Cynical advertisment has become an epidemic in the music industry.
One of our largest music venues has recently succumbed to insidious branding by a large company. If one wishes to book tickets for any show here, they are bombarded by this company's logo and image. In addition to this, ticket preference has been allocated to existing customers of the company's main service.
There are many potential problems for music lovers here. This company will only see live music as a commodity. To increase business, it is possible that the new caretakers of this venue will exclusively book extremely popular bands at the expense of emerging artists. In effect, music venue proprietors are becoming the new record companies, with their emphasis on the lowest common denominator over musical variety.
The parallels with record companies can be taken further to theorise a solution to this problem. In the same way that musicians have bypassed record companies and exercised ownership over their art, they should control how live music is presented. After all, these are the people who know precisely what it takes to put on a good show and at what price is fair. If a group of musicians were to take ownership of this venue, they could charge appropriate prices, encourage new artists and increase the frequency and popularity of shows.
With this system in place, artists and fans will have a greater connection through live shows. The only one who loses are these manipulative advertisers.
-The English Student
Showing posts with label music industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music industry. Show all posts
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Audio Surf
Music is a pure medium and this simplicity should not be interfered with. Audio Surf, however, engages with music to create a unique experience.
When I have some spare time on my hands, it often occurs to me to play a shallow freeware game for some quick entertainment. Unfortunately, these games rarely satisfy me, as the game mechanic is either too simple or too complicated. In addition to this, many of these games force you to listen to their own terrible soundtracks without an option to play your own music. But at last, a game developer has found the perfect balance of these elements.
Audio Surf is an Independent Games Festival award winning program developed by Dylan Fitterer. The player chooses a music track from their hard-drive and following this, Audio Surf analyses the song and creates a racing track that corresponds to the instrumental levels of the song. As the music moves between various tempos and phrases the racing track corresponds with colour and speed changes. Overall, this creates a wonderful physical iteration of a song that the player can directly experience while engaging with an entertaining game mechanic.
This fascinating development comes at a time when both the gaming and music industry are facing particular challenges. The music industry is struggling to make profit as a result of an increasingly prolific piracy scene, while the gaming industry is becoming stagnant as a result of growing developer monopolies. I believe that innovations such as Audio Surf are the best answer to both of these problems. I would certainly consider paying for an album if the ability to use their music in Audio Surf came with the package and likewise, I will readily pay for a game that offers so much revolution.
Audio Surf has the ability to show both industries the way forward. But regardless of whether this lead is taken, the game itself is a magnificent combination of entertainment and innovation and as such, must be played.
-The English Student
When I have some spare time on my hands, it often occurs to me to play a shallow freeware game for some quick entertainment. Unfortunately, these games rarely satisfy me, as the game mechanic is either too simple or too complicated. In addition to this, many of these games force you to listen to their own terrible soundtracks without an option to play your own music. But at last, a game developer has found the perfect balance of these elements.
Audio Surf is an Independent Games Festival award winning program developed by Dylan Fitterer. The player chooses a music track from their hard-drive and following this, Audio Surf analyses the song and creates a racing track that corresponds to the instrumental levels of the song. As the music moves between various tempos and phrases the racing track corresponds with colour and speed changes. Overall, this creates a wonderful physical iteration of a song that the player can directly experience while engaging with an entertaining game mechanic.
This fascinating development comes at a time when both the gaming and music industry are facing particular challenges. The music industry is struggling to make profit as a result of an increasingly prolific piracy scene, while the gaming industry is becoming stagnant as a result of growing developer monopolies. I believe that innovations such as Audio Surf are the best answer to both of these problems. I would certainly consider paying for an album if the ability to use their music in Audio Surf came with the package and likewise, I will readily pay for a game that offers so much revolution.
Audio Surf has the ability to show both industries the way forward. But regardless of whether this lead is taken, the game itself is a magnificent combination of entertainment and innovation and as such, must be played.
-The English Student
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