New Show Motto

I'm adapting this from a comment I saw on YouTube...

to all the plastic manufactured "pop stars" of today...

Here's a lesson for you. Go pick up an instrument, turn off the auto tune, learn how to truly perform. Go to a seedy bar, entertain the few that are there, repeat that for a few years. Do it like the talented musicians you will hear on this show. Real musicians, with real instruments and real talent.

This is my new motto for the show.


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Show notes;

Tomorrow night I'll be joined on the show by our good friend Rob Mazurek, Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show, and possibly Kyle Marney for a round table discussion about the music industry as well as the recent goings on with the now tabled so called anti piracy laws as well as recent developments regarding copyright infringement online. You won't want to miss this one!

Thinking About What If's......

Sitting here listening to Pete Berwicks 2007 album release "Ain't No Train Outta Nashville" has gotten me thinking. Dangerous thing, I know.

First, a little history lesson, this album was originally supposed to be released when Pete was in Nashville back in the early 90's but was hung up in contract disputes for over 15 years when the label he was signed with went under. Pete was able to resolve those issues and released the album under his own label.

The "what if" I'm thinking of is suppose that didn't happen and ain't no train made it onto the record label shelves back in the early 90's when Barf Brooks was starting to make it big?

At that time, country music was in limbo, there was music, just not anything anyone wanted to listen to. Many people were wondering if the genre was going to die. Randy Travis was pretty big at that time, and said he understood why people thought that way. He apparently didn't think much of what his fellow singers were doing saying "it just wasn't good music" in an interview. Garth (Barf) Brooks' song "Friends in Low Places" took off, and to be honest, it does sound like an honest country song. Shame the rest of his really wasn't. I remember from the time that there was a country dance song that took off, "Boot Scootin Boogie" that was big.

So, suppose Pete's album made it to the record store shelves in this time period, especially with the genre in the limbo that it was, I'm thinking the industry wouldn't need saving now. And I'm sure there were 100+ Pete Berwicks out there at that time, the only fatal flaw being was that they were willing to tell the industry to kiss their ass when a record executive wanted to tell them what they thought people wanted to hear (when in actuality they didn't have a clue then, or now) and think of what might have happened is just one asshole decided to leave his ego at the door, and let real music flow?

I wouldn't have to listen to classic rock stations, or talk radio on my ride to work. Just my .02 of course.





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Show notes;

I somehow managed to keep the regular broadcast going, only missing one show in September this Halloween season, although the shows were shorter. How? I have no idea. I even did a show the day before Halloween which hasn't happened in years. Were those shows my best, no, I was reusing old playlists, and was almost a zombie myself at the computer running them. I plan to get back to my fighting form in the coming weeks, I'm hoping that I might be able to try (note the try) and schedule some musician interviews in the next couple of weeks.

If you are finding this blog for the first time, please follow the link on the about me segment of the blogger site (just mouse over my picture) and check it out, we're on every Sunday at 9 pm (eastern time).

The RIAA Circus, Part 2

Recently the RIAA tried to justify paying over $17M (US) in legal fees to recover $391,000 stating that it's money well spent.

Sorry, still having a hard time wrapping my brain around this one.

$17M for Legal Fees Is Money Well Spent, RIAA Says

Make sure you're sitting down, I really have to wonder how the RIAA's artists, the ones who are so frequently crying about piracy honestly feel about this.

Show Notes and Updates

Last Sunday Deb from Unsigned Musicians and our good friend Rob Mazurek (known on blogtv as the Dasperminator) had a very interesting round table discussion about ASCAP's letter to their musicians telling them to not license their music under Creative Commons because that lets people steal it.

As we pointed out during the show nothing could be further from the truth. If anything CC provides the musicians a way to license their music without having to either go all out and put it in the public domain, or have to direct license the music. They do not lose their rights under copyright. CC protects them because depending on which CC license they use there are at least some rights reserved.

Good show, I've been uploading a couple of clips a day onto the IndieSpotlightLive youtube channel, and the show in it's entirety is still available on my blogtv page and will be so until tomorrow evening.


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Updates;

Unless Kyron Horman is found (and that would be some freaking awesome news) my friend Jude who runs the childseeknetwork site and the Missing Kyron Horman Facebook page will be on the show to talk about the case. I do believe we'll have another guest who is working on this case with her as well but as of yet they are unconfirmed.

Deb and I are putting together another music event, this one will be a 12 hour all original, all indie show hosted over on the UnleashedAgain channel on blogtv starting at 12 noon eastern time on August 21st.

Have a great weekend everyone!

ASCAP Declares War on Creative Commons

I knew it might happen one day.

Check out this article;

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/89494/ascap-declares-war-on-free-culture/

We will be discussing this on Sunday's show. I will be joined by Deb from Unsigned Musicians as well as our good friend Rob Mazurek.

Join us this Sunday starting at 9 pm (eastern) on blogtv.

And if I don't see ya happy 4th of July!

Fonda Feingold on Indie Spotlight this Sunday

A phenomenal musician will be joining us this Sunday. The music of Fonda Feingold is awesome, and that is only half the story.

We will be talking with someone who fought the music industry and won.

As with many other musicians who sign to a major label believing the big promises and expecting big things, she had signed on the dotted line only to have her album shelved.


After a long battle she finally went indie and produced the awesome "Before and After".

Check out her website http://www.fondafeingold.com and check her out!

Joining also this Sunday as co-host will be Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show. The show starts at 9 (eastern) this Sunday and I look forward to seeing you there!

Show Notes and Updates

Haven't done one of these in a while, guess we're overdue for an update.

Hmm, where to start?

First I have pulled the plug on my recently restarted blogtalkradio show. While BTR has fixed all the issues that had driven me away from there, the listener stats weren't there. While I might consider launching a new channel over there sometime in the future to get a fresh start with them right now that idea isn't only on the back burner, it's not even on the stove but I thought that I would mention it since I haven't as of yet totally abandoned it. The other reason I decided to scuttle the show is because to be quite honest I really don't have the time to put into planning two shows a week right now, instead having just the Sunday show on blogtv and focusing my energy on that. Things on blogtv are going really well right now (had almost one hundred hits according to my stat tracker during last Sunday's show). One thing I am going to do is keep the most recent blogtalkradio show's player here on the blog, I figure it gives you folks something nice to listen to while you read my miscellaneous ramblings over here....lol

If I decide to launch a totally new show over there I'll be sure to blog about it here. As I mentioned before, it's just an idea that I haven't completely put out of my mind.

So with all that being said, what is going on with the show, what is coming up, what kind of programming can you guys expect?

Well all I can say is that while it is still in the planning stages I do believe that my awesome friend Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show will be back on to help out with a few interviews that we might have lined up. I can't wait, those shows are always loads of fun.

Call it a teaser if you will, but stay tuned, and have a great weekend everyone!

Don't forget that we are on every Sunday night at 9 pm (eastern time) on blogtv.

Click here for a direct link to the show

Show Tonight on Blogtalkradio, and other stuff

First of all just wanted to remind everyone that I am doing a show over on blogtalkradio starting at 11 pm (eastern) hope to see everyone there, just follow the link below.

Also, this Sunday on blogtv I'll be talking about our wonderful friends at the RIAA contemplating a 3rd (thats right a THIRD) trial regarding the Jammie Thomas - Rasset file sharing case (click link for story).

They just don't get it. From Ray Beckerman's Recording Industry vs. The People blog;

Reported that RIAA will ask for a 3rd trial in Capitol Records v Thomas

According to news reports, the RIAA has announced that it will elect not to accept a judgment for $54,000, but to instead go for a new trial, limited to the issue of the appropriate amount of statutory damages.

Unreal.


Indie Spotlight Sessions on blogtalkradio

Indie Spotlight Live on Blogtv

Indie Spotlight Live Returned to the Airwaves Last Sunday

Really had fun at the show this week.

If I had to define the last couple of shows, the words meandering, lost, poorly planned would come to mind.

Fortunately this week we were able to get back on track.

We had the honor of having Australian musician Lisa J. Aston in our chatroom this week. Phenomenal musician, and one classy lady. We had a candid discussion about the music industry, it's interesting how different things are outside of the U.S. with the industry, and sadly, many things are the same.

As Lisa pointed out, when she was tied to a label she really wasn't going anywhere, when she went Indie, the sky was the limit.

Here is a link to her myspace page check out her music, you won't be disappointed, that I promise you.

We also talked about the case in Scotland about the clerk who was almost fined by a performance rights agency for copyright infringement because they were singing a song to them self while working.

I'm not kidding, the article is here and the word overkill comes to mind. I agree that songwriters should be paid for commercial uses of their music, but at the same time I think that common sense should prevail.

Special thanks to my friend Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show for sending me that article, as well as one of Lisa J. Aston's songs to play on the show.

Also, as I mentioned on the show, I am running out of room on my blogtv account for videos so over the next couple of days I will be moving them to my youtube channel, and deleting them off of my blogtv page to make room so I can record more videos.

We're back in action, every Sunday night at 9 p.m. (eastern U.S. time) and hope you folks will join us!

p.s. I almost forgot, happy 2nd birthday to the Unsigned Musicians show, on the internet that's almost an eternity ;)

Beware a Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

We had a caller on our old blogtalkradio show back in March who claimed to be a supporter of Indie artists, hated the way the industry treats independents, agreed with everything Deb and I had to say, ect. ect. ect.

Turns out the guy was full of it, and this Sunday night we're going to call him out.

Show starts at 9 pm (eastern), especially if you are a musician you don't want to miss this one.

Indie Spotlight Live

Hope to see ya there.

If You Missed Spotlight Last Sunday...

...then you missed one heck of a show.

Deb from the Unsigned Musicians show was able to join me as co-host this week. It was nice having her back on the show. To kill some time and wait for the regular viewers to start shuffling in we talked about the PETA idiots freaking out because Obama killed a fly instead of trapping it humanely and letting it go free outdoors. Deb offered her opinion on PETA (on top of supporting unsigned artists she is also an animal rights activist) and confirmed everything I ever thought of them. Sorry if you support PETA all I can say is go do some reseach on who they really are. PETA does things that honestly send a shiver down my spine.

Anyway....

We also had SmokingToad on the Skype call. Deb is looking to do another 24 hour show about legalizing Marijuana. Toad was able to offer some input into the Free the Weed issue, along with some folks in chat. It was an interesting conversation and I'll have more information about the show when we figure out when it's gonna be.

Then we talked about the Jammie Thomas-Rasset case, the disqusting judgement that was entered against her ($1.92 million dollars) and what it means to the indie artists and those of us who play independent music on the internet, as well as confirming that the RIAA really isn't a nice group of people. We also talked about ASCAP wanting to charge cell phone companies royaties for ringtones, their argument being that when a phone rings in public it's a public performance of a song. Rediculous isn't it?

Then, the fun surprise of the evening, Pete Berwick showed up in my chatroom while we were talking about all this crap, and offered his own opinion of it, which if anyone knows Pete knows that he has no real love for the "music industry hacks". We were able to have Pete on the show, which was nice, it's always a treat when he's able to stop in.

We closed out the show with a live performance from Jamie Gray. After we talked to Pete, we wanted to show him how easy it is to invite someone to "co-host" come on a show and play. Jamie was in rare form, and played an outstanding set (coincidently if anyones interested, he does have a show on blogtv, Thursday nights at 10 (eastern time) check him out.

Like I said, it was a great show, I know I had a blast!

Comment on Yesterday's Post Regarding Pete Berwick

I had copied and pasted yesterdays blog on Myspace. My good friend Rob Mazurek made a very good comment on it, and I wanted to share it as well as my response for the benefit of those who read my blogs on here.

Nothing offence about Pete's picture that I can see here Jack,pair of handcuffs..-so what ? . I've seen women on myspace post almost completely nude shots of themselves and never get them yanked from their pages (then again who would complain... I guess thats a bad example...lol) Seriously though, Pete's picture here is completely harmless- I think you may be onto somthing Jack, it's not the pictures at all-but the music that the major labels find to be a threat to their existance-so yeah,they nit-pick away at the indie guys for creating music just as good (and in some cases better-then some of their major artists)

What I find sad and pathetic is...the world of music is digitalized now,downloads are the norm as opposed to buying CD's- the market is huge for everyone to make a buck, there's no need for childlike greed on anyones part. I wont mention any major label artists names here but if certain female artists can make half-naked videos and sell music based on "Sex" and have their videos freely posted on myspace for the world to see (including impressionable 13 year old girls) , than Pete's pic is very harmless compared to that !! , Ive also seen womens websites with pics depicting/suggesting bondage- so the handcuffs obviously cannot be the "Real issue" here.

- Just my Two Cents people.

Posted by Rob Mazurek on Wednesday, June 03, 2009 - 6:13 AM

I think he hit the nail right on the head. Reposting my response here for the benefit of my blogger readers.

Rob I think you make a very good point. We've all seen some pretty suggestive pictures here on Myspace, generally from legit users of the site. As the world of music has become more digitized social networking sites like Myspace are the perfect tool for independent musicians to promote themselves, get their work heard and do all this without being with a major label. The majors meanwhile want to promote THEIR people, and the music that THEY think people should be listening to, never mind that there are a lot of people who have gotten tired of the cookie-cutter crap that the majors keep churning out. Keeping in mind that the major recording studios (or the companies that own THEM) have bought up the majority of the radio stations here in the states, they control who gets heard, its not like it was before where a locally owned station would give the "little guy" airplay.

So, with all this in mind, the only real avenues that the independents have are live shows, and the internet. The internet is a powerful tool as we all know. Independents have used and embraced Myspace because of the potential to promote yourself to thousands (some cases tens of thousands) of people, and create a fan base. All this being done without any help from the majors whatsoever and I really think that this is where the problem lies. The major labels continue to insist that musicians NEED THEM. Well, no, you don't. I really think that because of this the majors feel threatened, and pull below the belt crap like this.

When you consider that the 4 major labels all have bought stakes into Myspace, it's easy to read between the lines and see what's really going on.

Just thought I'd share the conversation for the benefit of my blogger readers.

Myspace Threatens Pete Berwick with Account Deletion!!

First of all, does anyone find anything offensive about this album cover? Obviously it's Pete's new album, Just Another Day in Hell.

Some asshole over at Myspace seems to think that this is offensive, believe it or not. Pete had it posted as his main profile pic, and Myspam, oops I mean myspace pulled it down, and sent him an email threatening him with an account deletion if he continues to "post pictures that are violating Myspaces' terms of use"

Isn't this some bullshit?

Seems Myspace continues to go after independent musicians, first they wouldn't let Black Angel upload music for 3 weeks because they posted a copyrighted song, that believe it or not was an original Black Angel song.

Now they are harassing Pete Berwick. Could it be that maybe these Indie guys create and perform music that is much better than the Majors Flavor Of The Week? It's interesting that we get almost naked pictures of Carrie Underwood on the front page of Myspace, and yet an unsigned artist can't have a profile picture of himself wearing handcuffs.

Oh shit, thats right I forgot, Myspace is partly owned by the Music Mafia, silly me.