I DON'T want a record deal...

gaffa

gaffa

Recalcitrant Member
OK, som I don't play in a band, can't sing, and don't write particulalry good songs. But even if I could, I still don't think I'd want to deal wit hthe big four record companies.

Have a read of this article - it's a speech given by Courtney Love at the Digital Hollywood online conference. Very, very interesting...........
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/index.html

- gaffa
 
If the music biz is so AWFUL, then why does Courtney continue to stick around and make more albums?
She would have more credibility if she actually HAD some talent, and didn't get her foot in the door of the music biz by screwing Kurt Cobain.
I'm not saying she's wrong... she's not.

It's just that she's lucky to be in the music biz in the first place. She sucks.
If it wasn't for Kurt, she'd be a nobody.

If I was CEO of her label, I'd dump that whiney bitch.
 
Gee, I enjoyed that. This was interesting:

There were a billion music downloads last year, but music sales
are up. Where's the evidence that downloads hurt business?
Downloads are creating more demand.


Especially interesting if it's true.

I've been thinking that, in the unlikely event of being offered a recording contract, I'd take it, not to make money, but to get a crack at top-notch recording gear and people who really know how to use it, plus an ace distribution system that would get the music out to the largest number of people. But she's challenging that, saying the digital revolution's providing an opportunity to reach even more people than the labels' distribution system can. But how? I don't see it. Occasional mp3s? What about entire albums? And how do you get paid for it? But I think she's right when she says the situation's ripe for a new type of company who knows how to take advantage of what's happening.

Good link, Gaffa.
 
>If I was CEO of her label, I'd dump that whiney bitch.

If you were the CEO of her label, you'd be a businessman, not a musician. As such, you'd realize that with all this controversy (negative or not), she's an even more valuable commodity than she was previously, and as she stands to make even more money than she already has. And you'd get to keep more than 95% of it for yourself.

Like her or not, she's fighting a battle for people like YOU, the potentially screwed-over artist of tomorrow, or the music listener. This fight isn't winning her any popularity contests, nor is it helping her image. Nor is it likely to make her any money once she's through paying all the lawyers for the contract disput that's likely to ensue.

She's doing it because it's the right fight. Artists shouldn't be treated like slaves, music shouldn't be treated like a business, and songs shouldn't be treated as "work for hire" that become the property of someone else PERMENANTLY just because you'd like a shot at getting more people to listen to it.

Because she's right, I can get over any amount of animosity I'd feel for her otherwise (actually, I rather dig her music).

I'd even write her a check to help because it's in my own best interest. It's in the best interest of ANYONE who's on this BBS, in my opinion.

CT

[This message has been edited by CharlesThomas (edited 06-19-2000).]
 
Look back, CT...
I DID agree that she's right.
I just think she'd be a stripper at Billy Bob's Country Hideaway if she didn't meet Kurt Cobain.
 
Hail Charles Thomas!

We need people like that to try and change the system from the inside.

On the Courtney and Kurt issue I say this; although I am a big Nirvana fan and listen to hole, I think it was a miracle that even Nirvana got a deal with a major lable, I mean their music was so out of the ordinary when they were signed, who could have expected that they would become so popular with Nevermind after listening to bleach.

I think every musician (artist) has an obligation to be sincere and honest and put the welfare of their creation first, and only create what you love and want to create. If you do that you will know in your heart if you want a corporation to franchise and exploit you.

There are very few bands that managed to get famous with big label backing, and still managed to stay human and sincere (as far as I know only Nirvana managed it thus far).

But the fact still remains that misicians will be nobodies without corporations.

Oh my God, it's time for my antidepressants again. hehe
 
Yo Guys

I read this thing on Courtney on a Web page somewhere the other day....Mp3 site I thing

Hey Buck62 If you think she's got no talent, maybe you should hear her play guitar some time....she kicks my ass and :D Im not shit either...

Good call Charles

Tony
 
>I just think she'd be a stripper at Billy Bob's Country Hideaway if she didn't meet Kurt Cobain.

I don't disagree, but for different reasons than you probably expect.

I think ANYONE who gets signed basically has to "know someone". Sheer raw talent has almost nothing to do with it. I could name a dozen bands from my neck of the woods who have more talent in their little fingers than the majority of the "flavor of the month" bands out there.

I think Courtney had (and has) sincere lyrics with a serrated edge, a raw energetic sound, and the attitude and swagger of punk. Because of this, and the fact that she's female, I think she would have gotten attention regardless of the Nirvana thing, especially when she takes her top off frequently during concerts. Heh. She's just the kind of woman who gets attention in any situation, and that's a big key to becoming a celebrity. If you cause all eyes to go to you no matter where you go, sooner or later someone will figure out that they can make money off of you.

Would she have become a superstar without Kurt? Perhaps not. Perhaps she would have been as big as L7 was (is?) in her own right.

However, Courtney really knows how to use the spotlight once someone turns it on her. This is clear since the "Nirvana" card wore off about 7 years ago, and she's still managed to keep a high profile both musically and as a celebrity.

Perhaps she would have climbed that ladder all on her own.

CT
 
"Someday, you will ache like I ache"

C'mon, get real!
These top-notch studios have equipment that could make a frog's croak sound like a million bucks, but it didn't do anything to help poor Courtney. She just plain 'ole can't sing worth a shit.
I never said anything about her guitar playing. She does just fine in that respect.
I can't stand to listen to Macy Gray either. What a God-awful, scratchy, vacuum cleaner-like voice that is! But at least she can hit a decent note, unlike Courtney.
I listen to the MP3's of some of the people on this site and can't figure out why the truly talented people are still in thier basements, while non-singers and so-so players are dominating the airwaves.
The public at large is so gullible and sheep-like when it comes to being force-fed a lot of crappy music.
 
Thats Exactly what I said to Charles when I mailed him the other day...

"I listen to the MP3's of some of the people on this site and can't figure out why the truly talented people are still in their basements, while non-singers and so-so players are dominating the airwaves.
The public at large is so gullible and sheep-like when it comes to being force-fed a lot of crappy music.)

Yeah Buck62 I agree on the Top Notch gear as well

Tony



[This message has been edited by tutton (edited 06-23-2000).]
 
I agree with Charles Thomas big time,not because it's Courtney saying it,but because it's RIGHT! When I 1st read about this I couldn't believe it! The CREATOR of a work NOT owning the copyright? Could you imagine going to the Louvre in Paris and buying that little catalog that shows you where to find the paintings and under the Mona Lisa it says "Luigi's Canvas Supply" or "Jean-Pierre's Art Corner?"Woe to the society that disenfranchises it's artists!
 
I agree about the artists owning their copyrights, but your example of the Lourve is not exactly right. Those paintings and the rights to them aren't owned by the decendents of the artists. In fact, this sort of thing has been going for centuries. Classical composers wrote their works for their sponsors...either the church or members of the aristocracy. Mozart never owned any of his work. You'd think we'd be able to change the rules after several hundred years.
 
Hi CMILLER, I know,what you say is true,but I was trying to make a point.I feel a lot of musicians have been conditioned to think of Big Record Companies as issuing from some higher plane of reality and that their favor and approval should be courted at almost any cost.As far as I can tell in a lot of instances,their function is not terribly different from a supplier of a physical medium such as canvas or brushes or what have you.WE CREATE THE STUFF THAT ALLOWS THEM TO HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL,and as such our legal rights should always come 1st in any discussion of copyright.Personally,I've washed my hands of the whole way the people Courtney talks about do business,even if it means reliquishing any hope that a large audience might someday be given the opportunity to decide if they like what I do.It just smells too bad in there...
 
I see what you were saying. If anything, I was trying to show that the problem is one that's been around longer than the music "industry" itself. We're pretty much arguing the same side. :)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Buck62:
She would have more credibility if she actually HAD some talent, and didn't get her foot in the door of the music biz by screwing Kurt Cobain. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ouch.

She's selling records and that is all that matters.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by CharlesThomas:
I think ANYONE who gets signed basically has to "know someone". Sheer raw talent has almost nothing to do with it. I could name a dozen bands from my neck of the woods who have more talent in their little fingers than the majority of the "flavor of the month" bands out there.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, you have to know somebody, but that doesn't mean you have to have known them all your life. Getting out there and meeting people works as well as having a family friend.

As far as talent, it is a talent to market yourself and a lot of bands overlook that. Hole has done a great job of marketing as has Courtney Love.

Yes, she is a talent. She's definitely not just the woman who married Kurt Cobain.
She was doing well long before she got hooked up with him.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.
 
"She's selling records, and that's all that matters"

Get real, Dave!
That's the kind of "whoring" of one's self that we are talking about here.

Of course, I see that you're from Nashville and only have twenty-something posts since November, 1999... and all of them end with a little advertisement for your publishing/promotion (or whatever) business.
Most of us here are "do-it-your-selfers", who are trying to stay away from involving the middlemen who gouge any of our small profits.
It's bad enough that I lose 60 percent of our asking price to the e-tailer and our distributor (30 percent each). I can't see involving another "middleman" to take even more of our small profit (if we make one)... just to sell records.

I don't want to be a "rock star"... it's a shitty life.

I'd rather sell a few thousand copies of my cd on my own, rather than sell my soul to the big record companies.

You might have a little more credibility around here if you showed up for intelligent discussion (or friendly conversation) without the shameless promotion.

You want $300 to make me a rock star?

Yeah, right.
And I've got a bridge for sale.



[This message has been edited by Buck62 (edited 07-09-2000).]
 
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