A lil sit down with Pete Rock and his MPC

Mr. Rock gettin down and conversing about his use of the MPC

Les Paul - Chasing Sound! (documentary)

First video from the album "It's Always Something"

available on Amazon & iTunes

R.I.P. Les Paul

It's rare that one can say, definitively, that one man changed the world and made their dreams possible. That can be said of Mr. Les Paul. Without him and his hard work and brilliant mind, i wouldn't have my dreams to chase. Everyone in the recording industry and everyone with a 'home studio' owes him an unfathomably large debt of gratitude.

Rest in peace sir, rest in peace

How to dance to dubstep ..... part 5000

Here's a lil mashup of some little french girl dancing to the tune "Thrillseekers" by the wacky duo Wunderwaffen

The history of BASS

From the landmark series "How Music Works" comes a nice little trip through the life of BASS.

Making music for film, and getting it there with Harry Garfield, Sr. VP of Music, Universal Pictures

A nice, insightful interview with Harry Garfield (da man in charge)

Part 1


Part 2

Trent Resnor on being a new/unknown artist today

This was taken from the forum on NIN.com and is (in my humble opinion) some of the best advice i've ever seen on the internet. Not only do i admire what Trent has done musically, but also business wise, and most importantly, the way he treats his fans and fellow artists. Thank you Trent, we really appreciate it.

ORIGINAL POST BY TRENT:
I posted a message on Twitter yesterday stating I thought The Beastie Boys and TopSpin Media "got it right" regarding how to sell music in this day and age. Here's a link to their store:


[illcommunication.beastieboys.com]


Shortly thereafter, I got some responses from people stating the usual "yeah, if you're an established artist - what if you're just trying to get heard?" argument. In an interview I did recently this topic came up and I'll reiterate what I said here.


If you are an unknown / lesser-known artist trying to get noticed / established:


* Establish your goals. What are you trying to do / accomplish? If you are looking for mainstream super-success (think Lady GaGa, Coldplay, U2, Justin Timberlake) - your best bet in my opinion is to look at major labels and prepare to share all revenue streams / creative control / music ownership. To reach that kind of critical mass these days your need old-school marketing muscle and that only comes from major labels. Good luck with that one.


If you're forging your own path, read on.


* Forget thinking you are going to make any real money from record sales. Make your record cheaply (but great) and GIVE IT AWAY. As an artist you want as many people as possible to hear your work. Word of mouth is the only true marketing that matters.


To clarify:

Parter with a TopSpin or similar or build your own website, but what you NEED to do is this - give your music away as high-quality DRM-free MP3s. Collect people's email info in exchange (which means having the infrastructure to do so) and start building your database of potential customers. Then, offer a variety of premium packages for sale and make them limited editions / scarce goods. Base the price and amount available on what you think you can sell. Make the packages special - make them by hand, sign them, make them unique, make them something YOU would want to have as a fan. Make a premium download available that includes high-resolution versions (for sale at a reasonable price) and include the download as something immediately available with any physical purchase. Sell T-shirts. Sell buttons, posters... whatever.


Don't have a TopSpin as a partner? Use Amazon for your transactions and fulfillment. [www.amazon.com]

Use TuneCore to get your music everywhere. [www.tunecore.com]

Have a realistic idea of what you can expect to make from these and budget your recording appropriately.

The point is this: music IS free whether you want to believe that or not. Every piece of music you can think of is available free right now a click away. This is a fact - it sucks as the musician BUT THAT'S THE WAY IT IS (for now). So... have the public get what they want FROM YOU instead of a torrent site and garner good will in the process (plus build your database).

The Beastie Boys' site offers everything you could possibly want in the formats you would want it in - available right from them, right now. The prices they are charging are more than you should be charging - they are established and you are not. Think this through.

The database you are amassing should not be abused, but used to inform people that are interested in what you do when you have something going on - like a few shows, or a tour, or a new record, or a webcast, etc.

Have your MySpace page, but get a site outside MySpace - it's dying and reads as cheap / generic. Remove all Flash from your website. Remove all stupid intros and load-times. MAKE IT SIMPLE TO NAVIGATE AND EASY TO FIND AND HEAR MUSIC (but don't autoplay). Constantly update your site with content - pictures, blogs, whatever. Give people a reason to return to your site all the time. Put up a bulletin board and start a community. Engage your fans (with caution!) Make cheap videos. Film yourself talking. Play shows. Make interesting things. Get a Twitter account. Be interesting. Be real. Submit your music to blogs that may be interested. NEVER CHASE TRENDS. Utilize the multitude of tools available to you for very little cost of any - Flickr / YouTube / Vimeo / SoundCloud / Twitter etc.

If you don't know anything about new media or how people communicate these days, none of this will work. The role of an independent musician these days requires a mastery of first hand use of these tools. If you don't get it - find someone who does to do this for you. If you are waiting around for the phone to ring or that A & R guy to show up at your gig - good luck, you're going to be waiting a while.

Hope this helps, and I'll scour responses for intelligent comments I can respond to.

TR


TopSpin Media info:
[topspinmedia.com]


(disclaimer)

This was written on a bumpy Euro-bus ride across the wilderness - may ramble a bit but I think the point gets across.

TR


UPDATE 1:

Thanks for the insightful comments already - when I get a moment (and a reliable internet connection) I'll respond to some of your very valid points. Please keep in mind - these were just some thoughts I quickly wrote down and posted and not meant to be a complete guide by any means. I've neglected to get into publishing and some other things. I'll update pretty soon.


UPDATE 2:

Here's a message from Ian Rogers of TopSpin

[forum.nin.com]


UPDATE 3:

Here's a few responses - more to come when I get time.

Bandcamp

[bandcamp.com]
This looks excellent to me. I have not used it but it appears to be great. This would cover your digital distribution of files and the collecting / amassing of your database. Looks like you'd still need someplace to handle fulfillment of merchandise / physical goods (like the Amazon link above).




Pay-what-you-want model
This is where you offer tracks or albums for a user-determined price. I hate this concept, and here's why.

Some have argued that giving music away free devalues music. I disagree. Asking people what they think music is worth devalues music. Don't believe me? Write and record something you really believe is great and release it to the public as a "pay-what-you-think-it's-worth" model and then let's talk. Read a BB entry from a "fan" rationalizing why your whole album is worth 50 cents because he only likes 5 songs on it. Trust me on this one - you will be disappointed, disheartened and find yourself resenting a faction of your audience. This is your art! This is your life! It has a value and you the artist are not putting that power in the hands of the audience - doing so creates a dangerous perception issue. If the FEE you are charging is zero, you are not empowering the fan to say this is only worth an insultingly low monetary value. Don't be misled by Radiohead's In Rainbows stunt. That works one time for one band once - and you are not Radiohead.

Why put something on iTunes for a price fans can get it from your site for free? Won't it piss people off?
Do it and don't worry about it. Lots of people apparently shop at iTunes exclusively and that's where they get their music. They are generally not the people that would be mad to discover they could have gotten the same record (at a better bit-rate) for free elsewhere. We put The Slip up at nin.com for free at all fidelities and STILL sold a fairly large amount of copies at iTunes for $9.99. At the time iTunes did not allow variable pricing (I don't know what the deal is now).

My Flash comments
I don't hate Flash, just go easy on it and avoid anything that takes time to load - ESPECIALLY your front page.

Managers / booking agents / small label
Any or all of these may be good for you - or not. Here's a truth: nobody knows what to do right now, me included. The music business model is broken right now. That means every single job position in the music industry has to re-educate itself and learn / discover / adapt a new way. Change can be painful and hard and scary. If any of these entities we're discussing are interested in you, ask them about their strategies IN DETAIL. None of them know for sure what to do. Some of them have an idea of how to negotiate these waters. Most of them don't. If you are young and use the internet, you know more about your audience than they do - for sure. This is a revolution and you can be a part of it. The old guard is dying, if you have good ideas - try them.

Bottom line - before getting involved with anyone else, ask yourself what it is they can clearly bring to your table and is it worth their cut. Do they know what they're talking about, and does their strategies match yours?

I have not gotten into the basics which I believe are self-evident: believe in what you do, do the best work you can, work hard, practice, practice more, find your voice, hone in on it, take chances, play live (if applicable), practice more, keep believing in yourself and prepare for the long haul.

"Whatever you're working on could end up in a film"

Some good advice in this short piece with Todd Brabec. Todd Brabec is the Vice President and Director of Membership for the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

More with Mastering Engineers

Here's a mini-interview with Shane @ Finyl Tweek, one of the major mastering engineers in electronic music (and various other styles too). Thanks to BluMarTen for puttin the clip on youtube.

RBMA - Class with Mastering Engineer Stuart Hawkes

Stu is one of the 'legendary' mastering engineers of the DnB scene. Here's the blurb from the Red Bull Music Academy site.

"Stu might well have already made your eyes spin in your head – and we don't mean just by watching his name spin round in the run-out groove. For over two decades, Stuart has been at the forefront of vinyl mastering, coaxing the heaviest sounds out of the waxy format. The list of records that Stuart has mastered is like a who-is-who of pioneering electronic artists throughout the ‘90s, cropping up on labels like XL, Mute, Reinforced, Too Pure, Rough Trade, Mo’Wax, Alphabet Zoo, FFRR, Talkin' Loud, Hospital, and Metalheadz. Making breaks sound crunchy over massive bass tones is one of Stuart's stock in trades, but he can turn his hand to all types of music. Recently he has made sure such stellar and varied artists as Amy Winehouse, The Prodigy, Roni Size, Snow Patrol, and Super Furry Animals all sound as good on your iPod as they do down carnival or over your transistor radio. Ears like a hawk. "

Behind the scenes of the "Superbad" score

Lyle Workman discusses the process of scoring the film Superbad. Pretty fuckin dope how he got the original funksters in on the sessions and how the sessions were more like recording an album, or just jamming, than scoring a film. As the old adage goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat."

Q-Bert w/ DJ Flare - History of the scratch lecture

Q-Bert with guest DJ, DJ Flare, giving a lecture of the history of scratch techniques and their progression through the growth of the artform. Starting way back at the beginning, and chronologically working his way up to today (well, when the lecture was given), Q can get a bit slow but it's worth the watch


Dj.QBert & Dj.Flare (Scratch Historical Tutorial)

Herbie Hancock & Quincey Jones

Playing around with some waaaaaaaaaaaaay high tech bidness for its time. Very early sequencer + synths combo WITH A MOTHERFUCKING TOUCH SCREEN... in 1983.

Leanin screwed in a chopped ride

Here's an interesting little docu. on DJ Screw, who gave us all the ability to sit back and take it slooooow.

Behind the scenes of Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" LP

behind the scenes of one of the best albums that will ever be made



here's the link if it doesn't show up - Electric Ladyland on Youku

Rick Rubin on Johnny Cash

A great clip of producer Rick Rubin talking about Johnny Cash and the album "American V: A Hundred Highways"

The Making of 'The Dark Side of the Moon'

This is a great look inside one of the most amazing albums ever made, and i'm not that big of a Pink Floyd fan (to be perfectly honest). Some really good insight into the little things, that make good into great, if you pay close enough attention ;)

Scratch - The Movie

"Scratch is a documentary film, directed and edited by Doug Pray. Scratch is a film that explores the world of the hip-hop DJ. From the birth of hip-hop, when pioneering DJ's began extending breaks on their party records (which helped inspire break dancing and rap), to the invention of scratching and beat-juggling vinyl, to its more recent explosion as a musical movement called turntablism, it's a story of unknown underdogs and serious virtuosos who have radically changed the way we hear, play and create music. The documentary opens with Grand Wizard Theodore (New York) telling the story of how he first introduced scratching. Throughout the documentary, several artist explains how he/she was introduced to the field of hip-hop and scratch while providing stories and anecdotes of their personal experiences."

Two For Tuesday!

Here's two dope songs for your Tuesday enjoyment.


First up is a Metallica cover by the insanely good bluegrass band Iron Horse





Next up is the Waco Dead, a hometown couple of good ole boys that do the damn thing up proper

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Funky Monks

Such a dope film with a great side-view of a band well ahead of its time. Most people will watch it for the music/hijinks/etc, but it's also a great look into the recording process from an artists view.

"Funky Monks is the title of a 1991 documentary (also the title of a song from the 1991 album Blood Sugar Sex Magik) about the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and the recording of their highly successful 1991 Warner Bros. debut Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and recorded in a supposedly haunted house which Rubin now owns. The 60 minute documentary, which was filmed in black-and-white, features footage of the band recording many of the tracks that made the album, and tracks that were realeased a few years later (such as Soul to Squeeze and Sikamikanico). Footage from this documentary was also featured in the Suck My Kiss music video, which was released in 1992. Funky Monks was originally released on VHS but was re-released on DVD. The Chili Peppers returned to the mansion located in California to record their 2006 album, Stadium Arcadium."

....And Now We Dance

One helluva drummer in one helluva band!


a close up look at why being a drummer in a punkrock band is one of the funnest, most tiring, and exhilarating positions in music.

Sam Phillips and Sun Records

Here's an interesting interview with the legend behind Sun Records, Sam Phillips

"Imperfectly perfect, that's my sound" couldn't have said it better Sam.......




And here's a cool lil vid of a Sun Studios tour

Sun Studio Tour

PUNKS NOT DEAD

A film about my first true musical love, PUNK ROCK. The independence, rebellion, and D.I.Y. ethos will never die.







And this is me @ 15 with a foot an a half long mohawk, unfortunately not up

Tom Dowd & the Language Of Music

Far and away one of my most important influences. This man single handedly changed recording techniques and helped change music as a whole. From being the first to put faders in a console to being the first outsider to use Les Paul's multi-track recording process, Tom Dowd had a huge hand in creating the opportunity for me and many others to actually have dreams to chase. Music lovers, musicians, executives, and engineers alike all have an unpayable debt to this man. The least you can do is buy this dvd and learn a thing or two while being awestruck at this awesome reflection on history being made.




taken from www.thelanguageofmusic.com
"Tom Dowd & the Language Of Music profiles the extraordinary life and legendary work of music producer/recording engineer Tom Dowd. Historical footage, vintage photographs and interviews with a who's who list of musical giants from the worlds of jazz, soul and classic rock shine a spotlight on the brilliance of Tom Dowd, whose creative spirit and passion for innovative technology helped shape the course of modern music.

A long-time engineer and producer for Atlantic Record, Tom Dowd was responsible for some of the most important R&B, rock, and jazz records ever made. In his own words, Tom Dowd relates how he went from working on the Manhattan Project, while still high school age, to recording some of the greatest music ever made over the last half of the 20th Century."







Here's a great clip from the film.

The Story of Def Jam Records

"An oral history of the origins of Def Jam Records, as told by Rick Rubin, Russell Simmons, L.L. Cool J, Bill Stephney, Chuck D., Glen E. Friedman, Hank Shocklee, Tim Westwood, DMC, Joe Perry, Beastie Boys and others. originally broadcast on BBC radio 2 - Narrated/Hosted by Paul Sexton for 10 Ounce production October 2006"

Super informative, just let it play in the background while you work, chill, fuck about, etc...

full disclosure - Rick Rubin is one of my biggest influences, and i believe, one of the best producers to grace this earth




The Story of DEF JAM records - An Oral History

Another great documentary

I know these are long, but take some time when you can and give em a watch. There's some great knowledge to be found.

"Before the Music Dies"

"Narrated by Academy Award® Winner Forest Whitaker, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES is an unsettling and inspiring look at today’s popular music industry featuring interviews and performances by Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Branford Marsalis, ?uestlove and a wide variety of others. The documentary film has built a passionate following as “the most important film a music fan will ever see” (XM Radio) by providing “a balanced overview of the state of the rock scene of America” (The Wall Street Journal) and adding “passion to the eternal debate about the industry” (The New York Times). Last year, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen walked away from traditional Hollywood distribution to instead pursue a large-scale grassroots release with B-Side Entertainment. "

Beat Diggin' Documentary

Something near and dear to my heart, diggin for dem beats. This docu. is focused on the digging in crates of vinyl records, but modern day digging includes everything from 8tracks to DVDs and the internet. So, get your ears turned on and find something to use, abuse, and build something great out of.

Richard Davis from the Berklee College of Music presents at the New Mexico Filmmakers Conference in March 28, 2008.

This is a presentation about the Film Scoring process by Richard Davis, who has worked on projects such as "Robin Hood, Prince of Theives" and "The Last Boyscout".

pretty informative for those looking to get into doing music for film/tv.

here's the playlist as it's in 6 parts

Lecture by Steve Albini

While i don't agree with Steve's stance on digital, I do believe he is full of great information for the independent artist/label/engineer. I admire his way of working with artists and his utmost honesty about the "industry" and it's assets and injustices.

So, give this long lecture a watch and even though you may not agree with everything, there is a lot to learn. Take what you can and make some timeless music.