According to the article, the RIAA started off decently well, recognizing that the artist and the music were the lifeblood of the music business:

The more obscure, self-released or “indie” the artist or label the better.  And the RIAA agreed.  Music was special and the artists that created it were valued. Thou shalt covet the musician and fan.

Unfortunately, as time and technology progressed, the RIAA lost that vision.  Rather than adapting to changing market forces, like we all have to do, they remain stubbornly entrenched in a business model that is increasingly unmaintainable.  They sue their own customers, spending unimaginable sums of money driving consumers away, instead of investing in market research, and figuring out how to connect with consumers in the new digital era.

And so, the unthinkable happened:

They searched for new people or companies to attack, but they had already blamed them all.  With no targets left, in a last moment of desperation, these few weary disillusioned out-of-touch with reality souls attacked the only thing that was left, the artist.  The very creators of the music, who were needed to fuel the machine they built, became the problem.

The artist was now the enemy.

In their minds, it was these other artists’ fault that the music they wanted to sell was not selling. These other artists just made too much music, and all this music confuses people, makes music fans not like music, makes them throw their hands up in the air and say, “There is just too much choice, I need someone else to tell me what I like. I can’t deal with other people suggesting bands and songs to me that are not working for record labels or radio stations.”

Instead of embracing this new world – a world where more music is being created, distributed, bought, sold, shared and listened to by more people and more musicians than at any point in history – the RIAA, A2IM, SoundExchange complacently sit silent as their board members, and in one last desperate attempt, attack the creators of music.

But it did not work.  2010 was the year of the artist with more artists selling more music now than at any point in history. And now as these few old school guard sit and ramble insanely about how music is killing music, after they have attacked and blamed everything and everyone for the shift in power and loss of control, there is only one more thing left for them to blame…themselves.

As an artist and a musician, I am extremelygrateful for all the new outlets available for creating and promoting music.

Change happens to all of us – including the RIAA.  Seems everyone recognizes it but them.

Again – link to the full article here.  I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

If you want to see the original live recording of the song, you can see it here.

On a side note, I recorded, mixed and mastered the soundtrack.  Let me know in the comments what you think!

Go here to submit your song: https://songcontest.nasa.gov

You have til January 2011.

You can also vote on other songs to be played.

Here is the official notice, from the email that NASA sent me this morning:

If you like music, the space program and are a little nostalgic, NASA has the perfect opportunity for you. For the first time, the public can help choose songs to wake up the astronauts during the last two scheduled space shuttle missions.

Traditionally, the songs played to wake up the astronauts are selected by friends and family of the crews. For the last two scheduled missions, NASA is inviting the public to visit the ” Wakeup Song Contest”  website to select songs from a list of the top 40 previous wakeup calls or to submit original tunes for consideration.

Original songs must have a space theme and be submitted to NASA by 4 p.m. CST on Jan. 10, 2011. The songs will be reviewed by agency officials and the top finalists put to a public vote. The top two songs will be used to wake space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 crew. Endeavour’s mission is the last scheduled space shuttle flight. It is targeted to launch on Feb. 26, 2011.

Good luck, songwriters!

Thanks for looking!

CASTING – MUSICIANS

Auditions are being held from 1.20.10 – 2.5.10

It’s a great opportunity for musicians, share it with your friends! You have to have an Endoora account to apply. If you don’t know what Endoora is, click here to find out!

This picture comes from Terry Bozzio’s website (click here for drum specs, click the image to go to Terry’s site).  This is officially the biggest drumkit I have ever seen!  How does one even play such a beast?  I also stumbled upon the following video today.  This is a timelapse video of what it takes to set up the kit.  I definitely admire the guy for being able to play so many drums, but there is no way I would be able to have the patience to setup that kind of a kit (to say nothing of the skill required to actually play it).