Eclectic musician Beck is trying something new for his latest collection of 18 original songs and two instrumentals, by going back into the recording industry’s history prior to the phonograph.
“Beck’s new album — entitled ‘Beck Hansen’s Song Reader’ – won’t be on vinyl, CD, or iTunes,” reports Digital Trends. “Instead, it’s available only as a beautifully illustrated book of sheet music, published by the retro-fetishists of McSweeney’s.”
“The songs here are as unfailingly exciting as you’d expect from their author, but if you want to hear ‘Do We? We Do,’ or ‘Don’t Act Like Your Heart Isn’t Hard,’ bringing them to life depends on you,” explains the artist.
Many music fans may find the approach unsatisfying, but Will Burns, writing for Forbes, describes the idea as “brilliant.”
“As Burns points out, making an ‘album’ that only exists in printed-paper form is an effective end-run around the piracy industry, since there’s no easily reproduced digital bits to download,” notes the post. “And in an era when touring is how musicians make most of their profit, it’s sure to drive up interest in Beck’s next tour, where fans will (presumably) be able to hear the author’s own delivery in his unmistakable voice.”
For nearly a century, the music industry was the same as the sheet music industry (Tin Pan Alley never recorded a note). Treating performance and song as synonymous would come later.
“It’s a great adjustment to the modern era of participatory culture. McSweeney’s will be hosting renditions of the songs by select amateur and professional musicians on its website, and fans are already promising to put together bar bands and YouTube projects to record their own versions of the songs,” explains the post. “Beck is cleverly placing his music in the world of webcam performances and viral videos, making the listener part of the experience in a very direct way.”
Two trends make this a fascinating (and feasible) proposal: the growth of participatory culture and the fact that artists generate most of their revenue from performances. If garage band versions and YouTube vids can drive enough interest to sell concert tickets, why spend the money to record? (Bad news for the recording biz.)
Rob ScottAugust 14, 2012 at 05:35am
Two trends make this a fascinating (and feasible) proposal: the growth of participatory culture and the fact that artists generate most of their revenue from performances. If garage band versions and YouTube vids can drive enough interest to sell concert tickets, why spend the money to record? (Bad news for the recording biz.)
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Two trends make this a fascinating (and feasible) proposal: the growth of participatory culture and the fact that artists generate most of their revenue from performances. If garage band versions and YouTube vids can drive enough interest to sell concert tickets, why spend the money to record? (Bad news for the recording biz.)
Two trends make this a fascinating (and feasible) proposal: the growth of participatory culture and the fact that artists generate most of their revenue from performances. If garage band versions and YouTube vids can drive enough interest to sell concert tickets, why spend the money to record? (Bad news for the recording biz.)
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