New Music Strategies' Mission To Demystify Music And Technology

Via a post on Freelance Switch, I stumbled upon New Music Strategies, a blog that I think should be recommended reading for everyone in the musical field. Written by Andrew Dubber, NMS discusses the changing the landscape on which the music industry stands, or tries to stand. From Andrew's manifesto:

01. The music industry has not changed. It is changing.
One of the biggest mistakes music businesses make when trying to adapt to the online environment is to acknowledge the changes that have happened online and then set about adapting to accommodate those changes. In fact, those changes are still underway, and it is a process of navigation, not a process of conversion from an old model to a new one. By the time you have adapted you will be obsolete again. Develop a strategy for keeping up.

Among NMS's resources are a list of articles, a music industry newswire, and the free downloadable ebook 20 Things You Must Know About Music Online.

Introducing The Collaborative Piano Store

Since my decision to monetize around 6 weeks ago, it's been difficult decision just what formats would be the ideal ones on a niche site such as this. You may have noticed that the AdSense ads weren't totally optimized for this type of site ("Free piano lessons!!! No practicing!!!") Today I finally decided on the course to take--a store that would sell the type of products that collaborative pianists really need for the subjects they care about.

After many hours of building, I am pleased to announce the launch of The Collaborative Piano Store, a place where you can find a wide variety of books on subjects such as practicing, sight reading, piano pedagogy, anthologies, diction, poetry, opera guides, getting organized, as well as some fine audio equipment. The permanent link can be found near the top of the sidebar, just below the bookmark and feed subscription buttons. Enjoy!

Accompanist/Collaborative Pianist groups on Facebook

For those of you in our noble field that haven't yet joined Facebook, here are some of the groups that you are missing:

• Collaborative Pianists (31 members)
  
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Accompanists (791)
  
• Accompanists Unite! (5)
  
• Collaborative Pianists (AKA Accompanists) Rock! (16)
  
• PETA - People for the Eating of Tasty Accompanists (24)
  
• Salvation Army Accompanists Anonymous (18)
  
• Appreciate Your Accompanist! (158)
  
• Martin Katz Fan Club (4)

All membership numbers are accurate to May 6, 2007 and will probably grow as the Facebook community expands. Right now the largest and most visible group is PETA, with a lot of fascinating thought and dialogue going on.

So this is what it's like in the Borg Collective

After several months of futile resistance, last night I finally gave up and joined Facebook. After previously been warned about the dangers of runaway social networking, I am proud to say I am completely addicted to the site, and have spent already too much time furiously friending my way through the Toronto arts community.

I must say that this type of community is much more polite than ones of yore. In the mid 90's I was a dedicated member of Cafe Utne (now renamed The New Cafe), a first-generation conferencing site where members could discuss various issues on several "conferences". The level of discourse was educated, but extremely rude with flames abounding--Cafe Utne (using a format similar to The Well) was known more for conflict than friending. After two years I gave up, never to return. Many years later, the social networking site has come back with a vengeance.

Anyway, my new addiction calls--time to get back to the Crackbook, find some more friends and write on walls.

Opera's New Media Buzz

Two articles from print and blogosphere in the last few days highlight opera's stretching of new tendrils into new and fascinating territories. Jan Breslauer wrote in the L.A. Times about the L.A. Opera's ventures into musical theatre and increasing radio coverage, the Met's expanding repertory and directorial pool, and San Antonio Opera's foray into zarzuela. In the Wolf Trap Opera blog, Kim Witman writes about the new media workshops at the 2007 Opera America conference in Miami.

Ms. Witman's caveat about the use and misuse of new media should be read by all organizations looking to expand their demographics and offerings:

If our hip cyber-efforts don’t bear any real relationship to the product, we won’t keep a single new recruit past the first performance. Even if we get the attention of a new patron, and s/he buys a ticket, if the experience doesn’t live up to the promise of the über-sexy marketing, we’ve won the battle but lost the war. This by no means makes any of the many kinds of satisfying opera experiences inferior. Just incongruous with some of the hype that's beginning to be generated. Sell opera for what it is, and neither apologize for nor mislead folks about what it isn't.

In other words, don't dumb the product down just because you're using technology to get the attention of a new audience. Young people are smart--they'll respond to opera's sex, violence, powerful stories, and great singing just as audiences have in previous generations. The recording industry's ongoing woes would seem to suggest that music in general is going through a rough patch. With too much attention paid to the media, money, and marketing end and not enough going towards really good music, there are bound to be a lot of alienated young listeners out there. Sell the genuine product and audiences will respond. With any luck, they'll come in droves, which they seem to be doing in many opera markets across North America.

But jumping on the "look at us, we're embracing technology" bandwagon without enough real artistic integrity to back it up can result in just as much loss of market share that popular genres have suffered recently.

Resource Roundup: Join the Club

Feeling like you're the only one on the planet who's got a full day of playing? Want to know what everyone else is charging? Tired of playing only concertos? You're not the only pianist on the planet going through these things. Here are some of the places you can connect with others in either a professional organization or place to rant:

MySpace Collaborative Pianist Group
Created by Hugh Sung, this is a place to chat, discuss issues on a forum, or post an item on a bulletin board.

Classical Lounge Collaborative Pianist Group
Also created by Hugh Sung, you can interact with members and post on a forum here.

Accompanists' Guild of New South Wales
A professional organization in Australia.

Accompanists' Guild of South Australia
Another professional organization in Australia.

Piano World Forums
Like hanging out with other pianists on a forum? Here's the place.

The New Forum for Classical Singers
Like hanging out with other singers on a forum? Here's the place.

AccompaList
If you work as a church pianist, this is the Y!Music group for you.

If you know of any other groups around there, please leave a comment. I'm especially interested in knowing if there are collaborative pianist communities that meet in languages other than English.

Update 5.9.07

Also check out some of the many collaborative pianist groups that can be found on Facebook.

Is this blog a resume?

Are the classical music bloggers just a bunch of eccentric hobbyists or are they the vanguard of what is to come in the field?

Adam Darowski at Traces of Inspiration writes that the blog is in fact the new resume:

Blogging is the perfect way for a candidate to give an employer a more detailed sales pitch—to show they can “talk the talk” (as opposed to just fill a resume with buzzwords). I can’t think of a reason for any serious tech professional to not have a blog. Not only does it serve as an excellent notebook for storing ideas and links, but it can come in handy in a job hunt where what interviewers really want to just know what, professionally (and somewhat personally), engages you on a day to day basis. How often do you look at a resume and wonder what exactly the person’s role on a project was? Well, if the person blogged about it then you would have a better idea—and you would know if the role would fit in with your team.

In the classical music field, this would seem to fly in the face of traditional wisdom, where many people with witty, informative, and irreverent writing styles were aghast at my suggestions that they start a blog because of a perception that they would never get hired if they decided to actually voice their opinions. In Canada at least, the experience of Erin Wall, author of the now defunct Chiago Canadienne, seemed to point that the more work you got, the more scrutiny would be levelled at your blog writing. Is this true? I certainly hope not but the idea persists.

At any rate, I've been writing this since November 2005, have got only a few angry comments, have more work than ever, and am throroughly enjoying myself. If I had never started blogging, I wouldn't be as knowledgeable about a lot of things as I am now, although I would certainly be a much better player of computer games.

For those interested in reading more about this issue, Traces of Inspiration also has a discussion roundup on the issue.

Update 23-04-07:

Doing an old-fashioned resume? You might want to check out these bookmarks on del.icio.us.

MySpace Classical Music News

Say what you will about MySpace but the launch of their new beta project MySpace News will bring a brand new audience to those of us in the classical music blogosphere, especially since there is a dedicated classical music page.

(Thanks, problogger)