Re: Musicians and Money.... Take 2

From: Steve Catanzaro (stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com)
Date: Thu Apr 27 2000 - 08:09:40 MET DST

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    Well, in light of modern recording techniques, you can record music at a
    very high quality EXTREMELY cheaply. (Heck, in the '50's, Rudy Van Gelder
    recorded a lot of now classic Blue Note stuff in his mommy and daddy's
    living room!)

    In the year 2000, it's getting harder and harder to tell the difference
    between the stuff made in the basement and the stuff made at Ocean Way or
    Abbey Road.

    The real money, the stuff that bankrupts big acts like TLC or Toni Braxton,
    is spent on promotion... videos, marketing, PAYOLA, and the like.

    Quite frankly, 4 Hero could go out and buy a rig and make records in their
    house that sound just about as good as what they got on 2 Pages, which is an
    excellent record.

    String players? There's millions of 'em. Recording engineers? You can't
    throw a rock without hitting one of 'em.

    Ahh, but taking it to the people, that's the hard part, because the record
    companies have bottlenecked it. It has never been cheaper to make a record,
    and it has never been more expensive to market it.

    ----- Original Message -----
    From: paul s. westney <pwestney@jhu.edu>
    To: Steve Catanzaro <stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com>; <acid-jazz@ucsd.edu>
    Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2000 8:53 AM
    Subject: Re: Musicians and Money.... Take 2

    > just a quick reply....about 4hero...i COMPLETELY think they wouldn't be
    able
    > to do what they do without talkin' loud, which isn't even a major effort.
    > do you SERIOUSLY think that those two men would be able to put out tens
    upon
    > tens of thousands of dollars for the TOP notch equipment and studio time?
    > please. they'd be working at mr. bongo, mingling with the rest of the
    music
    > hooligans in london. what differentiates them is their ability to apply
    > their talent to the FULLEST, which, in these expensive days, inevitably
    > takes record label support.
    >
    > i'm ALL in favor of artistic license. i'm getting a grant to write about
    it
    > in jazz. but at the same time, we have to be real about certain points.
    > are you suggesting that 4hero (to extend the example) simply compose their
    > own works and leave them to the mercy of performers? that's a pretty
    > far-fetched view, my friend. it comes down to which you think is more of
    a
    > bastardization of the product -- *potential* record label interference
    > (which only really becomes an issue with the major conglomerates) or
    > post-composition interference. ah welll.....another endless argument...
    > p.
    >
    >



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