Giving The Music Legs

  beck heart 
  Originally uploaded by summer anne.

I read this interview with Beck today and just had to post about it. Beck is trying to figure out the best way to "give the music legs" in the digital age.

I've posted alot about digital music over the years and there are plenty of readers who feel that the digital era has devalued music, made it harder for artists to get paid, etc, etc. And certainly that has been true, but I think that's largely because artists and their managers and labels have not yet figured out how to take advantage of the digital medium.

Beck is trying lots of interesting things including releasing a video version of the record on YouTube (read the interview for more details of that).

Beck says:

There are so many dimensions to what a record can be these days. Artists can and should approach making an album as an opportunity to do a series of releases – one that's visual, one that has alternate versions, and one that's something the listener can participate in or arrange and change. It's time for the album to embrace the technology.

Of course all this doesn't matter a damn if the music insn't any good. Hopefully Beck's new record will be great and all the cool things he's doing to embrace the digital medium will make it even better.

Comments

[Raj Bala]

A friend of mine at one of the largest indie labels around and I were having a discussion on a similar subject. They are more concerned with consumers making whole copies of CDs rather than concerns with digital copies.

Personally, my analog side prefers vinyl everytime when possible. The compression artifacts of digital result in astoundingly bad output. "Lossless compression is an oxymoron."

[csven]

"there are plenty of readers who feel that the digital era has devalued music"

I'd venture you've put me in this category based on our emails. However, I'd say that it's not the "digital era" that's devalued music, it's the public. It's still about supply and demand, and they've taken advantage of a leak in the supply chain pipeline.

You of course know that I for one would like to see people force *real* change to the system. Unfortunately, you never replied to that last email which asked why you didn't promote that kind of change; the kind which comes from placing value on the products of those companies who conduct business the way we all would like and who don't go sending the lawyers out indiscriminately. Forcing change by respecting the rights of their artists and giving them control over their product, and ignoring those artists (however much you enjoy their music) who associate themselves with companies clutching to yesterday's business models.

You said earlier you wanted to promote the artists. I can't think of a better way to promote them than through giving them control and your attention such that these new business models can more quickly develop. The value will come when the public's respect re-enters the equation. And imo those new business models need to take hold for that to happen.

[Chuck Fishman]

Three tunes from Beck's new album, "Information" have been leaked .. "Cellphone Is Dead" is amazing; I hear Beck is a scientologist and all that - so I don't know if this is the reason why this track while played on a run helps me reach some kind of religious catharsis or something like that (is it a brainwashing tune? I'm just joshing here); anyways its very funky yet spiritual tune. It just is my jam of jams right now.

Now did Beck intend the leak ?? Beck's recent musings makes me think so.

However, if I had first come across the tunes in an online music store, versus a leak, I would have been more likely to buy the tunes legitmately. When the album really comes out, it will be a harder choice to make if I want to part with my 99 cents. And I don't go to too many concerts, so it's unlikely Beck will see revenues from me.

Other leaked tunes include some good grooves, "We Dance Alone" and "Think I'm in Love".

[everysandwich]

It truly is a thrilling time in music. After a multi-year hiatus from digital music diddling due to the upgrade ceiling on my old mac, I've lately been able to dip my toes back into the current state of the tech, where I was delighted and horrified to learn most of my old rack gear can be replaced with a tabletop interface (focusrite Saffire) and a Mac Book. Playing with Garageband, it's nice to see how much can now be done with a much simpler interface, and I wonder if it could be used as a collaborative platform across the net. Record a project, share it -- let others tweak and modify it into their own remixes, add tracks, change instrumentation. I think this thought was tried earlier, but I don't know if it ever took off. (For some reason I think it was called "Rocket.") Speaking of extending music, let me point you to what I thought was a really nice genre flip of the Outkast hit "Hey-Ya" by Met Weddle of an outfit named Obediah Parker. It made me smile.

[Nic Brisbourne]

I am increasingly thinking that people will pay for experiences and not product. This is driven by basic economics - as the music industry becomes efficient production costs fall (to near zero if one includes substitutes) and hence prices for products fall to near zero. However, concerts will retain a scarcity value. Anecdotal evidence from Robbie Williams and the Rolling Stones (forgive the Euro bias) is that they make their money from tours now.

I have been influenced by Chris Anderson's Long Tail.