tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11980938608127646492024-03-19T09:18:56.013+00:00Pop Bothering MeRichard OsborneRichard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.comBlogger204125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-82944372797164055892023-06-28T16:06:00.000+01:002023-06-28T16:06:00.267+01:00The Beatles and Beyond<p> In May this year, I was interviewed by students from Northeastern University for their project <i>The Beatles and Beyond</i>. The results are now available on <a href="https://vimeo.com/835431574">Vimeo</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-91658160923854384192023-02-24T14:52:00.003+00:002023-02-24T14:53:06.444+00:00Music Journalism Insider<p> I was recently interviewed by Todd L. Burns for his online newsletter <i>Music Journalism Insider</i>, which covers 'news, job listenings, and interviews from the world of music journalism'. Todd asks me about my career and my book <i><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/owning-the-masters-9781501345906/">Owning the Masters</a></i>. The interview is available <a href="https://www.musicjournalisminsider.com/archive/richard-osborne-interview/">here</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-64754854647000834402023-02-21T14:55:00.004+00:002023-02-21T14:55:56.930+00:00Rights Reversion and Contract Adjustment<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQe7-kmWbqdRSorZMoUTcym3yFf988iXtQoWqPCVlF9cF23Z5RT-6ULlFjcLWb0E_PyOOO2KRc1cCeDDkPpv2nlSxnvcHXc1rD3-HMY_E0YQC3WJlQ8Ht_hC0z2BPa_VwML6M53uQ1sEhIQYmzkxlELnFm3TgqZCZo6L0JoMOFqXBegMGN6VBQsVAP/s1172/Screenshot%202023-02-21%20at%2014.41.57.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1172" data-original-width="824" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQe7-kmWbqdRSorZMoUTcym3yFf988iXtQoWqPCVlF9cF23Z5RT-6ULlFjcLWb0E_PyOOO2KRc1cCeDDkPpv2nlSxnvcHXc1rD3-HMY_E0YQC3WJlQ8Ht_hC0z2BPa_VwML6M53uQ1sEhIQYmzkxlELnFm3TgqZCZo6L0JoMOFqXBegMGN6VBQsVAP/w281-h400/Screenshot%202023-02-21%20at%2014.41.57.png" width="281" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Over the past year, I have been working with Hyojung Sun of the University of York on a report that was commissioned by the UK's Intellectual Property Office. This research was prompted by </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/646/economics-of-music-streaming/publications/">recommendations</a> from the DCMS Select Committee's Inquiry into the Economics of Music Streaming that there should be changes to UK copyright law to help benefit music creator revenues. These recommendations concern a reversion right (similar to the termination right in the US) and a right of contract adjustment (similar to adjustment right that is outlined in the European Unions's Digital Single Market Directive). The report was published two weeks ago and is available <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/economics-of-streaming-contract-adjustment-and-rights-reversion/rights-reversion-and-contract-adjustment">here</a> in html form and <a href="https://www.academia.edu/96942069/Rights_Reversion_and_Contract_Adjustment">here</a> in pdf form. </span><p></p><p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;">Following the publication of this report, Chris Cooke of Complete Music Update commented that government, rights holders and music creators should now begin a '<a href="https://completemusicupdate.com/article/ipo-publishes-economics-of-streaming-research-on-reversion-and-contract-adjustment-rights-for-music-makers/">formal remuneration conversation</a>'. </span></span></p><p><br /></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-6415298752964361552022-12-16T11:04:00.005+00:002022-12-16T11:04:48.530+00:00Owning the Masters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnebfEI-6VlCy9ilPKdVsApMyMt4V6g7OcuMYEjvP8L-ztVYpp7cAZVITqu0G35k4chnDAVoW-XyBbTqgXBJIB6wvJO7RJtuht-0AfZ9KsqT8KEF9rK2kz3eeXAgYi3Ml9d6eQ3cX6_dyelUMQZ8-DLhPzJKrTFE6j_vf99CCPwPPfxHLkv4j02p7g/s540/Owning%20the%20Masters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnebfEI-6VlCy9ilPKdVsApMyMt4V6g7OcuMYEjvP8L-ztVYpp7cAZVITqu0G35k4chnDAVoW-XyBbTqgXBJIB6wvJO7RJtuht-0AfZ9KsqT8KEF9rK2kz3eeXAgYi3Ml9d6eQ3cX6_dyelUMQZ8-DLhPzJKrTFE6j_vf99CCPwPPfxHLkv4j02p7g/s320/Owning%20the%20Masters.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><p>My new book, <i>Owning the Masters: A History of Sound Recording Copyright </i>was published by Bloomsbury yesterday. It tells the story of how this form of copyright was developed and claimed by the recording industry, and how recording artists are now claiming this copyright for themselves. The book also looks at how this copyright has been applied to different forms of distributing music - physical products, radio, downloading, streaming - and how it shapes and is being shaped by our digital age. As the blurb says, 'This is an essential subject for an understanding of the economic, artistic and political value of recorded sound'.</p><p>Like recorded music, the book comes in a variety of formats: <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/owning-the-masters-9781501345913/">hardback</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/owning-the-masters-9781501345906/">paperback</a>, <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/owning-the-masters-9781501345920/">eBook</a>. </p><p><br /></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-66811281049590886582021-09-23T15:04:00.004+01:002021-09-23T15:37:52.423+01:00Music Creators’ Earnings in the Digital Era<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunSvjBj-UAiID_MHRDYqRNTsqX6eYfcC4sYrkmXmWAZV1zvSLZPmmNlbHOzS7J1hKu2P9GmsqQkkaV51cgPrUetoj6Et6tbVvC9eDtQisoQsL7wmdJpmQqTfflAqlwegE-kIHqt79uaQ/s1290/Music+Creators%2527+Earnings+in+the+Digital+Era.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="906" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgunSvjBj-UAiID_MHRDYqRNTsqX6eYfcC4sYrkmXmWAZV1zvSLZPmmNlbHOzS7J1hKu2P9GmsqQkkaV51cgPrUetoj6Et6tbVvC9eDtQisoQsL7wmdJpmQqTfflAqlwegE-kIHqt79uaQ/w281-h400/Music+Creators%2527+Earnings+in+the+Digital+Era.png" width="281" /></a></div> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">For the past year and a half I have been investigating the
subject of creators’ earnings, working alongside my excellent colleagues Hyojung
Sun, David Hesmondhalgh and Kenny Barr.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We have produced two reports, one investigating streaming
revenues, while the other looks at the turn to ‘buy-out’ payments in the audio
visual market. The reports were commissioned by the IPO, who have published
them today (available from <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/music-creators-earnings-in-the-digital-era">this link</a>).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The IPO are trailing the first report as
‘ground-breaking research into how creators earn money through streaming’, and a
<a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/646/economics-of-music-streaming/publications/">separate report</a> issued by the government yesterday has described it as <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>‘the most comprehensive study of music
creators’ earnings ever completed in the UK’. <a href=" https://musically.com/2021/09/23/uk-research-on-music-creators-digital-earnings-out-today/">Music Ally</a> have meanwhile
described it as ‘an important study that deserves to be read widely’. Please
read!</span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-71236489233374172642021-09-10T14:05:00.005+01:002021-09-10T14:06:36.418+01:00Mercury Queen<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Conversation </i>has
published an article that I’ve written about last night’s Mercury Prize. Their
edited version can be accessed <a href="https://theconversation.com/mercury-prize-a-prize-for-an-album-in-a-time-when-no-one-listens-to-them-167475">this link</a>. The original can be found below.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SvpjYVRdUTg" width="320" youtube-src-id="SvpjYVRdUTg"></iframe></div> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes the result feels obvious. Arlo Parks, the bookies’
favourite, was always likely to win the Mercury Prize for the best British and
Irish album of the year. This is not because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collapsed in Sunbeams</i> is the most worthy album musically. Each of
the shortlisted records could have made a claim in this respect. Instead, it is
because the prize tends to be awarded to artists who capture the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">zeitgeist</i>. Parks typifies 2021 in a way
that escapes the other nominees. Outlining their decision at the award ceremony
last night, the judges commended ‘just how much she represents a generation of
people and talks about themes that are so timely to now’. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collapsed in Sunbeams </i>provides succour for our pandemic lives, ‘we
need Arlo Parks’ music: it’s healing, it’s comforting, it’s uplifting.’
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It would be
going too far to suggest that artists create albums with the Mercury Priz<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">e</i> in mind, but the award does form part
of promotional strategies. Above all else, it is regarded as providing a sales
boost. Unlike the Booker Prize for fiction, with which it is often compared,
this boost forms part of the media coverage (and part of the prize’s Wikipedia
page). The shortlisting of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collapsed in
Sunbeams </i>resulted in a sales increase of 16.7%. Another of the nominees, Laura
Mvula’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pink Noise</i>, witnessed a 50%
rise.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Yet there is a tension in this prize.
It attempts to capture the pulse of the nation, but in many ways the
long-playing record is a thing of the past. Some commenters believe that albums
reached their peak as an artform half a century ago. In the current century,
this format can be viewed as being an irrelevance. Rather than listening to
albums in toto, consumers are now more likely to stream individual tracks. In
2019, the British research company, MIDiA found that just 10% of consumers
listened to physical albums, and only 10% listened to albums in full on
streaming services.
The preference, instead, is the algorithms of playlists. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Artists have responded in kind.
Some, such as Calvin Harris, no longer make albums. There is divergence between
singles and albums acts. Statistically, singles can be viewed as being more
representative of the public. This week’s number one, ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed
Sheeran, has been streamed over 400 million times on Spotify alone. In
contrast, prior to last night’s award, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Collapsed
in Sunbeams </i>had just 43,311 UK sales.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The record
business still clings to the idea of the album, nonetheless. The Mercury Prize
is organized by the UK’s trade body, the BPI. Rather than accept the dominance
of the access mode of listening, the recording industry converts streaming
activity into ‘album equivalent sales’. Figures are reported on the basis that
1000 streams across all tracks of an album is equal to the sale of one physical
album. Music business analyst Tim Ingham has described this formula as
‘self-evident madness’. It is based on the notion that the two tallies will
generate similar royalties. This is economically false: the calculation has
been in place for ten years, a period in which the average per-stream rate has
halved, while the average price of a physical album has increased. In addition,
it provides a false equivalence across different methods of consumption. In
reaching the 1000 streams total, there is no need for listeners to experience
the music as an album. The figures are instead compiled from their atomized activities.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Mercury
Prize has been in existence since 1992. Ostensibly, its thirty winners have
fulfilled the same function: they have captured the spirit of the times to
create the best album of the year. Since the turn to online services, however,
the award has undertaken an additional role. It is upholding the idea of the
album in the face of technological change. The televised event is even
structured like a record. There are twelve shortlisted nominees, matching the average
number of tracks on album. They perform their hit tracks in turn, mirroring the
pattern of a compilation LP. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This might
feel anachronistic, but it is a worthwhile task. Many artists do still think in
terms of collections songs. The album continues to provide a great resource
with which to outline a musical vision. The prize also does an effective of job
of introducing audiences to these albums and increasing their ‘sales’. Put
another way, would any of us prefer a Mercury Prize for the playlist of the
year?</p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-38212270621223468502021-08-30T14:49:00.003+01:002021-08-30T14:51:24.143+01:00The Present and Future of Music Law<p class="Default"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: medium;">On 25
August I took part in the book launch for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Present and Future of Music Law</i>, a collection edited by Tony Rigg, a music
industry practitioner, business consultant and educator affiliated with the
University of Central Lancashire, and Ann Harrison, a partner at SSB Solicitors
Limited and the author of the classic guidebook, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music: The Business.</i></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was a game of two halves. In the first section, Rigg and
Harrison discussed the current state of music law with industry experts,
including Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order, music industry executive Silvia
Montello, and Sumit Bothra, the director of the management company ATC.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The second half featured the contributing authors introducing their
chapters in discussion with the editors. I led the way with my chapter, ‘Copyright,
Royalties and Industrial Decline’, which opens the book.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The launch is available via YouTube (my bit starts around
the 50:30 mark):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LlGK9rfzR5M" width="320" youtube-src-id="LlGK9rfzR5M"></iframe></div> <p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Present and Future
of Music Law </i>is a great collection but as an academic publication it has a
typically high price. However, for a limited period there is a discount if ordered direct from the publisher, <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/present-and-future-of-music-law-9781501367786">Bloomsbury</a>.</span></span><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-60188169582983571282021-08-26T11:17:00.001+01:002021-08-26T11:17:07.079+01:00Charlie Watts (1941-2021)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg0NhBPkSnUfM-wDxNCBPBqyivdkgJxcOmmFLUrEPMjdPFiY7WDjXmYNp3mL7Hpv4-0aaBpqrzAzSvVIkTFeuw5-UNBudu6HeJYmtvPl9Lsml3gkYw_AHwaDhv39kHnRZsBqyAlBk8dg/s2048/DSC_9360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1993" data-original-width="2048" height="389" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpg0NhBPkSnUfM-wDxNCBPBqyivdkgJxcOmmFLUrEPMjdPFiY7WDjXmYNp3mL7Hpv4-0aaBpqrzAzSvVIkTFeuw5-UNBudu6HeJYmtvPl9Lsml3gkYw_AHwaDhv39kHnRZsBqyAlBk8dg/w400-h389/DSC_9360.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-76147691333368221852021-03-12T06:11:00.004+00:002021-03-12T06:16:27.175+00:00Music Creators’ Earnings in the Digital Age Survey<p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 6pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0Q0ZuODsSgG0jg-FyueaqzEQxH9zQIemymIKn9l-KxdC3xSO5DZoWyebNQKHNHIH3H5V0nRVaJnUB04QNIN6BRA8OWsIrIKlFOqPTylmCGT4trM5gtbf73s4-vSjGXx913AnhCtWOxE/s2048/Music+Creators4.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0Q0ZuODsSgG0jg-FyueaqzEQxH9zQIemymIKn9l-KxdC3xSO5DZoWyebNQKHNHIH3H5V0nRVaJnUB04QNIN6BRA8OWsIrIKlFOqPTylmCGT4trM5gtbf73s4-vSjGXx913AnhCtWOxE/s320/Music+Creators4.png" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am involved in a research project that is examining music
creators’ earnings in the streaming age. As part of this project, we're looking
for UK-based music creators, at all stages of their careers, working in all
genres to take part in the debate by completing a short survey: <span><a href="https://bit.ly/3l3MKtx" title="Original URL: https://bit.ly/3l3MKtx. Click or tap if you trust this link."><span>https://bit.ly/3l3MKtx</span></a>. The questions should take
around 10 minutes to answer and all contributions are fully anonymous. </span></span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The survey has been devised in consultation
with representatives of songwriters, composers, performers and producers,
alongside stakeholders from the recording and music publishing industries.
It has been prepared by AudienceNet, and is funded by a Research England grant
to the University of Leeds. It forms part of the Music Creators’ Earnings in
the Digital Age project undertaken by the Universities of Leeds, Middlesex and
Ulster, which has been commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office in
partnership with the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Please make sure you participate before it
ends, midnight on Wednesday 24 March 2020.</span></span></span></p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;">
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></span></span><br />Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-20538926829206365432020-12-26T08:16:00.004+00:002020-12-26T10:48:45.640+00:00Music by Numbers: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industries<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdbA4j72-bS1BGMta50-yzpK-C-Oprn_oACZSsRw2Lm2v4Z9j4VxiX2QMIxTEwYwc9Yw0IMkyr3sq0aMnkPqZWqGlL0ZHAFRlROvPaXWPm-PTKAist20mp6IJfRZ32YMi3j_xEdmG4Ok/s600/Music+by+Numbers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="418" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxdbA4j72-bS1BGMta50-yzpK-C-Oprn_oACZSsRw2Lm2v4Z9j4VxiX2QMIxTEwYwc9Yw0IMkyr3sq0aMnkPqZWqGlL0ZHAFRlROvPaXWPm-PTKAist20mp6IJfRZ32YMi3j_xEdmG4Ok/s320/Music+by+Numbers.jpg" /></a></div> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">As a Christmas present this year, I received hard copies of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/44760726/Music_by_Numbers_The_Use_and_Abuse_of_Statistics_in_the_Music_Industries"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music by Numbers: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in the Music Industries</i></a>, a book that I co-edited with the great <span style="color: black;"><a href="https://richardosbornevinyl.blogspot.com/2019/01/dave-laing-1947-2019.html">Dave Laing</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It has been
a long time coming. Dave proposed the idea for the book at the inaugural <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://richardosbornevinyl.blogspot.com/2016/01/equitable-remuneration-performer-rights.html">Working in Music</a> </i>conference, which took
place in Glasgow in January 2016. What a five years it has been since then. The
Trump presidency has come and nearly gone. The UK has had the Brexit vote and
is set to leave the European Union at the end of this week. Covid-19 has
transformed the world.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On a
personal and professional note, the saddest event has been Dave’s death. He
passed in January 2019, having kept from me how seriously ill he had become. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music by Numbers </i>is the last book project
that he worked on. I hope that I have managed to complete it with the
care and skill that Dave’s legacy warrants. One of the most satisfying aspects
for me is that this edited collection contains chapters by many of his friends.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music by Numbers</i> provides <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">the first in-depth examination of the use and abuse of statistics
in the music industries and addresses five key areas: sales and awards; music
industry policy; live music; music piracy; and digital solutions. Its aim is to
expose the culture and politics of data. The book has been published by Intellect,
with the brilliant help of production editor Aimée Bates. It can be ordered via
<a href="https://www.intellectbooks.com/music-by-numbers">this link</a>. </span></p><p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-5139096977274960522020-11-15T08:36:00.014+00:002020-11-15T13:13:58.062+00:00Vinyl in the Time of Covid-19<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghATmeoaBniMHhEhaNiJUc3Sg-j5N3GEXEGq8SMIiI659PjLov_USXGvKT9EpkzxhBdcfyRDLNajHz-7GJqapkRWTAdmYamKuF1wK4ENm4QU1Jz9w-wzAyAdOpLWgV8Sztpzu5PfF4JM8/s2022/LIT+Entertainment+News+2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="2022" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghATmeoaBniMHhEhaNiJUc3Sg-j5N3GEXEGq8SMIiI659PjLov_USXGvKT9EpkzxhBdcfyRDLNajHz-7GJqapkRWTAdmYamKuF1wK4ENm4QU1Jz9w-wzAyAdOpLWgV8Sztpzu5PfF4JM8/w400-h216/LIT+Entertainment+News+2.png" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">On Thursday I was interviewed on the fruity American
television programme <a href="https://www.pscp.tv/w/1YpKkzyZwlVxj">LIT Entertainment News</a> about a turnaround: in America vinyl records are outperforming
compact discs. <a href="https://www.riaa.com/reports/2020-mid-year-music-industry-revenue-report-riaa/">Trade figures</a> for the first half 2020 demonstrate that vinyl
sales constituted 62 per cent of the revenues for physical formats.
It was the first time since the 1980s that vinyl had generated more money than
CDs.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is
something that had been predicted. <a href="https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/">Sales revenues</a> for vinyl records have
increased every year since 2006. Sales revenues for compact discs, in contrast,
have declined annually since the millennium. When 2019's trading figures were announced it was <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/3-things-the-us-record-industry-should-fear-about-its-future-and-3-things-it-deserves-to-celebrate/">predicted</a> that, if trading patterns continued, vinyl would be on course
to surpass CDs.
Some people called this a long time ago. In my book <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781315548166"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vinyl: A History of the Analogue Record</i></a>, I quote the music journalist Adam Woods, who stated in 2004,
‘<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "\@˛0Œ˛";">it
is easy to believe that the format</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "\@˛0Œ˛";">could
thrive even as the CD begins to lose ground to the Internet’. I also have a
2011 quote from Lyor Cohen, who was then the CEO of the Warner Music Group,
stating that ‘vinyl will definitely outlast CDs’. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "\@˛0Œ˛";">It should be
noted that vinyl is outperforming compact discs in terms of revenues but not in
terms of units sold. One of the reasons why vinyl is generating more money is because each album typically costs two and a half times more than a CD. It is also the case that, in our time of lockdowns, it is more likely
that consumers will purchase vinyl than CDs. The former format appeals to
collectors and remains accessible via mail order. The latter format is more
casually purchased and will be neglected in times of shop closures. Trade
figures also indicate that the overall market for physical records is paltry.
Vinyl accounts for four per cent of the American market. Streaming, on the
other hand, accounts for 85 per cent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">Yet the figures are still remarkable.
Vinyl looked on course for obliteration twenty years ago; it is now firmly
established as a recording format that both consumers and the recording
industry will invest in. Pressing plants have struggled to keep up with demand.
Equally impressive is the fact that vinyl sales have continued to increase
despite the strictures of Covid-19. In the United States they are up four per
cent year-on-year. In the UK the trade magazine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Music Week </i>has reported that vinyl has defied ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">coronavirus chaos to post big rises’. Sales
for the third quarter were up 41.4 per cent on 2019. This is largely due to the
rescheduling of <a href="https://recordstoreday.co.uk/news/posts/2020/rsd-drop-dates-revealed/">Record Store Day</a>, but is demonstrative of the public’s
commitment to this format.
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After fifteen years of sales increases and a resolute performance in the
face of coronavirus we should probably stop talking of vinyl’s revival. Instead,
our focus should be elsewhere. The compact disc has been defeated. Will it now
become an object of fetishism for collectors?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-5807594376446713972020-10-25T20:19:00.005+00:002020-10-25T20:22:24.058+00:00Radiohead’s Kid A and the Anti-Globalization Movement<div class="separator"><p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </p>
<p style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><style>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">This month has witnessed the twentieth anniversary of the
release of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kid A </i>by Radiohead. The
occasion has been marked with numerous press articles and broadcasts, which have served to remind me what a fantastic album it is. I’ve also revisited an essay I
wrote about it shortly after it was released, which I’ve now posted on <a href="https://www.academia.edu/44367985/Radioheads_Kid_A_and_the_Anti_Globalization_Movement">academia.edu</a>.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">The essay was written for an MA
in Popular Culture that I was then studying at the Open University. The brief was to
analyse a piece of music drawing upon various strands of theory explored in the
course. Hence it has references to Theodore Adorno, Antonio Gramsci and my
personal favourite, Raymond Williams. It’s real theme, however, is the links
between Radiohead’s work and the anti-globalization movement. I saw the album
as an attempt to capture the spirit of Naomi Klein’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No Logo </i>in sound. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I still
hold with much of what I wrote back then, but what has interested me on
revisiting the essay is how it reflects a moment in time. The
anti-globalization movement was at its zenith at this point. It really did feel
as though it could ‘construct new alternatives to globalisation from the bottom
up’. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
something happened. On 9 September 2001, the Twin Towers in New York were
attacked. This diverted attention from the campaign. On the one hand, western
allies were rallying together, with foreign nations choosing to declare ‘we are
all Americans now’. On the other hand, some of the amorphous energy of the
anti-globalization movement was channelled into opposition to the war in Iraq. Radiohead
were swept up in this tide. Their next album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hail to the Thief</i>, was released in 2003. It swapped the drift of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kid A</i> for targeted attacks on George Bush,
and was overall a far less impressive work. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I argue in
the essay that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kid A </i>was never a
difficult or obscure album. You just had to be in tune with the emergent ‘structure
of feeling’ of that time. It says much, then, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kid A </i>still resonates. 9-11 might have brought the most intense
period of anti-globalization protests to an end, but the impetus behind that
movement has not gone away. If anything, the need to disappear completely is
felt more keenly now than it was twenty years ago.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkeswFIrH7Vy7db6yrQxqP6aQzY6eZ2xBxr2wJh4bjUaQBWdwORbcYAhj4Dclq1WBnw40lrYcl_tuvDV7uqdk2QnwN1fHBEMrJMbXjDH_UsfhNRxkP79GsfdBhUUV9dcCdrspFNRV49E/s290/No+Logo.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbkeswFIrH7Vy7db6yrQxqP6aQzY6eZ2xBxr2wJh4bjUaQBWdwORbcYAhj4Dclq1WBnw40lrYcl_tuvDV7uqdk2QnwN1fHBEMrJMbXjDH_UsfhNRxkP79GsfdBhUUV9dcCdrspFNRV49E/s0/No+Logo.png" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-38579294544940610632020-08-30T08:02:00.003+01:002020-08-30T08:08:05.106+01:00Kyle Devine 'Decomposed'<p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal">My review of Kyle Devine’s book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Decomposed </i>has appeared in the latest edition of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/popular-music">Popular Music</a> </i>journal. As I state in the
review this is a brilliant book which addresses a subject with which we should
all engage. Devine looks at the environmental damage that is caused by our
consumption of recorded music. He deals with this issue by dividing his
analysis into three periods: the shellac era (1900-1950), which witnessed the
industrialization of music; the plastic era (1950-2000) in which the production
of vinyl, cassettes and CDs implicated the recording industry with the
petrochemical industry; and the era of data (2000 to now) in which the
consumption of music has moved online. Importantly, Devine disabuses us of thinking
that our consumption has consequently been dematerialised. He calculates, in fact,
that the environmental costs are ‘higher than ever before’. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Decomposed </i>draws upon a wealth of
materials in its analysis, including my own book <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Vinyl-A-History-of-the-Analogue-Record-1st-Edition/Osborne/p/book/9781472434333"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vinyl</i></a>, which he has used to create a thesis beyond anything I had
imagined. As I note in my review, some of Devine’s calculations can be questioned,
but the importance of his argument cannot be gainsaid. My review can be accessed
via <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43974413/Kyle_Devine_Decomposed_reviewed_by_Richard_Osborne_in_Popular_Music">this link</a>. Devine’s book is available from <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/decomposed">MIT Press</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyeJSDTubovKEKoIkbnwT1ghP8jdg1FWuntBZgsJaxoO9nXUwv16xiPZcL5bqrVclPw5rKjN2R-0HuvDEO4JU2K4GY_JXHSeOZkrO0Nt1LVO5rHCO6fOhyphenhyphenKgQk9cEsmhp8VDmhVxZgmLE/s818/Decomposed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="550" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyeJSDTubovKEKoIkbnwT1ghP8jdg1FWuntBZgsJaxoO9nXUwv16xiPZcL5bqrVclPw5rKjN2R-0HuvDEO4JU2K4GY_JXHSeOZkrO0Nt1LVO5rHCO6fOhyphenhyphenKgQk9cEsmhp8VDmhVxZgmLE/w344-h512/Decomposed.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><style>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-55680422743090604712020-07-18T09:30:00.001+01:002020-07-20T07:18:34.163+01:00Mute Records: Artists, History, Business, Paperback<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6knAI3C_Ynn85W6oGK7RDaNIaFcFoiqFe3p6ceBjv9oFIuBBYhxItNhTDfCcFjIyQbisQxwwOSwFbZB3bSe_0y8FYIgrr6Zy1xauUjg-ndH5M4Q_EZGytTOOAfXy_aN9nVdrrY1quU0o/s1600/Mute+Records.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6knAI3C_Ynn85W6oGK7RDaNIaFcFoiqFe3p6ceBjv9oFIuBBYhxItNhTDfCcFjIyQbisQxwwOSwFbZB3bSe_0y8FYIgrr6Zy1xauUjg-ndH5M4Q_EZGytTOOAfXy_aN9nVdrrY1quU0o/s320/Mute+Records.jpg" width="218" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.85pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.85pt;">
Last month, Bloomsbury Academic published
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mute Records </i>in <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/mute-records-9781501365478/">paperback</a>. I
co-edited this book with my colleagues Zuleika Beaven and Marcus O’Dair. It was compiled in honour of Mute Records fortieth anniversary and as a tribute to Daniel
Miller, the head and founder of the label, who acts as a visiting professor at our university. He is a great person. The new edition currently retails at £26.09,
which, while still expensive for a paperback book, makes it more readily affordable
than the hardback edition, which costs £86.40. According to the blub:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This edited
collection addresses Mute's wide-ranging impact. Drawing from disciplines such
as popular music studies, musicology, and fan studies, it takes a distinctive,
artist-led approach, outlining the history of the label by focusing each
chapter on one of its acts. The book covers key moments in the company's
evolution, from the first releases by The Normal and Fad Gadget to recent work
by Arca and Dirty Electronics. It shines new light on the most successful Mute
artists, including Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Erasure, Moby, and Goldfrapp, while
also exploring the label's avant-garde innovators, such as Throbbing Gristle,
Mark Stewart, Labaich, Ut, and Swans. <i>Mute Records</i> examines the business
and aesthetics of independence through the lens of the label's artists.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.85pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I co-authored the
<a href="https://www.academia.edu/38047680/Mute_Records_Artists_Business_History_2018_">introduction</a> and contributed the chapter on Moby, which addresses his album <i>Play </i>and has received some
notice in reviews. Writing for <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43116007/Zuleika_Beavan_Marcus_ODair_and_Richard_Osborne_Mute_Records_reviewed_by_Paul_Hollins_in_Punk_and_Post-Punk"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Punk and Post-Punk</i></a>, Paul Hollins has described it as a ‘fascinating and important
chapter’ that raises ‘disturbing questions of “truth” and “illusion” though
Moby’s “borrowing” and extensive re-use and re-purpose, without artistic
credit, of sampled black voices of the deep South in the United States’. In her
review for <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43116064/Zuleika_Beaven_Marcus_ODair_and_Richard_Osborne_Mute_Records_reviewed_by_Veronica_Skrimsj%C3%B6_in_Popular_Music"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Popular Music</i></a>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Veronica Skrimsjö states that this chapter is
a ‘particular highlight’ and notes how I compare Moby’s use of samples to the
tradition of blackface minstrelsy. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -.75pt;">For
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Skrimsjö, </span>‘<span style="letter-spacing: .75pt;">This notion appears quite
unique, but Osborne provides a very robust and convincing argument that, </span>should
one accept it (which this reviewer does), changes the discourse surrounding ownership
and sampling considerably’.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.85pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This chapter has a long history. Although
it is now looking back on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play </i>from a
distance of twenty years, I began work on it when Moby’s album was still in the
charts. The first version was completed in July 2000, as an essay for an MA in
Popular Culture that I was taking at the Open University. I reworked it four
years later for a course on metamorphosis at the London Consortium. It was at
this point that I introduced the minstrelsy theme. One of the tutors, Colin
MacCabe, liked it so much that he suggested I submit it to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Critical Quarterly</i>, the journal he edits. I reworked it again and it
became <a href="https://www.academia.edu/3553020/_Blackface_Minstrelsy_from_Melville_to_Moby">my first published article</a>. Finally (for now), it seemed apt to revisit it when my colleagues suggested compiling a book about Mute Records.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 2.85pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Something remains missing, nonetheless.
What none of the iterations capture is that, despite questioning Moby’s
practice, I do like some of the album.
There is a particular song on it that has always has stopped me in my tracks. I was going
through a hard time when the record was released. Moby’s ‘Why Does My Heart Feel
so Bad?’ captured my mood and helped to alleviate my pain. It still gives me
the chills. This is one of the recordings that samples black voices, however, and
it is indicative of the complexities and emotional power of popular music. While
it might be necessary and even important to highlight instances of cultural theft,
we are nevertheless all complicit in appropriation. The very act of
listening draws us into other worlds and, at the same time, encourages us to
situate those worlds within ourselves. There can be a fine line, however, between
exploitation and empathy. And that’s what Moby sets in play. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-68192622746188995312020-06-16T10:29:00.000+01:002020-06-17T08:54:51.875+01:00Black Lives Matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The music busines is responding to the death of George Floyd
and its reignition of the Black Lives Matter movement. On 2 June it held ‘<a href="https://variety.com/2020/music/news/music-industry-companies-blackout-george-floyd-solidarity-1234620870/">Blackout Tuesday</a>’ in which many companies and organizations ceased business activity
for one day in order to ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">disconnect from work and reconnect with
our community’ and seek ‘an urgent step of action to provoke accountability and
change’</span>.
Affirmative action has followed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the
first instance, there has been a funding pledge from entertainment companies and artists. The
major labels, Universal, Sony and Warner have between them <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/universal-commits-25m-fund-to-support-the-black-community-in-first-phase-of-global-company-task-force/">committed $225m</a>, which
will be used in support of black charities and to address ‘internal’ and ‘institutional’
change.
YouTube has announced a <a href="https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/youtube-100-million-fund-black-creators-artists-common-keke-palmer-1234631840/">£100m fund</a> dedicated to ‘amplifying and developing the
voices of Black creators and artists’. Stormzy had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/11/stormzy-to-donate-10m-to-black-british-causes-over-ten-years">donated £10m</a> to black British
causes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
Secondly, there has been a semantic
rethink. The One Little Indian label has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-53005676">changed its name </a>because of ‘t<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he
violent history of the terminology’,
the US Recording Academy has <a href="https://completemusicupdate.com/article/grammys-update-award-names-and-nomination-rules-in-a-bid-to-address-racism-and-corruption-accusations/">dropped the term ‘urban’</a> from two of its awards,
and more broadly there are a number of labels who are rebranding their urban
divisions. ‘Urban’ is <a href="https://completemusicupdate.com/article/republic-stops-using-the-word-urban-to-describe-music/">being resisted</a> because it is ‘</span>rooted in the
historical evolution of terms that sought to define black music’ and has ‘developed
into a generalisation of black people in many sectors of the music industry,
including employees and music by black artists’.
Ultimately, its abandonment might result in structural as well as semantic
change. The hope is that its departure will bring an end to the ghettoization
of black employees and artists. The move is <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/dropping-urban-deja-vu-all-over-again/">not universally welcomed</a>, however. There
are black music bosses who argue that this ‘we are all the same attitude’ will
not work in a society in which some are more equal than others. They fear that
the removal of barriers will result in white executives taking charge of black repertoire
because they feel they know ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">better than anyone else’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is a manoeuvre that
has received less attention but which could result in unquestioned good. One of the ways that racism has been ingrained in the music industries
is through black artists receiving exploitative contractual terms. As such, it
is not surprising that artists such as Kelis and Erykah Badu have <a href="https://twitter.com/JDKun/status/1267818430956101632">retweeted a statement</a> by the American professor, Josh Kun: <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">‘If the music industry wants to support black lives,</span> labels and
platforms can start with amending contracts, distributing royalties,
diversifying boardrooms, and retroactively paying back all the black artists,
and their families, they have built their empires on’.
This has already had some effect. On Tuesday 9 June, BMG’s CEO Hartwig Masuch <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/bmg-to-review-historic-record-contracts-mindful-of-the-music-industrys-shameful-treatment-of-black-artists/">declared that</a><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-style: normal;">Mindful of the music industry’s record of
shameful treatment of black artists, we have begun a review of all historic
record contracts. While BMG only began operations in 2008, we have acquired
many older catalogues. If there are any inequities or anomalies, we will create
a plan to address them. Within 30 days.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is not only statues that are
falling.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1eo-JIyTV0HxbYyOHLcbfxsFUFvVDqQ3Z0AQYMST34SbqKt_ta-NAqzzILsLrKja1hwUjmU1pxFBmS81dR3rjGvGd7GBt9N0Gh8Iq3qJnd_IEFotCSiXJWZilOgmFyarVOl7_JURhXU/s1600/Edward+Colston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="644" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc1eo-JIyTV0HxbYyOHLcbfxsFUFvVDqQ3Z0AQYMST34SbqKt_ta-NAqzzILsLrKja1hwUjmU1pxFBmS81dR3rjGvGd7GBt9N0Gh8Iq3qJnd_IEFotCSiXJWZilOgmFyarVOl7_JURhXU/s320/Edward+Colston.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-11982453449760494272020-06-13T08:13:00.001+01:002020-07-20T07:23:21.017+01:00Pleasurable Guilt?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes writing should be withheld. In 2002, Gary
Mulholland produced one of the finest list books about popular music, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and
Disco. </i>As well as covering many fantastic records, the entries are shot
through with insights. They also glow with a righteous passion about the injustices
of race, class, gender and snobbery. This book was followed in 2006 by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The 261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco</i>.
It is a far inferior work. Aside from the fact that albums are frequently incoherent
and therefore hard to sum up, Mulholland’s pronouncements have a tendency to
jar.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The worst
instance comes with his analysis of Misty in Roots' <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Live at the Counter Eurovision 79</i>. Despite including the album in
his book, he describes it as ‘kinda silly’ and ‘pretty camp’. This stopped me
in my tracks when I first read it. Had I been listening to a different record?
Was I wrong to take this album’s earnest pronouncements on race and class seriously,
when really I should have taken them with a pinch of salt? Mulholland thinks
so. For him this record was aimed at a ‘white middle-class audience’ who sought
‘damning judgements upon their entire existence’. These judgements include the
famous spoken word introduction to this album, which states that:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When we trod this
land, we walk for one reason. The reason is to try to help another man think for himself. The
music of our hearts is roots music: music which recalls history, because without the
knowledge of your history, you cannot determine your destiny; the music about
the present, because if you are not conscious about the present, you're like a
cabbage in this society; music which tells about the future and the judgement which is to come.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who was responsible for
introducing this record to many people, was so taken with these words that they
were included in the order of service at his funeral. Mulholland argues that,
while they are supposed to sound ‘simultaneously spiritual, authoritative and
stoned’, the speaker ‘just sounds gay’. He is similarly snide about ‘How Long
Jah’, the track on the album that says most about racism. It is introduced with
a cry of ‘how long must we feel the pain?’. For Mulholland this complaint
sounds like a ‘granny with a backache’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This writing
represents a hollow game of one-upmanship. Mulholland wishes to come across as being
more insightful than other listeners while also attempting to best them in
terms of liberal credentials. He wants to say that, not only is racism wrong,
but it is perpetuated by the fact that white listeners take roots reggae so
seriously. For Mulholland, a greater move towards equality would be for white
people to take the piss out of these musicians in the same way they take the
piss out of everyone else. This involves calling someone ‘gay’. Aside from this
peculiar attitude, what I find most unforgiveable about this writing is that it
did affect my listening and presumably the listening of other readers as well. I questioned whether in listening to this album I was
just indulging in some form of pleasurable guilt. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The music
speaks more loudly, though. Misty in Roots certainly condemned whiteness - ‘Satan
said I’m free, but I’m not free’ – and by extension could be said to be
admonishing their white audience. This wasn’t a game of assuaging guilt,
however. The group always preached togetherness. They were a fulcrum of the
Rock Against Racism movement. They pointedly named their record label, ‘People
Unite’, and launched the career of the white punk band, the Ruts. ‘How Long Jah’
asks how long must <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we </i>feel the pain.
It couches the problem in monetary terms: we are ‘economical slaves’ who cannot
escape ‘money the controller’. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Live at
the Counter Eurovision </i>is not preaching at a white audience, it is instead enfolding
this audience in shared injustices and is suggesting ways to move forwards as one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And it
definitely is not camp. In fact, what is most astonishing about Misty in Roots
is that they sought unity and spoke of shared experience despite being the
victims of institutionalized racism. In the same month that the album was
recorded, Britain's far right party, the National Front, had planned to hold an election meeting in Southall,
the multi-cultural district from which Misty in Roots hailed. The group helped to organize the anti-fascist response. In the resulting ‘Southall
riots’ the teacher Blair Peach was killed by the police. <a href="http://southallresists40.com/clarence-baker-speaks/">The police’s Special Patrol Group also beat Misty in Roots’ manager Clarence Baker into a coma</a>. He was then charged with assault despite the fact he was unarmed. Tragically, ‘How Long
Jah?’ was not only speaking the truth at the time it was released, but it remains
true today. Another generation has been born in slavery. Black lives matter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RJ-if2prTeQ/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RJ-if2prTeQ?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-79649099781205316342020-02-17T15:38:00.002+00:002020-02-19T09:04:52.469+00:00The Critics' (Second and Third) Choice Award<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Do the Brit Awards
provide evidence of sexism in the record industry? This year they have been
called out for a lack of female nominees. In particular, it has been noted that
the candidates for the most prestigious award of the night, the one given out
for Album of the year, are essentially a duplication of the names for the Male
Solo Artist award.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Geoff
Taylor, chief executive of the BPI and the Brit Awards has <a href="https://www.musicweek.com/media/read/bpi-boss-geoff-taylor-on-diversity-at-the-brits/078925">defended these shortlists</a>, stating that the Brits are ‘a reflection of what's going on in the
business. There’s been a lot of success for male acts in 2019 – and with grime
and hip-hop doing very well, they are more male-dominated genres’. While this
statement would appear to absolve the record industry of any responsibility for
the male orientation, Taylor further excuses the Brit Awards on the grounds
that there have been more female nominees and winners in previous years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">The
Critic’s Choice award would appear to back up his claim. Inaugurated in 2008,
its first winner was Adele. Since then, half of the winners have been female
artists and each of these artists has gone on to have considerable success.
This year the trophy has been renamed as the Rising Star award. It’s first
winner – Celeste – is female too. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">What
interests me here, though, is the artists who were shortlisted for the Critic’s
Choice award but didn’t win the trophy. If we look at their careers, a different
picture emerges:</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2008. Winner:
Adele. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Duffy – had huge success with her first album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rockferry </i>(2018) which sold over two
million copies in the UK. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Endlessly </i>(2010),
did not do as well. Since then there has been a hiatus in Duffy’s music career</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Foals – have enjoyed a sustained and successful
career, releasing six albums between 2008 and 2019, the last of which made it
to number one in the UK</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2009. Winner:
Florence and the Machine</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up: </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Little Boots - <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">released three albums
between 2009 and 2015, but nothing since then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l8 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>White Lies – have released five albums to date,
with diminishing returns</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2010. Winner:
Ellie Goulding</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Marina and the Diamonds - <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">four
moderately successful albums over the last ten years, all on Atlantic Records.
The second of these, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Electra Heart</i>,
topped the charts in the UK, but was the lowest selling number one album of the
21<sup>st</sup> century</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Delphic - an all-male alternative dance band who released albums in 2010 and 2013, the
latter of which reached 77 in the UK chart. They do not appear to have released
anything since 2014, albeit that one of the members is now part of a
songwriting collective known as ‘The Six’, which has had some chart success</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2011. Winner:
Jessie J</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>James Blake – has released four successful and
internationally acclaimed albums to date</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The Vaccines – have released four albums
and are doing OK despite some line-up changes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2012: Winner:
Emile Sandé</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Maverick Sabre – a male English-Irish
vocalist/rapper who has released three albums: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lonely Are the Brave </i>(2012) on Mercury records, reached number 2 in
the UK; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Innerstanding </i>(2015) on
Mercury, reached number 41; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When I Wake
Up </i>(2019) on Famm, reached number 46</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l9 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Michael Kiwanuka – has released three albums
between 2012 and 2019 and is doing fine</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2013. Winner: Tom
Odell</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>AlunaGeorge - an electronic duo featuring a female
singer and male producer, who have released two albums: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Body Music </i>(2013) on Island, reached number 11; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Remember </i>(2016), also on Island,
reached number 71</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l4 level1 lfo5; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Laura Mvula - is brilliant, but has released
only two albums: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sing to the Moon </i>(2013)
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dreaming Room </i>(2016), both on
RCA (Sony). She was dropped by the label in 2017</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2014. Winner: Sam
Smith</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Ella Eyre - released one studio album <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Feline </i>(2015) on Virgin EMI, which went
gold. She is apparently releasing a new album on Island Records</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Chlöe Howl – a solo album was intended for 2014 but
was never released. She left her label, Sony music, and is releasing singles
and EPs but with no chart success</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2015. Winner: James
Bay</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>George the Poet – a spoken word
artist/poet/rapper who was signed by Island, but left the label ahead of the
release of his debut album. Since this time he has concentrated on poetry instead</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Years & Years – have released two albums.
The first, from 2015, went platinum in the UK, the second, from 2018, only
achieved silver, but the band still garner considerable publicity</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2016. Winner: Jack
Garratt</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up: </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Frances – a female singer/songwriter who released
one album in 2018, on Capitol, which reached 43 in the UK chart. She has
released nothing since 2017, but has had credits since then as a songwriter</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo8; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Izzy Bizu – a female singer/songwriter who
released an album in 2016 on Epic records, which reached number 23 in
UK. Released a single in 2019 but with no chart success</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2017. Winner:
Rag’n’Bone Man</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Anne-Marie - released a studio album in 2018, which
went gold. Her singles have done well too</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Dua Lipa – her 2018 debut album went platinum. A
new album is due for release in April this year</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2018. Winner: Jorja
Smith </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Mabel – released her debut album in 2019, which went
silver. Has had a decent-sized hit single with ‘Don’t Call Me Up’</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo10; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Stefflon Don – a female rapper who has not yet
released an album. She had a top ten single in 2017, but no great success with
her recent releases</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">2019. Winner: Sam
Fender</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">Runners up: </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Lewis Capaldi – his debut album is a double platinum seller </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l10 level1 lfo11; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Mahalia - released an album in 2016 that didn’t
do much. Her 2019 album reached number 28 in the UK charts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">What does this
tell us?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First, that in almost all cases the
winners have had greater commercial success than the runners up. The only
exceptions are that last year’s winner, Sam Fender, who has been outsold by Lewis
Capaldi. It is also arguable that James Blake has had a more stellar career
than Jessie J. Meanwhile, Dua Lipa’s debut album sold less than the debut by Rag’n’Bone
man but it looks as though she will have greater international success than him in the immediate future.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> Second</span>, that the lack of success
amongst runner’s up is alarming. Out of the twenty-four artists who were finalists but missed out on winning the Critic's Choice award only eight have had major British or international success (Foals,
James Blake, Vaccines, Michael Kiwanuka, Years & Years, Anne-Marie, Dua Lipa,
Lewis Capaldi). Two more acts have had moderately successful careers (White
Lies, Marina and the Diamonds), while the fate of two other acts (Mabel and Mahalia) is too close to call. This leaves twelve acts who have either stopped making music, been
dropped by their labels or achieved only modest returns (Duffy, Little Boots,
Delphic, Maverick Sabre, AlunaGeorge, Laura Mvula, Ella Eyre, Chlöe Howl, George
the Poet, Frances, Izzy Bizu, Stefflon Don). The categorization of
some of these artists could be debated, but it is nevertheless the case that more of the runners up have
failed than have succeeded. It could also be argued that failures always outnumber successes in the
record industry, but it should be noted that here we are dealing with acts that have been prioritized by their labels. They have been signposted
towards the critics. They have received considerable backing and yet this has
still not paid off. The Critics’ Choice award is indicative of the fact that the
chances of success have narrowed. Vast swathes of music are made available in
the streaming era, but the concomitant reaction to this tyranny of choice is
that the music and media industries are focussed on a mere handful of artists. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And there is a third thing that is
revealed. Prioritization is even more concentrated if you are a female artist.
It is a notable achievement that nineteen of the thirty-six artists nominated
for this award are female.
However, it is also notable that there are only three male acts among the twelve
nominees whose musical careers have ended in failure. The chances are harder if
you are a woman. There is no year in which a female artist won the award
and a female runner up has also achieved sustained success. It would appear that the UK music business can only wish upon one female star at a time.</span></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-46111741979270966182019-12-24T07:49:00.000+00:002019-12-24T07:52:16.039+00:00Who Ate All the Pies?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re all researchers. At this time of year there is competitive
desire to locate the season’s best mince pies. We read up on the best brands
and we go into the field to test the results. As a family, we have done well. We’ve
been enjoying Iceland’s ‘luxury’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>brand.
They came in at number two in a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/nov/21/supermarket-luxury-mince-pies-ranked">poll of pies</a> conducted by <i>Which?</i> but are only three-quarters the price of the winner from
M&S. And they are delicious.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It has
struck me that supermarket mince pies are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always
</i>better than those that are homemade. This is one of those instances where
the factory system does know best. The formula of balancing pie with filling is
deceptively complex. It takes precision tooling and multiple repetition to get
it right.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">
Quite naturally this revelation has
led me to think, in turn, about Jimi Hendrix. In Charles Shaar’s Murray’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crosstown Traffic</i> there is an explanation
of why the left-handed guitarist preferred right-handed guitars: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
he seldom bothered with special
left-hand models, both because right-handed guitars were more plentiful and
easier to obtain, and because – with a touchingly American faith in
mass-production – he believed that they were likely to be manufactured to a
higher standard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hendrix knew a thing or two about guitars, so who is to say
that he was wrong in this belief? If only he were with us now to help us choose our mince
pies.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSCMu5-wNALU7nJ31oeDSDpyvKp7Mp1MBXcmwhlROJ1yTSTtBsW5FD-4fXZAzxfHxIzXH3xmiOs8DKF6zx6FyPBWDquQ1s2yLB1tMPUSSuAriIGYUV3ul5ZsXjiGIoIrBeplfA0UNXc8/s1600/Iceland+Mince+Pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1038" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlSCMu5-wNALU7nJ31oeDSDpyvKp7Mp1MBXcmwhlROJ1yTSTtBsW5FD-4fXZAzxfHxIzXH3xmiOs8DKF6zx6FyPBWDquQ1s2yLB1tMPUSSuAriIGYUV3ul5ZsXjiGIoIrBeplfA0UNXc8/s320/Iceland+Mince+Pie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrU4rZDVKdu4J9TsNxuGPkPxJipMjEVGGiBIoLTZEbabFvMQ04jX5vRnpaS3SHF50sdmUoI5hYAR6DVbSmOymSI9z250aAJxpEJH9V06ztEhNCr23vbY3TDI6rYzdz4g3qdXIbeCKf7K4/s1600/Jimi+Hendrix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrU4rZDVKdu4J9TsNxuGPkPxJipMjEVGGiBIoLTZEbabFvMQ04jX5vRnpaS3SHF50sdmUoI5hYAR6DVbSmOymSI9z250aAJxpEJH9V06ztEhNCr23vbY3TDI6rYzdz4g3qdXIbeCKf7K4/s320/Jimi+Hendrix.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-31202551688672362672019-11-30T11:45:00.002+00:002019-11-30T11:51:53.548+00:00Rocket Fuel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have a confession to make. I wrote about the Elton John
film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man</i> before having seen
it. <a href="http://richardosbornevinyl.blogspot.com/2019/08/from-bohemian-rhapsody-to-buddy-holly.html">Back in August I was stating</a>, ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">if you want to see a movie that conveys
the musical impact of Elton John, you would be better off watching the bus
scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almost Famous </i>than digesting
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man</i>’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I’ve now
seen <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man</i>. For me it is a game
of two halves. I like the coverage of the pre-fame years, particularly the
scenes of Elton John as a boy in suburban Pinner. When he becomes famous,
though, the film becomes dull. It’s not that stardom or drug addiction are inherently
boring, it’s more that this film doesn’t really capture their highs, lows and weirdnesses.
Interviewed by Graham Norton this week, Elton John had far more engaging things
to say about the megalomania and depravity of rock stars, as well as about the oddities
of fame. In particular, I enjoyed the story about introducing his partner, David
Furnish, to his mother for the first time, only to have Michael Jackson turn up
and come along to the dinner date as well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And what of
the music? I think my hunch was right. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almost
Famous </i>is the more effective film when it comes to illustrating Elton John’s
brilliance. There is one scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket
Man</i> that cuts through musically, however. It depicts the composition of ‘Your
Song’. What I liked about this scene is its relationship with ‘truth’. It could
be considered false in relation to music making, but true in terms of illustrating
what it feels like to write a break-through hit. You capture lightning in a
bottle. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It takes
place at Elton John’s childhood home, where he has returned to live with his mother
and stepfather, bringing his lyricist partner, Bernie Taupin, along with him.
Taupin hands John the lyrics to ‘Your Song’. John goes to the piano and writes
the tune in real time. This brought to my mind Oliver Stone’s film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Doors</i>, in which the band similarly
create their breakthrough hit, ‘Light My Fire’, in a spontaneous jam session.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FTRzhfcfAKw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FTRzhfcfAKw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Looking at the scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Doors </i>again, the guitarist Robbie Krieger has scribbled down the chords and
lyrics to ‘Light My Fire’ beforehand, and there is some tinkering around by the
keyboard player, Ray Manzarek, before he stumbles across the Bach-inspired introduction
to the song. The fully realized version that follows takes place in a different
context: it soundtracks a montage sequence in which we witness the band’s
escalating fame. In contrast, in the film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket
Man</i>, Elton John finds the tune to ‘Your Song’ immediately.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IAePZ3OFJrE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IAePZ3OFJrE?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why then does the naturalistic setting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Doors </i>feel corny, while the
theatrical scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man </i>rings
true? Part of it comes down to this staging: naturalism can sabotage itself if
the detail is not perfect. Melodrama, on the other hand, can capture a truth to
feeling without having to concern itself with historical accuracy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another
reason is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Doors</i> scene<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>surely is false. ‘Light My Fire’ may
well have emerged from the scribbled notes, been worked up in rehearsal,
and had a quickly realised intro because, <a href="https://themuser.blog/2013/05/22/ray-manzarek-on-the-intro-of-light-my-fire/">in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Manzarek’s words</a>, ‘<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It just came out of,
you know, fifteen or twenty years of music practice’. Yet there is still the
feeling that the whole process would have taken longer than this.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Elton John,
on the other hand, really does take the words of Taupin and create
fully-realized songs off the bat. ‘I put my hands on the keyboard and away we
go’, as John stated to Norton this week. As one example, he composed the music
for the double album, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Goodbye Yellow Brick
Road</i>, in three days. Lest we forget, this is an album that includes ‘Candle
in the Wind’, ‘Bennie and the Jets’, ‘Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting’ as
well as the title track. ‘Your Song’ was written just as quickly. John talked with
Norton about its staging in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man</i>.
For him, the film<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>gives ‘a pretty
accurate description of how it was done’. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Even though
it is ‘true’, this remains a remarkable means of creating successful music.
Other composers, in contrast, can toil for months. I’m not sure how widely
known it is that John writes in this way. Yet my guess is, even amongst viewers
who do not know about this process, the ‘Your Song’ sequence would still appear
honest. Could it be that there something in the music that is letting us know?</div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-55252704773033170322019-11-01T05:00:00.001+00:002020-10-08T12:12:51.413+01:00Weavers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-8443376458381208352019-10-31T11:30:00.001+00:002020-10-08T12:14:26.560+01:00Pies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-18239884641569641412019-09-30T12:39:00.001+01:002019-09-30T12:41:02.849+01:00India on Film<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In December 2018 I was interviewed for a television series about Indian documentary film of the pre-independence era. The reason
why a popular music scholar was posing as a film historian was because my first academic job was as a researcher
on the AHRC-funded project <a href="http://www.colonialfilm.org.uk/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire</i></a>, which involved me viewing, cataloguing and analysing film collections held by the BFI and the Imperial War
Museum.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
resultant two-part television series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">India
on Film</i>, was recently broadcast by Channel News Asia, who have made the
programmes available via <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/india-on-film">this link</a>. They do an excellent job of bringing the
early documentaries to life, and I am rightfully outshone by scholars who have
spent their working lives studying India and/or film. </div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-3517265434081298162019-08-01T07:12:00.001+01:002019-08-01T08:40:27.238+01:00From Bohemian Rhapsody to the Buddy Holly Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">I was recently interviewed
for <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/bohemian-rhapsody-buddy-holly-story-12-top-musical-biopics-ranked/">an article about the factual accuracy of musical biopics</a>, written by Tom
Fordy for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Telegraph. </i>Following on
from last year’s Queen film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bohemian
Rhapsody</i>, which was criticised for manufacturing and being loose with the
truth (notably in relation to Freddie Mercury’s diagnosis and disclosure that
he had AIDs), there was a rash of articles that explored the printing of musical
legends. With the recent release of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket
Man </i>about Elton John, similar thought pieces have made a return.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fordy asked me to talk about the ‘truth’
of the Sex Pistols-related film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sid and
Nancy</i> and the Joy Division films <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Control
</i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">24 Hour Party People. </i>One
thing that I wanted to get across, which is in the piece, is that music films
rarely do a good job of dealing accurately with bands. They are oriented
towards star turns by individuals, including the ability of an actor to assume
the persona of a lead singer or musician. What they do not manage to capture is
intra-band politics. Hence, Gary Oldham delivers an astonishing performance in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sid and Nancy</i>, where he embodies the
spirit of Sid Vicious. Andrew Schofield’s limp turn as Johnny Rotten could
hardly be called nuanced, however. Similarly, the various Joy Division films
have worked hard at capturing the tics of lead singer Ian Curtis, but have
spent far less time on the other members of the band (this seems particularly
unjust, as Joy Division are one of the rare bands in which each member’s
contribution is equally vital). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bohemian
Rhapsody </i>offers a partial exception to this rule, with its attention to
detail spreading beyond the lead singer. The fact that Queen members Brian May
and Roger Taylor acted as consultants to the film presumably helped here, as
did the fact that the group had already developed ways of portraying themselves
on screen, notably in the video for ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DaY8-Mui0I">The Miracle</a>’, in which four young children
do a great job of being Queen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Another thing that I talked about
with Fordy, but which did not make it into the article, is that this analysis
of historical accuracy should be extended to documentaries. It is presumed that
they get closer to the reality of singers and musicians than acted portrayals,
but I’m not sure this is always the case. On the one hand, musical biopics such
as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">24 Hour Party People </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">or the</span> Todd
Haynes’ Bob Dylan film <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m Not There </i>have
done a better job of capturing musicians and scenes than most parades of
talking heads could ever do. On the other hand, a documentary can be just as
partial as a biopic. They will be oriented towards one version of the truth or
one member of a band. Take, for example, the three attempts that director Julien
Temple has made to tell the Sex Pistols’ story. He has spoken of the
Rotten-oriented <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Filth and the Fury </i>(2000)
as being a ‘corrective’ to his earlier film, the Malcolm McLaren-instigated<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle </i>(1980).
This did not stop him from having another crack at the Pistols, however,
providing a more London-based setting in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Knowledge </i>(2008). Each film has its moments, but they are also indicative
of the fact that the Sex Pistols’ story is too rich and diverse to be
contained. A further point about documentaries is that their tendency to place
social context around music can be just as falsifying and mythologizing as the
manufacture of narrative events in biopics. About ten years ago I heard a great
talk by Richard Witts, in which he took apart the documentary <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to
Happy Mondays</i>, indicating that its scene-setting footage of Salford, which
was supposed to visualise the milieu in which the members of Joy Division
emerged, was in fact taken from an era prior to their births. It had originally
been employed to illustrate ‘before’ and ‘after’ images of slum clearance, but
the film implied that those slums were still there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;">And
there’s a final thing that I didn’t mention to Fordy at all. When analysing the
‘reality’ of music films, the focus tends to be on truth to history, truth to
personality or truth to sociology. There is less discussion about truth to
music. But which films best manage to capture the spirit of a song? Musical
biopics are not the place to look. With their orientation towards narrative and
character they lose the ability to deliver a good tune. Documentaries can edge
closer to the marvels of music. As I have <a href="https://richardosbornevinyl.blogspot.com/2015/03/anticipation-is-so-much-better.html">written elsewhere</a>, there is something
exciting about hearing music talked about. It sets up a thrill of anticipation
for the moment that the song in question finally arrives. Ultimately, however,
the films that best communicate what music feels like for us – the fans - are
not the ones that concentrate on its makers. It is the reception of music that
comes across most effectively. Therefore, if you want to see a movie that
conveys the musical impact of Elton John, you would be better off watching the
bus scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Almost Famous </i>than
digesting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Rocket Man</i>.</span><br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And which moment
of film best captures the essence of Queen? It’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wayne’s World </i>of course.</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "cambria" , serif;"> </span>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-58432078929393531122019-07-26T08:45:00.002+01:002019-07-26T08:52:03.626+01:00Dance to the Video<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Earlier in the month I attended <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orchestral Joy Division </i>at the Royal Albert Hall, an event that was
organized by the band’s old bass player, Peter Hook, in conjunction with Tim
Crooks, conductor with the Manchester Camerata. There were three guest vocalists,
one of whom, Bastien Marshal, became an Ian Curtis impersonator for the night.
He had Curtis’s look and idiosyncratic dancing moves spot on. Is struck me,
though, that Marshal is young and has grown up in a world in which he been able
to access footage of Joy Division at the same time as he been able to access
their sound recordings. This was not the case for me growing up. I first heard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unknown Pleasures </i>not long after it came
out. I heard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Closer </i>when it was released.
Throughout this time I had not seen the band perform, though. I was too young
to see them live and I had missed their <a href="https://www.joydiv.org/jdtv.htm">three appearances on television</a>. Two of
these took place on the Granada network, so (I think) they were restricted to
the north of England only (I was in the midlands). The third was on BBC2’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Something Else</i>. This was a programme
that I did see occasionally, but I missed this particular episode. In fact, I
can’t remember when I did first see the Joy Division clips. It probably wasn’t
until the end of the 1980s, when the first documentaries on the band began to appear.
Three things follow on from this. The first is that what has become an ‘iconic’
dancing style, simply wasn’t so at the time. Most of the people buying and
listening to Joy Division records didn’t get to see Curtis’s moves. The second
is that the ‘iconic’ sleeves of the records took on even more weight. The
sleeve to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unknown Pleasures</i> in many
ways <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>Joy Division. There were
also key photographic images, but in contrast to Curtis’s manic dancing, these
were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stills</i>. Conversely, the third
thing is that is that if you did manage to see television clips in the pre-<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MTV </i>and YouTube age, they did tend to
stay with you. You had to register them whole. Johnny Marr suggests in his
autobiography <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Set the Boy Free </i>that Curtis
cribbed his dance moves from David Bowie, via a one-off television appearance on
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dinah Shore Show </i>in 1975. The
evidence does appear to be telling. The question, though, is how did Curtis get
to see this American programme?</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another thing that struck me about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Orchestral Joy Division</i>, and which also struck me when I saw Peter
Hook and the Light at the Round House in 2017, is what a towering song
‘Ceremony’ is. If anything, it is even more powerful musically (but not
culturally) than ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. It’s an unusual late twentieth
century song, however, as it doesn’t have a definitive recording. The surviving
members of Joy Division issued it as New Order’s debut single. This almost felt
like a cover of Ian Curtis’s intended version. Then, when the studio recording
by Joy Division was released on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heart
and Soul </i>box set in 1997, this didn’t seem like it was the ultimate version
either. Maybe, it is this situation makes the song so redolent live. It can
only be completed by Joy Division fans.
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1198093860812764649.post-53465233270525731022019-07-11T13:31:00.002+01:002019-07-11T13:32:27.457+01:00One Directive? Equitable Remuneration and the Making Available Right<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Monday 1 July I spoke at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Future of Music Law </i>conference at the University of Central
Lancashire in Preston. It was a good event, with a mixture of industry
professionals (Ann Harrison, Judge Jules) and academics. Peter Hook was due to
speak, but sadly had to pull out due to preparations for his Joy Division Orchestrated
gig at the Royal Albert Hall.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My paper
concerned the European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single
Market and the fact that, despite promising to investigate the making available
right, it failed to discuss what the European Commission had referred to as a ‘contentious
grey area’ of copyright law. I contrasted this with the Commission’s measures for
safe harbours and value gaps, which were not a part of their original
proposals, but became the most prominent part of the Directive. You can access
the paper <a href="https://www.academia.edu/39795776/One_Directive_Equitable_Remuneration_and_the_Making_Available_Right">here</a>.</div>
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Richard Osbornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10350016416456483382noreply@blogger.com0