I just received an email from Record Bird, a new release tracking app, announcing that they are shutting down due to financial difficulties.
Over time, we witnessed that it became more and more expensive for us, but also for artists to get fans to download an app. Yet scale was the only way to create a sustainable and economically profitable model.
Source: email newsletter from Record Bird not published online
I play double bass for the Bottom Dwellers, Matt & George and their Pleasant Valley Boys, and a few other acts in the area. Need bass? Email me. Pay me.
[Apple Music affiliate link] Burn the Priest (aka Lamb of God) has released an album of punk and hardcore covers, including Kerosene by Big Black and Honey Bucket by the Melvins. I’m not the biggest Lamb of God fan, but it’s cool to hear modern recordings of these songs. Kerosene sounds interesting as a metal song. I think they did a pretty good job with it.
As most web developers do, I sit in an office chair for a significant portion of my day. As most web developers don’t, I take regular breaks where I walk briskly around town, or cycle across it. Ergonomics are not my primary concern, but comfort certainly is. Is their a chair for me?
Which is to say that digital downloads decrease much more dramatically than physical media, thanks to vinyl record sales.
Will Butler for NME:
That said, the difference between physical and digital sales is a mere 2% between 17% and 15% respectively. Streaming still dominates the music market taking up 65% of the total listenership.
This isn’t to say, also, that physical sales are growing. In fact, physical sale [sic] dropped 4% last year while downloads fell 25%. The report notes that this is “a lower rate of decline than recent years”. This is due to vinyl sales’ growth of 10%, while other formats saw a decline…
The Bottom Dwellers will be releasing our new record on vinyl this year. It is quite expensive. Too bad the RIAA doesn’t track t-shirt sales, which is the way most touring bands make money.
In episode 7 of The Menu Bar podcast, Zac Cichy and Federico Viticci go deep on streaming music services. They talk specifically about how streaming services have not only changed the way we listen to music, but the music itself that artists create. It was an inspired and extremely enlightening discussion—as is par for the course on The Menu Bar (consider supporting their Patreon). I have a counterpoint, though.
Martin unveiled their new line of premium ukulele strings this week at NAMM 2018. They appear to be Aquila Lavas.
How about we break out of the new release holiday slump with a new Daniel Romano record! No? How about two!
As has been my tradition for the past few years, I’ve shared with you my most listened-to music. This year, however; I also wanted to share the music I was most excited about—the music that gets lost in the data when you don’t adjust for Misophonia, or listening to music with friends, or just life and music happening around you in general.
Misophonia is king as I discover the soothing powers of north-western grindcore, and new records by Daniel Romano and Thy Art Is Murder make an impression.
A few months ago, I put gut strings on my main ukulele. I ran into some big intonation problems after a while, though. I had to switch back.