MI7®

at first glance, apple's hold on music is crucifying the industry: standardized rates, a push to make all songs free, and a general faciliation for all to make mediocre music. However, Macintosh's efforts are no different than the Garage Band movement of forty years ago. British Invasion or no, Americans hold to their music as a treasure. Not rock, not hip hop, but pop and possibly classical are the true source of our income and inspiration. Napster was an interesting effort to free the distribution of "mix tape" promotional musics, but the retail connection wasn't apparent to most. Just like with mixtapes, (R.I.P. audio cassette) the napster phenomenon encouraged individuals to hear new music and then buy it for themselves. The death of the 45 rpm single as commercial enterprise left many holding CD singles as artistic wonders, a unique celebration of a popular song, often with original art and even "b" sides. However, the iTune "single" is much more orchestrated in the business environment: co-ordinated exposure in multi-media, cross-platform distribution and rotation (including TV shows and movies) left many to wonder what could be the new hit, even as they turned away from the traditional 3-tier exposure system. TV, movies, and radio left the dominance as the internet itself became a new resource: youTube, chatgroup bands, and web payola supported the transitional musician as the digital media rights issue returned with a vengance. Who was left? A few core bands grass-rooting in the old spots: clubs, churches, campfires, and record stores. Who succeeded? It seemed like the devil's bargain all over again. So who's the new push? Family Values, the new yuppie (young upright professional instead of young upwardly mobile professional), the traditionalist. But where's their music? All we hear are pornographic celebrations of sexuality, decadence and rudeness. What's left? All the tours are the old standards for the generations with money: Steve Miller, Jimmy Buffet, Neil Young. Everyone might like James Taylor, but it's the motivational drive of bands like U2, the Beastie Boys, and Steve Burns (formerly of Blues Clues) and not the ennui and angst of bands like Nirvana, Metallica, and The Roots that get the kids moving. So who's left? Us. The independent musician. Those who hold true to their vocation. Those who realize life's not a vacation. Those of us who desparately need a vacation. Those of us who look for cause for celebration. And why are we not signed? Because people have destroyed the legacies of Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, and the actual American Bandstands. Because when a barbershop quartet, or a marching band, or a combo sit on those stages, and people light sparklers, and think about the fourth of July, they need for one moment to consider the history of tradition, to look to the stars and consider themselves part of the Universe, maybe even to thank God for their life. Because, when we look at the Universal application of America, of Freedom, of the Rights to Life, Liberty, and the Persuit of Happiness, it's not lawyers we're thinking about. It's not even Horatio Alger. It's the little guy. The little guy who cares, who didn't step on any toes on the way up, and who showed nothing but respect on the way back down. The little guy who knows that little people aren't little. They're just better, not bigger. So when we step up to be bigger than who we were yesterday, and are thankful for the business world and it's attempts to both be more open and to be more careful, and when we think about quality and not just quantity, it's no surprise there are so many independent musicians. Are we willing to sell out? to become part of a corporate machine? to lose creative control? to defer to experience and to make wise decisions based on professional opinions and even to be our own experts? I don't know. But we are willing to acknowledge brands, to participate in industry, to appreciate the producer, to listen. And that's why we are glad Universal did what they did. And kudos to Apple for trying to make something free. But as anyone knows, if one thing is free, everything else has to be free, too. And that's not much of a business model. It's a nice dream, though.