Alternate Takes: Disco Cyborg Takeover
In the third week of august, a new Britney Spears song surfaced briefly online, a ballad so negligible it may have been a demo. It was surprisingly stripped of digital processing, leaving Britney’s voice completely exposed, and it soon disappeared, only to be replaced by the first single of her comeback campaign, “Gimme More.” This was business as usual, with the same mechanized Ann-Margret purr she’s used from the beginning and lyrics that equate the gaze of the crowd and the cameras with sex. Is it too unkind to point out it sounds just like Justin Timberlake’s “Sexyback” but without the hooks? And is it even unkinder to point out its intentional provocations weren’t nearly as shocking as the ballad that had leaked a week before?
What made that ballad so can’t-look-away strange was hearing a vocal free of Auto-Tune, the pitch-correction software that defines pop music today. You know the sound of Auto-Tune, at least pushed to its limits, when it produces the vocoder-like robotic vocals of T-Pain’s “Buy U a Drank”and other summer ubiquities such as Rihanna’s “Umbrella” or Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls.” All of them deploy the digital effect that comes when vocals are tuned too tight, a quavering disco-cyborg melisma that’s become the keynote of so much of the Top Forty.
Auto-Tune is infamous for making possible careers that would never exist without it, allowing the turd polishing (as producers call it) that can turn well-packaged mediocre singers into stars. But used sparingly, it allows producers to seamlessly correct flat or sharp notes — literally to pull them in line with proper pitch on a computer display — and it’s likely that most of what you hear today is pitch corrected in one place or another. Not because the vocalists can’t sing — because they can’t sing perfectly. “Auto-Tune is like the fake tits of the music industry,” says one producer. That is, it both creates and fulfills inhuman standards of beauty.
Auto-Tune is nothing new, and neither is that disco-cyborg effect, which powered Cher’s “Believe”nine years ago. There’s no more sense in complaining that it’s fake than there was in bitching about drum machines twenty years ago. But it dominates the current moment, for better and worse. It merges the singer and the track, reducing everything to technology, which is perfect for ringtones or music on YouTube. It has its uses. But it rarely sustains more than a song. Try listening to Rihanna’s entire album (which has sold sluggishly, despite a massive hit single) and you’ll soon know the truth of the philosophy limned by Justin Timberlake in the hook of 50 Cent’s new single: “I’m tired of using technology/Why don’t you sit down on top of me?” Sometimes, you want the human touch, even if it’s a wobbly Britney vocal no one was ever supposed to hear.
Source: RollingStone.com
Plugged And Unplugged
September 07, 2007 - Digital and Mobile
Plugged:
Thumbs up to Apple for adding wireless access to the iTunes music store. As usual, Apple is late to this party, but has done it better than its predecessors.
Sure the slick iPod Touch will help, and yes, wireless access to the popular iTunes music store is more interesting than wireless access to pretty much any other store. But these aren't the reasons why Apple's wireless strategy is so impressive. It's the Starbucks deal.
Forget about Starbucks' corporate mumbo jumbo about being a passionate music provider (have you ever heard anybody sound less excited about being excited?) or the industry's cringing fear that two non-music music companies are teaming up. This is about awareness.
Look, people aren't familiar with access music services from a wireless device, except for the few who download on mobile phones. Even the mighty iTunes wouldn't be likely to get much traffic from wireless devices unless it did something to spoon feed it to people.
Enter Starbucks. First, Starbucks is the most prolific provider of WiFi hotspots in the country. Second, it plays music, so give users a reason to use the hotspot to connect to iTunes.
And then the genius stroke---the two set it up so users don't have to log in, pay for access or learn anything different. Brilliant.
When Microsoft introduced the Zune, I remember asking them what they were going to do to promote the social/community nature of the song-sharing device. Their answer? Nothing. Bad move. The Zune is only interesting when all your friends own one as well. But Microsoft made no effort to encourage groups of friends to buy Zunes together.
Apple has it right. It not only introduced the device and the service, but laid down an easy-to-follow path to using both, and in the process educates its base how to use a new service without making them feel like they've learned anything. It's like what Cingular did with text messaging when teaming up with American Idol.
UnPlugged:
iPhone owners sent Steve Jobs a message loud and clear following the unveiling of the iTunes ringtone store -- "Are you kidding?"
After sadistically slapping the most die-hard iPhone fanatics in the face with a $200 price drop on a product many had lined up overnight to purchase only a few months before, El Jobso wants them to pay an extra 99 cents for a ringtone of a song they already own. He even has the stones to act like Apple invented the idea of letting users create their own ringtone from a full song.
The fact is there are dozens of easy-to-use services available for download that will let you clip any song you want into a ringtone and send it virtually to any phone on any service. Some even work with the iPhone, and many are free.
There's also a digital music service in the UK that's offered the exact service to its users for more than a year now, and it doesn't limit them to a single brand of phone.
The upshot of all this is that the iTunes ringtone service is shining some much-needed light on the DIY ringtone capability, since few know it even exists.
Then there's the pricing issue. OK I can see the argument the labels and publishers may have about a ringtone being a different product from the full song, and therefore a new price is necessary, but try explaining that legalese to your average consumer.
I may pay for a service that lets me make my own ringtone from music I already own, but I'm sure not going to pay for the ringtone itself. How much of a sucker do you think I am?
The fact is that the music industry needs more people buying music digitally. Adding a DIY ringtone service to stores might help increase their traffic. But charging extra for it, however, won't. What's more important -- getting the people already buying music from iTunes to spend a little bit more money, or getting more people using the service overall? Source: Billboard.biz
Australian H1 Biz Value Slumps Despite Digital Boost
September 10, 2007 - Global | Retail
The Australian music industry fell 13.64% in value in the first half of 2007, despite continuing strong sales of domestic repertoire and digital music.
According to Australian Recording Industry Assn. (ARIA) figures released today (Monday), total physical unit sales for the first six months hit 20.7 million units, down 15.72% from 24.6 million last year. Physical sales had a total value of $167.8 million Australian ($138.6 million), down 17.34%.
But combined digital and physical sales equaled 36.6 million units with a dollar value of $185.9 million Australian ($153.5 million), representing a 11.16% rise in unit sales despite the dollar value decline.
Meanwhile, sales of downloads and ringtones rose by 89.67% compared to the same period last year, although the dollar value only rose by 47.48% to $18.1 million Australian ($149.57 million). Digital sales now total 15.9 million units.
"Digital sales now account for 9.75% of the recorded music market by value," says the association's Sydney-based CEO Stephen Peach. "This compares favorably to the 5.5% overall value reported for the same period last year."
ARIA's figures indicate that consumers are downloading singles but prefer to buy their albums on CD format. Single digital tracks saw a 61.6% rise to nearly 8 million units. This represented a 63.73% rise in dollar value to $8.3 million Australian ($6.8 million). In comparison, CD singles dropped by 47.02% to 1.3 million units, representing a 46.83% drop in dollar value to $3.6 million Australian ($2.9 million).
A positive note for labels was the continuation of strong consumer support for homegrown acts. Their retail album sales now represent 34.8% of the Top 100 albums chart for the period, up from 31.8%. Singer songwriter Missy Higgins (Eleven/EMI), rock band Silverchair (Eleven/EMI), "Australian Idol" winner Damien Leith (Sony BMG), rock band Powderfinger (Universal) and roots act the John Butler Trio (Jarrah/MGM) are among the Top 10 big sellers of the year to date.
Despite slumping CD sales, Peach expects a strong second half release schedule -- including albums from multi-platinum Australian acts Keith Urban, Kylie Minogue and Rogue Traders -- to make up lost ground.
"Record companies are expecting a strong second half of big name titles," he says, "And we expect to have a growth similar to the 8% growth we had for the whole of 2006.
Source: Billboard.biz
Fans have vote with Grammy site
Sept 10, 2007
The Recording Academy is opening its video vault with mynightatthegrammys.com, a Web site that allows fans to vote on their favorite Grammy performances over the years. Selected clips will be shown on a CBS television special in November.The Web site, which launches Monday, offers 50 video clips of Grammy performances from such artists as Prince, Beyonce, U2, Marvin Gaye, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Diamond, Kanye West, Elton John, Tina Turner, Madonna and Eminem, among others. Fans will select their top five choices, with a voting deadline set for Oct. 7.
The top 25 performances that receive the most votes will then be featured on the two-hour "My Night at the Grammys" special, scheduled to air at 8 p.m. Nov. 30. Along with the video clips, the special will feature artists sharing personal stories about performing at the Grammys, along with behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals and how the show is produced.
The "My Night at the Grammys" broadcast is part of an effort to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grammy Awards, which will air Feb. 10 on CBS. Grammy nominations will be announced Dec. 6.
"My Night at the Grammys" will be produced by Ken Ehrlich and John Cossette.
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
West, waiting for an elevator in a crowded hallway, began yelling about losing all five categories for which he was nominated.
"That's two years in a row, man ... give a black man a chance," West said, stomping around his entourage and directing his comments at a reporter. "I'm trying hard man, I have the ... number one record, man."
West said he never will return to MTV.
The rapper was nominated for male artist of the year and video of the year for "Stronger." This is the latest in a series of awards show outburst for West. Last year, he crashed the stage at the MTV Europe Awards after not winning for best video.
Source: Billboard.com
| Industry Responds To iPod/HD Radio Announcement |
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| September 7, 2007 Yesterday's announcement of a new device that combines HD Radio broadcasts with iPods and the iTunes Music Store has been hailed by the radio industry. Top executives have stated their reactions to the new radio, which allows listeners to "tag" songs for later purchase via the iTMS. "iTunes tagging takes music discovery on the radio to the next level," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of iPod Product Marketing. "When a song plays on your HD Radio that you like, a simple push of a button will tag it and later give you the chance to preview, purchase, and enjoy it with iTunes and your iPod." Bob Struble, CEO of iBiquity Digital said, “Research consistently shows that radio is the predominant source of music discovery. Now, with iTunes Tagging, HD Radio technology provides a cool new way to capture the songs listeners discover, buy them on iTunes and then enjoy them. We are especially pleased that so many broadcasters came together so quickly for the initial launch.” Struble continued, “We are delighted that JBL and Polk will have the first available products that enable iTunes Tagging. The new Polk I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 and the JBL iHD will both include the Tag button. These products will go on sale during the holiday shopping season and we anticipate several additional products that include the Tag button for both the home and the car to follow in early 2008.” Peter Ferrara, CEO of the HD Digital Radio Alliance, stated, “The HD Digital Radio Alliance is tremendously excited about this great new HD Radio feature and will broadly promote iTunes Tagging. We plan a multi-million dollar advertising campaign focusing on the JBL and Polk products, as well as participating retailers.” Clear Channel CEO Mark Mays commented, "Clear Channel Radio remains committed to being the leader in HD Digital Radio content on both primary and multicast channels, and our embrace of iTunes Tagging is just the latest step in that leadership. We believe that HD Digital Radio innovations such as this will continue to open up additional and new services for consumers and revenue opportunities for broadcasters." Several major broadcasters are expected to follow Clear Channel's lead and implement iTunes Tagging. A formal announcement of participating groups is planned for later this month at the NAB Radio convention. |
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