INDUSTRY 360 deals rip off or service?

Since Napster and its successors ate away at the CD cash-cow, the music industry has aggressively sought to develop fresh sources of income.

An exemplar of this is the now common 360 deal, wherein an artist signs over a percentage of rights to every money-making activity to their label - in return (in theory) for support from the label. It is a controversial practice from an industry historically mired in controversy over its treatment and exploitation of artists.

Excerpt from an interview featured on ezine Blabbermouth with the Staind frontman, & (above) Indie innovator Alan McGee (Creation Records) pulls no punches!

BELOW: a definition + research tips/examples

UGC CONVERGENCE Ezine's fake 8bit metal game trailer

To the eyes of someone who fondly recalls all the acts featured, and the (now!) primitive video game style pastiched, this is a thing of marvel - a trailer for a notional 'Monsters of Rock' game, with legendary bands, music videos and singles all rendered in this retro style.

Bands like Chipmunk have of course made tech-retro part of youth/popular culture, fetishising 80s synths and recording technology.

This is a great example of convergence - an e-zine (there is no print edition, and Facebook, where I most often find its articles, seems to be, in effect, its key 'distributor') commissioned a fake retro video game trailer, 'published' on YouTube, featuring lo-fi music renderings that recall the early mobile phone ringtones.

[below the line: a second example, some important terminology, and points on 2005's Crazy Frog...]

INDIE RETRO Before blogs there were zines...

Great, in-depth interview with Bruce 'Sub Pop' Pavitt (that's where Nirvana started if you don't know the name).

Simon Reynolds' writing, notably the book Retromania, is a good way of getting a handle on how the music industry and fandom was, back in the day; this interview is a great starter for any such wider reading.

The appeal of retro media and technology, from zines to vinyl, and that ridiculous music movement that insists on using only primitive 80s sequencers, is a marked feature of our postmodern, mashed-up era of pastiche and bricolage. Digitisation has ironically boosted the appeal of analogue technology, at least once it has almost entirely obliterated it from mainstream retailing and usage.

SOURCE: Diffuser.fm.