Just What I Needed.....

To be honest at the reference desk I rarely get questions involving music any more challenging than "I'm looking for a recording of "Where is the Love" but not the original--its was in a movie with 'Presidents' in the title." Actually that was easy, it was on the soundtrack of "Dead Presidents" and when the gentleman came in to get it he proposed to me! (Sorry, he wasn't my type...)

But once in while there is a much more involved question and if allmusic.com doesn't do the trick then I am going straight to the Harvard College Library Online Resources for Music Scholars: http://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/onmusic/ The variety of websites listed here is amazing--and most of them can be accessed for free!

Here is but a selection of them--

The ARChive of Contemporary Music http://www.arcmusic.org/begin.html - the website is work in progress but has a wonderful overview of music in film, articles about the music scene in Paris and Havana, as well as listing its new acquistions.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive http://diamond.boisestate.edu/gas/ Want to learn more about the composers? Does every opera involve duty (sorry, West Wing reference)? This is the place to start. One amazing part of this website is that some of the operas even have karaoke files so you have a do-it-yourself "Pirates of Penzance" in your living room!

Some links lead to websites concentrating on very specific time periods. One of these is Voices from the Dust Bowl: The Charles L. Todd and Robert Sonkin Migrant Worker Collection, 1940-1941 http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/afctshtml/tshome.html It contains an overview of the time period, song lyrics and photos. It would be perfect for any student trying to gain a fuller understanding of life at that time.

Other websites are for archives located outside the United States. Library and Archives Canada website http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/sheetmusic/028008-4000-e.html has pdf files of sheet music as well as audio files for selected titles.

Sites such as The American Music Center http://www.amc.net/ provides support to musicians and even hosts its own online radio station at http://www.counterstreamradio.org/ If someone is looking for American classical music, both old and new-this it the place to hear it!

Some links such as the American Recorder Society's website, http://www.americanrecorder.org/ and the Historic Brass Society's page, http://www.historicbrass.org/ will probably have only limited appeal and may already by known by many patrons it seeks to serve. That being said, my son, a college music major, was thrilled when I showed him the International Clarinet Association's site at http://www.clarinet.org/ The organization allows members to borrow scores and there are numerous events world wide that a person can participate in or attend.

Of broader appeal is the Grammophone website, http://www.gramophone.net/ which offers full text articles in a searchable database. Grammophone is carried at our library and back issues are available through a database, but it is nice to know that I can direct patrons to one dedicated to that publication.

While most websites are well laid out and very user friendly. I was disappointed by the Music, Mind, Machine site http://www.nici.kun.nl/mmm/ The group conducts research regarding music and the mind however it presented a format that was a bit beyond me.

I will post a review of the Evolver.FM site in the discussion section.

Til next week, enjoy this week's video

Setting Yourself Apart

Artists today need to find a way to get themselves noticed. In the past it may have been by constantly touring and giving interviews in order to build a following. Now given the explosion of the Internet and social media an online presence is a must. Bands have their own Facebook pages and websites. However, given that everyone is doing this, artists may find themselves right back where they started unless they find a way to set themselves apart. Perhaps they offer free downloads of some of their songs (more on that in a bit) or they come up a video that becomes a viral sensation such as Ok Go's "Here it Goes Again." No doubt their dance on treadmills got them a lot more attention than any amount of touring- it led to appearances on the MTV awards and the CBS show Las Vegas. I wonder what long term effect this had on their career. Recently, they split with EMI and set up their own record label, and seem content to be indie rockers and not BIG STARS.

Having a song used on a commercial can also be boom--if your fans can find it! One night, many years ago, in a bout of insomnia, I had on HBO. They ran a 3 minute commercial for their programs featuring a song called "Wrapped in My Memory." I quickly found that the singer was Shawn Smith, and clicked on shawnsmith.com...and found that it was a website for a Christian singer! Well, after some more searching, I found the right Shawn Smith and was rewarded with a free download---of "Wrapped in My Memory!" Strange thing was, there was no mention of it being used not only in the HBO ad but also at the end of the Sopranos episode "Long Term Parking" (where Ade meets her end). Very much a missed opportunity!

As librarians we need to be aware that patrons will be coming in to the library and asking for the CD of "those guys on the treadmills" or that Sopranos song. Searching will involve more than the online catalog or typing lyrics into Google. Youtube may become more of a search engine since patrons can see the artist. Facebook and band websites will also be enlisted to find release dates of new music. As artists expand their presence on the Internet, librarians will need to be aware of it and learn how to use it to find materials.

This week's video is a Sopranos tribute set to Shawn Smith's "Wrapped in My Memory" (warning: contains brief nudity)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeldvNxpW44

So You Want to Be a Rock 'N' Roll Star

That's a great idea but as I've learned from the previous weeks readings being a professional singer reminds me of the old joke about another career path..."I'm an English major..you want fries with that?"

There is money to be made..but unfortunately, it probably not by you.

This week's websites had three that I will no doubt be recommending from my seat at the reference desk. Every year the high school students in my area are required to a major project in which they explore their chosen (at that moment at least) career path. They need to research education requirement, projected salaries, and career outlook. We have a wonderful database that assists them but I found the Berklee and Full Sail sites to be very informative in terms of listing the variety of careers in music. Also, the Music Biz site had a wealth of advice for a musician who has decided to forgo college.

I also wanted to give a followup on the Doctor Who premiere that I mentioned in a another post. BBCAmerica has decided it would rather have America's eyeballs on its station as opposed to BitTorrent sites and therefore is premiering the new season the same day as it does in the UK.

So, this week's video is a tribute to the Doctor, music by Maximo Park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_tt5UZKFVg

The Politics of Dancing---The Sociology of Music

This week I am reviewing several websites...... they ranged from the fascinating to the mundane to the strange...

First, I learned that only the widely successful will ever get rich when I checked out a royalty calculator. It was shocking to learn that to break even an artist has to sell 1.2 million records! This, coupled with all the other reading I have done for this class, makes me wonder if most artists have any clue about the other industry in which they are working---or maybe they are just masochists! The royalty calculator can be found at http://www.mosesavalon.com/calculate.shtml

The next website dealt with music and its role in our world.
It is impossible to separate music from the society that listens to it.
Protest songs, punk, and grunge sprang up in reaction to what was going on in the world. Artists such as the Beatles, Madonna, and now Lady Gaga influence fashion and push the edge of what is accepted by the mainstream. Therefore, it is not surprising to see course taught about the sociology of music. The website that accompanies the course taught at DePaul University (http://condor.depaul.edu/~dweinste/rock/) provides a nice overview of rock music's relationship with society, art, entertainment, and politics. It presents numerous links to websites that cover these and other areas. It is a perfect starting point for anyone looking to learn more about rock music and its effect on our culture. The DePaul portal is a great place to start clicking and learning.

Kevin Kelly's piece, Where Will Music Be Coming From brought up the interesting point that technology is allowing music to move away from what the ability to record it made it---a way of stamping out exact copies. Technology is allowing music to be changeable, customizable not only by the performer but by the listener. It was an interesting counter to the argument that technology ruins creativity.

Finally, I played around on the website Music Map, http://www.music-map.com/ This was strange....Steely Dan led me to Roxy Music (yes!) which led me to Bryan Ferry (of course!) which led me to... Midge Ure?!!! Uh, sorry, I got dragged to an Ultravox concert in college, how I wish it had been Roxy Music! Yes, they are both musicians .... just like Uggs and Manahlo Blaniks are both shoes!

So this week, I leave the reader with the opportunity to listen to the classy sounds of Mr. Ferry and Roxy Music....enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpA_5a0miWk

You Don't Hear What I Hear

My father once used to joke that to him all music sounded the same--of course that wasn't true and he enjoyed listening to classical, jazz, and rock (Robert Mapplethorpe's famous photo of Patti Smith hung above his desk for years). But his comment does raise an interesting point--why does music sound different and have produce different reactions in people? For example, the theme from Titanic made many cry, it made me want to run from the room screaming. My mother loved to play the recordings of Broadway shows, and most of that has no effect on me.

Of course some of it may be what we associate a certain song with in terms of when we heard it playing. The sound track of the Sound of Music reminds a close friend of the day her little sister threw up in a theatre when they were watching the movie (How Do Solve a Problem Like Maria ? has that effect on me on matter what) and if you ask myself or three high school friends what they think of when we hear the song Freebird, we would immediately say "Star Wars!" (before our first time seeing the movie, the theatre screened a short tribute documentary about the then recently deceased members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd).

But our reactions to songs are much more complicated than that. A field of study called music cognition seeks to answer this and other questions. Ohio State University has a department devoted to this area. It hopes to discover how humans process music as well as the impact music has on a person. While this may just seem interesting it could down the road have serious applications. If music can indeed heal a person, then it would be regularly incorporated into a patient's therapy (for example, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been singing simple children's songs in order to help her regain speech. Information about her therapy can be found here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/8349351/Gabrielle-Giffords-How-music-therapy-is-helping-her-recovery.html )

Aside from looking forward, another area of research is taking a look back to the origins of music. Using notations on stone tablets as well as period art, ancient songs are being uncovered. Its exciting to think that there are songs unheard for centuries just waiting to be heard again.

Solving the Problem (P.S. Fezzes are Cool)

The recording industry is in turmoil. Sales and revenues are dropping each year. Illegal downloading is seen as the major culprit. That may be true but few tears should be shed for a company like Sony. Yes, they are seeing decreased profits--but they are complicit in it! Sony not only has a music division but also an electronics one. They manufacture, market, and sell the very CD burners that are allowing people to rip music tracks. Where they see loss in one area, there is growth in another. The ones to pity are the artists. They are the ones who are losing out on revenue even if they see an increase in popularity.

So what is the answer? A idea would be to have a fee built into the cost of the equipment used to download songs. Money paid would go into a fund that would be distributed to record companies and their artists. Don't have a CD burner? You don't have to pay. Also, sites that allow you to copy videos and then rip music from them should not longer be free. Their fees should also include a payment to the record labels. Obviously, these are simple suggestions to fix a complex problem. However, something needs to be done or the situation will be unsustainable- no successful musician will continue to work for free!

Will solutions such as these solve the problem entirely? No, of course there will always be those that will find a way to skirt the fees. However, I think that majority of people would just pay the fee and stop their illegal downloading.

Case in point--Dr. Who.

I have been a fan of this British television since my days in college. After a hiatus, a few years ago the show was brought back and the fans have gone crazy for it on both sides of the Atlantic. At first, the American fans would have to wait impatiently for the shows to air in the UK and then several months later on American television. Then came the Internet and mere hours after airing, British fans would upload the episodes onto youtube and other streaming sites as fast as the BBC could take them down. Then, last year, it was decided to air David Tennant's final episodes on BBCAmerica hours after they aired on the BBC. The fans rejoiced! The ratings went through the roof!

That was short lived. When the new season with Matt Smith premiered, BBCAmerica aired them 3 weeks after the BBC. The American fans weren't about to wait to see the new Doctor...the new TARDIS...or the return of the Weeping Angels... back to youtube and the other sites! The ratings fell, especially when the episodes that were considered flops aired.

This December, the Christmas special aired on BBCAmerica just hours after it did in UK. Again, the ratings soared. Who knows what will happen when the next season starts this spring.

So, the lesson is-if you make it easy for people to do the right thing, they won't do the wrong thing.

One Step Beeeeehinddddd......

Libraries, being publicly funded institutions, always seem to be one, if not several steps, behind the latest technology. My library, Naperville Public Library, held onto its VHS collection until 3 years ago. (I should note that we thought we were getting in front of the curve by ordering copies of all films in DVD and Blu-Ray format only to see the economy tank and the demand for Blu-Rays flatten). Also, there is the question of new and competing technologies. Remember the VHS/Beta days? I think that libraries prefer to see which way the technological wind is blowing in order to make the best use of the few dollars they have available.

Such is the case at my library. Now that eReaders such as the Nook have caught on we are adding 50 to 100 titles per month to our virtual collection. However there has been little increase or even expressed interest in increasing our virtual music collection. Most patrons seem to realize that aside from some operas and other classical pieces of music, the selection is meager.

With regards to downloading to an iPod from a public library, my library does have a station that allows the downloading of eAudiobooks to an iPod. Music, however, cannot be downloaded. Even if it could be, currently iTunes only allows you to (easily) access songs on the computer to which they were downloaded. In other words, when my laptop died, I lost all the songs I had on my computer and my Shuffle did not allow me to transfer them to my new laptop. So, given these restrictions (which I doubt that Apple will waive for fear of losing revenue), even if a credit card payment device were attached to a public library's download station as my library has at its self-checkout stations, I doubt there would be a great demand for it.

Unless there is a monetary savings for patrons, I don't think that they will be looking for MP3/iTunes downloads through the library.