My love of Little Dragon is well documented. I picked their eponymous record as one of the best of 2007 and I’ve posted about that record twice, and today I was happy to find a new track. It is a little bittersweet however that I find it through RCRD LBL. It’s not that I disagree with their taste, I was happy to find many of the artists that I enjoy also featured there. I only take issue with the concept that the new media (which for a few moments seemed in our hands) for a good time was user created but is being infiltrated by our corporate counterparts.
I fear that with independent radio stations shutting down because they can’t afford to pay royalties, and with more and more blogs being part of global marketing businesses that we cannot hope to keep step with their ability to put out more content than we can, and make exclusive deals that we will never be able to. I contacted LD to ask permission to post a couple tracks from that record and they were extraordinarily nice and gracious. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer response.
I wonder sometimes, that if the record industry was more interested in forward thinking or new ideas if you’d rather, would I have the same opinion of the business side of popular music. While it’s impossible to know the answer this, and while often I become aware that good things to come as a result of the pairing with music and other industries. I am constantly reminded that one must be careful in each choice made. Each business deal with each artist is a little different. There are no blanket statements such as “Sell Out” or “Indie” we can’t decipher the labels as good or evil.
An interview recorded recently between my friend Julia and artist Chris Walla quoted (from paste magazine on the subject of record labels)
“I don’t feel like either is better than the other in any really significant way. I will say that I’ve had experiences at both majors and indies that really feel open and collaborative in the way that a good label relationship should. And then I’ve had experiences at both where somebody who shouldn’t have any creative involvement in a project has creative involvement in a project for some unknown reason. “
So why not recognize the industry for what it is and instead of looking to become a signed artist of a major label, or signed to an indie label, why not ignore labels all together? Let us as artists, producers, critics, and listeners use only the tools available to us for that which we absolutely need to generate our art. This is my manifesto.
(an interview with Ian Mckay on Dischord and the music buisness from Magnet)
“The American business model is based on expansionism. There’s a theory that if you’re not growing, you’re dead. I reject that. If you wanted to be in the bakery business and bake good bread and give people a sense of, “Well, I can go there for good bread,” you make the bread, they buy it and go. And everyone’s happy. If you have to buy all the bakeries or if you have to be bought by other bakeries, it stunts the possibilities. You don’t know what can happen when you develop a long-standing relationship with your community.”
When we began this project I thought that it could lead me to somewhere new, open up doors for me, or put me in touch with better, newer, or brighter artists. I realized just the opposite. I brought that to the show. I became aware of newer artists. I took the time to judge each one according to my own tastes and no one elses. Most importantly I never said anything that I didn’t believe.
If I had an opportunity to take money or help from an organization in exchange for control of this blog or podcast I would only choose to do it if it improved the website in a meaningful way.
I hope that everyone reading this enjoys reading our blog, and if reading this or someone else’s blog inspires you as a reader to generate content of your own, please let us know, as we can’t wait to see what you’ll write too. Also if you have an idea for this blog please don’t be shy. You may be the best writer that I’ve yet to have the pleasure of reading.
William Blake said
“Invent your own mythology or be slave to another man’s.”
Link to the new Little Dragon song (I could not link to the song or re-host as RCRD LBL wants you to know all about BMWs)
And heres something to listen to while you go out and get started on that project you’ve been too intimidated to start. Have You Heard Believes in you.
Survivor - Eye of the tiger
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