Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Friday Music: Good ideas and grumbles, in reply to Ian Jorgensen,
Young blood in charge. shake shit up. People with new ideas. People raised in the technology we use now, not those struggling to catch up. I’d ask “da yoof” what they want to see, what they need. The average high school leaver year old probably has a much better idea on tech and where the music industry is going than some of those in charge.
Just not true any more. I don’t know anyone more in touch with the way his industry is changing and being disrupted than Adam Holt of Universal NZ. When Lawrence Lessig came here, Ant Healey was in the audience.
You’ve also got people like Chris Hocquard and Ashley Page, who have built digital infrastructure with DRM NZ – and, of course, have Broods about to take off in the US. And Andy Murnane of Dawn Raid, who has done *really* well for Janine and the Mixtape in the past month. And, of course, Ben Howe. They’ve all had their failures to learn from, but they’re smart and experienced.
I’m all for traditional approaches and not jumping to new techs, but I have never seen any real consultation from the industry with young people and I see this as a severe problem.
Rianz/RMNZ have actually done a great job in getting all that heritage catalogue re-released and in some cases remastered and restored for digital. They’re really not running away from this. In part because if you’re a major with lots of copyrights, music streaming revenue actually starts to work.
Much of the most interesting stuff musically in this country has for years been created by those under 20/25. Why have they no say in where its heading?
I definitely agree with you here. There seem to be a lot of good young artists lately, but are there skilled people amidst them in management, inspirational and tech roles? Are there Chris Knoxes and Doug Hoods?
I do dwell on the fact that while the current NZ heritage projects (like those reissues, Audioculture and Ben’s beautiful vinyl reissues) are a great thing, I might feel a bit pushed out if I was 20 years old and making new music. But I try and do my bit.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Good ideas and grumbles, in reply to Ben Howe,
The recently released report on NZ music at WeCreate.org.nz shows that around 90% of purchased music in NZ goes to imported overseas artists/labels, and commercial radio plays around 83% overseas content. The independent percentages within these will be much smaller again.
Hmmm. I think that every time PWC puts out a report trumpeting another increase in digital advertising spend -- which goes almost entirely offshore, with a bit for the foreign-owned local media companies and almost nothing for independent online publishers like us.
So, very broadly speaking, the question Blink asks is a very valid one – to what degree does the governance of these organisations genuinely wish to further the interests of those of us who create, care about, listen to and invest in local music?
Good question -- not least because it's not the duty of those organisations to do so. But does Apra's 95bFM sampling still just happen to take place during NZ Music Week? And pretty much all I can remember about Mike Chunn's time as head of Apra NZ was cheerleading for NZ music. Apra kicks in for the Smokefree Rockquest and the Taite Prize, and RMNZ helps fund Independent Music NZ when it's not really required to.
The people in charge do as much as they can within (and probably sometimes beyond) their remit -- so what else would change things? That's a genuine question, btw.
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I've just noticed the detailed response to Blink on the Apra website.
Ian is a passionate supporter of music, songwriters and musicians in New Zealand. He has many great ideas, runs excellent events and ran a great music venue. We welcome good constructive criticism of what we do and we champion and support his enthusiasm for music, especially the independent music scene. In the past we have even supported his events financially through funding from APRA’s Music Grants program. We are listening to Blink’s issues and have undertaken to make changes where we can and where we agree it’s needed. Some of the changes he believes need to happen are indeed already in the pipeline. It is important to note that there are a number of points he makes in his book that are incorrect and we have outlined our response to these below.
It's worth reading.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Good ideas and grumbles, in reply to bob daktari,
while it may still be early days post book… but dammit can’t ALL venues, promoters and others follow Blinks lead and publish ya bloody set times – a facebook post 3 hours before doors isn’t overly helpful (points for trying though) and also stick to them (as much as possible)!
I like the early-and-late shows idea too. It would be fun being able to rock up for a 6pm start.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Good ideas and grumbles, in reply to Ian Jorgensen,
Would Blink really prefer that Apra and RMNZ completely turned their backs on the New Zealand music scene, did no good deeds and sent the money offshore instead?
Sure, haha. They already send a ton of money offshore already that is “potentially” meant to go to local artists when using radio data to evaluate background music, so why just stop there?
I am pretty sure music in NZ would continue just fine without those awards.
Mmmm ... maybe. But a lot of people feel differently. I'm just taking issue with your logic there. The fact that there's a should've-been-fixed-yesterday problem with one area of performing rights collection isn't an argument for Apra to cease being a member of the music community. People do care about those things, and I don't see how scrapping support for all awards and grants in order to send more money offshore would be a good thing.
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Hard News: Friday Music: Good ideas and grumbles, in reply to Ian Jorgensen,
I have been very impressed at how in the past few weeks APRA have really taken my ideas seriously and my email discussion with Anthony I feel may lead to some real results, however, I have bringing up some of the same issues I have been trying to get attention from APRA for numbers of years. It is sad that it took me having to write a really inflammatory essay for them to acknowledge the same things I’ve been saying all this time.
Yeah, I guess, if that's what it it took. But in my experience Apra have always been fairly open and engaged. They were quick to offer reasonable licences for online use of music, for example.
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Speaker: Not even a statistic, in reply to Lilith __,
I don't think Steven meant to be insulting or offensive, but perhaps he could explain.
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Also, the kind of venue Blink writes about pops up in Palmerston North - the Kickstarter-funded Great Job.
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The full text of Don McGlashan's response to Blink's Playing Favourites interview with Kim Hill, which was read out in part last Saturday:
Blink is one of my NZ Music heroes. Live music in this country needs advocates, and there are few as tireless, imaginative and fearless as he is.
The book is a robust rattling of the status quo. His “Two Shows - One Night” plan is a great idea, and his dissection of the relationship between the liquor industry and live music is timely and accurate. A true grass-roots activist, his enthusiasm for manning the barricades and throwing paving stones at the bourgeoisie is always backed by a sound understanding of why he’s fighting: it’s because he believes music is essential for the human soul, and for the soul of the community.
I believe in the same things, but I have to say that, in his section about APRA and PPNZ, while he makes some good points, much of what he says isn’t right. His main beef seems to be with the way APRA deals with money collected from businesses who play background music. He feels it should go precisely to the writers who’ve had their music played. It’s a good idea, but it’s simply not possible with the technology we have right now. The fact that most hairdressers and cafe owners are now happy to pay One Music a small fee at the end of each year to play music in their venues is the result of years of hard work on the part of APRA and PPNZ (who’ve now combined into One Music to make things easier). The fact that those same hairdressers and cafe owners now recognise that music adds value to their businesses - that real people actually write and record music and need to be paid for it so they can write more - is a great step forward and something to be really proud of. If the same hairdressers and cafe owners were also forced to log every song they played, they just wouldn’t do it, or they’d just refuse to play anything at all. Some kind of music watermarking - where everything that’s been recorded and released gets a unique identifier, which can be read by a black box, matched against a global database and tallied up - is not far away, but until that day, other, less perfect, ways have to suffice. Sure, using radio-play data as a way of working out how to distribute background music income to writers is inaccurate, but it’s the best idea that anyone’s come up with yet.
He also criticises One Music for demanding background music fees from record stores. Not so. Record stores that play the music they sell aren’t required to pay a licence and never have been.
Remember, APRA isn’t a record company, or a government agency, it’s a society, that comprises the vast majority of writers of music in NZ and Australia. As collection societies go, it’s one of the best in the world, and the fact that it’s the only such society in this part of the world - and it’s been around so long - means that it’s recognised by businesses and government as a respected voice that represents its members. It means that APRA can lobby governments to better protect copyright, and work with big businesses like radio or TV networks, internet companies and airlines to get a fairer deal for music. Blink seems also to suggest that independent collection societies could start up and challenge APRA’s operation, which is true, but one lean entity makes a lot more sense to me.
Finally, Blink wraps up with a general broadside at the APRA Silver Scrolls, which he says is wasteful and pointless. I certainly don’t agree with him on this. The Silver Scrolls is one of the few major events on the music industry calendar that truly prioritises music and the craft of music writing. Part of APRA’s charter is to spend a small percentage of what it collects on advocacy, grants and recognition of excellence in music. Musician's lives are pretty fragile economically; we need to celebrate what we do, and most people who go to the Silver Scrolls come away glad of that opportunity to celebrate, and glad of the chance to connect with other writers. As events of its kind go, it’s also good value for money. Awards ceremonies are important for all the different sectors in our music scene, and APRA supports a large number of them. The Taite Awards, the Pacifica Music Awards, the Waiata Maori Music Awards, and the Country Music Awards provide milestones, inspiration and a sense of cohesion to those different communities of writers, and they’re just a few of the events that APRA helps make possible.
Overall Blink makes a leap: from the realities he identifies with background music collection and distribution, plus his general uneasiness with APRA’s monopoly status, plus his vehement antipathy to the Silver Scrolls - to the statement that APRA is a corrupt, inefficient organisation that rips off musicians. It’s an athletic leap, and I think an unjustified one. As APRA NZ Writer Director I represent Kiwi songwriters and composers on the APRA board, which means I sit in on endless board meetings, and see the operation of the society and management up close. I have to say I’ve never run across such a committed, high-minded organisation, nor one so given to relentless self-examination. It does really good work - mostly behind the scenes - for its members, and for music in general. APRA needs people like Blink to challenge it. We’re on the same side, sticking up for the value of music in the face of all those all those forces that are out to devalue it. I hope Blink brings his ideas to APRA; they’ll certainly be listened to and acted on.
Don McGlashan July 2014
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Hard News: Auckland's future: Keep calm,…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Last time I looked, there is no local authority in this country where budgets are set by Mayoral fiat.
This is correct, but spoils a number of popular narratives so shut up.