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Enough With The Search For A "Jazz Savior"
Source:
Groove Notes
Every so often, a barrage of articles and blog posts come out claiming that jazz has found the musician or musicians that are going to “save” jazz. More often than not, these musicians are achieving some current commercial success and popularity among a broad audience outside of the typical “jazz head” community. The newest jazz savior? Recently, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding and keyboardist Robert Glasper have been deemed the new saviors of jazz. Both are very talented instrumentalists, and it is ...
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Every Month is Jazz Month; Every Day is Jazz Day
Source:
RJ on Jazz by R.J. DeLuke
April is Designated as Jazz Appreciation Month in the USA I guess it's good to have a Jazz Appreciation Month designated. Symbolic gestures are generally confusing to me. The point may be one thing, but what actual purpose is ultimately served when all is tallied up eludes me. Too often it's sound and fury, signifying nothing. I don't tie a yellow ribbon around a tree, nor hold hands with people in a human chain to fight world hunger. Recently, an ...
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Internet Radio is Broken if It Needs to Charge Bands to Make Money
Source:
HypeBot
Pandora and other webcasters who fought for lower royalty rates a few years ago rejoiced when they achieved rates they thought would allow them to achieve profitability, back in 2009. Yet questions still surround the ability of webcasters such as the now-public Pandora to turn a profit, given that their payments to copyright holders increase at the same rate at which they grow. Unlike just about any other type of digital business, internet radio cannot increase (or attain, as the ...
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An Argument Against "Pay What You Want" Pricing
Source:
HypeBot
Guest post by Brian Hazard of Passive Promotion. Lady Gaga shot to the top of the sales charts upon the release of her last album, in part because it was deeply discounted on Amazon. Radiohead pioneered the “pay what you want" approach, with most downloaders opting to pay nothing at all. Last week I asked my fans which pricing model they prefer, and received dozens of enlightening and thoughtful answers. The discussion continues, but as you've already deduced from the ...
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Major Label Control of New Music Services is Stunting Growth, Says Merlin's Caldas
Source:
HypeBot
While some digital music services appear to be catching on, few are profitable and others already show signs of fading. The blame, according to Charles Caldas, the head of indie label licensing powerhouse Merlin, lies with the continuing influence that major labels have over many new music services. Major label power may have diminished from the days of buying their way onto limited shelf-space, but their working to reassert it. “By its very nature, the Web can offer music fans ...
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Why so Many New Music Services Fail
Source:
HypeBot
Guest post by Neil Cartwright, Managing Director, Million Media. I've spent ten years licensing new music services and yet there are still only 3 music services acheiving discernable success: iTunes, Amazon & Spotify. Why do most music services fail? The reasons require understanding of two principles: How the general population is divided in to fans of music How new trends spread If you look at the UK population as a whole it is a surprising fact that more people are ...
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Greg Osby on the Audience and Musicians Who Play for Themselves...
Source:
The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
Continuing our dialogue on the audience equation for creative music, which heretofore has focused on the puzzling conundrum of the African American audience, the always thoughtful saxophonist-composer and record label (Inner Circle www.innercirclemusic.com) head Greg Osby weighs in on the audience in general, with a particular emphasis on calling into question musicians who only seem to play for their own self-aggrandizement and that of their peer musicians. A recent conversation with one of my colleagues was both illuminating and also ...
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Willard Jenkins Ponders the Audience-Friendly Factor...
Source:
The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
Robert Glasper backstage at Oberlin College the other night greeting one of his fans, the writer's daughter Iyesha Jenkins. One element of our dialogue on the black audience for creative music, as well as our conversation with Nicholas Payton (scroll down for that dialogue) and his ongoing promotion of the omnibus term “BAM" relates to the need for artists to be more audience-friendly. And by that I am certainly not advocating for outright pandering to the lowest common denominator. Several ...
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