Posts by Robyn Gallagher
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
I had a play with Apple Music, but it just seemed too much, too complicated. And all the recommended playlists were really off the mark. "Introduction to Katy Perry". Er, I am well familiar with Katy Perry's oeuvre, thank you.
Meanwhile, Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist has the uncanny ability to always deliver music that I like. And I've heard similar from friends. Maybe their lists are full of '90s indie rock and modern alt rock, but it's exactly the kind of stuff they're into.
My other fave is Spotify's Fresh Finds playlist, which is compiled from new tracks that are played by "tastemakers". That is, it figures out what the cool kids are listening to a lot.
Yay, technology!
-
Another thought about music videos - I'm going to be bold and say that today music videos are primarily made for the web and not television. The fact that "Can't Feel My Face" by The Weeknd has spent over a month in the NZ top five and the video was only released a couple of days ago suggests that videos aren't even all that necessary anymore.
Also - thanks for the nice comments about 5000 Ways. I took a break from it but I'm going to be starting back up on Monday. (Ok, I've set myself a deadline so I'd better do it.)
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Not just…, in reply to chris,
It just doesn’t tell me when it’s on, do you know?
Sorry, no. I just discovered that The Edge TV's NZ shows are the only music television that NZ On Air Music now gives money to. (That's not including music-related programmes that get arts/cultural television funding.)
I guess my question is why would it just need to target “the youth”? They seem like the least likely demographic to actually pay for music and being honest, look around you.
So a new New Zealand music video show aimed at middle-aged people who haven't got time to mess around with YouTube? I feel like this is almost aimed at me (I have plenty of time to mess around on YouTube, though). Why not write to NZ On Air and a few broadcasters with your idea. If there's a strong audience in there - and an audience who has money to spend - people will be interested.
BTW, this might interest you - NZ History have a history of music shows on New Zealand television. The final paragraph says this, with my notes in brackets.
"The number of music shows on the main channels has decreased steadily since then, and none screen regularly on these channels in 2010. Viewers are now getting their music fix from Juice TV [closed], C4 [now The Edge TV] and the internet."
Plus! I'm also going to pimp my own website, 5000 Ways, which is a long-term project where I'm attempting to watch every NZ On Air video ever made. Ever.
-
All this talk of ways to support local bands reminds me of how things were in the early '00s, when there was a big idea that you had to "support New Zealand music!!!"
The problem is, "supporting" a band isn't very rock 'n' roll. If I'm going to give an artist some money, I want it to be in exchange for some sort of worthwhile experience - whether it's recorded music, a live show, a cool tote bag, etc - and not just indifferently supporting a band just because they're from New Zealand.
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Not just…, in reply to chris,
So I’m wondering if anyone can tell me when the music show is on, I’m sure there must be something as funding a bunch of music videos for air play without also funding a show to present them would just be ludicrous.
The Edge TV plays New Zealand music videos. But the thing is, there's now no need for music videos to have their own little broadcast ghetto. With YouTube, etc, it's now possible to watch videos whenever you feel like it.
Yeah, it's not the same as it was 10 years ago, but the way people watch music videos around the world isn't the same either. If you were to put a youth-oriented Friday night music video show on TV2, chances are the youth being targeted would instead be watching videos on their laptops. That's why NZ On Air's focus now includes digital media.
TBH, a video getting several million views on YouTube is a greater achievement than all those videos in the '90s and '00s that only managed to get broadcast on the telly once or twice.
Online is so much better. If I want to see the new MAALA video, it's there on YouTube. No need to sit around in front of a TV, hoping it might be screened.
-
Simon Grigg will talk publicly about his book How Bizarre: Pauly Fuemana and the song that stormed the world. My advance copy of the book arrived last Saturday and (even though I’d been cleaning up the debris of a very late, loud and fun birthday party) I literally could not go to bed until I’d finished it. It is one hell of a story, frankly told.
BTW, this book sounds amazing! I like stories like this, but for it to be about a New Zealand artist is a million times more exciting. I cannot bloody wait for it!
-
The thing is, while streaming pays less than album sales, it pays a whole lot more than $0, which is what artists would get in the days of piracy. It's awkward and it feels like the music industry has been shaken up and is still settling.
Maybe this is just how the music biz is now - musicians (even big popstars) will always need other sources of income because they can't do it on music sales alone.
On the subject, I've just read How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt, the riveting story of how we got from buying music on CDs to downloading it for free. I highly recommend it. It even made me vaguely nostalgic for the download culture of the late '90s. The Guardian has an excerpt here.
-
Hard News: Friday Music: Silver and Gold, in reply to Russell Brown,
For historical context, a look at what Apra members did actually rate in that era:
I love how different the Silver Scroll winners from that era are compared to the sort of acts that are popularly remembered as icons of that time. The actual Apra favourites seem like the sort of musicians who you'd now find playing with an elderly acoustic jazz ensemble at a beachy cafe on a Saturday afternoon.
And that makes me wonder - who are the ignored artists of 2015 who will end up as beloved icons of NZ music in 2050.
-
BTW, I once read that the demise of physical music stores didn't just remove a place to buy music (that was easily substituted online), it also killed a place to find out about what new music to listen to.
So that's the challenge of online - being able to make accurate recommendations of new music that will appeal to people. Whether it's done by clever algorithms (the red circles) or clever people (Zane Lowe), this is what Apple needs to get right.
-
I like the options of New Zealand music the red bubbles give but I wish it was more relevant. Though picking hip hop as a favoured genre, it asked me if I liked Nesian Mystik and Scribe. Yeah, I liked them 12 years ago when they were in their respective imperial phases. But they're not faves anymore.
I'm still majorly in love with Spotify and I've used it a lot more in the last few days than iTunes. My carefully selected "2015 aka Hot Jamz" Spotify playlist is all I need right now and unless I hand duplicte it, Apple can't give me that.