By now, you’ve probably figured out that I’m not a fan of the RIAA and their disturbing legal tactics.  Rather than keep reminding everyone how bad they are and how detrimental they are to the music biz (which is why I really hate them), I’d also like to note two stories about working around them.  First is this Reuters story about bands and music fans hooking up online, which ain’t necessarily something new now in this Net age but it’s worth repeating this story line if only to remind bands (and listeners) about the great opportunities out there on the web.  The other story is the 2008 RPM Challenge which asks artists to write/record an album next month.  As the article notes, this led hundreds of artists to post thousands of songs and granted that they’re all not gonna be masterpieces, it’s still heartening to see so many performers take up the DIY challenge.

—Jason Gross

He’s got billions of bucks, sports teams and his own blog but that doesn’t mean that Mark Cuban’s always right.  In his CNet column, he says that the album is kaput, citing singles sales trouncing CD sales. No arguing about that but to say that the album itself is R.I.P. is as premature as digging a grave for rock (or vinyl).  It may not have the pull it once did in the age of download but don’t tell that to the hundreds of thousands of buyers who still purchase records regardless, not to mention the thousands of artists who put out albums each year.  For a reality check, see this recent excellent interview where David Byrne and Thom Yorke discuss the continuing aesthetic value of the album. And even if you’re among the millions who prefer singles to albums now, are you really gonna give up on your old favorites in your record collection?  Plus, in the likely circumstance that a few dozen artists each put together a collection of say 10-15 great songs this year and next year and after that, are you gonna turn your nose up at these albums ‘cause Cuban told you to?  Even if it becomes a niche market, which I doubt, the album’s gonna be around much longer than Cuban himself.

But his silly prognostication is small potatoes compared to the MPAA fudging its figures about college students to turn them into scourges.  Even after getting caught saying that twice as many downloaders are out there as there really are, the not-so-veritable entertainment industry still insists that those damn students are still a threat.  Kind of sounds like the Bush administration warming us about Iran.  Maybe the MPAA will lobby Congress to bomb the Ivy League too to prevent any damage otherwise.

—Jason Gross

Following on the heels of Rolling Stone and XLR8R, it seems that another national music publication is trying to bend the rules about ads and content: Did Blender Blur Ad-Edit Line?. 

Folio Magazine describes the special section layout as “(a) 16-page new music preview sponsored by Sync, Microsoft’s in-car voice-activated technology. In it, a small logo that reads “Presented by Sync/Powered by Microsoft” appears on five of the section’s 10 editorial pages, with the other six pages devoted to Sync-related ads. Four of those logos ask readers to log onto fordvehicles.com/sync for free MP3 downloads.”

Unlike the RS and XL, there hasn’t been an uproar or lawsuits yet so the lesson may be that if all’s relatively quiet, such incursions into editorial might be worth the risk, not just for Blender but for other magazines as well.  It’s a tough time for mags (Walmart just said they’re cutting some 1000 magazines off their shelves) and they’re desperate to find ways to keep afloat but when they get this desperate, that ain’t a good sign.

—Jason Gross

You might want to sell any stock you have invested in major labels, especially if it’s EMI.  After some belt-tightening, they’re now shuffling around personnel, causing a rift with artists that they can’t afford to piss off (including Coldplay and Robbie Williams): Artists’ managers protesting EMI shake-up.  Even after that bit of bad news, they compound it by having their pink slip machine work overtime: EMI’s drastic belt-tightening.  But there is one piece of good news coming out of this as they’re now thinking of cutting off money to everyone’s least favorite industry slimebags: RIAA might be doomed.  Ah, but fear not… When it comes to fresh ideas to save themselves, the industry is full more useless, empty platitudes than a candidate’s speech as witnessed by this pathetic MSNBC article. 

—Jason Gross

While I’m grateful to PopMatters for publishing my list of Best Music Scribing, I wanna note another place that’s toasting writers and publications now.  Music Press Report just gave out their own set of awards.  As editor CJ Chilvers told me, “Many participated in the nominations, but only a few hundred actual went to the ballots - which is how I wanted it. I didn’t want anyone to spam the voting, so I really limited who could vote and how.” Nice to see more writers/pubs getting toasted as they get so much bad news otherwise nowadays and most of the general journalism awards rarely note music criticism, which is a shame. 

And though I’m weary/leery of polls, I also want to note another music one that doesn’t have the same winners you’ll necessarily see in Pazz/Jop and Idolator.  Blues Critic ran its own readers poll with J. Blackfoot, Latimore and William Bell getting their due, which you won’t find in many other polls nowadays.

—Jason Gross

In a CNET article, Trent Raznor said that he was disappointed with the sales of the Saul Williams album he did but what makes this newsworthy is that this was yet another online experiment in pass-the-hat (getting consumers to pay what they want, like Radiohead).  He was disappointed with this figure: “154,449 people had downloaded NiggyTardust and 28,322 of them paid the $5 as of January 2.” That comes out to less than 20% of the people willing to shell out five bucks for an album.  But Williams himself in a separate interview with CNET saw things differently.

(continue...)

—Jason Gross