RANDOM THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS...
- Bob Gajarsky
> Did you know that Sonicnet started as a dialup BBS service? I'll admit I was an early subscriber; it even offered the only way to quickly converse with Danny Goldberg (former head of Mercury Records).
> One of the huge positives of the Internet lies in the easy accessibility of almost anyone. When things were 'quieter' on the 'net, well-known people would respond to e-mails. However, as the number of people with net access grew in leaps and bounds, and those people became more demanding, the famous would often choose to lurk in obscurity.
> We conducted an interview with Carl Caprioglio, head of west-coast Oglio Records. At the time, they were an 80s-reissue only label, though they have since diversified. Although Carl and I were unable to arrange a time for an interview, we decided to do an online interview; I'd e-mail him questions, he'd reply with in-depth answers, I'd ask follow-ups, and he'd answer them. When he was complete, he remarked that this was the "best interview", because he was able to think about his answers, and provide well-thought out responses. So, if you're looking for bulletin-board fodder, on-line interviews aren't the way to go. But many other people are now utilizing the e-mail interview process.
> Consumable had offers to be purchased several times during its run. However, these were either inadequate, or did not allow us to retain control over editorial content. If this had been a primary source of income, I'm sure Consumable would have been sold to an outside organization. However, it would look much different than it has today.
> A neat trick of some music critics who review a concert is to show up pre-concert, get the free food and drinks that are provided for bigger name (critics), demand a copy of the artist's set list, and then leave halfway through the show. One savvy publicist caught onto this, and provided a prelim set-list. When the writer's column appeared, and included a list of 'encore' songs which were never played....busted!
> When the major labels first found out about the Internet, they weren't quite sure how to approach it. One of the majors hired a twenty-something college graduated, and paid him to write an online publication. This publication would be comprised 80% of all the major's (and their subsidiaries) artists, and 20% of all other reviews. After a few months of this, however, the publication closed its doors. Another major hired an independent publicity firm back in 1996. This firm would go on the newsgroups, making posts about "Hey, isn't (name of band / artist they were paid to plug) great? And the new album is great, too!" Eventually, their bluff was called by some of the astute observers of the group. When I called the publicist at that label, and asked them if they had any comment on that, they said no..."They're just doing what we are paying them for."
THE FUTURE ON THE INTERNET
In a Web-TV like setting, people will be able to turn on an MTV-like station, one of many - each of which have multiple options. Like the song that's on? Click this button to get a biography of the artist, click this to learn about the producer and the video, click here to get a review of the album and - most importantly - click this button to BUY the album, right now, and have it shipped to you...on CD within 72 hours, or digitally via MP3 that you can burn onto a CD Rom, that will expire soon afterwards.
These reviews will, unfortunately, be total fluff. After all, the purpose of the reviews is not to provide an impartial review, but to sell albums. And with that in mind, people will have to read in-between the lines; light-hearted reviews need to be read as "don't buy"
Hopefully, when this is created, there will also be an "author" button. If a writer is a power-pop fan and can't stand rap music, there's no point in trusting his viewpoint on Eminem. This button will let you see the author's current favorite albums, along with his other reviews, to determine if his tastes fit *your* tastes.
