Silber Blog

I spent a chunk of the day trying to figure out (& actually figuring out) how to get the header at Silber embedded throughout the site (thanks to Christopher Maples for his help on this).  It seems I need to switch all the files around from HTML to SHTML for their file names for the embedding to work.  So now I know why I see SHTML at the end of a file that clearly has no reason to be.  Which seems like not that big of a deal on the one hand as it does solve the problem of the one swoop updating of the header, but here’s the dilemma of it – what about all the links to the Silber site from all over the internet for the past ten years? Do I make forwarding pages for every page on the site? How will things like that effect my stats on Google?  Will the ten year old WISYWIG I use (Netscape Composer) be able to open or save an SHTML file?  I don’t know.  Definitely some stuff I need to put thought on before ramming through the whole site.  But I did check the test file & it seems to be working on Internet Explorer & Firefox exactly the same way the old one did.  I need to prioritize a bit.  I have the art show & the new QRD that clearly take seats before revamping the headers.

There’s a new post up over at Nostalgia Equals Distortion about Requiem for a Dream.

There was an email conversation sparked by some of the stuff that was talked about when I was a guest on the What It Is radio show. I thought some of you might find it interesting.  It is mainly about fan funding:

—–Original Message—–
From: “jason perrone”
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 10:53am
Subject: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

I have an idea I have been kicking around, but don’t really have the technical knowledge to bring the idea to fruition. In your conversation you talked about artists soliciting contributions on the web and a scheme where artists could request $2500 minimum contributions through a third party. if I heard the feedback correctly neither of these ideas were viewed favorably nor did they generate much success.

I propose a reversal of this idea. Speaking for myself here, I am willing and in fact feel outright compelled to give monetarily to the artists whose music has impacted my daily life. I know many people who feel as I do. we have money and want to see it get to the artists…not the record labels. I suggest reviving Patronage and facilitating it through a non-profit web site.

As I envision it, any and all artists could create profiles and patrons of the music world could log on, select an artist and with a click of the mouse directly deposit money into an account accessible to the artists themselves. again this is an idea not meant for profit, it would simply be a means for listeners to directly make tributes to the artists of their choice.

this idea would eliminate the impression that artists are “begging” or “soliciting” money. it would give listeners a sense of directly supporting music. music has value and I am willing to pay for a quality product, but I am unwilling to support record labels.

I suggest a web site with a name like “musicpatrons.org” or something to that effect. the mechanism by which this could be achieved is fairly simple I would think although I don’t know how to create the virtual infrastructure to make it happen.

I would gladly participate in this system’s inception and ongoing success in directly supporting artists who make my days go by so well.

sincerely,
jason perrone

—–Original Message—–
From: Brian
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 3:59 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

You know, I remember around 2001 when everything was going down with Napster/MP3.com that someone had created a site like this where people could pay directly to artists when they had acquired music in ways where the artists didn’t obtain royalties (e.g. downloads, used discs, dubbed cassettes, promotional copies). I was just Googling around for it & couldn’t find any info, so I’m guessing it never took off? I think this would be a great & valuable service, but (& here’s the big but) how do you get enough of the artists people want to donate to on the site? Or do you do something like SoundExchange where the money is just kept in an account until someone claims it? But still it is a great idea. I know I feel like I’d be willing to pay an extra dollar for the ten discs I listen to the most times in any given year.

hrt
Brian John Mitchell

—–Original Message—–
From: Fred Mills
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 4:38 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

I seem to remember the same thing Brian mentions, and also that the donation site didn’t work out, ultimately. Should add that SoundExchange continues to be mired in controversy – that’s strictly a royalty-distribution organization, however, and would not be pertinent to the scenario that Jason envisions (SE’s detractors have made some pretty strong and persistent allegations about how hard SE actually works to track down artists and pay them what they are owed, and SE tends to get very defensive and start stonewalling when this stuff comes up too).

From what I’ve learned about Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, BandCamp and other patronage-themed sites is that one of the lessons learned in the past from the so-called “tipjar” model of raising funds for artists is that while in theory it is a fantastic concept – fans giving directly to artists, no strings attached, bypassing the gatekeepers – in practice it tends not to generate much in the way of a substantial yield.

Hence the patronage model, which builds on that fans-want-to-help mentality but attaches an actual “goal” or physical artifact to the process – say, you get a signed CD, or a meet-and-greet, or even the more intangible but still genuine satisfaction of knowing that your money helped get them across the country on their tour. You get the idea. It’s the same thinking that goes into folks holding benefit events rather than simply soliciting directly for a cause: time has proven that folks are more likely to give when there’s an additional sense of involvement (such as attending the benefit event). This even holds true with solicitations synched with telethons – all those texted donations for Haitian relief would probably have been far fewer if the Red Cross and others had relied strictly on direct appeals versus the celebrity broadcast.

Fred Mills
Editor & Online Editor
Blurt Magazine/Blurt-online.com (ex-Harp)
www.blurt-online.com

—–Original Message—–
From: Brian
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 4:50 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

You know, I’m torn to mention my personal experience, because clearly it could just be my experience & not indicative of things. But on the “tip jar model” I have been doing free EPs (usually a live EP or remix EP or B-sides EP) associated with most full albums as well as some free compilations for download for years. I never bothered to have the tip jar thing because I thought it seemed a little silly, but a year ago one of my interns was really pushing that I should just have it there as an option. So over that year there have been several thousand downloads & $30 in donations. Lucky thing I have unlimited bandwidth in my webhosting….

hrt
Brian John Mitchell

—–Original Message—–
From: Fred Mills
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 5:01 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

That’s pretty interesting. And for all the publicity that Radiohead and, say, Trent Reznor got about X amount they amassed with the pay-what-you-like angle, what Brian notes may suggest that those huge artists who probably need the cash the least are actually the most likely to reap the benefits from such a strategy. For lesser known artists, it’s possible their experience has been similar to Brian’s.

Maybe, then, one reason Kickstarter and their ilk have had so many success stories is because the patronage angle brings in the psychological investment of the fans in helping get a project off the ground and seeing it to completion. In other words, without their contributions, the album actually might not get made at all.

With that in mind, Giant Sand is releasing an online-only album tomorrow and Howe told me that he’s going to do the pay-what-you-want thing. I’ll have to follow up with him and see how he fares. He’s already given me a copy, but I plan to donate anyway because Howe definitely deserves it and I know how hard he works simply to support his family. Even at his middle-status level of fame, he’s still getting by on blue collar wages.

Fred Mills
Editor & Online Editor
Blurt Magazine/Blurt-online.com (ex-Harp)
www.blurt-online.com

—–Original Message—–
From: Brian
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 5:52 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

I’ve known a few folks that have gotten Kickstarter to work & it has generally run something like this:
Send out an email to entire email address book about seeking $2500
Get about $50 from fans
Get around $1000 from family members
Put the rest on your own credit card to not “lose” the $1000
You might just be better off going to Aunt Betty & getting the $1000 & scaling back the project. But I’m sure that there are some legitimate stories of them, just not from folks I know.

I think the thing with folks like Nine Inch Nails & Radiohead are when people pay for the “new” album; they are really paying for the enjoyment of the back catalog & getting the new album for free. I have yet to hear of a band “making it” from scratch in the pay what you feel model. But I do wish us all luck on it.

hrt
Brian John Mitchell
www.silbermedia.com

—–Original Message—–
From: Fred Mills
Sent: Wednesday, November 24, 2010 7:55 PM
Subject: RE: follow up to “promotion conversation 11-24-10″

Wow, good point(s) man. That is sobering. I think a lot of artists are stuck – we all know that indie labels, aside from the long-established ones (which are really the equivalent of, say, the major labels of the ’60s and early ’70s prior to the FM radio explosion in terms of financial outlay to new artists), don’t even offer advances. It’s strictly distribution deals. Hell, everyone I know on quote-unquote “indie labels” still has to hire their own indie p.r. firms to work their records – bands literally pay a 3rd party for that 3rd party to give them my address. Think about it: our magazine’s address is pretty available, and for free.

What Brian notes also underscores (a) how much in transition things are now; and (b) the fact that an album is, nowadays, just another branding banner an artist hangs out, and not a reliable source of income. It almost puts to the test, should you even bother? Well, yeah, because it’s a catch-22: you’ll go broke releasing a record, and still have to wait tables just to recoup, but unless you have some physical artifact to show, nobody will take you seriously as an “artist” and you’ll have to wait tables just to survive. This is criminal, and I don’t know how we got to this sorry state of affairs.

In our latest issue we had a feature on music patronage, generally positive but cautionary. To wit: these two quotes are additionally sobering as they add some sidelights to Brian’s comments. The first is aesthetic, the second, more logistical.

——————–

Indie rock veteran Eric Bachmann, who successfully funded his latest Crooked Fingers EP, #Reservoir Songs II#, through Kickstarter, has concerns, though, about the lack of social identity in the action of online pledge drives. “We have to be careful,” he warns. “It’s great that we can reach all these people and fans from our laptops to ask them for money, but if that’s the only way we interact then we are giving something up in terms of community: everyone in their little pods writing little notes to one another while never getting past a certain layer of communication.”

“We’ve always been into Fugazi-style pricing, whenever possible,” believes Venice Is Sinking drummer Lucas Jensen. They funded their new album, #Sand & Lines#, through Kickstarter.com, but did not anticipate the problems on the distribution end of things following their pledge drive. “The problem that we have now is that we set the bar too low, and now we’re accruing costs that we didn’t anticipate, and we’ve also gone way late on delivering our rewards to our donors, which can be downright embarrassing. [Also], if it’s only your fans, friends and family members that are donating, that’s great and everything, but it’s not like a successful Kickstarter campaign is going to put you out there in front of any new people. Nobody’s gonna give you money who doesn’t know you these days unless your project is super-unique-and, let’s face it, releasing your band’s indie rock record is not particularly unique.”

Fred Mills
Editor & Online Editor
Blurt Magazine/Blurt-online.com (ex-Harp)
www.blurt-online.com

—–Original Message—–
There are a lot of the indie labels at the 10,000 units or less level that are needing to do more with getting bands to pay more towards a release. Ten years ago I paid for the mastering, art layout, manufacturing, & promo expenses (I’ve always handled the promo myself (with a leaning towards college radio since that’s my background & eventually how I’m part of this conversation) because I think it’s really important to try to build personal relationships with industry contacts & I don’t understand how small labels expect to do this when they don’t handle things themselves – not to mention I’ve had some friends that hire agencies out to push their records send me their data sheets & the contact list is often dreadfully out of date, though I do think certain companies do really incredible jobs helping with a tour pushing to weeklies & dailies in a way I have never been able to figure out) & in these ten years to help cut cost I took some courses & bought some softwares to be able to handle the mastering & art layout in house as well, but that still hasn’t offset some of the decreases. Lately I’m having to tell bands I’ll go in half for manufacturing & cover promotions or go digital only. It’s unfortunate. & while it seems like the clear answer is securing placements in television & film (a) this is easier said than done as more & more artists fight for this market lower prices for it & (b) it’s a temporary solution as those industries are starting to face some of the same problems that hit the music industry ten years ago.

I’m still very hopeful, but I think if you look at the freak-outs over the used CD market killing the music industry or cassette trades killing the music industry or even file trading killing the industry (granted it’s taken its toll, but ten years later I don’t think that many more labels have fallen off the map than may well have anyway) that the whole thing is more complex than we think & maybe we really are just in a “correction.” I guess we’ll have to wait the ten years & see….

hrt
Brian John Mitchell
www.silbermedia.com