Music Production and Social Media

 This is just a mirror of my post on http://recording.org

I went to a short presentation today regarding the use of social media to promote your band.

The host was our local Chris Brandt . Previously of Music BC.

There was a lot to be said, twitter was mentioned along with facebook, youtube, wikipedia.

The core idea was that you need to promote yourself in as many places as possible in order to gain the attention of passersby. Nothing really new here I suppose. It's common sense but sometimes we need someone else to clue us in to what should be common sense but slipped under our radar.

It's not just the people you know but the people they know and so on. The web is called the web for a reason. It branches out and connects to sites that may not be entirely related to your promo but if you can catch the eyes of onlookers.

The cool thing about twitter is that there's the retweet button. Great that others can tweet your posts and broadcast your ideas well beyond your current network. That's awesome.

Similarly there's facebook by which you can tell your friends and if they like or post a comment on your profile, every one in their network will see it. Cool. Facebook has other things. Paid advertising et al.

There's really no way that I could possibly summarize all the topics discussed. Unfortunately, this time I didn't bring my laptop nor even a piece of paper to write on.(Funny. I had three pens in my pocket). All my notes were mental.

All this being said, I still think there is a downside to the social networking. A lot of people think that social networking is like a silver bullet. There's no magic here. The truth is the bottom line is still the bottom line. If you have a good band and write good music, it's going to get someone's attention. Promoting it is good but make sure the material is up to par in the first place.

The downfall of the information age is that ANYONE can promote themselves as a musician. That's great but then again some of the people out there make me sick to my stomach. The fact that some of these people are getting famous for what they do floors me. A few examples were brought out. Particularly this kid:

Granted, good for him that he's made a name for himself.........for what? Lip syncing? This is the example of promotion that we should look to?

The point however is well taken. If you have the right promo, you can sell anything. And, love it or hate it that kid has millions of hits. He even got 50cent to drop in on one of his videos. Now I personally could care less if 50came to my door asking to use the bathroom but he's famous and now this kid is famous.

Dissecting that just a little further, where did the kid get all those hits? He had to have a fanbase to begin with. So, where did all those fans find out about him? Well, he put the name of the song up in his title.

Which brings us to another subject, covers. Covers? Why not? 80% of Led Zeppelin's first album was covers. Does anyone think less of them because of that? Okay, maybe some of you do. The point though is that you have to draw the crowd first. People have to get a taster if they are to decide whether or not the rest of your product(Yes I said product) is something they would be interested in.

This kid and others like him are an anomaly though. There's lots of talented people out there doing covers and not all of them are getting the attention they deserve.

Speaking of Zeppelin, let's take a look at Virtual Zeppelin:

Yup. A paltry 30000 hits. Ok, 30 thousand hits is nothing to shake a stick at but in comparison to millions it's paltry.

So as much as there is good reason to use social media, the web is full of idiots. Did I say that out loud? I'm not trying to be a jerk. It just goes to show where people put there money these days. It's not about talent. It's about what's trending? That's what twitter is about. Trends.

When people search for music on youtube, they're not looking for Zeppelin or ELP, they're looking for what's hot now. If you want to get hit's you need to cover contemporary music and that means hip hop too. It's the only way you're going to draw traffic for your originals.


Opinions? You can rail me for this post. That's ok.

Virus by Thought

There's a movie out there called Pontypool. Have you seen it? It's a sleeper. Never really got any play in the theaters. I've watched it a couple of times now. It's a bit scary to be honest. Not because the movie is actually scary but the concept is scary.

I don't think this movie was ever meant to be taken straight up. It's a metaphor.

The plot of the story is based around a virus that is spread through speech. The whole movie occurs inside a radio station. Talk about a low budget. There may have been two or three camera positions used throughout the entire film. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. Still there's little need for effects in the movie. It's entirely story based. CONCEPT!

At any rate the virus spreads quickly through words. Specifically the English language. The virus causes people to become unduly violent. Soon mobs are roaming the streets infecting everyone. Now maybe the idea that a virus could be contained within speech is a bit far fetched but I don't think that's what the writer was getting at.

The analogy is plain enough. Ideas spread like a virus. The right words, spoken in the right manner to the right people can spread and cause people to do things they would otherwise never do. A more direct "translation" of the Zombie movie.

Zombie movies in themselves were a metaphor. Zombie movies became very popular during the late 60s. The Vietnam war. The Assassination of JFK. The explosion of mind altering drugs. People were learning to challenge the authorities. Some people were beginning to realize that not everything we are told is true. The people can be made to work toward a unified goal that is not necessarily in our better interest.

"it is when we understand the word that the virus takes hold. And, once it takes hold it copies itself.".

Do zombies exist? Maybe. I know that there are places in the world where peaceful people are being persecuted because their beliefs are not contemporary. It happens more often than you think.

There is nothing wrong with asking questions. Ask questions about the questions.

Is there truth? As sure as you will fall off the roof if you jump, there is truth. Finding it is another thing altogether.

Pontypool

Futureproof

Where are we going? I wonder how anyone could possibly make money in the music industry these days. It seems someone is making money. How are the big boys surviving? It's something that's just picking at my brain. Are they actually selling mp3s? It's mind boggling. Torrents aren't going away.

There are two genres that are maintaining any kind of CD sales. Country and Metal. The rest of the people seem be reliant on mp3s. That doesn't really leave much room for sales. Most people would rather steal their music than pay for it. It's really not funny. How do they get on without a physical product?

From my personal observation, there is more than just the music. Pop culture relies on the image to such a great extent. There is no respect for the artist anymore. The only real thing driving sales is people's desire to emulate their idols. Endorsement deals just like in sports. Wearing the right cloths on video. That seems to be where it's at for the new generation. So how does anyone expect to break into that racket?

Prime example, Pomlamoose. They started out with adsense I'm sure but that soon led to Ads for Toyota. Is this where music is going?

If that's the case then, I dare say music isn't going anywhere. It's regressing. Giving in to the "Man". Never have the words rung so true for me: "Rock and Roll is dead". Long live Rock and Roll? How? You can't make money at it anymore. Not without selling out. Rock and Roll has fallen into the very pit of corruption that it professes to rebel against. They're all sell outs. Endorsements for strings, software, hardware, clothes. That used to be a side deal. Now it is the deal. There is no more music industry. Just another vehicle for sales and the promotion of consumerism.

So you want to make it big? Don't count on it. Shape your product. Get your image in line. Define your clothing line. Even tattered can be mass produced these days. The holes in the jeans don't mean anything anymore. It used to be that the clothes are what you could afford. The holes were a result of being over worn.

Even guitars come new as "road worn". What a joke! What happened to integrity? What happened to the school of hard knocks? They sold that school. When the machine discovered that it was saleable, they bought it, wrapped it in a tattered package and marketed it to the masses.

More 3D TV

If you already bought into the 3d TV with glasses thing, don't say I didn't tell you so. Toshiba will have a glasses free 3D TV. That's right glasses free. That means that all those people who spent their thousands of dollars for a 3D capable TV AND glasses/transmitter along with a 3D capable Blu Ray player are already behind the times.

Thanks Sony! You guys rock!

Do you feel ripped off? I do. I don't even own a 3D TV and I feel like I've been taken to the cleaners. Where do they get off raking the public over the coals like this? How can this be legal? It's not like they never knew it was coming. They knew it but they sold last years tech to everyone anyway. BASTARDS!

There are times when it pays to be the last one to upgrade. Times like this, when you realize that something better is on the horizon. We're not talking about a long wait here either. According to Toshiba the new TVs will be available by the fourth quarter of 2011.

Toshiba's Glasses Free 3D TV

NIMBUS: real world recording school?

I finally found time to drop by Nimbus.They sent out an invite to an open house for the school that they run there. This is a working studio mind you. Bands go there to record. Recently Lillix finished Tigerlily there. Garth Richardson was at the door to greet guests. Bob Ezrin wasn't about or if he was, I didn't get to meet him. Seeing Kevin again was really cool. This is a guy who is just made for inspiring people.

The thing about these guys and all of the staff there that stood out is their lack of ego. There was nothing to prove here. They don't need to prove anything. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. But, more than that. They seemed to show a respect for everyone in that we have a common desire. To produce music. To be involved with music and the creative process in some way. The air is charged with a drive to reach for something better. Something that has yet to be achieved.

Kevin to the time to personally show myself and a few other guys around. We got as far as their Studio A sound room when Kevin's drive took over. Talking openly about why they put this school together. I'm sure there is the financial proponent. That goes without saying. But, there was something else. Something that they were striving for that goes ignored at most schools. Not just media schools but schools in general.

There is something missing in recording schools that has been resulting in a loss in the music industry all together: a desire to produce a high quality product. To capture the moment as it happens. To entice the listener to join in on the groove as it happened there in the studio.

There were many analogies. One that stands out for me is this: Imagine you find a band with a great vocalist. The next Freddy Mercury and a band as tight as Queen had ever been. Imagine them going to record an album and nailing every cut. Now imagine that the engineer beatmaps and autotunes the whole project. That is the state of the music industry. People are so bought into the technology that they wouldn't know a good thing if they heard it. Even if they did hear it, they would "fix" it beyond all recognition.

The drive is toward something else. Something that we have yet to see. The music industry is changing. Power is in the hands of the musicians again but where do you take it? How do you control that power? How do you focus that energy so that it doesn't burn out before it has a chance to start a fire?

No one made claims to have an answer. Their goal was not to provide one. The goal is give tools so that a person could "hit the ground running". Not just a head start but a resume and a plan. There were no claims to have anyone in a job by the time they were finished. Only that they would have the tools to be prepared to work. Credit on a project. An understanding of the laws involved. Experience taught by Award winning producers and industry professionals.

Most of these "schools" are run by former students. Unfortunately it's true. Do they work in the industry? Sure they do. They teach at Full Sale.

The format is also different. A maximum of 6 students. No classrooms. They are always either in the studio or on a music workstation. The goal being to teach real world skills. The purpose being not to teach you how to plan your strategy but to have your business strategy plotted and your promotion material ready, complete with a resume and recording credits.

When I first started learning from Kevin he was fighting for this same ideal. At that time fifteen years ago it was already obvious where the music industry was headed. He talked about it at length but still nobody seemed to see it coming until it hit us. The degradation of these schools into nothing more than cash flow generators was a large part of that. Suddenly people were being processed and given certificates regardless of whether they learned anything or not. The technology has made cheaters of most people. There's no longer a standard to be measured against. If you can't get it right, fix it in the mix. Atotune, beatmap, sample and assemble the best notes into something resembling a song.

They're striving for something better than that. Maybe, they're on to something. Normally, I like to bash recording schools. There might be something different here. Maybe there is hope for music. Maybe there is something better than what we're hearing on the radio yet to come.

3D TV........is a scam.

The first new 2d movie I saw was in IMax. It was an undersea thing. Very cool. So real, you wondered how you could be there without drowning.

I'm all for 3D movies. I think they are great. Some of the latest releases have been awesome. UP!, Despicable Me, Iron Man. These were great in the theater.

When I found out that they were bringing 3D to the home, I have to be honest, I thought it was a bit of a gimmick to sell more TVs. Well, that opinion hasn't changed. The TVs aren't that expensive in comparison to the later LCDs but then there's all the other hardware you need to buy. A 3D capable Blue Ray player and the glasses.

What got me going on this is that when you go to a theater, do they fit a new screen just for the 3D movies? No, it's the same screen and the glasses they give you are cheap plastic.

3D TV on the other hand uses an electronic set of glasses. Yup, those glasses are electronic and receive a signal from the TV. But, wait. If the screens in the theaters don't need to be replaced why do our TVs need to be replaced in order to playback 3D TV? There's a good question.

The movies at the theater use polarized projection. How they do this is beyond me but, really it's beside the point. The screen is no different so, it makes sense that they should be able to replicate it on an LCD TV.

No, they decided to opt for a totally different tech for 3D TV. These operate via a shutter system. The glasses have a refresh rate that syncs with the TV's refresh rate.

Bottom line is, it's a cash grab. Why can't they just make technology that lasts? Do they have to keep us on the upgrade path? I remember the old RCA that we had from the late 70's. We had that thing well into the 80's. It must have been a good 10 years before it finally died on us. It was a huge 21" screen.

Pro Tools 9 Released from Hardware Dependancy- At long LONG LAST!

If you are a home recording enthusiast or even a professional recording engineer, this news is for you.

HELL HAS FROZEN OVER! YES! LED ZEPPELIN ARE NOW BACK TOGETHER AND ARE ASKING ONE OF YOU TO RECORD THEIR NEXT ALBUM!! That and ProTools is now available for any Core Audio or ASIO compatible interface.

Okay, okay, I lied. Led Zeppelin aren't together and they're not looking for you to record their next album. On the other hand it looks as though ProTools is now compatible with any Core Audio or ASIO interface. YES! Even ProTools HD Native!

Don't believe me? Check this out. Under Hardware Interface Support, sub heading- Third Party.

Looky there. Now there is an obvious mistake as there is no way that ProTools HD would be available to third party hardware and not HD Native. They got these switched.

Errors aside. This is HUGE news. It is very unlikely that I will buy a full boxed version of ProTools 9 but I might be convinced to get a replacement for my current MBox along with a copy of PT9. That would be ok.

And for all of you people who have been waiting so freakin' long.........A D C!

FINALLY!

For AVID this is a breakthrough. Yes it is! For the rest of the audio world, it's ten years late. Still, better late than never.

More Details.

And of course, there is video.



So to get back to the other threads that I posted in the past. Yes the ones complaining that AVID was and is ripping off it's customers by forcing them to buy HD units, knowing full well that they would become obsolete. Well. Thousands of dollars has now been reduced to $629us for FULL ProTools 9. Yeah. Sorry guys. We know you bought our hardware in trust.

I don't want to bash them. I really think this is a GREAT move. Yes, I am very excited about this. But, that thing with the HD "blowout" was a bit low.