Slashdot Mirror
Magnatune - a Non-Evil Record Label?
jea6 writes "As seen on Fark and sure to intrest non-crossover Slashdotters, Magnatune is a record company with a catchy slogan. They highlight: 1) We're a record label. But we're not evil. 2) We call it 'try before you buy.' It's the shareware model applied to music. 3) Listen to hundreds of MP3'd albums from our artists. Or try our genre-based radio stations. 4) If you like what you hear, buy our music online for as little as $5 an album or license our music for commercial use. 5) Artists get a full 50% of the purchase price. And unlike most record labels, our artists keep their rights to their music. 6) Founded by musicians, for musicians. No major label connections. We are not evil. So if you are anti-RIAA (artist or consumer) and looking for an option (albeit a small option), this may be a start. The music is Creative Commons licensed, which is the brainchild of the eminent Lawrence Lessig."
Evil will always triumph over Good, because Good is Dumb.
what a unique idea for making money! not exploitative at all!
To the first tinfoil hat owning AC to suggest the RIAA submitted this to get their competition /.ed off the face of the planet. =)
but it still sucks unless its got good music.
50% sounds great. plus to retain creative control ove your music? not bad. this is a meme worth persuing.
-knowles
Isn't mp3 supposed to be evil? Why not use a better format such as ogg vorbis, that is higher quality?
I hope others are as pleased as I am. As an artist, I, for one, welcome this artist-friendly label. Embrace this company. And hope the industry takes notice.
Mod me down for saying this but which sane artist would like to have this record label huh? It cannot even come up with a sound business plan. MAJOR artists would not earn as much publicity with this label as they do when they have a strong label like sony IMHO, only new/worn out artists would go for this and that will dictate the future of this label.
Go ahead, mod me down but one should face the reality before supporting something thats just "new". We also need to know that it is good.
What about all those people who have already signed their soul over to the devil? I'm sure if it were as simple as "switching" from one record label to another, many bands would. The choices today are getting better, but the contracts those people have to sign just to get their music on a cd is insane. The record company basically owns their ass for years before they can choose to go somewhere else, and even then in many cases the new record label they go to still has to pay a cut to the previos label.
- tristan
I've been trying this site for the past 48 hours. Their music selection is limited, but its a starting label...its a chicken & egg scenario i think -- Need customers to attract musicians.
;)
I found its offerings to be professional and compentent, if unremarkable. So far the site seems to deliver on what its promising. FREE downloads, FREE streaming audio. Their business model appears to be ethical (by my standards).
Basically I'm waiting a week or two to see in the media if things are kosher before buying something: e.g. this is a legitimate venture?; they're on the up & up?; people don't have nasty customer service problems, etc.
Slashdot users -- this is probably THE busienss model we've been biatching for. If this venture fails, lets try to make sure its not because of lack of demand.
NOTE: I have NO affiliation with this site whatsoever. I can can barely read music.
John Maynard Keynes: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?"
Nice. Between this new label and cdbaby, maybe the artists will start to actually make something off of their CDs, and make me more apt to buy as well.
We call it 'try before you buy.' It's the shareware model applied to music.
Many seem to prefer the freeware model of Kazaa! Recently read in TIME magazine --->" If you have coke coming from faucet at home, how much would you pay for a bottle? "
New year Resolution: Don't change sig this year
Listen to hundreds of MP3'd albums from our artists. Or try our genre-based radio stations.
I don't see any MP3s, and all I see are streams (m3u). It would be more correct to say "listen to hundreds of streamed MP3'd albums from our artists."
Then again, I do think this is the right way to approach this. You can listen to low quality streams to get a feel for the album or song before you buy it in mp3 form.
I am willing to bet if they didn't do this they would end up having all their songs downloaded, bandwidth eaten up, and despite the claims made here about "supporting the artists" they will not get much money back in return.
This isn't new, in fact independent labels (like Victory Records, Drive Thru, Jade Tree etc.) have been going this for a long time (download full MP3's, completely legal)... and they are not any way tied to the RIAA.
Why this is news, is ridiculous... this type of model is just good business if you are an independent label, because this is what gives you your edge over the majors, your ability to be flexible, without sacrificing the bottom line.
sad robot making broken music
If it works, and the artists use the label, then good luck to them. Personally, I'll buy music if I like it, and the only place I can hear it (and therefore form an opinion on whether I like it or not) is on the radio. A try before you buy is good, but without a radio station, it's useless. Thankfully, they've realised this, and it should be a great success! Maybe we'll see some non-evil bands (like Radiohead) join the label as well! Who knows! Anything can happen in the next half hour!
Overheard in a Best Buy or Virgin Megastore as someone reaches for a CD from a major distributor:
"It's Evil! Don't Touch It!"
POOF!
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Who are they kidding? No one is going to be sending any money for the music they download from them. People will just download and the artists won't get a freaking dime.
One feature I think is extremely unique is that people can choose what they pay. From $5-18, and the recommended amount is $8.
Speaking at Defcon 12 - Credit Card Networks Revisted: Pen
There are a couple of hundred artists that make significant amounts of money from the major labels. There are a couple of hundred thousand signed up who don't make any money at all, because CD sales have to recoup the studio costs before the artists see a penny.
So, what were you saying about stupidity?
Signing up to a system that will only put them in debt unless they beat the 1000:1 odds, now that's what I would call stupid.
They don't have that much stuff yet, but what they have is not bad. It's regular music rather than just "experimental" stuff. Definitely better than what you hear on radio. I am definitely buying a few of their albums.
Now, how long before big labels realize that they have to start making more variety of music? With Apple music store I can already preview, download and burn on CD so they would be making some money.
I'm always willing to support such ventures, and I even found a few artists that I would give money for, and was about to, but noticed that their "buy" page is not secure. Fix that, and I'll buy something.
Rapoon is very good indeed.
~jeff
I just listened to one of the classical music ones (Bach on the Violin or something), and I found it to be pretty good. I'd buy it, but I think they just got slashdotted... :-| Anyway, I'll probably buy that and maybe a few other albums from them once their site's back up. See, RIAA? This is the way to sell music!
This is something that I always stressed. If the record companies really believed in Intellectual Property, they would allow artists to retain rights to their music and would be satisfied themselves with royalties for marketing and promoting the music. All this sounds reasonable. The music must be good, however, if this model is to replace the current flawed model where artist and consumer gets screwed so record companies can maximize profits.
I've been listening to their "classical" channel (http://216.91.57.102:8000) for months now , and it's great. Try them!
Now we've got iTunes and a 50% royalty for artists.
So what's going to be the "we just want it for free" excuse this week?
Our biggest problem is that we, as a society, have confused well marketed with "good." There's thousands of great musicians running around that are not well known.
What main stream America wants is the marketed music. Well, guess what? marketing machines are about making money.
Imagine who cool it would be if all the effort thrown into pirating the marketed stuff went into creating an underground force for marketing independent music?
The cool thing about the creative commons license is that it is a start in making such an underground force.
the riaa is evil. tell someone you know.
-knowles
Although i agree with you, there are prob. 1000 penniless artists, they will keep being penniless without the support of strong labels.
Think of it, major labels spend ENORMOUSLY on recording and dubbing etc. thats why the albums are such a hit. this gay little label has got nothing in it that would make an artist a hit. What r they gonna do? sing on the road? lol, looks like ur one of them losers.
Downloading works fine. Everything plays with open-source Freeamp/Zinf. If you care.
Ok, Here's the big test! Now that all you music copiers have a way to get music at a reasonable price, that you can hear before you buy, where the musician is treated with respect ...
What excuses will you use for stealing the music now?
George Bush + Linux = "I will not let information get in the way of the fight against Windows"
As mentioned above the site is quite professional. May need a better server because loading on to the main site takes ages......(thinks for a moment)...er.. damn slashdotter's.
I have not bought music for the better part of 2 years. Maybe this is the time for me to start again. What I would really like is if they have a transparent business model. Like a summary of exactly where the money goes to.
There seems to be a lot of pro's to this business model. Now all it needs it is some popular artists. (Read on before the flaming begins)
The reason why I said popular artists is that the number of people who appreicate garage music is the minority. Therefore if the site has some big name artists then the garage bands also have a wider audience to target their music to.
You, Sir, are gay. Very much so.
I have been buying songs from Apple's Music Store - lots of fun, and I think that I will support Magnatune also: really, when people/organizations do something good support them!
I like the use of a Creative Commons License also (I publish my free web books under a CC license and I was the featured commoner a few months ago - so I am a little biased :-)
Not to be too idealistic here, but: if enough people buy from companies like Magnatune that might help change the music industry for the better.
-Mark
...we're going to see the big five labels sue this new one because the songs that the "Good Label" uses notes that can be found in their intellectual property. (Basically to be used as an attack against the Creative Commons license. Something like that, right?
blog |
I don't think you realize how diabolical the RIAA is. They saw a nice upstart record company, so they got Michael to sell out and Slashdot the site. How does it feel to be a tool of the oppressors?
Litigious bastards
But if anyone is an unsigned band: don't sign with an RIAA-connected label
Absolutely, and if you have any talent, it'll probably be wasted at a major RIAA label as well.
There's been a lot of coverage the past few years about the real problems of these labels, including the absurd advances to dated artists like Michael Jackson (who never make back the advance money and end up costing other less prominant artists their chance), promotional efforts being spent on the tired old artists at the expense of up-and-coming ones ("Hey folks. That new Madonna album's out. Let's put lips on that pig!"), termination of thousands of smaller and newer artist contracts, fewer releases, etc.
Compare that with a label like Metropolis Records which has amassed a base of artists like Funker Vogt, KMFDM, VNV Nation, Juno Reactor, Apoptygma Bezerk, Frontline Assembly, Project Pitchfork, De/Vision, etc. - much of the EBM and techno-industrial sounds come from this label.
How do they play with the Internet community? They support royalty-free shoutcasting (which is how I found them and ended up spending a few $$$ on their artists!).
Support these labels by buying direct whenever you can, and let them know each time you buy that the reason you're sending them business is because of their support for great artists and the promotion of a music marketplace free of RIAA manipulation and anticompetitive behavior.
*scoove*
You cannot charge money for distribute works.
Why don't they make it more like GPL, where you can make money on distribution.
This is the biggest problem with the license. Everything else is pretty sweet, also the part where you can choose the severiity of the license.
Read this essay by Steve Albini (producer Nirvana)
quote "The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month."
I can't sing or play to save my life, so this it no good for me.
I do however know a drummer from an unsigned band who hate the industry as it is and this might be what they're looking for. As it happens some of the band know people at music collage and many of them feel the same about the industry.
The trouble is they're not exactly the types to be reading slashdot or otherwise stumbling across this.
Time for me to start spreading the word. If some of the better new bands get to know about this and like it, who knows where it could lead.
-- MartinG To mail me: echo kewyjlcxyzvjfxbqwh | tr bcefhjklqvwxyz
Magnatune sounds a lot like First World Music.
See post #7078480, of a half-hour earlier :)
fun and profit?
Don't buy those new non-evil record labels. Evil always triumphs, because good is dumb.
Buy an RIAA album! Now with 50% more evil!
"iTunes only work on a Mac and I don't have a Mac so I'll have to download for free on my PC."
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Sorry, hate to burst your bubble but Drive Thru and Victory are both members, but at least they're not the big 5.
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
We're a record label. But we're not evil ... So if you are anti-RIAA (artist or consumer) and looking for an option (albeit a small option), this may be a start.
I am now taking bets for when the RIAA will sue over defamation and slander. Monday, Sept 28th and "The day after a big record label loses a big client to them" are already taken.
When modding "Informative", please make sure it both has a source and IS actually informative.
Five dollars an album has always been my sweet point, which is 1/3rd the cost of existing CD's. The added bonus of artists getting 50 percent and keeping their rights seems to be the icing on the cake!
I hope this takes off to the point of actually having the albums as CD's in the stores. I don't mind downloading, I just like keeping my purchases over the Internet to a minumum to prevent security and fraud problems.
I can only hope that existing artists are smart enough to start using this system instead of the current big label systems. I can't wait to sample some of the music!
See you guys there!
+100
music distributed over p2p.
Searching for md5 sum of the file you could get _all_ sorts of information:
1. The right artist name, by asking a governy body like a record label or a union of artist. (These bodies will also look for fraduian files).
2. How to pay for the artwork. Notice it is possible with current encryption systems to buy things _anonymous_ and still get a receipt. (This way artist can give special offers for people who actually buys their music. Concert ticket, early release... only the imagination is the limit)
3. The license. So you know if the file is legal and if you can distribute it or distribute it and charge money or make derivitive works of it.
4. Discussions about the work.
This will be the future.
Now, please somebody make programs that gives these features.
Right now I just listen in xmms. If I can't right click and press pay artist i will not pay.
Remember this should work for everything. Music, movies, books, blogs, games - every data on the net.
...but it doesn't matter much, since they're dead now.
/. !!!
Thanks
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
There's also a record label run by guitarist Steve Vai called Favored Nations that is built to support the artist. The artist gets almost all the profit from record sales and the artist gets total freedom in the studio. They've already picked up tons of big names like Allan Holdsworth, Marty Friedman (formerly of Megadeth), The Yardbirds, Frank Gambale, Eric Johnson, Billy Sheehan, Dweezil Zappa and lots more. It's focused mostly on really talented musicians who are great at their instruments and not so much at pop music, so they're not huge at the moment but it's good to see a label out there that is this supportive of its artists.
Let's make some independent artist rich. Famous enough to get an article about indie music in Time or similar. Non-mainstream music needs some marketing - to give examples that it can work, and to show the public that there are alternatives.
We already brought the streaming from magnatune to it's knees. Let's slashdot an artist. (Maybe Dave Berry could give somebody's PayPal number.)
Litigious bastards
I found this site last week via mefi and am very impressed.
While I'll freely admit that they're in need of a few Brilliant Artists, they still have some impressive stuff, especially in regards to their Electronica content.
But really, the thing that interests me more than anything is the business model and attitude. I mean, seriously, where else can you purchase movie rights to a song, based on movie budget, online? This is absolutely unheard of and should be commended.
Brilliant ideas and 128kb mp3 streams (wow!) keep me queueing up this stuff at work and purchasing music.
Rock on magnatune...one day the rest of the music industry will catch up with you.
Oblig mention of other option
Of course, the radio only plays a small set of music and usually doesn't allow the listener to discover anything new or unusual on his own. Then again, thanks to the internet there is a lot more out there to choose from (as far as radio stations go).
Besides, my idea of try-before-you-buy with music is going to Amazon and listening to clips. They don't always have them and they don't always do the songs justice, but it certainly is better than nothing.
Here's a link.
Read, L
Small independant labels that give their artists good royalties are nothing new. However, such a label coming up with an online music service that is actually *good* is new!
Let's compare this service to iTunes, the most popular current service.
Price:
iTunes - $0.99 per song
Magnatune - $5.00 an album
If it's a good album without crappy filler then Magnatune is the big winner here. Classical fans get a great deal, but pop fans may not, depending on the band. Overall, I'd give the edge to Magnatune, but not a big one.
Format:
iTunes - AAC with some annoying DRM
Magnatune - Uncompressed WAV's!!!
Absolutely no contest here. Finally an online music store has listened to audiophiles! They'd be smart to use a lossless compression format to save on their bandwidth costs though...
Ethics:
iTunes - Apple takes it's (big) cut and then the Artist's (frequently RIAA affiliated) label takes most of the rest.
Magnatune - The artist gets 50%!!!
Again, no contest. Instead of feeling guilty about fueling a powermad monster when you buy music you can feel good about supporting the people who actually made it!
Selection:
iTunes: Lots
Magnatune: Not a lot
iTunes is the clear winner here.
To sum up, you get more for your money with magnatunes, including peace of mind. You just can't get many albums there... yet. If magnatune manages to get off the ground that may change, but they have a long road ahead of them. Their biggest challenge is getting more content. In my opinion they need to forge alliances with other like-minded independant labels. There are a lot out there, but many use mail-order as their only form of distribution! Magnatunes needs to get these labels on board pronto.
said the same thing I wanted to say :)
New year Resolution: Don't change sig this year
They may not be evil, but they may not be too smart either.
When I went to buy one of their albums, Magnatune wanted me to type my credit card number on a NON-SSL page. Naturally, my attempted purchase ended right there. $5 to Magnatune and $5000 to man-in-the-middle hacker is not cheap.
According to Magnatune's "forum", they plan to add SSL "in a few days". That this wasn't a higher priority makes me very worried; even if they do set up SSL, it suggests they might not be too careful with say, customer lists and credit card numbers.
And there doesn't appear to be way to search through the albums for sale.
Still, Magnatune's a step in the right direction.
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
Only two problems: Their wimpy server takes fifteen minutes to play a two minute tune, and they don't have any good, straight-ahead jazz.
Ok, so a few other posts haved commented that this style of lable is nothing new. For those of us stuck with only radio offerings how do you find the underground / indie music? Simple web searches can take quite a while to dig through the offerings and many only have like one or two songs available.
http://www.garageband.com
/. them) but garage band has a large selection from every area and a lot of good stuff.
I haven't checked out the selection in the article (I'll wait to avoid helping to
No sig for you!!
But Evian doesn't come out of your faucet at home, and CD-quality wave files don't come off Kazaa. Not the way Mp3s do. Magnatune sells you the CD-quality version if you like the MP3.
Speaking of 'worth supporting'...
Check out Whole Wheat Radio.
Great selection of mostly RIAA-free recordings...getting closer all the time.
Supported financially by donations and out of pocket.
Geeky-cool user interface.
Computers are merely an extension of human memory. If I've heard a song, I'm entitled to remember it, therefore I am entitled to record it as an extension of that memory, and further entitled to download a copy since I heard it last week when I didn't have my computer with me.
A currently popular artist with lots of connections needs to come out with something like. Steal bands away from the major labels to create credibility.
Allow anyone to send in their music in the correct format, and post it. Have user ratings so if it sucks, it gets modded down. It could even have a "people who liked this band also liked this one" section just like Amazon.com or the iTunes music store. That would actually be a little better than having ratings since someone who hates country is obviously going to skew ratings by modding all country music down.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
Just found they've got Joglaresa in the classical section. Somewhat eosoteric, but Belinda Sykes is highly critically acclaimed in her field and has a voice that can certainly produce the 'shiver down the spine' effect for me. That's at least one sale they've got from me next week.
I suppose the popular music equivelent would be having someone like Robert Fripp.
Things look better now, but still sluggish. (at least it's still working).
I've moved all graphics to my secondary server, running Squid. That helped Apache, but graphics are taking some time to come up. I'm bringing up another squid server now.
Audio streaming seems to be working ok (at least for me)
And THANKS for all the kind words on this thread (I'll respond to them once I get the servers running fast)
- John (the Magnatune guy)
Maybe someone like Tool should release an album under this label to see how it goes. Yeah, right.
i hope more artists jump aboard this band wagon, because right now its a little thin...unless you like gothic arab music
For The Best Jazz/Hip-hop fusion > COlD DUCK
All you're saying is that established artists wouldn't see a reason to move to something this small and experimental. That hardly makes it a bad thing. Do you think all the other record companies just arose from nowhere and were instantly respected as "major mega labels"? Highly doubtful....
What happens is you put together something promising and work hard at signing formerly unknown artists putting out good material. Eventually, if/when one or more of those artists gets discovered by enough people - your label becomes more respected. Repeat, and voila!
Frankly, the thing I wouldn't want is some washed-up artist coming to me trying to get signed on, if I was a new, innovative label. Let them stick with whatever sorry label they're contractually obligated to until that runs out, and then - let them go it on their own or retire, or whatever they feel they need to do.
I write a little bit of music myself and played guitar in a working local band before (years ago). These days, I don't look at it as anything more than a spare time hobby (and I occasionally submit something when people are competing to get their background music used for someone's movie or videotape production). But if I was more serious and/or focused on making a record, I'd sign on with these guys. Why not?
A lot of small labels have been working in this 50% to the artists fashion for quite some time. A few of these labels also just use manufacturing and distribution contracts with artists (not copyright), some are also non-exclusive (meaning the artist is also free to release their material thru someone else as well). Ours works this way.
;). But we will from now on judging by the posts here. huzzah. The next stage, for all of us said labels, is to start sharing distribution channels with each other.
Thing is, non of us have used this ethical approach as our core marketing technique
The control that the majors have over distribution is the only thing that prevents us from truly competing with them properly.
http://www.newsense-recordings.co.uk - A label in desperate need of a free web designer/maintainer.
Hm, I would like to like this label, but I've tried several shoutcast streams, and all these artists regardless of their genre all seem to be into a very art-house, industrial, "choppiness" in their music. For instance, 15 seconds of music, then an abrupt cut and 30 seconds of silence.
;)
Just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished by a Slashdotting.
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
... however, their logo seems to be flipping me off.
Well they're still around but they no longer have hold of the royalties business. For those of you who don't ASCAP was the only company collecting royalties for artists for a long time. Till one day they decided to double their fees. NBC thought that was crap and started their own royalty company: BMI. The primary difference was (and I think still is) that there no dues to pay with BMI it's a flat percent rate.
Why is this relevent to: but it still sucks unless its got good music.?
Because ASCAP said the same thing about BMI who basically opened the flood gates. Sure, many people that were BMI members (Read: could not afford ASCAP member dues) had NO talent (in singing and music) whatsoever and many indeed suxored a lot. But BMI's open invitation also hit gold. Such as Frank Sinatra who went to BMI to apply.
It may take time but I believe Magnatune will get some really genuinely good artists. Now the only trouble is keeping MTv from saying they suck.
Science fiction story reference...
A scientist searching for the "perfect tune," included various discussions about how good tunes stuck with you, and possible effects when the "perfect tune" was found.
I'll stop there, and not spoil.
Unfortunately I can remember neither author nor title, but perhaps someone else will. If nothing pops up, respond and I can give a spoiler.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Aurgh! The RIAA must have submitted this to get their competing record labels slashdotted into another country or even off the face of the planet!! IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY!!!
wasn't this the same business model as mp3.com, originally?
No. This is potentially an ILLEGAL solution. How can bands on the label pay their songwriters the statutory 8 cents per track? And even if the band members write their own songs, what steps can they take should some songwriter they've never heard of take them to court, claiming that a song that they wrote is "strikingly similar" to some song they don't remember having heard? Heck, it could even happen by accident.
Will I retire or break 10K?
yes, but mp3.com got bought, so "mp3.com, originally" no longer exists. In addition, "mp3.com, originally" had an additional problem: artists could provide recordings only in 128 kbps MP3 format, which is capable of nowhere near the fidelity of pristine 16-bit 44.1 kHz stereo PCM audio to the good ear.
Will I retire or break 10K?
As the saying goes "the devil has the best tunes".
It's in a collection of short stories called "Tales From The White Hart". In my copy it's on page 45.
:)
The whole book is funny as hell, really. It's definitely worth finding. And please don't spoil the ending for those who haven't read it.
>> ....we, as a society, have confused well marketed with "good."
I doubt that. You're assuming that, given free choice, people will always buy "good" music. That's not true. People will buy music they like, whether or someone- even the buyer -- thinks it is good.
That's why the books at the top of the bestseller lists are usually not at the top of anyone's "Good Books" list. When people want to be entertained, they buy something that entertains them. When they want to read a "good" book, or listen to "good" music, they'll do that, too. We're all capable of making that distinction. Businesses are smart enough to know that most of us want to be entertained more than we want to spend time pretending to like "good" music.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
Doesn't a record label have to have some ability to record things? This looks like a distribution lable.
I love the model, I just wish that they had a studio somewhere. I am a musician myself and would love to have some talented studio professionals who also happened to have some ethics.
Which makes you wonder... what do they do for you? They won't get you into a music store. They won't get you gigs. They will sell your music on their website. True, you don't lose too much, but you don't get a whole lot either.
Just my thoughts. Upon re-reading them, they don't make as much sense as they did in my head.
What comes first, finding a teacher or becoming a student?
It's just another small inde just like the thousends of others.
One step at a time. First there has to be a better record label to switch over to.
There are already plenty of independent labels out there that treat their artists nearly as well, if not just as well, as this new label. The real problem is, like the OP said, that switching labels is practically impossible because of the extensive contracts artists have to sign to begin with. So while this label may attract many good artists, there is a definite problem with it being able to attract any mainstream talent.
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
- jon hassell cd's
- hammered dulcimer (a la laraaji)
so, i follow the magnatune link, and what do i find?
a musician who references jon hassell as a strong influence.
another one who works with hammered dulcimer, and has a tune called "kubrick's tube". kubrick is perhaps my favorite director ever.
weird. i'm actually afraid to NOT buy something at this point.
pr0n - keeping monitor glass spotless since 1981.
Your argument is as old as time and it is eternally on the losing side. You could say the same thing about the impressionists. Oh, the true test of a good painting is if it is a perfect incarnation of man's splendor via realistic modeling / rendering. Well, let's get rid of Monet, Manet, and all art made after the neoclassical period. In fact we can apply this to every period of art history! I don't have any problem with your taste, you're entitled to it, just as I am entitled to mine. Let's not forget that it wasn't so long ago that the Beatles weren't considered music by many, and now they seem quite mild.
I like experimental music. You can rant about it all you want, and that's fine. Just don't try to impose your unenlightened views upon me. Almost ALL experimental musicians are classically trained before they decide to try something new.
Photos.
Best Seller lists are generally about the list, and not about the quality of the work. Good books fare well on the lists.
The whole point of a best seller list is that people like to read what other people are reading (regardless of quality). Merchants like the lists since it helps them determine where to invest limited resources. The list feeds on itself.
If a truly good book is marketed well, it will have the same pattern on the best seller list as a Grisham. If not, they often have a pattern where the appear toward the bottom of the lists several months or years after release and stay there for a long time.
The best seller marketing strategy is about timing a release and hitting the market with a big media blitz. Once on the list, the list itself creates the sales. Get on a best selling list and you appear in airports where you make the big sales.
As for the reason that there tends to be more "quick reads" on the best seller lists than slow reads. It turns out that people can read more quick reads than long serious works. I can read four Grishams in the time it takes to work through a Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
The speed reading market determines what the rest of us read. Speed readers hate poetic books with lots of twists and turns in the languages because it breaks their speed reading. A speed reader might read five books in the time it takes me to read one...so they have a bigger impact on the market.
Anyway, the publishing industry will read analyze a book. They will determine if it has a good shot at being a best seller (ie, easy for speed readers and somewhat interesting). If they think it does, they invest in the media blitz.
I suspect music is somewhat the same way. You determine if there is something unique enough about the band and song. If it there is, you invest in the first month's media blitz to get that position on the list.
Just wanted to throw in a quick plug for iRATE radio. I've only been using it for a day or two but it seems pretty decent so far. It uses collaborative filtering to find free, legally available music that it thinks you will like, based on your ratings of previous songs. The first 7 or 8 songs were pretty bad, but it's definitely getting a lot better pretty quickly. Oh, and it works for Windows, Linux, and Mac. http://irate.sourceforge.net/.
The first ever Ultimate Frisbee video game: here (now
We are:
# NOT ABOUT buying you studio time: you have to figure out how to get a good quality recording yourself. However, we can help you network with others so that you can get a super-good deal on studio time.
# NOT ABOUT printing CDs: they're expensive, a pain in the neck to sell and ship, and the distribution network is expensive, corrupt, and locks out small and independent acts. We think the future belongs to MP3s and its successors. When a CD burner costs $70 and CD blanks are less than a quarter, shipping pre-printed CDs no longer makes sense.
It sounds to me like its set up as a publishing operation, more similar to mp3.com than to a record label.
Still good though, maybe I'll get my band to sign up
Mf
seriously, I didnt think my first attempt at trolling would turn out so good. Got to thank brainless idiots like you for my success. im the one who wrote "artists cant be so stupid"
I should get a troll account now. There must be more like u around...
Hi sucker. thanks for replying.
I agree, my troll was dumb but when I have suckers like u, do i really *need* to write up a good troll? lol HAND
Can anyone else not get the streaming to work? Is the site slashdotted, or is it just the blaster-ridden connection in my dorm?
Where this goes is that with the large volume of bands out there that can be so readily distributed, the value of critics and editors will increase. You find somebody who seems to agree with your tastes and follow their recommendations. Right now, the opinions of certain power brokers determines the fate of bands.
The adventurous listeners can go out there and try all kinds of new things and then bring back what they like to the masses. Word of mouth will become a far more powerful engine for generating popularit than RIAA marketing. This is already true for many who've grown sick of pop radio.
To speak from personal experience, I don't listen to the radio (except for NPR). But I listen to lots of music that never gets played on the radio. I've got a friend who's in a really good local band, and I've got some friends who are really into music that always point me towards new things. So I get their recommendations, and I find that I like a large portion of what they recommend. Finally I experiment a little, usually finding crap, but occasionally discovering something new that I like.
That's the future of music. The RIAA is screwed.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
And even though they're being slashdotted at the moment... the quickest way to turn me off buying music, is dealing with "buffering" messages interrupting the songs every 5 seconds... other than that, the idea sounds really cool, i'll be sure to visit there again after their site clears the main page of slashdot. They should really invest in more bandwidth, however...
I'd just like to say I bought an album off Magnatunes after finding the site from Fark late Saturday night. I emailed John with some words of support and amazingly enough, he emailed me back an hour later. Nice to see he took the time to read his email while watching his site get slashdotted.
Except that artist may be "washed up" because he's been jerked around by marketroids and managers, and *told* what music he's going to make -- who knows, there may be talent under there once the rust is scraped off.
So you open the door to all comers, give them webspace (which doesn't cost much) and let those who can attract fans succeed, while those who can't will fail. That's pure natural selection for the music market, and exactly what folks here have been claiming they want instead of mass-market manufactured stars.
~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
Hence, the correct analogy is "if Coke stopped selling single cans of ice-cold Coke to thirsty people, and instead insisted that you buy a whole case and then take the cans home and chill them (rip them) for an hour before drinking, but there was a giant refrigerator on every corner that offered free single cans of Coke to everyone, on demand, how many people would pay for Coke?" It is not a choice between stealing and buying. It is a choice between P2P and not getting the product you want, period.
The same fallacy exists with the "shoplifting" analogy the Content Mafia have pimped to the mass media. Shoplifting is considered morally unacceptable, not just because you can be criminally punished for it, but because it is very simple and easy to take the product you want off the shelf, walk to the checkout stand, take out your wallet, and pay for it. Target doesn't stick 10 other unwanted products in your cart every time you try to buy something. Safeway doesn't sell you food that is booby-trapped so that you can't put it in your backpack and eat it while you're walking down the street. Best Buy doesn't come and take the TV back if you decide you'd like to shop at another store from now on. When the industry truly has a product for-sale that offers a complete selection of fully capable, permanently ownable online music, then they can complain about "competing with FREE." Until then, let them buy their Coke lukewarm and a case at a time, and see how they like it.
No, no, no. This is not a sig.
I wasn't talking about crappy indie punk bands. I was speaking more about artsy fartsy independant music that I like so much. No, bad punk and ska bands should die a terrible death.
Photos.
http://www.magnetbox.com/riaa/
I find this interesting. However, since they do not appear to be as... er.. interested in dollars as the record labels the RIAA represents, I wonder how much cash they actually have to give out to each new artist they sign (to cover studio time, expenses, drugs etc etc).
Getting 50 % of the profit is nice and all, but if you don't get any money to record the music in the first place it's kinda pointless.
Artists get a full 50% of the purchase price. And unlike most record labels, our artists keep their rights to their music
Sounds like the old 80's Manchester "Factory" label, they went so broke...
If anything could be considered music why do we have a seperate word than sound or noise? All music is sound, but not all sound is music. Experimental "music" is most often just sound and not music at all. And thats okay, but its not music just sounds.
I do find it interesting though, that in a follow-up post you yourself make a value judgement on what is or is not music. Long live musical elitist hypocrisy!
(okay, so I'm a little late with my comment on this one...)
What about selling physical copys of the CDs as well? Some people still would like a quality CD, not a CD-R that may or may not work in some CD players. Also, depending on the brand of CD-R and quality of CD-R burner, a burned disc may only last a couple of years (a believe Slashdot had a recent story a the short lives of CD-Rs). In short, If I buy an album that I know I'll keep, I want it to last. Downloads just don't cut it here.
Also, it's nice to get the artwork and liner notes. If I'm going to shell out $5-18 ($8 recommended) for a CD, I rather have the auctual CD with artwork.
Now where I see this model working is for bands that are passing fads... Remember, the swing movement a few years back... I didn't think so. If you only want to listen to one song/album for a little while and toss it, this model works.
So to sum up. Good for short term music listerner, but for people that like to keep things around a while (for example, classical music lovers), this model simply does not work.
Oh, one more note on the the Artwork/Classic comments above. I noticed that they have a CD by the incredably talented AND beautiful Lara St. John. You definitely want the artwork with her CDs (check it out for yourself).
(void) signal(SIGALRM, (alarm_fired=1)); if (alarm_fired) printf("Revoke is clueless!\n");
I have recorded for major labels and independent labels, and own all the copyrights to my songs and my recordings. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but independent labels--in my experience--are no more likely (and perhaps less so) to ever actually PAY you. Sure, they can say that the artist gets 50%, but it doesn't mean anything until the check clears. And in my experience, the check just doesn't come in the first place. The major labels--again in my experience only--at least ALWAYS pay you your mechanical royalties. Those are the 8 cents and change per song you get for each CD manufactured for having written the song(s)--assuming you wrote the song(s). Indie labels, again in my experience, have never paid me my mechanicals. There are very compelling reasons for recording artists to sign with major labels. Most have to do with an opportunity to tap into a large marketing/promotion budget. Plus, any debt you have to your label is absolved when you leave. In other words, you are not personally liable for the several hundred thousand to several million dollars they invest in you if you don't make it back for the label. Try finding a bank loan with those terms. In my opinion, you are much better off releasing your own CD than signing with an indie. Because they can say they give the artist 100%, but you'll grow old waiting for a check.
A word to the wise. Do NOT use PayPal to purchase music from this site. I just purchased (or so I thought) an album, paid with PayPal, and promptly found myself dumped on a Thank You screen without any download links. Nice. Not evil, just stupid.
Shut up and eat your vegetables!!!
I was being a little bit ironic. I hope you'll be more perceptive of this in the future.
Photos.
The funny (or brilliant?) thing about this model is that it really is a pretty close match to reality. How have most of us folks bought music before? Most likely we heard something interesting on the radio or TV, or from a friend. In nearly every case we "try" music before we buy it.
The key will be a good set of accumulated user reviews - much like Amazon. (There is a thought, could they hook into - or sell through - the Amazon review system?). Hints from other customers with similar taste would be a big help sorting out interesting music.
They (and a bunch of other indie labels) have been doing this for quite a while, so I don't see why this is such a big deal. Of course, nothing wrong with some variety.
and downloading music is not free, i pay verizon every month for my internet access. i pay a flat rate for internet access and water.
-- john
will be an open-source non-profit record label.
MP3 Albums - Free for download
CD Albums - Free + S&H
LP Albums - Free + S&H
Marketing is optional (opt-in)
Revenue stream will shift to merchandising
and live performace
just you watch
The music is Creative Commons licensed, which is the brainchild of the eminent Lawrence Lessig.
Oh, puh-leeze.
Note the word "original" -- let's see...
(Both definitions courtesy of The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition) Some interesting quotes from the Creative Commons FAQ include:
...and...
There goes the idea of it being an "original" concept of one person, eh? In fact, that same FAQ would seem to give originality credit to Richard Stallman, if anyone, given the statement: "Foremost among these [folks interested in promoting the sharing of creative works] is Richard Stallman, founder of The Free Software Foundation and author of the General Public License, or the GNU GPL."
I don't mean to discredit what Lessig and Creative Commons are doing. Indeed, I see a lot of value in the CC approach. But does "hero worship" advance anything other than egos and, for followers, an emotional sense of belonging to a community? No. It's vastly more important to understand the issues at hand, support all who agree with your ideals, and work toward changes wherever you see fit and where you can have some influence. Finding one or two leaders to follow, rewriting history, etc., will do more harm in the long run, and it will certainly impede progress in the short run.
No Laughing Allowed!
The one thing that I like about the internet, is that alot of sites allow feedback of some sort, a good example is Amazon. Someone else put their opinions up and it is categorized so it fits into a section that makes it easy to browse. I want a Sci-Fi book, I can find one and one that alot of people have given 5 stars so I am more inclined to give it a chance...
That being said, I would like to see these music sites with some sort of feedback so if I were to browse them I would not need to know who the "Brainy Teasers" are and what they sound like without be hearing them. I will use other people's opinions to give me some guidance on where to pay attention.
The fact is, I have a limited amount of time, and I really don't have the interest in listening to hundreds or thousands of songs to find something I like. Feedback gives me the ability to make some decisions upon someone else's opinions. Even something simple as, this is a great song or this song sucks, would be helpful to some degree as long as it is objective.
All they offer is a website to listen to the songs and then buy them. If I need that service, I'll use CD Baby, where I don't sign the rights to my music away. And boy do they have many artists already!.
Additionaly, CD Baby takes a flat amount of $4 (CDs) or 9% (iTunes music store), all without signing my rights away. I think I know which one I'm choosing :-)
I'd buy the music if they have anything good.
If you use Linux, please help development of Autopac
- Emma's Mini (rock)
Not the best I've ever heard but I will buy it for the price suggested. I really like how you can pay as little as $5 but you have the option to pay more. Makes you feel good about dropping an extra buck or two because you know where its going (half to the artist, half to a good record label).- ABA STRUCTURE (electronica)
OK, I'm biased (see site ref in sig), and I suppose this is a minor nit to pick, but their idea of "Open Music" is obviously with a limited sense of Open. If they took out the NonCommercial aspect of their CC license choice, then it would be fully Open.
No Laughing Allowed!
I am for one buying few alboms with Classical, World and New Age music.
By the way, where is my Jazz?
Less is more !
I have a 14 year old daughter, and she likes modern music. I came up with an objective rule which she understands for what modern music is allowed in our home. Music where the singers scream or the instruments scream (distortion) is not allowed. Shoutin', on the other hand, is fine (Black Gospel).
This still has some false positives (e.g. Jesus Christ Superstar), but works fairly well.
Then artists such as Squarepusher, Richard James(Aphex) would not have a popular following. Pantera would never have topped billboard charts with "Far beyond driven" and I wouldn't be typing this.
Music will almost always make you shake something, but it won't always be your ass, it may be your fist.
I think Magnatune's idea is a fine one, and I look foward to being able to preview their music. But right now I would have to violate US patent law to do it. I don't have a license for playing MP3s and I want to do so with my Free Software system but still be able to leverage the freedoms of Free Software. The MP3 decoders available to me (such as LAME) don't appear to be a legal option for US users without MP3 patent licenses (such as me).
It's an interesting conundrum:
So, Magnatune's offer is asking me to violate patent law to take advantage of Magnatune's generous copyright licensing. I asked Magnatune if they would consider Ogg Vorbis tracks for previewing (their plan page talks about "allow[ing] purchasers to download highest-quality VBRs as well as WAV files, and Ogg Vorbis files." with no word on Ogg Vorbis preview tracks).
Digital Citizen
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
music is noise that is not heard as noise, noise that transcends its sound and has meaning that escapes any use function.
I thought you were too poor to afford to buy any of your rightful entertainment that you're entitled to by simply existing. Asswipe. Look at this guy's comment history, a complete flamebaiter.
All I can say for them is, "Good luck getting any friggin publicity!"
They're sure going to need it, luck that is.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
hehe... no girlfreind? ur dumb for sure.. pls improve ur english the next time u post.
You start to wonder why a label like this is such a slashdottable thing. There are other non-evil records that have been around for years. Part of the problem is these labels can't get the same distribution as others. One label I'm a big fan of is bloodshot records (http://www.bloodshotrecords.com). While bloodshot is a niche fanbase, for its particular scene, they're much more realistic in their approach. And many slashdotters probably wouldn't like them, because they aren't big fans of p2p file downloaders. However they're decent about it. They do not respect the right of people to steal their music at will, but don't have anything inherently wrong with letting users preview songs, even allowing it on their website for certain songs. But they are serious about not being a charity case record label. They're still trying to make money. They can't just let people take their product for free. However unlike most of these "good" labels they actually have a couple artists who some people may have heard of. No one who's sold tons of albums, but an artist is doing really great in this business if they're simply selling over 50,000 copies of a cd, and some of them are probably over the 100,000 mark. Enough to make a living off it (after touring). But what makes this magnature unique? I guess i should read more on it.
Philip Garcia
I will not buy music before I've heard it. Bt where can I hear stuff outside the mainstream? Not on the radio (they won't play them), and not in the record store.
Maybe it is just where I live, but in Portland Oregon the locally owned record stores have no problem with you listening to new CDs before you buy them.
(In particular, I like Ozone, Everyday Music, Djangos and Timbuktunes.)
It has gotten to the point that the few times that I do go into a big chain record store I'm suprised that they won't let me listen to something before I buy it. But then that just encourages me more to put my money into the local economy.
Timbuktunes is one of my more recent finds. It is a tiny little shop that specializes in World Music but they have a good selection of New Musik. Whenever I go there I usually spend an hour or two chatting with the owner, listening to stuff, going off on tangents and often discovering lots of new stuff that I had never heard of before.
This signature used to contain a cute kitty virus with ansii art. Please set the slashdot editors on fire. Thank you
The best record companies are:
And basicly any other label that release anything but the old trite rock music. Rock is dead.
How small a thought it takes to fill a whole life
That's why I like Gothic/Industrial music.
No, that's not right. I like the music in and of itself. But anyway, here are a couple of excerpts from You Might Be A Goth If....
# You are happy when no one has ever heard of your favorite band
# When someone else "discovers" your favorite band, you find another favorite band
# You refer to others as "The Normals"
(Yes, it is elitest, but I at least have a sense of humor about it. The trick is to have humor about the elitism and not take it seriously.)
And I think it was in a different "list" that was something like, you might be in an industrial band if....
# No one wants to play lead guitar, and everyone is fighting over the neumatic drill.
(But personally, I think most of the Vampire stuff is silly. (But then I do like Buffy.) (But I resisted watching Buffy for years.))
This signature used to contain a cute kitty virus with ansii art. Please set the slashdot editors on fire. Thank you
Prince avoided the contract problem when he wanted to divorce his record label by fufilling the terms of the contact as soon as possible.
He was to produce 6 more records to complete the contract, and low and behold, in just a few months his next album was a 6-record opus.
So if don't mind putting out an album most people wont listen to (a final fcuk-off to the record label?) and have the talent to pump it out, it is certainly a not-so-easy option to get out of pre-existing contract.
Robo-Blogs of the world: UNITE!
I know a whole lot about classical music and Mozart's 5th (symphony or concerto; I'm not sure which one I should pretend you were thinking of since I'd prefer to imagine that you wouldn't be so blinkardly philistine as to confuse Mozart and Beethoven) is completely outside my radar.
Come to think of it I'm not a great fan of any of Mozart's symphonies; early on he tried too hard to be Haydn and then he tried to hard not to be Haydn. But his concerti are still to die for...
All's true that is mistrusted
Magnatune seems to be onto something... I would also suggest that people buy local. I've been going to a lot of small concerts being held in basements and living rooms lately. Totally Unknown bands. Usually these concerts cost $3 to $5 and there are 2 or 3 bands (a great deal). Now some of these bands totally suck - when that happens people just walk out into the backyard or the porch until a better band comes up. But some of these bands are very good and very different than the music that the RIAA is shoving down our throats - some of these bands are actually innovative. Most all of them offer their CDs for sale - usually for less than $5 (sometimes for only a buck!). It's great: I can spend lots less than I would on an RIAA artist concert and get their homegrown CD's for MUCH less - AND all of the money I spend on them is actually going to the artists. In most cases these local bands don't give a rip about ripping their CD's (some even have copylefted their music and encourage you to copy). So buy local - find bands in your area that are selling their own music. Sure, when someone asks you what you're listening to, they're not gonna recognize the band's name, but why listen to what everyone else is listening to?
Led Zeppelin is verging on the criminal.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
I checked out their classical music offering - what I heard was excellent! Good artists, good performances.
Does anyone know if they plan selling physical CDs? I am still of the old school, want to have the physical media with nice cover etc.
Sigged!
I wholly concur
You don't gotta have the classical sauce to come up with experimental music, cause for fucks sake, anytime I touch my guitar it's a fucking experiment.
That's why the books at the top of the bestseller lists are usually not at the top of anyone's "Good Books" list.
... less hot - but her music ... sucks less. Both are 'good' to the people who buy them. Just because I think thr Pogues or REM have more to say, and say it better, doesn't mean they are Good to Beyonces Bad.
Many croaky films make it to the top of peoples lists - Matrix, Blade, Bond... all of them mass market fodder and all of them loved by many people. Musically millions of people list Mike and the Mechanics or Elton John as favourites - again, mass market pap served up to the mass market - but people think they love it.
My sisters friends were always into crap like NKOTB I managed to corrupt a couple of them with John Lee Hooker and the Smiths. Good music. Blues retentives will list you a dozen artists who they think beat the 'mainstream' John Lee Hooker. Who gives a rats ass!
Beyonce is hot - but her music kinda sucks. Missy Elliot is
Entertainment is good - its not a dirty word. Sometimes you just feel like putting on Slade!!
It's still a traditionally, hierarchically organized corporation. It's better than most, and I'm quite interested in this, but I'd be interested in a democratic (read: anarchic) organization similar to Debian, but for musicians.
wow, uh, that was a pretty long 18-line emotional response. Thats trolling 101 for you!
/.
good day sir, Y.H.B.T.
PS: u have a bro or sis? ask em to read
Well, you're right, but your own examples prove the point that debating what's "good" and "not good" isn't worth the effort. They also clearly identify the demographic you're in.
Very few people are really qualified to know what "good" music is. No particular reason why we should have those skills, either. Life is full of things to do, and studying music is way down the list for most folks.
We all have opinions about what's good and bad, but, in the end, we all tend to equate "good music" with "music I like". It's an ego thing, too, for a lot of people -- makes 'em feel superior because they listen to music no one else has heard of...even if they really don't enjoy it.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
You differ from my view only in your insecurity about what's Good. I define Good as something that I think to be Good, or something someone else thinks to be Good. Some bands are just Shit, like the band I was in for 3 days when I was 14. We were Shit. No one liked us. Not even us. David Bowie is Good. Beyonce is Good. To expect some learned Prof to tell us what makes Good or Shit music is like expecting an equally learned Prof to tell us who has better Boobs - Beyonce or Halle Berry. Trivial! That my Good and your Good differ is only right and proper. My opinion is just as valid, even if I haven't listened to everything covered in NME this week.
OK, so now I am really confused - you are saying Bush is Good?
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
has some catchy songs produced in alternative-electropop-lounge-portishead-ish manner.
First 4 songs (what I've heard so far) anyway are radio worthy. You can continue living comfortably without checking them out, but if you want something specific to check out on the site:
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/emmas_mini
u shud learn some kung-foo. thats where i get my trolling powerss from. ke? oh, is it ok if i show this to my freinds? they dont know ne1 who likes being trolled.
www.naxos.com
I find it surpirising no one has mentioned Naxos, one of the best selling classical music labels in the world. An independent lable, they keep costs low by signing talented unknowns and selling in volume. Every CD Naxos owns is online, in it's entirety, for customers to listen to before purchasing. And most of their CD's are seven or eight dollars.
<troll>
But then again, most of you (emphasis on most) will never recognize that good music does not have to come from two guitarists, a drummer, and an untrained "vocalist".
</troll>
The problem with letting the "washed-ups" in on a label trying to promote "new talent", though, is it's not a level playing field. The has-beens had the advantage of millions of marketing dollars behind them in the past - so people, #1 already know who they are, and #2 tend to have preconceived notions that the artist's work is somehow "superior" to the stuff alongside it they haven't heard of.
If they pay to download the latest album from (just a random example) Billy Squier, and they decide "Oh wow, that kinda sucked. I was expecting more from the guy." They're likely to completely skip over the new artists without giving them a fair listen - thinking "If Billy Squier can't even put a good album on this web site, these other guys probably REALLY stink!"
The same note repeated at the same interval for a long period is too repetitive to be interesting or moving to anyone (minimalists excepted...); completely random notes played for random times using random sounds is too formless and unstructured to be interesting to most people (free jazz enthusiasts excepted...)
Most music, of any genre or style, has patterns at work, and is only partially predictable. The best music tends to involve patterns at many different levels, from the sounds used to individual note patterns and relationships to large-scale structure. We may not consciously be aware of these patterns, but they're usually there, and make the music richer and more satisfying as a result. (Bach, for example, was a master at using complex patterns in music, both from music theory and also numerology.)
This ought to link in rather neatly with the branch of maths called Chaos Theory, which studies the boundary between order and disorder, and looks at the way patterns can emerge. But apart from a few fractal music generators, which TMK haven't produced any promising music yet, I don't know of any work done in this area. Have I missed anything good?
Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.
when you think about it, how often do you see something on slashdot about a new linux kernal being out, or a patch to this or that. it is kind of the same. if you checked dischord's website off and on you would know, or they send promos to college/indie radio and zines well in adcance. they also run ads in indie music oriented magazines. also if you go to an indie music store they often have a chalkboard/whiteboard telling you upcoming releases for the next month or two or three. we did it when i worked at a record store. i still do a show at a college radio station and we generally get records/CD well in advance of them being on the street to promote them. also the people that talk to the labels know that a record is in the works months before it's out. that info makes it to the web now, you just have to read sites that focus on that kind of news.
yes, i realize Fugazi breaks all the rules in the sense of being unique in their hugeness, yet total control and integrity of their music and it's distribution. Their releases are sold in Tower, Sam Goody etc and if you shop there, i am sure they do not promote them like some dark little record store would. The same way you can walk into CompUSA and not miss a new version of windows being out but would never know that there is a new BSD download out. ya know? i have literally never used a windows machine for more than 3 minutes, but i probably know what the current OS version is.
i'm not trying to be a jerk, just making a point drawing parallels between music and technology.