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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."
This would be more exciting if anyone at all cared about the grammys.
I'd rather be lucky than good.
Does that mean that Grammy is rewarding talented artists too?
It'll be interesting if a pop singer pulls a similar stunt for his/her next album, and we'll have a real comparison, and see how (un)important a publisher is in terms of marketing and sales.
Is publisher still an important factor?
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Wake up call....
Dear RIAA,
PWNED,
Toddy boy
#hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
See how it works RIAA? people release albums to be LISTENED to, not to be controlled... and when they do they SUCCEED.
I've downloaded most of Maria's album, and am looking for the final pieces. This is how distribution can and SHOULD work
This can't be right. The RIAA told me in my latest session, where I get hooked up to this machine.... with electrodes and stuff.... it shocks me :( ... that only mass-marketed artists are successes, and that the internet gives you herpes.
Come on, when a dead guy nearly sweeps the awards (regardless of the fact that Ray was talented), truly this an industry running out of options.
How will the RIAA remove her from the public eye? Or will they just make her an offer she can't refuse and bring her to the dark side?
As a musician, I hope her win is a precedent that will be emulated over and over.
i didnt think the grammy's were about commercial exposure or success, but rather about the quality of music...(checks online) wait, maroon 5 won a grammy? well, fuck that, i was wrong.
Still, a good sign.
-Rob
Marriage doesn't have to suck!
she will probably have to sell the award on ebay to compensate her webhost for the server that just went down in flames.
What's really interesting is that the album was made with no involvement of a record company at all.
Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.
Every time a post like this is made, an RIAA lawyer gets his wings.
Look, the RIAA doesn't "control" anything. They do the bidding of the big record labels, and take all the heat from people like you so Sony Music and the other actual villains in this story don't have to.
The last decision which the RIAA made was the standardized design of that little preamp that goes into the "phono" input of most stereos prior to 1998 or so.
All they do now is serve as a mouthpiece (and lightning rod) for the record labels in their efforts to lock down their IP. Ranting about how eeeeevil the RIAA is simply plays right into the hands of the labels behind it all.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
For someone that is coming from the bottom up, i can say that time is the key. Without millions of dollars to spend on promotion, independant artists have to find a different way to communicate with the masses.
.02
Internet is their greatest tool, so with a bit of time and dedication you can reach millions of people from the comforts of your own home.
I don't think it's about the music industry now, it's about the new uprising of artists taking a step on freely distributed music. The RIAA has their game, but we have ours too.
Instead of changing them, lets just use our own method.
that's my
- pronobozo
------
insert sig here,here, and here
How many of you are going to support her by buying her album?
If you truly want music to be free (as in speech), put your money where your mouth is for once. The success of such artists depends on the financial backing of people who claim to support independent music.
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
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.
in AD 2005, war was beginning.
RIAA chairman: "what happen"
RIAA flunky: "somebody set us up the bomb!"
RIAA flunky: "we get signal!"
RIAA chairman: "what?"
RIAA flunky: "main screen turn on!"
RIAA chairman: "it's you!
schneider: "how are you gentlemen. all your sales are belong to us. you are on the way to obsolescence."
RIAA chairman: "what you say!"
maria schneider: "you have no chance to survive. make your time."
ed
My first thought was: "I wonder how many people who are normally fine with pirating music because they're sticking it to a record company..." (as if the artist isn't a piece of that picture) ..."will, out of inertia, just go ahead and run off with an unpaid-for copy of this woman's work, too." And then I realized that most Jazz fans are a little more cerebral, and have a lot more respect for the artists themselves, and typically would either go see a show, or actually pay for a recording. If her work isn't immediately torrented everywhere, that won't really indicate a sea change in this picture. Stay in the musical neighborhood, but see how it goes with, say, a new Norah Jones collection. Or, just prove that all of the "I only do it because of the RIAA" types are hypocrites by seeing if, just to make the point, Metallica or The Blackeyed Peas would do it. Their work would be immediately ripped off, and we'd have some tangible hypocrisy to point to. And this endless conversation would finally come down to: "I, um, really just don't want to pay for music, actually, you got me."
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
This is precisely the way in which this "revolution" should happen. This artist has choosen to distribute her music only over the internet. Because of her choice many people are able to enjoy her music that might not otherwise. She also has cut out the RIAA member middlemen. We need more artists that are willing to do this.
Her choice, though, is the key issue here. An artist that does not make a similar choice should not have thier right to make that choice usurped by a bunch of thieves with bittorrent clients.
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 --