Remember to Vote For the WSJR Awards 2008
Just a reminder that voting for our 2008 WSJR Awards ends at roughly 1am on Thursday (Wednesday night, basically), so if you want to have a say in the only local music awards that actually matter to anyone with taste... click here and vote now.
posted by stonedranger at 12:36 PM
42 Comments:
Give me a break...
Why are you guys perpetuating this garbage? Still trying to compete with the Observer? Taste, ha! Ive seen shit eating dogs with more. Disappointing.
Are you really disappointed in us?
nell carter, go fuck yourself. the observer is completely defeated and irrelevant. nobody has to "compete" with them.
Define "defeated", please!
They have stopped trying and have officially turned into the most watered-down local site (even more than pegasus news), they have a fratboy douche as an editor who is even worse than jonana widner, and finally, they rip off this blog constantly and do a bad job of it at that.
amen..
THANK YOU FOR THE DISTINCT HONOR OF RECEIVING THIS INTERNET AWARD. I BELIEVE IN YOU APPRECIATING ME.
shemp howard, anyone??
:(
Anyone interested in seeing Butthole Surfers in Austin this weekend? I have a pair of tickets that I'd part with for $40(normally $60 + fees). I'm located in Dallas.
rslavinsky@gmail.com
why do haters take the time to post here. i swear, this is the only blog I read that has this many negative, hater comments. Most people who don't like a blog move on and don't bother to say anything.
can someone explain to me why these people care so much to post shittalk
why ask why
try bud dry
on a serious note: welcome to wsjr, you poor, pathetic, and rather naive, i might add, creature.
Haters taste of chicken. Chicken tastes of haters. Hmm. Hrm. Poot.
Liles said in an earlier comment section:
"While anybody who plays music would love to make a living doing it, the ugly truth is the best way to do it is by playing in a cover band that plays weddings and corporate parties, a "tribute" band that rips off an established classic rock artists, or by working as a staff composer for an ad agency.
I know, that sounds terrible. Personally, I'd rather starve. But circumstantial reality dictates protocol here; the majority of club goers aren't interested in hearing original music by a band they've never heard of. The majority of people aren't the least bit interested in something they aren't familiar with... they won't spend money to go see a movie they know nothing about, and they won't venture out of the house to risk spending money on something that might turn out to be a waste of time. Unless you're a Republican or trust fund kid, there is no such thing as "disposable" income.
So what happened? (I'll pretend you asked.)
When I first started out in the business, the dynamic was very different; you wrote your own songs, owned your own publishing, tried to find a record deal, and then crossed your fingers and hoped that your shit would find its way to a mainstream radio program director somewhere. If your music ended up on the radio or MTV, then you borrowed even more money from the record label for tour support. Going out on the road was a loss leader - turning a profit on the road was virtually impossible.
For songwriters, the possibility of selling the rights to your publishing was always there for the desperate or ignorant. (Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders did this and basically gave away about 20 million dollars for pennies on the dollar. That's why she disappeared and never felt motivated to make music for years. One of our local artists who was once signed to Geffen Records made the same mistake as well.)
Anyway, if you did manage to sell records, then you had to worry about getting an accurate accounting for sales, expenses, promo giveaways and returns. The average royalty rate was somewhere between 9 and 12 percent of the wholesale cost of the album; due to you only after you paid back your initial advance for production costs and tour support. A band basically made a dollar an album after expenses - and most major labels spent (on average) a quarter of a million bucks an album.
Years later, the major labels are decimated, radio has very little influence at retail, and there are 50 million bands on MySpace who all suck. Labels used to exist because they did things the artist couldn't do themselves; manufacture vinyl records, pay radio program directors to play your shit, lend you money for tour support, get you on tours as the opening act for more established artists on their roster, etc... now they can't (or won't) do any of that stuff because they expect you to do it yourself.
It all boils down to risk. Michael Huggins and a few of your other posters have intimated that the financial risk should boil down to promoters and club owners - that musicians are entitled to a paycheck just because they've invested in gear and rehearsed their asses off. Labels stopped assuming that risk a long time ago. Promoters followed suit shortly thereafter. When bands stopped making money via record sales, they raised (doubled or tripled, I should say) ticket prices at the box office and made their problem our problem.
As far as ASCAP and BMI (who are essentially non-profit collection agencies), they never used to show up at clubs, restaurants or movie theaters looking for quarterly checks; they got their money from radio stations and that was it. Now that the industry is looking for any way in the world to generate revenue, they are squeezing any proprietor who broadcasts popular music in a public place. Publishing and licensing are the last profit centers left.
And the funny thing is, we could get rid of all of these tribute bands and prom night human jukeboxes if the licensing agencies would just squeeze them instead. I have to wonder just how many of these fake Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead or Beatles copy bands are actually paying publishing fees to any of the original copyright owners.
So there ya go. Don't quit your day job until the industry finally figures out a new business model"
I'll try to refrain from saying what I really want to say (something along the lines of "silly hippie get a real job if you're not making enough money" - sorry".
The answer to this is very simple and can be understood through basic business principles of the free market economics. The higher the supply of a particular good, the lower the demand will be for that good. When demand drops so does price. There are tons of small local bands in Denton and with the market flooded, there is no incentive to pay a group, when they can easily replace them with another group who accepts their terms.
If a band wants to get paid, then they will have to differentiate themselves as better than other local bands. If there performance's regularly draw huge crowds, helping the venue make alot of money; then that band is providing a valuable service to the venue with their entertainment and may be able to get paid for there gigs. But the local garage band who plays to an empty bar doesn't deserve to be paid.
To put it susinctly, if you want to get paid, you have to be able to offer something worth paying for. I don't think there are many local bands that can do that, so for now, they should be happy just to be able to play to an audience.
geez guys, get over yourselves already. everyone else has.
everything should be free! anarchy motherfuckers!!!! arrrggg!!!
thank you for voting us best band!
Right. That wasnt nice -- sorry. For me wsjr does the best job of
compiling worthwhile show information.
'Why do haters take the time to post here?'
Uhhh, hey private Pyle it takes like 30 seconds to read and then post something.
'can someone explain to me why these people care so much to post shittalk?'
Uh...no. Sorry to rain on your parade but you are just another asshole like the rest of us. Consider that and you will have all your explanations.
:)
Cheer up guys.
I'll try to refrain from saying what I really want to say (something along the lines of "silly hippie get a real job if you're not making enough money" - sorry".
The answer to this is very simple and can be understood through basic business principles of the free market economics. The higher the supply of a particular good, the lower the demand will be for that good. When demand drops so does price. There are tons of small local bands in Denton and with the market flooded, there is no incentive to pay a group, when they can easily replace them with another group who accepts their terms.
If a band wants to get paid, then they will have to differentiate themselves as better than other local bands. If there performance's regularly draw huge crowds, helping the venue make alot of money; then that band is providing a valuable service to the venue with their entertainment and may be able to get paid for there gigs. But the local garage band who plays to an empty bar doesn't deserve to be paid.
To put it susinctly, if you want to get paid, you have to be able to offer something worth paying for. I don't think there are many local bands that can do that, so for now, they should be happy just to be able to play to an audience.
Nell Carter-- do you have emotional problems?
Damn Gina-- you clearly aren't over us yet, and that is all that matters.
The above post wasn't from me, but from Matt, who was responding to my post.
In response to him, I just have to say, your Economics 101 observation about basic business principles is based in capitalist idealism and not reality.
There are plenty of artists around who ARE offering something worth paying for - The New Year is a great example - but that isn't keeping them from playing in smaller venues that aren't even half full. To say that quality will inevitably translate to success is wishful thinking - look at who is selling out arenas (Jonas Brothers, Josh Groban, the Eagles, that kind of shit) and who is still playing pizza joints in Denton for no money.
There is a distinct difference between just getting paid something for a gig, and being able to dedicate all of your time and energy to being a musician and entertainer full time.
It is a serious commitment with a great deal of risk, often for very little reward. Since the beginning of time musicians have always been the vagabonds and court jesters, the beggars and street people who played for spare change and little else. It was only after the pop culture phenomenon of people like Elvis and The Beatles (as well as the advent of the album over the single song) that musicians began to make ridiculous amounts of money.
Now that we're back to selling and disseminating music one song at a time, musicians are finding out just how hard it is to get rich when your product is 99 cents, rather than 17 dollars. When you factor in all of your expenses (equipment, gasoline, rental on rehearsal space, promotional materials, etc.) any musician would have to do at least three paying gigs a week just to break even.
still hoping for that "slimiest scenester" award
dont take slimiest from me plz.
musicians just don't understand. that's why they don't get paid much . and the people that just want free shows or don't want to pay more than $5 a show don't get it either.
the idea that the more bands you book on a bill the more people you get doesn't always work how do you split $5 ticket sales between 5 bands? no one makes any money.
guess who wins? the guys selling alcohol !! maybe bands should just sell beer from the stage screw selling ep's!
just kidding !
really musicians need to organize themselves like the dj's did and come up with a base rate and not play for anything less, so yeah you can book any cheap old band but you'll have to pay more for a good band with a following.
and bands don't under cut your fellow musicians , stand together and not play shows for free or for anything less than what is agreed.
you can be a band that has good business sense without getting all corprate.
but first of all you have to be good, people don't like to pay for crap.
oh well
back to the garage.
I think having no cover and the bands get a percentage of the bar is the way to go.
I hope all my favorite bands win all the WSJR awards. I predict big D is going to take a major bitch slappin.
motherfuckers
we need basements
the thing about making a percentage off bar sales means when you play a gig you beg your friends to buy drinks so you can get paid.
that's not good.
drink up guys and don't forget to tip your bartender.
fuck that ! what if no one drinks?
come up with a guarantee don't let drink sales determine how good you are. clubs and bars book bands that can sell drinks not who plays good music.
Hey guys let's go play a show for a bunch of alcoholics we'll be rich!!
put on a good show get paid let the bar worry about selling drinks!
oh gawd...
thanks nell, matt needed taking behind the woodshed. sr, take a bloody vacation, will ya? i hear thailand is nice...
speaking of my band the heartstring stranglers...wait, no one was speaking of your band.
you are SO right..........................................
This blog is the local perez hilton.
are you in my band too? i'm losing count...
My band has already taken first place at SXSW, ACL, and Coachella. We could care less about your silly awards.
Awards are for ego-driven butt pirates.
you got that right...
yeah.. o.k. 8:27, if you say so. personally, i don't see how you could possibly brag about that gay ass shit. pardon my french...
Gay ass shit? We'll see who's gae when we win CMJ this year!
no, no.. i think one and all can see just how "gae" you really are as of this very moment, hmmm???
oh btw dickface: it was a joke, we know your "band" has never won jack. now suck it...........................................
Haha! Now whose a dickface!
My band has won the Jack Awards many times!
By sucking it!
oh dear..
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