There are only a few topics I blog about that interest the largest number of readers. Posts about race and Sarah Palin tend to stir things up. Immigration, not so much, surprisingly. Regular readers didn’t like the music blogging, although female readers seemed to like the Hanson posts. And the 64-comment post on synesthesia was a fluke.

That’s the way it is. When a blogger builds a reputation covering certain topics, those are what people expect to read when they come to his/her blog. Today, I have the pleasure of combining music and politics. A couple of months ago, it seems like I was reading a story every day about some rocker “offended” that John McCain played one of his songs during the campaign. Big babies. Clearly, they were not McCain supporters, and clearly, they were raging liberals.

So, when I hear about an artist type – musician, actor, or whatever – supporting McCain, I simply must blog about it.

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, Dave Wedge of the Boston Herald tells us, is a McCain supporter. Lead singer Steve Tyler (he of the generous lips) gets all the attention, even as he approaches senior citizenship. But for a while, I had a crush on Joe Perry.

A “lifelong Republican,” Perry says he decided to go public for McCain after “seeing so many people come out for Obama.” He has his parents to thank for instilling a “work hard” ethic and encouraging him to be positive. Not that it matters in the scheme of things, but I’m glad Perry went on record that he’s a Republican. He’s a rarity among rockers.

Related post:

• Right-Leaning Celebrities

Update: Maybe Perry’s endorsement will result in more Guitar Hero sales. I’ll bet it won’t hurt.

I’d really like to know details about Perry’s right leanings. Is he anti-race preferences? Pro-life?

Update II: Reader Ricky W. e-mails to say Aerosmith lead singer Steve Tyler is right-leaning, too. A Christian, also? Listen to him sing “Amazing Grace.”

As much as I try to suppress the enthusiasm, I like hearing about “conservative” celebrities. Hollywood is a liberal bastion. They own it. As far as I’m concerned, they can have it.

Every now and then we hear about an actor or musician who isn’t a left-leaning friend of Streisand. I knew Kelsey Grammer, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Jon Voight, Pat Sajak, Patricia Heaton, Angie Harmon (formerly of “Law and Order”), her husband Jason Sehorn, former cornerback for the New York Giants, and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black!) voted for Republicans. And Stephen Baldwin (brother of Alec) and Kirk Cameron are conservative Christians.

But soap opera veteran Susan “Erica Kane” Lucci of “All My Children” is a Republican? And Dennis “Easy Rider” Hopper? That’s good, because I really like him. (No, not in that way.) And little Ricky Schroder and “The Rock”? (See Celebs Who Lean To The Right)

Before I interviewed the band Hanson last year for a couple of articles, I had a feeling the Oklahoma-bred, homeschooled brothers were conservative.

Confirmed.

Well, we’ll all commiserate with one another on November 5, 2008. I have a feeling Barack Hussein Obama will be America’s 44th president. The status of that prediction will be a big, fat:

Confirmed.

“The advent and general adoption of the Internet, digital media and hardware took control of the global music industry away from the record labels and media outlets and handed it to the masses,” he writes. (Source)

Rather than cursing the masses and resisting changes brought on by the Internet, Price decided to adapt. He wanted to stay in the music business but needed to make money. “[W]hat could I do to remain in the music industry under a model that would not rely on selling music (the exploitation model),” he asked himself. “And thus the idea for a new model was born, turn distribution into a service for a simple up front, one time flat fee.”

Digital Label

Price created a service called TuneCore, which allows artists to upload songs and create albums. TuneCore places these albums in online music stores, and artists keep all the profits and all their rights. And they can cancel their accounts at any time. The catch? Well, if you want to call it that, TuneCore charges 99 cents a track, 99 cents a store per track, and $19.98 a year per album for storage and maintenance. Not a bad deal.

What’s the opposite of digital label? Analog label? That doesn’t sound right. But you get the idea. Under the new model, Price makes money storing music instead of selling it. He makes no judgment about whether a band stinks or is good enough to sign. He just stores and maintains the uploads. Artists with enough talent and perseverance can control their own careers, and make music and money in the process.

Price alludes to the long tail theory posited by Wired editor Chris Anderson. In the old days, the only feasible way to sell products to the masses was to get products placed on store shelves (or through mail order), which were often limited to only those items that sold well. The Internet has created virtual shelf space, and anybody can set up online stores to sell products and services. Long tail virtual shelf space is financially do-able even if you move only a few units a year. The Internet also has brought down the cost of marketing and promoting those products and services.

Artists are no longer slaves to major record labels, radio, and media outlets like MTV. They can market and promote themselves with their own web sites and blogs, through music blogs and music news sites, various online music services like Last.FM and iLike, and through social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube.

Price concludes with this (emphasis added):

Allowing all music creators “in” is both exciting and frightening. Some argue that we need subjective gatekeepers as filters. No matter which way you feel about it, there are a few indisputable facts — control has been taken away from the “four major labels” and the traditional media outlets. We, the “masses,” now have access to create, distribute, discover, promote, share and listen to any music. Hopefully access to all of this new music will inspire us, make us think and open doors and minds to new experiences we choose, not what a corporation or media outlet decides we should want. It is then the public, not a corporation that gets to decide what is bad and good. The revolution (pun intended) has truly begun.

As always, I encourage you read the articles I link to. Price’s essay on how he moved from independent label owner making money to independent label owner making too little money to digital distributor making money and helping artists make money is priceless.

Digital Diversion

Yesterday I interviewed an artist signed to an independent label. I’m writing an article about how the person’s faith in Christ affects the music, similar to this piece I wrote on Hanson. I like being a tease, so I won’t tell you who it is. I’ll link to the article when it goes live.

Speaking of Hanson, check out one of my favorite songs:

Related post:

• Flux, Kicks, and New Tricks

Also see:

• Glimpses of God: Hanson
• Book Review: This Is Your Brain On Music

Later…Woo hoo! Lenny Kravitz starts touring in January. Positive thinking…visualizing what I want: Me. Backstage. Interviewing Lenny…

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Feature Article

First, the set up.

A few months ago, I found myself in an unexpected Hanson blogging/writing frenzy. It had to do with “rediscovering” Hanson last summer after hearing nothing from or about the “MMMBop” kids since 1997, and then meeting the “kids” a month later after a series of fortuitous events. And I like their music.

In September, I wrote articles about the band’s recent tour for my Washington Examiner column (which will resume shortly – section redesign) and for BlogCritics (fun stuff). Around the same time, I pitched an article to Christian Music Today for the “Glimpses of God” section, which covers the “perceived spirituality in popular music.” As I mentioned in Christian Themes, Popular Music:

I sense tension in the music of secular artists (Christians and non) who consciously or subconsciously write Christian themes into their songs. They’re trying to remain secular and keep the fanbase, but at the same time, they’re seeking something deeper themselves and/or want to spread subtle messages to fans. I don’t have anything against overtly Christian music per se, but I find this tension in secular music fascinating.

I noticed certain themes in some of Hanson’s songs, and at least one of the brothers says he’s a Christian. The editor liked the article idea and said “OK” back in September. The Hanson blogging/writing frenzy has since cooled off (kinda), but the wheels of publication turn slowly.

The article was posted yesterday. Enjoy!

Do you know any secular bands that incorporate “Christian” themes in their music? I’m taking suggestions for future “Glimpses of God” articles. Drop names in the comment section, or e-mail me at lashawn [at] lashawnbarber [dot] com.

Book Review

I reviewed what I consider a fascinating book, This Is Your Brain On Music, to be posted on BlogCritics later this morning. Check back for the link.

I’ll tell you this, readers: blogging/writing about music and musicians is fun. (And it generates ZERO hate e-mail!) Do you blog/write about music? If not, you really must try it. As always, thanks for reading LBC. And Merry Christmas!

P.S. – Whoever bought me A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture from my Amazon Wish List, thank you! I’ll write a review and dedicate it to you.

(Clip art from EternalChristmas.com)

The music: We want it how we want it, and we want it now. Instantaneous. And no shipping fees.

We’re modern-day hunters and gatherers, foraging through an abundant mass of products set loose by the Internet and rapidly changing technology. The abundance is almost decadent. As long as you have Internet access, you can find almost anything anywhere. And if you know where to look, you don’t even have to pay for it.

But how does this abundance look from the artist’s point of view? Every time someone downloads a copyright-protected song without permission, an artist’s and/or record label’s rights are violated. Every time someone opts to buy a single song instead of an entire album, the artist’s intended message may be lost in the process. That’s what rapper and producer Jermaine Dupri thinks.

An Album: A story with a beginning, middle, and end

I don’t know anything about Jermaine Dupri or his music. I probably wouldn’t like it if I listened to it. But he has a point.

Dupri, blogging for the Huffington Post, is complaining about the digital music store model, where users have the option of downloading individual songs instead of buying the complete album. He writes:

A good album is more than just a collection of singles…Every album is created for you to hear the next song, especially on rap albums. Rappers make intros on their records for a reason- they want you to listen it to set the mood and get ready for that second song.

I’m not saying that music can’t ever be sold as singles. Not every album is equal and consumers are always going to try to cherry pick the songs they like. But that doesn’t mean the people who[re] investing their time, money and sweat into a record shouldn’t have the right to decide how it’s gonna be sold, whether that’s in single units or as a whole.

Dupri claims that artists lose sales when fans download only singles. He wants artists to stick together against online music stores, which he says take “what we give them and [do] what they want with it.” If artists, producers, and record label execs rebelled against the iTunes model, then “those guys at Apple can either cooperate, or have nothing for people to buy and download on their iPods.”

I’ve heard artists talk about creating a “concept album,” where every song is bound together under an overarching theme. Dupri says the album American Gangster, on which he contributed, is a story with a beginning, middle, and end. I certainly understand their desire to sell a complete album, not just for the sake of money, but also for artistic integrity. I’d be upset, too, if I wrote a book and Amazon decided to sell individual chapters. That sounds ridiculous, right? But I guess music folks like Dupri feel the same about their albums.

Dupri is also right about sticking together. Perhaps online music stores would change the buy-the-single model if the music industry pushed for a change. But the horse is out of the barn. What’s the point in locking the door now? And how would online music store users react if the option to buy singles was gone?

Single Tracks: I understand, but…

If they feel they’re being used, artists like Jermaine Dupri should do something about it. His colleague Jay-Z refused to let iTunes sell only singles on American Gangster. Good for him. I dig the artistic integrity/money thing.

But I want the option to buy individual tracks.

For instance, when I hear a song on TV or in a movie that I like, I know I can hunt down the title and artist and download that song. I don’t want to buy the album that contains the song. Another example: I’m starting to expand my musical inventory. I listen to 30-second samples of songs by people I’ve never heard of. More often than not, I’ll download only one or two songs that appeal to me. Until I get to know the artist’s work, I choose not to download entire albums. Unless I can download them for free.

That’s just the nature of consuming. Why pay for the mediocre whole when we can get the excellent parts? The Internet has amplified this tendency. That’s why CD sales are down.

Is the behavior of an artist’s fans, hardcore or otherwise, any different from new music samplers? Most likely. Looking at my own behavior, I tend to buy an entire album if I’m familiar with the band. I do this to sort of help them out and because I know I’ll end up liking the majority of songs.

For example, I watched Hanson’s docu-series titled “Taking the Walk” (available as a free download on iTunes) about how the brothers made their latest album, The Walk. I didn’t consider myself a fan at the time, but I became one as I saw them labor over every song. They worked when they were tired, sick, frustrated…They changed lyrics, keys, rhythm – whatever they had to do to find the perfect lyrical hook or sound. They decided not to add certain songs to the album because those songs didn’t fit the message they were trying to convey.

I liked some songs more than others, but when I was ready to pull out the wallet, I didn’t think twice about buying the complete package. Seeing the process of making The Walk, as well as hearing most of the album’s songs, sold me on the whole.

Perhaps artists like Dupri and others who complain about the buy-the-single model can give consumers an incentive to buy albums. They can create a docu-series similar to Hanson’s or offer an exclusive sneak peak before the album goes on sale.

Then again, they already have the choice to not offer their music to online stores that sell individual tracks. It’s all about choices. Artist’s have theirs, and we have ours.

Do you agree with artists like Jermaine Dupri? (My answer is “Yes, but…”) Do you prefer having the option to buy individual tracks?

Critiques:

• Jermaine Dupri is a Corporate Tool
• Jermaine Dupri proves the industry is doomed

Related post:

• Can RCRD LBL Save the Music Industry?
• World Between Ears

You may recall that I mentioned attending two concerts on Hanson’s “The Walk Tour” so far. Well, I have an opportunity to attend a third. Just by “coincidence,” Hanson is playing in Las Vegas this Thursday night. All I have to do is let the publicist know I’ll be in town and…but I won’t.

The only thing stopping me from going to the venue, possibly walking in the door past a long line of excited girls and young women, and talking to the guys before the show is…pride. I’m too old to be any band’s groupie (although they don’t make me feel like one – last time I saw them, I didn’t want to bother them with picture-taking, but one said, “Hey, guys, let’s take pictures!” – yeah, I had my camera with me, buried deep in my bag, but they didn’t know that), and I don’t want to give the appearance of being a groupie, either. (But if I were 20 years younger…) Those guys are so nice, though.

(Also see Hanson Still a Family Act After 15 Years, an article/video for Hanson fans among LBC’s readers. And thanks for letting me know you’re out there!)

Anyway, I look forward to having dinner with fellow Christian bloggers that night. I’m not sure if it’s too late to sign up for GodBlogCon. If not, come on out! My presentation is on “writing well in the new media,” or something like that.

Update (11/7): A reader writes: “Life is short…go to the concert!! Don’t worry about the groupie thing…you never know what God is up to…maybe He needs you at the concert. Enjoy Vegas!”

So tempting…

(Thanks for the shout-out, Melonie!)

Ladies, aren’t they adorable (esp. the one on the left)? They look tired, though. A 35 37-city tour of 30+ cities (OK, I give up. Even they don’t know!) and walking a mile barefoot before each show, can do that to you.

Want to see more? Check out this video (after the 15-sec ad). Also see West Hollywood Press Conference, Charity Walk, and Concert on October 30.

Merry weekend to all, and to all a good night…

Related post:

• Sigh…

Sort-of-Related Update (10/27): As much as I try to avoid blogging on weekends…I had to share this. Actress Jada Pinkett, Will Smith’s wife, sings lead in a “nu metal” band called Wicked Wisdom. That’s rich!

(Click on thumbnail to see full cover)

Please keep sending recommendations, and thanks again.
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Charlotte-Douglas International Airport has free wireless. Who knew?

I think I’m going through a cool (as opposed to sad) mid-life crisis. If I live to be 80, that is. This meeting-Hanson stuff was a wild idea for me (I even had a “special request” song announced and played for me at the Charlotte show – sweet sixteen again, I’m telling ya), though it may not seem like a big deal to anyone else. Now I’ve got it in my head to go to the United Kingdom.

The thing is, I don’t want to go over there as a tourist. I want to live either in England or Scotland for a year. Or two. I work from home, so all I need is a laptop and Internet access. Wild idea, going alone. There’s so much I want to see and do, and I plan to visit Germany, Spain, and wherever else I can roam. I just feel a strong urge to do something bold and different now. I’m not getting any younger.

I’m announcing this publicly because I need your help. I don’t know anything about the UK. Can you recommend a decent and affordable area in England or Scotland? Do you or anyone you know have an apartment or house for rent or sublet? Drop me an e-mail at lashawn [at] lashawnbarber [dot] com.

Update (10/21): Thanks for the responses! Good recommendations so far. Keep sending them. I’m not partial to any particular area, though I don’t want to live in London (too expensive!). I’m doing my own research, but it doesn’t replace firsthand knowledge from people who live in or have visited the UK. Thanks, readers.

I was exposed to my father’s cigarette smoke the whole time I lived in his house and rode in his car. It didn’t kill me, obviously, and I didn’t develop second-hand smoke-related health problems. I hate cigarette smoke, but I have neither the desire nor the inclination to tell people what to do in their own homes and cars.

Speaking of father, I’m visiting family down south, one of my favorite places on the planet. Music-filled weekend begins…now. You know what I found out? Lightning does strike twice in the same place.

Rest easy, everybody.

Update (10/12): In a surreal moment last night, I was listening to my mother (a sort of physician’s assistant working for a group of surgeons and up to her elbows in blood all day) and Isaac Hanson discussing his recent surgery to remove a blood clot and the medication he’s taking. I bribed her into coming to the Charlotte show with me. I’ve attended two concerts for “The Walk Tour” so far (one was “work”), and I may leave it at that. I’m no groupie. Then again, it’s hard not to go when someone puts you on the guest list and you get to meet privately with the band. I don’t have the willpower to turn that down.

But fun, I do have.

Later…I’ve got this strange urge to contact Lenny Kravitz’s publicist. I don’t know what that’s about. Some mid-life music review writing fixation thing, perhaps. Big fan of Lenny’s back in his married-to-Lisa-Bonet period. (I recommend listening to the track “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” if you like falsetto.)

Update II (10/15): Nephews at the fair.

A long and somewhat rambling post about the long tail as it pertains to independent bands.

The Internet has revolutionized retail. It’s also changed the way people work and play. To be sure, the Internet has its drawbacks, but that’s the risk of revolution. The good news is that we’ve only begun to reap the benefits of a world untethered from traditional selling, marketing, buying, and consuming.

The Long Tail

In a book I highly recommend called The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More, Chris Anderson, editor of Wired magazine, wrote about a statistical model called the long tail. The head consists of best-selling products, also called “hits,” and the long tail is “non-hits,” products that sell in smaller quantities. Products in the head may sell millions per year; those in the long tail may sell only one or two a year.

According to Anderson, the culture and the economy are “increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of ‘hits’ (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.”

For example, a large portion of online retailer Amazon.com’s book sales consists of books not found in traditional book stores. People still buy the hits, but demand for non-hits has grown, thanks to the Internet.

(Read the article that started it all and Anderson’s blog.)

While blockbusters still exist, the era of the hit was driven by scarcity. The Internet has opened up a seemingly infinite world of niche goods and services that may or may not be available in brick-and-mortar stores. Because storing products on shelves and in storage rooms costs money, brick-and-mortar retailers tend to stock only those products that sell well. This leaves little room for niche market products. But technology has made producing, storing, and distributing products cheaper. Online retailers can store more inventory and offer consumers a wider variety of products. The long tail, says Anderson, is where future growth resides.

Anderson writes, “In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.”

Online retailers can stock just about anything. For example, even if a song generates only one download a year, an online retailer doesn’t have to worry about making room for a better-selling song.

Anderson predicts that the aggregate size of niche markets – songs that don’t get radio airplay, movies that can’t be found in brick-and-mortar stores, osbcure books, etc. – one day “may…rival that of the existing large marketing goods.”

There are three forces driving the growth of the long tail. The Internet has: 1) “democratized” the tools of production; 2) “democratized” the distribution of goods and services; and 3) helped consumers find niche market goods and services (in the form of search engines, recommendations, rating systems, etc.).

Anderson uses online music service Rhapsody as an example of how the Internet expands the niche market. On the web site’s front page, you’ll see mainstream artists like Jennifer Lopez. Click on her name, and her music page comes up. In a sidebar you’ll see a list of “similar artists” and “influences.” Keep drilling down, and you’ll end up with a list of obscure artists whose CDs you wouldn’t find in a brick-and-mortar record store.

Online music services like Rhapsody and DVD rental and download services like Netflix offer the standard blockbusters, but they’ve opened up a world of non-mainstream and obscure music, movies, and TV shows. No matter how eclectic or weird your taste, you’re bound to find something you like in the long tail.

Free Music, Independent Bands

Bands become independent for a variety of reasons. Record labels may drop them because of poor sales, or they can’t get signed by a record label in the first place, or they rebel against a record label’s fixation on marketing and CD sales at the expense of the bands’ artistic integrity.

While there is risk in going independent and disentangling oneself from a capital-rich, big budget record label, rapidly changing technology has made the jump less scary. Production and distribution of music are relatively cheap. Independent bands own the copyright to their music, can sell it directly to fans, and keep all the profits. The middle man is eliminated. But that also means the band must do its own marketing and publicity and/or hire a publicist. This is a plus for fans, as independent bands must be fan-focused to retain the fan base and attract new listeners.

Radiohead – Even if you only scan news headlines, I’m sure you’ve seen the name “Radiohead” recently. People are buzzing about the English rock band, who announced last week that it will allow fans to download the digital version of its latest album at whatever price (including nothing) they want to pay. Two more independent English bands followed suit. Jamiroquai (pictured below) and Oasis are offering free music downloads. (Source)

In response to Radiohead’s bold move, EMI record exec Guy Hands told employees that the music industry has to change or suffer the consequences. The industry needs to embrace “digitalisation and the opportunities it brings for promotion of product and distribution through multiple channels, the industry has stuck its head in the sand.” (Source)

Musicians still have to eat, so Radiohead hopes the publicity surrounding its “free” downloads will result in higher merchandise and concert ticket sales. Additionally, Radiohead is offering an $80 boxed set, which includes the hard copy version of the digital download, another CD with new songs, two vinyl records, digital photos, artwork, and lyric booklets. If you order the boxed set, however, you get the digital downloads free anyway.

What Radiohead, Jamiroquai, and Oasis are doing isn’t new. Offering fans free or set-your-own-price music is not a novel concept.

Hanson – Like Radiohead, the band Hanson is offering free (and immediate) digital downloads of its new album, “The Walk.” Unlike Radiohead fans, Hanson fans must buy the CD to get the downloads, and they must buy it from the web site. The CD contains three extra tracks not available as digital downloads. Fans can also buy the CD/acoustic DVD combo. The DVD includes live acoustic performances of seven songs.

Diehard Radiohead and Hanson fans will buy the bands’ CDs and other merchandise and attend concerts anyway, so there doesn’t seem to be much risk in offering “free” and/or immediate digital downloads.

In Radiohead’s case, fans can either wait for the boxed set’s release to get the hard copies and the downloads, or pay nothing, a nominal fee, or “full price” – whatever they choose – to get the downloads now.

If you regularly read this blog, you know I’ve been blogging about Hanson, three song-writing brothers, quite a bit. The group hit it big in 1997 with a bubble-gum pop song called “MMMBop.” I’d forgotten all about them and had no idea they were still together until I rediscovered them this summer. Being an independent type myself, I was drawn by their risk-taking and willingness to take on so much responsibility. (And they’re kind of easy on the eyes.)

Hanson was under contract with Mercury Records when the label merged with Island/Def Jam Records. Suddenly, the band found itself dealing with executives and producers who didn’t know the group and tried in vain to mold the band according to its ill-informed vision. The prolific Hansons wrote over 80 songs, all of which Island/Def Jam rejected as unmarketable. The label wanted an MMMBop-sized hit, and Hanson, trying to get away from the teenybopper image, rebelled. After three years, the band managed to get out of its contract. The brothers’ frustrating ordeal is immortalized in a documentary called “Strong Enough to Break,” available as a free download on iTunes.

Hanson has since released two albums under its own label, 3CG Records (which stands for three-car garage, where the brothers first practiced as kids).

Prince – Once the love of my formerly debauched life, Prince has aged gracefully, physically and musically, and changed with the times. Earlier this year, the prolific independent artist gave away copies of his latest album CD in a UK newspaper and subsequently (and consequently?) sold out 21 shows in London.

One of those Internet drawbacks I mentioned earlier is copyright violation. While technology has made music easier to produce, distribute, and find, it’s also made it easier for people to share songs and upload copyrighted videos without compensation to the artist or label.

Prince is suing YouTube and eBay over unauthorized use of his work. I don’t see how he or his lawyers can possibly stop hundreds of people from uploading his videos or from selling merchandise on sites like eBay. This thing is too big now. Yes, it’s unfair to the artist, but artists need to find a way to capitalize on this instead of suing to stop it. It’s a waste of good money.

The Long Tail of Independence

Under the long tail model, demand for niche products, which include albums by lesser known and independent bands, extends beyond the hit market. There is no “shelf life,” so albums continue to sell and are easily accessible in the long tail, thanks to the Internet. Indie bands producing and distributing their own music can use the power of the long tail to reach audiences.

I asked drummer Zac Hanson how the Internet has affected the band’s album sales. He acknowledged that the Internet has changed the way people find and buy music and, more importantly, not buy music. Technology, as wonderful as it is, has made it possible for people to illegally copy CDs and illegally upload and download digital music files.

Regardless, I believe technology helps indie artists more than it hinders them. The long tail and its driving forces (cheap production and distribution and better filters) favor indie musicians. They have much more freedom and flexibility than those under contract and beholden to a record label, which allows them to change with the times and to experiment with releasing music in different formats.

Record companies, which have been very slow to change, are focused on moving CDs and other merchandise. As this record label guy said, the music industry must be willing to experiment with the digital format.

An independent musician selling his own music in digital format doesn’t have to worry about storing or restocking inventory. There’s no record label hovering around to take a cut and no legal department waiting to nix his marketing and licensing suggestions. It’s true freedom, and that freedom does carry risk.

The bottom line is that corporate record labels are in business to make money, and that’s not a bad thing per se. But when the obsession to produce a hit comes at the expense of an artist’s integrity, the artist has a decision to make: compromise or leave. The risk-taking artist will embrace independence, technology, and the power of the long tail.

And taking risks is what makes life worth living (at least for me.)

Update (10/11): Forgot to mention this. American rock band Nine Inch Nails just left its record label. Said the lead singer: “I have been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.”

Freedom. And responsibility.

Related:

• Wired – The Rise and Fall of the Hit
• Wired – The Infinite Album
• Hanson Takes “The Walk” To Independence
• Hanson Concert Review/Interview

Wednesday, October 17: Looking for an update on Isaac Hanson? He’s recovering well and looking good. I spoke to him last Thursday night in Charlotte. Check out Hanson’s appearance on WTOC in Savannah, Georgia, this morning.
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I’m fond of those Hanson boys.

Just got word that Isaac Hanson was admitted to a hospital in Dallas yesterday, diagnosed with pulmonary embolism (blood clot). He’d complained of severe pain in his shoulders and chest. (Video – story’s after the annoying 15-second commercial)

Isaac suffered from a similar problem several years ago. Too much guitar-playing. Keep him in your prayers.

If you read this blog and the articles, you know that Hanson began touring for a new album in early September. I saw the brothers in concert on September 16 and chatted with them after the show.

Trivia: The band members, three oldest of seven homeschooled kids, were raised as evangelical Christians. I don’t know about Isaac and Taylor, but Zac told me that he considers himself a Christian.

(Hanson was on NPR last weekend. The clip is worth listening to, but the clueless reporter who wrote the story got some facts wrong. Isaac is the guitarist, not the drummer. That’s Zac. Taylor’s the keyboardist. A little research, people…)

Update (11:25 a.m.): As of 7:33 a.m. this morning, that NPR story contained errors. I looked at it just now, and the errors have been corrected. It’s been up since Sunday, but NPR corrected it only within the last few hours of this post. Power of the publicist…or the blog? Interesting…

Later… So far, all the people who said they hate my Hanson blogging are men. People who “like” or “love” it are all women. I wonder why that would be? Hmmm…

Update II (10/5): Isaac is recovering from surgery and may be released from the hospital today. He’s young. He’ll be ready to hit the stage in no time. In fact, I’m attending the Charlotte show next week as a guest of the band (I’m visiting family in the area). Like other occasions that involve good music and good-looking people (and no political discussions), I’m looking forward to it.

Enjoy the weekend!

Second, a lot of people confuse Hanson with being a 90s boy band because that’s when “MMMBop” hit its peak. Anyone listening to Hanson now (they write, sing, and play their own music) wouldn’t call them a boy band. Anyway, I thought the e-mail was hysterical. The reader/musician says he’ll strive to “increase awareness of music of substance, and attempt to resist mindless pop culture.”

Hey, you say “tomayto”, I say “tomahto.” My blog, my topics. Anyway, gotta jet for this TV thing, which has been bumped to 10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, September 25: Coasting through Alpha Centauri. Just wanted to check in with this. (Zef insisted we bring a laptop, so…)

Later… Going on the Tammy Bruce Show now (1 p.m. EDT). Might be on CNN tomorrow. I’ll let you know. Broadcasting from space! Talking about politics, not music.

Even later… CNN tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with Tony Harris (maybe) to talk about this. I don’t see the controversy (when heard in context), but you know cable news shows.

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Can I…just…get up and go?

Media

Behold! There’s at least one conservative columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News, my favorite newspaper when I lived in Philly. Christine Flowers, a lawyer and pro-life conservative, mentioned me in her latest column (with some Donovan McNabb mixed in). Check out Poor Sports & Real Heroes.

Catch me today on the Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan Program on KSFO radio around 11 a.m. EDT.

Get Up and Go!

I’m having one of those “get away from it all throw computer out the window” moments. Just want to run away – for a while. Wouldn’t it be cool to take a ride through space?

For those who saw “Star Trek: First Contact,” remember when reluctant pilot Zefram Cochrane, Geordi La Forge, and Will Riker took that “magic carpet ride” in the Phoenix and hit warp speed? That’s what I need right now – speed of light perspective, man (or faster!). The rush.

Day in and day out, bad news, bickering, discord. I can’t even post an old book review without controversy. Good grief. And I’ve lost count of the number of e-mails I’ve gotten from readers who want me to blog Jena Six. Why must I? Why must I? Why must I? I might; I might not.

I’ll end the week with some “Get Up & Go” by Hanson, circa 2004 (click on the arrow). Photo, circa 2000 (Taylor, Zac, and Isaac).

Even if it kills you, try to have a good weekend. OK?

Signing off, blasting into space with Zef. “Get Up & Go” blasting in the background…Woo hoo!

I’m writing a concert review, a companion to this piece, and the brothers were kind enough to answer a few of my journalist-fangirl questions backstage after the concert. Boy, oh, boy. I must decompress. And get some sleep!

(Pictured: Isaac Hanson, Taylor Hanson, ME!, and Zac Hanson)

Backstory:

• Hanson “Boys” All Grown Up
• More Hanson 4 U
• TV, Radio, and YouTube
• Rocks, Radio, and Raciness
• Hanson Takes “The Walk” To Independence

1997. 2007.

Old sound (so cute – with disco ball!). New sound (yep).

Last week I interviewed drummer Zac Hanson for this album review/short feature…

Mention the band Hanson, and you’ll hear an inevitable snigger. Ten years ago, its syrupy yet infectious confection, “MMMBop,” burned up the airwaves as DJs and VJs spun it hour after hour. The journey from long-haired blond boys to mature men has been exceedingly kind to the brothers, and their recently released album, “The Walk,” is a culmination of who they’ve become.

Guitarist Isaac, 26, keyboardist Taylor, 24, and drummer Zac, 21, are taller, darker and married, but the “blue-eyed soul” brothers are still writing their own songs, playing their own instruments and three-part-harmonizing their own tunes.

Hanson’s story isn’t one you’d expect from a so-called boy band of the ’90s. While groups like the Backstreet Boys were packaged and marketed like widgets, Hanson walked headlong into independence, having won the right to control and own their music.

Disenchanted with former label Island/Def Jam Records, the brothers rebelled against the label’s tunnel-vision quest to produce a hit song at the expense of the band’s artistic integrity. Trying to shed a bubble gum pop image, Hanson didn’t cave to the pressure. After a frustrating three-year ordeal over creative differences, it left and formed its own label, 3CG Records. The group chronicled its battle with Island/Def Jam in a documentary called “Strong Enough To Break,” which premiered at the 2006 Hollywood Film Festival and is available as a free download exclusively on iTunes.

Read the rest.

Check out the print version in PDF (color photo included).

Related Update (9/14): You’re fighting a losing battle, dear. You can’t stop this. It’s too late. Embrace the technology and use it to your advantage.

Related post:

• Hanson “Boys” All Grown Up

It’s Friday, so it must be…Hanson time! I rediscovered them, and I like. I’m going to see them when they roll through DC next month. Want to come with? I’m trying to get “journalist” credentials.

Here’s a clip of the band, with youngest member Zac on lead vocals singing “On the Rocks.”

See previous posts:

• TV, Radio, and YouTube
• More Hanson 4 U
• Hanson “Boys” All Grown Up

Radio

Catch me on Word FM today around 5:10 p.m. Topics will include illegal “immigration,” and Republican candidates, perhaps.

[5:30 p.m.: Man, that was a cool, quick interview. Got my views in there and my URL, sounded knowledgeable. Solid. Time to do weekend stuff. Ciao!]

Raciness

Racy is how I’d describe the segment I filmed yesterday. When Jon Stewart’s people first contacted me about appearing on “The Daily Show,” I was skeptical. But I decided to go for it. I spent yesterday with a very funny “correspondent,” and I quickly learned that the segment was designed to showcase her, not me. And I quickly realized that I had to lighten up, not take myself so seriously, and roll with it.

(My “baby” brother watches the show sometimes. [Hey, J!] When I told him I’d be on it, he thought it was great. His initial reaction made me feel better about doing it.)

This particular correspondent’s shtick is a sort of three-years-too-late Carrie Bradshaw persona in high heels trying to be a serious journalist. (This is where the “raciness” comes in. As you may know, “Sex in the City” was mostly about…sex in the city.) I was the straight woman. I’m waiting in a restaurant for her, and she bursts through the door with shopping bags. While she’s interviewing me over lunch about my “serious” views on women as leaders, she’s doing slightly slapstick stuff. I had a hard time keeping a straight face. The segment takes my “women are nurturing” and “manly confidence” comments to the extreme, and I have no idea how I’ll end up looking. Even if I end up looking really, really stupid, I’ll always remember how much fun I had in that restaurant.

For a brief moment, I felt like a celebrity, with people stopping on the street to peer inside the restaurant, wondering what show/movie was being filmed. Cool moments.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always taken risks. “Be bold in everything you do,” I’m always telling people. Sometimes it hits; sometimes it misses. That’s why I went to New York yesterday. I’m hoping for a hit, but I know I’ll bounce back from a miss. (Lighten up, LB!) All in all, I’d do it again. Probably.

Rest easy, everybody.