Give Me Credit
I want to talk to you about an injustice. I know there are probably bigger problems facing our nation: gas prices, the mortgage crisis, the war, and... Andy Dick's arrest (for urinating in public and pulling down a girl's tank top). But there is one thing that has been bugging me big time, and I suspect some of you too.
I pay for music. I use iTunes...a lot. It's just too easy, and I can do it from the iPhone. But you would think that for $0.99 along with the song you could also get information on, not only who the composer of the particular song is, but also on the musicians, producer, and yes, being the geek I am, the engineer. Oh... and I want the lyrics. I love to read them as I hear a song for the first time.
Am I the only one that misses looking in the booklet of a CD to find out who the drummer is? When I was preparing for my up and coming next record, the name Jim Keltner came up as a potential drummer. I jumped at the chance, as he played on some of my favorite records growing up (like those post-Beatles solo albums). I knew his name from studying the inside of album covers.
Maybe I'm old. Maybe, in an era of manufactured pop, no one cares who the programmer or session musicians are. But dang, I knew who played on the Monkee's records (The Wreaking Crew). And I would like to know, for instance, who Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse's producer) hires to play on his records. Who is on the latest Beck record? And, on a personal note, who did Katy Perry write her "I Kissed a Girl" with?
Am I alone in this?
I played guitar on a couple of friends' recent records. No one will probably ever know what a good semi-shredder I am (damn it), since most will either download them for free or iTunes the music.
And let's not forget the "thank you"s! You can name drop famous people who may help you in the future, and please relatives and unmusical friends.
Trying to succeed as a musician or a songwriter -- meaning, being able to pay rent -- is hard enough. Let's at least give credit where credit is due.
Who do I talk to at Apple?
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Jill, you've expressed something that has bothered me for a long time too. There are a lot of music buyers like me who have always enjoyed reading through the liner notes, and reading along with the lyrics, while listening to a new CD (used to be new record, and that had its own sensory pleasures (see Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album for an example of album artwork you just can't get in a jewel case). There was something really pleasurable about checking out the artwork that was chosen to go with the music, the way in which the lyrics were presented, the credits, even the smell of the ink on the page.
You can google a song's lyrics, but not necessarily the musician and production credits, or the artwork. I'm especially aware of this now, as I've spent the past two weeks designing the packaging for my next CD, and I am on the verge of sending the whole schmear to be pressed. I'm trying to find out if there's something I can do to get the artwork and credits to be distributed with my MP3s. Seems to me that's something that would benefit everyone.
Gale
www.galemead.com
Speaking of album covers that can't be translated to a CD case, how about the original Velvet Underground album with Warhol's peel-off banana peel (Colorforms style). It is on the cover of the VU box set, but that's just not the same.
Good luck with your CD + packaging, Gale!
Never downloaded a thing. Still go to shops and browse. I buy 78's, 45's, LP's, Cd's and the occasional tape. Each form has had its quirks and each transition has left much behind. Some artists/ labels were never good about personel. Others were great. It was hardly given a thought till the late sixties. Wasn't thought important. Sometimes concerns about public image blocked such infrmation. People poked fun at the Monkees for not playing instruments on their records which wasn't entirely true and was far from unique to them. Carlos Santana's label would not allow his name on the Jefferson Airplane's "Bark" album because JA were thought too controversial. Corporations have always had the only hand in putting together corporate music. Moguls audition for the next big boy band-Britney Montana Idol. The music is only a small part of the marketing plan that is written out long before the next Lolita is selected. Still, some real talent has risen out of such efforts. As a matter of control and maximising profit, there have always been impresario/huckster opportunists who looked at music as product. Col. Parker was unique only in his degree of success. He had the power to demand cosongwriting credit for Elvis which the real writers happily gave.
It is a little late to lament the state of the "industry". It is as it ever was.
I think iTunes kinda sux, but there's a link to give feedback
You wont hear back from them and I doubt anyone actually reads the messages.
The DRM and the mp3 compression (128kbps) makes a the $.99 download not worth it.
Amazon's mp3 d/l is a better compression rate (256kbps), no DRM, and it's $.10 cheaper .
I rip .wavs (1411kbps) from CDs straight into iTunes for my iPod. The sound is sooo much better and I have all the album art, liner notes, credits, and sometimes the lyrics. If I lose my hard drive I still have the hard copy.
I guess it depends on how much your music is worth to you.
ITMS uses AAC, not MP3. At least get the compression type right. As far as losing your downloads, haven't you heard of backups?
Yes. if you want all the tracks on the album, buy the physical CD. But, if all you want is one song, then use ITMS or Amazon.
I believe you have the option of using AAC or MP3 when you download a song from Apple. You can go into preferences and pre-determine which format you'll get.
As far as losing downloads - backing up will protect them, but DRM won't let you replace/upgrade your iPod and copy all your songs from iTunes over to the new iPod but five different times. Then you're SOL and have to rebuy all the songs you thought you owned.
"At least get the compression type right."
Sorry. I should have said mp4, yeesh!
128kbps is 128kbps, no matter what you call it.
I agree with you and do much the same. I didn't realize that Amazon mp3s didn't have DRM. That's good to know.
Why aren't such things available? Because record companies still believe they're primarily manufacturers selling 20-cent pieces of plastic for $16. The only reason iTunes exists is because Apple was willing to sell the music in a crippled, barebones format. If you want the lyrics and art and add-ons, you have to buy the plastic.
There's nothing wrong with a value-added model and many musicians are adopting it with success, but the only reason you can't offer this through iTunes is because that would cut out the middlemen and they're clever enough to see this.
Funny you mention that. Just this past week I was kind of ticked that when you get the album cover art you don't get the back liner notes or interior notes or whatever they call them on CD's now.
AND what's worse is there doesn't seem to be any way to contact them. Not that they would give a damn but one could try.
I think there should be credits at the end of every advertisement you see on television too.
If "Born to Be Wild" is selling baby wipes and "Lust for Life" is selling Carnival Cruise, I want to know who inspired it all.
You're so right. I didn't become a music trivia and lyric geek by Googling; I somehow just absorbed all the info on the liner notes of every record I ever bought. Using the album covers to roll joints on may have helped a little. How will the future lyric and credit geeks survive in this digital age?
I agree with you in spirit - but in practice - not so much.
I'd rather see cd singles fall in price -- there's no overhead cost, distribution, duplication -and find that equilibrium point where YOU can get paid and millions more around the world can rationalize buying the cow.
As noted above, every bit of inside/ephemera is available via the Web. And these days I DO think that people know who Ronson is, even the 1st AD on a film... B
ut as far as the physical - sure, some things are collectible and there is sometimes a market. I just saw a book based on Anton Corbijm (sp's) Closer - his photographic diary of the film - just today. It was lavishly produced. But do prod Apple - credits can be added without a problem. Just ... as they say.. Google spokesman and Apple and iTunes store. Unless you were being rhetorical. Lovely singer, you are. - CI
The biggest problem with iTunes is DRM (digital rights management). You purchase a song and then you have the right to copy it to five different places.
My computer hard drive died (without backup) which contained iTunes. I downloaded a software program which I believe was called iDump to take all the songs from my iPod and reverse copy onto a new computer's hard drive to get things back to normal between iTunes and iPod.
I was notified that I used one of my five uses of this song (I had four more left). And then I realized that I'd better just buy CDs so that I could copy songs wherever I want to without worrying about DRM.
For most new releases, if you buy the whole album, you get an album booklet. If you just buy one song, that's all you get, unless there's some special. What do you expect for .99 cents?
Um, I also use iTunes quite a bit, almost exclusively for pleasure and many of the songs in fact do come with additional info like composer. It is how I was able to create a fairly complete Shel Siverstein playlist. I never would have known he wrote "The Winner" sung by Bobby Bare and the "Ballad of Lucy Jordan" made famous by Marianne Faithful had those songs not come with the composer field filled.
Many albums, and you have to buy the whole album, also come with the full array of liner notes and album art.
It is rather hit and miss (I suspect Silversten is included because of a mixture of fame and contractual obligations of some sort) and none have the full array of facts and credits you are asking for but I would guess that in the end it is the artist/label/rights holder etc who choose what and what is not included in the "get info" dialogue not Apple, although they certainly constrain the fields available.
You can always do the research for yourself and post info into the comments section. I do that with lyrics all the time. I have never not-found a lyric online when I wanted it. I cannot view them on my iPod, but it is doable, and now with third party apps for iPod Touch and iPhone it is just a matter of time before someone comes out with a lyric reader.
I know how you feel.
I still miss the "full size" art
that came on vinyl album covers.
Whatever the medium,
the only thing that really matters
is the music.
This is why I have yet to make an iTunes purchase for pleasure (I'm a pro musician too and I will buy a song from iTunes when I need it as a quick reference). I still buy CDs... then I import the bought CD into iTunes. I'm geek like that too.
I just want to know if anyone's giving you credit for coming up with the idea for the song first. ;)
Isn't that what the artist's Myspace top 8 is for? You learn a lot more about album collaborators that way than you ever did in the cd booklet.
That's just not the same thing as sitting down, away from the monitor, holding the album cover, listening to a new album, reading the lyrics & liner notes, appreciating the art work and/or photographs of the band members. CD packaging will do if that's all that's available, but certainly not reading from a monitor, or using up the ol' ink cartridge printing out everything to be read offline.
Its definitely a generational thing.
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