Radiohead - What will the fans (market) do?

I think this article: Radiohead bets on fast release, open pricing is another indicator of the music industry creaking at the seams. However, the line “It’s up to you” is a challenge to the public to embrace the independent artist’s new business model. It’s telling the audience to be honest about downloading and those who would contemplate simply taking it for free simply because they can, should consider well what they may be doing to the future of music and the industry of art & entertainment.

The question we should ask is: Are the public–the fans–as dishonest and corrupt as the industry itself, or are they truly loyal (and honest) fans who want to support the independence of artists whose talent and products they enjoy?

I think Radiohead are asking that question with “It’s up to you” which is really, another way of asking “Given the opportunity to steal, to take without fair payment, are you a thief?” it’s too bad they’re not publshing the figures as they occur, for the results would be very interesting. What Radiohead is doing is similar to Stephen King’s e-Book download experiment.

Creative Artist Marketing - Copyblogger

Here’s a great resource: Copyblogger, and especially this article: The David Lee Roth Guide to Legendary Marketing which contains a good example of workable marketing principles for artists.

We recommend Copyblogger because it is one of the best sites about developing good copy for the purposes of marketing with blogs online. If you’re going to use the internet and web to market online then you need to know how to write copy–words that inform, educate, persuade and build relationships with people who become a loyal audience for your work.

Creative Artists are skilled high quality communicators. They create realities that people embrace and use to improve their own lives. A highly skilly communicator is proficient in more than one medium and style of communication. When it comes to the internet, the ability to write in a number of different styles and most particularly in the authentic language of persuasion and promotion is of paramount importance.

The Rise of the Independent Creative Artist - Prince, Radiohead Lead Way with Bold Marketing Moves

When the Free Articulator launched its first articles on the 4th of July 2007 it did so with the Declaration of Creative Independence, and the Code of a Creative Artist, a set of principles which state very clearly how Creative Artists will deal with the business and industry of artistic creative endeavor, and interact with society and civilization.

In September the Free Articulator published my article the Traditional Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse. It was pirated within a day of publication and came to the attention of MySpace.

Earlier this year (July, 2007) Prince caught everybody’s attention with the licensing of two million copies of his new album Planet Earth to the UK’s Mail On Sunday. It was touted as a “give away” by the international media, though nothing could be further from the truth; Prince licensed the album to the Mail On Sunday; that’s smart marketing business, demonstrating an understanding and appreciation of what intellectual property rights are all about and how to use them effectively.

This licensing deal with the Mail On Sunday permitted the legal give-away of two million albums and raised the ire of the Music Retailers Association in the UK, who warned musicians everywhere “not to do the same or else…!” Precisely the sort of attitude and response that would encourage musicians everywhere to follow Prince’s example, and by the way, I’d love to interview Prince for our Intellectual Property Series, as I’ve been following what happened to his career since he lost the use of his name to his former-label and I’m thrilled to see his comeback garnering so much attention, as it simultaneously educates and redefines the business model of creative individuals with the industry, society and the public.

Now Radiohead has adopted the idea of the market setting the price for downloaded material and generated millions of dollars worth of free international advertising that purportedly sends a shockwave through the busines, and reflects the insight offered in my article on the inreasing signs of collapse of the music industry. The old model in the recording industry (detailed briefly here) doesn’t work any more, it is a rip-off of artists who have been kept ignorant of the industry’s workings, and disenfranchised of their rights through chicanery and ignorance that is becoming well-known worldwide.

However, as AJC points out in his blog Science of the Invisible, “It ain’t gonna work.” At best, he’s right: Radiohead’s move is free international promotion and that will work, is working, but has little ongoing traction or utility, as one needs to have a large audience, and be a brand that people and the media are aware of.

AJC is also right about what the music industry should do, but, changing a bad philosophical, moral code and business model to something morally sound and ethical requires a radical change in thinking and practise that takes a long, long time. The time to change required extends when you’re talking about an entire industry that is used to having open season exploitation of creative ignorance. Can such a leopard change its blotches?

The industry is a servant of the artist and their public, not the master. That’s the new model, the model of the independent Creative Artists who license their work to others for mutual benefit, sharing the wealth and potential of a work or collection on reaonable and fair terms without giving up ownership or paying for the rip-off of their own property. End the corruption, end the decay. Let’s have an industry we can trust.

Celebrity Culture - BS Observations - Celebrity Cash-and-Burn

It’s ironic to me that the Free Articulator’s first front page, launched in 2006 made mention of Britney Spears in the most derisive tones, portending her crash long before the MSM made mention of it with regard to her folding marriage and desperate, but failed attempts to cling to the shreds of her career.

Since then, I’ve been fond of making fun of Britney Spears by saying “The initials say it all.” Meaning that they comment on the music, the woman, her character, and her career. The news that she has lost custody of her children is now exploding into the mainstream media (MSM) and dominating headlines and soundbytes internationally. It gives me pause.

The former Disney Mouseketeer has lost the plot completely. Whatever talent she has, or retains, is obscured, and all the money showbiz has offered, ($50,000,000 a year) for a twenty-something would seem insufficient to help her, though she does a credible (if soul-destroying) job of remaining in the media spotlight; a celebrity’s major job description and most precious social capital these days.

It seems to me that the attention we pay her as she shatters her career, ruins her life and that of those around her is more of a commentary on who we are as a society and civilization, than who Britney is as a falling star of pop culture.

I think the MSM today is feeding and fueling her plunge into obscurity as visibly as possible and that we are helping her along. I find that rather shameful. If we’re to believe the media attitude on this it comes across as “Nobody seems to care,” except the media who rush to publish so they can exploit this event to make money from corporations who’ll purchase more adspace this week to capitalize upon the circumstance of celebrity cash-and-burn (sic). “The meida maketh and the media burneth.” All we are supposed to do is stir the ash; fertile ground for the next media sensation to rise as phoenix and inflame our desire to consume.

As has been mentioned earlier, the Free Articulator will be taking a look at the cult of celebrity in a consumer soceity at a later date.

In the meantime consider what it means as society loses the values it once placed in glamorous graceful and cultured celebrities (holding to the illusion we considered reality at the time), and ponder for a few moments, if you will, who may gain what by destroying the value and inspiration celebrity once gave us.

Celebrity is a commodity traded by the value others place in the attention we freely give.

On who, or what, do you spend your attention today?

There is where the dollars flow.

Creative Tip: Working Across Time Zones - The World Time Server

A truly useful resource in the internet age where we collaborate across Time Zones and are constantly confused by date and time and trying to find a location and way to collaborate is the World Time Server, a free internet service that you can use to schedule online meetings or check out times around the world.

Take a bit of time to peruse the link and then bookmark it in your browser or add it as a tab (in Firefox) or a Favorite in IE, you will find it is very useful. We use it to help us shedule meetings with people working across many differnt time zones. It features a Time Converter, a World Meeting Planner (which we use regularly) and a number of other useful features that help us to locate a suitable convergent time for creative collaboration and business meetings. Fantastic tool to facilitate getting things done. No, we’re not sponsoring them, nor do we own share, we just like the service and use it to create and do business.

Update: MySpace removes pirated NDK Creative Artist article from website

MySpace has notified NDK Creative Artist by email today that his article Traditional Model Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse which was misappropriated by MySpace user and BMI Songwriter/Producer Colin Preston, as mentioned in the Allforart News Flash of 22 September 2007 in the Free Articulator has been removed from MySpace.

No apology, as requested, has been received from Colin Preston to date.

News Flash: Free Articulator Catches Intellectual Property Thief Stealing NDK Article and publishing it on MySpace

It’s not hard to reprint intellectual property licensed under a Creative Commons License. As we declare in the footer of every page of the Free Articulator, the content published on this site is Creative Commons licensed. We encourage other publishers around the internet to reprint our content, enhancing the value of their site and bringing publicity to our contributors. But we do have a few conditions, as stipulated by the Creative Commons license:

The content must be attributed and link back to the Free Articulator - a standard practice in any field.

The content must not be a derivative of the original, but an accurate and unchanged copy.

The content must not be used for commercial purposes.

Today we discovered plagiarism and intellectual property theft of our content by a fellow named Colin Preston on his MySpace blog. The article that was ripped off was NDK Creative Artist’s “Traditional Model Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse”, and the plagiarized version can be found here, until MySpace takes action as requested. Screenshot here.

Mr Preston failed to attribute NDK Creative Artist and link back to the Free Articulator, he made a derivative by modifying the content, and it is arguably a commercial use of the content as his MySpace profile is clearly a promotional tool for his services as a musician and producer.

“I’d be flattered and grateful if he had just done the right thing,” said NDK Creative Artist, who wrote the lyrics for the tuneback “Creative Commons for the Common Man“.

The article in question is, in part, an anti-piracy piece, and Mr Preston has pirated NDK’s work in order to make himself look reputable and anti-piracy. The gall, hypocrisy and lack of integrity of some artists is undesirable.

The Free Articulator has notified MySpace and Allforart, the Free Articulator, NDK Enterprises Limited and NDK Creative Artist will take further action as necessary.

We offer our content to the world with only a few stipulations; it’s not that hard to reprint Creative Commons material. Do the right thing.

If you would like to learn how to protect yourself in similar situations, click here to subscribe to the Free Articulator now - we’ll be publishing a series on intellectual property for artists soon.

Creative Tip: Reading leads to riches…

I read an immense amount of material. I read because I have an insatiable desire to know things, and I once coined the term infomaniac to describe this compulsion to know. Reading leads to riches, the riches of understanding and realization.

I just read this article about creativity and I recognized every single point in a subject I have spent a great deal of time researching, studying, considering and experiencing. I think readers of the Free Articulator will recognize them, and as I did, find affirmation in what Do you recognize these 10 mental blocks to creative thinking? has to offer; read it now.

Creative Tip: Vocabulary Building - One Word A Day

If you’re a songwriter, a poet, a storyteller, a journalist, or indeed anybody who works with words or wants to improve their literacy, there is no better way to consistently add to your intellectual toolkit than by subscribing to A.Word.A.Day.

This fantastic free educational service is one of the longest surviving email deliveries in the world. Every day it brings in a new word, with definitions and often a little history about word origins that fleshes out your understanding of context, which can be very useful for those engaged in historical novel writing, as but one example.

I’m committed to lifelong learning (well, who can avoid it?), and I find that learning just one new word every day, can help me:

• remove a creative block
• stimulate new ideas
• enrich my knowledge of our culture and civilization
• refresh my knowledge of meaning and definition (aiding memory)
• help me write and create the precise desirable effect I want to have with a reader

When I’m editing the work of others, having a veritable cornucopia of words, definitions and meanings in my intellect’s databank makes me an organic thesaurus, banishes the overuse of the same words in repetitive fashion and thus keeps my writing and that of those I edit lively and engaging, rather than repetitive, stultifying and boring.

If you’re not already a subscriber to A.Word.A.Day, but are working creatively with words, then get on over there and begin refreshing and expanding your existing vocabulary. You won’t regret it. Language competence is a highly sought after and extremely valuable skill and even if you’re not creatively inclined, knowing what words mean improves how you work and communicate. Words and their meaning enhance our ability to experience and enjoy life.

Traditional Model Music Industry Shows Increasing Signs of Collapse

The entire creative industry (not just the music industry) has been creaking at the seams for some time now, but it’s not really the seams that are creaking (rather they’re rotting), it’s the skeletal structure of the industry that is showing signs of fatigue. The structure has been disenfranching both the creative side of the industry and consumers for quite some time and those predatory policies are now coming home to roost. The industry (in denial) wants to blame this collapse on piracy, but piracy is not the only factor. It’s just another lever used to Read more