Musicadium Blog

Check out Parker on or at MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/parkerlife

One of Brisbane’s up and coming alternative/indie-pop bands, Montpelier, has been innovating and giving away their releases for a while now, in exchange for e-mail addresses in order to help gain new fans. Previously known as The Quills, they are now Montpelier (named for Brisbane’s Montpelier Road) and their releases were engineered by Kevin Augunas (Cold War Kids, Yves Klein Blue).

They have just begun to distribute their music through Musicadium and both their first single, The Rafters and it’s B-Side, Fireworks as well as Take a Picture, will be available on iTunes soon.

As for their cover art, we love the retro pastel colours and psychadelic lines!  Kind of like being on a giant rainbow slippery-dip, heading towards Montpelier goodness.

Leave a comment here if you love it!

This week we have you-beaut electro/dance artists Friends of Mine’s cover art to admire. We love it here in the office. A play on words and a great visual! Very profesh, very cool.  Check out Friends of Mine at MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/friendsofmineonline. Can’t See Straight will be live on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon and Nokia very soon. Meanwhile, check out their sexy film clip at YouTube.

Felinedown’s live show is fantastic.  We know so, because they played at our last showcase and blew the roof of the venue with their electro-rock fronted by a gorgeous frontwoman and fantastic songs.

Now, we see that their artwork is wicked as well, and we go thinking…”Wow. These guys have got their shit TOGETHER.”

Even the name of this digital re-release is genius. FELINEDOWNLOAD. See what they did there?

Anyway, check them out on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/felinedown.  Their Digital release will be live soon on iTunes.

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

This week’s hottest album cover is for The Dead Loss EP, Little Scout’s debut release. Their mothers love it, the radio loves it, and you should too. Check them out at Myspace, lest their legs fall off and they’re banished to a remote island.

Let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment! Check them out on iTunes here: 

Let me ask you this; can you think of one famous female DJ? I put this to the test and asked my fellow co-workers to see if they could. Two out of Three said Bexta and she’s no longer on the club circuit. I’m talking about the big name DJ’s like Fatboy Slim, Diplo, (he’s big in my world, he produced M.I.A’s album, DJ’s and has a side project called Major Lazer with DJ/producer Switch. Can you tell I’m a fan?), John Digweed, Carl Cox etc. Not one colleague could come up with an answer – which highlights my point: the DJ world is dominated by men.

We all know it’s extremely hard for a DJ to break into the music industry. If they do, some people like to call it luck, dj-ing somewhere at the right time, having money, or even just knowing the right people. Have you ever considered how hard it is for a female DJ to break into the scene? As one myself, I’ve had the fortunate and often unfortunate experience behind me of trying to ‘crack’ the DJ side of the music industry. As a woman.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t call myself a raging feminist. I don’t use the fact that I’m a female DJ as an excuse, it actually drives me harder. I have been dj-ing for approximately 3 years now, starting in Sydney. I still haven’t completely broken into the scene but I’m getting there. For those that do know me, they know how hard I work to get where I am today. I play everywhere I can, I’ve been rejected, people and other DJ’s have shut me down, but I’m still booking gigs because it’s my passion.

A Case Study: I saw a bulletin on Myspace about 6 months ago and this one particular venue in Brisbane were asking for new DJ’s to get in touch with them. It basically said something along the lines of ‘If you’re a new DJ looking for a gig, then get in contact with us.’ So I sent them a message straight away saying that I was interested. I didn’t have a demo at the time, so I said I would send through a set list for the time being. I know the EXACT type of music played at this venue so I spent a lot of time on my set list. Eventually I sent it through and they were really impressed. They said they generally book about 5-6 weeks in advance. I said that was fine, I just wanted to play there. We corresponded for about 6 months and they still haven’t booked me in. I even sent them a link to my demo which they liked. Maybe I’m just being paranoid but I don’t know ANY female DJ’s that have played at this particular venue. Hopefully I’ll be the first.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. In an male-dominated arena, it’s been great to see so many other female DJ’s come out from practicing in their bedrooms to playing at venues in Brisbane. Not only has there been an explosion of local talent but also internationally; La Roux, Florence + the Machine, Ladyhawke, Santogold, M.I.A etc. If you read any of the biographies, I can guarantee that they have been playing/writing music for years. These talented women are practically forcing themselves out there for everyone to hear and the response has been astounding.

I’m constantly encouraging my DJ friends to play gigs and recommend them to other promoters that are suitable. Maybe one of those girls or even myself will be on the same level as Fatboy Slim and Diplo. One day. I have faith. It’s time for a change and that change has begun.

Some bands just get it right. Their songs, their look, their online presence, their cover art. One such band is Former Child Stars. Watch them. Learn from them. Check them out on MySpace, twitter and

Death and a Cure is a solo act from Perth Western Australia - WAMi award-winning (2005) Ben Blondel. Leave a comment here if you like Death and a Cure’s cover art for his self-titled release!

You can find Death and a Cure on Myspace at http://www.myspace.com/deathandacure!  The self-titled release will be live on iTunes, eMusic and AmazonMP3 very soon.

It’s a pretty common assumption in the entertainment industries that piracy is BAD- we’ve all sat through that ad before your DVD starts (Downloading. Pirated. Movies. Is. STEALING!). The introduction of the Internet has meant that anyone now can be a pirate; all it takes is a computer and a click of a button. In the music business in particular, it’s detrimental for artists, distributors, record labels and pretty much everyone involved. And of course, Big Music (namely the big 4 record companies) has taken a decidedly negative stance towards piracy.

Well, there’s going to be none of that negativity today. I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that piracy can actually have some positive outcomes for the music business. Gasp!

Now I’m not saying everyone should drop what they’re doing, stop buying CD’s (or downloading iTunes albums, whatever floats your boat) and head to The Pirate Bay to grab the latest music, movies or season of Desperate Housewives. After all, we are a digital distribution company…we want to ensure artists are actually rewarded for their art.

What I am saying though, is when you look beyond the crazed record company executive waving about figures of declining sales, there is actually some benefit to piracy in a culture like ours. Many may scoff at this, but bear with me, because to prove my point first we need to take a look at some piracy throughout history…

[You Want History?]

It’s fairly acceptable to think that music piracy came about with the introduction of the Internet. Suddenly technology made music available for everyone to download from the comfort of their own home. Then came the lawsuits. High profile cases like Napster and Metallica made headlines around the world. But music piracy is not such a recent crime: everyday people were pirates long before.

Sealand: The world's smallest country.

Let’s rewind back to 1960’s Britain. Long before any form of personal computer existed, the main way of broadcasting music was via radio. However, one particular organization had control of what reached the airwaves and eventually the public. Sound familiar? But the public wasn’t satisfied. In retaliation, pirate radio stations began popping up. We’ve all seen The Boat That Rocked. It’s actually based on fact. Radio Essex, a UK based pirate station, went as far as to inhabit an old navy sea-fort re-named ‘The Principality of Sealand’ in order to bypass UK laws on pirate broadcasting. It even had its own postage stamps.

Fast-forward a couple of decades: does anyone remember high-speed dubbing? While certainly not glamorous, it too was a form of piracy. I remember as a child sitting around all day listening to the radio poised by the cassette recorder, so I could record my favourite songs for keepsakes. Scary to think I could have had the lawsuits stacking up against me.

[Shot in the Back of the Head]

I could go on and on about examples of piracy in history (there’s plenty more). Despite the differences in medium, these so-called ‘pirates’ have all had something in common: they were filling a need that mainstream society could not (or would not) provide. The same thing goes for piracy today. People are illegally downloading music because Big Music hasn’t adapted to consumer’s needs and wants. The public is no longer accepting of the current business models forced upon them by the Big 4 record companies. Piracy in this instance is exactly the same as those in the past: a sign that things need to start changing around here. I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t want to give my cash to companies that make their revenue from suing everyday people. It’s really no wonder so many people are turning to piracy; surely this cannot be a successful business model.

In this panic about piracy, the dominant voices always seem to be those of ‘Big Music’ companies. But what about the musicians themselves? Surely they too are affected. I’ve known of some entrepreneurial artists actually ‘leak’ their music onto the torrents themselves, in order to gain buzz. Can piracy be used as free publicity? Of course we’ve all heard of what Radiohead did in 2007 for their In Rainbows LP. It made headlines all around the world. More recently, I read an article that interviewed Moby about his up and coming album. He was greatly amused that the lead single ‘Shot in the Back of the Head’, which he released as a free download, was also his highest selling on iTunes. Maybe when artists take matters into their own hands, people are more willing to take the legal high road. I for one would definitely be more willing to pay for a record that I knew would go back to the artist instead of a money-hungry CEO.

Of course leaking albums to the net has negative aspects as well. As soon as an album hits cyberspace, the artist completely loses control. Earlier this year Grizzly Bear’s latest album Veckatimest leaked before its official release, but in sound quality that can only be described as terrible. Obviously in this instance it wasn’t leaked on purpose, but the band had to ramp up marketing measures for higher-quality alternatives to ensure years of hard work making an excellent album weren’t in vain.

[Changing Times, Changing Tunes]

Remember this campaign?

With the announcement recently that in Australia JB Hi-Fi will no longer be selling CD singles, no one can deny that the digital revolution is well and truly in full swing. More people than ever (particularly for single tracks) are downloading- whether it be illegally or through legal means like iTunes. Despite Big Music’s best efforts, piracy is still a major contention between industry big wigs, musicians themselves and the greater listening public. I’m not so naive to say that there is one simple solution to the problem of music piracy. But it will continue to be an issue until people start changing their tune. It is up to Big Music to begin acting, instead of simply reacting, to these changes in the industry.

I must stress again that I’m not actually encouraging piracy. I still believe it can be detrimental to artists. But when most of the money from bought music goes to big record companies anyway, my sympathy levels start dropping dramatically. It would be impossible to get every side of this argument in a blog of this size, but there’s a whole lot of literature out there that inspired this post and is great further reading. I encourage everyone to go and download ‘The Pirate’s Dilemma’ by Matt Mason, it’s a great read. And like Radiohead, you can choose how much to pay for it. Fitting, really.

What do you think? For the musicians out there, do you think piracy is the devil-spawn? Or is there some credit to this argument?