Musical Notation
by George Rivera
Musical Notation
by George Rivera
August 20, 2000 -
A few weeks ago while chatting with a musician
friend, who will remain anonymous for the time being, the subject of marketing a
record in today’s market came up when the musician related a story about how a
certain large chain picked his latest release up, which I must say is a very
good one, after he was interviewed on a non-commercial radio show. It appears
that the chain store received lots of requests for the CD after the station
played numerous tracks during the interview/listening session. For the benefit
of those that are not aware of just how hard it is to get a CD on the shelf of
your local chain store, let me just whisper the word “payola”. You see, the
majority of the large chain stores require a cash payment, as well as a large
quantity of complimentary copies of the CD before they will even stock the
release. So, if you’re not associated with any of the majors, you’re out of
luck if your not reeling in the dough. This is a tough hurdle for most
independent labels to maneuver.
After listening to two smoking sets of my friend’s band I left. On the ride
home I started to think about our conversation and an old television commercial
came to mind. Remember the Memorex television ad campaign where Ella Fitzgerald
would sing a scat that would culminate with her hitting a high note that would
break a glass placed in front of a speaker? Well, that was no illusion.
Actually, it took a lot out of her. You can’t blame people for not believing
what they see sometimes, especially with all the trickery that goes on most of
the time.
For instance, take the music industry. There are those that would have you
believe that what you hear and dislike is actually good. These shady characters
would do just about anything, no, allow me to correct myself; they would do
anything in their power to create that illusion. They’ll hype the artist to
the hilt before releasing anything. Once the release is out they’ll flood
radio and television with lots of cash, and whatever else it’ll take, so that
they can get their product in rotation at your local radio station. Television
campaigns will bombard the viewers with images of their artists lip-synching
their “alleged” hits (this is usually a dead give-away). There’s just so
much money can buy you in this industry.
Now, that is not to say that there isn’t some good stuff on radio and
television. However, the good stuff speaks for itself. There really isn’t any
need for the shady “sales” pitch, only the weak stuff needs that pitch.
There are ways in which one can prevent being ripped-off by those shady
characters. You can start by educating yourself. Start reading those liner notes
that accompany most recordings. Get into the personnel involved in the
recording. Look to see whom the composers, arrangers, musicians and engineers
are. The recording studio can also be of importance. However, if the engineer is
good the studio may not matter. The most important thing is to let your
ears be the judge. Go with what you like. From there you’ll get to
learn which arrangers, composers, musicians and engineers appeal to you and you
can use this information when spending your hard earned cash. After all it is
not only music, its art, and something that will be with you for a long time if
it’s good. Just remember that feeling you get when you hear one of those old
tunes that somehow touched you, and you’ll understand where I’m coming from.
Oh, and before I forget, when you do hear something that moves you remember to
ask for it at your local chain store. And if they don’t have it, just request
it.
Hasta la
proxima, ciao…
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