Advertising of the Future

The year is 2009 and I think it is safe to say that we now live comfortably in the future. Technology is banging and mankind is booming (or is that the other way around?) and the world has undoubtedly changed. It is up to those living today, regardless of status (financial, chronological, or otherwise), to embrace this new age of culture and responsibility. But we are in a state of turmoil and enjoy only the fruits of a failing global economy. Life must be breathed in and any action taken must be progressive; the ideas of a new millennium. The common man is down and the business model for the future no long involves kicking him in the ribs while he is there.
As the economy falls deeper into a cycle of layoffs and decreased revenue (most certainly products of each other), the need for a mutually beneficial solution has become dire. How does Big Business help itself while at the same time helping its biggest supporter, "Joe Sixpack?" (By the way, God Bless the man known for his ability to end each day downing a six pack of cheap beer.) I will not say that I have found the ultimate solution, but I think I might have come to an idea that will set the standard for the innovations of the future.
Let me pose it to you this way: How many times have you sat through a long and tedious phone message just to get to the part where you speak? I don't think that I am wrong in saying that they are often repetitive and lacking in any real information, and perhaps even a waste of time. But suppose that wasn't the case. Suppose that someone as suave as George Clooney was to be the voice of your mailbox. (I can't imagine many women could pass up an opportunity to hear him tell a tale or two.) And suppose the tale that he tells is one about the many Suave bath products or some references to his favorite articles in Vogue Magazine. Suppose he tells you what to buy, why he likes it, and even where to get it. Wouldn't you listen?
Sounds like something that could make retailers and manufacturers a lot of money. Money of which a percentage* is paid to the simple man who does nothing more than own a phone to stay in touch with the people he knows. And what audience is more captive than a concerned or conscientious family member or friend?
Yes, there are many details to work out still. For example, the messages would, of course, change weekly, daily, or perhaps hourly; a new celebrity passing a different product's information every time a call is received, even. But, I will leave the real masterwork to better minds. I bring you only the idea, the beginning. May we all let the discussion continue in the bars and living rooms and public squares of our own beautiful land, and send our ideas into the future (which I remind you, is now).
And so, the cycle is broken and reborn as twins; the common and the elite man, who walk hand in hand to the lowering sunset, not to the end of the day, but to be there for the beginning of a new one.


*(The percentage being based off the number of missed calls with a reasonable cap to prevent abuse.)

Sight Below to play live Chicago

The Sight Below, responsible for last year's amazing Ghostly release, "Glider", grace Chicago with a rare live performance next month.

They will be appearing at Sonotheque as part of a Ghostly night for the Sensual Machine Music night. Also featuring will be DJ sets from Ghostly's Jeff Owens and Telefon Tel Aviv's Josh Eustis, as well as Lusine playing live too...all in all, should be a killer night out...

SMASHING TIME @ the Hideout

According to the weather reports, this insanely cold weather will end by the weekend. So since this Saturday will only be normal-cold instead of freakishly-cold, I recommend stopping by the Hideout for their Saturday night dance party.

These are always a blast. The first time I went, some wonderfully intoxicated girl grabbed me to come "dance" meaning to flail her arms and legs about ala Elaine from Seinfeld. I tried to help her tone it down a bit by teaching her some old school chicago raver dance moves - (I still do it, I know) but no dice. After a few seconds it was back to the whirling dervish of arms and legs...

Anyway, this Saturday features DJ's Mary Nisi and Carrie Weston - and proceeds go to one of our favorite local non-for profits CHIRP (Chicago Indie Radio Project). More on that noise go here www.chicagoindieradio.org

The Blagojevich Burger

Our second favorite restaurant, Kuma's Corner, always has a special that manages to stand out from their already singular menu. 

At dinner Monday night, we were told about the Blagojevich Burger, a 10oz patty topped with a thick slice of bologna, sandwiched between two Wonder Bread and American grilled cheese sandwiches, and finished off with yellow mustard.

And I'll be damned if it doesn't show up in the Tribune the next day. While I abhor the fact that the Trib has now turned into some weird hybrid of the Sun-Times and USA Today—complete with loads of factoids, Top 10 Things, and fancy color graphics signifying nothing—it's fun to see the good people at Kuma's get some pub.

Happy Birthday 7 Inch Single!

Regardless of all the doubt I hear from my middle-aged friends/family, vinyl is still going strong! And the 7 Inch has been revived at an age when these doubters never could...70 years old!

2009 marks the anniversary of the first 45, issued by RCA on March 31, 1949. Since the vinyl's peak 30 years later, the generation that was raised repetitively replaying these singles have come to assume that their demise came soon after the CD.

But no! Many of today's young lads, all over the world, are bringing back the format as both a collector's item and for its unmatchable sound quality. This trend has even produced enough sales to keep a few manufacturers around, and we are thankful for that.

Read more at BBC News.

Paul Newman Retrospective at The Music Box

What better way to spend a weekend morning than with popcorn and Paul Newman in living color big as life on the silver screen?

All showtimes 11:30am

Jan 10+11 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (w/Elizabeth Taylor)

Jan 17+18 The Hustler (New 35mm print! w/Jackie Gleason in the role he was made to play, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott & Jake LaMotta)

Jan 24+25 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (New 35mm print! w/Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Cloris Leachman, & Strother Martin)

Jan 31+Feb 1 Cool Hand Luke (w/George Kennedy, Strother Martin & young Dennis Hopper)

Thar Be Pirates

After you've finished reading the latest frustrated wisdom of Robert Fisk in The Independent, peek at this interesting article by Tim Walker on the king of (quality) internet movie piracy, aXXo. It also touches on music piracy and the general sense that it all feels like it should be free to many people, like this bloke...

I very rarely buy DVDs, but then who does? Most of my friends prefer to subscribe to DVD rental sites like Lovefilm. Ownership of the physical artefact seems increasingly moot.

...who plunders onward with the same rationalizations that thieves of all stripes have found useful for centuries. One of my college roommates [Hi Ed! Call me.] could energetically entertain me with endless excuses to steal anything not bolted to the ground behind an electrified fence.

• He needed it more.
  
• If they really wanted it, they would have protected it.
  
• They shouldn't leave it out where anybody could get it.
  
• They won't even miss it.
  
• They probably didn't even pay for it.
  
• They can afford a new one.
• They have a bunch more.
• Somebody else will pay for theirs.
  
• They have insurance.
• It feels fun to do it.
• I just WANT it!
  

Our limey friend above continued with his own:

I do have qualms about it, but it's a two-way street. The commercial cinema is increasingly homogenic; there are hundreds of films that never get decent distribution, and now I have a platform to see them.

See? He has qualms; he knows somewhere down there—deep or not—that it's wrong. But the ego kicks in and suddenly it's because mainstream movies are all boringly similar, and anyway, good films aren't in theaters long enough or widely enough.

Leaving aside why he's wasting his time and bandwidth downloading and watching films he thinks are without merit, why not just steal movies that he thinks are crappy? And of course the good films aren't in the theater long enough, which means he didn't get his butt out to pay to see it. He couldn't inconvenience himself to wait for the DVD release to buy or even rent, for which the makers of the film, and frequently the actors, in fact receive a payment. And the two way street? The studios, or major labels, make so much stuff he doesn't like that it's OK for him to steal the ones he does. It's a victimless crime!

And no, I'm not just picking on poor Mr. Anonymous English Movie Downloading Guy. He's just the example amidst millions of fellow travelers.

All of this boils down to my main question, that either nobody, not even the sage Gerd Leonhard, can explain fully to me, or which I'm just too dense to absorb.

If only a tiny fraction of consumers of products of enormous demand are willing to pay for them, and the rest can't or won't be compelled or otherwise convinced to do so, then with what content will we be left?

If the band who would be the next U2, Radiohead, Flaming Lips, or god help us, Fallout Boy, can't get into a studio to record an album because there is nobody to fund them, to pay for the studio time and the engineer and maybe some of their gear, then where will the next wave of bands come from once they've somehow managed to outgrow their 1 in 16,980 myspace artist pages?

If nobody pays for movies, who will make films? Lord of the Rings? Batman? Sure those will look good in cable access quality video and effects.

If nobody pays for news, where will we find out what is happening in the world in any sane and somewhat coherent, objective manner? If all of this dries up, what will bloggers have to write about? Most news blogging is based upon the primary reporting of others. Paid others who have families and mortgages or rent payments. When that goes away, what then? Twitter sites with some kind of super filters to tell us all instantly what's going on in the rest of the world? That will be quality analysis in 160 characters or less.

Musically speaking, if the digital sales are up, but up nowhere nearly enough to make up for the erosion in physical sales, then the whole pie is shrinking. And brother, if you think the majors put out stuff you don't want to hear but that somehow manages to sell to the masses, when the pie gets smaller it's not the Top 40 that gets axed. No, we'll always have High School Musical 18, American Idols, Pink, Enya, Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift. What will go are the developing artists and their high commercial failure rate. And the tiny and shrinking cadre of indie fans who are still devoted enough to their artists, scenes, and sometimes even to labels they have come to trust, won't be enough to satisfy the artistic demand and the creative urge on a wide scale.

And if you think that an album made at home on Garageband, or even a pirated version of ProTools, and then listened to on 128kbps MP3s will sound as good as an album recorded at Electrical and engineered by Steve or Greg, mastered by Bob or Jason at Chicago Mastering, and then cut onto vinyl by RTI or United, you are already a lost cause. And you would be wrong. Objectively and grossly wrong.

The above examples are all very cursory, but the costs associated with producing most items of quality and lasting value in any of these areas are enormous. Sure the occasional Shags album or Blair Witch Project arrives, but does anybody outside of the fringe think it would be a good thing for art, music, culture and news if the only source for any of this was to hope for the fitful diamond in the rough to arrive on our doorstep and for it to magically attract our attention amidst all of the surrounding info vomitus?

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Anyone?




Boy do I hope I'm wrong.

What does 2009 have in store?

I really have no idea but at least personally, I'm hoping for a smoother ride than 2008 doled out.

Steve Rosenbaum knows and thankfully he's sharing!

Let's go Cottage Media! Craft fairs for all!

Chopping Off the Long Tail

A researcher just published a study contradicting the panacea of The Long Tail. Seems that

more than 10 million of the 13 million tracks available on the Internet failed to find a single buyer last year...They found that, for the online singles market, 80 per cent of all revenue came from around 52,000 tracks. For albums, the figures were even more stark. Of the 1.23 million available, only 173,000 were ever bought, meaning 85 per cent did not sell a single copy all year.

So we've got that going for us.

Our label reflects this somewhat with the biggest artists by far selling more titles, but the little nuggets in the catalog get their sales, too. What it says to me is that music is like everything else—most people don't give a crap about things that aren't put right in front of them on a gilded platter. The Long Tail only works if people have a healthy curiosity, and it turns out that people are more like Rottweilers than cats.

Long Tail Anderson counters with the latest Soundscan™ stats:

“There are more than 450,000 different physical albums that sold at least one copy over the Internet during 2008 compared to 390,000 in 2007.” and “The top 100 ringtones sold 43.8 million, accounting for 26% of all ringtone sales for the year; down from 30% in 2007"

Hooray Ringtones.

Change That Annoying Sci-Fi Apple Startup Screen

One of the only things I hate about Jaguar is the new Time Machine graphic (aurora.jpg is also found in your YourHardDrive>Library>Desktop Pictures>Nature—please note the ironic folder name while doing it) that is thrust upon you every time you start your computer. It's bad enough that Apple chose this high school graphic arts class project to represent Going Back In Time to retrieve your lost files, but to thrust it upon us each time the computer restarts, and with no obvious method of changing it, is an artistic abomination. 

I can't for the life of me understand how anybody got this by Steve. I have to assume that either this happened while he was in the hospital or in physical therapy, or that it was made by a close member of his family.

So here's how to excise the offending beast:

• First, you must be an Administrator on this computer. You can verify this by going to System Preferences>Accounts and making sure that "Allow user to administer this computer." is checked. If so, continue. If not, go figure that out on your own as it's beyond my scope and time right now. Sorry.
• Find a picture that you want to see every time your computer boots up. 
  
• Make sure that it is a big enough image to fill your screen without getting jaggy. 
  
• Open it in Preview.
  
• Go to File>Save As.
  
• Save your photo as a JPEG called DefaultDesktop.jpg. It must be a jpg and it must be called DefaultDesktop.jpg.
• Navigate to the folder YourHardDrive>System>Library>CoreServices
• Drop that new DefaultDesktop.jpg into the CoreServices folder.
• You will be asked to Authenticate your God-like powers over your System files. Do so by clicking Authenticate. 
• Then confirm that you want to Replace the existing but horrible image file.
• You will then be asked for your Administrator password.

Your new image will now appear at startup and at your log-in screen if you have multiple users on your Mac. Sit back and enjoy.