Being that this blog is primarily about music, let’s get the score out of the way first. It’s great. I love the music. I especially love the thematic elements that came from Lord of the Rings. Certain melodies for characters and the ring wind their back into The Hobbit. Brought a smile to my face when the ring came on the screen and the theme came with it. Smart tie in. I can’t complain about the score, it’s brilliant.

I do have a few things to state about the whole HFR debate. First off, I’m known as a musician/composer, but I did attend and graduate from a University with a degree in Film Production. Thus I am aware of the technical ideas behind creating a film.

Having seen The Hobbit in HFR specifically due to the debate I had read of online, I got to see exactly what people were talking about. My initial reaction was sheer amazement. There are some elements to HFR that are awesome. 1. It makes 3D tolerable. I can’t stand most 3D and this is the first 3D movie where I didn’t get a headache. 2. Some scenes/shots are absolutely stunning. In these two respects, HFR works great.

There are several ways in which HFR breaks down and hinders the experience. 1. It can make elements of the costumes, make-up, and props look incredibly fake. 2. High or intense action sequences involving a lot of motion looks terrible. 3. Some scenes/shots look blown out in a bad way. It’s these three things I wish to tackle.

When elements like the costumes, make-up and props look fake, it detracts from movie going experience. With the enormous budget that Peter Jackson likely had at his disposal, I’m surprised they didn’t take huge extra measures to prevent a poor translation of some of the costumes. When it comes to make-up, I’ve heard that make-up artists have to up their game with their craft. When you can see the make-up it doesn’t bode well. From what I understand it requires air-brushing make-up on. In several cases, it appears they did not do this. Props that don’t translate can only be fixed by better craftsmanship. Or rather be built to be real, rather than a mock-up of a prop.

Intense action sequences or scenes with lots of movement tend to look bizarre to me in HFR. My belief on why this happens is due to the frame rate. At the standard 24 frame rate of film, it’s the point at which images stop flickering and start producing fluid movement. It’s at a rate where movement is somewhat magical in nature and also works well for how we perceive real life movement. At 48 frames the magic disappears. Movement is no longer magical and almost takes on a bit of a jerky value.

How can this be fixed? Firstly, I believe there is a problem with number of frames. This is akin to the same issue in music. At what point of sampling is audio or in this case video, better? The answer is not 48 frames. I think the problem lies in the fact that the magic of motion disappears, but it’s not enough frames to actually smooth out the movement in a high definition way. Much like music, I think the answer is to actually increase the frame rate to 96 or maybe even 192 frames a second. At that point I believe motion will regain it’s magical quality and also retain incredible detail. Hopefully this is only a stepping stone and future directors going for HFR will actually make the jump to 96 or 192 frames a second.

My final critique of HFR is lighting. I get the feeling that this movie was missing something about the lighting in several scenes. Most common issue I noticed: blown out or rather over lit with too much light. The end result is an image that reveals it’s flaws and problems. Most often this occurred with actors and their skin tone. Many times parts of their skin essentially disappeared to white and looked incredibly fake.

Lighting issues harken back to the era of black and white where it took enormous amounts of light to get great depth of field and focus. With today’s technology, I believe this is no longer the case. However, things slip and mistakes happen. Problem is, on a super budget pic like The Hobbit, this shouldn’t happen. The only explanation I can think of is having to consider downsampling the image to look ok on standard 2D film.

It’s the same issue we have with music. Record it at as high a sample rate as possible to improve the quality of the resulting low res versions. I would have to postulate the same holds true for visual images as well. Which is what baffles me about why so many parts to The Hobbit were over lit and blown out in it’s native format. It makes zero sense.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I didn’t mind the length, though I do question if there is way too much side story going on – especially when the plan is to expand it to 3 movies. My push is to request that Peter Jackson, and other directors like James Cameron, et al, who are exploring HFR, please skip 48 frames a second and go directly to at least 96 frames a second – bring the magic back to the movement of the human form. Also, pay better attention to your lighting. Please don’t blow out the image as it renders a high budget film to look like a low budget video project. That’s not a desired effect. Finally, improve the quality of the prop builds, costumes and make-up application. Keep that magic quality to the production. You’re getting paid well enough to do so, so don’t short change the movie goer. Otherwise you’ll likely find that we’ll stop going to theaters to see high budget versions of things that look like they belong on TV.

As of this post, the recent news on Pandora is several fold. One item is that Pandora has taken their company public earlier last year. Another item is that Pandora is lobbying congress to ask for a reduction in the currently discounted royalty rate. Yet another news bit is that they are now suing ASCAP over music licensing. It’s these three things that I would like to tackle on this post. Please excuse me that I’m not doing my normal showcasing of a song – this important stuff that affects musical artists all over.

Part 1: Let’s take a look at part one, Pandora going public as a company.

On June 15 of 2011 Pandora took their company public. Up until that point Pandora was started as the Music Genome Project, a group of musicians and musicologists that were interested in categorizing music based on several facets of music itself. A novel concept. This eventually led into Pandora radio where listeners can listen to an artist or song they love, then Pandora starts introducing other music that fits that sound based on their criteria and algorithms. Without thinking of the idea of profit, it’s a very utopian way to discover new music. Something that can bring a lot of value to music itself. So much so, that certain fools are valuing Pandora at over $3 Billion.

From day one of it’s start as the MGP all the way to it’s current Pandora status, it has never – I retype NEVER – been operating at a profit. Most private startups usually operate at a loss. They go after venture capital to help them survive and get their product off the ground. Eventually investors and owners want to make money with their product and something has to be done to make that money. Usually it’s charging an appropriate price for said product and getting the consuming public to buy it. Sometimes it’s done through shifty business practices. Unfortunately Pandora is going the shifty route. This is extremely disheartening considering it was started by musicians.

When Pandora went public, they only released 10% of their stock to be traded. Why? Well, as financial analysts say, it’s to give the stock price a boost, or bounce, to make it look more valuable. However, in the case of Pandora, it opened originally at $16 a share and now is at: $7.80 as of this post writing. Meaning even with a small amount of their stock out there, it’s not making people feel secure for investing. Again, Why? Could it be that even now they are still running at a loss.

In very simple terms profit works like this: Sales – (Product Costs + Expenses + Time) = Profit. If Profit is less than zero then you have a serious problem with your business model. Pandora has this problem. It’s lacking enough Sales to cover Product Costs, Expenses and Time. Based on financial experts at the WSJ, Forbes, et al, I’ve read the same issue crop up. Pandora is not charging enough or doing enough advertising in their service. Additionally Pandora was apparently inflating it’s user numbers and figures.

Which moves me into part 2.

Part 2: Pandora lobbies congress for a huge discount on royalties.

To start, Pandora is already getting a royalty rate discount. That’s right, their business model is already based on a Product Cost that is discounted. Now that’s out of the way…

Pandora is currently spending big money to lobby congress for a new Internet Fairness Act. They’re telling you and congress that they can’t operate under the burden of a discounted royalty rate. So, they want an additional 85% discount on the discounted rate. Wholy Fucking Hell – an additional 85% discount on top of the current discounted rate.

Their reasoning is that traditional radio’s business model allows them to pay only 4% of their income on royalty payouts. Pandora on the other hand says they are paying roughly 50% of their income on royalties. Their reasoning is, in order for them to make their business work, they need to be paying roughly 4% of income on royalties as well. But instead of actually doing it the same way traditional radio does, Pandora wants to put the screws to the content creators by going to Congress and fucking with royalty law and reducing the discounted royalty rate even further.

I’m going to digress for a moment to show you how much a stream is from Pandora. Drum roll please… A whopping $0.007 on average. That is the average that I see. I own my own label. I see the numbers. It’s shockingly low. It can be as low as: $0.0017. That’s tenths of a cent per stream, sometimes less, sometimes more. It averages around $0.007. Mind you, that’s to be split up by the writer(s), publisher(s). Now you’re taking that small amount and dividing it up further. There is a third split that goes to a company called SoundExchange that takes a little for the performer of the song – again, small small amounts.

Back to the problem. The simple formula I showed above is already in failure. Pandora blames the amount they have to pay to the writers, publishers, and performers as the problem. Business experts say it’s the lack of advertising as a whole. Right now Pandora does 13x, that’s thirteen times, less advertising than traditional radio. Wanna know a little secret? If you take 50% and turn 13x into it, guess what happens? It downsizes to approximately 3.8% That’s right, if Pandora were to advertise at the same rate as traditional radio does, their income to royalty payout would be equal to traditional radio’s ratio – on just their “free” streams, and they could go to full non-discounted royalties and still be making a profit without screwing the people creating the product. That’s not even touching the whole subscription service, which has no ads. All they have to do is charge base per stream to cover costs and base it on a flat rate of how many songs can be consumed in a month.

I can tell you’re thinking: No Fucking Way Jody! My response is: Yeah Way.

Naysayers will remark that if Pandora did that much advertising, they wouldn’t use the service. I don’t buy it. People still listen to traditional radio even with all it’s advertising.

I’m betting that even if they went to 6x less than traditional radio, they’d hit a profitable mark in their business AND they’d still be more attractive to listeners. Why aren’t they going this route? You should be questioning this. Lots of artists are.

There is no easy transition to part 3.

Part 3: Pandora sues ASCAP.

The nerve of a Performance Rights Organization (PROs of which there are 4 – ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, SoundExchange) to look out for the interests of who they represent – writers, publishers, and performers. Pandora is currently suing ASCAP due to royalty rates. Turns out that SESAC (which is who I’m represented by), BMI, and SoundExchange (who also represents me for my Performers cut), already have deals in place with Pandora. Those deals are set to expire in the next year or so. ASCAP was in a position to see Pandora go public with inflated numbers and thus asked for an appropriate royalty rate based on those numbers. Pandora balked. They’re upset that a PRO would base a royalty amount off of a company’s inflated business figures.

My thought on the lawsuit is this (remember, I’m not a lawyer). If Pandora has the money to sue, then they have the money to pay a non-discounted royalty rate. It’s highly unlikely they will win the lawsuit and it will likely mire in the courts for a while. Meaning they’ll be racking up fees if they continue to allow ASCAP represented streams. Not to mention court costs and the fact that ASCAP tends to win lawsuits.

I’m aware that the other PROs are very interested in seeing how this plays out. Mostly because when their deals expire, they’re looking to get an increased royalty rate for their writers/publishers/performers.

To end this.

I understand from a consumer’s point of view, you don’t likely give a shit. Who cares if the band/artist I listen to doesn’t make any money. I still love their music. It doesn’t affect me, so I don’t care. Right?

Wrong.

When an artist can’t afford to rent or buy a place to live, it’s a problem.
When an artist can’t sell/stream enough music to eat, it’s a problem.
When an artist can’t get insurance, it’s a problem.
When an artist can’t afford to record new music, it’s a problem.
When an artist can’t…

Get the picture? They eventually stop creating the music you love because it’s not sustainable in the Pandora model of making a living.

Don’t believe the hype of the Internet Fairness Act – it’s a hoax – write your congress person to veto this bill. It’s a bullshit way to rob the very people you claim to love enough to listen to to help make your day a little better though the act of music. Please share this post with your friends if you value the music that we music makers make. We want to be able to eat, sleep, and play just like you do. Please don’t allow Pandora Free Radio become the demise of the industry. In the long run it not only hurts us, it hurts you as well. Let’s also start an Occupy Pandora movement. Their addresses are here: Pandora addresses

p.s. – You may not know my name (it’s Jody Whitesides btw), but you’ve likely heard my work on TV, in film, in video games, or in trailers. I’m also on Pandora.

Speaking of City Lights I’m hopin you’re here on the Single of the Day page right now checking out Malynda Hale. I’m going through a backlog of material that has been sent my way. After sending about 20 requests to the ether bin I found Malynda’s song to be something that caught my ear. Right from the get go it’s the hook of the music grabbing me and pulling me right in. The song is there. It’s thumpin from a writing standpoint. Hooky piano, hooky bass, and a groovin drum loop. Malynda’s voice comes in and starts flowering over the top. I really like the chorus when it pops on. From that aspect it’s ready as can be.

There is one thing I’m sitting here thinking though – There is no dynamic between sections. Sure things come in and out of the mix. However, I’m missing an element of volume change. It’s a common issue with artists wanting to compete against the majors who are getting hot records that still have some dynamic to them. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m watching tons of episodes of a show all about mixing from and by the “big” name mixing engineers. For my own ability to mix for projects I do and for others, I’m really beginning to pay attention to little details.

For most people I think this won’t be an issue – no volume change. However, when the verse is already on 10 and the chorus is to pop in and bring the song further up, there’s no where else to go – especially when there is so much ear candy to latch on to. This doesn’t mean I don’t like the song. I really dig it. But it can be better with dynamics.

Maybe there comes a point where the artist runs out of money and can’t go any further with it. Maybe that’s the issue with these co-writers who are missing deadlines on the project I’m doing going to a major network. The unfortunate thing is, it’s a business and the music while important, often has to take a back seat when money is involved. That doesn’t stop me from paying attention to detail. As we learn and grow, the production and the music should be getting better. When we hit that awesome balance that’s when the City Light are shining on us. I do think Malynda has a great future. Keep an ear out for her!

What I was impressed with was the pre prep of the sports. BMX in particular. BMX is now an Olympic sport. The course for the women had a particular jump that if the wind was blowing a certain way, resulted in too many crashes. Thus they modified it to reduce the crash rate. That’s awesome.

Enough about the Olympics. The real gist of this post is for the video you see above. The band Air Bag One comes from across the pond. While they might not agree, I’d liken the immediate look to that of a British version of the Jonas Brothers. Musically I’m hearing a bit more stylized sound from Air Bag One. There’s a harkening homage to the falsetto of the Bee Gees going on here.

Snappy is the first word that comes to mind in describing the tune. Personally I like the way they’re using the falsetto of their voices. Lots of layers going on sound wise with nice stops and starts throughout the song via the more prominent instruments. There’s some serious production going on in there. Ear candy galore.

Video wise this song had some creative input that also pays homage to an era when music videos collided with avant garde film making. I hate to write it, but some of the visuals and their metaphorical meanings complete escape me. Doesn’t mean they’re not cool to look at as it’s extremely well shot and edited.

Expand the horizon with some tunes from across the pond. Add some Air Bag One to your library and hopefully you’ll be getting whatever you want.

In thinking about the concept of a deadline I have friends who have been wildly successful. They built a business made tons of money then decided they wanted out and sold. Made large chunks of money and now travel, and talk of doing other things, but then never do. While I’ve never approached the subject of if they feel lost without the job or lack of deadlines, I have to imagine there’s a point where getting up and having no goal, and nothing to do can actually be a road to despondency.

I’m aware that mine is only fleeting. I’m pushing myself right now to put these words out into the digital ether-space. I have a theme to write. I have songs to practice and commit to memory. I have a radio interview tonight (UMR) <– listen at 8 p.m. Mountain Time. There are other things coming. However I’m feeling like I’m in limbo and that will eventually push me to take action.

Despite that, I’m rolling with a song that was presented to me a great song for my blog about Yoga. I had a bit of a chuckle about that when I opened the email, mostly due to the fact that I don’t have a blog about yoga. While I’ve got several years worth of posts here on Single of the Day, and I’m sure I’ve mentioned yoga as it pertains to the beachbody P90X and P90X2 workouts I do, SOTD is not about yoga. Though in thinking about it right now, I’m in a two week break from working out before I start another 90 day adventure of getting into better shape. That’s another thing that is likely part of my ponderings this morning.

The track is Unstruck Chord by Steve Gold. It’s based on a poem by Lorin Roche. I found it to be a nice little relaxing tune. There’s a spirited feel to the guitar playing. I get a sense that Steve probably listened to a bunch of Cat Stevens in his formative years. Maybe some Michael Hedges and some of the other great acoustic guitar players and song writers. Steve’s voice has a velvety flow over the top of music. I’d liken it to feeling of a soft tissue of a cover that is gently folded into the mix.

In a way I’m feeling a bit unstruck today. I’d attribute that to the restless without deadlines aspect of my day. Which means it’s now time to go make some. What’s your deadline today? Does Steve’s song help relax your stress as you achieve your goal? It should.

It’s odd that right now we have a political system that has dropped the idea of doing something good for the people. Instead they’re into sound bites and propaganda. Sad. Especially when we have a president that is having issues fixing a broken system. Even worse when the “opposite” major contender lies out of his mouth and ass at the same time – oddly I’m still amazed that very few people cares that he lies and continues to lies with no repercussion.

The rise of poor health is mostly about poor food supply. Yet instead of making the idea of fucking with the food supply illegal, we let it continue. In this respect I’d like to dare America to be more like Europe and stand up against the corporate destruction of our food supply. Stop allowing Monsanto and other purely evil companies to screw up the food supply.

There’s a bright side. Those that create, work, and stand up can make a difference. Will you?

Right now I’ve got a song that’s been sitting in my inbox for a bit.  Of course I’ve been shirking my made up job of this blog to work other aspects of my existent. One, I’m happy to say that one of my goals recently has been to Look Good Naked [hint hint, main reason why I'm rolling with today's song], to that end I’ve been doing P90X2 and I’m saying – it works. I’m an advocate of taking care of my own health. Beyond that I stretch out in my main career.

Roshambeaux, who’s song you’re listening to right now, is about people using their “money makers”. The obvious idea of a mm is a woman’s ass and/or boobs. For a guy it’s generally his rugged looks and/or his package. The thing is, this song is perfect for something like the collegiate/university market. Not heavily polished, but very live feeling. Plus, when you’re out drinking at a party, then main idea you’re pursuing is being attractive naked to those whom you’re interested in.

With the swagger this song has, I can imagine that should Roshambeaux put on a hot and sweaty show, the crowd will be going home lucky. That’s the whole idea right? It’s what makes your money maker drive right? It should. Love yourself enough to be the change for yourself and ultimately for others. Get on their bandwagon. Get on my bandwagon. Buy the music. Sign up for email updates. Go forth and be alive.

I’ve been hearing of this recently beyond being ill too. It happens in sports. I know of a sport where an athlete has recently decided to take on the governing body. Chances are they have overinflated their importance to the sport and will have likely destroyed their career.

This also happens a whole lot in entertainment. Music particularly. I can think of several artists that are petulant and believe they are better than they really are. Some are famous, some not so famous. There’s a fine line between being confident and being arrogant. Confidence is great, arrogance is supremely annoying.

How do you find that line? That’s a very good question. Pay attention to what people say or act around you. That’s the simple answer.

What would be a good transition from all that into writing up a song? There isn’t one. Here’s a song by Deer Park Avenue which for some reason reminds me of what I call my home town, Park City and the finger land of Deer Valley. Why? Because there is a Park Avenue that runs a good portion of town, and of course the Deer part of Deer Valley. To further that, Deer Valley is considered the “money” area of millionaire 2nd homes. With Deer Park Avenue’s song – Millionaire, I make it that way.

There’s a strong collegiate vibe going on in the recording. It’s not super polished, but there’s a good vibe there. From a production standpoint, I really think there’s a power hidden in there that could be unleashed with a bit more mixing polish. That’s a personal preference. I do like the vocals. They’re the standout point in this song.

The build into the chorus really a good way to push into it. I’d love to hear those punches really punching me hard. The elements are there and it will be interesting to see where they go when they get to polish themselves up a bit more from a production standpoint. The great thing is, the song is there. I’d be interested in knowing what they’re like live.

In the meantime, don’t be that person that is going out in public while sick, that kind of self importance blows. Watch your arrogance. Be confident, but don’t be a dick. That’s the trick. To that end, get Deer Park Avenue’s song from your favorite store. Get on their email list. Get on my email list while you’re at it. Enjoy your day!

The idea behind the release is that he’s moved pretty far from the style of music that made him popular many years ago. He felt it was time to head back towards his early career roots of hard rock and heavy metal. There’s a good chance that a lot of his newer fans wouldn’t know he started with metal guitar god Yngwie J Malmsteen. I would go on the line saying that Jeff’s voice is the pre-cursor to a lot of the “operatic” style metal singers that came out in the late 80′s.

Damage Control is not heading back to the soaring vocal stylings of his Yngwie era but the music certainly relating easily back to the early Talisman part of his career. Ton’s of heavy guitars. Mounds of molten riffs from the bass, guitars, and keys. Pounding drums underlie it all. It’s a power packed album from front to back.

Jeff let me know that it’s his way of saying thanks to the fans for sticking with him through the years, but also to say hey, I haven’t forgotten where I came from and I’m back in it the way you want me in it.

For super fans of the 80′s metal and hard rock years, this is the CD you’ve been waiting for. Of course it’s available in all your favorite digital places as well. Additionally, Jeff has a bet with his record label that has already been won. It’s already into it’s 3rd pressing. That’s pretty awesome.

Stay abreast of my musical happenings from Single of the Day via the email list in the upper right. You’ll be happy you did and I’ll be happy to have you in the loop too!

I’m not a competitive athlete any longer. Well, I’m not shooting for the Olympics or National level recognition anyway. But I am likely in better shape than I’ve ever been. Mostly due to the workout regimen I’ve been doing for the past year. It’s intense. It’s otherwise known as P90X. More recently it’s been P90X2. In each video they have a soundtrack. Why? Because music helps pass the time of working out. As well as sport.

Go to a live sporting event and you’ll notice that there is music playing. Sometimes it’s all the time, sometimes it’s some of the time. The X-Games uses high energy aggressive rock going nearly the entire time. A basketball game will have some music in between plays. In both cases it’s meant to get the athletes and the crowd pumped up. When I got into music I never thought I’d end up creating music for sports specifically. Now it’s one of the many aspects to the music I create.

The other night I did a live radio interview and during that interview, that ran roughly two hours, we spoke about sports and music. One thing I also touched on was the idea of owning your niche. Know what you’re accomplishing with the music you’re doing. I have found that many “bands” & artists have no clue where they’re going with anything. All part of the Musician’s Support Network Series I’ve started doing here on Single of the Day.

What constitutes a great song for sport? Good question. While it depends on the sport, I will say that in general, it’s high energy rock. Sometimes it’s just a vibe for the song. A recent song that has drawn attention for being young and at play is a song called We Are Young. While I don’t imagine it was to become a sports anthem when it was written, I do think it was meant as an anthem for people who are young. The song isn’t uptempo. It isn’t fast. What it has is a ton of energy. That translates.

It remains to be seen if Fun will end up being a one hit wonder or not. But the massive push on this single is huge! Very big. It’s everywhere and if you’ve not heard it yet, well, I’d think you’ve been under a rock. What this song does have is a melody. That translates into the power of melody in sports. It’s got spunk.

Go get the song. Enjoy your day. Do me a good deed by signing up on my email list over in the upper right. You’ll be happy you did. I’ll be happy you did and the world will be a happier place over all.

1. The first thing to look at is rehearsal. This part is one I see severely lacking for probably 98% of the bands I’ve seen live. Great songs that are poorly executed live will come across as amateur. Nothing will turn off a potential new fan faster than sounding like you don’t know what you’re doing. Spend time rehearsing the music and what comes in step 2 – the act. Only way to do that is to know how to play your instrument parts so well you don’t need to think about them.

2. The second thing to look at is stage show. Here’s a part where a vast majority of musicians will say it’s selling out. That is, the need to be entertaining on stage. Face it. In today’s fast paced life there are 1,000′s of things for people to do now. This includes staying home to watch TV. Thus to stand like a statue on stage looking at your hands and doing nothing but play without moving is not going to sell your music. Figure out the story to the song (you should know it already). Figure out a move or expression you can do to make it come across in an entertaining way. The more a potential fan can remember you gave them a good time, the easier it is to hook them to your music for life. You want to sell out shows so places will ask you back.

3. Don’t be a Dick. This is one that I’ve run into a number of times. It actually applies to more than the live show, but I’m putting it here now. Many is the time I’ve found myself backstage [one of the perks of being a musician]. From stadium shows to small coffee houses, its only a matter of scale. But if you’re a dick to other musicians, venue owners or to potential fans, it leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths. We’re all human and things will sometimes slip, but when you’re performing or at a venue, you’re working – be confident, be cool, but don’t be a dick.

With these things in mind check out the video from the band Dastardly today. This is a good example of a band using the video medium for telling a bizarre story to the song they are playing. The images help propel it. The look of the people involved also add to the style of the music they create. Being that they’re not focusing on their instruments as they play [well all except for the drummer maybe], they appear to be well rehearsed.

While I haven’t seen them live, I feel like I get a good feel of what they might be like based on the video. That’s a plus for them.

I’ve never met them, so I don’t know what they are like in person. Based on the vibe of the characters they are in the video, I’m also going to postulate that they are not dicks to people. I suppose at some point I’ll have to cross paths with them to find out. If you’re familiar with the band and the peeps that comprise it, feel free to post a comment.