Holiday Songs: Yea or Nay?

I’m not really sure how I feel about bands I like doing holiday songs (or even entire albums).

Browsing through the Alternative Press news page, I notice many bands are releasing holiday songs, some of which are traditional covers like “Santa Baby” and “Oh Holy Night” and others that are original songs. While I might be more interested in a totally new holiday song from a band I like, I think that Christmas covers have become a little tired (I do, however, have several rarely-played holiday cover albums in my iTunes so who am I to talk?).

What do you think?

Kindergarten Class in Korea Sings the Ramones’ “Judy is a Punk”

A recent viral video from Seoul, South Korea shows a bunch of children singing the Ramones’ “Judy is a Punk.” Most of the children have been studying English for a year or less and apparently rock music is an effective way of making learning awesome.

I think that this definitively proves that children + punk = cute.

The Return of Vinyl Makes Record Labels Happy

Southern California-based label No Sleep Records recently announced a limited number of subscriptions where for the price of $200 customers will receive a vinyl copy of every release made on the label in 2012. Additionally, subscribers will receive some exclusive label merchandise.

I’ve talked about the emphasis on merch as a significant source of revenue for bands and labels before, but the returning popularity of vinyl among music fans must have record labels pretty happy at a time when the sale of physical copies of music is generally declining. For younger vinyl collectors, I think purchasing vinyl is not only a little trendy at the moment, but it also allows serious fans to demonstrate loyalty to smaller bands and labels.

No Sleep Records and other indie labels have made an increased effort to satisfy the demand for vinyl by releasing the work of their relatively small fan base on vinyl. In fact, the interest in vinyl combined with fan loyalty is strong enough to where subscriptions like this are an unsurprising option in the stores of most independent rock labels today. Who would have thought that vinyl would make a comeback?

• Check out No Sleep Records’ 2012 Vinyl Subscription package.

Shows From Home on Livestream

Tegan and Sara by Laubarnes on Flickr.

Indie-rock outfit Tegan and Sara announced that they will be preforming an acoustic Livestream Session on November 21st.

Although the band is signed to Warner Brothers Records, a major label, this seems like an ideal opportunity for many of the band’s 600,000+ fans to experience Tegan and Sara in a more personal way than viewing a choppy cell phone video of a live show on YouTube.

The acoustic session will be followed by a live chat with the band.

Rarely can fans experience a live performance from such a popular band in the comfort of their own home or have the opportunity to directly engage in conversation with band members. And, let’s not forget, the show is entirely free!

For a band with this large of a following, a Livestream session seems like a big “thank you” to fans for their support. Perhaps more artists will incorporate events like this into their performance schedules in the future. While a Livestream might not be a great source of revenue, this certainly gets fans’ attention and appreciation.

• Visit Tegan and Sara on Facebook.
• Check out the Livestream page.

Design by Fans: Con or Contest?

Recently reunited pop-punk band The Early November posted a call for designers to submit their own t-shirt designs for upcoming merch on their Facebook page today.

from The Early November's Facebook page.

While for some this might be an exciting opportunity, is this an example of a band taking advantage of their fans?

The Early November formed in 1999 and signed to Drive-Thru Records in 2002 (the label is currently on hiatus but was once home to popular pop-punk bands like New Found Glory, Dashboard Confessional, and Hellogoodbye). In 2006 The Early November broke up, but was reunited earlier this year without label backing.

Although the band is currently unsigned, the call for merch designs has some asking questions. As The Early November’s post mentioned no incentive for designers to submit their work, the only clear outcome would be having a long-dead band profit from the sale of a fan’s t-shirt design.

from The Early November's Facebook page.

The Early November’s unsigned status begs the question of whether or not the band is simply taking advantage of the support of their fans in order to get a design for what is often bands’ most profitable product: their merch. That being said, The Early November should really be paying designers for their time and effort on something that will certainly be financing the band’s continuation.

• Check out The Early November on Facebook.

A Song Shop Trend?

After the announcement of the re-opening of Max Bemis’ Song Shop, another band has announced that they too will be opening a shop of their own. For only $10 anyone can get a song written and recorded by pop-punk band Mixtapes (the independently signed group has about 5,000 fans on Facebook).

via the Mixtapes Facebook page.

The Mixtapes song shop page cites Bemis’ influence in opening a shop of their own and their concept is very much the same, even down to a phone call from one of the band members that comes with every song purchase.

The money from the song shop will go to the recording of their upcoming album and other band expenses.

Has Bemis started a new trend of bands producing individualized products for their fans?

News: Covers for a Cause

The Alternative Press posted an article today about the announcement of the addition of Motion City Soundtrack to the Minnesota Beatle Project, Volume 3. The indie rock band from Minneapolis will cover “Here Comes the Sun” for a 15 song album which benefits the state’s public school music and art education departments.

album artwork by Brock Davis.

The album will also feature covers by 14 other bands, many of which hail from Minnesota or are touring bands. The project is a good example of indie and unsigned bands coming together to benefit arts education.

For more information about the Minnesota Beatle Project, see Vega Productions.org.

The album will be available on iTunes, Target.com, and other online retailers.

Max Bemis’ Song Shop Re-opens

Max Bemis by iwudhurtafly11 on Flickr

Singer song-writer Max Bemis of indie-punk band Say Anything recently announced that he will re-open his song shop on November 1st.

The idea for the song shop was formulated in 2008 by Bemis himself in what was probably an effort to make some extra cash at a time when virtually any album can be illegally downloaded for free off of the internet.

Anyone can order their own acoustic song to be written and recorded by Bemis himself about any topic of their choosing for a $150 PayPal payment (“half-length” songs are also available for $75). Fans are allowed to submit 1 or 2 paragraphs detailing their own experiences, ideas, emotions, etc. to inspire Bemis’ personalized song.

From the Max Bemis Song Shop site: “Each song is 100 percent written by Max for YOU, the buyer. No two songs will be the same. Songs can also be written for special situations like anniversaries, engagements or birthdays. You can also have Max write something based on his own experiences or a completely original creation, but still have it be for you.”

A new addition to the 2011 version of the shop will be the inclusion of a phone call from Bemis himself for the first 800 song buyers. Fans also have the option of purchasing a 4 song bundle at a 10% discount. Song bundles can even have a running theme so that fans can purchase a sort of personalized Max Bemis EP.

For Say Anything fans (who number about 340,000 on the band’s Facebook page), Bemis’ song shop is a rare opportunity to have a favorite artist create a unique piece of music just for them. The shop also demonstrates a creative solution to the ever-important problem of independent musicians actually making a living off of their work when illegal downloads dramatically decrease record sales.

According to the Song Shop page, over 1000 songs have already been written and recorded by Bemis and at least 800 are promised in the shop’s 2011 re-opening. If anything, the concept is certainly a testament to Bemis’ tremendous creativity in songwriting. Not many artists can boast such a record for factory-like song production or as intimate a merch idea.

• Check out Max Bemis’ song shop on Merch Direct

Title Fight’s Low Budget Music Video

Pennsylvania pop-punk band Title Fight released a music video for “Shed” yesterday. The video was filmed in the woods on a camping trip using a Super 8 camera.

As the grainy ’90s-style of the video reflects, the budget for this was certainly minimal. In fact, “Shed” is only Title Fight’s second music video in their seven year history as a band (their first video for “27” was filmed on VHS and has a similar low-quality feel). “Shed” is a straightforward performance video in a setting that the band members say they associate with their childhood. While some fans have dismissed the concept and execution as simplistic, others have responded positively to the VCR-style video.

Either way, Title Fight’s video proves that even on an indie label budget, creative music videos are within reach.

• Title Fight on Facebook
• Watch Title Fight’s “27” music video

Musicians React to the Death of Steve Jobs

An interesting article showed up on Alternative Press this week after the death of Steve Jobs…I use the term “article” lightly as it is really just a compilation of posts made on various musicians’ Twitter feeds regarding the former Apple CEO’s passing.

photo via IndyGril on Flickr

Most of the artists’ posts thanked Jobs and expressed remorse at his death.

Jeremy McKinnon (@jeremymckinnon) of A Day To Remember: “RIP Steve Jobs. You made a huge impact on the world, and will be missed.”

Steve Klein (@steveisdareason) of New Found Glory: “RIP Steve Jobs sad to see you go.”

Many mentioned the incredible impact that Apple products have had on their music and lives.

Corey Warning (@CoreyWarning) of the Graduate: “hard to express how much Apple has improved the way I create, work, and communicate. Thanks Steve. when I hear about celebrities dying on here, it’s always sad. But I actually feel like this brought down my entire night. Gone too soon. the iPhone, FaceTime, iChat, and everything in between helped me and my wife keep our relationship strong while I was on the road #RIPsteve”

Bryce Avary (@therocketsummer) of the Rocket Summer: “Most every band these days sounds a little – or a lot better because of Apple. Thank you Steve. My prayers are with his family.”

The Ready Set (@thereadyset): “Damn. Super bummer about Steve Jobs. Thanks for products that helped me create TRS.”

Others expressed their realization of how Jobs’ company revolutionized their industry.

Blink-182 (@blink182): “RIP Steve Jobs. Thanks for everything that you have done for the music business and the world”

Apple products have certainly provided musicians with a number of tools to enhance their creativity as many of these artists mentioned, but hasn’t the iPod changed the nature of the music industry for the artist…for the worse?

In an article on The Cynical Musician, Krzysztof Wiszniewski, a guitarist/songwriter for a Polish rock band, does an extensive breakdown on the musician’s decreased revenue from digital downloads and says, “These numbers should serve to illustrate that whatever benefits “music 2.0″ may have, it’s certainly done nothing for the recording artist, save make her noticeably worse off than she was in the old CD-based market. If recording artists ever go the way of the blubber merchants, it won’t be because there’ll be no demand for their product. It will be because making recordings makes no economic sense.”

If Wiszniewski is right, these artists might have thanked one of the very people that made their business more difficult to earn a living from.

• Read the full Alternative Press article.
• Check out this graph of The Cynical Musician‘s music revenue breakdown.
• Read The Cynical Musician‘s full article.