Ryan Sprute dot com

FIrst off, we have 4 shows this month:

- January 8th at Bop Street Records 8pm FREE
- January 15th at ACOUSTAX! at KTUB 8pm $6
- January 23rd at The LAB 7pm $5
- January 30th at Ground Zero 8pm $6/$5 with a can of food

They should be pretty good, we’ve got some new songs and these will be the debut shows with our full live band so it should be a good time.

Ashley and I also did an interview for QRO magazine, so check that out.

Not much other news, we’ve been busy writing new songs, we’re trying to have a pretty new set for Sound Off. Will’s been using Sibelius and writing out the parts, as we’re looking for a more dense orchestration for the next EP and it’ll be nice to give the strings players’ a write out of what they need to play instead of having to work it out in the studio and waste time doing that. This brings the added bonus that we may have chart music for the EP, which is cool.

We’ve also been working on our live show. It’s pretty funny, we’re practicing our stage moves (as lame as that sounds) in a room where it’s just us so we all feel pretty awkward at times. If you think about it, the stage is one of those places you can do things that would be pretty weird offstage - I mean c’mon look at Thom Yorke, he does the goofiest stuff on stage but it works for him - so when you don’t have the liberating presence of the stage it feels funny to pretend. We’re still trying to figure out what kind of band we want to be.

At the Grammy U songwriting contest, John Roderick talked about the 4th wall, how there are some bands that intentionally break that wall and make the audience  feel like they are not only spectators, but a part of the show - a good example of this would be Ben Folds, who often has the audience sing harmonies or horn parts, or a local example would be The Lonely Forest, with the charismatic leadership of frontman John Van Deusen. On the other hand, there are some bands that keep that wall completely intact - a good example of this would be Of Montreal, a band that has costumes and stage personas and everything, or the local band The Globes, who speak very little and simply put on a spectacular show. The audience isn’t a participant but simply a spectator. The problem that bands run into is when they are unable to choose what kind of band they want to be, when they initially try and keep a 4th wall but inadvertently break it and then try to erect it again. So I guess that’s where we are at the moment. We would ideally like to keep the 4th wall intact, but we have to make our transitions better if we want to be successful. Luckily, we have 2 months and 5 shows to get our live show where we want it to be for Sound Off.

So that’s it for now. January 10th we have our big Sound Off meeting, so I’m pretty excited to meet all the other bands and see what exactly is in store for us. It’s a huge opportunity to even be accepted into the final 12 so we’re incredibly honored. Hope to see you guys at some shows!

- Ryan

So I’m starting this blog back up again, this time focusing pretty much exclusively on the music industry. Also, this is going to be a lot rougher this time around - I rarely posted because I shelved most of my posts or left them in “to-edit” purgatory. This will just be a place to showcase my ideas about the future of the music industry and how to take advantage of this great upheaval.

So what will the industry look like in a few years?

-  There will be no majors

WMG and EMI (especially EMI) are NOT doing well. At all. They are ripe to merge and eventually the toxic DNA that both of these companies hold will be the end of them. I can’t say I’m too sad - I was at a music conference where a WMG rep was talking, every other word was “merch” or corporate-babble about demographics. I’m no dummy, I believe in the power of metrics, but if you are focused more on the method than the art you’ve got a big problem.

The big question is what will happen to “indies” like Sub Pop? WMG has a 50% holding share in Sub Pop, which makes them essentially a major-label subsidiary. I would be sad to see such a prestigious and important label go under, but my gut tells me they will land on their feet. After all, Sub Pop’s motto is “going out of business for the last 20 years”. Megan Jasper is a smart cookie, I’m assuming she’s not the only one. However, if they keep talking about “legacy” like it means anything to anyone besides other industry professionals and young bands wanting to get signed (ahem), it’s gonna hurt them.

- Artists will regain control over IP

The centuries-long injustice of corporations owning intellectual property will soon coming to an end. In Britain they’ve recently started a label that allows artists to own their own copyrights. This IS the future of record labels, I am absolutely certain of it. There are simply too many options for artists for them to foolishly let go of their most valuable card. Actually, it’s not even foolishness, there simply hasn’t been any other way before now.

The internet has allowed artists to directly connect with fans in a way unlike any other time in history. This has allowed the rise of the musical middle-class, who may never be rockstar-rich, they will be able to live comfortably while making their art on their terms.

That’s it for right now, but stay tuned for more.

Here’s an idea, why don’t we get EVERY label to jump on this label-sponsored P2P file-sharing music program (w/ subscription-pricing)? To get the label bickering to stop, put them on 2-year metric-related costs that are based on merit. Everyone wins.

Alternate idea: create an authoritative, industry approved third party rating service that directly correlates with price.

Will expound on this later.