I read a great article by Jon Pareles from the New York Times in yesterday’s paper titled “Songs From The Heart of a Marketing Plan” (you can read the whole article, which I highly recommend, here).

Basically the article asserts that a) because music is becoming such an integral part of selling other products (i.e. video games, cars, beer, coffee, movie scenes etc.), and, b) music licensors are now playing such a big role in new music discovery, there is danger that going forward, new artists will only make music that sounds good in 30 second sound bites, rather than music for music’s sake. That is of course a threat to music and artistry.

Here’s an excerpt: “What happens to the music itself when the way to build a career shifts from recording songs that ordinary listeners want to buy to making music that marketers can use? That creates pressure, subtle but genuine, for music to recede.”

The article also states that: “It’s almost enough to make someone miss those former villains of philistinism, the recording companies…. Labels, and to some extent radio stations and music television, also had a stake in nurturing stars who would keep fans returning to find out what happened next, allowing their catalogs to be perennially rediscovered.”

Whereas I agree with many of the things that the article states, I don’t buy its basic argument that music and artistry will suffer because of this “tectonic shift” that is underway.

Labels, commercial radio, and music television stopped having an interest in developing artists (and even catalogs) a long time ago. Instead they focused on delivering mass-appeal hits, which made music a lowest common denominator commodity, produced by the lucky few and enjoyed by the sedated many.

Can anyone name one artist that any of the major labels broke in the past decade whose catalog will still sell ten years from now? I can’t. Music, as marketed by the major label dominated recording industry over the past 10-15 years was meant for the here and now. I would hate to look back with nostalgia to a period when music had so many gleeful gatekeepers.

As far as music licensing, for me it’s only but one of the many new (and viable) ways that artists today find and develop an audience and careers.

Podcasts, blogs, internet radio, torrents, ring tones, compilation CDs (marketed by all kinds of folks from wineries to clothing companies), YouTube, Last.FM, Pandora, eMusic, independent movies, bookshops, satellite radio, and even people’s houses (with house concerts) are all ways for artists to find an audience that were barely viable or visible just a few years ago.

And with music licensors ranging from ad agencies, cell phone companies, video game companies, and movie studios (large and small) turning over to indie music for help to promote products by tapping into their authenticity, I say let music ring (and ring and ring).

These are the very trends that are giving rise that what I call the Artistic Middle Class. Artists who are pragmatic enough to seek creative alliances and ways to get their music heard, but authentic enough to connect with these (more niche) audiences in a meaningful way that makes careers possible.

Panos

I can’t believe 2008 is almost over. Sonicbids was launched way back in February of 2001 so it’s hard to imagine that in just a couple of months, this site will have been around for nearly eight years. That’s older than my six-year-old niece. Crazy.

Anyway, I thought it would be a good time to take stock of some of the stuff we managed to do (and some of the areas that we fell short) over the past year.

Though retrospectives are not my shtick, many of you this past year spent your valuable time giving me good input and ideas. I’d like to share what we did with it.

SOME WINS:

•    I’ve traveled all over the place this year meeting many of you over dinners and lunches in places ranging from Berlin, London and Seville, to New York, Toronto and Seattle. Your candid insights have been invaluable; and your thoughts about how to make Sonicbids work better for you sparked many a good debate about features and additions to the site. (It was also amazing to see the commonalities of life as an indie musician around the world).

•    Based on your feedback, we launched the Submission Tracker, which enables artists to get money back for submissions that are not viewed; and makes it much easier for promoters to review submissions and book artists. Pretty cool – and long overdue.

•    Earlier this month we launched a revamped version of the Gig Listings on Sonicbids that gives artists much better information about a promoter’s ratio of selections to submissions (“Pick-O-Meter”) and artist-generated photos from venues. We’re close to rolling out a feedback & ratings area for you to share info about venues you’ve told us is important, like sound quality, merch sales,  etc.

•    A lot more “mainstream” promoters joined Sonicbids this year and offered plenty of slots to Sonicbids artists. Some highlights: Warped Tour, Lollapalooza Festival, Spin Magazine, American Airlines, MTV, Jazz at Lincoln Center, WFNX radio, and Converse to name a few, all of whom booked Sonicbids bands for their stages, promotions and airwaves.

•    Some 61,000 gigs got booked by bands using Sonicbids this year. That’s nearly twice as many from last year. The number is impressive, but we know it’s more helpful for our bands to see which gigs are booking which bands. We’re finishing up a new area of the site called, “It Works,” where you’ll be able to track these gigs and the bands getting them. Look out for it in early January.

•    We created a new team in house to focus on working with consumer brands to create sponsorship programs and opportunities for independent musicians from around the world – and more free gig listings. Expect to see a lot more of these in the coming year. Free submissions for promotions by Converse and Jansport are a few notable wins in this area.

•    We continued our expansion outside of America and now more than 25% of our membership comes from outside the USA. Given our belief that the future of the music business is not local but global, we’ve been hard at work opening up new opportunities, particularly in Europe and Australia, for our members.

SOME MISSES:

•    Earlier in the year we struck a partnership with the National Association of Campus Activities, which brought over 1,000 colleges in the Sonicbids community. These are available to submit to for NACA members but not the community at large just yet, largely because of product and contract delays. Given that this integration consumed a good part of our product team’s year, we could have done a better job with integration and speed.

•    Like all companies, we needed to take a good look at our cost structure and plan for what I think will be a long winter in the world economy. We had to make some tough, proactive decisions, including parting ways with some Sonicbids teammates. Letting anyone go is difficult, especially people that you spend 10-12 hours a day with. But it’s the companies that make tough choices that succeed in the end. Having started Sonicbids during a time of similar uncertainty (back in 2000), I also know that these situations are opportunities in disguise.

•    We could have moved even faster to address your needs and be even more transparent about how Sonicbids works. Beyond the Submission Tracker, we want do a better job showing bands how they’re reviewed by promoters, and helping them learn from the fellow bands who are using Sonicbids most effectively. More Quick Chats and the new It Works section will help.

•    Lastly, we spent about $500,000 sponsoring bands and stages around the world last year, but we did an awful job telling people about it. Bands got subsidies from us to travel and play Popkomm in Germany, Eurosonic in Netherlands, the East Coast Blues & Roots festival in Australia, the Summerfest festival in Milwaukee, the In The City showcase in Manchester, UK, the Italia Wave Festival in Florence, Italy and many, many others. You deserve to know that we put our money where our mouth is.

I love the end of any year because the new one gives you the chance to do it (and dream it up) all over again – and get it done better next time around. Thanks to all of our bands, promoters, partners, Sonicbids teammates – and everyone who has shared their time and insights on our site – for a great and adventurous year.

Merry Christmas. Here’s to a music-filled 2009.

Panos

Much is being said about the imminent demise of the American car industry.

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler are all warning that letting them go into bankruptcy will have dire effects for the word economy. Apparently unless the US government bails them out, one out of 10 American jobs will vanish, sports teams are going to shutter, TV shows are going to get canceled, the Ironman triathlon races will vanquish, the world will end and so on.

I for one don’t have much affinity for American cars. But yet again, I spent my first nineteen years in Europe so I grew up with Alpha Romeos and BMWs and Peugeots and Vauxhalls – not Cadillacs and Buicks and Studebakers. These guys lost the plot 30 years ago and never got it back. But that’s a different story.

Anyway. Driving to work this morning, I heard “My Hometown” by Bruce Springsteen The lyrics say something like “I’d sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town”.

Then about 10 minutes later I heard “Pink Cadillac” (yes, also a Springsteen song; this guy loves cars): “Well honey it ain’t your money ‘Cause baby I got plenty of that, I love you for your pink Cadillac, Crushed velvet seats…”

So then I started thinking, “gee, I wonder how many pop songs actually mention American car models in their lyrics. Here’s a small sample of answers I got from the folks in the office:

Stray Cats – “Look at that Cadillac”
Wilson Pickett – “Mustang Sally”
Bruce Springsteen – “Cadillac Ranch”
Commander Cody – “Hot Rod Lincoln”
Lightnin Hopkins – “Big Black Cadillac Blues”
Drive-By Truckers – “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac”
Little Feat – “Cadillac Hotel”
Bo Didley – “Cadillac”
Rancid – “Time Bomb” (“Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac”)
Beach Boys – “GTO”
Tom Waits – “Ol’ 55”
ZZ Top – “Chevrolet”
Don McLean – “American Pie”, (“Drove my Chevy to the levy”)
B-52’s – “Love Shack” (“Got me a Chrysler it’s as big as a whale”)
Beach Boys -  “Fun, Fun, Fun”, (” ‘…til her daddy takes the T-Bird away”)
Don Henley -  “Boys of Summer” (“…dead head sticker on a Cadillac“)
Brian Setzer – “49 Mercury Blues”
Bob Dylan – “From A Buick 6”
Pretty Ricky – “Chevy”
Jan & Dean: “Little Deuce Coupe”
Chuck Berry -  “No Money Down” (“I want a yellow convertible 4 door De Ville”)

And I didn’t even search the ‘net. The collective publishing and record sales and airplay revenue generated from these songs is God knows what. An entire part of American pop music would have never existed had it not been for songwriters daydreaming about these cars, being inspired by and writing about these fantasy machines.

So hey, maybe the music business should show a bit more gratitude. Maybe we should bail these guys out after all.

Panos

P.S. Know of a song that has lyrics containing American car models? Let me know!

Wall Street Journal’s new magazine (WSJ) published an interesting article on Michael Rapino and Live Nation this past weekend, talking about his background and the current “360″ strategy Live Nation is pursuing. You can read the whole article here.

I respect Rapino and I think he’s a very smart guy. In many ways he’s had the guts to take on much of the traditional music business establishment and turn it on its head. But for me, the strategy of offering long-in-the-tooth artists like Madonna and Jay Z and U2 a bunch of money for their recording, touring and merchandising rights is downright flawed (you can read more about my take on 360 deals in a separate post).

Check out this statement: ” The breakdown of the Madonna–Live Nation deal shows how broad the scope will be. The company is paying Madonna $17.5 million for the right to distribute each of three future albums and $50 million to promote concert tours for 10 years.”

You got that right. 10 years. I had a crush on Madonna when I was 11 and she was 25 — back in ‘83. She is now 50. I mean, is there anyone out there who really thinks that Madonna should be on tour for another 10 years? Or, will anyone care what a Madonna record sounds like three albums from now?

I dig Madonna. I think she’s one of the most intelligent artists and business people of our lifetime. And I also think that she’s severely underestimated as a popular songwriter who’s been able to stay pretty much on top of her game for a quarter of a century.

My problem however, is that these much ballyhooed 360 deals make no sense as Live Nation is structuring them. They look to the past, not to the future. The future of the music business is about a middle class of artists who dominate niches, not the masses. And Madonna, U2, Nickelback and Jay Z are not them.

Panos