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Web-Only Album Wins Grammy
blamanj writes "Jazz artist Maria Schneider won a Grammy last night for her album 'Concert in the Garden.' What makes this unusual, according to CNET, is that she might be the first artist ever to win a Grammy for an album distributed solely on the Web. None of the sales were in record stores, and the album was financed through Artist Share."
Still, a good sign.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
"More to the point, look at the manufactured crap the record companies are spitting out - Maroon 5, retreaded Green Day and a dead Ray Charles."
For what it's worth, Maroon 5 got their start posting their stuff to MP3.com. However, I agree that they're pretty mediocre.
Sitting in my day care, the art is decopainted.
Ah, but the significance is that the Grammys are based strictly on sales. Whoever sells the most albums gets a Grammy, period.
Not according to their web site, where it basically states the the awards are based on a multi-tiered voting process.
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
The artist has no label. The album was self-financed, and she managed to recoup her expenses with web sales.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
The article says she made 10,000 copies and pre-sold 9,000. The album cost her $87,000 to make. She'd need to be selling them for at least $12 a pop to be getting much of anything back. That's assuming the $87k includes her production cost for the 10,000 CDs. In a small run, the packaging costs could easily run $2-3 per CD.
Her site has gone down in flames (no coral cache available), so I can't check how much she was charging. Granted, a jazz artist with her tallent is likely doing a fair amount of live performances, so the album's not her only source of income, but still . . .
She was mentioned in a 3-part piece on NPR's Morning Edition titled "Paying for Music in the Internet Age".
She's interviewed in part 1 of the series which was aired on the 15th of September [clip length: 5' 42"]. Odd, though, that clip one is the middle link among the three.
I'm a jazz sax player, and have been a big fan of Maria Schneider for several years. She has been creating some of the most sophisticated and musically interesting big band music around since her first album in 1995 (Evanescence, which was also nominated for two Grammys). She has 3 or 4 other albums, and most have received Grammy nominations. She has been regularly winning Down Beat reader & critics polls since 1994. Schneider is the heir apparent to her mentor, the late Gil Evans, who's music includes the famous Miles Davis collaborations Birth of the Cool, Porgy & Bess and Sketches of Spain. Her music is very accessible, though she's explores complex meters, harmonies, textures, and timbres. Her pieces tell a story, and often make reference to visual images. I bought her latest album over the web a few months ago. It was something like $9.99 for 128kbps, $14.99 for 320kbps. It's an excellent album, but I still think that Evanesence is her best effort so far. By all means check out her band live if you ever have the opportunity. She always has some of the best jazz musicians in NYC in her group. Evanescence (amazon.com) Concert in the Garden review (allaboutjazz.com) And, she's a babe! -Hot Wasabi over & out
-- Hot Wasabi over & out --