Musicadium Blog

I may be a complete idealist when it comes to music but I’m still in love with the idea that everyday people can pick up basic instruments and make sense of our world. Although, I am beginning to think that I am in the minority. I’ve heard this theory that there are two kinds of people in the world. There are lyric people and music people. The lyric people tend to be analytical, all about the meaning of the song. They’re the ones you see with the CD insert out 5 minutes after buying it, poring over the lyrics, interpreting the hell out of everything. Then there are the music people. They are the people who could care less for the lyrics or the meaning behind the song as long as it’s just got a good beat and you can dance to it.

There is probably no better example of ‘music people’ then the thousands of people you can’t avoid at festivals all over the summer every year. The kind of people who have no idea who is playing but are there anyway, rain, hail or shine. They are there, usually shirtless or wearing as little as possible.

It’s clear that music festivals are fast becoming less about the music and more about people trying to look good and fulfill their constant need to get ‘loose’, with a combination of too many drugs, too much alcohol and way too much fake tan. Their general shitness crosses all boundaries of musical tastes, so whether your festival calendar involves Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass or Parklife they will be there showing off their sweaty Southern Cross tattoos, right along side the scantily dressed girls who are too busy taking photos for their Myspace and Facebook pages to go see any of the artists appearing on the stellar line ups. That is if you can even get your hands on a ticket in the first place.

It seems that these days to get away from that kind of festival culture you have to take a 19 hour long drive down to Melbourne for Falls Festival or discover a new festival in its first or second year of life, although it is definitely a welcome relief from what music festivals are evolving into. Maybe one day they will look back and realise what the rest of us already know. For now, I still battle the fake-tanned bogan crowds because I love music, safe in the knowledge that others feel my pain. ‘Lyric’ people still exist – you just have to fight through the bogans to find them.

(Pssst, I know we are a few weeks late on blogging this, but they are great and worth sharing! Kisschasy are Musicadium artists…)

I thought I’d introduce myself a little bit more and also explain what I do as a promoter at my local music venue in Birmingham. I’ve been working for a club, Un-Plug, for a good while now, regularly putting on popular upcoming and well known deejays from across the country. The club is situated 2 minutes from the heart of Birmingham city centre in Digbeth, an area thriving in music, arts and culture. You can read more about this here.

After joining the team at Musicadium, I immediately began thinking of ways in which I could incorporate Musicadium’s services with Un-Plug. Having just launched a new event dedicated to unsigned bands called Un-Plug Live, I then set about mapping out ideas which would benefit both the venue and Musicadium.

My Idea

I then devised a ticketing system in which bands whom play at Un-Plug, are posted a bundle of tickets in advance of their show. The policy goes like this. All tickets for Un-Plug Live will be split up, with a certain amount sold at advance, and a certain amount on the door. For every ticket sold in advance, bands will retain a set share of this. For every 15 tickets sold, bands automatically gain a distribution deal with Musicadium, funded by the team at Un-Plug. This idea offers bands opportunites to earn money through ticket sales they make, an experience of promotion and also the chance of gaining a worldwide distribution deal with Musicadium. Definitely a big look!

What’s next?

I have a massive list of bookings I’ll be making over the next few weeks specifically for Un-Plug Live. I’ll be designing fresh flyers/posters with all the info regarding the Un-Plug Live/Musicadium partnership, necessary in dishing out to everyone and everywhere possible. As soon as these are done I’ll get digital copies online in my next post to show you guys. I’ll be launching Un-Plug Live at the end of October, having mid-week gigs running fortnightly.

What follows?

The Musicadium podcast, featuring UK artists whom have registered and signed a distribution deal. I don’t wish to give too much away on this idea, so hold tight for my next post.

Nice one!

James

jamesb@musicadium.com

Artist Liaison and UK Correspondent

Musicadium

The record industry is dying, according to…well, pretty much everyone.

The music industry, however, is most definitely not. If anything, the easy availability of music to the consumer has opened up the industry which was previously so dominated by the large (viewed by most as evil and tasteless) record companies who were filling the market with formulaic pop. Now, we as consumers have choices and our particular breed of music, whatever that may be, is much easier to access.

But yes- quite often this is accessed by illegal downloading.

While the record companies responded to this threat by suing everyone who dares to download- from high school students to families- research has shown that even with the threat of prosecution, the general public still don’t view music downloading as being ethically wrong. Aren’t we all such little rebels?

The industry is only now starting to come around to the fact online downloading is not going to disappear and are looking into new and inventive ways of capturing a audience and their cash. But how exactly do you go about getting people to willingly pay for something they can often get for free?

There have been many academic research papers looking into viable ways to encourage consumers to pay for their music. I have come up with 4 factors that determine a consumer’s willingness to pay for music legally. Take a gander at my lovely diagram below.

The first point I’d like to make is that the appeal of extra benefits offered with a legal purchase will increase a consumer’s willingness to pay. If bands offer a free extra, say, a free T-shirt with legal purchase of their CD, or legal download, this will increase the appeal of the legal purchase against the free option of an illegal download.

Take, for example, Radiohead’s offer of a limited edition “discbox” including a second disc from the recording sessions, vinyl and CD editions of the album and a hardcover book of artwork when consumers chose to pay over a certain amount to legally download “In Rainbows”. When I purchased tickets to see Daft Punk at the Riverstage in Brisbane, my tickets arrived with a lovely CD. More recently, if you pre-ordered Paul Dempsey’s album “Everything Is True” from iTunes you received an exclusive video of personal footage of Paul finishing the album. To put it simply, people love free stuff and are more willing to pay if they think they’re getting a bargain.

Point no. 2 on the pretty diagram: The higher the consumer considers themselves to be involved in music, the higher their willingness to purchase music products legally would be. This means if, for instance, you’re a musician, you have an understanding of the position of an artist and would not want to be depriving another of their livelihood. Nor do you want poor sound quality downloads if you are a massive fan of a band. Most music fans buy the music of their favourites as well as tickets and associated merchandise because the music forms part of their identity. Your identity is not something to take lightly, or cheaply.

The third, and perhaps most obvious point, is a consumer’s expendable income. If a music lover does not have a bank balance as great as their appetite for music, they are naturally going to lean towards the option of feeding this hunger for free and using their real money to buy 2-minute noodles. Research has shown that those on lower incomes are more likely to pirate rather than purchase to sample new music, but are more likely to purchase favourite songs legally, linking back to my previous point of a persons involvement with music.

Satisfaction with a sampled product is when a consumer trials an unknown artist/song by downloading it for free- be it legally or illegally. Depending on the level of satisfaction with the free, sampled music, this person will be more willing to pay for a related music product legally.

For instance, if you had a band recommended to you by a friend and then went and acquired the music by pirating an album. Through consuming and enjoying the music, you became a fan of the band, and you’d be more likely to pay to see them play if they came to your town and possibly buy their album at the show. If you had not sampled this music, you probably would not have paid for their album in the first place based purely on your friend’s recommendation.

One thing is for sure, there’s no going back. The industry must continue to move forward and embrace new business models, new ways of thinking, new ideas. It is by no means the end, but the beginning of a new kind of music industry where the consumer can help shape the change.

By Julia ‘Ju-ju Bean’ Bridger

The annual Big Sound music conference, to be held September 9-11 in Brisbane’s live music and entertainment precinct will see the unveiling of new research conducted by Griffith University lecturer Dr. David Carter, in collaboration with Digital Music Aggregator Musicadium, relating to the sales and marketing of recorded music online.

In a marketplace where digital sales are on the increase and physical CD sales are decreasing, the purpose of the research was to examine the relationship between the use of online promotional tools available to artists and revenues generated through online sales.

Australia’s premier digital distributor/aggregator, Musicadium, have been at the forefront of Digital Innovation since their inception in 2007 and are currently expanding their operations to include promotion and industry connection services to artists.

Now working with over 1000 artists and distributing their music to online outlets such as iTunes, eMusic and AmazonMP3, Musicadium was perfectly positioned to partner with Dr. Carter on this exciting research.

Musicadium hopes that the research provides artists and industry a better understanding of how to use the online space most effectively to promote and profit from their work.

The findings of the report will be revealed in a panel discussion on Thursday the 10th of September at 10:30 in Brisbane’s Judith Wright Centre to the sold out, 300-strong audience of delegates and the full report made available to delegates on the day via Musicadium’s website.

Download your copy of the report here

Musicadium artist Finabah has been announced as a finalist in the New Artists 2 Radio initiative, which offers aspiring and independent artists both support and an opportunity to have their music played on commercial radio.

The boys will be participating in an exclusive workshop with other finalists and industry professionals on September 25th in Sydney, where the winners will also be officially announced.

Earlier this week, the band scored the final spot on the Sounds of Spring lineup, a major festival sporting acts such as The Living End, Josh Pyke and The Butterfly Effect.

Their latest release Sugarcoat is available on  now, with a special all-ages launch of the limited edition physical CD to be held on September 19 at The Hive.

Check them out at their MySpace now!

Pressplay Media Wants You!

Pressplay Media provide a music licensing service on behalf of our Registered Music Owners for various uses of copyrights, including: a one stop sync and master clearance of music for synchronization into Film, Television, Commercials & Games AND the reproduction of sound recordings by suppliers of music services into hospitality and retail industries.

Press Play’s aim is to break down complex clearance structures by simplifying the process and to support synchronization of independent music.

Breaking News > Pressplay Media is now the Preferred Supplier of Independent Recorded Music for Synchronization to Edge Music, the music arm of Cutting Edge.

Edge Music is run by well known Australian Composer and all-round nice guy, Brian Beamish.

The timing couldn’t be better. The same week Edge Music was set up, Pressplay Media approached Cutting Edge with an offer. After demonstrating to Brian how the business model works…all the effort and enthusiasm behind sourcing licenses for the music, the sheer quality of the music and the development of the user friendly database for searching song information…his comment was “it’s an impressive thing that you’re [Press Play Media] doing”.

Cutting Edge is one of Australia’s largest full service post production companies, with facilities in Brisbane, two facilities in Sydney and another in Darwin. Credits unclude but not limited to:

Peter Pan, Feature film; Produced by Universal, Sony, Revolution

Inspector Gadget II, Feature film; Produced by Disney Features

George of the Jungle 2; Feature Film, Produced by Disney Features

The Great Raid; Feature film, Miramax

Scooby Doo, Feature Film; Produced by Warner Brothers

Blurred, Feature Film; Produced by Pictures in Paradise

Lost World, TV Series, Seasons 1,2 and 3; Produced by Coote/Hayes

Beastmaster, TV Series, Seasons 1,2 and 3; Produced by Coote/Hayes

Big Brother, Reality TV Series, Seasons 1, 2 and 3 for Southern Star Endemol & Network 10

Cutting Edge recently facilitated the post-production of the Baz Luhrmann film AUSTRALIA with a mobile edit suite that toured with the production and completed at Fox Studio facilities.

So now PRESS PLAY needs to fill their database up with GOOD AUSSIE TALENT. If you are keen to jump on board please go to their web site www.pressplay.com.au and Register as a MUSIC OWNER!

The Musicadium team would like to congratulate our wonderful artists who have been nominated in the 2009 QMusic/Courier Mail QSong Awards.

We would like to congratulate (as well as all the other fantastic nominees, but these guys especially!!):

Timothy Carroll (Folk Ballad/Alternative/People’s Choice Award)

Max Judo (Indigenous)

James Grehan (Blues and Roots/Rock)

The View from Madeleine’s Couch (World Music)

Ange Takats (Encouragement Award)

Amy Cushway (Encouragement Award)

Musicadium Artist Steve Grady played at the Apple Store at Robina Shopping Centre Saturday 20th June and Photographer Beck Cains was there again. She got some great shots of Steve.

Steve’s Bio:

There ‘aint much to do in Redcliffe. (Unless you are retired). You can walk your poodle safely past the Kipparing shops, visit the jetty, catch puffer-fish off the ol’ bridge…did I mention the jetty? The slow-paced lifestyle of the bay-area north of Brisbane may explain why local artist Steve Grady is such a prolific songwriter and producer. So much so, Steve “heart on your sleeve” Grady wrote, produced and recorded the majority of his debut album, Hotel Chelsea, on his own. Recently released at a sold-out launch Hotel Chelsea has received favourable reviews.

Check out Steve’s Album Hotel Chelsea on

On a reasonably similar note to one of the last blogs I wrote about bands changing their appearance/style/genre, I had this thought a little while ago!

Music fans can be so fickle - what is the secret to keeping your fans onside, no matter what directions you take your band/music in? Is it ever possible?

To explain, think of all the times you have ever said, “I liked them (Band X) before they got big” or “I love their old stuff, then they changed - they used to be all about the music, man.”

And then think about the amount of times you have said, “I loved Album X from Band X, but EVERY album since has been a re-hash of that first one! UGH!”

It seems that bands are damned if they change/mature over time and perhaps gain many new followers as a result of the changes made and damned if they keep on doing the same thing that got them fans in the first place.  It’s “selling out” to change and it’s “boring” to stay the same.

WHERE’S THE HAPPY MEDIUM?

I guess, as a band, you have to be willing to accept that as your band changes or ages, so will your fan base and their tastes.  As a conscious decision to bring on new influences/instruments/sounds into the mix into your band, I guess the thought that some may not like it has to be in the back of your mind.  You might even weigh up whether you think you will win over more than you will lose!

I guess one band that comes to mind who have managed changes in their band well is Eskimo Joe.  They have come lightyears since their Sweater days.  They won over fans in 1998 with their Sweater EP, with the song getting extensive play on Triple J and reaching #33 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of that year and a year later with their self-titled EP, of which 2 of the tracks made the Hottest 100 of 1999.  Already, they were having some success!  Their first album, Girl, was well received and reached #29 on the ARIA charts.  While featuring great tracks, it was not until A Song is a City was released that people on a wider scale began to sit up and take notice - the singles were played by commercial radio stations and youth broadcaster, Triple J alike.

Their most successful (commerically) to date, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, (at least in the opinion of just about everyone I have spoken to and in my humble opinion, though I like individual tracks) attracted a little negative attention in that it “took itself a little too seriously.”  While it gained them a lot more fans and more airplay and more everything, there were the fans who had loved everything to date, not really liking the direction they had gone.  They hadn’t strayed far, though, so the fallout wasn’t drastic - those fans didn’t become haters.

From first, cursory listens to their new material from their new album, Inshalla, I think that they have grown into a great band - taking on new influences and returning to a little more rock in their music, which is okay by me!

I think it is all about decisions that you are comfortable with as a band and what your goals are.  If your goal is to have longevity in your career in the music industry, then drastic, money-grabbing, obviously economically-driven decisions are always going to end in cries of “SELL OUT!” rather than having the desired effect of creating life-long fans.

But hey, I could be wrong about all this.

Look at AC/DC.  They pretty much put out the same album 16 times, with different track names and slightly changed chord structures.  I’m exaggerating, but what I am saying is that they have never varied wildly from the same formula that sold them from the beginning and are still gaining fans.  Surely they are the exception to the rule though?  There are not many bands and certainly not bands from this new era of music-making who can get away with this approach?