Rant rant rant

I know I’m an annoying bastard. Well to some people anyway. I appreciate not everyone thinks I’m a pain in the bum – while it’s often perceived that I have an ego the size of Estonia I actually am quite humble and meek. Honest!

Periodically I’ll get an email asking me to reveal a source of a news story or asking me to remove it completely. PT is very good, here in the UK anyway, at scooping the mainstream paid-for magazines when it comes to tours and news. It pisses some people off no end. I won’t tell all my stories now, I’ll save that for the memoirs once PT is done with, needless to say I get tipped off by people in bands, at agencies or even at rival magazines. Some people give me a scoop because they hate their boss. Some do it because they respect PT. One band tips me off because they think one weekly magazine loses them credibility among their ‘punk’ peers.

Anyway, the 24/7 demand for news means that we get tipped off about things that may be happening, could be happening, vhave been planned or have even been put on the backburner. If the source is credible I’ll post it – usually to the wrath of someone.

I’ve been in holiday and I’ve had two emails already asking me to remove news items. Not a reason given, just a simple ‘please remove’. I’m in no position to do anything as I’m away (I’m on a ‘no Internet trip’ with only email and Twitter allowed) and I have no idea what on Earth has even been posted in my absence. But true to form we’ve upset someone. Or some people.

Now as I say, I haven’t seen any news posted while I’m away but knowing our sources I’d bet my bottom dollar a band member has tipped us off on one of the stories at the very least. For me, in the music industry at least, all news is good news, whether it’s right or wrong. Too many people try and control the news because their egos suggest they should. Truth is these are the same people in two years time begging for press attention when working a new band.

This blog has been long and ranty and for that I apologise. It just winds me up. As someone who is qualified as a journalist, in effect runs a public relations arm for a real job and has 10 years experience in the ‘music industry’ it continues to astound me at how many people remain impolite, patronising, unhelpful and condescending.

Ps – if the two people who complained read this, I’m talking about the other one.

Rock band

Apologies for not having blogged in a while. I seem to start these things with the beat of intentions and then let them slip away. Ho hum. Anyway, I write this while sitting around a pool on holiday in Madeira. I haven’t has a foreign holiday since 2005 so this one is well overdue. It’s too hot so I’m listening to the new Set Your Goals record while sitting in the shade.

Anyway, before I went away I read about Rock Band’s plans to introduce homemade songs onto their games. At the minute you can only play along to tracks officially sold through xbox live or on one of the discs the game comes with. Not anymore.

The decision could revolutionize the series in the same way Tunecore and others have done by allowing bands to upload to iTunes and the like. The simple process of creating the separate parts and uploading them will allow bands to gain extra exposure and bring money in, assuming that’s part of Rock Band’s final plans. I once read that Rise Against sold hundreds of thousands of ‘Prayer of the Refugee’ through iTunes as a result of appearing on one of the games. Imagine that exposure if you’re a young band…

Spot(ify) the ball

Over the last 12 months I’ve been emailed a fair bit asking to help students who are writing about music and the future of the CD. This morning I was asked to contribute to the following question and my answer turned into a bit of a rant, so I thought I’d post it here:

Many theorists have proposed that the future of music distribution lies in ‘music like water’ models, whereby music is just another utility which we will pay a minimal monthly amount for and all music will be available for us to stream, with recorded music and downloads becoming obsolete (think Spotify). How do you feel about such a model? Would a band be able to survive proposing that income could come from publishing, gigs, advertising and merch sales?

And my answer:

I’m yet to join the spotify bandwagon. I like the idea, I think it has legs, but I didn’t find everything I wanted – the catalogue isn’t large enough. And I consume music on the go through my phone/MP3 player – at the minute I can’t use Spotify using that means. As a result I think that model has a long way to go. It will be interesting to see how it evolves and adapts because it’s certainly very popular and an interesting medium. Personally I don’t think a monthly subscription model will work. Napster started off as a free download site and was hugely popular. When it became ‘legal’ and a paid service people flocked to thepiratebay and other free download sites. People don’t want to pay for music anymore, that’s the issue. That’s why Spotify will be successful – because it’s free. If Spotify goes pay-only something else will come along and take it’s place. Can bands survive? Yes, of course. What the current market has done is force bands to take stock and realise they can no longer be lazy and merely put out a CD and charge a tenner for it. They have to be much more creative. People still watch music at gigs – festivals are bigger and better than ever and they will still buy t-shirts and merch because you can’t get that for free. If it means bands are more creative and put more effort into a product, people will still pay for it. I think it means bands and labels need to get smarter and more creative and that’s not always a bad thing.

To mime or not to mime. That is the question.

A friend of mine went to see Britney Spears recently. She paid about £50 for a ticket and when Britters walked on stage she shouted “Hello London” – to a Manchester crowd. Britney then danced, pranced and mimed her way through a greatest hits set, never actually hitting a ‘real’ note. Sounds cruddy to me, but apparently the ’show’ was magnificent and well worth the admission fee.

Yesterday I was reading another forum and there was an ensuing argument about a couple of acts on this year’s Warped Tour. Y’see, apparently it’s not punk rock to dance and prance on the punk rock travelling circus, let alone mime. Millionaires and Brokencyde are currently polarising opinions worldwide. They sing about casual relationships, booze and a whole other range of things teenagers shouldn’t do. The parents hate it – and of course that means the rebellious teenage kids simply love it. Truth be told, the music is absolutely horrendous and whether you treat it seriously or approach it with tongue firmly in cheek doesn’t make a difference. Both bands are laughable.

But when Millionaires were caught out miming when a backing tape stopped working, and other bands have called out Brokencyde for a similar thing, does it really matter? I mean everyone knows these bands are a joke; the whole schtick cannot be taken seriously by anyone with a sense of humour. So if kids happen to enjoy the band – whether their message is morally right or not – does it matter if they sing, shout or pretend? There’s no credibility there in the first place after all. If it’s OK and accepted for Britney to fake her way through a performance, why should anyone get uppity if a fad band do the same thing? I’ve found the best way to not be annoyed by these bands is to ignore them.

All those bands that moan and whinge are doing is giving them oxygen – and people like me write about them. When fashion trends change and fads pass by Millionaires and Brokencyde will be long gone. Let them have their five minutes of fame, let the kids rebel, and concentrate on more pressing matters. Like ‘OMGZ, what’s the new Brand New album title mean?11!!11!’

OK. I’m crap. Like really crap.

I meant to do a blog today on Panic at the Disco suffering some line up difficulties but for one reason or another I got distracted. By this lady actually:

Yes, my life was overtaken by Britain’s Next Top Model. I’m sad. Truth is, the missus starts watching at the beginning of the series and I sneer at all the ‘ugly’ girls and sit in a sulk reading a magazine. As the series progresses I get more and more into it. Tonight was the final and the lovely lady above, Jade, didnt win. So I sulked and went off in a huff.

I need to get out more.