Re: [microsound] politics of music: online labels

[Jeremy Tolsma <ccws@xxxxxxxx>]

> .tiln in a sense is an idea that harkens back the early days of recorded
> sound, where "labels" would essentially take a chance on anything, no
> matter what it was.  the "star system" came not long after this, when it
> was shown that some music was more popular than others & popularity was
> thus taken as the measurement gauge for "talent".  even zappa, in his
> autobiography (_the real frank zappa book_), complains about how when he
> started, labels would sign any band that looked interesting & "new", up
> until the point they began hiring A&R people (mostly young music
> enthusiasts who may have thought they were doing good)

I disagree slightly with your interpretation of this period of pop culture
history.  The star system did exist when recorded music first appeared.
Stodgy crooners like Bing Crosby who dominated the recording industry.  Jazz
and rock&roll turned the industry upside down, and companies were scrambling
to sign stuff that is 'interesting and new', because their old Bing Crosby
records had suddenly taken a nose-dive in popularity when the currency of
cool took a sharp turn.  Sure, Pat Boone could still outsell Little Richard
with homogenized covers of his music, but by the mid 60s record label execs
were at a loss to predict the whims of pop culture.  They pushed the 7"
45rpm single as a means of cheaply trying a lot of new product on the
market, to see what floats and what sinks.  When the label owners began
hiring A&R men (a practice already entrenched in Nashville), they were
simply trying to make the star-system more efficient and less risky.  I
think there was a fear of saturating the market with 45s, so they shifted to
'album oriented' releases, and labels began picking bands and nurturing them
sometimes for years before gearing up a massive promotional push.  Then the
excess of 'arena rock' which culinated in stadium rock brought about its own
demise as the currency of cool began shifting again...

> actually, fals.ch does indeed look like an "in-crowd" affair; for
> instance, it doesn't include a page for submissions.  but i think they
> take them, if you ask.  & maybe mego forwards them a couple demos every
> now & then

You know what bugs me, that Solielmoon place.  That label got started on the
momentum of 'tape-trading', but now if you look at their contact info it
says 'dont bother sending us demos, they go straight to the garbage'.  WHY
does it have to end up in the garbage?  If these guys are too busy to open a
package and listen to it they could pass it on to somebody else!  Portland
is a big city, plenty of people like to listen to music there.  I know its
not suprising to find pretentious jerks in the 'experimental music' sector,
and its always good to sniff em out!


--Boundary_(ID_MPRcvwDMIpntJWFdsEexSw)
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