A couple of years ago, I read an article in Wired magazine covering Beck and his opinions on the future of the music industry. He proposed that his albums Guero and The Information could be models of the future of the music business, a future that takes advantage of all the myriad forms of music consumption and caters to the modern on-demand, get-it-when-you-want-it consumer culture.
I saw Beck in the summer of 2006 in support of The Information at the Download Festival. The show was incredibly entertaining, featuring a marionette stage a la Team America, with an encore that involved a dinette set. While his new material wasn’t as ground breaking as his previous work, I feel he’s on the right track with his music distribution methods.
The record album as a concept has been a thing close to my heart. I remember spending many an afternoon after school sitting on floors and listening to albums straight through. Each song was arranged with an intention to create a flow, a narrative or even a story; with each track a character in a theatrical play. I enjoyed songs as their own entitites, but I discovered deeper enjoyment and appreciation when the #1 Hit Singles were played amidst and alongside the other supporting actors of the album.
But I’m an open person. I like new experiences. I welcome the opportunity to enjoy different canvases and mediums that future artists can utilize to realize their musical visions.
Since the inception of the music industry, the album was an invention of convenience for the artist and the business. The album became a canvas upon which music pioneers like the Beatles painted their artistic vision. In turn, the album, its art, and packaging became a consumable product that created revenue to generate more consumable products.
All too often, producers of products see a consumer base as numbers proportional to profits, sacrificing quality to maximize profits. Discerning, quality-hungry consumers such as myself mean nothing more than fad-following and fickle consumers with disposable income.
Meanwhile, forward thinking artists such as Beck see modern music’s decline of originality and quality, and attribute it to the deaf and dumb machine that is the current state of the music industry. To music lovers with discerning ears, this problem is clear.
Fortunately, with the advent of the internet, many solutions have been proposed. Pay-to-play top 40 radio middle men who once lorded over the gates of mass distribution have been, by and large, eliminated. The gates now stand open, and geniuses with bedroom studios can share their musical wares with anyone with a computer and internet connection. Artists and bands can now proliferate their music via myspace and press their own cds via sites like cdbaby.com. Listeners can discover new music through net radio sites like Pandora, podcasts, and music tracking services such as last.fm.
As a member and participant in all of the above sites (and more), I am hopeful that a few or several of these will be successful in shaping music, its future development, and its future enjoyment. Most the posts I’ll be writing here in the A&E section will be my attempt to share with you this hope. In addition to upcoming shows, I’ll be relating to and expounding upon the many different ways that you as a discerning music lover can discover new music.
So until next time, consider expanding your mind with these upcoming shows in the east bay:
Wednesday, November 26
Tangonero @ Ashkenaz
Live Argentine Tango music
Thursday, December 4th
Indigenous vocalist lecture & demonstration
Oakland Museum of California
Friday, December 5th
Advent and Christmas Music of Eastern Orthodox Traditions
Arlington Community Church
Dayv rocks the CD player at a Concord coffee shop. You can check out some of his CD-inserting, button-pushing artistry at http://simpleharmonicmotion.net