catapult magazine

The internet, Courtney Love, Ani Difranco and certain technological advances present challenges for a music industry that’s still structured according to a fifties and sixties model.

Labels typically act as loan companies that help artists pay for studio time, as long as it promises a return. This gives the label, which often cares only about profit, too much say in the final product. But now there are more Mobys, artists who can record anything they need to in their bedrooms or basements without needing a big budget or financial support from labels. Labels are still needed for mass-marketing, of course, but look what the marketing machine turns out these days: phonies like Alicia Keys while the real deals like Wilco get cast off.

The question is not IF the music industry has become irrelevant or WHEN it will crash and burn; the real question for Christians is how the industry should be structured now? Christians should be way ahead when it comes to reforming the industry, since Christian musicians and many Christian music listeners have been complaining about the limitations of Nashville’s CCM industry for decades now. What should an alternative to CCM and the broader music industry look like?

I hear you. I know what you are speaking of since we have talked about this issue before. Outside of private donors, I don’t know how you would be able to maintain such a studio. The cost of building a quality studio is high and at some point the investment must be paid off. I might argue that an album which is ready to be a sighpost might have less to do with time spent in studio and instead, more time finding a vision and purpose as an artist/band. Some of the best albums ever made have attested to this…Nebraska by the Boss, the many projects by Elliot Smith, etc. While a U2 or Radiohead have the luxury of musically brainstorming in the studio (their own at that) most artists arrive with purspose before they record.

As I continue to think about these questions another problem I see is the assunptiont that good music arrives with the production and not the spirit of the actual music. While I do believe that production is certianly a part of the project, and can be e wonderful thing, I fear that most artists rely too fully on it. Perhaps its like writing a great story and then taking it to your agent, who then sends it to 4 different editors, who then rework it and cut off the edges, making it ready for the public. While it is wonderful to have a lanois or eno as a part of your team, I’m not sure that they are always needed. I would also push for the live performance being more of the focus. And in this way, I would instead want a co-op to further the possibilities of the artists live abilty more than their recorded ability.

Granted, bands with no studio time constraints have a luxury to be spontaneous on tape and get rid of the stuff the doesn’t work while keeping what does…but then again so does every artist; just not on the professionals time. The biggest struggle for an engineer is a band that doesn’t take the time to develop themselves. If a band is crappy, no matter how much studio time they book they will still be crappy. Some of the best albums ever recorded were done on a two track or four track machine in someones basement studio. Artists need to develop themselves way before the book studio time. Most band flops are more due to lack of preparation (sometimes requiring a few years of practicing, writing and performing) and not due to insufficient studio time. Take your music, work it…refine it…redifine it..try it on the audience and see their responses, and when you find something that works keep it. Get rid of the stuff that doesn’t. But a little home studio in a box and learn about what you are doing. Figure out what mics work best with your vocals and instruments. Find out where your vocalist hits the flat notes and where he hits dead on. Make notes. Become excellent at your craft and you will turn heads. Don’t walk into a studio, spending excess amounts of money and using someone elses time, and expect the engineer to do it for you.

I agree with mwooten, the live performance is the key. practice long and hard and play great shows. Develop a large fan base and get people excited about what you are doing. build your own arsenal of mics and gear to get the particular sound you are going for and tweak them (at the board) until you hear what you want. There is more to successful musical artistry than just performing. Music is an art that must be crafted and molded. Never settle for second best…always strive for excellence and more so that you are not distracting your audience away from exactly what you are trying to say and the message you are trying to get accross.

I love the idea of a JPUSA mentality for a communal music development/production team. It should be noted that they fund their operation, not only be music sales, but by the sale of other goods that the participants make by hand. That is something also to include in your formula…

agreed 100%. It would be wonderful to find a place, a retreat center of sorts, that would allow for artists to come together, share food and good drink, be safe from other committments, and share their art. This is my dream…a large farm house in middel Iowa would work nicely.

how about michigan? for some reason i was looking at real estate today in the town where i currently find myself (three rivers, mi). i was surprised by how cheap really big (5, 6 bedrooms), really cool houses were.

and i got to thinking, “hey, how could i use a big house?” i immediately started thinking about community living situations. of course, some sort of directed, intentional community would be even better.

sorry. just thinking while typing . . . hmmm . . .

I love it…Michigan would work too. I always envisioned a Labri of sorts for artists. My dream would look like…a large place with the capacity to house a number of people at once, over those who already live there. Some sort of performance area to allow for the artists to show their work. Perhaps a coffee shop that could be run and operated by the commited members of the community. And, some sort of studio…to really make it happen in.

It seems to me that communal living must have a purpose outside of itselft, it must have funciton…and I would love to see that function be music. The exploration of music, the conversation which surronds music, the performance of music, and the enjoyment of music.

We could share the expensives, even have jobs outside of the community at first if needed, but move towards a purpose of sustaining a place which would be an incubator of art. Art which Christians could be proud of and the world could identify with. It could also be a signpost that Christians and Jesus care about the cultivation and investment of art.

I don’t know…just some dreams.

mmmmmm….L’Abri…..I love it! Schaeffer would be proud. MI is a bit of a hike for me, but then again we’d be seeing Kirstin and Rob (the revolutionaries)

I moved to NYC to somehow get involved in the music industry because I was tired of talking about the Kingdom of God but not being tangiibly invested in it. Know that nothing would be more discouraging for me than to be on my death bed and to remember all the wonderful conversatins that I had about a Labri for artists but never really saw happen. I for one, intend to do more than just talk about these things.

I think that Christian artists, such as Charlie Peacock, Bill Mallonee and Steve Hindalong, would be thrilled with such an endeavor and I am sure that many would get involved. I had a great conversation with Marc Byrd, of Common Children, where he spilled out his grief over the industry and his desire to get away from it. I think that we would be surprised at the number of “mainstream” Christian artists who are as disgusted as we are and would like to see change as well. For most of us, it isn’t about the money (though making a decent living doing what you love is imperative) but it’s about being allowed the creative freedom to share your inner thoughts and turmoils without the ax of over-simplified, pre-packaged Christianity that seems to drift in and out of the local Family Bookstore.

i completely agree, mwooten. i also intend to do more than just talking. culture is not optional, as an organization, was developed by people who didn’t just want to sit around and talk about the way things could be. we want to do something to get there. and that’s why the people here get excited about conversations like this one.

on our (grant, kirstin and i) last trip to dordt, it became very clear to me that *cino needed to get involved with developing intentional living communities. we talked with several students who were very excited about the idea, but didn’t know how they could actually make it happen. and that, ideally, would be where *cino would come in.

we could provide the structure, resources and basic ideas to set up a community. exactly how involved we would be as an organization (short and long term) is still up in the air. we’ve already been brainstorming ideas for an off-campus program for college students that would look very much like the community we’re talking about here.

the only real obstacle (and it’s a major obstacle) is financing. we need wealthy christians who are interested in promoting radical christianity. or we need some practical models involving shared finances or something of that nature. i know we keep coming back to this, but does anyone have any ideas?

sorry for the long post, but this is something i’m very passionate about. i think it would be amazing if eventually we had communities all over the country contributing to different aspects of culture.