String Theory Media

how much to invest in a new artist's career?

The major label system gave up trying to make money on artists who sell 50,000 to 100,000 copies per album years ago, and most independent labels are too cash-strapped in the wake of the collapse of the CD to substantially invest in brand new careers. Aspiring musicians, almost no matter how talented, have few options besides the DIY, MySpace, book-yourself life. Every party in the music business is looking at the others (labels at managers, managers at publishers, etc.) to become the new bank for artists who don’t have an instantly recognizable appeal to mainstream radio. Many are hoping that new model music companies, managing all parts of a burgeoning career and collecting a part of all possible revenue streams, will shepherd new and emerging artists into the marketplace. But where will they get the money and more interesting, how much is enough to give a serious new artist a serious chance?

new work: the fairgrounds speedway on wpln

This story I did last week on WPLN doesn't directly bear on music, but I wanted to post it anyway, because the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, 50 years old and totally awesome, does have musical connections. Most obviously, the CMA held Fan Fair there for about 25 years, with stages pulled up in the infield and fans in the bleachers. And most folks are aware that country legend Marty Robbins was an avid and pretty good driver who was known to have won races on Saturday nights and then driven his victorious purple and yellow stock car downtown to perform on the Grand Ole Opry. Other musical figures who have either raced or backed racing teams include Kix Brooks, Mike Curb and Scott Borchetta, whose Big Machine Records Super Truck driver Bobby Buttrey is actually featured in this piece. Find the audio story and a slideshow HERE. And here's Marty's "Twentieth Century Drifter," with a great slide show of his racing career.

united breaks guitars: viral pop as the new social protest

This isn’t super new, because Dave Carroll and his band Sons of Maxwell are already YouTube stars,  but the “United Breaks Guitars” phenomenon has reached such levels that it begs scrutiny as a new kind of hybrid of citizen activism and savvy new media marketing.

the tennessean's strange and disappointing music feature

The Tennessean published a momentous sounding story in Sunday’s paper whose headline asks breathlessly: IS COUNTRY CRUSHING NASHVILLE’S CREATIVITY? Over about 1500 words, reporter Naomi Snyder fails to answer, frame or contextualize the question.

new work: liners for the new bryan sutton album

Almost Live, the new CD from guitarist Bryan Sutton came out yesterday, and it's a humdinger as usual. The project features special recording sessions that Bryan arranged with his favorite regular collaborators like Bela Fleck and Chris Thile. I was very pleased to be asked to write liner notes for the project, and since liner notes used to be on the OUTSIDE of a new album and now they're INSIDE where nobody can see them, I offer them here:

For a variety of reasons, it’s harder than you might think for groups of musicians who’ve assembled for tours and special performances to preserve their unique chemistry on tape for fans and historians. Studio time and expense, multiple commitments and sheer logistics usually overwhelm the noblest archival impulses. Even artists who keep every clipping, poster and video cassette from their career usually can’t produce audio documents that capture fully and professionally what these special and sometimes historic gatherings actually sound like, which is funny considering that’s why they came together in the first place.

Bryan Sutton took this perplexing reality as a challenge. 

mom, lawyer, musician?

From Salon, a nice and insightful exchange between a musical soul and an empathetic advice columnist. The subject: why we practice an instrument when we know we're not very good or even aspiring to mastery. Her husband ("Where do you think this is going?") doesn't get it. She does:

I practice my lessons for a while and then I find that I just hold the guitar and I strum through the chords I know over and over because I can and because they seem so beautiful to me when I don't try to make them into a song -- I can't believe this delicate instrument can make such a lovely sound. I have loved learning about the guitar -- it makes listening to music a whole new experience for me and makes me want to be able to do it even more.

I daresay the learning makes one not only a better listener to music, but to everything, like advice. Besides, she wants to learn Richard Thompson's "Dimming Of The Day." There's all the encouragement you need right there.

hot doc alert: page, white, edge

Oh dear, this looks good...

infatuated with the iphone

Yeah I know I'm two years behind the curve, but in keeping with my new life rule -- Wait Til Version 3.0 of Anything (except love) -- I got the iPhone 3Gs about two weeks ago. I'm enjoying music on the go more than I have since the early days of the Walkman. Having access to Pandora over the open air is a wonder. I've used the little guy as a drum machine and enjoyed the wonderful Bloom app. But there's so much more to try, like this for example: