Keep Good Council

This is probably an understatement, but there are a lot of negative and jaded people in the music business. "No, really?" says you. : ) Yeah, and we've all dealt with their undermining little comments, and backhanded compliments. It's hard to stay motivated and positive when you're frequently surrounded people who would probably take a little bit of pleasure in seeing you fall.

It's essential for us to keep good council. To be choosy about who we hang with and especially who we share our visions and goals with. Our very success depends on who we surround ourselves with.

All endeavors start with an idea. Ideas bloom into a vision. Visions lead to plans, and with implementation and a healthy amount of effort and will power, plans become the reality that we envisioned. That is, IF we do the work needed to accomplish the goals and don't let the little needles of doubt get in the way, and unfortunately more times than not, those needles are delivered by the people we trust most.

It's not that they are always intended, in fact they're usually meant to be of help. The well meaning family or friends that want to help keep us "grounded" or "looking at the reality of things". As they say "The road to ruin is paved with good intentions", so how do we avoid this catastrophe? Of course the simple answer is to just ignore anything that doesn't fit into your plans, but saying it is infinitely easier than doing it.

I suppose it might be a little easier if we kept in mind that, while our friends and family may have our well being in mind, they probably don't have the experience or knowledge to make judgement calls on our visions. It's important to have a person or group of people to touch base with every now and then, who is completely impartial to your success. Folks who are not on the payroll, who don't have a stake in your success or your failure.

In business circles this is called an Accountability group. A group of people who's only objective is keeping each other on task and accountable for their successes or their shortcomings.

From personal experience, I can tell you that this is a very effective tool for keeping you on course with the plans that you've created for yourself, and if you find the right group of people they can help you work around the little needles of doubt that inevitably find their way in. By being on the outside, they can see the silver linings on those storm clouds, or they can tell that maybe they're just clouds of smoke that are hiding the road your traveling, and can help navigate you through and get you back on course. I highly recommend the process.

Good luck with your path and I hope everyone has a Happy and productive New Year!

Later,

Perfect Example Of How The Majors Just Don't Get It.

So, even more on the whole Coldplay plagiarism deal. Apparently, EMI has had some of the comparison videos pulled from YouTube because of copyright infringement. Uh, hello, it's your artist that did the infringing!

That, of course, doesn't stop the arguments from running rampant through the comment sections of videos that have found their way back up. Coldplay fans versus Satriani fans, ripping each other apart as if they're mortal enemies. Stupid really.

The fact of the matter is that the songs are similar enough that you can actually overlay the recording and it's like they're part of the same song.

It's going to be interesting to see how this pans out. What is at stake is the value of Intellectual Property. If EMI pulls this out and wins this law suit then it basically says that Major Label artists can steal any of our music and get away with it, and the legal precedent will have been set.

I saw an ad earlier saying that Coldplay was re-releasing the album with new mixes and new tracks. Twice the insult eh? It will be a sad day when Joe Satriani has to watch Coldplay win a Grammy for a song he wrote.

A couple of posts back I said that there have been times that I've realized that some of my stuff was similar to other artists material. I, of course, wouldn't release something like that intentionally, but if I missed something and wound up involved in a situation like this, I wouldn't hesitate to make it right with the other person. At the very least, Coldplay should give him co-writing credits on future pressings, and cut him in on the publishing so that he can make some money off of the deal.

It's these kinds of dealings that make me glad I'm an Indie.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/121608coldplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLE5t1cl7sw

Have a good one!

To Thyself Be True!

You know, I've been struck recently by how samey so many bands are these days. Well, it may not just be "These Days". It's been like that for as long as I can remember. One group starts to get a bit of a following or has a decent radio hit and then there are 10 Million clone bands the next day.

It's kind of like there's some mass production mold somewhere on the Labels lot where they take a stock 4 guys who can hold their instruments in a proper Rock Star pose and stuff them in the sausage grinder of current trend. They come out the other end with the current hipster hairdo and a stock, trendy sound.

Maybe we should thank the Labels for doing this. It makes it easier for someone with their own ideas, sound, and image to stand out in the crowd. But, keep in mind, this is easy to do to yourselves too. It's easy to over rely on your influences when creating your sound. It's even Super Easy to rely on too few of your influences when creating your sound. You don't want all of your songs to sound like Billy Corgan covering Tool do you?

Be well rounded. Don't listen too much to one thing. Create a healthy relationship with genres outside what you play. Network with other Indies from other markets and scenes. Be yourself and put your personality into your music, and you can't help but stand out. Unless, of course, you don't have a personality. ; )

In the immortal words of Russell Simmons: Do YOU!

Have a Happy and Productive week. Oh, and feel free to stop by http://www.seriousvanity.com/12SongsOfChristmas for some free Holiday tunes! While you're there sign up on the mailing list and see if you can beat Simon!

Later,

Way to go Coldplay!!

Best selling Pop act of the year and it seems you couldn't do it without Joe Satriani!?!

You know, I've had moments when I've played something that I found running through my head only to be reminded later by way of the background music at the mall that, oops, that was just a Hall and Oates line that I picked up subconsiously. Stuff like that happens. I mean, maybe ol' Chris Martin was just standing at the Jewlry counter tapping his toes to the background music while he shopped for a new pair of earrings for the misses. It's plausable. But check out the similarities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofFw9DKu_I

Now, Coldplay has made their official response to the allegation of plagiariasm.

"If there are any similarities between our two pieces of music, they are entirely coincidental, and just as surprising to us as to him," "Joe Satriani is a great musician, but he did not write or have any influence on the song 'Viva la Vida'. We respectfully ask him to accept our assurances of this and wish him well with all future endeavors."

Wow, I guess that's one way to handle it.

Let's look at the track record of people who blatently rip off another artist. My personal favorite is how the Rolling Stones all but destroyed the Verve for Bittersweet Symphony. Does the Verve even get any of the royalties for that now?

When was the last time you heard Duran Duran's Do You Believe In Shame on the radio, or at one of thier shows for that matter? I bet John Fogherty wishes you would.

Who knows, maybe Mr. Satriani will play it like Tom Petty who called The Red Hot Chili Peppers Dani California one of the best covers of Last Dance with Mary Jane he'd heard, but left it at that. Maybe?

Oh, he's suing? Good luck guys.

The fact is that a really great, catchy, earworm kind of melody can really make a band, but make sure it's your own.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/120908coldplay

More decline in the market for Physical Media?

Well, well, It seems that the decline in CD sales is starting to effect retailers as well. In fact, Border's Books is reducing their floorspace for Music because of lower demand. It's not just Border's though. I was in Best Buy the other day and their CD section was about half of what it used to be.

Anyone remember when Best Buy had an Import section?

While retailers like Target have never really been a music emporium, their CD selection is still getting smaller at the same time they're offering more in the way of Drop Cards.

Even the used CD outlet chain of CD Warehouse stores here in the Kansas City area have gone out of business.

Have you noticed that the cost of duplication is dropping too? How hard is it getting to get people to drop the cash for a CD at one of your shows? How long till we, as Indies, are dealing in an all Digital world, and would that really be a bad thing?

Check out the links below, it's pretty interesting.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/120108borders

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE4B10CI20081202?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews