Fans supporting musicians

[Richard + Jela]

Here's a really interesting article in USA Today on how fans are supporting musicians in a variety of ways

USA Today

Jela

[Patti]

nice read thanks for posting it Jela...

hmmm.. how is it you are reading USA Today and I am not!!

That's okay, I have a certified Anglophile daughter...as confirmed yesterday by the host of college radio show here in the US...

Okay back to the holiday preparations...

[KarenZ]

Thanks Jela. I was really happy that Jeff Black got some press.

KarenZ

[Richard + Jela]

Patti - I was sent a link and found it so interesting that I thought I'd post it on here. I don't normally read USA Today apart from sometimes when I'm in the US.

Coincidentally there's a similar article in the Boston Globe which refers to our Ellis and quotes our Karen (I was sent a link to that too)

Boston Globe

It does make you wonder if the day of the record label is numbered - it's a fascinating debate and musicians are having to be really innovative in the ways that they get their music out to the public at large. Developments in technology have made it much easier for a musician to interact directly with fans - witness this board.

Students I teach now expect to get their music for free and many genuinely don't understand that (illegal) downloading/copying is illegal - they have no appreciation of copyright rules and really, why would we expect them to? I don't think that at 18 or 19 years old I would have understood the implications of copyright. So the recording industry has a lot of challenges to address and it will be fascinating to watch developments. I think so far, the big labels have been slow on the uptake, working against the way people like to access music rather than trying to find ways of working with what's happening in cyberspace.

Watch this space.....

Jela

[KarenZ]

I had been waiting for the Globe article to be published for several weeks, so the timing of its appearance, just one day after the article on the same subject appeared in USA Today, is pretty freaky......but it's nice that many of these artists who we know and love are getting some press and hopefully word on their fundraising initiatives is getting out to an even wider audience. I sure didn't know about Jill Sobule's fundraiser or some of the others. At some point it's gonna be tough deciding which one(s) to support if this becomes the working model of how new albums are made. It even seems weird using the word "album".

KarenZ

[KarenZ]

Wow....a guy who writes a classical music blog picked up on my quote from yesterday's Globe article. I hadn't thought of EP's music as being part of "popular culture" so this is all interesting stuff to consider....

The arts, but... (plus a new way to finance recordings) by Greg Sandow

KarenZ

[Patti]

I am only at the computer for a few moments...but nice "chit chat" going back and forth... Karen I don't find it surprising at all that your words are be quoted!!

[Patti]

And Karen also just thinking what you said, about deciding who to support... I wonder what the end result will be by fans putting the money up front, then in theory they aren't out buying the record after it is made...hmmm..

[paddyinthepub]

I'm happy to see folks comin round to see Karen's contributions to the arts here and beyond. It's high time Miss Z. was quoted.