So sad, since I've been doing this so long...
Moving to Tumblr.
hunternottim.tumblr.com
3/28/10
3/22/10
3/16/10
Things Your Indie Label is Doing Wrong
- Trying to market albums (see below).
- Using Facebook and Myspace to promote (good!) but only connecting with fans with posts that say "Buy Our Album!" Just pushing your music makes things boring, and people have no way of really connecting with your artist, which really sells music anyway. Try throwing in some documentaries or just even random words of wisdom.
- Thinking that music alone will make money. People want to see bands live nowadays.
- Limiting themselves to one or two genres.
- Not knowing when to say "no" to an
hack with a pretty faceartist. Hard, but in the long run necessary if you want to be successful.
The Death of the Album
Most people have said that it's coming. I think that iTunes really helped the process along, but the music industry market has really shifted towards the single. But unfortunately they're still stuck with the album format, and haven't done anything to change it.
Here's what I'm talking about: an artist will release an album roughly every two to three years. The majority of that time in between is spent touring or in the studio making the next album. This works great for major labels that can drum up hype for the album of an established artist and make a killing off of it. They don't need more material to gain support or to make money.
The strange thing is that indie labels have decided that they need to follow the same format. Why?
I think one of the hardest thing a newly formed band performing new music is to make the music they're playing memorable and sell records. (Duh?) This involves creating an album the first time out that is good enough to be picked up by a major record label. This is quite hard. (Again, duh?)
The other hard part is that once you release an album any potential fans that discover you don't hear anything new for a long time while you tour, and ultimately loose interest if they can't go and see a show. Those that can see you hear the same old stuff, nothing new.
Here's what I'm talking about: an artist will release an album roughly every two to three years. The majority of that time in between is spent touring or in the studio making the next album. This works great for major labels that can drum up hype for the album of an established artist and make a killing off of it. They don't need more material to gain support or to make money.
The strange thing is that indie labels have decided that they need to follow the same format. Why?
I think one of the hardest thing a newly formed band performing new music is to make the music they're playing memorable and sell records. (Duh?) This involves creating an album the first time out that is good enough to be picked up by a major record label. This is quite hard. (Again, duh?)
The other hard part is that once you release an album any potential fans that discover you don't hear anything new for a long time while you tour, and ultimately loose interest if they can't go and see a show. Those that can see you hear the same old stuff, nothing new.
3/12/10
Taxi To Heaven
Keeping with the theme here's a song by the same name.
I first heard this song on an episode of the Simpsons, where they parodied the movie "Sid and Nancy," a bio pic about Sid Vicious, a member of the Sex Pistols. The movie wasn't too amazing, but has become something of a cult classic with classic rock fans. This particular track has become synonymous with an image of Sid and Nancy (his girlfriend) standing in an alleyway as someone empties their garbage creating "rain."
The song is by a group called Pray For Rain (not to be confused with the Christian pop group PFR). They did movie related work, and I found this track to be especially beautiful. I'm also planning on covering it in my Recording Class. There's a lot of potential for a larger work; I would like to expand the different themes into a longer song.
I first heard this song on an episode of the Simpsons, where they parodied the movie "Sid and Nancy," a bio pic about Sid Vicious, a member of the Sex Pistols. The movie wasn't too amazing, but has become something of a cult classic with classic rock fans. This particular track has become synonymous with an image of Sid and Nancy (his girlfriend) standing in an alleyway as someone empties their garbage creating "rain."
The song is by a group called Pray For Rain (not to be confused with the Christian pop group PFR). They did movie related work, and I found this track to be especially beautiful. I'm also planning on covering it in my Recording Class. There's a lot of potential for a larger work; I would like to expand the different themes into a longer song.
3/8/10
Poetry
Sometimes the mood just hits.
My proverbial muse has a baseball bat.
Picture Barry Bonds in a toga.
That wasn't the poem. This is:
When the buildings have all gone
And the birds have flown away
Silently,
And passed beyond the sun
Where is my taxi to heaven?
And if there's no room,
Will I have to leave you behind?
When I have lost
The difference 'tween hot and cold,
They serve me a flood in a bowl:
This is the limit of my dream
I must say: very, very heavily influenced by Emily Dickinson.
My proverbial muse has a baseball bat.
Picture Barry Bonds in a toga.
That wasn't the poem. This is:
And the birds have flown away
Silently,
And passed beyond the sun
Where is my taxi to heaven?
And if there's no room,
Will I have to leave you behind?
When I have lost
The difference 'tween hot and cold,
They serve me a flood in a bowl:
This is the limit of my dream
I must say: very, very heavily influenced by Emily Dickinson.
3/6/10
More Photoshop
Inspired by Caravan Media, an indie label here in DeLand. I usually need something concrete before I start (not a fan of the abstracts), so I decided to use the name.
This is also my personal take on the old Camel Cigarette boxes, which I think are pretty stylish. You can see the original here. Details after the break.
3/3/10
TrailerRiff #1
Here's the trailer for "The Last Airbender."
And here's my riffs:
[:10] Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married...
[:16] Well there's a scary plot twist for you right there...
[:18] Mom told us not to play on the lake!!
[:22] Something on Spaceship Earth goes horribly wrong.
[:33] I'm Mr. Scratchy Voice
[:38] Wabbit season gets carried away...
[:43] "I'm doing my best Twilight here!"
[:58] The Decepticons.
[1:09] He's trapped on the Titanic!
[1:11] More like the last gasp of a franchise.
[1:15] Like what? His fancy hoodie?
[1:21] Anakin Skywalker?
[1:25] Pipes must have burst. Call the plumber.
[1:32] Man, she get's around.
[1:37] Doesn't look like it lady!
[1:45] Because we can't call it "Avatar" anymore.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sorry for the apparently (read: Adam and Hannah say so) gap between posts. I'm trying something new here too.
And here's my riffs:
[:10] Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married...
[:16] Well there's a scary plot twist for you right there...
[:18] Mom told us not to play on the lake!!
[:22] Something on Spaceship Earth goes horribly wrong.
[:33] I'm Mr. Scratchy Voice
[:38] Wabbit season gets carried away...
[:43] "I'm doing my best Twilight here!"
[:58] The Decepticons.
[1:09] He's trapped on the Titanic!
[1:11] More like the last gasp of a franchise.
[1:15] Like what? His fancy hoodie?
[1:21] Anakin Skywalker?
[1:25] Pipes must have burst. Call the plumber.
[1:32] Man, she get's around.
[1:37] Doesn't look like it lady!
[1:45] Because we can't call it "Avatar" anymore.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Sorry for the apparently (read: Adam and Hannah say so) gap between posts. I'm trying something new here too.
2/4/10
1/30/10
Love is in the ... doorway
Tonight/ this morning I was coming out of a dorm on campus and pushed open the door to go outside. There was a couple there making out, and I'm pretty sure I hit her with the door.
Wonder if I helped things along?
1/16/10
Conan and Leno
Don't kid yourself: beyond all the finger pointing lies a great deal of money. And for a network that's already in the dumps because of the Winter Olympics and no real hit shows, it makes the cost of the entire fiasco even more poignant. They're paying O'Brian a huge amount of money to give up his time.
I'll admit, neither was really working for NBC before this whole thing started. O'Brian's "Tonight Show" was about as canned and dull as Leno's. Leno just took his canned and dull show to a different time, where it didn't improve. O'Brian and his crew have claimed that they haven't been afforded enough time to come into their own, but I never saw a lot of changes being made. Only in the past week has O'Brian's "Tonight Show" come alive, and really only when he's talking about his fight with NBC. Once he moves on, you can feel the audience get bored. His staff is spending so much time on this (literally half the show) that it sucks the wind out of anything else they want to joke about.
And at the same time we can't get enough out of it. Ratings are up, and countless bloggers (those scum!) are blogging away about it. We don't want to see Conan go, but at the same time, we don't really like him or his show without the impending doom that's been hanging over it. The drama is irresistible, and makes for great comedy.
But by the time the first guest comes out, I'm ready to go to bed or change the channel. How do you keep doing the same old thing, reading off the blue card, when you know your show is about to be canceled?
That's my two cents. However it works out, I'm still going to watch Craig Ferguson.
Mario Kart Love Song
I love this song. Youtube at its finest, it's really a nice love song. Shows you how much of a nerd I am. Next song I write is going to be a love song about Zelda. Or maybe Wichita, you know, the girl from Zombieland.
