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Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

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Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#61

Post by 6stringmerc »

rorykoehler wrote: post #55
earlz wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically, this is also true of most modern music. Sure it requires a bit more equipment, but with software amp simulation and the plethora of VST plugins you can get, you can almost always get a tone similar to your target for just a couple hundred dollars, at most. Combine with equipment and you're looking at maybe $600 in instruments/equipment and a basic mic for vocals. The only sticking point right now it se…

>you can almost always get a tone similar to your target Therein lies the rub. You can't beat real circuits and valves especially when you're cranking it loud for a gig. The difference between the (admittedly pretty amazing) VST's and the real deal is the difference between sounding good and sounding great. Touring a band is still expensive. So much so that it was the difference between going on extensive global tour…

As much as I want to agree with you nostalgia wise on the "real circuits and valves" thing, pretty much every industry magazine interview I've read with the top teir of guitarists basically say that "real amps" are for in the studio and when going on the road just use the Kemper[1] and nobody will be able to tell the difference. Honestly I would buy one of those in a heartbeat if I had the income/need/ability to write it off as a business expense.

[1] A Kemper review from 2012 - http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/kemper-profiling-a...

>This is the context in which the Kemper truly excels and it proves possible to create amp profiles that are good enough to fool three sets of very experienced ears during our testing process. At one stage, we even find ourselves unplugging the reference amplifier just to make sure that it's definitely the Kemper that we're hearing and there isn't some elaborate hoax taking place!

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#62

Post by jar3624 »

I really hope Ethereum takes off. I think this will go a long way of cutting out the middle men between the customer and "content maker". I even hear all the code that runs on Ethereum is open source which makes it even more transparent/turstworthy. Its the cure to capitalism ! hopefully

See http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/imogen-heap-shows-how-music-smart-c...

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#63

Post by bwanab »

yolesaber wrote: post #30
bantunes wrote: post #4

Miles Davis on Steve Miller: “Steve Miller didn’t have his shit going for him, so I’m pissed because I got to open for this non-playing motherfucker just because he had one or two sorry-ass records out. So I would come late and he would have to go on first and then when we got there, we smoked the motherfucking place, and everybody dug it.” http://www.openculture.com/2015/05/miles-davis-opens-for-nei...

I mean, to be fair, Steve Miller is like the blandest of bland dad rock. And Miles Davis is literally the coolest person who ever lived.

This has to have been written by somebody who only knows of Steve Miller's admittedly bland hits in the middle 70s. He put out 5 remarkably good albums in the late 60s that sold, well, lukewarm at best. It's hard to blame him for realizing that the great stuff he'd been doing wasn't making his retirement secure. Even in coming out with a string of bland big sellers like he did took a degree of talent that most can't even imagine.

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#64

Post by [deleted] »

slouch wrote: post #39
at-fates-hands wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work in a record shop and found out first hand how much promotion a band needs just to sell a few CD's. I can't tell you how many insanely good bands died because either the label didn't promote them, or they just ran out of cash and quit. The only problem I see nowadays is there's virtually no vetting process. It used to be the good bands would eventually rise to the top and the shitty garage bands would b…

For me, it's still primarily http://last.fm/ 's similar artist feature.

[deleted]

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#66

Post by 20after4 »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #29
baldfat wrote: post #23

I owned a SMALL Record Label and Studio. I was (still?) good at picking out talent in bands. The Whole Industry Sucks I had two bands that ended up on Major Labels and Toured the World. I met a kid on the street wearing one of my Bands shirts and struck up a conversation. They still love the band 10 years later. These guys per person made at the TOP $7,000 in profit after expenses were paid. One band did a KickStarte…

I used to work in a record shop and found out first hand how much promotion a band needs just to sell a few CD's. I can't tell you how many insanely good bands died because either the label didn't promote them, or they just ran out of cash and quit. The only problem I see nowadays is there's virtually no vetting process. It used to be the good bands would eventually rise to the top and the shitty garage bands would b…

This guy does it all alone, never gets hardly any recognition and yet he's still pumping out great songs after a bunch of years:

https://soundcloud.com/plastic-pieces

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#67

Post by 6stringmerc »

vlunkr wrote: post #25
6stringmerc wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've done a strong job of describing what I felt years and years ago, and have come to learn is the lay of the land still in the music business. Labels have done a fantastic job of maintaining their gate-keeper status and of being able to break new artists into the mainstream. What didn't change with the internet is, partially kidding here, that 14 year old girls decide what's going to be popular. Outside of that,…

So, you might say the musicians who are more business savvy (they release independently in one way or another) can do well for themselves. The ones who let someone else take care of that stuff get screwed.

Yes, that's generally my outlook on the business aspect of the music industry. There are of course needed staff professionals - PR, Legal, Booking - but if those can be hired and managed with some good accounting by an artist/management team (and not behind a label's closed doors, subject to contract obligations) then it stands to reason more revenue will be retained by the principal.

Practically speaking, I think it's the musicians who "ask" someone else to take care of that stuff that get screwed. This is more like the "Pop Star Contract" take-it-or-leave-it kind of approach. Sure, the label can make a person a star, but that comes with some significant catches (see: rappers angry their label won't release their new album).

Re: Steve Miller: The Whole Music Industry Is Fuckin' Gangsters and Crooks

#70

Post by ivanca »

Ministry (synth pop/industrial/Alternative metal) frontman Al Jordison in his song "gold diggers":

"You know, they say it takes a whole pack of wolves to take down a moose, cuz one-on-one, that moose would smack them down. It’s like being in the music business — you got your managers, your ex-managers, your ex-bandmates, your ex-labels, your ex-wives, your lawyers, your tax attorneys … hell, that sound more like a pack of hyenas to me. You know, I was once told by an ex-manager, “Son, you’re worth more dead than alive. Cuz when you’re dead, we can sell you off in pieces.” That’s the way it works around here. You don’t believe me? Why don’t you try asking Jim Morrison, or Jimi Hendrix, or Janis Joplin, or Kurt Cobain, or Amy Winehouse? I’m pretty sure they’re gonna take my side of the story. Sometimes I think they’re the lucky ones. They don’t have to deal with these douchebags"

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