The Broken System: Deconstructing Music Consumption

Posted on 21. Apr, 2010 by refe.

5

Kyle Bylin, of Hypebot (@kbylin) Edited by: Refe Tuma (@refeup) In our previous post we wrote about the barriers of music consumption, gave an overview of how those barriers shaped the experiences of previous generations, and examined in great detail why the removal of such barriers recontextualized the ways in which those who were born digital consumed music. The next step is to deconstruct the traditional [...]

Continue Reading

The Barriers of Music Consumption: Past and Present

Posted on 12. Apr, 2010 by refe.

8

By: Kyle Bylin of Hypebot.com Edited by: Refe Tuma There was a time when songs were songs. When there were the albums that you owned and those that you did not. When there was a distinct difference between the music that you liked and the artists that you didn’t care for at all. There was a [...]

Continue Reading

More Creative Deconstruction

Posted on 07. Apr, 2010 by refe.

1

As you may have noticed, things have been a bit quiet around the site lately. There is no shocking top-secret reason for this – I have simply been moving across the US and haven’t had the time to post. Contributor Rich Huxley has also been holed up in an underground crypt (yes, a crypt) recording his [...]

Continue Reading

Fan Participation and the Democratization of Music

Posted on 28. Feb, 2010 by refe.

17

Digital technology continues to transform the music industry. Most believe that this transformation is causing the industry to evolve into something new that will resemble nothing that has come before it. Others are beginning to suggest that perhaps the music industry is instead reverting back to a state closer to how it all began. What [...]

Continue Reading

State of the Music Business at the Millennium Music Conference

Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by refe.

1

This past weekend I attended the 14th annual Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, PA. Fourteen years is a long time for anything to last in this business. I would imagine that panel topics have changed quite a bit since the conference first appeared on the scene in 1996. This year members of over 300 bands [...]

Continue Reading

The Lower Class Musician

Posted on 16. Feb, 2010 by refe.

21

For some music is a hobby and that is okay. However, if you plan on feeding your children by touring the Chitlin’ circuit, that’s another thing entirely. When I realized that writing songs for Columbia Records and recording demos with The Fugees wasn’t going to sustain me forever, I had to get adjust my expectations. These gigs were few and far in between and often times didn’t pay half as much as you would expect them to.

Continue Reading

Can Music Stand on Its Own in Today’s Entertainment Culture?

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by refe.

47

Did you watch the Grammys? I didn’t. Music’s self-proclaimed “biggest night” celebrated it’s 52nd year this past Sunday with one of the most colorful, over-the-top spectacles in the broadcast’s history. Pink pulled a Cirq Du Sole while dripping wet and suspended from the rafters. Lady Gaga played a duet with a rock and roll icon who more [...]

Continue Reading

Why Innovation Is Not Enough to Build a Brand (Or a Band)

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by refe.

14

Innovation is important. It elevates a product beyond simple retail and causes it to become a catalyst for change in the marketplace and culture. Innovation is also notoriously elusive. Today’s stroke of genius could be tomorrow’s old news. Worse, that first-to-market concept you’ve been hustling to get out the door could be short-circuited by the [...]

Continue Reading

100 Resources for DIY Musicians from Label 2.0

Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by refe.

14

Greg Rollett of Gen-Y Rock Stars and Label 2.0 sent me an email this morning letting me know that he had just published a new report called 100 Resources for DIY Musicians, and that he had been kind enough to include Creative Deconstruction as one of those resources. The report is a follow-up to last [...]