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WRONG NOTES: a blog of ear reverence

Wrong Notes collects posts on music, art, culture and fun stuff. Also included: news about the Ear Reverends.

Err or Man music and images online

by jay · 2008 12 31 19 51 ·

MP3s of all of the 20 pieces on Err or Man are now online!

Each of the 20 pieces from Err or Man now has its own page on the site. Each page currently features the corresponding "view" art from the Err or Man book. You can listen to each track on its page, or select from all of the tracks on the main Err or Man home page, as well.

This is an interim online release while I am still working on the bigger site upgrade, which is based around an integrated music / playlist player. After that launches, I'll also make lossless versions of all of the pieces available for download, and post additional images from the Err or Man book, as well as lyrics and other goodies.

Here are links to each page for the 20 pieces:

Err or Man:

On now. . Break in the jam. Pain refrain. I've killed a million. Lord of beginnings. Entaruption. Like a volcano pointing down. Rock stars. In my head. Boy with a blog. Waiting for the octopus. I'm selling my mind. They are the same. Death is provided. Made from the sea. I am a mirror. Err or man. Yes yes song. So sung.

***

And this hereby concludes the 2008 portion of Wrong Notes. Now let's all have a happy new year!

British Library’s William Blake’s notebook

by jay · 2008 12 30 19 36 ·

I am enjoying looking through William Blake's notebook online, seeing his drawing and where he wrote "The Tygre."

The British Library is currently exhibiting William Blake's notebook, and they now have it online as a virtual book, in their Turning the Pages™ viewer. (Go to that page and click the link to "William Blake's Notebook" to view it.)

The virtual book viewer is a bit unfortunate—it's pretty hard to use a computer mouse to simulate the physical motion required to turn the page of an actual book. (That will make more sense if you go try it yourself.) But, that said, it's more generally awesome that you can see each page of the notebook, magnify it and look at small details, and then there are also text and audio annotations / commentary that one can bring-up.

(There are also non-virtual / web / accessible versions of the books, which I'd normally link to out of principle, e.g., The Notebook of William Blake. But, having personally braved the technological oxymoron of the virtual book, I think these are the rare cases where it's worth it—you get much more of a "wow, they wrote that by hand, right there" feeling than in the web / accessible versions.)

Currently, there are actually 18 different books available via Turning the Pages, including Mozart's musical diary (which also has musical-audio annotations) and Lewis Carroll's original hand-written and illustrated Alice's Adventures Under Ground, which is especially cool to see!

Top 10 ways the music business died in 2008

by jay · 2008 12 29 18 11 ·

I think this past year has seen some interesting transitions in the way recorded music is produced and sold.

In order to properly hype-up this post, I am hereby declaring it to be, all at once, a top 10 list!, an end-of-year list!, and a list all about the death of the music business! Oh, and while I am at it, I'll throw in some predictions of the future! too. (For the astute, long-time readers of these Wrong Notes: let's just say that what follows are just some observations about how we musicians and music fans are evolving our music bazaar, circa 2008.)

These can be understood as little "deaths" of what the record companies long promoted as "the way music is supposed to be." Things actually do change. And we're now releasing and listening to recorded music in new ways—different than what we did just a few years ago.

So, here are my observations—er, em, I mean the Top 10 ways the music business died in 2008!:

10. Death of the One Package

In the past, an "album" was fundamentally a package. And, each album was almost always one package: there was an album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and one could buy the one package that was that album. Also, functionally, the package contained the music—you heard the music only by playing by the contents of the package: the disc.

Now, albums released online are fundamentally package-less. And the music isn't tied to a disc or other physical item. So, the online aspect of music breaks the "package" idea altogether: one doesn't need a package to get the music, and the music isn't attached to anything that comes in the package anyway.

But, we're people, and we like our packages! So, in 2008, we've seen a resurgence of album-packages that complement the online / digital tracks. And, since people don't really need a CD to get their digital files, these albums are "packages for packages-sake," and are being released in multiple versions to match-up with different fans' package fancies and budgets. Notable examples include Brian Eno and David Bryne's Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (free, pay download, CD + download, and Deluxe Package), Radiohead's In Rainbows (download, CD, limited edition "disc box" with vinyl LPs) and Nine Inch Nails' The Slip (limited editions, CDs, free downloads).

Prediction for the future: we'll choose albums we like by getting them online for free, and then, after we find out that we like them, we'll shop amongst a variety of packages and buy ones that match our own styles of object possession and obsession (this pairs with my 2004 prediction about the future of music playbacks).

9. Death of the One Release Date

While in the past, single track and album releases would be spread-out a bit for marketing reasons, physical packages shipped on certain dates and there was this generally solid concept of a "release date" for each album. How solid you ask? Well, go into most any library catalog, CD site, or music list and there will be only one release date (year) associated with each album.

But, in 2008, this idea is no longer so solid. With albums coming out in multiple packages / formats, what's more typical are multiple release dates. This includes both albums that are released in process and/or released track by track, and albums that are released in multiple, final, forms. In some cases like Radiohead's In Rainbows and the Ear Reverends' Err or Man, the release timespan crosses multiple years (2007 and 2008 in both cases).

Prediction for the future: albums will be less and less associated with one specific release date, and will be appreciated by new audiences as new release-packages hit at different times.

8. Death of the One Price

Free downloads, pay downloads, CD and deluxe packages: need I say more? Oh yes, choose your own price, as Radiohead allowed for the digital download of In Rainbows. Also, music subscription services like eMusic offer different tiers with different costs, and Magnatune now offers a choose your own price subscription as well.

Altogether, this means, in 2008, that there is no longer "one price" for an album or track of music.

Prediction for the future: even more variety of prices for music.

7. Death of the One Transaction #1 (Subscription)

In 2008, more of us stopped paying for albums and tracks via single transactions. This can be said generally about the album purchase being folded in with overall sales of musician's offerings (concerts, merchandise, licensing, etc.). But, more generally, a lot of us got hooked up with subscription services like eMusic where we pay some amount every month, and no longer really pay on a per album or track basis.

Prediction for the future: subscription music services will grow to Netflix-like ubiquity.

6. Death of the One Transaction #2 (Advertising)

We also are paying for music via the many small, but invisible, transactions of advertising. Advertising supported music services have a long way to go to prove their viability altogether. And, advertising supported music labels like RCRD LBL were still very new in 2008. But, the general principle is there: break-up the music sale into many small transactions, and find people (in this case, advertisers) who are attracted to this pay-as-you-go arrangement.

Prediction for the future: more advertising supported music sites.

5. Death of the One Record Label

With artists planning multiple release packages, making use of online music subscription service, and all of the above mentioned developments of 2008, where do record labels fit in? If record labels are all about the music package, release date, the product-for-price, making the sale, etc., they certainly aren't the be-all-and-end-all for any recording musician.

So, for an artist looking to do a traditional release, the traditional record label still can be important. But, it's less likely to be the traditional, completely exclusive arrangement, because in 2008, musicians need to get their music out in other ways. Radiohead's example with In Rainbows is a clear one: they released the album online themselves (as their own label, essentially), and then partnered with a record label for the mass-market CD release.

Prediction for the future: record labels become more of a specialized service in some cases, more of a brand affiliation in others. But, altogether, look for musicians to be less exclusively tied to any one record label. And, also look for more labels like Asthmatic Kitty that are almost as much in partnership with other labels themselves, as they are with individual artists.

4. Death of the Compact Disc (Again)

This is a cheap-shot, but is anyone putting on CDs and listening to music on them? OK, sometimes—I put them on in my car. But, in 2008, even my friends (and I) who are the most die-hard CD addicts, are listening to all of our digital music via non-CD players (mp3, FLAC, Apple Lossless, etc.).

Of course, I am listening to vinyl LPs way more now too! But, the CD is little more than a delivery mechanism and backup copy for the files on our computers and other digital music players. The music business based on CD sales died (again) in 2008.

Prediction for the future: death of the compact disc (again). It's going to die again every year for a couple more years.

3. Death of the One Player-Format

With the death of the CD, what's emerging as its replacement is not so simply a new "format" or a new kind of music player. True, the successor to the CD is the digital music file—but the CD was really just the original way digital music files became popular.

What we have now in 2008 are people each with multiple digital music players. Between the computer, iPods, etc., people are listening to music all over the place on all kinds of devices that have huge music collections. The "format" isn't the CD or the album or the single or the playlist, and the context isn't individual / personal or shared / group. It's all of the above.

Prediction for the future: something like what I wrote about in 2004, in the future of music playbacks— lots of different players with lots of music on them in a lot of contexts. Now someone please make some software that's like iTunes, but works for with the multi-headed music library monster we're all creating!

2. Death of the One-Button-Play (Remix and Reuse)

Although it's common to talk about people as "listeners" of music, I think all of these music devices make people more like players of music. We each make music by pushing that play button—we make specific music happen in a specific setting by doing this.

But, the old music business was focused on sales to listeners. The expectation was that people would hit play and sit back. And, this missed-out on the change in attitude wherein people recognized that they were, themselves, making music—and they liked it!

In 2008, musicians are recognizing their fans as active co-creators of music. And, so, more than simply assuming fans will hit play, musicians are embracing the people who remix and reuse their music. These are the people who want to play music with more than just a play button.

Most visibly, musicians are capitalizing more on the larger music culture, that includes karaoke and karaoke-like music games like Rock Band.

Prediction for the future: more music released in games, and more musicians finding ways to connect what they do with the sales of actual musical instruments and gear (which sales increased markedly in 2008). If someone hears your music and goes out and buys a guitar, maybe you want to get in on that action.

1. Death of the Dustbin

With all of these developments in 2008, all bets are off on the demise of any particular recording. Albums are reappearing in music games, becoming popular in karaoke bars, being released in new packages, finding new life as part of subscription services, and becoming popular as digital downloads. And, let's not forget the rise of "user generated" videos on sites like YouTube, and the extensive use of old and obscure recordings in these videos.

Finally, add to this the ongoing attraction of licensing music for reuse in TV and films.

Prediction for the future: some years in the future, at least one track from Err or Man will end-up in widespread circulation via a viral video and feature film (sorry, I couldn't resist!).

***

So, what else happened in this last year, or so? What else should we add to this list.

Obscurity is underrated

by jay · 2008 12 28 23 08 ·

Reflecting on 2008, the Ear Reverends are in a not-bad position to notice that obscurity is underrated.

Ironically, some of the people who would benefit from reading this are the ones who won't, because this is an obscure blog. And, this is definitely the liability with creating obscure music as well: some of the people who need to hear it or play it, won't.

But, as a musician, and also as a listener, there are benefits to playing with music in obscurity. Fundamentally, I'd characterize the benefits as representing tremendous possibility. What will you imagine when you listen to or play something that no one you know is talking about?

The Ear Reverends started as a musical outlet that was outside of the pressures of running a band, putting on stage shows, or producing commodity products for sale. Some years later, in 2008 and going into 2009, the Ear Reverends still work this way.

So, from start until now, I've gotten into this obscurity—and gotten a lot out of it. And, I highly recommend a spoonful of it to everyone—listen to and/or play some obscure music every week. Go ahead and add that to your list of new year's resolutions for 2009.

nearby posts:

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. . . the new music player is very coming soon and such . . .