Category Archives: Music
Childish Gambino
Saw Donald Glover (of Community fame) in concert last night under his musical alter ego Childish Gambino.
Sometimes you feel like you are listening to his therapy sessions set to music. But I also think this unbridled license to explore raw emotions is what allows fans to connect to Gambino unlike other artists they listen to.
Fantastic show. Sharing two songs off his album which drops Tuesday. You can listen to it in its entirety at NPR. You can also buy it over at Amazon.
First is my current hype song – You See Me. Filthy, misogynist, braggadocio which is exactly what you want in a hip hop psych yourself up to go out song.
Second is what is Gambino’s strong point. Emotional songs about girls. Check out both to see the complexity and lyrical skill of this up and coming rapper.
Copyright Transfer Terminations
Everyone who is even slightly into music is aware that the record industry has a reputation for really being tough on artists. This has changed in recent years, but only because artists have other options for distribution. However, an obscure section of US copyright law is causing waves, and might turn the tables in the relationship between artists and their labels.
Until very recently, record labels often forced very tough contracts on their artists. If they didn’t agree, fine you didn’t get your music out. Part of these contracts was an agreement that the artists would grant the copyright of their recording to the record label. Not just the right to distribute or promotion, but the entire right to the song. They did this in exchange for the right to use the studio, get an advance award of money, etc. The record label would spend a lot of money on the artist to record and promote, so they wanted the profit off of the song. Of course, these contracts were permanent. It wasn’t “you get the right to the song for 10 years”, it was for as long as copyright protects the song. This all meant the record labels were profiting from licensing the song in films, or for other public performances without having to compensate artists.
However, Section 203 of the Copyright Act might change that. Basically, copyright law allows for any permanent transfers of copyright to be cancelled by the artist after 35 years of the transfer has passed. There are some limitations, such as the artist has 5 years to file the claim to re-acquire, and they have to give 2 years notice. Most important though, is the qualifier that this right can’t be sold away in a contract. This means the record labels can’t claim their all-encompassing contracts probably doesn’t include the right of termination.
There is one more limitation that the record labels are grasping on to. “Works made for hire” don’t qualify. Works for hire would be songs made by an “employee”. The question of course, is whether these musicians are employees. The labels are going to argue that they gave the artists money and instructed them to record. The artists will counter that they were just given studio time and decided to assign their songs to the labels. It will be up to the courts to decide.
Does this affect you personally? Unless you recorded music in the 70s, probably not. However, record labels are already hurting. The industry would really be shaken up if they stop collecting royalties on old songs that get played. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Streaming Music Services
Some of you may have heard about this new service Spotify that just launched. Here is a quick announcement video:
So, just what the heck is it? I already use iTunes – do I need another music service? I’m going to break down what type of service Spotify (and its competitors) is, as well as how it compares to current music services – and even give you an insight into costs and features, so you can make a decision.
If you are still looking for a Spotify invitation, Klout is giving me a few invites to give away. Click Here. First come, first serve until they run out!
What is it?
Spotify just launched in the US this week. Before that it has been a Europe only, very popular, streaming subscription music service. Other streaming subscription music services are MOG, Rdio, Rhapsody, and Napster. Strangely, the last two seem to be forgotten lately. I don’t know if they simply don’t have all the features people are looking for, or perhaps they are stuck with a bad image due to being associated with the by-gone era of Napster and Realplayer. Grooveshark is similar to these, but offers its services completely free. How does it get away with it – basically by being quasi-legal. Grooveshark relies on users to upload media, like YouTube does with videos. Then when the music copyright holders come yelling, Grooveshark can limit liability and just delete that user and their uploads. This method allows for the service to be free, but also creates havoc when trying to find a particular track.
These services are similar to, but definitely NOT streaming radio services like Pandora of Last.fm. Those two services, while great (and free) are radio style services. You do not get to choose what you want to specifically want to play. Like the radio, you can choose a genre or similar artists – but if you want to play a specific song right this moment, you are out of luck.
Also, these new streaming music subscription music services are NOT storage lockers like Google Music of Amazon Cloud Player. With both of those services, you take music you have already downloaded, upload it to Google or Amazon’s service (a task that if you have a lot of music like me takes DAYS). Then you can log in from any computer and stream the music down to that device. (iTunes cloud service is even more differentiated. It won’t let you play via stream at all. You will be able to download copies of songs you already have to another device, but essentially you are doing just that downloading another copy, not streaming.)
To explain streaming music subscription services like MOG, Rdio and Spotify – think of these services like iTunes, but you don’t have to pay to purchase each individual song. You pay a monthly subscription fee, and you then get to stream whatever songs you want, whenever you want, for as long as you want. Its like you were given an iTunes gift card that never ends. this makes it decidedly different from streaming radio like Pandora.
The other key difference, is that you never actually download any music files to store on your computer (later I’ll explain this is kind of untrue in certain circumstances, but for the most part a very real consideration). This makes it different from Google Music storage locker type services, and iTunes download type services because you never actually buy or own the songs. You subscribe to access them. They are not stored anywhere on your computer.
The downside of this is that if you travel on a plane or are somewhere without internet access you can’t get to any music. Alternatively, if you stop paying the monthly fee, you obviously can’t access them. Or, if the company goes out of business, again you lost access to all that music. The upside to this? For one, its much more cost effective. Each track on iTunes is $1.29, on amazon .99c. Around 7-9 per album. Most of these services allow you to stream to your computer, unlimited music for $5 per month. So for the cost of an album you get all the music you want. Second, it also saves space. If you stream to your iphone instead of saving the music you don’t eat up all those GBs for music, meaning you can start shooting more video or downloading more apps.
Google Music
Today Google announced a new music service. While last year they boldly pronounced they would be soon launching a music purchasing service to compete with iTunes, it seems that was a bit too ambitious. What they have launched is more of a competitor to Amazon’s Cloud Music service.
So, what exactly is it? Watch the video:
Basically, imagine instead of storing your music on your computer and your iPod, you stored it online. Therefore, you don’t need to be in front of your computer to listen to your music. You don’t need to worry about running out of space or having your iPod synced. Instead, you access your music from any computer or device that has internet access.
A good analogy is that it is like Pandora, except you get your music library to go. So, you can make playlists and choose exactly what you want to listen to instead of a radio stream. I only hope that as an iPhone user, they either release an iPhone app, or Apple launches their own competitor.
If you want to sign up for it, you can here. It’s a limited beta, so you need an invite.
Elizabeth and The Catapult and Sara Bareilles
Went to a great concert sunday night in Baltimore. The show was at a great venue, The Ram’s Head Live. For those of you from the DC area, I’m told it’s similar to the 930 club. The venue is standing room, with three floors. This ensures almost everyone has a view of the act, and allows for a larger crowd while still feeling intimate.
There were two small opening acts. The first was a group of young girls, Say Chance. They harmonized well, and had a surprisingly warm reception considering they don’t seem to have really broken out. Their facebook page states they are from Towson, MD so the fact they were playing to essentially a home crowd probably didn’t hurt. The second act was also someone I had never heard of, Ximena Sariñana. She had a distinct sound mixing a bohemian vibe with spanish lyrics. What impressed me most about these two acts is that they certainly didn’t shrink away in front of a larger crowd, in fact that seemed very comfortable.
The third act was Elizabeth & The Catapult. I first encountered this band in LA shortly after they put out their first album. Their radio hit was the song “Taller Children”.
They have a nice sound that is light, and if you aren’t paying attention will mask some heavy lyrics. You know that girl you dated who was probably the most earnest person you knew, and you knew that dating her was good for your soul? That girl grew up to be E&TC. They have a lot of fun on stage, and it reverberates in the crowd. If anyone came to the show not knowing about them, they certainly left a fan.
Here is video of them doing “Go Away My Lover” at the Rams Head:
You can pick up their latest album, The Other Side of Zero, from Amazon here.
Finally, was the headliner Sara Bareilles. This show apparently sold out a few weeks ago, and the fans were so enthusiastic that I believe it. You no doubt recognize Sara from the ubiquitous song “Love Song”.
Ms. Bareilles has come a long way from that original music video. She exuded confidence on stage, and felt totally comfortable interacting with the crowd. She even chugged her “beer” and mocked the crowd while doing so, and opened with a cover of Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You”. She has the polish of a true professional. If you have a chance to see her in concert, don’t pass it up. Here is a video of her doing that cover:
Go get Sara’s latest album, Kaleidoscope Heart, at Amazon.
Free Concert Ticket Strategy
I stumbled across a strategy for getting free concert tickets by accident. I figured I would spread the wealth, and let you know how too can replicate this strategy.
I didn’t go into it planning to get free tickets, but I’ve kind of recognized a pattern. I am an avid twitter user. I follow many of my favorite bands and musical artists. Some of these are big names. However, some are small groups (because I have awesome indie taste) with small fan bases. The cool thing about following a smaller group is that you are more likely to get a response when you tweet them.
So, twice now, when I’ve noticed a group is performing near me, but the show is sold out, I will tweet that artist and see if they are holding any tickets they can sell. I would be prepared to buy them if need be, but often the artist is happy to have a passionate fan, and they just give you tickets gratis.
Now, if you were sneaky – and seriously, I haven’t done this – you could find smaller acts that are opening for a band you really like, say the headliner. Then you contact the opener via twitter using the above method and bam, free tickets to a great show.
