by Mike Errico | Aug 10, 2015 | Text Journalism
While streaming services battle it out for the heart and mind of Taylor Swift, there’s a place where creators can post all their music, and whatever else they’ve made, quickly, directly and on their own terms. It’s Bandcamp. You’ve probably heard of it. It’s cheaper than iTunes (if you choose to set the prices that way); the downloads import into Spotify playlists; and you can get high-res versions just like Tidal. But most important, if you download something, Bandcamp lets creators know who you are so you can stay in touch, just like…well, none of them. I suppose you can argue that downloading is “antiquated,” or something, but having a connection between buyer and seller is not. Those big streaming services call that connection “Big Data,” and having that connection is what values them in the billions. That’s the very “not antiquated” element to a Bandcamp purchase. You know that’s why none of the other services help us stay in touch, right? Basically, they’re jealous. Yes. They’re insecure that if we know each other we’ll get together without them. And you know? We might! That’s the whole point of “discovery,” isn’t it? To let us discover a) what we like and b) who likes us back? Can you imagine if Tinder had been set up so you could swipe right on someone, but they’d never find out…ever? That’s what it’s like to be an artist on a streaming service. Could streaming services change that? Well, considering Taylor Swift sneezed and Apple changed its entire pricing structure, I’d say yes. Until then, consider this: Whichever streaming service doesn’t facilitate the...
by Mike Errico | Jul 15, 2015 | audio, Books, Press, Video
Book writers, readers, adorers, check it out, consider a contribution: Design Observer has launched a Kickstarter to fund an exhibition and catalog of the winners of this year’s 50 Books I 50 Covers design competition. [I’m honored to have contributed music to the campaign.] “Established in 1923 by the American Institute of Graphic Arts as “Fifty Books,” the 50 Books | 50 Covers competition is now the longest continually running design competition in the United States. Since 2011, Design Observer has hosted it. And in 2015, for the first time, we are publishing a book and mounting an exhibition to commemorate the competition winners of 2014, narrowed down from a field of 500 entries from fourteen countries. Dave Eggers, a previous 50 Books | 50 Covers recipient, will introduce this “book of books.” Photographer George Baier, who has photographed countless authors and book jacket projects himself, has thoughtfully taken pictures of every book and cover winner. Mohawk has generously donated the finest paper. And with Blurb, we will be printing our book, locally, here in the United States. We have judged the competition (SEE THE WINNERS HERE), photographed all the books, designed our catalog, printed test pages, and have begun to design the exhibit in New Orleans. More info:...
by Mike Errico | Jul 8, 2015 | audio, Video
My dad, at a recent piano competition in Boston. He’s good. Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall Longy School of Music ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts Saturday June 13, 2015 Semifinalist Award: Best Programming Medtner’s Sonata Reminiscenza, Op. 38, from Forgotten...
by Mike Errico | Jun 24, 2015 | Stories, Text Journalism, The Solo Show
Recently, I wrote a piece on Cuepoint about how :30 second songs might be just around the corner because streaming services pay artists after :30 seconds. Well. About a week passed. There’s a new site called Eternify that claims it gets artists paid by streaming only the :30 needed in order to count as a “stream.” The future, kids. I don’t get it either. So let’s have some fun. The link I’m not-so-strangely interested in: http://eternify.it/#Mike-Errico Technically, all you do is click on a piece of mine and it will stream :30 clips. I’ve never done something so easy in the entire Internet. Here’s the deal: You work with me, I’ll make stuff for you. If you are leaving work/stepping away from your computer for the evening, or if you don’t listen to music while you work, you can click on it, then simply hit mute and go about your day/evening. If that’s too intrusive, you can click on it before you step away from your computer for the day, and just let it run. You can, it appears, even open multiple tabs and let them run simultaneously. (I tried it. Seems like it works.) Would you rather get another artist paid, too? Not a problem — just open a tab and stream that artist, too. It also gives a running total, so you can keep track of your contribution by taking a screen grab. Like so: YOUR EXCELLENT QUESTIONS PROBABLY ARE: “Mike: What will you do with the money, if it arrives?” I’ll make more of the stuff you (hopefully) already like. Same as if you subscribed to a Kickstarter or Patreon campaign, except...
by Mike Errico | Jun 9, 2015 | Text Journalism
A centuries-old bet with Queen Elizabeth shows that you just need to use the right scale. So what’s the value of music? Let’s take one possibility off the table: it’s not “zero,” because, as we know, there’s demand. I mean, the value of air is not zero, plentiful as it still is — it’s legally protected, and if you still insist that it has no inherent value, well, just have it taken from you. See? Value. Are there similar analogies that can be instructive within the streaming music space? Well, yes. Check out “How Sir Walter Raleigh Calculated the Value of Streaming Music,” my latest piece on...
