This week : The Election, Link Cloud Of Awesomeness, Lost’s Muppets counterparts and Spotify Disco Al Desko

Forget Soap-Boxes, Some Of Us Just Have A Conscience…

Politics make me uncomfortable, I’ll be honest. You could respond to that quite simply that that is sort of the point. They’re meant to make us think, to question things. Like a lot of people, I can rant until the cows come home when I feel there has been an injustice but throw me into deliberately political debate and I wouldn’t feel quite so confidently vocal. I guess a lot of politicians bank on this attitude – it means so much can be pushed through while we remain oblivious until it affects us either directly or hits our sense of morality somehow.

I joked in a previous blog that soopsworld would ‘do’ Digital Music Piracy. The Digital Economy Bill is far too large a topic with so many meandering corridors of thought leading off it that I doubt I thoroughly understand the whole picture and I’m very conscious of sounding like an ignorant bystander despite the trawling through endless digital music news-feeds and websites. I can comment from a consumer point of view.

I think my viewpoint has more to do with my age/background than where I work, realistically  My access to  the internet didn’t properly start until ’97 at uni,  Myspace was my first proper digital music experience even before Itunes and before that my music education was dominated by HMV sales. I think coupled with working in small scale music venues with music communities interweaved around them – maybe because a lot of my mates have been in bands, I don’t feel so great about file-sharing. I can make the mental link that there are people at the other end of the chain not getting paid for their work that aren’t megastars and yes, they DO need the cash actually – possibly an attitude that has become depressingly rare.

 I watched the BBC’s heavily edited take on the subject in last night’s Panorama. They gave it a good stab but it felt like a lot had been left out. What shocked me more than anything, and I probably am being  super-naive here, is how little people gave a sh*t that they were essentially doing the digital equivalent of shoplifting. One woman said of her kids enormous music consumption (nicked) – as long as it wasn’t porn, she didn’t see a problem with that.

Another thing that really stood out for me, however was the observation that the 16-24yr olds that are apparently the main offenders were the biggest consumers of music, in that on top of all the file-shared stuff – they were still BUYING music so to penalize them would be pretty dumb because then the record companies/artists will shoot themselves in the foot even more. Especially when it’s been reported that last year digital sales overtook cds. This is why it isn’t a black & white case – if you don’t listen to the radio(which quite a lot of people don’t) – without knowing about the music, how are you going to buy it? Of course streaming is the way forward but the main issue this seems to be about is changing the attitude that music, amongst everything else being shared, should be free.

You’d expect to be paid for a day’s work, why should the creators of music/content be any different?

It’s Quite Simple – 6Music Goes And We’ll All Have To Listen To Owl City. Sort of.

I read a fair few music industry/digital music/tech feeds, what can I say – I like to nerd it out from time to time – so my head has been flooded with articles on 6Music and recently reports on the state of the digital music market and the role of the label in the current music industry. 32 pages a time. What can I say, I was having a quiet lunchbreak and fancied torturing myself.

ANYWAY, if you’re remotely interested in music and have a life, however, you may have recently noticed stuff in the general press, not just specifically the music press about the BBC’s plans to shut down 6Music. I don’t listen to 6Music daily, I’m ashamed to say so I feel quite sheepish getting on any sort of soap box if I’m honest. But yep, I’m going to…

 My digital music consumption of late has been dominated by constructing endless Spotify playlists and going on Hype Machine to listen to new tracks pooled from the blogosphere (predominantly remixes, admittedly but the occasional treasure pops up).  I don’t have a digital radio at home so I listen to Radio 1 first thing in the morning because I grew up in Leeds so therefore justify liking Chris Moyles’ banter (he’s from Leeds, fact fans) and occasionally in the evenings I’ll listen to Annie Mac/Grimmy’s shows if I’m not listening to cds. Weekends are for Radio 2 afternoons and making Itunes playlists on the music front. I don’t listen to Chris Moyles for new music, that’s what I go on Hype Machine/RCRD­_LBL and listen to evening Radio 1 for because I’m broke but have a thirst for new music so I get access to it via streaming (and pay for it by listening to godawful Spotify ads but that’s another blog). What can I say, that’s my personal deal.

 

 There are a lot of people that have no interest in trawling a blog-fuelled website for credible new music and they have the money to buy and would very much like to, thanks. A lot of them listen to 6Music so if/when it dies – they’re screwed. So are the bands that 6Music introduce to those people and in turn so are the labels that fund the majority of that music to be made. If no one knows about the new music, they can’t buy it and if no one buys it, the labels and the artist won’t have any money to make new music eventually and we’ll be stuck listening to utter sh*te. Hence why it’s BIG DEAL if the BBC close 6Music and why we should all give a sh*t. Capisce? Good. Glad that’s all clear.

  

Coming soon – soopsworld does Digital Music Piracy.

 

Still not convinced:

The wise words of Steve Lamacq

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/mar/10/6-music-steve-lamacq

 

Popjustice -  says how it is. And is very funny.

http://tinyurl.com/bbcblahblah

 

 

 

Who Killed Rock ‘N’ Roll

 The cynical amongst us may be unsurprised at Tom from Kasabian’s rant about the internet  taking away the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll when it’s the NME Awards tomorrow but to an extent I agree with him about the myth of the rock star being killed off. I just don’t agree that it’s the internet and blogging that’s done it, it’s celebrity culture and well, time. If you want to point the finger at someone, point it at the paparazzi, the red tops and Heat, OK and Hello magazines of this world – they were at it before the stars started online introspective explorations and even before Perez Hilton started Paint-doodling over pictures of LiLo.

 

PR’s always been there, buzz sells records but the extent that it goes to these days – there’s your culprit for the murder of Rock ‘N’ Roll. We’re all responsible. We go on the gossip sites, we buy the papers and magazines, we subscribe to the celebrity culture – you can’t just make a record and live off the rock ‘n’ roll image that the music evokes with it – people want more information. Of course it’s a chicken and egg situation, who started all this extra craving for information and who provided it in the first place – I’d blame Lily Allen blogging on MySpace but I really don’t think her ego needs expanding any further.

Problem is – there are artists(and their management) out there with gargantuan egos that need to be fed with media as well as fan attention, they fuel the machine, they want to behave badly, feign distress at it being papped and have it fuel their so-called rock ‘n’ roll image – they want it every way and which way basically and because they do it, to compete everyone else feels like they have to. And an image is just what ‘rock’n’roll’ is, as soon as celebs started dancing with enemy of the press so closely, the rock ‘n’ roll became even more of a myth – it’s a mirage, an image projected out there to sell a lifestyle that hasn’t been lived for decades. Indie and Rock and Pop are all so closely merged in the public eye, rock n roll behaviour is no longer exclusive to those carrying guitars and the sad reality is that the current generation thinks it has seen it all and doesn’t shock as easily. Scandal sells but the turnover is so fast it’s become a global craving that apparently needs to be constantly fed.

Hence why you have to tell us how you feel in your personal, heartfelt blog about what ‘Processed Beats’ is REALLY about, Tom. Take pictures instead – much more interesting…

 

 

 

Brighton Beach, YSL 100s and Julie Driscoll – I’ll always have a soft spot for Mods

Reality Check: What the British public REALLY liked to listen to/watch last decade…

Courtesy of CMU, cheers for that guys – what a way to start the week…

 

Highest selling albums 2000-2009
1. James Blunt – Back To Bedlam
2. Dido – No Angel
3. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
4. Leona Lewis – Spirit
5. David Gray – White Ladder
6. The Beatles – 1
7. Dido – Life For Rent
8. Coldplay – A Rush Of Blood To The Head
9. Scissor Sisters – Scissor Sisters
10. Take That – Beautiful World
Source: The Official Charts Company

 

Highest selling singles 2000-2009
1. Will Young – Anything Is Possible/Evergreen
2. Gareth Gates – Unchained Melody
3. Tony Christie – (Is This The Way To) Amarillo
4. Shaggy – It Wasn't Me
5. Alexandra Burke – Hallelujah
6. Band Aid 20 – Do They Know It's Christmas?
7. Kylie Minogue – Can't Get You Out Of My Head
8. Shayne Ward – That's My Goal
9. Hear'say – Pure And Simple
10. Bob The Builder – Can We Fix It
Source: The Official Charts Company

 

Highest selling compilations 2000-2009
1. Now That's What I Call Music 47
2. Now That's What I Call Music 50
3. Now That's What I Call Music 56
4. Mamma Mia Soundtrack
5. Now That's What I Call Music 68
6. High School Musical Soundtrack
7. Now That's What I Call Music 62
8. Bridget Jones's Diary Soundtrack
9. Now That's What I Call Music 71
10. Now That's What I Call Music 53
Source: The Official Charts Company

 

Highest selling videos 2000-2009
1. Mamma Mia
2. Gladiator
3. Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring
4. Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl
5. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
6. Shrek
7. Bridget Jones's Diary
8. The Shawshank Redemption
9. Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
10. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets
Source: The Official Charts Company

 

Most played songs 2000-2009
1. Snow Patrol – Chasing Cars
2. Take That – Shine
3. Scissor Sisters – I Don't Feel Like Dancin
4. The Feeling – Love It When You Call
5. Sugababes – About You Now
6. Take That – Rule The World
7. James Blunt – You're Beautiful
8. Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot
9. Kylie Minogue – Can't Get You Out Of My Head
10. Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
Source: PPL

 

Each to their own but maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan, talent-show linked, Dido and JAMES BLUNT. I'm afraid I find it dull to the state of depressing looking at that lot… Is Britain really that Middle Of The Road as a whole? Really? Really? *shudders*