Hard News: Bean-Counting the Beat
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The latest crappy winner of NZ idol is as much a part of our cultural identity as poi-e or Prince Tui Teka or Moana or anything else that is uniquely NZ.
The irony in that statement is that it didn't matter how much radio thrashed much of that stuff, it really didn't sell. Great TV stuff but few buyers beyond a short burst. Clearly radio is out of touch at that level.
To be honest, with a couple of exceptions, radio doesn't sell NZ records the way it should if one looks at the airplay. Indeed many of the most successful NZ albums have done so without radio support.
Even the likes of Opshop, with the massive airplay, haven't sold anywhere like the numbers of albums one would assume they would. Someone is out of touch with somebody.
And the biggest selling NZ album this decade was largely airplay free.
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And the biggest selling NZ album this decade was largely airplay free.
Sorry, meant to be second biggest selling, assuming Beautiful Collision is the biggest and Fat Freddies second.
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ok, fair call, but I do have an issue with the hammer and tongs approach and I'm also broadly supportive of what NZoA has done historically and in particular Brendan. That's a fairly major point of difference
noted and understood ,but you also realise I didn't get my bashing implements out till years of marginalisation and indifference from smyth and his team, and it hasn't always been that way, but its that way now.
A key point is I d not say these things to benefit my own musical aspirations, I don't think I've said anything in my comments that put a personal slant on it for me and I've kept who I am and what I do out of it, even though you and russell know me, its not about us.I think I've read your recent comments to be broadly critical of NZ on Air implementation too, just privately,
I think the concept is good, the implementation is flawed and refused to acknowledge it or hear critism.
i also want brendan to pay back 5 years of salary and write a public aplogy for getting it wrong, but you're probably not going to back me on that one are you :)
did I say that out loud? -
Brendan was quite clear that they're about getting all NZ music on air.
really?, I thought he was quite clear that his focus was that which fits commercial radios predefined formats. that's not all NZ music at all, and one might argue that a lot of the music they push had to be "manufactured" fit, there by making it not about culture and identity( ie who we really are), but about marketing (who we think they want us to be in order to sell ads)
The statement "so you make no effort to reflect all the colours of that coat", clearly isn't true,
ok, I'll amend that to read you make token effort, little effort, focus your attentions on that which has to be invented anew to fit criteria.
Thanks for keeping me honest, what's your email, i'll get you to proof my posts in future :)
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i thought part of the arguement was that we shouldnt be pandering to international tastes?
No, my point is that I think we all want to see NZ recording artists do well internationally (and we've proved you can do it from NZ, signed by a NZ label). The above two, which are the two NZ acts in recent years with the most radio pickup in their home market stand little chance because are simply watered down, to be honest, lessor versions of something that the rest of the world can do better.
Crowded House on the other hand worded initially because they stood out from the post punk and pomp rock landscape. Savage stands out because he is not the American hip hop cliche, whethr that is intentional or not. Conchords, boy do they stand out.
A tiny little country like NZ, pretty much unnoticed by the rest of the world doesn't stand a chance on the international stage with lessor versions of what bigger countries already provide. The simple politics of the industry mean that no label in the US or elsewhere is gonna risk anything on a release that competes with somethng they already do.
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thing that confuses me, hoping someone can answer it. If New Zealand's population is like 3M and the population of the western world is like 500M, then what was so wrong with 2% NZ music on the radio before NZOA? whatever happened to quality over quantity? Or do you really all believe that NZ music is superior? is the propaganda working?
if i worked, and my place of work were a factory or say i was stuck in rush hour, is the experience improved by having to endure james reid's attempt at a NZ/US hybrid accent?
Isn't putting more of NZOA just a ploy to bost APRA's 'turnover'?
-An attempt to blare out the sound of the rest of the world?
-Blatant cultural nationalism invariably served with an American or British twang?
Aren't BS and all those other gravy-trainers focussed far too much on the commercialization of music rather than the creativity?
Is this not symptomatic of other aspects of NZ culture over the last 10 years?If two mates from different bands, flatting together both apply for grants and the band with the lesser following receives a grant and blows half of it on a party, Doesn't this show a striking lack of wherewithal for the musical needs of the NZ populous? Doesn't it show a striking lack of accountability for what happens to that money after the cheque is signed? and wouldn't such a situation be bound to leave sourgrapes in the mouth of the failed applicant with larger fanbase? ...causing domestic problems, and possible conflict, and ill-willed debate over the governments preferential treatment of certain elements of the industry which could easily be avoided if NZOA just stayed the hell away from music?
12 pages here scream yes!
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divisiveness=poor governance
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lastly,
I mean what i'm saying is, while our blue collar workers endure the grind, white collars sit through the daily 5km/h fossil fuel march, Are we enlightened in believing that they will feel better about their work or the procession, being reminded 20% of the time that a small portion of the 2$+p/h the government is taking from them for the trouble of getting and performing these jobs, is being used to produce this Americana under the maxim of developing NZ cultural identity? Made 'right here on the islands' by people working less hard than them.
generalizations all the way, sure.but my point is, wouldn't the best music, be that which takes them away from the depressing reality of the minimum wage slavery and overpriced tofu? wouldn't calypso or bossanova produced somewhere sunny and tropical be better than constantly reminding them that the government's concept of national identity is further Americanization and handouts to favourites?
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To be honest, with a couple of exceptions, radio doesn't sell NZ records the way it should if one looks at the airplay. Indeed many of the most successful NZ albums have done so without radio support.
I'm not sure if that's NZ on Air's job though, though I presume their work has helped in some way in sales.
I thought he was quite clear that his focus was that which fits commercial radios predefined formats.
Again, you're taking half of what he said (commercial radio), and viewing it in isolation from the other half (national radio, bnet, kiwi radio). Clearly commercial radio is the focus for the stuff commercial radio will play. There's the other half of the story for the stuff they won't play.
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I'm not sure if that's NZ on Air's job though, though I presume their work has helped in some way in sales.
Sure, but there is fairly strong evidence also that commercial radio is fairly out of step with what, using a very broad sweep, many NZers would want or be comfortable listening too. The very fact that an album like Fat Freddies has sold so many copies, and the number of indie NZ records that have crashed the charts over the years may indicate that the listening public is more advanced than those providing the researched fodder.
Opshop would probably have far far fewer albums in NZ without airplay, but the volume sold with the amount of airplay they've had indicates that just about every copy sold was like pulling teeth for EMI.
And sales are a huge part in the viability of the industry to survive, let alone prosper, which is claimed as a part of their brief.
Isn't putting more of NZOA just a ploy to bost APRA's 'turnover'?
uhhhhh, no, because APRA administers all writer's performance income, not just NZers. How would the national split change that?
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more stuff that slips under the not worth paying out threshold, chicked into the pool
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..for the party!!!!!!
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more stuff that slips under the not worth paying out threshold, chicked into the pool
Uhh, no again. Performing rights account for the cents. I see statements with 2c amounts from all over the world.
And you are more likely to have to account to a local writer who can be found than the number of un-traceable international writers that regularly turn up.
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really?
then why do they post this information?
"You will not be paid on any claim where the assessed royalty value is less than $10.00."
http://www.apra.com.au/writers/downloads/UPP_UnloggedPerformancePool.pdf
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It might be posted, but its sure as hell not applied. The small size of APRA some cheques has been a source of humour for many years. I had one for .65c earlier this year.
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"You will not be paid on any claim where the assessed royalty value is less than $10.00."
uh oh...you're opening a whole black box belonging to pandora, i mean apra and co there Mark.
Sure, but there is fairly strong evidence also that commercial radio is fairly out of step with what, using a very broad sweep, many NZers would want or be comfortable listening too. The very fact that an album like Fat Freddies has sold so many copies, and the number of indie NZ records that have crashed the charts over the years may indicate that the listening public is more advanced than those providing the researched fodder.
exactly, did you see how many myspace hits mr sicc had over phoenix foundation but who gets the nod and why ? And i know those guys been putting the work in and the funding apps to the point where they been overlooked so many times they don't even bother.
Regarding the lack of correlation between record sales and radio play funding. How about the correlation between video play and radio play ? Tenuous at best ???
A good vid will get you noticed and airplay overseas courtesy of youtube contributing to a search and hit on your myspace and possibly an online or hardcopy sale. Is there any thing to suggest it will get you radioplay overseas or here ?
So why fund them along the same criteria and selected by the same people ?
And heres a question for robbery. If you had a youf radio network what do you reckon theyd play the most of ? What is it the youf are into most ???...Yup r'n'b and hiphop, but do we foster that style of music as much as the stuff you like ? Oh hell no... WHY ? Not culturally significant ? Exactly whose culture are we talking here ?
...and i'm not talking crap aaradhna covers either
Whats the failsafe mechanism at work in your proposal rob ? you :)
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I'm happily on the edge looking in. I've always preferred it that way.
out here on the perimeters........everything sounds better. Hiphop and electronica, dubmuggers favourites, mostly seem to prosper on the fringes, the underground, the dark corners. I like it that way. I have my Burial. Kode9 . Benga. Killa P. Different Drummer. genre spanning goodness. Kronos quartet. Steve Reich. not so different really. none of these really expect mainstream radioplay, or much media attention. shit maybe you are right, forget [commercial] radio totally. waste of energy.
......... lessor versions of something that the rest of the world can do better.
AMEN.
Isnt that the problem with the music (and movie) industry worldwide? lowest common denominator, play the safe card, forget that the real winners both creatively and financially come from a place of innovation and artistic passion!
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Agreed, NZoA commercial radio funding = total waste of energy if you're into music as art and cultural evolution. I figured that one out years ago but it seems to be all BS and his buddies knows about cos its all he addressed in his soliloquy and all he seems comfortable pushing ahead with.
EXIT STRATEGY please. Get the fucking troops out before we lose faith in the president. At least it's gw's last few months but still the damage has been done. BS and co have got jobs for the boys for life it seems.
Nice one on the dubstep styles Sam but do you ever think a genre that isn't vocal based will get video or radio funding ??? ...my answer = No, but it should.
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You're taking half of what he said
Where'd u get this figure of half from.
the lions share is aimed at commercial radio, because their the biggest no show. I don't even mind that, although another way of looking at the same problem would be to strengthen the support already given.but playing the game by commercial radio's rules not the answer to nz cultures problems. can we agree on that at least?
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I have my Burial. Kode9 . Benga. Killa P.
You tried Pinch? A big fave in the past few months.
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Scuba is where it's at. 'Mutual antipathy' is on hi rotate round these ways.
Pinch vocal album was mud except for 'get up' and 'one source' and he'll never top qawalli. IMHO
as for local hiphop, try 'homebrew' standard, light and dark.
Don't confuse homebrew with that chemically flavoured pisswater bottled by the mainstream. This shit sets in the bottom of your gut, fucks with your head and lets you know you've just drunk something really speshal.
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Oh, and lost amid the general Budget punditry ...
The New Zealand Music Commission gets an additional $4.8 million in baseline funding over four years to do its work.
Given that the commission has subsisted on year-by-year funding since 2000, this is both welcome and significant.
Which gives creedence to the idea that Labour is doing it's best to spend up the surplus so there's nothing left for National! (No complaints in this instance, either). Which kinda links to
It’s a tricky one because, as you say, these stations are not publicly owned and they paid good money for the right to broadcast.
Yes, but let's not forget that the taxpayers owned a nationwide network, before the government sold off ZM, ZB, et al to private overseas media interests. Imagine if they had kept the network and used it to promote a NZ music quota?
Which kinda leads me toI remember writing an indignant letter when ZM went "commercial" again.
I did the same when they took Melle Mel and the Furious Five's 'White Lines' off the playlist because they felt it could encourage cocaine use. I was at pains to point out that the chorus was 'White Lines - don't do it'. Many years later Mel admitted they were coked up when they recorded it and thought it was funny to sample the hook into 'Do it Do It'.
you chose your favourite album as REM's latest
Would rather Brendan pretended his current favourite album was Opshop, as John Banks did recently?
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Many years later Mel admitted they were coked up when they recorded it and thought it was funny to sample the hook into 'Do it Do It'.
I saw them do it live at the Venue in London when Flash was still Djing with them, before it was released. The intro went on for about 20 minutes as Melle Mel pulled long coloured strips out of his mouth and then went "yellow line", another strip "green line" etc etc...which all would've been a dramatic buildup to the song if we actually knew what it was...sadly we didn't so we all wondered WTF the man dressed in a Bison outfit was on about.
I guess the white lines did it.
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Would rather Brendan pretended his current favourite album was Opshop, as John Banks did recently?
would I rather?
I'd rather the head of nz music funding had a love of local content enough to rate it right up there. whether that be opshop or one of dubmuggas mates discs,
It was a small point I noticed when I re read the issue recently, It just struck me as strange that someone who's role is promotion of kiwi took the opportunity to pick something else. he was chosen for an interview because of his nz on air role, not because he was a world authority.
anyway, its hardly the biggest crime in the list, but adds detail.I'm still focusing on the blatant disregard for the nz on air charter.
It's like a bus driver deciding his own route and destination.This isn't brendan's personal ipod, what he thinks, he works for a corp that represents our country.
accountability and independent review. should have been there all along
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