Life Without Wires

I have all this stuff I put together for a musician friend of mine who was looking for advice on how to sell music now that everything’s gone all digital and all. It’s going to waste sitting here on my computer. I feel I should share it with any musicians and artists that are looking for ways to make and distribute their music and still pay for food. I’ve done a lot of work with digital music and content, particularly in mobile, so a lot of this stuff is internet or mobile based. If you find it useful let me know, it’ll make me happy.

This article will help you understand the music business since everything went all digital. It may help you as an artist.

You can learn all you need to know about how to tell a good story as an artist from Lady Gaga. She’s got it cracked. Caitlin_Burns writes an excellent summary of what the Haus of Gaga is up to here.

Lady Gaga tells her story the right way

Here’s are some tools that can get you started:

First of all here’s some ideas I put together which I called “Where to Stick Yer Album”. You’ll find some ideas there for what to do if you’ve got an album to sell but you’re not quite sure where to sell it.

Next here’s a general introduction to DIY distribution and sales on web and mobile.

If you’d like some more thoughts on music, art and how to sell it and survive, read on…

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Join Sabbath Manifesto in a National Day of Unplugging « Sabbath Manifesto.

Do you take time to reflect on the information that’s being thrown at you all of the time? I get lost in it sometimes and my reaction is to switch it all off and go for a walk on the beach. Sometimes I want to stay on the beach and leave it off. Then my phone beeps and I realise I’m still in the stream. I’m still getting the information thrown at me. People saying things, talking, sharing. All at a rapid pace. Its like an overflowing river of words and videos and bits and bytes just rushing by.

Some people don’t get involved. They might boast that they don’t even own a computer, or that they rarely use email. I get that. I do. I’m a bit like that myself sometimes.

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banksy art

“On his reputation, Banksy has been quoted as saying, “People either love me or they hate me, or they don’t really care.” And, really, isn’t that the sum of any passionate endeavor?”

Yup, that’s hit the spot.

via The Contradiction Of Contradiction: A Conversation With Banksy – The Rumpus.net.

It's grand once you're in...

I am dipping in and out of my twitter account in the last few days as if it’s cold water. Its just not an attractive proposition to tweet again. It was when I was living in the city and running things that i found twitter useful (last year)- I used twitter for organising, event management, reporting on an event, group texting…that sort of thing. I don’t need that at the moment- To be that out there. I’ve enjoyed being private this year. Then I read this article by Damien Mulley today.

Why? Why would I put myself into that expanding, chaotic mess? For what?

I’ll still give it a go. But as with all of these things I think you need a reason to use the Twitter tool. If I have to let a lot of people know what I’ve seen, or what to do (e.g. if I’m organising an event) or if a riot breaks out on Grafton St. and I’m there, I’ll tweet. If I make an album and want to keep my fans happy I’ll tweet. Otherwise…I don’t know. Biz Stone, founder of twitter, thinks people are not quite getting the point of twitter…I think this is probably more true in Ireland, where the city’s so bloody small you can just shout across the street at someone rather than go through the bother of tweeting everybody…

Many people have assumed that Twitter is just another social network, some kind of micro-blogging service, or both. It can be these things but primarily Twitter serves as a real-time information network powered by people around the world discovering what’s happening and sharing the news. The Iranian election was the most discussed issue on Twitter in the final year of a decade defined by advancements in information access.

via Why we can never rest: a year in the life of Twitter – Times Online.

“Like things I have to look at: red hair and Rothkos, as if the angels just have to show. In fairness to you I must revise this romance to rust, trade in this stash for cash, trade in these goods for ash. In fairness to you I will stare the paint right off this sill, beat down the floor with my feet ’till you and I have time to be still.”

Angels Just Have to Show- Karate.

The games industry and the film industry are converging, they say. Games make an estimated 44 billion a year. The film industry as it exists at the moment is declining, i hear. I can’t find the figures for 2009, but the money made in film is significantly less than is made by games- in the region of 6-7 billion as far as i can tell.

so what happens when the gamers start paying for movies?

I’m excited by the prospect. The Nintendo Wii brought the peripheral studies that were going on in Haptics to the world. MIT Media Lab were doing work on this years ago, but always made it sound so complicated- it was no fun. Interactivity and new user interfaces on the Wii have changed the way people do things, its brought them into the game. Its nerdy stuff simplified.

The reason I’m interested in this is because I wonder about the possibilities of new forms of filmmaking and film viewing using the games channel rather than the film channel to produce and develop your work. What i mean is- would the games industry fund a new model of the film production industry?

In the old days when people used to go to the cinema for new experiences and used to pay for the privilege, filmmakers were given money to experiment and make compelling work. Can this model be translated to the gamers? Surely the games industry have a few million to spare to put into the pockets of aspiring filmmakers looking for new avenues of experimentation and development. Dare i say it- to allow them to experiment and produce ART?

Games are going to need better stories, better direction, better production. Is it just a question of a change of paradigm for filmmakers? For me?

A couple of friends of mine shared this movie with me:
Sita Sings the Blues

Its lovely. This is how it should be done. Its Creative Commons, which means its free to share. I love when people go this way with their work. Of course, you need lots of talent. The director (Nina Paley) describes her approach really well:

People have been making money in Free Software for years; it’s time for Free Culture to follow

I can’t wait to download the whole thing and watch it. Maybe I’ll organise a screening…hmmm….

Cannons and Muses Moran Been-noon discusses this book by Suzi Gablik about art and politics:

“Autonomous art,” as Gablik presents it in her book, is potentially more aggressive politically than politically intended art. This claim established any art as political, whether the artist constructs it as such or not. Gablik believes there is no escape from the prison society enforces upon art, and encourages those who produce culture to be wise and choose the cell containing their work instead of allowing it to be assigned by someone else.

Art and politics feels like a difficult mix. How can you create freely, be removed enough to reveal some sort of universal truth, if you’re playing politician?

If any art is political, then it doesn’t matter one way or another if the artist considers himself/herself political. I believe the most exciting and liberating political art is made in a kind of bubble. Its a spontaneous eruption and may have little to do with the politics that inform it. This doesn’t mean its not political. Its just truthful. Its gets to the heart of politics. When I worked with the Chicago Independent Television collective to start an independent tv channel we often discussed how ‘political’ the show should be. the mix that came out of it shows that you can go one way or the other- its all effective as long as its truthful. Its good if it shows you the soul of the artist(s) in one way or the other- that way you can see the true effects of war, oppression, poverty, even positive political impact like liberation, social justice, change…

During the most oppressive time of the Bush regime (when he was re-elected) I noticed a shift in what radical “political” artists were spontaneously producing. It was more about joy and release, less about a message. But it was still political.

This liberates the artist. the political artist equates to the artist in any context. political artist == any artist == artist, regardless of conflict. art is art, the cell is chosen. its a question of awareness.

Make art not war! as Glenn Hansard said. Kind of.

last year i contributed to a discussion that outlined new opportunities in the ‘knowledge economy’ in Ireland. Neil Leyden of Calico Media suggested ‘A vision for an International Content Services Centre’. you can read the proposal and comments, including my own, here.
So now the Minister has had a read:

“We are also considering the establishment of an international content services centre which would allow Irish and international content owners in film, video, music and multimedia to distribute their content in a fair and equitable manner.”

Looking at it now there is some evidence of my reluctance to get involved in an uncertain future producing ‘content’, but still some hope. If the government did begin to define a way innovation and art might be supported in a more radical way, I wonder would I feel more optimistic about the possibilities of survival working with such things?