Lucky 13

I think that you do need some degree of luck to have success in the music industry. What I mean is that sometimes success can start by being in the right place at the right time. Like your band is playing at some bar and there just happens to be a record label representative there and likes your sound. Also knowing the right people is sometimes lucky so you can get signed and have success.

Getting lucky and having a public break down, like so many of the artist now a days, can definitely give you great success. Luck always plays a part of success because even the most talented people may not get any success. Someone like Kelly Clarkson probably would not be a household name if she wasn't lucky enough to try out for American Idol. To me she is so talent and the talent was almost wasted. So yes, luck does play a part in success.

But of course you need some degree of talent to make it. At least I believe that there has to be some, if very little, talent in someone to have success. Of course there is auto-tuning and lip syncing that can be done, but maybe the person had great writing skills but didn't have the singing abilities. So people might say that Britney Spears got all her success form luck or sexuality, but I believe that she can sing at least a little. And of course she has all the publicity to help her with her success, but I think there was some talent to begin with.

I don't know if I can think of anyone that has gotten by strictly on luck or strictly on talent, maybe there is, but I can't think of any (any suggestions?) Even greats (or at least in my eyes) like Shania Twain had luck on there side (Shania was discovered at the Deerhurst Resort in Ontario). So like I said before, I think you need a combination of luck and talent to have success in the music industry.

Rant #2

To start off, I am expecting no one to agree with this one, because I might be the only one that feels this way. What I'm really trying to say is that I believe that "emo" is not, or rather, no longer a genre of music.
First of all, lets look at what emo is defined as. Emo is short for Emotional. Now there are a lot of emotional songs in all kinds of music, but hardly any of them are labeled as emo, only the ones that are in rock music and dress a certain way. And that is what music is to me; a fashion. If a band is dress even remotedly emo (stranger that usual hair cut, tight pants, band t-shirts), there music is labeled emo. I mean Britney Spears and the Jonas Brothers have emotional songs (I know, hard to believe), but they aren't labeled emo, because they don't look at all. Emo is a fashion. I, in no way consider emo a genre, it may have been about 12 years aog, but as of the mid 2000's, no sir.
And that happens to a lot of the new bands around today. Most of them if they are some form of rock, they will automaticly be labelled as emo. This is very unfair because they are automaticly lumped into a stereotypical genre and in some ways, are over looked (unless you are Fall Out Boy) and there music isn't taken as seriously. Honestly, this just grinds my gears so bad.
Another thing that bugs be about emo is people saying that emo people are always depressed and cut themselves. This is just disrespectful. Depression is nothing to laugh about and both depression and cutting are serious pysological disorders and take years to get over. No one should joke about that. It's horrible.
Anyways, I think the main idea I'm trying to get across is that I don't believe emo is a genre anymore. It's all about the fashion, not the music.

Thoughts on Music Technology #2

Well, there has been a lot of happenings since I last wrote a blog on music technology. Where to start is the question. We helped run a PA concert a couple weeks ago. It was nice being on the other side of things this time. I liked working with all the guitars; having thousands of dollars worth of guitars going through your hands is just amazing. But I have to be honest, it kind of hurt when I learnt that Orry had re tuned his guitar. Not that I'm attacking him, but I've been playing guitar for almost 4 years, I'm pretty sure I'm as good as him at tuning guitars, it's not that hard. But besides that, I loved working with the concert.
One thing that has improved since last time is the fact that there isn't a bunch of people in the office that really shouldn't be in the office. I mean, there have been a few times, but nothing unbearable. We can finally work in peace.
Another thing is the mastering, and thanks to some EQ knowledge, I now understand for the most part what I am doing when I am mastering a track. I know what "slider" is supposed to go up or down when I want to hear something while I'm mastering. That has definitely improved since last time.
Two things I can't wait for are the full band track by track recording and the myspace. It is going to be fun to record the tracks kind of how they do it in the real studios. So yeah, that it is something I am definitely looking forward too. And myspace is going to be fun. The band came up with many good ideas of what to put up there and a hilarious band picture. I have to admit I am going to get my brother to teach me some HTML and CSS so that I can make the myspace page awesome, so it may be another month until it is finished.
The one thing that isn't really any better than a couple months ago is the setting up for bands. They still seem to get in the way, but we haven't done much setting up lately because all of the bands are starting new songs so maybe it has changed, I don't know. Another thing is that somethings, these blogs seem to be kind of a hassle, but overall, I don't hate them, it still is fun to read other peoples' opinions.
I have to say that this class is way more organized than it was a couple months ago. I could honestly say that a couple months ago, I wasn't sure if we would be able to finish all of our projects, but now I can see we can, it will just take a little work. And yes, this is still my favorite class.

How I Use Music and How Music Uses Me

I use music in many ways. Like this weekend. I had to work Midnight Madness and I had to work later than normal. I hate working a 7 or 8 hour shift straight, so to keep myself preoccupied I listened to music. Only there is no radio in the back so I was listening to the music in my head, and lots of time it starts to repeat the same thing, but at least it keeps me preoccupied. Music keeps me going at work, because probably without it I would go insane with it.
Another way I use music is when I clean at home. Again this is the kinda the same as it is at work, only there is actual music playing in the background instead of just my head.
I also use music to release my emotions. There have been so many days I come home stressed or upset and just sit down and write a song or listen to a song. Both way let me release my emotions and if feels so much better.
I use you help me with my homework. There are a lot of distractions all around me, so I put my music on and I can work so much better than I could without it. I get so much more work done. When I'm just walking or even working out, I use music. I use it to keep me going. I push myself to keep going through the song and if it is upbeat, it keeps my energy up.
One way I noticed how music uses me is in movies and TV shows. In a show like survivor, they constantly use music to make you feel a certain way. With some thing like tribal counsel, the music is all intense so you are all tensed up and worried. The same is for their challenges. Movies do the same thing with music. I really just noticed that a lot in things in media.

Controversial Figures in Music

The band I'm going to talk about is the same band that I'm going to do for my Rockumentary next semester. They are the Dixie Chicks. Now you don't necessarily have to follow country music to know why they have been controversial, but it was before the whole George Bush thing that they were controversial.

The Dixie Chick have almost always been controversial to most country critics and fans. The first time was when they released "Goodbye Earl". This song was a song about domestic violence, and in the end these two friends decide to kill the husband of the one friend who is getting abused. Many country stations refused to play the song because of that fact. But the Dixie Chicks came back say that this is a song of empowerment to people that are getting domestically abused, but in no way promoting domestic abuse or are wanting people to kill an abuser. They just want action taken. Despite the song being pulled from some stations, the song still peaked at #13 on the country charts.

The one controversy that most people know about was the one with President Bush. It was just after the invasion of Iraq has started. At a concert that took place in London, lead singer, Natalie Maines, stated "Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the President of the United States is from Texas," which is the Dixie Chicks home state. This came with major backlash, and in my opinion, people overreacted. But what many people don't know is that fellow band member Emily Robison stated that the band supported the American troops 100 percent.

The main reason for the criticism was that they believed that she shouldn't have criticized Bush on foreign soil. But even Bush didn't care what the Dixie Chicks said. Maines apologized a couple of weeks later, but the hatred didn't stop. Lipton stopped an endorsement deal they have with the "Chicks", fans had parties where they would in some way destroy the Dixie Chick's CDs, and some former fans even sent death threats to the girls. Even fellow country stars attack them (ie. Toby Keith doctoring a picture making Maines look like Saddam Hussein.) Talk about overreacting. What I find funny about this is that at this same time, many celebrities where criticizing Bush and they never got any backlash whatsoever. And honestly, if someone said something about a politician I liked, I would just let it breeze past me. Not everyone is going to like the President.

In the end, the Dixie Chicks had the last laugh. Though their record sales have dropped, it has given them more freedom to write what they want and don't feel any pressure from the country side of things anymore. Lipton resigned them to there contract, they won 5 Grammy awards (which I think the honestly deserved, it was an awesome album), and a song about the experience that peaked in the top 5 of American charts.

Honestly, I think most people blew the situation way out of proportion an overreacted to the comment. I support both sides (the Dixie Chicks and the government), and I realize that everyone is entitled to free speak. If only everyone saw it that way, then this all would have not happened.

Concert Review

As you know, I was recently at the Lenny Kravitz concert in Winnipeg last week. Overall, the production was quite good. The part of the production that I like the best was the lights. The weren't overly complicated or anything, the just seemed to suit the performance.
In one review I read, the writer said she didn't like the fact that there wasn't a more complicated, but it was just right for me. I loved the fact that they had the lights going exactly to the music and the beat. As you already know, simple things amuse me. And I know it may have been a bad thing, but I loved it when the keyboard didn't work. I think seeing him throw it off the stage was probably better than the solo that there would have been.
One thing I didn't like about the production was the loudness. Now I'm all about being loud, but it just seemed too loud. And the thing is that Lenny is a man that can hit some fairly high notes, so sometimes it was overwhelming.
Somethings I didn't like about the concert in general was the outros. On some songs they were good, but sometimes they were the same length as the song to begin with. And most of the songs had long outros, so it got repetitive.
That being said, it really picked up when they played American Woman. They just kept the energy up from then on. I also liked the connection he had with his fans. How many artists do you know go out into the crowd and interact with the fans. The last thing I liked was the musicianship. No one ever missed a beat, even when things weren't working properly.
The concert was an awesome experience, but would have been better without all the super long endings.

Rant #1

Well isn't this going to be fun! What's really been bugging me lately about the music industry is that it is no longer about the music. It's all about the money and they way they make that money is by selling sex. I don't mean anything like street walkers, though, sometimes it can be just as bad.
Take the Pussycat Dolls for example. I'm not one to say that they don't care about the music, but it seems to me that it isn't there highest priority. It seems like there all about money and selling, well sex. I mean they did a song called "Buttons" and you'd have to be blind to see that the song is a direct reference to sex.
It's no surprise that sex sells. People like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and like I said before, the Pussycat Dolls have made it into a defined art. What's better than someone that can sing? Someone that can sing and that is half naked all the time. That's not at all the way I think, but for sure there are a lot, and I mean a lot of people that think that way. The consumers could care less what they are singing about as long as they look super hot singing it. This in turn causes more album sells, therefore more money, they spend it and live like kings, and yet they can't ever seem to by clothes.
I'm now going to turn my direction to Britney Spears. There might be a chance that she was about the music in the beginning, but it just kept tumbling downhill. Take her newest video for example. I couldn't make it through the video because I could stand the sight of her being completely naked for most of the song. I just don't see the point in it. It wasn't the least bit artsy so you can't even say that. There is no way to deny that Britney sells sex, and almost only that ( that means I think the songs suck just so you know).
Then there is a bimbo like Paris Hilton. She should have never picked up a mic. It was obvious it wasn't about the music from the start. In her music videos she was always over some guy and half naked if not almost fully. It was a way for her to add just that much more money to her piggy bank that is overflowing and get publicity out of it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that a lot of mainstream music (and not only girls, there are guys that sell sex too, I just couldn't put 20 examples up) is all about selling sex so they can sell the records. It's no longer about the music for them, even if it was to start. That being said, there are great artist that are out there, I guess you just have to look hard enough.