Re: Reviewers/promotional copies

["S.P. Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "matt davignon" <mattdavignon@hotmail.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 03, 2002 01:46:AM
Subject: Re: Reviewers/promotional copies


> Yeah, I've thought of that too. The difference between the press copies
sent
> by a major record label (most "indie" labels as well) and those sent by
> individuals is that labels often have several stages of criticism, review
> and quality control involved in the process of making a cd. Not only do
they
> only put out albums by a tiny fraction of the bands that send material to
> them, but each cd released by a band is only a fraction of the material
they
> would've recorded at home during the same time span. Half of a producer's
> job is to critique the work as it's being made. By the time a cd is sent
to
> reviewers, they've already fixed most of the things that would be brought
up
> about an individually created cd.

By this logic, it would be incumbent upon any of us who wish to send off
such material to fake the look of a "professionally-produced" CD, so to 
give
life to a predictable added-value perception on the part of the reviewer,
and most probably improve one's chances of being listened to altogether (as
well as getting a positive review).  Silly, isn't it?  But if one wants
radio play these days, controlled and operated for the most part by the
Clear Channel, one should not only fake the packaging but also the look of 
a
package from the Big Five record companies, neh?  Somehow I'm not sure any
of that is necessary, unless we allow the ongoing moves to steal the
copyright process to continue.  If so, it's the fault of those who think
they can't do anything about it.

> (I guess this is part of the reason that CD-r's don't sell as well as
cd's.)

One of the other reasons is that CD-Rs simply don't play on many
recently-produced players.  This is not the fault of the disc, but BY
DESIGN, on the part of players, thanks to those beneficent chaps at the
RIAA.  Thankfully for the most part CD players have escaped this, but not
DVD players.  However, there is hope, with more and more DVD players
supporting CD-R as well as DVD-R.  No matter how they delay, copy 
protection
technology is still a joke at best, and a hindrance to listening at worst.


> While we don't all have the money (or desire) to hire producers, it might
be
> a good idea to get the honest opinion of someone familiar with your goals
> while you're determining what's going to be on your cd. I've done it on 
>my
> last cd, and it was really valuable to hear opinions on the music by
someone
> who didn't have a hand in making it. I cut a few songs that sounded too
> repetitive or not complete (and I never would've noticed it by myself).

I will never short-cut the aspect of getting good opinions of your work,
especially if they're from the "real world", as opposed to friends and
relations.  Not only do you get opinions you didn't anticipate, sometimes
you get new ideas as well.

S.P. Goodman
EarthLight Productions
*
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