Do It Yourself.

If they can do it, why can't you?

AudioBoo - Alan Turing Lived Near Me.

Talking about Alan Turing, who lived some of his early life near my house.
The tv prog i mention is on Channel 4, in the UK, at 9pm this evening, 21st November.

The Digital Long Tail.

Like many people interested in music business in the UK, i listened to the lecture given by Pete Towshend, of The Who, yesterday. It has certainly caused a bit of a fuss in the media, with its seeming attack on Apple, iTunes and digital music services.

Whilst i do tend to agree with Pete Townshend on his views about modern record companies and the idea that digital music providers could and maybe should do more to help new music. It made me think of another aspect of this.

Pete Townshend himself referred to the idea of the Long Tail in his lecture. But, i'm not sure he thought that digital music provision and the Long Tail idea could actually help provide some much needed income for musicians in the future?

In the traditional music business, albums were recorded and then released by record companies on vinyl, or more recently on CD. This meant that the CD's etc had to be physically produced, packaged, packed and then distributed to record shops, or outlets across the world. This, as you can imagine, is a costly business and the distribution companies would take a cut of the cost price for their services.

When a group split up, or stopped recording, there would usually come a time, especially for lesser known artists, when those original recordings would be deleted from the record company catalogue and would therefore be no longer available to any potential customer. Either via the record company themselves, or in record stores.

How often have you discovered a band, or artist, only to find out that they're no longer around and their CD no longer available?
This happened to me only the other day. The band in question, The Aeroplanes released their one and only album, 'Black Hearts And Maladies', back  in 2008. Unfortunately, the band split up in 2010. Meaning that i never got the chance to see them live, except on YouTube. A fact that ties in very nicely with the whole point of this blog post.

How i found them is another story. But when i went to try and buy that album, the only place i could buy it was, rather ironically, on iTunes. The physical CD couldn't be found anywhere, except secondhand. It's possibly that with a lot of searching i may have come across it, but who does that kind of thing these days eh?

So, and i'm sure you're ahead of me here, in the old days i wouldn't have been able to listen to, watch, or buy The Aeroplanes music. The digital revolution has enabled me to buy the music and give a little bit of money to the songwriters and members of that band. Money they would not have got otherwise.
It may well only be a small amount of money. But, that is exactly the whole idea behind the Long Tail theory. Small amounts add up to something bigger.
Especially, as that money would not have been forthcoming in the pre-Internet age.

I'm not suggesting that the Internet and digital music in general is good for everybody, because is quite obviously isn't. But, for The Aeroplanes at least, it has helped them to gain one new fan, some much needed royalties and it's also given me a favourite new band.

Sounds good to me.

Taking It For Granted.

A video inspired by two, seemingly, unrelated events.

The Beatles and iTunes.

According to rumours circulating. Later today, Apple (the computer people, not the record label) are expected to announce that they have done a deal with The Beatles and that iTunes will shortly be selling The Beatles music, in mp3 form.

This announcement has been a long time coming and has been held up by previous ongoing court hearings about the use of the Apple name. Those issues were sorted out some time ago and it was widely expected that an announcement about the selling of The Beatles music would swiftly follow.
But, obviously, this was not to be.

So Apple will finally be selling Apple.
The first thought that occured to me about this was, does anyone really care anymore?

Yes, this will cause a nice burst of publicity for both Apple and The Beatles and will, of course, help to make some more, little needed, cash for both of them. But, i suspect most people will just be thinking, "what kept you?".

The Beatles are one of the few bands that have, so far, refused permission for their music to be sold in mp3 form. One of the other notable examples are AC/DC.
It must be said that this stance has certainly not hindered either band. AC/DC are one of the biggest bands in the world and we are all aware of the position that The Beatles hold in the world of popular music.

So, why the change of heart?
Well, apart from the obvious chance to make more money by selling their songs individually, i don't really see the need for this change of stance. After all The Beatles are the most famous band that there ever was and ever likely to be.
Their music has sold, consistently, for over 40 years now and shows no signs of slowing down. The recent re-release of all The Beatles albums, in remastered and repackaged CD form, was a huge money and publicity spinner. I even re-bought several of the CD's myself.

Maybe, after that recent re-packaging of the CD's there was just nowhere else to go, but into the mp3 market?
The Anthology series, a few years ago, had cleared out the outtakes and different studio versions of the classics. "Free as a bird" being an example.
So, i guess that, as far as The Beatles music is concerned, the cupboard is now bare and this was the obvious next step to keep that money rolling in?

Now, i know that all of the above sounds a little cynical. But, i honestly don't begrudge anyone making money out of their music and especially when it's as good as the music of The Beatles. In fact, i think The Beatles have been pretty good with the way that they've released their music over the years.
The Anthology was done well, as were the recent CD re-releases. They were good quality products.
There are many other bands and artists who have certainly not treated their fans as well.

I just wonder if a band as well established and unique as The Beatles really needs to go down this route? Especially after refraining from doing so for so long now.
For any new band, the mp3 route is an absolute must do. But, for The Beatles?

From what i can see, it is Apple and not The Beatles that stand to gain the most out of this. Especially, if those Beatles mp3's can only be bought via iTunes. (I sure hope that The Beatles haven't agreed to that)

Maybe, my concern and general apathy about this expected announcement comes down to the fact that i already own all The Beatles music that i've ever likely to want?
And maybe, i'd just like to see some bands and their music, remain just that little bit more special?

By finally succuming to iTunes and the mp3, The Beatles will have changed and at a time when, in my opinion anyway, they didn't really need to.
But, maybe that's just me?