Lady Gaga is the pulse of current feminist thought, though Gaga isn't actually a genuine representation of feminism.
Sartre thought about the issue. But Sartre is cooky and nobody buys his dualism anymore. So, we still have an open question; back to square one ? Beauvoir can un-muddy the waters.
-- Nancy Bauer
The relationship between Mr. Rapino and artists is complicated. On the one hand, he must be deferential and accommodating, because without a regular caravan of acts, he has nothing but empty seats and red ink. At the same time, some artists are exasperating, though Mr. Rapino is far too diplomatic to say so.
Instead, he'll simply note that artists -- at least the famous ones -- are in a position these days to define their own destiny. And without question, that destiny includes higher ticket prices. The average price of a ticket to one of the top 100 tours soared to $62.57 last year from $25.81 in 1996, according to Pollstar, far outpacing inflation. The interesting question is why.
Mr. Rapino's theory is that musicians are just benefiting from the same trends that have enriched other superstars, like athletes and actors.
"The ticket was underpriced 40 years ago," he says.
Rival promoters see another culprit in high ticket prices: Live Nation. The company, they say, represents a consolidation of regional promoters that didn't just coincide with rising ticket prices but also helped cause them. Ticket prices, in this telling, have gone up because the largest promoter has been paying whatever-it-takes sums to get bands in the door -- both to drive out competitors and to bring in desperately needed revenue to cover fixed overhead costs and to fill up seats. The company's biggest outlays include "360 deals" with Jay-Z, Madonna, U2 and others, giving the company a stake in tours, recording and merchandise profits in exchange for nine-figure paydays. Jay-Z's deal was reportedly worth more than $150 million.
"Look at what has happened to ticket prices, and the price of everything else at a concert, over the last 10 years, right when consolidation was happening," says John Scher, who books shows in Madison Square Garden, at Radio City Music Hall and elsewhere in New York. "I talk to college kids all the time and they tell me that going to a show at an arena or an amphitheater is just beyond what they can afford. And it's because Live Nation has been paying the acts these outrageous sums, which is just alienating the fan base."
Mr. Rapino denies overpaying for bands, and says that the price of tickets often triples when they're sold by scalpers, which suggests that they were actually underpriced.
Then again, when Mr. Rapino was describing the parlous condition of the concert business in front of Congress last year, he noted that 40 percent of concert tickets go unsold, a statistic that he offered as a symptom of an industry in distress but that might just be evidence that Live Nation and its rivals don't know how to price and sell their products. Today, as high as ticket prices are, Live Nation earns none of its profit from ticket revenue. The artists get nearly all of that. Live Nation's earnings come from stuff sold on site, like beer, parking and advertising.
Continue reading "Pricing concert tickets understates inflation: Ticketmaster, LiveNation" »
This is what I call "dude music." To clarify, just because music is made by men doesn't mean it's dude music. And just because music is made by women doesn't mean it's not dude music.
No, dude music is music that prioritizes the status quo, that prioritize men's voices, men's experiences, and the experiences of people in power and who benefit from the current power structures in our society. Dude music is music that can ever be described as "noodling." Dude music is post-rock, and prog-rock, and rock that exists not to say anything, but to showcase how awesome the men in the band are at playing guitar.
Dude music is music that has nothing to offer people who are disenfranchised or oppressed, because it either is totally uninterested in their disenfranchisement/oppression, or actively profits from it. Dude music is "I went to your concert and I didn't feel anything." Because it is made by men, for men to enjoy, for men to profit from.
Women have three roles: 1) to serve as inspirations for songs; 2) to be sex objects who, hopefully, also make music men feel good about Their Art; 3) to be someone who is dangerously standing in the way of men acheiving greatness (see, e.g., Yoko Ono and Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious' girlfriend). Women do not make the music. Hopefully they buy the music, but not too many of them because then your music is Not Serious.
The Kurayamino variation of this Clubbed to Death is significantly better known than the first one due to its appearance in the film The Matrix. Therefore, this version is now known simply as Clubbed to Death, and the first one as the First Mix.
Roman Flugel & Delano & Crockett - Gehts Noch - Walking on the moon (transition at 33 seconds).
Excellent sampling and mixing.
Alison Moyet and Yaz have some soulful songs.
Also acclaimed, Peaches, the Velvet Underground's Pale Blue Eyes and The Smiths' There is a Light That Never Goes Out
Not your average teenage pop lovesongs.
gorillavsbear finds new music before it hits SXSW or Sirius; also uses nifty Yahoo flash mp3 player. Example: frankie knuckles x animal collective :: your love my girls mix.
Summer music festivals go posh, report from Europe, via WSJ:
Summer rock music festivals, long the preserve of teens and twentysomethings, are increasingly becoming familiar territory for a generation that still remembers the hits of the 1970s and '80s even as it keeps up with current stars. Concert promoters are starting to cater to the needs of this older crowd of festival-goers, many of whom are looking for something more than mosh pits, fast food and porta-potties -- and who can afford multiday tickets costing between €150 and €250.
"They still want to experience the buzz of the festival, they still want to have the excitement of the festival, but they don't want to sleep in a two-person tent anymore," says Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, which promotes the Leeds, Reading and Glastonbury festivals in the U.K. "They don't want to rough it in quite the same way."
A Grown-Up's Guide To Summer Rock Festivals
By GABRIELE STEINHAUSER, 2008 July 10
An opposing take says concerts are offering cheap tickets as they have difficulty filling venues-- Barry Ritholtz / Big Picture in 2008; and in 2005.
Matmos as high culture or difficult music ?
SOMA FM streams beloved CliqHop and delightful Groove Salad.
Security is silky here, when it’s noticeable at all.
There’s not much to secure. This is an indie-rock
festival — a gathering of property-owners,
memoir-writers, biochem majors, workshop-takers, etc.
-- Coachella 2007.
The reason why I am so bummed out about MySpace now is
because recently they have been cutting down our freedom
and taking away our rights slowly.
MySpace will now only allow you to use ‘MySpace’ things.
-- Tila Tequila, a singer who is one of MySpace’s most popular and visible users.
Berliner Trance - Paul van Dyk (Goog video)
With Dr. Motte of Love Parade,
Dance music: from Acid house to Drum and Bass,
antecedants to today's
Tiesto, van Buuren, Corsten, DJ Dan, Carl Cox.
Top Tracks:
Cited: Vernon's Wonderland
progressive house of Digweed and Sasha, previously known for
mid-1990s trance anthems Heaven Scent and Xpander.
Cited b
There's an ulnimited supply
And there is no reason why
I tell you it was all a frame
They only did it cos the fame !
Who ?
E.M.I.
Too many people had the suss
Too many people support us
An unlimited amount
Too many out lets in and out
Who ?
Apple and EMI just announced that they will be selling DRM-free
Apple songs through the iTunes Music Store. The songs will cost
130 percent of the price of the existing crippled songs, and you'll
get to choose. Weirdly, Apple seems to have sold this move to
EMI by saying that the DRM-free version will be a "premium"
offering for audiophiles who want higher-quality music.
I think that audiophiles are probably the people who have
the least trouble keeping up with the latest tips for efficiently
ripping the DRM off of their music -- the people who really
need DRM-free music are the punters who can't even spell DRM.
MeFi says the CBC mothercorp finally kills off its treasure, Brave New Waves.
See also radiofreecanuckistan, insidethecbc, cleverlazy, zoilus, Discorder, Canada.com, StilePost.
East Indian blogging by sepiamutiny, example.
Campaign for quiet passengers and quiet electronics
(cel phone ring tones, iPod, walman headphones).
Music ban strikes a chord.
-- Headline that could have been used.
Stylish Coloradoan VodkaPundit's serious thinking or linking.
Bonus points for recommending I’m An Adult Now by
The Pursuit of Happiness.
--
If you like TPOH, you'd like Jerry Jerry & Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra's
Battle Hymn of the Apartment.
Satelite Radio: Sirius and XM discussion at satelliteguys.us.
Toronto's alternative-rock scene is a place where the sweetly
familial and weirdly collective rub up against the traditional
markers of stardom. BSS is the largest and the most media-ready
of the Toronto bands, but it is far from the only band committed
to a Toronto-bred arty idealism, known to some as Torontopia.
Jonny Dovercourt, a 32-year-old local rock musician and impresario,
and his friend Steven Kado, a musician with an interest in hipsterish
pursuits like urban planning, coined the term in 2002 to help give
utopian ballast to the city's sprawling but idealistic music community.
Dovercourt is so committed to Toronto that he adopted one of its
street names, Dovercourt, as his last name; his real name is Jonathan
Bunce.
iTunes Music Store (IMS) sadly lacks content from
Les Rita Mitsouko and their Nina Hagen collection
is woefully thin.
No New York, New York.
I create ecstacy in my world
I know who I am
And I am willing to declare myself to the world
I am a star!
In New York
Whosoever with me
No Smack Jack.
You've never could have thought or guessed
That things could get so far out of hand hahahahaha
I'm gonna see you coming down in a cold sweat running
It's gonna be a different tune that you will soon be humming.
An Experiment in A New Kind of Music: WolframTones.
Program and diagram your own ringtones, and more, systematically.
Cornershop, as explained by Mr GrumpyGus.
There’s Dancing Behind Movie Scenes
behind The Movie Scenes, Sadi Rani
she’s The One That Keeps The Dream Alive
from The Morning Past The Evening
to The End Of The Light
Brimful Of Asha On The 45
well, It’s A Brimful Of Asha On The 45
"If you are an old fan and it doesn't fit what you need, don't buy the
disc." she said with firmness, but no rancor.
Update 2006 May: Electro 145 Techno class notes.
Why does relatively obscure electronic music seem to
appeal to mainstream advertisers? How does the music
communicate to an audience unaware of who the artist
style might be, or even unaware that they are listening
to music? Why would electronic music make for the
"sonic wallpaper" of choice?
Is there anything radically different between the mashup
aesthetic and previous sample-based styles? In what ways
does the mashup emerge from pre-existing practices?
What distinguishes a mashup from a remix? How do
mashups derive their affective force? Is irony a necessary
dimension of a mashup's power?
Required Texts:
* Peter Shapiro and Iara Lee, ed. Modulations: A History of
Electronic Music. Caipirinha Productions: 2000.
* Cox and Warner, eds. Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music.
Continuum: 2004.
* Simon Reynolds. Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno
and Rave Culture. Routledge: 1999.
A rockist isn't just someone who loves rock 'n' roll, who goes on and
on about Bruce Springsteen, who champions ragged-voiced
singer-songwriters no one has ever heard of. A rockist is someone who
reduces rock 'n' roll to a caricature, then uses that caricature as a
weapon. Rockism means idolizing the authentic old legend (or
underground hero) while mocking the latest pop star; lionizing punk
while barely tolerating disco; loving the live show and hating the
music video; extolling the growling performer while hating the
lip-syncher.