Well, now that Sufjan Steven’s The Age of Adz has leaked…

What I Mean To You mp3 Justin Earl Townes Midnight At The Movies… buy it! and go check out Harlem River Blues…. buy it!

photo credit: marzuki stevens

• Don’t you think it’s time we talked a little about expectations?
• What did you expect from Sufjan this time around?
• What did his label, Asthmatic Kitty expect from his fans?
• What does the music industry expect from you?
• And, most importantly what does your congressman expect the internet to be?

Does this seem like a string of unrelated questions to you? It’s not.

Fans’ expectations are everything. They are exactly what the music industry gambles on with every product it puts out, be it a new album, a tour poster, an artist, or that action figure you wished you’d bought ten years ago and had kept in its original packaging. If the industry can gauge fans’ expectations properly it makes a profit, misjudging them means a loss. Who is this “industry” that I’m talking about? Obviously, it’s the gatekeepers; the ones who determine which artists reach wider audiences, who’s songs we hear on HBO trailers, which bands get big tours and sign to labels with big advertising budgets. When a band like The Antlers move from putting out their music on their own, and booking their own tours, to having a label arrange things for them, obviously other people are betting on their chances of attracting fans (and their money.) I love that band, and most certainly would not begrudge them a minute of their “big break” which is really the result of a lot of years of hard work. But from a business perspective, that was a bet well made, I’m happy to say. And I’m thrilled to be even the tiniest part of that “industry” effort, as a fan who writes about them and encourages you to buy their album and see them play. It’s 100% positive as far as I feel it.

This past week Sufjan Steven’s new album The Age of Adz was the center of discussion among my blogger friends for two reasons: everyone was waiting for it to leak and his label, Asthmatic Kitty put out a controversial email to folks who had previously bought from them on bandcamp.com, an email which was discussed on The Village Voice’s music blog, Sound of the City.

Go read it for yourself.

Here’s the part that got my hackles up a bit, it concerns the practice of reduced pricing, where Amazon will sell a “hot” album for something like $3.99 the first week or so:
So you might wonder why we’d “allow” Amazon to sell it for lower than that.

There are several reasons why, but mostly? It’s because we believe in you. We trust you and in your ability to make your own choice. Here are some you might make if you decide to obtain the album:

What I took away from this all is pretty clearly put forth in my comments on the Voice’s blog, comments that received some critique, and so be it. You don’t always see eye to eye with folks on the internet, now do you? But I do still think that if you, as a label, don’t believe in reduced pricing, then don’t do it. If you’re of two minds about it, don’t pass that on to me, your consumer, and try to guilt trip me into doing what you feel is the “right thing to do.” That’s just not respecting my choices, no matter how you map them out. They’re really not choices, now are they? Reduced pricing is a way for labels to gamble on fans’ expectations, hoping that they’ll sell enough product to make it worth selling at that $3.99 when they really believe (or so they say) that album is worth $12.00. And if they’re right, they will increase fans’ expectations because so many of them bought that album that even more of them want it now. I know, I know, I’m pointing out the obvious, sorry. It’s insulting.

Spend your money how you wish.

The music industry expects you to pay for your music because you value it, and pay even more to see the elite musicians that you’ve got a long history of financially rewarding, or pay to see those artists who’ve made the big deals with the big companies, simply because well… someone’s throwing money at them and so should you. Some say the music industry has little interest in you making decisions on how to spend your money, it’s all too ready to tell you what’s cool, what’s valuable, what’s fashionable, what’s “bank.” Afterall, we’ve got one or two TV channels devoted to that, now don’t we? But that’s all cultural critique and mostly the game for sociologists and pundits, religious leaders and the Moral Majority. I’ll only give you the straight Marxist line — why make music a commodity when it can be a gift? Like love or sex, how can I begin to place a value on such a thing that once taken for any dollar amount, loses its meaning, becomes estranged from its intention? Commodities only receive their value from their position in the market, i.e., from the anticipated price they will bring (their profit, which is calculated as price [-] cost of production.) Gifts, on the other hand, are not market commodities. A gift’s value exists only because it cannot be priced. It would be ludicrous to calculate the profit of a gift. Just as it is ludicrous to calculate the profit of a song. Music is not a commodity, no matter how much the industry attempts to make it so. Once that happens the intention of it is lost, gone. And any musician, I think, will agree. Any musician making music for the money isn’t worth listening to, to my mind.

Does this mean we should not pay people for music? Of course not. And nothing about this blog should ever lead you to believe that. (If it does, you’d better call, or email me immediately, because I’ve clearly lost my mind that day.) In order to keep this gift alive we need to support people financially and support them well. And absolutely, I recognize that the market exists and we don’t live in my Marxist utopia. So be it. This is exactly why I write this blog, in the hopes that people spend their money on artists that I feel are worthwhile, on artists that aren’t yet signed to labels, on artists that make music that’s not on the radio (yet), on music that’s not what you might hear from your friends. (I try not to stop promoting artists once they make it too.) That’s why there is always a “buy this!” link on every mp3 track I post. If you’re a musician and someone gives away your music on a blog, I feel pretty strongly that you should insist on a link to your store, your label, your page on bandcamp.com, somewhere to purchase your music! I might be an asshole for calling my fellow bloggers out (haha, as if any of them read this!) but it’s just good protocol and we need to expect it from each other. It’s also why I don’t feel terribly guilty for getting into a few shows for free, I’ll be honest. I give free PR here, some of my time and own money to host this, and while it’s not great, certainly not wonderfully written most of the time, I don’t run ads or ask for donations. So, a free show or a press pass is a really nice thing. And I do pay my way just as often as I am guestlisted, that’s the truth. Geeze, have I preached enough and confessed my sins enough for your Sunday? (I actually was raised a Fundie, it shows, eh?)

One more thing! What does your Congressman expect? September 21, Senator Leahy brought forward a bill that anyone who pays attention to issues of free speech and net neutrality and internet piracy should be aware of, an “Online Infringement Bill.” It’s officially called, “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” (COICA) and it does all the nasty things you can imagine; presumes guilt before being proved innocent, puts power into the hands of the Attorney General and Dept. of Justice to determine lists of suspects without a hearing or jury, allows DNS operators and “internet intermediaries” to block access to areas of the web to just about anyone, and to do all of this really without telling you. No, I’m not being an alarmist. This anti-piracy campaign is coming dangerously close to our doorstep and it’s being led by folks who stand to lose quite a lot more of their money… the industry who orchestrates fans’ expectations and has been doing it rather badly lately.

As I said over on the Village Voice, Sound of the City blog, if you want to build a fan base, the surefire way is to make yourself accessible to them. In this time where so many of us question the authenticity of our heroes; can they really sing? is that auto tuned? did he copy that song? are those really her boobs? What we crave is that sense of personal connection to the musicians we love. Seeing Justin Townes Earl last Saturday afternoon in Reckless Records store was such an experience for me — I don’t think I will ever forget the way he sang and the things he said. And I’ll tell you right now, I’m buying all his albums. When I heard about his problems the night before in Indianapolis, which he alluded to so wryly and briefly, I felt so sad for him, when before seeing him in person I might have written him off. Am I just a sucker for an [edit: (allegedly)] screwed up guy who has problems I once had myself? Maybe, but his music is what remains in my mind, clear and strong. And it was his music that spoke to me that day too. xoxo