Spontaneous Music

Bob Lefsetz says what I feel.

Last week I was interviewed live on stage at the Magazine Publisher's Association and one of the things I told all the magazine people in the audience was that publishing once a month, twice a month, or once a week was death in this age of real time reading and writing.

This morning I read Bob's post on the record album where he says:

The idea is to be an ongoing artist.  With a steady stream of product. So people don’t get over you.  Today’s paradigm is like having an intense girlfriend and then not seeing her again for three years. Especially if you’re under the age of twenty, do you think the relationship would last?  Don’t say it’s about attention spans, it’s about CONNECTION!

Exactly.

The Arctic Monkeys have put out three records in the past year, the I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor EP, then the Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not LP, then the Who The F**K Are The Arctic Monkeys EP.  They keep the good stuff coming, as fast as you can consume it.

Check out what Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young are up to.  Bruce spends three days at his farm playing Pete Seeger songs with a bunch of bluegrass style musicians and he puts out a fantastic record.  Neil Young apparently wrote and cut Living With War in a week.  And it's up on the web now for anyone to listen to, before the record comes out.

The artists get it. That's all that matters. We are getting spontaneous music and I love it.

Comments

[Robert Bruce]

Fred, I agree with "so people don't get over you", but what do you think about "so people don't get tired of you", if you slam too much out there too fast.

I remember Variety (I think) back in the 90's talking about the brilliance of Tom Cruise (uh-huh, that was the word used) in that he only does one movie a year so that the audience doesn't get sick of his mug. seems to be some wisdom there as well...

I'm with you on this one, just wonder how long the audience will take the full frontal assault.

Then again, this ain't the 90's. It's "real time", as you say.

[fred]

is that a hint robert ;)

i think EPs may be a better way to release music, less more often.

i think blogs are better way to write than magazines.

but you are right, you can overdo it.

maybe that's why my traffic is declining.

hmm?

[Robert Bruce]

No hint intended... I admire the prolific.

No man, I wouldn't take the decline in traffic for overdoing it, even if it was true, you gotta keep this machine running... too many are now dependent on the "mp3 of the week".

[jackson]

While I'm excited about artists recording quickly - not getting too involved in the studio - and just getting the music out, but I do think you can oversaturate with product.

[Tony Alva]

It's interesting how this has changed over time. I've got the Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Classic Album Series DVD and in it Elton talks in detail about the output schedule for him and other big stars. Basically, two albums each year. This he says caused a lot of promotional overlap and confusion when you were touring in support for a record that was already one release old. I think a full length album a year ensures good material, good tour, with no overexposure. It's a tough pace to keep. I guess that's why being a pop star is still a young persons game.