Artist Spotlight: Chris Opperman

I discovered Chris Opperman whilst - yes, WHILST - wandering around the internet back in 1998. Highly recommended. Here's a snippet from his wikipedia page:

"For all of his multiple-genre excursions into rock and jazz, Opperman nonetheless sees himself first and foremost as a classical composer. 'If Beethoven were alive today,' says Opperman, 'he would be pushing the envelope with his musicians, utilizing the latest technology, and embracing many styles of music to create his own inimitable sound. That’s the standard I am striving to achieve.'"

That's how I want to be.

Artist Spotlight: Yellow Magic Orchestra

"The trailblazing force behind the emergence of the Japanese techno-pop sound of the late '70s, Yellow Magic Orchestra remains a seminal influence on contemporary electronic music -- hugely popular both at home and abroad, their pioneering use of synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines places them second only to Kraftwerk as innovators of today's electronic culture."

Trent Reznor on the Music Industry

From an interview with Trent Reznor:

"[I] have one record left that I owe a major label, then I will never be seen in a situation like this again. If I could do what I want right now, I would put out my next album, you could download it from my site at as high a bit-rate as you want, pay $4 through PayPal. Come see the show and buy a T-shirt if you like it. I would put out a nicely packaged merchandise piece, if you want to own a physical thing."

When will the music industry learn that its business model is obsolete? And, a related problem, when will they become more ethical all-around?

Graduation

I graduate in 2.5 weeks. Would anyone like to adopt me? Seriously.

Internet Radio Royalty Ruling Update

From Rusty Hodge of SomaFM.com:

"SoundExchange offers to settle for 30 months with Small Webcasters: it sounds good at first, but it's really a scam. By accepting this, we only delay huge royalty increases for 30 months. Meanwhile, our royalty rates will increase 800% from 2010 to 2011. Do not be fooled: this us just a ruse to make Congress think that SoundExchange and the RIAA are compromising with webcasters so that no legislative change is needed ... SoundExchange announced this as a purely political move."

Please help support the accessibility of diverse music by contacting your house rep and senators. You can do this easily through www.savenetradio.org.

Music for TV Dinners

Music for TV Dinners: "An inspiring and soothing collection of production music - ready-made tunes that have appeared in everything from feature-length movies to TV and radio commercials, and even those 'edifying' driver's ed and good citizenship films you were forced to watch in school."

The Loudness War

If you are like me, you've noticed that music produced since around the year 2001 has a different feel - less dynamic, more fatiguing - than music produced in the 80s and 90s. Here is a video I found offering a brief explanation as to why. In this case the culprit isn't songwriting or arrangement, but a production technique related to compression/limiting used for the purpose of gaining loudness on mainstream radio.

Why don't record companies service compressed non-dynamic discs to radio stations, and sell a dynamics-restored version to consumers?

PS: Since we are on the subject of music production, when I'm in charge there will be more "wet" mixes. In other words, more reverbs, delays, flangers and phasers: space. Things are mixed too "dry" these days for my taste.