I then asked what he does to make the negotiations run smoothly. He explained that he likes to build a personal and working relationship with anyone that he may be doing business with, that way it makes negotiating and talking with each other much more comfortable and keeps the negotiation running smoothly, thus resulting in a positive outcome. I thought this response was a very insightful and helpful one. Getting to know the person or party you are going to be dealing with can only help the situation in that you know each others limits and personalities.

I went on to ask Erin if he had ever had to deal with any “dirty tricks” when negotiating. When working out a contract, apparently the writer of the contract tried to use “fancy law lingo” to get his way in the dealings. He explained that because they had a good lawyer, Paul Rothenburg, this was caught before anything was signed and set in stone. Moral of the story: Always have a good lawyer and always read between the lines. If and when I ever work on an artist contract this story will come back to me and remind me to watch out.

Erin summed up the interview by explaining that building good working relationships has been very beneficial in any kind of business deal or negotiation he’s had and if he’s learned anything in negotiating is it to be patient, know what you want, and have a good lawyer that can read past the sneaky lawyer lingo.

All in all I felt this was a great interview. I gained advice that I can carry into my career within the music industry and know what to expect when it comes to negotiations and deal making. Erin was very helpful and gave insight into what can sometimes be a tricky industry.

Music Then and Now

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:15:00 +0000

I was having a hard time coming up with something to blog about because since the last post I have had no inspiration to write about a particular artist. That in itself gave me something to write about. I can't believe how hard it is to find truly talented and amazing artists today. I mean I feel like it's Christmas when I find an artist that makes good music. I can remember when I was younger having so much music to select from in my parents record collection and ALL of it was amazing. I can’t believe how much things have changed for the music industry in such a short amount of time.
I am constantly wondering where it is going from here. I remember thinking it was mark in time when they took tape players out of cars and started putting CD players instead. Now I feel like soon enough we wont have either. We will all just have an output for our iPods. I think the advancements of technology are wonderful but I can’t say it has taken the music industry to a better place. You don’t even legitimately have to be a good singer anymore to record an album. Artist’s voices can basically be manipulated in any way. A lot of music we are hearing now is completely manipulated and fake. Not only is this devastating because good music is scarce, it is devastating because this is the industry I will be working in soon. I am thankful for the artists out there that stick to true creativity and realness. With that said id like to recommend artists I believe are the best out there right now and I can count on to keep bringing the killer albums.

The Black Keys

Fleet Foxes

Adele

Lady Antebellum

Lady Gaga

Broken Bells

City and Colour

Ghostland Observatory

John Mayer

Michael Buble

Miike Snow

Muse

Mute Math

Zac Brown Band

I won’t say this is all of them but these are some of my favorites. If you don’t know of them check them out!

Lady Gaga Does It Again

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:49:00 +0000

Okay so Lady Gaga is known for being controversial so we should just expect it by now, right? Apparently not. I think it’s great and a smart way to swing attention her way, but there are still so many people who are getting so distraught over her stuff. She recently released her new song Judas, and even more recently released the music video for it. Well, the song itself stirred up some talk because of the biblical analogies, then the video caused even more of a rant because of the fact that Gaga plays the part of Mary Magdalene. I thought I’d explain for those of you who don’t understand the biblical analogy here.

The theme of the video is a portrayal of modern day Jerusalem. Lady Gaga plays Mary Magdalene, leading into the town where Jesus is. Beginning with the motorcycle scene, she is happy riding with the Jesus who represents good, then Judas comes along and seduces her into the dark, satanic side. The video uses Jesus and Judas as an analogy to good men and bad men in her life and is showing her fight to stay away from the bad ones. I think Lady Gaga did a wonderful job of making an interesting analogy out of a battle in her life. I think the only way the controversy can come from this is when people take it too literally. This is art.

With that said I know that Lady Gaga has her new album, Born This Way, coming out May 23^rd and I have to say I have very high expectations for this one. Because she has so much success with her first albums I feel that she must have so much pressure on her to make each one better. I think she will blow us away again though. She also recently released her Born This Way song list so here it is:

Americano

Bad Kids

Bloody Mary

Born This Way

Edge of Glory

Electric Chapel

Government Hooker

Hair

Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)

Judas

Marry the Night

Scheiße

You and I

Heavy Metal Lovers

The New A&R

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 16:54:00 +0000

My career goal is to work in the music industry and start or work for a talent scouting company. It has always been my dream to be an A&R for a major record label, specifically Interscope Records. When researching the market for starting my own A&R company I came across a few companies that interested me and dug in a little deeper to find out what they were all about.

The company that stood out the most to me was Crazedhits.com. Crazedhits is an A&R reference website that has a well established roster of artists who were once found through their site and are now signed to major record labels. The have gained credibility of major label representatives due to their many successes. A company like Crazedhits makes a staple in the music industry because major record labels are starting to downsize their A&R departments opening up the doors for online platforms for talent scouting such as this one. I think that this is the beginning of the future of the music industry and talent scouting. Because of the digital era we are in it has become as simple as putting your info and music on a site to get discovered. The only thing that is difficult is being discovered due to oversaturation. That’s where these types of companies come in. They create relationships with major record labels by gaining credibility and trust with them. This means the record label can cut out the legwork of finding artists on their own and outsource to these companies.

As great as these companies are, I have to say it is kind of disappointing to me that the music industry has changed so much that there is less and less of a need for actual A&R departments. As a said before, it has always been a dream of mine to be the head of an A&R department and be a part of the traditional ways of finding new talent. Traditionally an A&R representative would handle matters in person such as auditions and going to live shows. This way they get the whole idea of not only the artists recorded music, but how they are as a performer as well. If artists are only judged by what they put up the hear on a website, I fear that there will be less and less of a need for TRUE artists, only ones that can be manufactured.

Last Night On Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:41:00 +0000

I was recently introduced to a Band called Noah & The Whale and their recently released album Last Night On Earth. I’ve heard the name around but never had the initiative to listen until now. They are an indie folk band from Twickenham, London formed in 2006 with three previous albums. But enough with the info, this album definitely caught my ear!

I am sitting outside on what is the most beautiful day and in need of some good mood music. I don’t think there was a better time to have picked this album to try out. If it isn’t the perfect album for the perfect day, I don’t know what is. It would be hard to be in a bad mood listening to these songs.

I was presently surprised with the instrumentation right off the bat. Very catchy but I wouldn’t go as far to say it’s “poppy,” just very upbeat. I absolutely love lead singer Charlie Fink’s voice. It reminds me so much of singer Sam Endicott’s voice. Singer of The Bravery, another great indie band.

The whole album is written as if it is a story and most of it is written in third person narratives. I love this! It’s what keeps you locked in and wanting to hear what is next.

As far as recommendations go, there was only one song that I did not care for and that was track 3, song L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. Apparently this is the single off the album but I wasn’t in love with it. The tracks I did fall in love with were:

Track 1- Life is Life

Track 4- Wild Thing

Track 6- Just Before We Met

and the instrumental track of the album…

Track 7- Paradise Stars.

This is a band you must check out!

References:

http://www.concertlivewire.com/interviews/braveryint.htm

http://www.noahandthewhale.com/index.php

Hope and Goosebumps

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:44:00 +0000

There are moments when I question whether the music industry has completely gone down the drain, then something reminds me that it's not all lost. This time it was Adele. Her new album "21" was released recently, sold 352,000, and kicked Justin Bieber down from the number one Billboard charts. There is no question that it was well deserved either.

This album, as was the last, is the epitome of true musical talent. I think you have to give major credit to artists these days who are real in their music-making. Her vocals are outstanding and her lyrics are honest and true. With my attention span, as well as many other listeners, it's hard to sit through an entire 13 song album without getting bored or moving on. This album defies that. I found myself excited for every next song to come. Each song has a different feel, and there is no specific mood to the cd because each song changes it up. I love this. In a lengthier cd I think it's crucial to change up the mood.

With that said, there is no specific mood, but there is one theme and that is love. Each song has such honest lyrics and gets you thinking about all sides and aspects of being in love, losing love, getting over love, and wanting love. This is something most of us can relate to, so you find yourself lost in her lyrics as you would a fantastic novel.

Adele's album "21" captures soul, blues, and a bit a funk("I'll Be Waiting"). She has some acoustic tracks, lots of piano, a choir to add that soul, and closes the cd with an amazing live version on "Rolling In The Deep." If that isn't all fabulous enough she also adds in a cover of "Love Song." The best cover that's been done since The Cure, in my opinion.

My personal favorites from the cd are:

Track 1 "Rolling In The Deep"

Track 3 "Turning Tables"

Track 5 "Set Fire To The Rain"

Track 10 "Love Song"

Adele is one of those artists we can count on being around for a long time. I continuously search for that music that gives me goosebumps, and it's rare. To find a whole album that does so...I am in awe.

Brandon Flowers Not So Pretty

noreply@blogger.com (Carlyn Roser) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:25:00 +0000

I will start out by saying that I am NOT bashing this album. I do have respect for Brandon Flowers as an artist and as the lead singer of The Killers, but his attempt to go solo, in my opinion, is a shot in the dark.

After hearing the album several times I realized that Flowers is not what you’d call a failure as a solo artist but somewhat “bland.” I don’t think he strays far enough away from his roots as “The Killers” to go off as “Brandon Flowers” and not be compared to his original band. I found myself listening and thinking to myself that I would just rather be listening to a Killers album. That this was just a lame version of them. I also wasn’t impressed with the female vocalist he added in for his song “Hard Enough.” It was a good song that was ruined for me.

I think if you are going to go from lead singer of a band to solo artist you have to make a point of being different enough to make a statement away from one you’ve already made as a band. For example Dustin Kensrue, lead singer of Thrice, makes a brand new statement as “Dustin Kensrue” after already making a outstanding musical impact as “Thrice.” Kensrue and Thrice are completely different as far as sound, production, and genre. Personally, both are on my list of top 20 artists/bands to listen to.

Like I said before, I am not bashing Brandon Flowers album. If I were to recommend songs off the album I would say the best 2 songs are “Only the Young”, and “Hard Enough.”