Thoughts on Reason 6 - Upgrades and Pricing

Just two days ago, Propellerhead Software released a new version of my *favorite* music creation software: Reason. The new version, 6, combines all of the features from two, different programs of theirs. Basically, all I'd like you to know is that this new version kicks serious butt, adds some new features, and is still my program of choice when it comes to generating ideas for new songs in a computer recording "environment" (as they say).  I've been running Reason v.4 since around Christmas time of 2009, and my last upgrade before that was version 2.5 - way back in 2004. The software has certainly come a long way, and, dare I say it, if the company can "fix" some of their lack of keyboard shortcuts, Reason just might replace Logic Pro as my multi-tracking (IE: recording) program of choice.

So, a few thoughts on Propellerhead's Reason 6 pay what you want deal (oh wait. you didn't hear about that?!?!):

1. It saves Propheads money. They won't have to manufacture as many DVD's/Boxes for Reason 6.
2. You do have to own either Reason 4 or 5 in order to do it, so they are expecting users to upgrade - to something - and make it all the way up to Reason version 6, making up for some of the money from consumers "underpaying".
3. It's only for one month. This builds buzz and hopefully generates a ton of sales in the first month, helping the companies balance sheet (a business term basically meaning that they'll have cash on hand to carry on business).
4. Most people aren't going to pay what they want - they'll most likely pay what they can afford. I wish I could afford the "regular" upgrade price, but I just can't right now. Consider: starving artist.

This last factor was really the big motivator for me. A regular Reason upgrade - in a box - is $129. Of that, you've got to figure that $20-30 of it goes in to production and shipping to local music stores. The company then has $100 left with which to develop the product, pay their people, etc. When you think about it, that's not much for a world-class leader in recording software. Apple's Logic Studio is $500. Logic upgrades are usually $300.

A secondary motivator for me was considering how much money the music I have created using Reason has generated for me. I'm a professional performing songwriter, after all, and I looked at this picture considering Propellerhead a partner in the music I create and sell. If I made a lot, I think I'd be willing - and able - to pay a lot. Considering where I'm at right now, I hope to be able to pay Propellerhead back for taking a bit of a hit this time around, and when I'm generating a little more cash from my music, I can make up the difference - between what I paid and what I think the software is really worth - when the next version comes out.

This does beg the question: what about hobbyists or people using Reason for fun? First, there probably aren't many of you out there. And for those of you who are, I think you should consider a different model for determining how much Reason 6 is worth: consider what upgrades have been in the past, consider what upgrades of similar products (IE: other DAW's) cost, and consider how many songs you write using the software. Maybe something like, "For an upgrade, I'd be willing to pay $5 for every song I expect to write/compose using Reason 6", using your past usage as an indicator.

Thoughts on Google Music Beta: Magnifier

I've only spent a few minutes on Music Beta - and only about 10 minutes listening to music from Magnifier. If you're unfamiliar with either or both services, check 'em out here:

Music Beta: http://music.google.com/about
Magnifier: http://magnifier.blogspot.com

Basically, my thoughts are simple:

First of all, Music Beta successfully ruined my first listen of Rachael Yamagata's song River by blipping the crap out of it. I have 24 mbps download-streaming internet service, so I'm guessing the real streaming problem of this very delicate tune was on the content delivery side - not on mine. Seriously. Ouch.

But here's what I find to be the real problem:

Google says, "Add new and exclusive tracks to Music Beta for free" and in their promotional literature, they repeatedly say Music Beta is "your music library" and "your personal music library"....  I find that hard to believe - and as far as I can see, I'm right.  Here's why:

Yes, only *you* have access to the songs. Yes *you* can organize them into playlists - just like in iTunes. BUT - and here's the kicker: your songs are stuck in cyberspace and you can't download them on to your computer - even if they are in *your personal music library* that is called Music Beta.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but it looks like even when you make content available offline on your Android device (is it available for iPhone?) you CAN'T play songs OUTSIDE of the Music Beta app - meaning: they aren't YOUR songs - they're stuck in MB. Unless I'm missing something, there definitely is NOT a feature to download songs to your computer or make content available offline on your computer.

So I argue here that the feature to "add free songs to your library with Magnifier" is totally and completely dumb. They in no way become MY songs.

At least Spotify doesn't try to tell users they OWN songs that they merely from within their program.

Now Serving BMI Artists...

I just received an email today from my performing rights organization (PRO), BMI Inc., that they just signed a deal with Spotify that pays BMI artists for music streamed from the Spotify application. Awesome. So feel free to stream away those Jay Mathes tunes in Spotify, knowing that I'm actually getting paid when you do!

Thoughts on the John Mayer Q and A at Berklee

If you're a songwriter and you haven't read this yet, check it out:

http://www.berklee-blogs.com/2011/07/john-mayer-2011-clinic-manage-the-temptation-to-publish-yourself/

It seems as though Mr. Mayer has gotten a hold of himself and regained some serious perspective on life, music, and success. I've always had respect for the man's music and guitar playing, but he hit a serious low last year with his quest for the Joshua Tree of... Just look up his Rolling Stone interview if you have no idea what I'm talking about. Actually, one more thing about his music: using the word "respect" to describe how I feel about his music would be an understatement. I would say he's one of my top 10 favorite artists of all time, actually. I wish that artists more often lived how their music sounded. Is it too much to expect the writers of extraordinary music to live extraordinarily virtuous lives?

Maybe not.

But this time around, I think Mayer has reformed some of his previous errors.

The biggest take-aways from this short interview/article are Mayer's comments on social media. Mayer admits that this crap is addicting, distracting, and creatively worthless.

I've heard one artist, when asked "How did you get to where you are today?" say, "I just turned off the T.V." What he was getting at is that media is a distraction and, ultimately, it is a progress killer.

Does anybody find it ironic that I'm blogging about this topic?

A Song is Not a Cookie

I distinctly remember reading a book for a marketing class in college that referenced the start-up of some, well-known cookie manufacturer of today. That cookie company was started by one dude giving away cookies on public transit buses in whichever city he lived at that time. I could have sworn he did it in the city of Chicago. I've searched, but alas, cannot identify the company. Maybe it was all a dream... I'll try to remember to dig out a couple of books and search for the company the old-fashioned way - by browsing my book collection.

But here's the deal: a song is not a cookie.

When a dude wants to start a cookie company, he just might become successful by giving away his cookies for a month straight, and, assuming his cookies are fantastic, he might gather a long line of customers who seek to eat another one of those fantastic cookies - and pay for it - after that time.

With artists, songwriters, record labels, and anybody else who relies on *recordings* for their income, you can't, ultimately, just give them away for free. Why? Because once someone "tastes" (IE: downloads) your sound recording, the person never has to come back to you to get that same flavor - he already has it in his iTunes library. You've just given away your number one commodity, and users can re-create that listening experience without you now.

I haven't decided exactly what this epiphany means for me, my music, and the music Swiftly Running Records represents, but you bet I'm thinking about it - alot.

If you think you've got a few good ideas to explain what I'm talking about, or if you've got other ideas about how to make sound recordings work for artists, please let me know. Or maybe I'm way off base...

Anti-Social-Media Trends

“@jaymathesmusic: Is it possible? I think it is: the successful, anti-social-media band. Only time will tell. Consider this a prediction.”

So, I know this is probably going to come as a complete surprise to many of you... I have a very strong feeling about this, though, and because I have been accused at times of saying "I knew that was going to happen" well after the fact, I'll say it here, right now.

A day is coming when the cool thing is nowhere found online. It only exists in a secret, old-fashioned, *actual* word-of-mouth world. I predict that one day in the not-so-distant future bands will "emerge" and become popular, not as a result of social networking websites, but as a result of anti-media. Does any band or artist dare to test the waters? I don't think so. Not yet. But the one who figures out how to do this first will be the one who benefits the most (or at least gets the credit for implementing this "cutting edge" "marketing" strategy.

So how far in the future do I see this happening? We're probably a ways off yet. I'd say you won't hear about the first, best-kept-secret, off-media band/artist until 2024.

Music Licensing Opportunities

Over the last few weeks, I've been exploring new ways to generate some cash from the music that I write and record. The good news? There are a lot of ways to generate the money, as I have found. The bad news? It seems like every other artist has discovered the same thing that I have. I've found a bunch of websites that claim to "specialize" in what is called song placement or music licensing - places called "pitching houses" (basically just a new name for a music publisher). The problem is that I'm having trouble navigating this over-crowded sea of music speculators.

For lack of a better comparison - actually, no, I think it's a perfect comparison - the digital music licensing world looks *exactly* like the California gold rush days: everybody is vying for the same territory, the "mining" technology (a content delivery system) is readily available to almost all artists, and the value of the commodity (good, quality music) is fluctuating based on its availability.

So what does this mean for my music and the music that Swiftly Running Records represents? It means that now, more than ever before, I have to rely on personal contacts to exploit song placement opportunities. And the best way to continue to establish those relationships is to be where those decision-makers are - to live where the music supervisors live, eat where they eat, attend the events they attend, invite them over for dinner, take them out for coffee. I know a heck of a lot of them live in L.A., a few in Nashville (I think), and maybe some in NYC(?). But I'm not so sure I'm willing to relocate just so that I can pitch my songs. (Maybe I can get somebody else to do it[?].)

I want to play. I want to perform the music I write. I want to be on stage. I'm just looking for a way to make enough money to keep doing what I love.

Rihanna's "Umbrella" Uses Garageband Loop

Old news, but new to me. I just found this out today.

Rihanna's song, "Umbrella" - yeah, you know it's a hit with many a fella, ella, ella, eh - uses a *free*, Apple-made loop named "Vintage Funk Kit 03", included in Apple's Garageband software. Even Wikipedia says so.

So I guess nobody has to feel bad about using the stock loops that come with these types of software programs any more.

Always Behind, Never Ahead

One problem that I always seem to have is feeling like I am behind, off-schedule, running late, or otherwise incapable of completing a task sufficiently by the deadline that has been set. In my case, the official record release concert for Fundamental is less than three weeks away and the official drop date is exactly three weeks away. Promoting the release show is just one aspect of promoting the record, and promoting the record doesn't just end after the release date.

That said, part of my day today will be spent figuring out what promotion is essential to complete prior to the release show and what can wait. And even more than that, what promotion will be more effective if it is staggered over time, as a part of a larger strategy to build a larger fan base?

These are the questions that an independent artist has to ask - in addition to all of the other, more creative ones: does the chorus on this recording need another guitar part? do those lyrics fit the theme of the rest of the song? what chord am I missing in there?

The trick for the next three weeks will be balancing my desire to be creative and my necessity to do all of the business-y things like handing out flyers, hanging posters, writing press releases, contacting the local media, etc.

Mailing List Overhaul

So I just spent the last 30 minutes updating my music mailing list. Wow! That was depressing! Basically, I added back in all possible known email addresses for all individuals on the list to find out which ones bounce back as undeliverable. From the undeliverables, I'll know which addresses to trash from the list. In the past, I've kind of ignored the "failure notices", as Gmail calls them, when emails cannot reach a particular recipient (IE: an email address no longer exists).

It wasn't an astronomical number of failure notices - somewhere around 20 or so - but it's still enough to make you do a double-take. The question becomes: am I actually failing at this?

Fundamental Release Preparations

Releasing a new record takes a lot of work. Actually recording the songs is probably the smallest part about the whole process, and many would say, it's not even the most important. (I disagree, but that's another story.) Over the next three weeks, I have a lot of preparations to make - I have to finalize my media blitz lists (radio, TV, print, and web), solidify a location for the record release show, put together my festival submission list for next summer (all the festival that I'm interested in performing at start taking submissions next week), and double-check to make sure the album is on its way to manufacture.

I'm looking forward to seeing what happens over the next three months - and not because I think that my effort will yield great success - but because of what others do. So much of what I do - performing, recording, and writing music - has nothing at all to do with me. Almost everything is determined by factors which I can not control. And that's a good thing. Because what it means is that I just have to keep focusing on the areas where I do have control.

To the future!

Late Nights Can Kill You

I've been spending so much time at the computer again that my forearms are starting to bother me again. I feel like I already mentioned that in a recent post, some time in the last month. As you can tell by the time of this post, it's because I'm getting in to the groove late at night, after my family has gone to bed. I've found that my most productive "computer work" comes after hours, if you will. It sucks, but it's the only time that I have, really.

But, alas, the time has come to go to bed. Goodnight, computer. I will see you tomorrow evening. Until then, I know that others will caress your pretty back-lit keys, but please don't enjoy it, okay? If you can muster up any sort of passionate desire within your uni-body frame, may it only be for the soft pressing of my very fingertips over all of your buttons.