lights and musique.

[lightsandmusique]

NEW PLAYLIST

since I am FINALLY done with exams and also first semester (!!!) I decided to update the playlist...this one is a bit long, but it features some of my personal faves from 2015. For the full playlist, click here (yeah, can you believe 40 songs isn’t the whole playlist??) Hope you enjoy!!!

ALSO: is there anything I didn’t include in the larger playlist that maybe I should have (if so, leave answers in the comments!)?

[lightsandmusique]

The Rise and Fall of Music Piracy During the Evolution of Record Distribution

So this is a paper I wrote for my music industry class at school, if any of you have had any questions or concerns re: Spotify/any streaming services/music distribution/the effects of piracy and ways to fight it/the state of the record in todays society/sort of just the music industry in general, I think this might be an interesting and informative read. 

Music has always been something created with the intention of sharing it. Vinyl swapping, mixtapes, and playlists have been some of the many pastimes associated with music culture over the years, and have also served as methods of expanding fan bases for bands and artists. As time has passed, technology has changed, thus affecting the way that people receive and interact with their music. Physical vinyl records became tapes and CDs, and with the pervasiveness of personal computers, ultimately led to digitalisation of music with downloads and, most recently, streaming. Consumers took advantage of technologies available to them, which often destroyed download limitations, were more cost effective, yet also were (and still are) illegal. After several not very successful attempts at trying to combat the problem, the recording industry needed to find a way to compromise with music pirates and deter them from their destructive tendencies.

At first, recorded music could only be purchased in physical formats. In the late 1800s, Thomas Edison first invented the phonograph. Later, Alexander Graham Bell introduced the gramophone. Both are similar technologies that use wax cylinders as well as needles to reproduce sound; however, only gramophones use vinyl records, which were at first actually made of shellac, but later changed because vinyl proved to be less breakable, less noisy, and also sound better (Osbourne 67). Over time, the gramophone became more sophisticated, as did the format of the records themselves. The LP, or long playing record, compiled a collection of songs onto one disc. The word ‘album’ was first associated with a collection of LPs, but eventually the two terms became synonymous. Although there was activity of piracy during this time, with the creation of bootleg, home-recorded, and counterfeit recordings (Melton 400), the trend was not very prevalent in the early years of vinyl; it was not until the 1960s when the trend became more widespread (Melton 401) that copyright issues in sound recordings started being addressed on the legal level.

In 1972, the US Copyright Act (previously established/revised 1909) added sound recordings to be covered by copyright, with the intent of stopping record piracy. This was added just over a decade before cassette sales began to outnumber vinyl sales (RIAA). During the age of cassettes, mixtapes became a popular way to share music with friends. Songs were copied from one tape to another, which technically violated copyright since nobody was being paid for the song recordings. Also, while cassettes served as the listening medium of choice throughout the 1980s and into the first couple years of the 90s, it only took nine years for the compact disc or CD to take over the music marketplace.

When CDs became the main means of music distribution, they took it over at a whole new level: physical music sales exploded at an amount greater than they ever had before. At the turn of the 21st century, the yearly CD sales peaked at nearly a billion units (RIAA).

During the peak CD years, two of the next great game-changers in the recorded music industry were introduced: Napster in 1999, and iTunes in 2003. Both programs offered “permanent downloads,” which are, in the words of Passman, “yours forever” (Passman 140) and could not only be listened to on the computer, but also could be burned onto CDs and put onto early iPods and mp3 players. While both Napster and iTunes were heavily used for obtaining permanent digital music files, one was illegal and traded around files without any money being exchanged, the other legal, with both song and album download options, and cost money for either complete albums or a la carte songs.  According to Joel Waldfogel, author of Music File Sharing and Sales Displacement in the iTunes Era,

“Since Napster’s appearance in 1999, digital distribution on the Internet made it possible for consumers to conveniently steal individual songs. Apart from some unsuccessful forays into digital distribution, the music industry’s best legal option was a physical CD. The US launch of the iTunes Music Store in 2003 gave consumers a new legal option, a single song available legally for $0.99. The iTunes Music Store has grown quickly and dominates digital sales. As of 2008, digital music accounted for 32% of recorded music sales in the US, three quarters of which were sold at the iTunes Music Store.”  (Waldfogel 306)

However, once the RIAA found out what Napster was doing, it did not take long for them to sue them, as they “successfully sued and shuttered Napster in 2000” (Waldfogel 307). Despite this “shutdown,” people found other sites and methods to fileshare. Waldfogel says that, “In 2002 a consumer faced a choice between stealing, say, three songs and buying a 12-song CD that contained a few songs he or she wanted bundled with 9 more that he or she did not. Since 2003, consumers have faced a song-by-song choice between stealing and a la carte purchase for about $0.99” and that “The availability of free a la carte downloads may have changed some consumers’ willingness to pay for music” (Waldfogel 307). That being said, people did not see an incentive of buying through a paid platform like iTunes when they could get a product that was essentially substitutable for free.

While the negatives outweighed the positives for the concept of file sharing, there were in fact some aspects of the idea that were beneficial on the side of the artist. Some people believed that because people could get a “sampling” of an artist or album they wouldn’t have listened to otherwise by getting a song for free, it could get people into new bands enough to make them want to buy their album in some form or another, or attend a live show. But this benefit did not outweigh the cost, and thus, industry professionals sought an option that would work better on both sides.

MusicNet and Pressplay were two new options introduced in the early 2000s to try once more to provide a listening alternative and dissuade people from tendencies to pirate. MusicNet was owned by AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann, and EMI, and people would play $9.95 each month to download up to 100 different songs from the 75,000 track library, which could not be put on mp3 players or CDs, and disappeared at the end of the month. Pressplay, on the other hand, was started by Sony and Vivendi Universal (what is now known as Universal Music Group), started off allowing users 50 downloads and 500 streams, but later offered unlimited downloads at an arbitrary price of $179.40 per year (Waldfogel 307). Passman describes these type of downloads as “tethered downloads,” which is when “the service provider doesn’t give you complete control over the download” (Passman 140). Unfortunately, both of these attempts failed. Listeners did not see benefits in paying money to rent music that they could get another way and keep forever for free. There was no added benefit to these programs that would successfully beat the piracy problem. Arguably, however, these programs began to pave the way into what is now the current-day streaming model: paying a flat monthly fee to receive x amount of music that is not being downloaded but instead rented on demand.

According to Passman, two different types of streaming exist: one is “non-interactive webcasting”, where “webcasting means streaming stuff on the Internet, and non-interactive means you can only hear what the programmer decides to play” (Passman 140). Local AM/FM stations, Sirius/XM satellite radio, and Pandora are three of the most utilised non-interactive webcasts. There is also a part of Spotify, a different type of streaming service, that has a sub-application similar to Pandora, called Spotify Radio. Under this type of streaming service, “the copyright law requires record companies to license their masters at a rate set by the government,” which is then “collected by an outfit called SoundExchange, a nonprofit…[who] pays a portion of the money to the record company, and a portion directly to the artist” (Passman 147).

On the other hand, the other type of streaming is “streaming-on-demand,” in which the listener can “listen to any songs in the service’s database, any time [they would] like, and [they] can pause, skip, rewind, and create playlists. However, [they are] not allowed to copy; just listen” (Passman 141). This type of streaming is obviously a lot more interactive than the typical FM or Pandora station, since listeners can pick what they want to listen to whenever they want to. Passman describes these services as “virtual jukeboxes” (Passman 141) that work off of cloud servers and allow access on any computer. There are both video services that work off of this premise, the most popular being YouTube, and audio-only services, like Spotify. YouTube and similar video streaming sites have neither reduced the amount of money lost to piracy nor the amount of music pirated (since YouTube was originally not able to played on external devices/devices offline pre-smartphone). Moreover, meager earnings for the artist meant mere fractions of pennies per play (meaning not much of a profit until millions of video streams). Despite these things, they formed a foundation for the new audio-only on-demand streaming model, which not only plays songs on demand, but also better integrates features like social media, avoids trouble with copyright (as YouTube videos are still regularly taken down because of copyright infringement), widens the ability to expand upon a musical library, as well as other things.

Spotify, which has been around since 2008, has only expanded and integrated more technologies into its platform since its beginning. There are two different options for being a member on spotify, one is paid, or “premium”, the other free. For free users, the program earns money through ad revenue. Advertisements play after every couple of songs, which can be annoying to users and lead them to purchase a premium subscription. At just under $10 per month, or at a discounted rate for certain eligible groups of people (including students and families), ad-free listening is just one of the advantages of a premium subscription. Similar to MusicNet and Pressplay offered before, this kind of subscription allows a limited number of downloads with a paid membership, but instead can be synced up to three devices at a time (including mobile devices), and allows for up to 3,333 download syncs (Spotify) that can be changed at any time. In addition to ad-free listening and offline listening, the premium subscription continues to add even more incentives: full access on the mobile app, high quality audio, the ability to skip as many times as wanted on Spotify Radio (free users only get five skips, per hour, similar to Pandora), and Spotify Connect, which basically uses the mobile app as a remote for whatever device is hooked up to speakers. Very recently to both premium and free accounts has been the addition of the “Discover Weekly” playlist, which is an updated weekly 30-song playlist created by Spotify with songs curated to the user’s personal taste. It is a mechanism to help expand upon the user’s library, getting them to listen to songs they may have not otherwise heard, which is not unlike the “sampling” argument that advocates of piracy claimed. This still tends to lead to album sales, although in lesser quantity. Also, Spotify has partnered with various companies like Uber, Songkick, and Shazam, among others, to make listening more convenient and useful for the user, while also using the app as a platform to earn more money for the artist (the app sometimes shows tour dates on artist’s profiles, supported by their partner Songkick, or links to buy merchandise). With a premium subscription, because more money is being paid to the service due to the subscription fee, it in turn allocates more money to the record companies that pay artists and their teams. Spotify’s incentives for going premium, as well as the introduction of new competing programs like Apple Music and Tidal (the former much more substantial than the latter) has finally created something that has the possibly to greatly reduce the piracy problem by converting pirates into subscribers. IFPI mentions that, “The subscription model is leading to more payment for music by consumers, many of whom appear to be shifting from pirate services to a licensed music environment that pays artists and rights holders. The number of paying subscribers to subscription services rose to 41 million in 2014, up from just eight million in 2010” (IFPI).

In recent news, several popular artists have been speaking out trying to explain how they are being ripped off by services like Spotify since they believe that they are not being payed all the money that they are entitled to. The reasoning is likely that because it is a fairly new platform, and is still developing in various ways, and as Passman explains in his “Theory of Technology Cycles,”

“Because the technology is so new, no one really understands its economics. Also, when it’s first introduced, the thing is expensive, because it’s a small market. The result is a grace period during which royalties on these newbies are not particularly favorable to the artist. This is to give the technology a chance to get off the ground, and to help the record company justify the financial risk. Invariably, this grace period goes on far beyond its economic life, during which time the companies make disproportionate profits and the artist gets a smaller portion of them than he or she gets on the dominant technology. As artist deals expire or are renegotiated, the rate goes up. Finally, an industry pattern develops and royalty rates stabilize” (Passman 139).

Passman’s theory proves true with facts from IFPI, as they indicate that “revenues from music subscription services — including free-to-consumer and paid-for tiers — grew by 39.0 per cent in 2014 and is growing consistently across all major markets.” In addition, IFPI also states that “Subscription services are now at the heart of the music industry’s portfolio of businesses, representing 23 per cent of the digital market and [are] generating US$1.6 billion in trade revenues. The industry sees substantial further growth potential in the subscription sector” (IFPI). Interestingly enough, with the rapid growth of streaming and quick decrease of CD sales, vinyl record sales are beginning to pick up speed again.

While there have been positive aspects of the digitalisation of music, including the ability to gain access to a wider library of music much more easily, there have also been some major drawbacks, most notably, the increase of piracy.  Because pirated recordings never paid artists, songwriters, and the like, what they were entitled to, it became a major issue and thus impacted the amount of money earned in the recorded music industry. Different possibilities to resolve this issue were discussed around the turn of the century, with preceding platforms leading up to what has become streaming. With streaming programs such as Spotify and Apple Music emerging that offer much more accessible, legal, alternatives to illegal downloading, the amount of piracy taking place has decreased substantially. As many industry experts have  successfully predicted, streaming is the future of the recording industry.

SOURCES: Waldfogel, Joel. “Music File Sharing and Sales Displacement in the iTunes Era.” Information Economics and Policy 22.4 (2010): 306–314. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. Osborne, Dr Richard. Vinyl: A History of the Analogue Record. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2014. Print. 17 Nov. 2015. Passman, Donald S. All You Need to Know About the Music Business. 8th ed. Simon & Schuster, 2012. Print. Melton, Gary Warren. “An Examination of the Bootleg Record Industry and Its Impact upon Popular Music Consumption.” Journal of Popular Music Studies 263.2 399–408. Web. "Year-End Industry Shipment and Revenue Statistics." RIAA. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.riaa.com/chartindex.php>. "News." IFPI Publishes Digital Music Report 2015. IFPI, 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.ifpi.org/news/Global-digital-music-revenues-match-physical-format-sales-for-first-time>. "Learn More/General Questions - Spotify." Spotify. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <https://support.spotify.com/us/learn-more/faq/>.

[lightsandmusique]

wanna follow me on spotify? now u can! (go thru the main blog site and click follow! and that’s it!)

[lightsandmusique]

Some of my photos from the DTLA/US Premiere of "The Reflektor Tapes" 21 September 2015 at the Ace Hotel Theatre

[lightsandmusique]

Indie fun met deep house when Chris Baio played one of his first ever solo shows Tuesday night at the Echo. With his debut LP, “The Names”, out on September 18th, the sold-out night was full of excitement. Preceded by an hour and a half of house DJs, Masha and Daniel T x Cooper Saver, the dance-inducing elements of the Vampire Weekend bassist’s new sound could be sensed from the very start.

When Baio came out, decked in his standard preppy suit and loafers, the energy turned up in sync with the hype of the crowd. Only accompanied by a guitarist, the small size of the band matched up perfectly with the intimate style of the venue. Beginning with the playfully titled “Brainwash yyrr Face,” Baio’s hips moved along with the Hot Chip-esque electronic noises being produced onstage.

The first standout track of the night was the first single off the album, “Sister Of Pearl,” which definitely contains essences of classic Vampire Weekend. Catchy piano lines, cheery vocals, and even more entertaining stage dancing put smiles on the faces of most everybody in the crowd. Other notable songs included “Endless Rhythm” and title track “The Names,” which both encouraged rampant foot tapping and head nodding.  

As the late night at the indie club came to a close, Baio pleasantly thanked his guitarist, crew, and crowd for joining him on a special night. The final song, “Scarlett,” which is also the closer on the album, gave the audience a last chance to dance along with the new solo artist. All in all, it was an enjoyable night, full of dancing, new music, and all around good vibes.

Baio’s new album “The Names” was released on 18 September via Glassnote Records. 

[seoulmtl]

The bad news is - the font is so small - the good news is, it means we’re playing a ton of shows this fall - our longest ever tour - here is the complete list of shows we’re doing for September/October 2015, including shows with Young Ejecta​ and Stars​. See you under the falling leaves ~ ~ Tickets below 9/4- Santo Domingo, DR - Bacanalia 9/6 - Rouyn-Noranda, QC -Agora des Arts (tickets) 9/9 - Winnipeg, MB - The Goodwill (tickets) 9/10 -Saskatoon, SK - Amigo's  9/11 - Edmonton, AB - The Mercury 9/12 - Calgary, AB - Palomino (tickets) 9/17 - Vancouver, BC - Fortune (tickets) 9/18 - Victoria, BC - Rifflandia Festival (tickets) 9/20 - Seattle, WA - The Vera Project (tickets) 9/21 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios ^ (tickets) 9/23 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom Of The Hill ^ (tickets) 9/24 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo (tickets) 9/25 - La Jolla, CA - UC San Diego - The Loft ^  9/26 - Phoenix, AZ - The Rebel Lounge ^ (tickets) 9/29 - Dallas, TX - DADA ^ (tickets) 9/30 - Austin, TX - North Door ^ (tickets) 10/3 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn ^ (tickets) 10/4 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506 ^ (tickets) 10/5 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall ^ (tickets) 10/7 - Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit ^ (tickets) 10/8 - Philadelphia, PA - The Barbary ^ (tickets) 10/9 - Allston, MA - Great Scott ^ (tickets) 10/10 - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade ^ (tickets) 10/12 - Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern ^ (tickets) 10/13 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle ^ (tickets) 10/16 - Windsor, ON - Grand Ball Room @ Water’s Edge * (tickets) 10/17 - Hamilton, ON - Dundas Montessori * (tickets) 10/18 - Waterloo, ON - Starlight * (tickets) 10/19 - London, ON - Music Hall * (tickets) 10/23 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Pop Explosion * (tickets) 10/24 - Halifax, NS - Halifax Pop Explosion * (tickets) 10/25 - St. John’s, NL - Mighty Pop * SOLD OUT 10/26 - St. John’s, NL - Mighty Pop * (tickets) 10/28 - Quebec City, QC - Le Cercle #  10/29 - Montreal, QC - Bar Le Ritz (tickets) 10/30 - Toronto, ON - Adelaide Hall^ (tickets)

^ With Young Ejecta   * With STARS # With Rich Aucoin

[lightsandmusique]

California teen, and my friend, Madi Walsh, just released her debut EP today, and it definitely brings a cool fix to a hot summer. Her sound is electronic, with distinct influences like jazz and hip hop. Imagine artists like the XX, Chet Faker, and Daughter all coming together to create extra vibey brilliance. This 20-minute album brings all that and more. Be sure to check it out! Listen: http://open.spotify.com/album/2EXF8Uqd7tuJ7q51Ln0rga

[lightsandmusique]

here are some highlights for some upcoming shows in the LA area! Nick Waterhouse: LA (Aug 29) Erykah Badu + St. Vincent: LA (Aug 30) Wavves + Twin Peaks: West Hollywood (Sep 12) / LA (Sep 14) Sarah...

CHECK OUT THE NEWEST ADDITION TO LIGHTSANDMUSIQUE!!! It’s a page where I have compiled what appears to be some of the most exciting upcoming shows in the LA area! You can click the attached link to check it out, or click on the Upcoming Concerts tab on the desktop site. For ticket information, make sure to click on the links which I have attached to each specific show! Happy concerting :) 

[frances-the-mute]

Visit Original Link

You’ve gotta open up your mind and feel the love in your life,  You’ve gotta open up your heart and feel the love in your life 

[frances-the-mute]

<3

[thekillerssluts]

[HQ] Will Butler - Cutting Room, New York City. July 1, 2015.

[lightsandmusique]

Possibly the most important thing to happen today???

[casualmentecool]

Visit Original Link

“Each week people write in to request a mixtape to serve as a soundtrack for whatever is going on in their lives. They call in, we chat, they share their story and then I hand select songs just for them – This is St. Vincent’s Mixtape Delivery Service.”

Intro

Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence

Stereolab - Barock-Plastik

New Order - Blue Monday (12″ Version)

Annie and Piper chat

Deee-Lite - Groove is in the Heart

Devo - Whip It

Chaka Khan - I Feel for You

Annie and Piper chat

Erasure - Chains of Love

The Knife - Heartbeats

Bjork - Human Behavior

Annie and Piper chat

David Bowie - Let’s Dance

Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls

The Pointer Sisters - Break Out

Annie and Piper chat

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime

Outro

[lightsandmusique]

• INTRODUCING THE SUMMER PLAYLIST • (be sure to get on the desktop site to jam out!) 1. Welcome (Acoustic Version)// Hey Rosetta! 2. True Affection// Father John Misty 3. Turn to Dust// Wolf Alice 4. Another One// Mac Demarco 5. Release You// Tom Misch 6. 'Cause I'm A Man// Tame Impala 7. Hard to Explain// The Strokes (included this one because I rediscovered my love of it during Shaky Knees ☺️) 8. Blue// Marina and the Diamonds 9. Born Slippy// Albert Hammond Jr. 10. I Don't Want To Let You Down// Sharon Van Etten

[lightsandmusique]

Silhouettes of the Strokes (from when I saw them last month!)

[lightsandmusique]

Hi I'm Alive!!

Sorry I haven't been so active on here lately, these past few months have been insane! I'm gonna try and step it up a notch because I have some ideas I'd really like to get going this fall :) hope everyone is doing well!

[lightsandmusique]

Some Thoughts on "Tidal"

Today, a lot of bands have decided to turn their profiles “blue” in support of a new streaming service initiated by Jay-Z. I believe it is called Tidal.

I don’t know much about this startup, except for the fact that it’s supposed to rival Spotify and somehow get more money to the artists.

There’s no doubt about it that artists are being cheated of their money these days. We live in a society where a huge portion of the population doesn’t see anything wrong with illegally downloading or torrenting albums. I’m not sure if people realise that when buying from third-party retailers (including companies like iTunes and Amazon), the artists in fact DO NOT get 100% of the charging price (that being said, I don’t know the exact percentage that a band would earn off of that $1 song you’d buy on iTunes). Obviously, the best way to support a band is by buying from them directly. Whether that be their record, merch, tickets to their shows, or even downloads…the best way to be certain your money is going to the rightful place is through the artist at their shows or on their site.

I see why artists are worried about streaming services like Spotify. Using these services seems a lot like using iTunes, it’s just another third party distributor. Maybe the uproar is caused by the money earned per play or per set of plays…however I don’t see why streaming services should be something that is on par with download services.

For downloads, it takes one click for someone to be the owner of a song, an album, a discography….whatever. Some people consider the ethics behind where their downloads are coming from more than others; people who are really conscious about their favourite artists and genuinely care about their continuation as such will probably download from the artists directly or buy the cd or record which would include high quality downloads. Other people are serial iTunes users, who probably use it for the convenience or because they would feel poorly about straight up illegally downloading. There are others who really don’t care about anything more than getting what they want, when they want it, for the least money as possible. These are the people who are feeding the problem. One click with no payment, and the song is theirs to play at their disposal. They can save it and even share it, also freely.

Streaming services, on the other hand, are a bit different. Although the majority of Spotify users do not pay, they do indirectly pay through their time. Ad space takes over for much of the charge for Spotify Premium. Also, the free Spotify program has lots fewer features than premium does, the main differences being that elimination of ads, the full mobile Spotify as opposed to just playlist/artists on shuffle and radio, and the inability to sync things to listen to offline. The artist may not be getting paid much, but there really isn’t anything to lose when the free alternative is illegal downloading or even streaming on Vevo or YouTube. Streaming DOES NOT equal downloading; streaming is only possible for free Spotify users with Internet connection, and again, there’s all that playback time taken over by annoying ads.

Paid users, on the other hand, have the capability of keeping songs to listen to offline through the use of a Spotify library. This STILL does not equate to downloading, since managing saves still involves an Internet connection, and users don’t have the ability to share songs freely or transfer their music outside of the app.

As for me, I use Spotify as a sort of discovery lab. I am a paid member who takes advantage of playlists and the save offline feature. Until the recent update, I would create 1000+ song queues, diving through the rabbit hole of the “similar artists” tab, saving everything that drew my attention to playlists. I say this because the recent update only permits a 300 song queue, although I do like listening to new albums on the mobile app through the “discover” tab.

So how does this “Tidal” thing come into play? By the looks of it, it appears to be a more expensive Spotify. This is probably how the program would be able to get more money to artists. However, when faced with the opportunity to spend $10 or $20 on a nearly identical product, WHY would the typical listener choose to spend more? Knowing that so many people already become OWNERS of songs for free, I don’t think that this is necessarily the solution to get artists the extra money that they deserve.

Something else I’ve noticed is who is supporting this new campaign. These are people like Kanye West, Taylor Swift, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna….also known as some of the richest musicians in the industry. Taylor Swift, for instance, has already removed her discography from Spotify since she didn’t support the company. I am not a Taylor Swift fan, so I am not affected by her action in my daily listening, however I am confused by it. Since streaming is a whole other market in itself, why take away that source of money? Maybe she feels as if she deserves more from its use, but without it, it would just be another missed opportunity. To assert this argument I’d need stats (which you should know by now I don’t have access to at the moment), but I can guess that there are more people illegally downloading Swift’s songs for free than there are people streaming something from say, Katy Perry. Both extremely successful pop stars, and both rich enough to not have to worry about that extra dollar or two, even though one does for some reason. The fact that Jay-Z started this is even more confusing…he’s a producer and musician who makes millions per year. Why does he need to make that much more off of a streaming service that’ll cost the average consumer that much more of their earnings?

And to add to this, what about up and coming musicians? They can't afford to lose a burgeoning audience due to overpriced services, let alone pay for the services themselves. Emerging artists need all the exposure they can get, and Spotify already has a successful platform that helps with this. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

I’ve said that streaming doesn’t equate to downloading, I believe that it is just something additional. There have been so many times that I can thank Spotify for an introduction to a musician or band. After streaming their music and falling in love with it, I, an 18 year old who doesn't have lots of money at her disposal, have often been driven to buy their record or merch or go to their show. Concerts are the biggest source of income for most musicians today. I don’t live near a huge music scene but I try my best to support the artists that I adore. Technology is changing and with it, the music industry, so I think people are still figuring out the best way to earn a living from their art in this day and age. So, while this intention does make sense, I don’t think that putting streaming services head to head is necessarily the way to go.

[lightsandmusique]

The Suburbs (Continued)

(I wrote this for a memoir assignment in my creative non fiction class btw...some of the formatting got messed up oh well) My heart sank as soon as I heard the first chord suspended in the air. The violins, piano, and mysterious other instruments resonated in such a way that made me think to myself This is real. This is really happening right now. I was far away enough from the action that the blur of people and the lights on the stage was all I could see in front of me, but that didn’t matter. The chord progression picked up speed and began to flow with the violins as I could hear Win start to sing. My mind started playing in retrograde, bouncing around so many memories, putting my head into overdrive. Before I could stop myself, I was crying. Tears rushed down my face like a fast moving stream, unable to be stopped. I rubbed my eyes, smearing the back of my hand with black eyeliner and glitter. I looked over to my dad hoping he wouldn’t notice. I can’t remember if he did. March 17, 2014. St. Patrick’s Day. Savannah’s favorite holiday, but never mine. I wasn’t the girl who wanted to go downtown with hundreds of thousands of tackily dressed, intoxicated strangers. I wanted to get away, go somewhere far away. March 17, 2014: the day I first saw Arcade Fire live. Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia. 7 pm. My seat was in the front row, though tucked in the back corner of the 76ers basketball arena. March 17. The first day I heard The Suburbs live. The first time I cried at a concert (or should I say, the first three). I can remember this day clearer than most others. I can remember it clearer than the first time I ever heard Arcade Fire. I mean I can remember some of the details: my friend Jacqueline, who I met on a cruise ship in 6th grade, was obsessed with this band ever since I met her. I think she was the person who first told me about this band. I know that the first song I ever heard off of The Suburbs was “Sprawl II”. When? I’m not exactly sure. I do know for a fact that I thought it was a pretty good song, and it sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard before. I added it to a playlist I didn’t revisit for a while. When Spotify entered my life freshman year and I needed something to listen to, I flashed back through those old playlists. Stumbling across “Sprawl” again, I thought I’d give it another listen. It was better than I remembered, and I proceeded to listen to the album in full. When I listened, something clicked. This wasn’t just a good album, it was more than that. As a freshman, someone who had never fallen in love with another human, I discovered what it felt like to fall in love. It was with The Suburbs that my Arcade Fire obsession took off, my musical passion became more obvious, and my personal identity began revealing itself. The more I listened to the record, the more I wanted to learn. Who are these people? What is this album actually about? Why do I feel as if I can strongly relate to it? There were so many questions, and I wanted answers. As my high school career drew on, I could connect some of the dots by myself, I could track down some facts in the media, and while doing so, my relationship with The Suburbs became more complex. When I turned fifteen, I got my learners permit. My dad rarely let me drive, though I believed that when I finally turned sixteen and got my license, I would be driving myself everywhere, bestowed with a whole new level of freedom. I was wrong. The first few months of being sixteen with my license just seemed like a continuation of being fifteen with my permit; my dad always wanted to go with me anytime I drove. I only drove a couple times a month. The worst part was that I still was not allowed to play music while driving. I could not bear with the silence of these car rides, since all I could think about was how everyone at school had much higher degrees of freedom than me. The kids from Scenes From The Suburbs (the short film based around the album) drove around their neighbourhoods blasting The Suburbs. I didn’t fit in, I felt isolated. In the suburbs I, I WANTED TO learn to drive. Well, after long months of enduring my dad’s strict instruction and rules, I finally encountered an opportunity where I needed to drive myself. My mom had kickboxing, my dad had a meeting, I had dance. I was in eleventh grade. This task of driving to dance wasn’t as easy as it sounds, in doing so I had to cross bridges, drive along the highway, and maneuver a very busy main street...during rush hour. I was nervous and exhilarated. I strapped my seatbelt in, adjusted the chair and mirrors, and as soon as the car was ready to start, I slid The Suburbs into the disk player. This was it. It was springtime and the sun was going down, the sky painted with pinks and vibrant orange.