Re: Fripp news

["Stephen Goodman" <spgoodman@earthlight.net>]

In the 1990s as I understand it the only profitable tours were done by the 
Grateful Dead.  $40 for a ticket, great parking lot action, lots of love and 
togetherness thanks to the massive fan base they'd developed over the years, 
and a great show.  The big companies were watching, as I was told by a 
fellow at Jobete Music when I was IT Director there.  Unfortunately those 
guys have executive perks and salaries, and tons of greed.  Thus the $190 
tickets began to appear for U2 etc.

That's 20 years ago.  It might be the "new old business model" after all. 
The economics of music production, management, and so on have begun to 
change again, as I see it.  In 2004 I was asked to lend the use of a cartoon 
I'd done for a Christmas card, to a group of volunteer firemen from PA, who 
had a brass band.  They played strictly locally, and in parades.  They used 
DiscMakers to make a CD of Christmas songs, and used the cartoon for the 
cover.  They only sold it to raise funds for new equipment, locally.  They 
didn't NEED to make money in order to do their own thing.  It was a hint to 
me that this world we cohabit was changing again.  I don't know what's 
coming specifically, but it sure isn't what we've been seeing in the past.

-----Original Message----- 
From: Per Boysen
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 5:33 AM
To: Loopers-Delight
Subject: Re: Fripp news

"The old business model" was based on the fact that records sold well.
This made it possible for a record label to organise tours that did
not make any money except for the money generated as future record
sales generated by the concerts.

Funnily many of today's musicians see touring as "the new business
model" and you can in fact make money from it if you keep costs down
and plan it as a business that has to make ends meet. Not that the
economy in D-I-Y touring has grown better, it is rather like it's what
we have left after the decline of the CD market. The few times I've
been able to cram gigs into a tour, like for example playing 20 times
in a 30 days span, I have always come out with enough money to buy a
great new instrument (since I tend to keep some on-the-side job too,
thus not having to put all the touring money into food and rent).

As I read that article on Fripp he was quoted saying he is giving up
making music to focus on the business. I understood that as he is
becoming his own management to keep following up legal rights to his
music of the past. Reminds me of the tendency among record labels to
stop seeking out new great music in favor of focusing on dealing with
the legal rights to their back catalogue. What new will ever come to a
world where every one just keeps suing everyone else?

The daily life of any professional musician is about 90 percent
administration and 10 percent music making. Maybe Fripp just got bored
with the admin side not being handles well (by whatever management he
used to work with) and thinks he can do it better by himself?

Greetings from Sweden

Per Boysen
www.perboysen.com
http://www.youtube.com/perboysen


On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 10:59 AM, Stephen Goodman
<spgoodman@earthlight.net> wrote:
> That’s a matter of choice.  I’ve been thinking a lot about whether 
> ‘touring’
> is a leftover construct of an old business model forced upon performers by
> the big music companies, promoting the music created by artists, but
> providing not a heck of a lot of income to them.  On many levels this just
> keeps the performer busy, while someone else reaps the rewards the
> performers deserve... and guaranteeing a continued existence for dinosaurs
> to continue deal with material produced by others.  I’m not sure I want to
> cooperate with such an idea myself.  I don’t understand why anyone but a
> gearhead would be interested in watching me twiddle settings and 
> performing
> as such.  My definition of the art involves using video works that 
> accompany
> my music; I think it’s more interesting and most importantly it’s my art,
> which compromises to nothing but broadband speed, my own time, and 
> equipment
> maintenance.  I’m sure many folks on this list enjoy the process of live
> performance, but you have to include the elements of takedown-setup,
> stolen-damaged instruments and equipment, iffy venues and operators, lots 
> of
> schlepping it all around, questionable nutrition and the inevitable 
> dealing
> with people who just want to make money off you.  It doesn’t balance out 
> for
> me on any level, and stinks of an old business model that only works for a
> select few who must fill stadiums in order to break even, and charge the
> people who come to see them criminal amounts of money for a ticket. I 
> think
> the old business model’s been dead a few years already.  We DON’T have to
> follow it any more in order to produce, record, or sell our own material.
> But that’s just the opinion of someone who’s gotten a new start in life, 
> and
> can’t afford at 55 to mess with ‘touring’ as such.
>
> From: Gareth Whittock
> Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 1:33 AM
> To: loopers-delight@loopers-delight.com
> Subject: RE: Fripp news
>
> So he's giving up making music today over the release of music he made
> decades ago.
> Many of artists work for little or no financial reward because that is 
> their
> raison d'etre.
> Seems odd to me.
>
> G
>
> Gareth Whittock, sound artist: garethwhittock.co.uk
>
> > To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com
> > From: revfever@ubergadget.com
> > Subject: Fripp news
> > Date: Thu, 6 Sep 2012 20:40:28 -0700
> >
> > Intense. But, I'll wager he will back to making music after a certain
> > period of time. How could someone like him not do so? :-)
> >
> > http://www.dprp.net/wp/?p=7155
> >
> > Cheers-
> > Rev.Fever
> > Portlandia
> > http://www.spiritone.com/~rvfever
> > http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/elemental1
> > http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/elemental2
> > http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/skult