HeadCount Blog

In an effort to monetize an un-monetized music market in China, Google launched a music service available only in China today. The main objective is to draw Internet users from "China's Google," Baidu to, well, Google. With an effective deal between Top100.cn and over 140 labels, including the four majors (for now), EMI, Warner, Sony and Universal, Chinese can search music, stream and download any songs in the licensed catalog. If the song is not licensed, the users have access to lyrics and a clip of the song, and then are lead to a link through which they can purchase the song. The businesses will make money through advertising.

The attempt to monetize such a massive market wherein an estimated 99% of all downloads are illegal is major step in profitable global music revenue streams, though EMI did launch a similar service in conjunction with Baidu in mid-2007 where Chinese-music streaming only was available for free and downloads were available for a small fee.

There has been little mention of the effects of free access searching paired with a communist government, but this must be something that was discussed between Google China President Kai-Fu Lee and all other involved parties. In a Yahoo! News article, Lachie Rutherford, President of Warner Music Asia, said that, "When you're in the music business in China, you know you have to follow regulations. We wouldn't give files to people in China where a song has been banned."  

I don't know how substantial is this list of banned songs. Then again, I guess we should battle one issue at a time. First Google must gain a profitable foot hold in the market, then they can fight for Chinese free speech rights. That seems like a fair course of events to me (For once, that wasn't sarcasm). It is much easier to be heard when you have a voice in the system. Though, I'm not quite sure that is in Google China's business plan.

Mohandas Gandhi once said, “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” Gandhi certainly was an optimist. As a 24-year-old law student originally from Long Island now living in Austin, Texas, I feel uniquely qualified to address my generation’s pessimism. What Mark Rudd, Kent State and Richard Nixon didn’t do, my generation’s sense of humor and conception of governmental ethics accomplished in full.

As the newest contributor to HeadCount’s blog, my goal throughout the next several months and beyond is to move you away from the pessimism of disbelief to the optimism of can-do. I vow to be explicitly nonpartisan and urge the formulation and support of as many perspectives as possible. The issues I will discuss will vary but, in keeping with HeadCount’s mission, I intend to delve deeply into subject matter which polling data has shown to be significant to the organization’s key demographic. In my quest to turn bong to Bono (weed to Wittgenstein?) and gossip to go-getter, I have three primary goals.

Above all else, I seek to combat apathy. I want my readers to want to learn more about the complex intricacies of modern Malthusian thinking. I want to encourage a debate on whether, 55 years later, the Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision was truly one of optimum beneficence. If I can get just one of you to take some time out of your summers to read something other than Phantasy Tour, other than festival artist additions, other than Paul Languedoc’s wood preference, and quite frankly, other than me, I will consider my time here a success.

Secondly, I wish to enhance the value and influence of debate in the live music community. Too often, I hear political deliberations among strangers devolve rapidly into Howard Stern microphone volume bickering matches where the loudest “wins.” While I won’t deny I have never lost any of those arguments, neither has anyone else (except of course Sophie Fowler Gallaudet, but she wins less than the Mets in September.) My point is merely this: making a statement about politics is one thing (“You’re wrong you putz!”) but backing it up with reasoned, logical and rational argumentation towards the noble purpose of intelligent discourse is truly great (“You’re wrong, as evidenced by the data in the 2000 US Census, this Reuters poll and as exemplified by a paper written by Thomas Putzinson, a leading academic scholar in the field. So, you see? You really are a putz.”) Raising the level of dialogue is the best thing ordinary citizens can do when a democracy is troubled.

Lastly, President Obama has made a major point of stressing the significance of public service. I want to remind readers that while the President may be referring more specifically to volunteering to teach or mentor in an underprivileged community or joining the Peace Corps, there are plenty of uniquely positive tasks which ordinary citizens can do to demonstrate their interest in improving America. I want you all to know that becoming more educated about the issues which confront us on a daily basis (the treatment of War on Terror detainees, the perceived legitimacy of governmental institutions, the changing intellectual property landscape and the counterbalance between cultural and political ecology in feeding the poor, to name a few) is a wholly different yet altogether equally noble public service. If your responsibilities as a stockbroker, “heady burrito maker” or flat-out “college know-it-all,” won’t let you commit to the extent the President suggests, the best you can do is to educate yourself. Serve your country by preaching the gospel of knowledge.

In closing, I hope that you will use the HeadCount blog as a springboard towards constructive criticism, laudatory praise, or, when all else fails, cite data confirming by putzhood. All of this is fine, of course, so long as you refrain from saying anything I disagree with. That was a joke.

Everyone is so worried about the state of the music industry and it just continues to bother me. I am young, but I know this: Everything works in cycles. Everything. Music tastes, the state of the economy, housing markets, exchange rates, skinny jeans… Some of these cycles are longer than others, but they are cycles regardless. Business preferences will work the same way: Big business vs. self employment, centralized vs. decentralized management organization, huge salaries vs. intrinsic incentives.Technological advance and general innovation affect the tools used within the cycle and the speed at which it flows (mp3s, the Internet, loans, spandex…) but the cycle continues nonetheless. 

Every industry is experiencing cut backs at the moment. Meaning, if you can do it with three, why pay four? Granted, the music industry has been on this path for a few months (or years) longer, but everyone is leaning towards the so-called DIY route. The Wall Street Journal published an article today that tried to dissect where the music industry is going today based on some words of a few musicians at SXSW. It mentioned a "broken industry" and how artists want "creative control." I love WSJ, but besides being fairly uninformative, it was dated. These things have been analyzed to death at industry panels for years.  

The industry is not broken, it is just changing. It's time for some innovation, and we're getting there. As far as creativity, I'm willing to bet artists have always wanted creative control, but it was easier to give up a bit of control as compromise for not having to do the dirty business work. There is no doubt that business-acute musicians exist. However, just beause you can do it doesn't mean you are the best or you want to. When times are good, you outsource. You hire a secretary for your law practice so you can focus on your craft instead of answering distracting phone calls every five minutes. You pay a college kid to post flyers all around the East Village instead of wasting your own afternoon doing the tedious work. When times are a little tougher, you do it yourself.

Call it DIY, call it more control, call it whatever you want. The music industry is not this special case scenario. I'm not suggesting we all sit back and wait for the cycle to get back to the late-90s golden era. That will not happen anytime soon, if ever again. I am suggesting we stop analyzing what has happened or what could happen and just start doing. That might just be my mode of operation, but the possibilities are so wide open right now and I find it difficult to sit back and watch it happen.

In an exclusive interview with Ticketmaster North America President, David Butler, Hidden Track journalist Luke Sacks explores the Phish presale mishap, TicketsNow, how they battle scalpers and the passionate following of Phish. In Short:

The presale was the total fault of human error at Ticketmaster for which an "I'm sorry" in the form of a $50 gift certificate was sent to all affected purchasers. Butler made it clear that they are "working to improve…" the system every day to avoid situations such as these, but also wanted to point out that out of last year's sale of 100 million tickets, this didn't happen once to his memory. Understandably frustrated, one mess-up (or 1700, depending how you count) out of 100 million was turned into a major media scandal. Then again, when you have a semi(?) monopoly on ticket distribution and make $4 per ticket just for this service, it better be flawless.  And honestly, what fan base could have been worse for the .01% error than Phish? Butler said himself that "there are few acts that have the passionate following that Phish does," not to mention the sheer volume of ticket sales. Perhaps this would have been a lower scale ordeal with Peter, Bjorn and John fans…

Butler also explained the relationship between TicektsNow and the sale of the tickets themselves, in an attempt to clear Ticketmaster's name a little bit:

"…We don’t own the tickets on TicketsNow. We simply provide an e-commerce site for buyers and sellers to meet and have a safe transaction between them. The tickets that are listed, typically, for resale on TicketsNow as an example, are owned, some by fans and most by brokers. Brokers get their tickets either by going in the on sale and buying tickets; many times they have season tickets for events so they get them that way. They may have a relationship with a promoter or a band but they don’t get any preferential treatment from Ticketmaster whatsoever."

The interview provides a different perspective to the whole debacle that is mostly believeable. Listening to a grown man act solely as a personal damage control manager is an added bonus.  

A couple years ago, a thing called Legislation 2.0 was getting a lot of attention as Senators and Representatives began asking for the input of bloggers in writing legislation regarding the national broadband strategy. It was a bit of an experiment, but the theory was basically, "Hey, we have the Internet and there are some really smart people out there, so why not get their input?" Thus, an open conversation was started online.

We haven't heard much about this since 2007, but there are hints here and there of resurgence in this sort of activity. Representative Mike Honda asked for public input about redesigning his website and facilitating a relationship with his community of voters. As reported by TechPresident, Senator Claire McCaskill is "asking the public for input on how to do a better job with government contracting oversight."   

It seems trends are running in our favor of a more democratic democracy where legislators not only want to hear public opinion, but are strongly encouraging them. Legislation 2.0 is even evident on the national level of law making. 

The FCC is holding an open call for comment on the role government should play in "making the country richly wired and unwired." This activity is in correspondence with a Technology paragraph in the White House agenda that aims to:

Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Work towards true broadband in every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation's wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives. America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access.

Epicenter, a tech blog through Wired.com, is collecting comments on the topic. The "best and most popular" ideas will be shared with the FCC at their meeting on April 8th. 

The 40th Anniversary of 1969's Woodstock Festival is this year. As celebration, Woodstock founder Michael Lang is trying to plan a free, green festival. Lang was reported at a SXSW panel saying, "We want to have as small a carbon footprint as we can and use as many green techniqes as we can." The ideas are all speculative at this point, as reported by Billboard (page 6). Ideally, the festival will take place outside of New York City and run concurrently with another in Berlin, Germany.  

The main production barrier as of now is funding (surprise, surprise). To be a free show, Lang needs major sponsors. Though environmentally responsible and progressive, green festivals are extremely expensive. If all goes well, the fesitval will be held in August. Keep your fingers crossed.

The whole world is at SXSW this week. Seriously. Increasingly renowned for its ability to break new artists and serve as a music business networking Mecca, artists and industry professionals from all over the world trying to make a name for themselves have spent the dough to make the trek- some all the way across the world. Billboard reports that international artist and music company representation ranges from Canada and Mexico to Spain and Germany, all the way to Australasia. They all seem to believe it is worth the exorbitant costs (almost $18,000 for the Australians) to see and be seen.

Who's the band to be seen this year? Spin says Telekinesis. If you're wishing you were there to decide for yourself, this site gives a few different options for live concert streaming, including a week-long webcast from npr or directions for 8 hours of performance every day if you are a Direct TV user. I wish I knew about this sooner…

Though this is news we have heard before, George Harrison's son, Dhani Harrison, is pushing toward an Internet music store devoted wholly to the Beatles. Harrison points out in the article by guardian.co.uk that, "We're losing money every day." The executors of the Beatles' music estate and UK record label Apple are considering a deal with Steve Jobs, though there are no details disclosed just yet.

Sounds like promises we've all heard before, but we'll be waiting. Until then, I'll go listen on lastfm, or pandora, or my own iTunes library (but not spiralfrog which closed down last night).

Just this morning, Future of Music Coalition gave an update on the Local Community Radio Act of 2009, which would allow 100-watt, non commercial FM stations (Low Powered FM) broadcasting to more niche markets. As described by FofMC, LPFM could encourage school, church and nonprofit radio stations while providing an outlet for local artists.

The implications of the Local Community Radio Act get more complicated in conjunction with other Acts being passed around Congress as of late. Last week I did a write up of some pending legislature regarding the Performance Rights Act [H.R 848] wherein artists will be paid performance royalties from traditional radio airplay. This could get interesting.

Future of Music Coalition, Michael Bracy, said that there is a "series of interconnected policy agenda items intended to reform the radio industry to benefit musicians and radio stations." The goal is to create a "thriving radio station that supports the artist." However, this goal needs to be considered in two stages. "Stage one is deciding if the performance right should exist." This is the topic at hand with the Performance Rights Act. Stage two is then, "…assuming the right should exist, how to implement [the performance rights of artists] without being counterproductive." 

Low Powered FM helps to support the artist as well as new radio stations. However, the creation of a thriving radio station might be hindered due to the passing of the Performance Rights Act. One of the LPFM selling points is how they can create low cost radio accessibility to communities. If the Performance Rights Act is passed and stations must pay performance royalties, suddenly these low cost ventures are not nearly as low cost. Granted, as outlined in Section 3 of the Performing Rights Act, small, non commercial, school and religious radio stations will be granted a blanket license (legal performance rights for all music played) for a fee of either $1,000 or $5,000, depending on the nature of the station. This is a minimized fee compared to royalties paid by major stations. However, for nonprofits and schools with low budgets, $1,000 is just not a liquid option.

Bracy explained that all of this legislation is still at the "philosophical level" and the specifics need to hammered out. These implications will not be neglected and "cut outs" might be created within legislation to encourage the small stations. There are many options to preserve the rights of both parties.

The ultimate purpose of this series of legislation is to empower both artists AND radio stations. Radio stations will disappear if neglected for the sake of the artist in this economic climate. While traditional radio is not our only source for new music anymore, it is still a beneficial service that would be greatly missed.   

My Morning Jacket has always been a friend to HeadCount. In 2008 we registered voters at dozens of their shows. Front man Jim James did a Public Service Announcement supporting voter registration. They gave us the original demo to the song "Gideon" for streaming on our download page (it's still there), and each band member autographed a guitar that we later auctioned.  As with all good friends, we like to keep an eye on what they're up to.

 As announced by The Insider, My Morning Jacket has "come up with a thank you for its die-hard and new fans." They are releasing a brand new EP on April 18 with all live tracks called Celebracion De La Ciudad Natal. The EP will only be sold at independent record shops, in support of local music businesses.

About the release on the special day of April 18, National Record Store Day, My Morning Jacket released this statement:

"We are excited to make this a special release that you can only get at your favorite local independent record store, as now more than ever we all need to take the time to celebrate what our favorite local record stores and businesses mean to us – the value of community/human-to-human, non-internet related physical and spiritual contact, and supporting the hardworking people in your community who strive everyday to keep it unique and keep it local. We are fortunate in our travels to get to see many wonderful things, but one of the most distressing things is the increasing "normalization" of the world and how all these places are starting to look the same – everywhere you look more and more towns are starting to be filled with the same gigantic corporations, and while some of these huge companies undoubtedly provide valuable services, it is so important that we realize that it is our local businesses and people (and natural landscapes, but that’s a different letter) that are what make different towns worth coming to… things you can only get in one place, made and sold by people who believe in what they are doing… people who are trying to keep good weirdness alive in this crazy dome. "