Bill C-11, Part 1: Rock Beats Scissors, But Lock Trumps All

I try to make this blog educational, and Bill C-11 is a topic that really can't be talked enough about. If you haven't read at least one article on the new copyright bill, you owe it to yourself to at least have a quick read. At a glance you may feel that it's unlikely to affect you or that you're comfortable with the measures being proposed, but what is going on is really quite sinister.

The first thing to note - if it hasn't sunk in - is that digital locks trump everything. Yes, you are now allowed to make backup copies or move from one device to another. Yes, you are now allowed to make temporary recordings of broadcasts for later consumption. Yes, you are allowed to use copyrighted content for fair use purposes such as education, satire, and parody. Yes, you are allowed to incorporate legally-acquired copyrighted content into your own non-commercial work. But every single one of these permitted actions can be nullified by digital locks.

Also consider that such practices such as region locking would also fall under this provision. At first glance this might not appear to be an issue, but consider that content from Europe and Asia may not be available in a version locked to the North American region. We therefore find that these rules may restrict the migration and influence of culture from other parts of the world.

There's also the lock-in factor. Not only could digital locks be used to tie content to a particular device, locks on the device itself could potentially be used to deny alternative content. This could give rise to anti-competitive behavior in the marketplace.

The one thing that doesn't seem to get touched on is that fact that the party to apply a digital lock to the content won't necessarily be the rights holder. In fact, I would guess that the vast majority of the time this won't be the case. The e-Book George R. R. Martin's next novel won't be encrypted by Martin himself or his publisher, rather Amazon will do so before placing it on Kindle Store. There have even been cases of Amazon using their DRM to place restrictions on works in the public domain, which by definition should have no such impediments.

You won't hear many artists and creators speaking in favour of the digital locks provision. More often than not, they're railing against it just like the rest of us.  In the end, they stand little - if anything - to gain by the locks.  They will not be the ones who see the money from court settlements over circumvention lawsuits. Restricting legal purchasers' ability to share their content is unlikely to significantly increase their sales as legal purchasers probably weren't the ones who would disseminate the artists work copiously and the pirates aren't likely to knuckle under and buy the music. Instead reducing exposure to a potential audience or having their existing audience driven away by restrictive policies.

There's even more to this ugly bill, but I'll save that for next time.

On Second Thought...

Last night I had gotten ready to share the next song. I finished the mixing and mastering and uploaded it to SoundCloud to include on the blog. I was all set to write up a post talking about it this evening. Then I gave it another listen.

It's not a complete atrocity. Somewhere in there I can hear a good song, waiting to be uncovered like a gold vein in a cavernous mine. But man... there's a lot of crap to blast out of the way first. I recognize that sometimes I'll have to share something that might not be as good as what has come before it, but as I looked at the list of songs I've produced so far, I realized it doesn't belong up with them (and that's saying something).

So, I'm going to shelve it. I hate doing it, both because it's been a fair while since anything has shown up on here and because it feels like a cop out. But I have to be honest with myself about the song: it's just not ready yet. And that's OK. Six months from now, a year perhaps, it will still be there and maybe I'll know what to do with it then to unlock its potential. A couple things already come to mind:

1. I feel like the song could really use some extra instrumentation. Some Hammond B3 organ or piano are immediate thoughts, but there may be more. I'm still not very good with MIDI sequencing yet, so maybe through a couple other songs I can learn to work in it well enough to create tracks for this song that sound fitting and organic.
2. My vocals are already pretty rough to begin with, but having to throw out takes due to outside noises makes an already bad situation worse. I'm not about to plaster the entire room in soundproof foam, but I may look into creating a makeshift vocal booth (which despite the name will not be an actual booth).

On a positive note, I've got another song fully written and waiting in the wings. It's simple (solo acoustic), short (it may not even clear a minute and a half), and shouldn't take long to record.

Yes, I'm Still Alive

Yes, August was a quiet month, even quieter than July. C'mon, it's summer, for crying out loud!

In all seriousness, I can't blame it on life getting in the way. Part of it was not kicking my own ass to sit down and record. Breaking out a guitar to work out a song structure or molding lyrics hasn't been too difficult to instigate, but a fresh, empty track list is an uneasy thought. Recording is when I have to figure out how the extra bells and whistles I'm hearing in my head are going to come to life. This is usually combined with me discovering how short the final result is going to come, but I need to remind myself that none of this is set in stone; I may not get there this time, but maybe down the road I might be able to make it happen.

On a positive note, I've now laid down a full core track of the song, worked out the dynamics of each section, and found the samples I'm going to need. Now that it's rolling, hopefully it won't take too long. In terms of influences on the sound of the song, I'm dipping into my singer/songwriter favourites such as Neil Young, John Roderick, Jeff Tweedy, Ray Lamontagne and Steven Page.

I actually placed two challenges/restrictions on the current song. The first was to have a longer title. Every song I've written so far have had pretty short titles, and I thought it might push my mind into other areas by basing it around a phrase.  The second was to get away from writing from the perspective of a person/character. Even narrative songs like "The Law Did Rise" and "Isle Dauphine" feel like I'm writing from the narrator's view. I made it an aim to write the lyrics from a more abstract standpoint. We'll see whether these two limits were worthwhile.

What Else is New?

Interesting fact I discovered after writing and recording the last song: turns out "Transylmania" is the name of a 2009 horror spoof from National Lampoon. A definite contrast to the more peaceful theme I was going for in the song. Oops. Perhaps I need to learn to engage in some research when I write this stuff.

I still haven't picked/found a jumping off point yet for the next one, that seed with which to grow a song around. It's not that there aren't any available; in fact, there's a multitude of ways I could get myself started:

• What I've been listening to lately. I've been trying to ingest a wide musical mix, so there's plenty of sounds to pick from (or mix together)
• Song-crafting tools, like those found on the website for February Album Writing Month
• Competitions like Song Fight!
• Random, ridiculous thoughts ("Is a smiley face ever sad that it has no nose, never getting to experience the sense of smell?")
• Deep, vivid emotions... I should get me some of those

So really it's not so much a blank slate, more of a large chalkboard filled with ideas, and it's just a matter of circling one and running with it.

But another part of the reason I haven't started yet is that I'm taking care of a couple other musically-related things. When I first started this project, I really thought songwriting and singing were going to be my big problems (and they were and still are). What I wasn't counting on was my guitar playing being as rusty as it has turned out to be. It's proved extremely difficult to even get through an 8-bar solo without flubbing notes I'm aiming for. So, I've started getting myself back into a practice regime, and I'm keeping track of my activities so I can monitor my progress and make sure I'm moving forward. I won't go into detail (unless anyone expresses interest) as everybody's goals are different, and exercises that aren't going to contribute to you sounding like the way you want to sound are a poor use of valuable time. But I will point out some things that I feel are universal and have been trying to keep in mind:

• Practice to a beat.  Metronome, drum loop... doesn't matter. The important part is trying to match a steady rhythm. Having nimble fingers is useless if you're not going to be able to keep time with other musicians or backing tracks.
• Start slow. I kicked off my first serious practice session at 60 beats per minute. Quarter notes. It might feel slow as hell, but starting slow and gradually increasing lets you focus very clearly on everything you're doing to make sure you aren't playing fast but with poor technique. It also forces you to concentrate on keeping time, not impatiently speeding up or slowing down out of monotony.
• Get it right. If you can't do it many times in a row without messing up somewhere, you're not ready to take things up a notch; if anything, you might need to pull back a bit

The other thing I'm doing right now is building a guitar, or rather putting one together from parts. Why? Well, it's not because it's economical, as I could get something off the shelf for less. I could claim it's to build something that nobody offers, but it still might be cheaper and easier to grab an existing guitar and make a few modifications. When it comes down to it, I really have just always wanted to try piecing together a guitar for the fun of it. I've always let the practical side of myself talk myself out of it, but there comes a time when you remind yourself that the most memorable and enjoyable moments in life rarely have anything to do with practicality. I'm still waiting for one more key component to arrive, but I'll be sure to share more about it. I will say that patience is a must when building/assembling a guitar; it can make all the difference between a final product that ends up no better than a Walmart special or something comparable to a finely-crafted instrument from a reputable maker.

Alright, It's Finally Done

So here it is, the song I talked about so very, very long ago.

King of Transylmania



I wish I could say the few days past my initial month-end target of July resulted in perfection, but... well, I'm going to avoid talking about what I don't like about how it turned out (ugh) and focus on what I do like about it. I think I managed to strike a good balance between funny, sincere and sweet (though part of me wonders whether I spread myself then and achieved none of them), producing a lighthearted tone while remaining sensitive to the topic. I'm also pretty happy with the drums; it's probably the most complex arrangement I've done to date, and I think they added some liveliness to an otherwise simple 3-chord (technically 4) pop/alt rock song.

One approach I did try with this song was recording several full end-to-end takes of the vocals, ignoring any screw-ups and continuing on to the finish. Afterwards I pieced together the best phrases from each one. This seemed to give a much better result than trying to capture one verse/chorus at a time.

I also found out just how much the mic picks up in my non-soundproofed studio; though you'll never hear it once all the other instruments are piled on top of it, when I listened to the vocal tracks in isolation I discovered muted cries of one of our cats on the other side of the door.  I refuse to list him in the track personnel.

Where this song comes from musically I'm not quite sure. I feel like it probably draws on some of the music I used to hear way back in high school, bands like Barenaked Ladies, The Odds, and Crash Test Dummies, combined with some of my more recent discoveries like Jonathan Coulton, They Might Be Giants, and Elvis Costello. My apologies to these artists for associating their good names with this monstrosity. Despite it being a style I enjoy, it's not one that I've ever really explored in my playing, and I think it shows.

Well... back to the drawing board.

Sharing is Bad, Apparently

Still working on the next song. Unfortunately it's somewhat vocally ambitious for me; at one point it calls for a three-part harmony/canon. I predict many, many vocal takes and a lot of cutting and pasting. But I refuse to dumb the song down; if I'm not going to try to stretch my limits, I might as well stop now. Hopefully it won't be too painful to listen to.

In the meantime, I've come across a couple interesting items I thought I'd share. I enjoy checking out TED talks, as they have some pretty neat topics and speakers. I recently watched one from Derek Sivers, web entrepaneur and founder of independent music-focused services CD Baby and MuckWork. According to research, those who share their goals with others are less likely to reach them, as acknowledgement and recognition received can create a false sense of accomplishment.

The second is an article shared by Sivers on Twitter (yes, I'm now on Twitter, though truthfully I mainly just treat it as a news aggregator) that recaps a clinic at Berklee given by Grammy-award winning singer/songwriter/guitarist John Mayer. In it he urges the audience of music majors to "manage the temptation of publishing yourself". He cites that not only does it detract from time spent on one's craft, it can end up acting as a replacement creative outlet - or rather non-creative outlet - that dulls your creative ability.

Do I agree with the arguments? Despite that fact that I'm sitting here writing this post, I actually do. I can appreciate the psychology behind the mind confusing saying with doing. I seem to have escaped that so far.  Part of that is likely due to the rather vague aims I've shared, and part of it is that despite the praise and pats on the back I've gotten so far, I've still managed to retain my perspective on how incredibly little I've come and how incredibly far I still have to go.

I also agree with Mayer's suggestion that the desire to promote oneself needs to be managed.  Emphasis on "managed", not discarded. While someone who does want their music out there does need to find an outlet to do so (as we aren't all Grammy-winners with major labels shelling out thousands/millions to promote us), when the temptation of the outlet starts to trump the temptation of the content, you've got a problem.

I also understand where he's coming from with putting stuff out there before it's ready. This approach can definitely work for some, but when you're someone who will never feel like their work is truly ready, it can be paralyzing. Some people can rely on a producer to help make that call for them. In my case, I have to act as my own producer (and I'm fully willing to admit I'm terrible at it).

So, while I'll definitely keep those articles in the back of my mind, I don't think I'm going to change things at the moment. I haven't broadcast any specific goals and I'll keep it that way, though that doesn't mean I won't share progress or minor targets.  I don't think this blog is chewing up too much of my time or having an adverse impact, but I'll keep an eye on myself.

One final article, before I go. Jonathan Coulton shared an article written by David Lowrey (founder of alt-rock band Camper Van Beethoven) that goes back to the topic of unpredictability in the music business discussed in my previous post. It looks at it in a very analytical, scientific way, which I suppose speaks to the engineer/geek in me.

The Future of Music (Biz), part III

Alright, time for the grand reveal as to the source of the questions in the previous posts in this series.

The questions came from a blog post a couple months ago by Jonathan Coulton, in response to an interview he did with Alex Bloomberg for the Planet Money podcast on NPR.  While the interview itself was fine - albeit somewhat shallow in its discussion - what transpired a week later was the kick to the hornet's nest.  Two hosts from NPR Music - Jacob Ganz and Frannie Kelly - joined Alex for a follow-up analysis of Jonathan's interview.  Both felt that his approach to success was unlikely to work for anyone else, that he "won the Internet lottery", and in Frannie's case compared him to "a Snuggie.... We didn't know we wanted it, and then all of a sudden we did."

Jonathan's reaction, understandably, was one of disappointment and frustration.  His blog post provides a thoughtful and eloquent rebuttal to that assessment.  The gist of his argument is that his model is replicable, that his achievement of success isn't dissimilar to that of other artists, and that what has changed is the landscape of the industry to allow new avenues for these things to happen.

The table below shows my own breakdown and comparison of what I interpret to be the traditional path for artists and the alternative path taken by Jonathan.

The Traditional Path	The Alternative Path
The artist works hard to create good music	The artist works hard to create good music
The artist attempts to find places to showcase their music that will be discovered by record company representatives.	The artist attempts to find places to showcase their music that will be discovered by market demographic, i.e. potential fanbase.
The record company signs the band and molds them for appeal to their perceived market demographic.	The artist engages with fans, allowing them provide direct feedback on their work.
The record company markets and promotes the band to their market demographic through highly-controlled channels.	The artist empowers the fans act as their marketing/promotion force through lenient use of works.

See? Not all that dissimilar.

Both approaches hinge on the same amount of luck, reliance on seizing opportunities, and hard work. The key difference is the relationship between the artist and their audience.  Before our modern connected world, such direct contact wouldn't be possible; no mechanisms were available to widely distribute content at almost zero cost, and communicating via word-of-mouth with a sizable group of people could not be achieved so easily and rapidly.  Are these advancements unique to one man alone? Definitely not.

The other key difference, as I've brought up before, is that traditionally a great deal of the ownership of your copyright is handed over to publishers and master recordings becoming the property of the record label. There are no doubt exceptions, but this is the typical case. The new approach is the possibility to retain 100% ownership of your material.  Sure, you might not have the means to collect any sort of mechanical or performance royalties, but as the collection and distribution of these royalties favour larger artists, it might not have amounted to much anyway. In its place, you have the sole right decide what is done with your work. A fan who wants to cover your work no longer has to be worried that just because you were comfortable with it, they might still face the wrath of your publisher.

[Interesting fact: Many are aware that The Verve were taken to task for "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which used a sample of an orchestral arrangement of The Rolling Stones' "The Last Time" by the Andrew Oldham Orchestra (a sample which bears very little resemblance to the original song). What many might not be aware of is that the lawsuit was initiated by ABKCO Records, who owns the Stones' copyrights from the 1960s. The Verve had apparently already negotiated the licensing of the sample from ABKCO; it was only after the song's success that ABKCO decided the sample had been used too greatly and sued for 100% ownership. From the sounds of it, ABKCO's CEO and former Stone's manager Andrew Klein was not a very nice guy.]

Lastly, there's the matter of the definition of success. Ordinarily, unless you were selling a ton of albums and playing large venues, you weren't making a decent living. This may seem surprising, but consider that the record label takes a huge cut to pay back advances involved in recording and marketing (and continues to take a significant cut afterwards). In contrast, the modern independent artist may not reach gold/platinum album sales or play in front of a sea of thousands, but the ability to pocket a much greater percentage of the earnings can mean a comfortable income.

If the measure of success is obscene fame and fortune, the traditional model may be the only way to go. But if the aim is to make a modest (or possibly greater than modest) career on your own terms for a smaller but closer fan base, there's definitely an alternative approach, and it's available to anyone.