Go Forward, Move Ahead
Jan 1, 2008 12:00 PM
PREDICTION: BANDS DITCH LABELS
More acts will follow Radiohead and go it alone, but most won't allow the consumer to set the price. The music might be free, sponsored by a corporation or news outlet, or sold via iTunes or other distribution entities. But what's most important is that more and more acts will be doing it themselves, not only capturing the lion's share of the revenue but free to follow their own muse. After all, who knows more about music, the people who make it or the businessmen who sell it?
— Bob Lefsetz
WAVE 'EM LIKE YOU JUST DON'T CARE: MULTITOUCH CONTROL
Many technophiles have seen the YouTube videos demonstrating the amazing Multi-Touch Interaction Research of Jeff Han and associates (http://cd.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch). Even though the idea had been around for quite a while when they hit the Net in 2006, those videos really opened up the dialog about the future of computer interaction and how we visualize our digital workspace. After different types of multitouch technology appeared in 2007, we think 2008 will be The Year of Multitouch. Significantly more interactive, intuitive and fun than the single-touch interfaces we're used to (think video poker or Wacom tablets), basic multitouch is already in action on Apple's hugely popular iPhone and iPod Touch. JazzMutant's killer DAW controllers Lemur and Dexter offer powerful and creative multitouch musical interaction, and the creative possibilities continue to inspire tech fans dreaming of the not-so-distant future when a cheap, dual multitouch-screen laptop helps them do everything from make art and music to software design.
But while rumors of all sorts of Apple multitouch MacBooks, Newtons and other devices abound, Microsoft has quietly started promoting its coffee-table-size multitouch home base for the “average” person (they will cost $5,000 to $10,000) called Surface (www.microsoft.com/surface), which, among other things, lets you simply set your wireless-enabled digital camera onto its touch-screen tabletop to automatically import and share your photos, with übercool-looking results. Several other groups have begun making their own versions, usually table-size and running custom-made software. With nearly every major designer out there salivating at the chance to incorporate this once-futuristic idea, the flowing computer-wall aesthetics that geeks used to ogle on Star Trek: The Next Generation can't be too far away from reality.
— Asher Fulero
LAND OF THE RISING FUN: JAPANESE DJ GEAR
Just as it is with many of the latest and coolest consumer electronics, Japan hosts many music- and DJ-gear product launches well ahead of their release to the United States and the rest of the world. Several enticing new DJ products have already been announced in Japan and should see the light of day stateside in 2008. Vestax (www.vestax.jp) has the VCM-100, a compact USB MIDI controller aimed at DJ applications that follows up 2007's popular VCI-100. The small-format VCM-100 has the same professional build quality as the VCI-100, with two large channel level knobs in the tradition of club installation rackmounted mixers. Also from Vestax, the PMC-580 Pro is a 4-channel, 24-bit digital performance mixer with six effects per channel. It also has a USB connection, although it is not clear yet exactly what that is for.
Korg (www.korg.co.jp) has already introduced the Kaossilator portable phrase synthesizer in Japan. The handheld, battery-operated synth is the same size as Korg's 2007 Mini-KP Kaoss Pad and uses the same touch-sensitive pad to layer loops of arpeggiated synth sounds on top of each other. It's sure to be a live-performance favorite.
No doubt Japan will continue to get the jump on new product releases all year, but lastly for now comes the Pioneer CDJ-400 (http://pioneer.jp), a professional DJ CD turntable that also plays MP3s from CD or from attached USB storage devices. What's more, virtually all of its controls send MIDI to control software such as Pioneer DJS, Serato Scratch Live and others.
— Markkus Rovito
FUTURE MARKETING: G-UNIT
Rubbing the crystal ball is customary at the New Year, so we asked Dre McKenzie, head of A&R at G-Unit Records, to gaze deeply and channel us the hell out of hip-hop's hard times. With overinflated recording budgets and advances for the urban artist long gone, McKenzie thinks opportunistic rappers should return to the early roots of rock and build careers onstage rather than through video. Get out and gig!
“Early rock artists were urban artists,” says McKenzie. “People like Little Richard and Professor Longhair — who many rightfully argue was the real king of rock 'n' roll, influencing Elvis. Urban artists have to see the power of going to primary, secondary and tertiary markets and winning over fans through live performance.”
Radio play has been a key indicator of potential album sales and fan bases, but not anymore. This past summer's top-spinning singles set records at radio but spawned dismal album sales and mediocre download numbers.
“With more and more radio stations being shut down, the industry needs a real focused study on where people experience their music,” says McKenzie. “Consumers do want ‘experiences,’ not just music. G-Unit tries to provide enough value in the purchase where the consumer feels they have to have it; it's something that reflects a part of them and encompasses a feeling they want to experience over and over.”
With CD prices scattered and download prices duking it out with each other, “the revenue model for music sales has no standard, currently,” says McKenzie. “This is a formative time. So much is changing, and when it will even out, I don't know.”
As the face of urban music changes — embracing styles from reggae and rock to dance and country — demographic studies can't always keep up with its image.
“Kids in the streets of ‘urban’ America are dressing like rock stars with chains hanging from their not-so-baggy jeans,” says McKenzie. “They're wearing brands like Diesel, Rock & Republic and fashion outside of ‘traditional’ hip-hop. In the next few years, I see real music companies with heavy emphasis on new media and strategic branding. I see brands like Macy's or General Mills establishing music departments. I see traditional labels creating music specifically to sell to brands, providing added value for their customers — for example, American Eagle giving free content along with a clothing purchase. I see more and more indie labels partnering with firms and independent financiers to fund projects, rather than pursuing major labels. This is all made possible by digi-distribution and the increasing ease with which artists can create, mix and master quality music.”
— Jason Scott Alexander
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