Category: Business

gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative

gapingvoid: “cartoons drawn on the back of business cards”: how to be creative:

“THE SEX & CASH THEORY: ‘The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended.'”

The art/commerce intersection was bouncing about in my brain last night, so this hit home today. Click the link above and read the whole thing.

(Via @sivers.)

Cell phone companies are still stupid

I don’t intend for this to be a consumer gripe blog, but I feel like I have to get my Seinfeld/Andy Rooney moments when I can.

What’s the deal with…?

Did you ever wonder why, cell phone companies don’t try to actually do what their customers want, instead of making their customers do what they want? Why do we put up with this lousy service?

I want to get my stepson a new cell phone. He has some money, and is willing to pay for it. The problem is, that his line isn’t eligible for an upgrade yet. They guy tells me that I can add the new equipment on my line, then he can change it to the other line, and I can go through the whole setup thing again on the phone that I have now, on the line I have now. WTF? Either way they are getting me to commit to two more years of abuse with extortion payment as the only way out. Why can’t they just do it the easy way? Why do I have to jump through hoops for their stupid rules?

I thought capitalism was supposed to create a better scene for consumers. Why do we let it work the other way? It makes me consider dropping off the grid…

Hollywood schmolly-wood

I like the fact that some creative New Orleans residents get work from the films that shoot here. Lots of local folks get some work out of the deal, and that is a good thing, especially now.

I don’t like it when they shoot on the street in front of my gig, without telling us that they will be sporadically closing the street and sidewalks throughout most of the first set. It is hard enough to get people to come out on a foggy Tuesday night to hear non-mainstream music, but the dude with the headset at the corner telling people that they can’t walk down the street makes it damn near impossible. This isn’t hard to fix. If they had just let us know ahead of time, we could have hit our email lists with the fact the the street would be closed for a few minutes at a time, throughout the evening. Knowing that a movie was shooting may have even helped bring people out, if they could have known that it would be possible to get there.

Movie folks can sometimes act like the world revolves around them. These people were fairly cool, but still, there are more people in the world than just the ones that care about their movie.

The doubly maddening thing about all of this is the fact that the presence of the movie shoots in New Orleans is, in itself, a sign of the world’s lack of respect for us as professionals. (I say “us” meaning the city in general.) The only reason that these films are being shot here is that they can pay New Orleanians less than they pay people in LA (or wherever else) to do the same work.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to get what we deserve.

Reed in the Reader

This is a nice article on Mike Reed in the Chicago Reader. I’ve had the pleasure of making music with Mike a time or two, and the series that he and Josh run at the Hungry Brain has served as an inspiration and template for the Open Ears Music Series.

I recently got copies of Mike’s two forthcoming CDs, and will have more to say about that soon.

Chicago Reader | Pitchfork Music Festival coverage: Mike Reed’s best known as the guy who assembles the Pitchfork Festival, but in his spare time he performs miracles for the local jazz scene. By Peter Margasak

Pros and Cons of home mixing

With the leaps in technology, it is now possible to have everything needed to mix and master a CD in your home studio/office. This can be a real benefit to the cash strapped artist, or those of us that are making music that doesn’t have a huge commercial base. We can really take our time, and revisit mixes days or weeks later without incurring additional costs.

The downside is that sometimes you might get interrupted by your kids telling you that the cat threw up on the couch and Jessica accidentally sat in it.

Jazz Beyond Jazz: Musicians dread words

Howard Mandel presents an interesting angle on the artist/critic relationship.

Jazz Beyond Jazz: Musicians dread words: “Publicist Blake Zidell, no stranger to the particularities of musicians, presenters, freelance critics and others on the New York City scene, was apologetic. “Maybe you’ve run into this before with him: John is happy to extend press tickets to you tonight, as long as you don’t write about it.””

Richard Kamins | See! Hear!: Mr. Miscellany

The following very eloquent statement from Richard Kamins caught my attention. I don’t have much to add, it was just so well said, that I wanted to do my share to see that it is read by as many people as possible.

Richard Kamins | See! Hear!: Mr. Miscellany:

“One thing to keep in mind as the New Year arrives, the creative arts have a tough time surviving without support. That does not mean one has to buy every CD or DVD or book that’s released but really the creative arts needs an audience. … Musicians, poets, performers, as well as directors, authors and set designers need feedback (and not just good or bad reviews in the papers or on blogs.) Applause is important, box office earnings help a lot, yet there’s nothing like stepping out on stage and seeing people in the seats.”