Casio CZ/ VZ/ FZ - Pro Series

Zebra, I agree with most of what you have said. Are you related to Don?
This _is_ OT, isn't it?
I agree with Ayn Rand's view as expressed very well in "The
Fountainhead" (don't read anything else she wrote!), that the creator
of a work, music in our discussion, architecture in hers, should have
approval on the use of his, or her, works.
I would think of an artist as foolish, who didn't take advantage of
the promotional opportunities of current technologies, but it should
be up to the artist.  Artists are not always wise, but wisdom is not
necessarily expected of them.  (Anyone care for a slice of Van Gogh's
ear?)
In case you're not as deep into your geezerhood as I am, here's a
reminiscence: When Pop/Rock/Soul music exploded in the late 1960s and
early 1970s, the businessmen didn't know how to take advantage of it.
 They hired musicians to help them make more money off the
music-loving kids.  The musicians they hired helped their musician
friends to make records.  This was the Golden Age of Cut-Outs (vinyl
LPs that were essentially discarded by the record companies -
containing some extremely interesting stuff amid Sturgeon's crap)! 
Between my degree in philosophy and my (fall-back) career in
computers, I managed a record store in the mid-70s.  There were a
great many artists who were given major label contracts because their
musician friends inside the music industry liked their music.  Many
stiffed after one LP, but there were a lot of artists who became
recognized as great, who would not have made it through the world of
marketing in the music bidness.  The "cut-outs" were cheap, and
sometimes interesting.  I wish I had bought  the live recording of a
Marcel Marceau (a famous mime) concert!
Regarding the issue of "attention span", current technology has
enabled an ever-decreasing tendency of many in this area.  From an
early age, I found myself remembering musicians whose work I admired,
and, if I found myself admiring several songs by an artist, they
became high on my list for the purchase of LPs.  That's why I have
albums by The Ventures, Roy Orbison, The Doors, Roger Miller, and The
Four Tops.  (Aren't you glad you asked!)
I didn't buy many 45's.  I don't buy many MP3s.
Most real artists (in my opinion) have more to say than what they say
in a single song!  I think the grain of expression for artists I like
is the album (LP or CD - now a DVD?)
I like CDBaby, and I'm their favorite customer! (FYIYDGTJ!)  Go there
for Happy Rhodes, Trashcan Joe, Rachel Taylor Brown, Chris Robley. 
Go elsewhere for Allan Holdsworth, Conrad Schnitzler, Mike Oldfield.

kthxbye
Synergeezer
(The Synergy DKII is the best music synthesizer ever made!)



--- In CZsynth@yahoogroups.com, "ezra buchla" <ezra.buchla@...> wrote:
>
> look, this all seems a little out of hand for an OT discussion. it's
> fun to think about, but my only point is that it seems to me that it's
> harder to make a living as an independent musician than it used to be
> when people bought more music. that's not rocket science!
> 
> i only posted in the first place because it seemed to me like you were
> saying that people who complain about diminishing revenue from record
> sales are just whiners and should be on CDbaby or something. i know
> you probably weren't really saying exactly that, but i thought another
> perspective wouldn't hurt.
> 
> forget about my own situation, i'm kind of sorry i ever brought it
> into the mix; my decisions have been made for my own reasons which are
> largely not pecuniary at all, as you've pointed out.
> 
> but it is absolutely true that many musicians who i consider my
> friends, whose work i have known and respected for many years, and who
> have been in the game for a long-ass time, are no longer able to tour
> self-sufficiently in this country. some of that has to do with oil
> prices and other factors, but a huge part of it is the much, much,
> much-reduced market for physical copies of recordings, and the fact
> that the independent distributors and brick-and-mortars are gone,
> replaced by digital entities which probably don't have the same
> interests at heart (e.g., they are "not punk.")
> 
> some people can deal with this by evolving into new, sleeker beasts...
> other people are really used to supporting themselves on the old indie
> model of selling your own records directly (or at least more directly)
> to the people who want to hear it (which makes sense to me).
> 
> incidentally, these people largely rely on making music in groups,
> with other people, with real instruments, which all entails a large...
> um, meat-space commitment. meat music. maybe that's relevant.
> 
> digital distribution as it exists now is centralized and diembodied.
> some musical cultures are already well adapted to those attributes,
> others really are not, and have always been driven by localized,
> face-to-face experiences.
> 
> also, i'm talking about styles of music that will never produce
> "hits." they never have. and yet, people make the music, spend their
> whole lives at it, and other people listen to the music, and some kind
> of money has to change hands somewhere to keep the cycle going.
> 
> anyway, it's really really weird right now for independent (or maybe
> "underground" is a better term) musicians and labels, who don't have
> the luxury of experimentating with their revenue model. all i ask is
> that you please don't dismiss the issue.
> 
> 
> On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 5:49 PM, ezra buchla <ezra.buchla@...> wrote:
> >> Yeah, and if you think you have to cater to the fickle trends of the
> >> masses now, if you were to live in a world where musicians worked
under
> >> patronage of a 'powerful individual', you'd have to be content
writing
> >> songs with titles like "All Hail Super Wonderous Godlike Bill Gates
> >> Hero", or "Ode To The Greatest Being Ever Conceived: Adolf
Hitler" for
> >> the rest of your life...
> >
> > ha! i know, i'd much rather just be able to sell a few records... ;)
> >
>