Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Cream DJ Shadow: Sympathy for the Record Industry
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 9:43 AM
DJ Shadow, the legendary turntablist and self-described "37-year-old technophobe" seems to think cash rules everything around us when it comes to music. (This is at the beginning of a long rant about how the Internet is terrible. And yes, this rant takes place on the Internet.)
Time for a little straight talk, from one reasonably intelligent human being to YOU, the reasonably intelligent reader. As distasteful as it may sound, the fact is that so many of our heroes: Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, The Beatles, whoever you care to name; generated much of their best art in return for financial compensation. If you take away the compensation, guess what...the art stops. For example, how many young rap artists are grinding away these days in New York, trying to get a deal? Not too many, certainly compared to the '80s and '90s. There's no allure, no pot at the end of the rainbow. People have been asking for years now, "Where's the next Nas, the next Jay-Z?" Be prepared to keep waiting...and for music, overall, to keep sucking. Why? Because only bottom-of-the-barrel, embarrassing pop tripe generates enough income to feed the machine. Anything unproven or risky? Nobody's going to bankroll that kind of 'experiment.'
I don't know how many young rappers are trying to get a deal in New York these days, to be honest, but where's the data? And the last time I watched rap videos on the TV it sure seemed like there was at least the illusion of allure, if one finds money, jewelry and the attention of supple-bodied women alluring.
But really--rappers aren't rapping because there's no leprechaun hiding dubloons at the end of the rainbow? I like what Ian MacKaye said about this: "If people lose their incentive to make music because they're not making money, they're not musicians. They're business people. Musicians don't have a choice in the matter, you gotta make music." (By the way, read that entire interview if music means anything to you.)
Not to mention the fact that artists often get worse the richer they get. But Shadow is trying to make a larger point--that the gears of commerce can produce great works, whether we like to think so or not.
Let me be clear: I love music. I love the culture of music, making music, playing music, geeking out over music from the past and present. I love old record company stories, and the characters that inhabited it. In other words, I have learned to appreciate the merchants of commerce as well as the art. If you love movies or cars, chances are you can relate to what I'm describing. What would Hollywood be without the larger-than-life, audacious personalities behind the scenes? What would cars be like if there had never been Detroit?
To take the movie analogy a little further, not every movie can be Paranormal Activity, shot on a shoestring budget and then discovered by an adoring, paying public. Your big-budget Cinemascope productions, your Lawrence of Arabias and such, need big money and big machinery to get made. As for the Detroit analogy, I have one word: Aztec.
Of course, as someone who made his debut album entirely from samples of other records, Shadow might not be the likeliest defender of the record industry--or maybe that makes him the perfect choice--but once you get a slice of pie you're bound to try to keep the baker in business, right? On the one hand, sure, musicians used to get paid a lot more for making records. But is the culture of ultra-rich rock stardom really worth preserving? Has our culture really lost something because there are fewer really rich guys sitting in their mansions surrounded by cocaine and hookers?
I saw DJ Shadow live once at a little spot in Seattle that isn't there anymore, and it was one of the most mind-blowing experiences of my show-going life. Endtroducing.... is one of the best instrumental albums ever made--and worth 100,000 Girl Talks any day of the week, if you want to talk about sampling. (Sadly, The Private Press is not. A crazy-driving-caper song? Really?) But watching DJ Shadow live was just crazy. So many records, so many loops, so much movement as he built and rebuilt these colossal sound structures, then tore them down enough to build something else on top of them. Maybe that's what needs to happen to the record business.
Via The Daily Swarm.
Comments (19)
Showing 1-19 of 19
As funny as it is that he typed this and posted it on the internet, I agree with him.
like
dislike
musicians need to stop acting like whores and taking it up the rear by record label johns.
"But is the culture of ultra-rich rock stardom really worth preserving?"
First, change "rock" to "music".
(Alan Jackson anyone?)
AND, the same goes for professional sports.
Ian MacKaye said about this: "If people lose their incentive to make music because they're not making money, they're not musicians. They're business people. Musicians don't have a choice in the matter, you gotta make music."
This is a logical fallacy. If musicians can't make money making music, they will have to make money doing something else. There are only 24 hours in a day, and while that musician might still devote his/her evenings and weekends to music, s/he won't have enough time to devote to perfecting the craft.
MacKaye grew up with rich parents (read his Wikipedia entry), and has never had to get a "real job." So it's understandable that he wouldn't grasp the concept of a daily grind that pays the bills and doesn't leave room for the creative process.
"Not to mention that artists often get worse the richer they get". Speaking of data, where is the data for that? I think a Beatle fan may argue. I believe irrelevancy is a different issue, but rich guys don't necessarily make bad records. The Stones, the Beach Boys, etc. were all pretty well off (maybe aside from self inflicted legal issues) when they recorded their epic records.... Sgt Pepper's, Pet Sounds, Exile on Main Street. I think DJ Shadow is pining for the past when only the "top" artists could get exposure, instead of every person with a guitar and enough drive to start a MySpace page and buy ProTools and a cheap van. It seems that for the most part, only people who are willing to live in prolonged destitution, or people who are hired to "sing" and "look" a certain way really stand a chance of success in the "music industry". That doesn't mean they are necessarily the best song writers and musicians. John Lennon was the rich kid. Wouldn't you agree if public school teachers were paid more, the position would attract a higher level of talent? Of course, every so often you come across a Daniel Johnston or a GBV that is doing it on a budget of a Pizza driver and they are creating fantastic music. They are diamonds in the rough, however. When there start to be more "diamonds" than.... well I think you get my point. Thanks for posting this, it was a very interesting read!
"Maybe that's what needs to happen to the record business"
- shheesh...ideally the music industry should benefit the musicians...so simple logical and unlikely
in light of these recent developments, POWERBRRRD will be disbanding indefinitely until music industry conditions improve and this metaphorical pot of dubloons has been restored.
I commented on Shadow's blog. I basically said that the "post-record label" artists have to think and do things differently than he did to get to where he's at (doing only his music for a living).
So things like giving away music for free is a more realistic option. It's easy to say you'd rather sell such and such when you have a huge fanbase to back you up. But when it's just you and your music; and maybe your 5 friends who like it; how are you going to get rid of all barriers to people hearing your music? on a budget?
Most artists sacrifice time, money, relationships; to get what they want out of their art. Maybe some of these downloads are a sacrifice as well. I don't know what the answer is.
I agree with everything he said from HIS point of view; but the chances of any DJ being able to relate to him on his level are very slim.
Side note: I love his music and have bought everything I could find. Because I just had to. My favorite new producer/DJs, Blue Sky Black Death, I downloaded their album for free first.
BooHoo! I don't get this shit. Sure it sucks that the Internet has cut into the bottom line of the record industry and piracy has made it virtually impossible for artists to make as much money as they once did. But what can you do? The toothpaste cannot be put back in the tube no matter how much artists and record execs wish it could be. And the RIAA's anti-piracy strategy of suing their customers is obviously not a sustainable business model. To be frank, people aren't scared of the RIAA and the average music consumer doesn't see music piracy as a crime.
It just seems incredibly pointless and counter productive for artists to piss and moan about this. People need to learn to suck it up, accept reality and figure out a new and creative business model that will allow them to make ends meet. I know that's easier said than done but that's where we are. While the internet does create significant problems for the music industry it also presents a number of resources that can be utilized by those forward thinking souls in the industry.
I've heard people in the music industry bitch about this for years and I don't see the point. Dont get me wrong I really do feel sorry for hard working musicians and music execs who are struggling in the current business model but being in denial and bitching about it only means that they will be left behind. And maybe that's for the best.
Matthew Smith, you are an idiot. First of all, Ian MacKaye worked at a D.C Haagen Dazs with Henry Rollins. That is a "real job." But that's beside the point.
A lot of the best music gets made by people who have "real jobs" and make music as a hobby instead of trying to make it as a career. Almost nobody starts out making a living by making music. Most musicians never make money making music anyway, even the good ones. Robert Pollard was a 3rd grade teacher when he recorded some of his best albums. Some of the best musicians/songwriters/performers in this town have real jobs.
Shadow's great, but like QE said, that's really only a viewpoint that he can afford to take. The rest of us have a totally different landscape to deal with. I think giving your music away for free is great, but mostly only if you are doing it yourself with little to no overhead. With bands it is trickier. Not as easy to convince your mates that the fruit of your collective toil is technically 'worthless.' I've never been in a band that gave away music, but as for the stuff I knock away at by my lonesome: my attitude is, take it. Glad someone bothers to listen.
It would be awesome to be independantly wealthy and beholden to no one, and yet, this town has it's share of those types and their musical output is often (but not always) pretty bland. Struggle feeds art, and that's where the good stuff comes from. Or at least I keep telling myself that....
Ian MacKaye worked at a D.C Haagen Dazs with Henry Rollins.
That mental picture just made my day. Thanks ryan!
"Ian MacKaye worked at a D.C Haagen Dazs with Henry Rollins.
That mental picture just made my day. Thanks ryan!"
LoL. No shit.
You tell me you like the taste.
Its just the sprinkles.
You tell me that soft is better.
You just cant take the texture.
You tell me you want Phish Food.
That is Ben and Jerry's.
Dont you fucking get it?
CUP OR CONE?!
CUP OR CONE?!
There's a book called Punk Love, wherein photographer Susie J. Horgan published lots of photographs she took of Rollins and McKaye when she worked with them at Haagen Daaz in the 70's. it's pretty entertaining.
Also lots of great pics of Teen Idles, Minor Threat and SOA in there as well. they have a copy at The Groove in East Nash.
@ Matthew Smith:
Look, there's no question that in order to keep creating music, musicians have to make some kind of a living.
But Steve isn't saying they should make NO money. This whole black and white choice between being a bum and "sitting in a mansion surrounded by cocaine and hookers", as he puts it, strikes me as a bit of a false dichotomy.
I mean, don't you agree that a musician making millions upon millions because of their good music/marketing/manufactured image is a little unjust? What's wrong with musicians, working as hard as people with normal jobs, earning as much as people with normal jobs?
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