Posts by Robbie Siataga
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sum nek lev shizz rite hurr...
HOMEBREW 4 LiFe !!!
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Sadly, I think in the years since they've become increasingly subservient to the needs and demands of commercial radio programmers, who really, should be kept out of any selection process altogether.
Of the 56 acts to receive funding in New Zealand on Air's March round, only one (Salmonella Dub) was based in the South Island. That is simply ridiculous. Not meaning to sound "regionalist" or anything (NZ On Air are always accusing me of this) but, by laws of averages alone, there should be more than one. South Islanders pay taxes too.
Even some constructive feedback by the selectors as to why failed applicants efforts werent worthy while others were would be a decent thing to do.
But nah, they know best whats good for us to hear and see. Their argument is so powerful it's not neccessary to talk about it.
Doesnt fit the narrow brief or show commercial potential....pffffft as if those fucking arrogant pricks would know a decent tune even if it were humping their leg.
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Hey, Duncan has kindly given the go-ahead to post the PDF of the whole story.
It's here.
Fuck me, it's like i could have written that, though not quite in so delicate terms, cos i been saying the same shit since i effectively got blacklisted by Brendan Smyth in 2001.
Even so it's a damning indictment of his time at the helm. And trying to fob off his incompetency on a court case from the last 2 years....pffft straight up classic BS passing the buck.
So what's up with the court findings. How will it impact any review ? ?
To think in between I could have repped alot of shit hot tunes and artists possibly even Homebrew as well when i first made contact with them a few years ago.
oh well theres always the future to look forward to...maybe
cheers Duncan. Heres some tunes/artists from back in the day i helped and couldn't help :)
http://pollywannacracka.blogspot.com/2007/05/reflections-of-8ft-women.html
Can't pick winners any more than in other fields,
Some of us can. It's called having impeccable taste :P
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I think, as Simon Grigg has bluntly pointed out (I'm sure he'll be along soon) that the most obvious indictment of the choices is the Kiwi Hit Disc samplers -- which used to be reasonably good and are now a matter of finding the two good tracks on the disc. But you can blame the radio programmers who help choose those tracks for that.
No, you can blame NZ on Air for 10 years of funding criteria that has made artists who want a hand up conform to strict guidelines that attempt to satisfy radio programmers who's tastes reflect the same muck we get from overseas.
It's the Dawnraid Deceptikonz rocker girl thing. Having to compromise their artistic integrity for commercial support from a taxpayer funded body. Fund the player not the game.
An artist shouldn't have to second guess themselves to think 'shit i better write a radio pop song', moreso now when commercial radio is dying.
(in some ways I feel like part of your being funded should be audited and publicly available sales figures)
and publicly available radio logs to see just how popular you are in terms of actual plays and video logs to see how much airplay your video got and was it enough to warrant the grant ?
and BTW did those funded albums take into account possible double dipping through...
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Finlayson/Coleman, broadcasting commission/Nz on Air, pollywog/dubmugga who gives a shit whats in a name :) ?
Wheres the court case at ?
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I think it's ludicrous to blame any of Dawn Raid's decisions on NZ On Air. They weren't delicate little artists -- they always saw themselves as businessmen. No one made them put out crappy pop records.
Dawnraid didn't fund the vid/tune and no one twisted NZ on Air's arm in deciding to fund it.
The point is, NZoA have been more hit than miss in 10 years of funding what they think we should see and hear.
It shows in the album stats you put up and when you apply that to singles and vids hardly any of it will stand the test of time. Yeah sure it got on air for about all of 2 weeks so it met the criteria but then...nada and so it should be.
There's no natural selection process here, there's no evolution. Its backasswards looking de evolving NZ music to the lowest common denominator while pandering to commercial interests and foreign tastes and it sucks.
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if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and acts as the prime agency for funding music. It's a music funding agency duck.
But. It. Isn't.
It operates under the Broadcasting Act, and it was created as the Broadcasting Commission.
explain ?... semantics, in that it funds artists and labels not music ?
oh right, like i dont download music. i download data.
You really are determined to seek progress by starting feuds, aren't you? Good luck with that.
FWIW, I like and respect Mark and I wouldn't expect him to agree with everything in the paper we wrote.
out of conflict comes resolution out of chaos comes order. Maybe it'd be good for us all fif he were to pick the bits he didnt think you guys missed the mark on and expound on them...yeah ?
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REAL GROOVE: But if you’re the head of an organisation that is currently operating under a system of rules and governance which are no longer relevant, isn’t it your place to lobby the government to update that? Otherwise you’re risking forcing your own extinction. Your inability to fund genuinely relevant projects is going to see diminishing returns for you, which are then going to see the likelihood of cuts being more easily justified.
MARK KNEEBONE: That’s exactly what they tried to do in the end of 2008, start of 2009. They commissioned a report on domestic music funding, what it was for and all the rest of it, and it got axed. The reason it got axed was nothing to do with NZ On Air. There was an ongoing court case, which is still going between PPNZ and the Radio Bureau, our radio broadcasters’ association. That was based on the value of radio airplay for radio. There were questions in the review that had to be asked such as 'How much value does your company place on radio play?' because they were looking at 'Should we be funding things for online' and all the rest of it, and of course no one from the record companies could answer those questions because they were currently in court fighting over those exact same things. There was a meeting that I can tell you about between myself, Adam Holt, Campbell Smith, Jane who runs NZ On Air, Brendan Smyth and Kristen Beauman who runs PPNZ, and we sat down and they said 'Can you do this review?' and we went through the sample questions and everyone said 'Not until this court case is over'.
So what's the deal with the court case mentioned and why is it taking so long for the report to come out. Who's stalling and why ?
I cna understand Chris Finlayson the Minister for Culture/heritage not having his head in the game cos he's too busy selling the Foreshore seabed "solution" but i hope someone's keeping score for him and he's capable of charging in to the ruck to free up the ball.
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and to avoid cross threading so the good folk can wax lyrical about the auckland food and wine scene in peace i'll repost some questions here...
so is Isaac a limited liability company or a paid consultant to NZoA ?
The former.
and you're cool with this guy and his company having a...
really close working relationship with NZ ON Air, have done since 2003. We work closely with Brendan and David on the domestic side for videos, new recording and also album grants, but also work closely with Mike McClung on the international stuff as well
it sits well with you that a profit driven 'music marketing company' representing artists which isn't exactly a management company nor a record label has
a unique situation in that we apply and process stuff on their (artists) behalf because it makes it far more manageable. We’ll be working with five bands as opposed to a manager who has only got one.
which essentially means...a special position in the supposedly unbiased ear of the funding body, to lobby on his own behalf as "Isaac", and his own record label, "Tardus", as distributed subsidiaries of Universal music.
oh hang on...so what is Isaac again and who is this guy ?
why does he have access to privileged information as witnessed by the meeting about the court case which prevents NZo A from doing an internal review ? Was IMNZ represented ?
I would be astonished if IMNZ wasn't represented.
of course you knew he is the chair of Independent Music NZ and sits on the Music Commission board as well.
It would have been nice to also put his other hats up for show in that interview. Don't you think ?
Sounds like not so much a conflict of interest but a rather fortuitous congruence of interests. Nice work if you can get it.
Politics eh ? why bother with paid consultancy when you can 'clip the ticket'.
Honestly Russell. Is this the place to be getting so deep into the rabbit hole and how far do you want to go ? And If not here then where ?
It's obvious you believe the net is the future for NZoA, so does Mark Kneebone when he name checks you, even though he thinks you're initial 2007 report is past it's use by date and doesnt agree with half of it anyay...something personal there ?
By the way, what happened to the report you did with Andrew Dubber ? Is it something to be updated and made more relevant given the on line changes since ?
So should i be interviewing you independently on the side for my blog and asking questions like the above ?...and more such as, do you think blogs, twitter, facebook groups etc and the like are an effective means for influencing and forcing change in established institutions or is it just easily dismissable, self promotional pissing in the wind ?
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shot...so feel like answering some of the questions i posed in the other thread ?
in the meantime...
at the heart of the problem is that, even though it has edged in that direction over time, NZ On Air is not a music funding agency..
if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck and acts as the prime agency for funding music. It's a music funding agency duck.
his placement of the debate is spot-on. The music industry does lie in an odd place between the poles of art and commerce, and our public sector practices have long been an ill fit for that. I hope and trust Duncan's work here will help navigate a way forward.
so Russell you're gonna sit this one out and comment from the sidelines ?...pfffft
Fuck the industry. What about the artists who have to compromise their art for the sake of commerce as dictated by the NZ on Air funding criteria ?
As i noted earlier, Take Dawnraid as a perfect example and the complete sellout and turnaround Deceptikonz had to do to fit the radio format and funding criteria at the expense of the Homebrew crew ?
Remember this
and the ill fitting public sector response was to reward Dawnraid and incentivise them to produce more of this shit which to no one, even the artists themselves, in their right mind knows is even close to being commercially viable nor what anyone wants to see or hear on NZ air now or ever ?
Whether or not you agree with Duncan's characterisation of the agency's "strange, uncoordinated muddling through the mists that lie between art and commerce,"
the strange un-coordintated muddling i liken to the GWBush jr presidency. Sure it's governed by legislative acts but within that the top dog has the power to direct policy and influence legislation.
The blame for the fact that NZoA under Brendan Smyths stewardship is still muddled and un co ordinated can only lie at his feet. He's neither laid out his vision nor accepted input from others towards a newer mandate nor lobbied to change it.
He's only protected his job and covered his arse while prolonging his feeding time at the public funded taxpayer trough and acted as feudal lord over the musical serfdom.
He's got to go if new criteria and a new mandate are implemented. In short he's had his day and that day has been. Time to let someone else carry us forward now.
We all know this. The only difference is, he's not my mate or someone i need to curry favour with so i can scream it from the hilltops but whats the point if no one else echoes it through the valleys of power.