aeblog

control freak

This is a pretty cool different-than-standard-record-company-establishment approach to fostering musician's careers.

United Musicians

I agree that copyright control does lead to creative control and financial control; and then career control follows to a large degree. There is so much luck involved with any musician's career that any attempt to keep more in one's own hands is a good thing. I suppose I need to concentrate on getting a music career before I can worry too much about keeping control of it, but it would be nice to start in control rather than not.
But then again, this situation isn't as cut and dry as it might seem. There is a degree of control that I would be willing to sacrifice in the name of having more people hear my music. It's a fuzzy boundary for me; a vital balance. I'd give up financial control before creative control without question, but they are all so intertwined, it becomes much more situational than absolute. I am a control freak in many ways about my music, but my desire to be heard tugs in many different directions.

I saw the Wilco movie, 'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart', over the weekend which chronicled the recording and eventual release of 'Yankee, Hotel, Foxtrot', and it was a great example of an artist standing up to a record company in the name of creative integrity. Of course, if you are Wilco, you have a bit less to lose than say, ME, but nonetheless it's nice to see this sort of attitude prevailing in a big way. And it's also nice to see a big stupid record company do big stupid things and pay for it in a big stupid way.

Is this discussion going to help me get a record deal? Somehow I don't think the Reprise A&R guy would have been interested in me regardless. I also somehow doubt that they will be reading this...