In honor of Naxos' 9 Grammy's (which the Nashville Business Journal neglected to mention)Â Today's funny will be dedicated to Classical music.
Musical Flash Mobs- Can spectacle fill seats?
So anyone not living under a rock for the past few years has become privy to the internet phenom of the flashmob. A flashmob is typically a highly choreographed, large group of people all participating in what Wikipedia refers to as "an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then disperse." What most folks haven't yet seen or been in the midst of is a musical flash mob. Now, I am not talking about the flash concerts of the mid 2000's whereby the likes of PINK would find a stealthy space to hold a show then text message a few hundred people the location and time and watch human nature take over with populating a few thousand people into an ally for the free show. I'm talking about a flash mob musical event. A crowd of people surrounded by and containing musicians with the intent of creating a random act of music- then moving on. Below is a prime example of this type of event: "The Sound of Music" flashmob filmed in Antwerp, Germany last year.
This subject was brought up today on NPR's music blog and within a few hours I had received other email links taking me to these and other flash musical events. While these events may not be worth-while in the classic sense of the music business and our revenue-centric approach to music at large, they certainly make for good social media fodder. As some of these groups have absolutely nothing to gain other than the momentary notoriety of a youtube viral sensation, others are going to naturally capitalize on these events as the real marketing tool they are. One such group, the Philadelphia Opera is a prime example of using spectacle to fill seats.
Below is their "Hallelujah" performance at a Philly Macy's-Â talk about generating some online chutzpah.
Another example of a more formalized sit-down flash concert features Music City's own Futureman (of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones) giving a concert of his Black Mozart Ensemble in Louisville.
Now the final act of this three paragraph diatribe is where we discuss the obvious... these are all performing arts-centric uses... will this approach do anything in the realm of popular music? I frankly don't know. Â One example of the Musical Flash Mob for the Rock/Pop set can be found in the LA Band "Imperial Stars." They unveiled their new single "Traffic Jam" on the 101 freeway last month. They were subsequently arrested and definately made the news (perhaps not for all the right reasons). So in the end... for them, was this simply a cheap media stunt? Perhaps. Smart marketing? - well, I bought the single just to see who they were... (btw- save your $0.99)
If anyone has any other examples of this type of Musical Flash Mob, I would love to see videos/hear your comments. I think this is quite the interesting phenomenon. Yet a new way to harness our audiences with interactive entertainment, which just might translate into more album/ticket sales.
Piracy as it affects "serious" songwriters and composers
Recently after reading the blog of my friend, John Mackey (one of the most talented young composers for band I have ever known) I learned of the plight that so many composers and songwriters go through facing internet piracy. So often, because of the size and bulldog tactics of the R.I.A.A. we think of piracy only in terms of lost CD sales and missing download revenue. There is an entirely different side of the coin. The writers and composers of the music contained therein are also missing their monies derived from these sales... this is a quite unfortunate by-product of the loss of recorded music sales. Even more disturbing though is the growth of sheet music "sharing" sites that facilitate the piracy of their actual written work. Not being a composer or publisher myself, this is an area of the business I hadn't thought of in terms of piracy, but it deserves equal ground with the chest pounding and lawsuit wielding recorded music battle for legal downloads and sales. John mentioned a composer he likes named Jason Robert Brown. I personally had not heard of him, but that rarely means much in the musical world. After going to Jason's blog, I find a most fascinating account of his back and forth with an infringer! Imagine that, rather than suing her... he spoke to her... tried to educate her... (some people are beyond education). This was a really unique approach to dealing with piracy. tackling it one person at a time. Imagine if Metallica had called on a few pirates back in 2002... WOW what a news story that would have been... anyways I digress. I continued reading the rest of this back and forth and becomes quickly apparent that she might be beyond education... the point though is he reached out to her and a number of other infringers and simply explained that he makes a living off of his music and politely asked them to stop sharing... and many of them did!!!!  Reading his story also led me to his wife's blog. She is fighting the same fight as a composer and from what I can tell has been a bit more outspoken on the subject. I think this is GREAT. More composers need to get involved in "the good fight". I have said for years but educating the general public is the key to thwarting this habit of stealing our intellectual property.
To do my part, I have done some searching and below is a list of LEGAL / PAID download sites to acquire sheet music. Do your part.
Taco Taco! Texas Music Educators recap
Ok Folks, I am sorry.
I am the worst Blogger ever! But in my defense, this has been a busy spring. My next blog post will illuminate you as to what I have been up to... I originally typed this February 17 and forgot to post it... so here it is!!!
I just returned from the Texas Music Educators Association convention (TMEA)-Â or to the uninitiated... the "everybody who matters and has anything of value for the world or music education" convention.
All I can say is WOW! This was my first TMEA even though I am quite the legacy. My Grandfather was President of TMEA in the 1950s!
TMEA is by all accounts much larger than TBA (Texas Bandmasters Association)- or any other conference I attend on Music Education for that matter. Overall, despite a lousy economy the attendance was really quite good. Many of my friends from education land were there and the overall picture I got from the state of budgets (at least in TX) was that most were actually doing alright (take a note California). If Texans know how to do anything- it is play football and field a marching band- both of which they fund mightily.
TMEA was not only a time for me to catch up with my buddies, but also a great time to meet up with old and new clients to discuss current and future projects. I decided rather than delivering a list of my clients as a recap, I would make a photo montage of them and spent one afternoon taking photos of their booths, products, etc. These photos are on our Naxos Music Library facebook page here. Other clients in attendance were Alfred Music Publishing, Hal Leonard, Ivasi, SmartMusic, Professor Carol, and a few I cant seem to remember.
All In All this was a GREAT conference. The weather did not cooperate as it rained much of the time we were there and it was quite cold, however we made the best of it by imbibing in great Mexican food and our fair share of Margaritas. Hopefully next year the weather will be better as this is going on my Educational conference list permanently.
Til next time, Over and Out!