a tale of two tweets

I <3 hipocrisy.

From exclaim.ca, Sonic Youth bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon says:

“[Radiohead] did a marketing ploy by themselves and then got someone else to put it out,” Gordon said in an interview with the Guardian. “It seemed really community-oriented but it wasn’t catered towards their musician brothers and sisters, who don’t sell as many records as them. It makes everyone else look bad for not offering their music for whatever. It was a good marketing ploy and I wish I’d thought of it! But we’re not in that position either. We might not have been able to put out a record for another couple of years if we’d done it ourselves: it’s a lot of work. And it takes away from the actual music making.”

My question is, how does any of this take away from the music community or music making?

12:22PM - http://twitter.com/lostinthefilm/status/2046576759

i love sonic youth as much as the next guy.. but kim gordon is whining - she sounds like the RIAA’s mouthpiece here: http://bit.ly/12sQ0f

12:24PM - http://twitter.com/lostinthefilm/status/2046600125

the radiohead/NIN/tunecore model doesn’t “make smaller, poorer bands look bad.” it makes the music industry look bad. and it should.

Kim Gordon’s statement is one of the most un-punk things I’ve ever heard. “their musician brothers and sisters, who don’t sell as many records as them.” Let’s boil it down, is complaining that it’s unfair that other musicians are making more money and selling more records than Sonic Youth? Maybe you shouldn’t be a punk band, then. Seriously. That’s up there with Lars Ulrich for musician douchebaggery. It won’t stop me from listening to sonic youth when they come through Genius or on shuffle, but it does frustrate me to see someone in a position like hers dissing someone else’s promotion and distribution model because she’s unhappy with her own. Maybe the radiohead model didn’t help bands who signed shitty contracts, but it moves the music community farther forward than anything since the advent of radio. Much more than TV, in my opinion. And if you can’t see that, Kim Gordon, maybe the problem is that you’re out of touch with the community. The music industry and community has fundamentally changed in the time since broadband internet access was introduced.

Even though in my opinion, the radiohead/NIN/tunecore “model” is the most exciting thing to happen to music in a long time, I can see how the music industry hates it. It takes the power away from them and puts it in the hand of anyone with talent and some technical prowess. The music biz is operating on a broken model - the reason artists used to “need” to get signed was to be privy to the distribution channels. The labels controlled the trucks, etc that moved the records to the stores. They could get you played on the air. Tastemaking, etc. Now, with things like myspace (ugh, but still a great promotional tool for bands) tunecore, youtube, twitter, etc, a band can operate and achieve an incredible amount of saturation without ever speaking to an A&R guy or selling their creative souls and licenses away to a record company who’s entire business model revolves around selling pressed CD’s for $18.99 each. get with the picture. I can upload my MP3s to tunecore, and for less than what a trip to the movies will cost me the album will be available on iTunes and amazon in 4-6 weeks. Where people can buy the album from their couch in their boxers for $9.99. And while that isn’t in reality a substitute for putting records in stores, getting your video on MTV, and your song spinning on KROCK, it gives bands the power to expect more from a record label. Why rush to sign a contract that will line your A&R guy’s pockets when you could continue on with your indie work, make some money, and hold out for the label that fits you for you? The “radiohead model” is empowering and educating musicians, and threatening the big piece of the power and cash pie that the record labels have on their plate.

Look at GM, AIG, Wolf Camera, Circuit City, etc. They didn’t adapt to changes in the industry, continued plowing on with their outdated models, and drove themselves into the ground and into the annals of Americana.

So, Kim Gordon, I know that it’s easy for some guy like me to toss a bunch of arbitrary numbers around on the internet, and pepper in a little profanity from moment to moment, but what is it exactly that you’re unhappy about? If you look at Sonic Youth’s wikipedia page, within the second paragraph, it reads,

“the band carried out their interpretation of the hardcore punk ethos throughout the evolving American underground that focused more on the DIY ethic of the genre rather than its specific sound. As a result, Sonic Youth was pivotal in the rise of the alternative rock movement.”

DIY ethic? What happened?

Thus concludes my lunchtime rant. It’s weird writing here again. Since I started tweeting more I’ve neglected blogging. I should work on that.

PS. the internet has weird verbs. that is all.