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So, I had these amateur photos of the Portuguese soup I made this week, like some underground cooking show. I was all prepared to chronicle my bastardization of my boyfriend's favorite dish, just in time for this fall weather, but I've been lagging behind the curve on posting. Good thing, too!
This week, Radiohead released their newest album, In Rainbows, on their website, a digital download with a "pay what you think it's worth" pricing structure. Yep, you heard me. The honor system. While MSNBC lauds this as shockingly new, another of my favorite artists has been doing this for quite awhile now - Jane Siberry. Of course, she's smalltime compared to Radiohead, so I understand their oversight. This really is a sign of the times, and they're a'changing. Hello, music web 2.0, the world is flat after all.
Personally, it's where I am hoping that the entire music industry is headed, and friends have heard me preach about this for a long time. We need a total restructure of the music business - tear down the absurdly parasitic middle men, blow up mammoth record labels (figuratively speaking), and rebuild the relationship between the creator and her audience - music is a dialogue between artist and listener, and in some ways, a very private exchange. Am I too idealistic? Most people think so, but in this matter I think I have a pretty clear picture of things. Artists need to make money off their music, or the music stops because Josh is too busy working at Jimmy Johns to write a new song. I get that. But, the Internet is a great equalizer, and it affords anyone the ability to market their own product. Gone are the days of traditional print marketing, thank you, YouTube, Mojo, and other social networking methods of communication. So why do we need label executives to build their mansions and fatten their wallets from the sweat labor of musicians? We don't. I know, Martha, it's a Brave New World and a scary, unchartered one. What should we do? Make new maps.
I'll post about the soup next time, 'cos it kicks ass, too.
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Elle