Ariel Publicity

An interview with one of the most recognizable characters in digital broadcasting, and dual perspectives on the topic of free music.

After one listen, it’s hard not to be charmed by the carefree nature of Jerry Bumpskey, host of Bumpskey’s World of Independent Music. It could be the Jerry Garcia looks, or the ‘I don’t take myself too seriously attitude’, but what most likely gravitates listeners to the show is the digital-jockey’s overflowing passion for music. “(The purpose of the show is) to keep quality music alive, promote the artists making that music, and put together an entertaining way of presenting it.” Eight years and counting, the show has built an impressive listenership, “I have found the longer I do it the more people come back to see if I’m still there.” He continues, “That has become one of the major promotions of our show. How long will they continue to do this?” With his innovative approach to multi-platform broadcasting and an heir apparent in Bumpskey’s Lennon look-alike son, the show could have some serious longevity.

So where can you find Bumpskey? The more appropriate questions is where can’t you find it, as he jokingly adds, “People are lazy and I am trying to make it so they don’t have to work very hard to get something that they should be listening to.” The show has been available in podcast format on Bumpskey.com long before everyone bought an iPod and began to understand the functionality of a podcast. Just as the case with Internet Radio, the medium in which Bumpskey’s show got its start. Ever the foreword thinker, Bumpskey is already intimately involved with the burgeoning trend of social media, “I have also been trying to create an Independent Music community for some time now and whenever I see a good tool that can help our show move in that direction I try to support it…I love finding new sites like the Musicians’ Playground to try and present what I am doing to a new audience.” Quietly, Jerry is becoming one of the most innovative minds in digital broadcasting.

Don’t stop here, there’s more! Find out Jerry’s views on the future of podcasting, and his thoughts on free music. Also, meet an artist who cares about his music so much, he’s giving his away for free. Check it out at The Next Big Thing Music Columns.

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An interview with a cool blogger, and a look at the debate between new and traditional media

“There’s really a lot to be said about a group effort,” says Vu Nguyen. If the Blogosphere is the professional-amateur journalist collective, then We Heart Music should be considered a unique sub-collective within the collective. More a music loving commune than a writing staff, the 22 bloggers that supply the ever-so-fresh content for We Heart Music do so out of pure love. The team element sets WHM apart from the popular trend of uber-snobby, niche-centric blogs, as Nguyen – the creator of WHM – explains, “We all bring in our own music tastes so we’re not tied down to any particular genre. “ He continues, “I think this is really important because I’ve often seen music blogs that are really only one point of view to a very niche audience.” The writers are constantly interacting with one another, giving a certain charm to the blog. “We all read each others posts and react to them, say if I make a post about a band called The Rocks, then someone might come after me with something about The Stones.” The staff, big enough to field two 11-man football squads, keeps the blog fresh each day for little incentive beyond a few free CD’s. Scrolling through a few of the 500 plus posts on the site, I felt the charm of a free flowing and untainted love of music that seems forgotten in a blogging world invaded by Google AdWords and Amazon Affiliate sales. But Vu wouldn’t have it any other way, “There’s a line you cross when you start doing it for money, and that motive can take precedent over the content. I didn’t want that for We Heart Music.”

“Now, with blogging we are seeing the inherent value and contribution that so many regular people have, not just in music but a variety of other interests,” states Jessica, one of the WHM contributors. Social media tools are emerging as a voice for the masses, creating a shift in the concept of “credibility of information.” Jessica expands on this change, “(blogging) is pure information as it exists in reality and not something that has been cultivated, censured, or changed. It has given people a voice and given listeners a chance to choose which kind of information they want.” As a freelance writer, Vu has personally experienced the drawbacks of traditional media. “I recently wrote a small piece for a newspaper and what I wrote and what they published were different.” He elaborated that the changes were more related to the length of the article rather than content, but the obvious limitations remain…

There’s more to the story including some interesting stuff from Mark Cuban’s blog, read the full article at the Next Big Thing Blog.

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A look at the decline in print publications and an interview with Robert Lewis of Music-Reviewer.com. “The fact is, I don’t want this junk in my house. And that’s what today’s newspapers have become: Junk. Clutter. Who needs it?” says John Dvorak in his recent article Newspapers Baffled by Declines.

According to data collected by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, newspaper circulation is seeing it’s largest decline since the early nineties. The 2.1% drop in weekday editions and 3.1% drop in Sunday editions must come as no surprise, as the 1.9% circulation drop in 2005 foreshadowed what was to come. Some believe traditional print is less a victim and more a self-saboteur. John Dvorak of PC Magazine writes, “The newspapers themselves create the problem by not understanding what they’ve done to themselves.” He continues, “the saturation effect of advertising has made it intolerable—not the newspapers piling up, but being inundated by advertising within those papers and confronted with far too much shotgun advertising from all sources.” Dvorak admits the emergence of the web has had a significant impact, but he also paints the picture of a flawed system; the newspapers can’t survive without the advertising dollars but their lack of flexibility in targeting those ads leaves them vulnerable.

Electronic publications aren’t without their struggles, as I learned in a conversation with Robert Lewis. He took over Music-Reviewer in 2000 with the mission to provide much needed coverage for unsigned and under-promoted bands, with a balance between mainstream favorites and unknown gems. No matter how much of a trendy undercurrent blogging and Internet zines are becoming, their proliferation creates a much greater struggle for the same credibility as their established print counterparts. Lewis, who took over at a point went blogging and music-zines were a rare breed, explains the initial difficulties, “It was hard at the time to get our foot in the door at most publicity houses. Record labels and publicists hadn’t fully embraced the Internet yet, and they just didn’t know what to do with an e-zine… So even trying to gain their respect and trust through the ‘old fashioned’ means was a challenge and a half!” With great content comes readers, and in turn, credibility. By 2003, just before Robert stepped down and put the site on hiatus, Music-Reviewer averaged over 200,000 viewers a month. “Fast forward to November, 2006. I just couldn’t deny the call of the magazine any longer… now, just a few short months later we have nearly reached the levels of readership we had after seven years of publication the first time around.”

One of the major drawbacks of the option of taking the magazine to print is the sheer ecological irresponsibility of doing so, “While I am certainly not a tree-hugger…needless wasting of resources is just that, needless.” Shorter reviews and more lead-time are other elements that make print less viable these days, but the true power of a web-zine, which hasn’t even been fully realized by some online publishers, is the possibility of interactivity. Music-Reviewer recently positioned the site as an interactive music utopia, as he explains, “It’s almost like going from 2D to 3D movies. As a reader, you not only see what other people think about your favorite artists, you can get in there and get your hands dirty too.” He continues, “If you like a review you can throw an ‘attaboy’ at the writer. If you hate it or disagree, you can try your hand at reviewing yourself!” At the end of the day, it comes down to reach, and Lewis has fully rationalized the discrepancies between print and digital, “With the Internet, the world is my oyster. In print, I might someday aspire to be the music review king of Albany, NY. You connect the dots…”

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Today we’re chatting with Dave Lamoureux, the Executive Producer of Canada’s Dirt TV.
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Trevor: What’s the purpose behind DirtTV?

Dave: The goal of Dave’s Indie Rock Talk is to give Independent Musicians the exposure they deserve!! DIRT airs across Canada on StarChoice Satellite (ch.323) and Express-Vu (ch.258) Satellite Networks on Sundays @ Midnight Pacific Time. Check it out at www.dirt-tv.com . There may be other sites and shows that promote independent videos, but none that air across Canada!!

T: What got you started in doing a Video based show/site?

D: When I moved to Dawson Creek- in the Great White North of Canada – to work on TV, I found I had a lot of free time on my hands. I also had access to a television station, so I decided to use it to my advantage! Being a musician and producing a couple of videos that the OTHER STATIONS wouldn’t play, I wanted to provide a way for other Independent artists to get exposure across Canada on television and the internet.

T: Why is the Internet and important medium for the music video?

D: Because DIRT accepts content from all across the globe, the only way for artists around the world to see the show is for it to be on the Net. Music videos are meant to be heard, and the playlists of the OTHER stations don’t always make it easy for the Independent Musicians out there to get exposure.

T: How can digital music videos compete against the world of MTV and Vh1, etc.?

D: Music on the Internet is the norm today, and DIRT is a place for ALL genres of music to be heard and seen. You won’t find many of the videos on the DIRT show and website anywhere else! Just because it’s Dave’s Indie ROCK Talk doesn’t mean we only play rock exclusively. DIRT is like a box of chocolates… you never know what you’re going to get (other than awesome videos from all types of genres, from rock, to metal, to rap, to folk, emo!) Have you seen MTV lately??? MTV Canada is mostly interviews and reality shows. What happened to the music?? The fact is the Internet is slowly overcoming television. Where else can you see what you want, whenever you want, wherever you are as long as you have access to the Net.

T: What are some creative ways you’ve seen independent artist create low budget videos to compete with major label bands.?

D: I have seen many low-budget videos that compete or even eclipse major label band videos!! The difference a lot of the time is being a producer, I know how difficult it is to produce a quailty video, and the production value of these videos is sometimes staggering. I have animated videos that must have taken weeks of man-hours to put together. Access to consumer class off-line video editing equipment and camcorders has also made it a lot easier for the general public to have access to the means to produce videos. For me, the best videos have a story line, and sometimes this alone makes low budget better. The more creative the video, the better! Rock On!!

http://dirt-tv.com/

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Tom Schulte – the mind behind Outsight Radio Hours – gives us all a little insight on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

A few days back, we received a rather upset email informing us some of the ID3 tags we used for our CyberPR artists weren’t compliant with the DMCA regulations set forth for Internet broadcasters. We realized we weren’t up on the DMCA, nor were our musicians. Luckily, Outsight host Tom Shulte is extremely knowledgeable on the subject and was gracious enough to share his wisdom with us.

Trevor: First, Describe how Outsight got its start and what’s the purpose behind it?

Tom: I started off as a music journalist in 1988 and “Outsight” was the name of my column that appeared in various underground music publications, like Carbon-14, Glass Eye, Caustic Truths, and others. During that time I was a bit of a political activist. So, I ended up in an organized act of civil disobedience supported by local Libertarians, National Socialist Party and more. This was a pirate radio station called Radio Free Detroit, which at 10 watts was the largest of its kind at that time. We actually wanted the FCC to shut us down in order to draw attention to the microwatt revolution, but for a long time they wouldn’t. The result of this unexpectedly long time behind the mic was that I became addicted to broadcasting. Seeking to legitimize my experience I ended up with a Thursday morning drive-time show called “Outsight” on local AM radio. From there I went to Public Radio and, when it became technically possible, Internet radio with now defunct CollegMusic.com in late 1998. That’s how it started, and now my show is heard on WXOU 88.3 FM in Michigan, as well as Live365, LUVeR.com, NewArtistRadio.net, Radio-Freedom.com and other Internet Radio sites and just about everywhere you can get a podcast, including iTunes.

The purpose was to satisfy a need for immediacy and direct transference of sharing new music I am excited about with an audience, compared to the remoteness and delay innate to publishing, even Web publishing.

I had decided to phase out my journalism to focus on graduate school, and this was also a way to continue to work with a subset of my label, publicity, and artist contacts. I had to tell everyone anything they sent would be broadcast and not reviewed. I actually wanted many people to say “no” if only to free up time from handling mail to give to my studies. Actually, the opposite happened and I got more email and communications to handle for programming my shows than I had for writing my column!

TD: As a digital broadcaster, what are your thoughts on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, especially in terms of music content?

TS: I agreed with the spirit of the DMCA as soon as it came out. That is, Internet promotion of new music should not be used to enable or make more convenient unlicensed acquisition and copying of music. To do so, in my opinion, would be mistreating the music I am given for the show. So, from as soon as I read the guidelines I have followed the spirit of this directive. For instance, I bleed the ending of one song over the beginning of the next and don’t play whole album uninterrupted. All this prevents people from being able to easily rip individual songs or whole albums off my streams or my podcasts. So, my podcasts are not individual MP3s, but one two-hour MP3 of the whole show.

TD: Have you ever been forced to take content off your site due to the ‘DMCA Takedown Provision’?

TS: Oh yes, since I want to get broadcast as many places as possible in order to benefit those that supply me with music and share the songs I am excited about, I have to abide by stricter and stricter rules. See, I produce one show every week and then make slight edits, for instance to include underwriting, to make the show appropriate. So, in order for me to work this way, I have to abide by the strictest rules of any of my outlets. So, basically, that means following the DMCA to the letter. So, I have had to stop doing artists tributes (too many tracks in a row) and other things that are allowed on terrestrial radio – even if it is simulcast over the Web!

TD: Many criticize the DMCA for placing too much favor on behalf of the copywriter, as a broadcaster do you agree with this opinion?

TS: Well, the DMCA was the first time that I recall that the Internet broadcasting community lost the fight to have imposed on them radically different and more severely limited laws that those that apply to terrestrial and even satellite radio. So, this set up the “separate and unequal” premise that led to the current crisis of nearly punitive royalty rates for Internet radio. We have to change the minds of legislators so they take it for granted that all broadcasters, regardless of media, should be treated fairly and equitably.

TD: What should a musician know about the DMCA?

TS: Serious, career, professional and semi-professional musicians that take their careers seriously will take it upon themselves to learn the essential features of all laws that affect their art. This includes, but is not limited to, the gist of the DMCA. The DMCA is, for instance, as relative to the modern career musician, as the laws regarding mechanical and performance royalties.

TD: As digital broadcasting continues to take new norms all over the Inetner, what merits and downfalls do you see with this?

TS: Well, the merits are it is a great time to be a music fan! So much music and so much convenience in accessing it! For the working musician or any sort of broadcaster, the competition is just tremendous. You have to compute for ears against iPods, cell phones, satellite radio. Next, we’ll have to compete against MP3-enabled kitchen appliances!

However, I feel there is hope. As the breadth and utility of consumer electronics widens, Internet radio and podcasting will be embraced more and more. Eventually, a critical mass will be reached that will make Internet-based music streaming explode into the mainstream. Some tipping points in this development to look for are when the center of gravity for access to Internet music moves from the computer to the home’s main entertainment center where the TV and stereo are. Also key would be Internet-delivered music accessible in the car as conveniently as FM is. Look what that did for satellite radio!

TD: How do you feel about taking questions from fans via email or chat room to increase fan interactivity? Do you use this on the site?

TS: I think it is great! This really speaks to immediacy I mentioned before. I really appreciate the listener feedback and love requests. On good nights, the audience teaches me more than I have to share with them! I use the same id in MSN, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, etc. and that way I can allow listeners to contact me live during live shows or moderated re-casts.

TD: What’s next for Outsight?

TS: I want to take my listenership to the next level! Outsight only began broadcasting a few months ago. I am still learning how to make my shows most suitable to the podcast listener. Feedback from listeners is really helping. Each show features a phone interview with an artist archived at http://www.new-sounds.net/coolstreams. For instance, this week, we had on Martin Atkins (PiL, Killing Joke, Pigface, etc.) about the independent music scene in China. I find the best thing to do is more Outsight toward letting that interview set the theme and content of the show so that each episode out there in the “podosphere” can stand alone as self-contained and coherent entertainment and information. That is taking effort on my part, as the history of Outsight has been very freeform and eclectic up to this point.

For more from our favorite political activist turned broadcasting junkie, check out Outsight Radio Hours at www.new-sounds.com

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A Conversation with Martin Smit, the multi-platform guru behind Next Big Thing. (originally published on the Next Big Thing Music Blog)

When asked about the purpose of Next Big Thing, Martin Smit approaches it as a mission of broadening our horizons, “I guess my hope is to force the listener to overcome his or her prejudices… to make a country and western fan swoon over a perfectly formed hip-hop song and a metal-head become hopelessly devoted to a beautifully composed techno track.” While these are lofty ambitions, they’re fueled by a very genuine motive, as Smit merely wants listeners to “fall in love with music all over again.” The site started with a webspace – more a quirky web application than a website – and has evolved to thriving web 2.0 entity, complete with a blog, podcast, flickr site, and all the trimmings.

NBT covers all genres of music, perfect for the most adventurous of listeners. But there are obvious hurdles in promoting emerging bands, as Martin describes the power of the mainstream, “Their sole purpose is to get the guy out there in cyberspace to buy their product and only their product.” In mass media culture, being a curious, adventurous listener seems like a counterintuitive thing. “(Mainstream labels) know a lot of customers want what is only a few mouse clicks away and they also know that a lot of customers want, in fact NEED to be told what to buy and what is cool.” This observation paints a bleak landscape for any music broadcaster focusing on the obscure or emerging. This may not necessarily be the full story, however, as Smit became overjoyed when I inquired about, from his experience, how intelligent the average listener actually is when it comes to discovering new music? He replied, “Thankfully Way WAY more intelligent than the majors give them credit for.

Sure there are a thousand slackers who will go buy a single by the Fray just because they are always on the front page of MySpace, But more and more, there are kids and parents and grannies and truck drivers who want to discover for themselves what or who will be the next superstar band or performer.”Even though listeners are willing to deviate from the mainstream conveyer belt, some bands are still going unheard and at their own fault. “A Lot of bands are good at making great music but basically are AWFUL at promoting themselves. They don’t seem to get that creating the tune, the art, is only a tiny part of the process…the hardest part is getting that music heard and that it’s time consuming and difficult work.”

In Smit’s mind, a few bands have distinguished themselves, mainly through persistence. “Bands like Rotten Cheri from New York and Colour Cold in South Africa are good examples of acts that go that extra mile, they send music to website after website, they make music available for play and they don’t stop, they keep promoting and working and playing.” (Check out their URLs in the blog roll opposite), He continues, “What is amazing is I get SO many bands like this.” In 2008, expect NBT to continue its expansion, as Smit wants “to simply provide as many platforms as possible for all that brilliant music.” Check out more from Next Big Thing:

Podcast: The NBT Podcast

Blog: www.nbtmusic.wordpress.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/martinnextbigthing

Homepage: www.nextbigthing.co.za

Visual Page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nbtvisual Thursday Night US Show: http://www.luver.com/nextbigthing.html

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