Facebook + Spotify. M’eh!

Listening to Swans: White Light From The Mouth of Infinity

Hi. Welcome to the Projektlist. Some of you recently joined in response to a message I sent you on Facebook… Welcome! I’ve been making this list more robust, with insight into my experience in the music business, art, and whatever else comes to mind.

In that personal message, I griped that Facebook has a new policy that is rendering the site useless for artists and labels. According to this article, “Increasingly Facebook is saying that you should assume a day will come when the organic reach (of a post) is zero.” That’s right. They don’t want you to see posts from the pages of all those artists and bands and filmmakers you friended, unless we pay to promote (and the cost is between $40 – $150 — per post!!!) That means soon you will only see ads for GM and Taco Bell. Part of the plan is to have videos that auto-play, so when you go to check your messages, you will be subjected to squawky commercials. Just like the commercials on many youtube videos.

Boo, Facebook!

Facebook is growing more and more useless for me; at least I have a bright future to look forward to, one without Facebook in my life.

A small number of people (ok, three!) were quite angry at me for sending a business message to their Facebook inbox. Honestly, I’ve always used my Facebook profile for business, so it didn’t occur to me that this would be a problem. I did want to share one response, because it is an interesting opposing point of view:

AP wrote: Facebook has slowly become more and more about people advertising at each other and less about human interaction between friends. I can’t wait for FB to start charging businesses to make the sorts of “advert-posts” they’ve been allowed to post for free up until now. I think that step will significantly clean up our news feeds and bring them back to the kind of human, social, friend interactions that the site used to be focused on. I think you’re a good guy and I’m interested to hear how your life is going, but I don’t really know what “Projekt” is and I hate to say it but I don’t really care. I’m connected to friends on here because I want to find out when they start and end relationships and when they get married and have kids and how their day was and what’s going on with their lives, not because I want to be a captive target audience for free advertising. I wish you all the luck with your business, but I’m not interested in being on the mailing list. Also, please don’t private message me ads for it. Thank you.

It’s nice to know that my tidy interpretation of the world is not the only version of reality. While I see Facebook’s anti-organic strategy as really horrible, others see it as incredibly positive. I am not a fan of social networking sites for “personal” reasons. I would not be on Facebook for fun, and I get annoyed with myself when I find I spent half an hour on Facebook following links and doing nothing at all. It’s really addictive! Our brain is being rewired by technology and turning our attention span to $hit! Man! I have work to do. Why am I watching these cat videos? We know goats are the future!

Anyhow. It’s easy enough to unfriend me on Facebook. And if you’re sick of this email list, by all means use the “manage my subscription” tool on the bottom to unsubscribe yourself. You’re busy, I get it. I am not offended, and would rather not bother you, especially if you don’t know what Projekt is…

So somebody (on Facebook, naturally) replied in a thread, “Instead of focusing on the cool suggestions people are offering here, you… have given up on trying. So, the problem must be you. I respect your work, and the few real life conversations we’ve had were brief but good – but this attitude sucks, mister.”

This made me realize a few things. (1) People think they know you based on what you post on Facebook. I use it to promote, and gripe – one small part of who I am. I don’t post my real life on Facebook; it’s a buffer against being a public person. (2) People make their own assumptions and apply it to you. Have I given up? If I had, Projekt would have gone out of business years ago, (3) People think that posting variations on “Streaming leads to sales” and “Bands make a living going on tour” is helpful advice to somebody who has been surviving in this business for 30+ years. While these memes might be true for some artists, it is not true for most of us. I have not seen much evidence of streaming leading to sales on a significant level (I have heard individual examples of one sale now and then that results from streaming); and aside from Voltaire and Steve Roach, nobody on Projekt makes a profit on the road. There isn’t a “one size fits all” solution.

Ooooooh, wait, I got off my point. My point being….. I gripe on Facebook. It’s one of my characters over there: The guy at the record label who gripes and stands up for Artists’ rights. I guess maybe this guy missed the previous episodes of the show.

I must tell you that I am very grateful and appreciative of your support. Your love and hard-earned dollars & euros pay the bills over here. I realize that.

When I gripe about these things, it’s because many of you are interested in the inner working of the industry, and I have perspective on what it’s like. And what is it like?

it is like M’eh!  

So, let’s look at Spotify for a minute

Here’s a screenshot of Black Tape For A Blue Girl’s Spotify sales report for the first 6 months of the year.

The average per stream payment is $.00523 (before my distributor’s fees). The horizontal columns are albums (“the container”). The number on the right is the combined number of streams for all tracks on that album.  If you average 13 tracks per album, this is 2287 albums streamed. $155.39 for 2287 albums. That’s 6.79¢ per album. Hmmmmmmmmm? A cup of coffee or a beer is worth $4; an album is worth under 7¢ ?

The most-streamed releases on Projekt have many more streams than this. While many albums have fewer. In fact, 65% of Projekt’s releases at Spotify had under 1000 streams per; while the best-streamed was around 92,000 (bringing in $.00446 per stream)

M’eh.

Now a little commercial interruption. The ranking of the top-10 sellers since we revamped the webstore just under a year ago. Steve Roach’s July release – The Delicate Forever – moved up to the #2 spot!

#1 Lycia: Quiet Moments CD $14 #2  Steve Roach: The Delicate Forever (+ Bonus Disc) CD $14 (still a few bonus discs left) #3  Mercury’s Antennae: A Waking Ghost Inside CD $14 #4  Various Artists: PROJEKT200 ~ SALE 3-CD $14 #5  All my faith lost… Redefine my pure faith (Sold out!) | Bandcamp digital download $6 #6  Steve Roach: Structures From Silence (30th anniversary Remastered edition) 3-CD $18 #7  Stratosphere With Dirk Serries: In A Place Of Mutual Understanding CD $14 #8  Erik Wøllo: Tundra EP $10   (this one will be sold out pretty soon, buy now) #9  VARIOUS: Possibilities of Circumstance – SALE CD $5 #10  Forrest Fang: The Wolf At The Ruins / Migration 2-CD $17

Whoa! There’s still a whole bunch more eList that I’ve written; but this is already pretty long, and I’m sure your coffee break ended five minutes ago. I’m going to snip the rest, and continue next week. Here’s a teaser:

I’ve changed my mind (again) about Streaming music Even with the drop in income at Projekt, I was starting to lean towards an “Oh, why not?” attitude about tracks at streaming sites. If you can’t beat them join them. But this week, I went ape $hit and freaked! Why? Tethered Streams! I realized “streaming” is a false term (thank you Fianna Jones and Todd Loomis for this). When people subscribe to Spotify, those streamed tracks can be downloaded to the listener’s device, and carried with them when they are not online (“tethered,” as long as they pay their subscription rates). I’m an idiot, I didn’t realize that. This means streams are absolutely replacing the sales of “digital downloads,” as they serve the same purpose. SORRY, I AM NOT GOING TO HAND PEOPLE THE KNIFE TO HOLD AGAINST PROJEKT ARTIST’S THROAT. I’m taking most of Projekt’s music back down from streaming.

Please support Projekt’s artists at bandcamp.

If you want to comment on any of this, visit my Facebook page , where there are plenty of threads about these topics.

Do you want a QR code on your headstone? -Read the article at NPR.org

YouTube star sued for copyright to the tune of $150,000 per song – Read at engadget | I see both sides of this. On one hand, Google’s argument would be that the label is getting paid their < $.00089 per video played, so they are technically compensated. Yet the artist’s argument is that the usage – like in a film or tv show – should be negotiated and fairly compensated. When does YouTube become like a network TV show? Is it the number of views the video gets? (Next week, I’ll document that $.00089 figure)

AARC Class Action Lawsuit against Ford& GM – Read at arcroyalties Really? The problem in the music industry is the hard drive in your Ford and GM automobile? Seriously, THIS is who they think they should be suing!?

Joe Biden is the last real eccentric, and he knows it, and he plays it to the hilt because it is so much of what he is. Tattered and worn and old as it is. Joe Biden’s freak flag still flies high and proud. – Read at Esquire.com

In Pink Floyd’s “Have A Cigar,” a record label exec says to the band, “You gotta get an album out, You owe it to the people. We’re so happy we can hardly count.” Great line! : )

I learned me at Wikipedia: The Endless River is the upcoming fifteenth studio album by British rock band Pink Floyd. Produced by David Gilmour, Martin Glover, Andy Jackson and Phil Manzanera, the album is set to be released in October 2014. Described as a “swan song” for Wright,The Endless River is mostly an instrumental album consisting primarily of ambient music. The album is based on unreleased material the band produced with Wright during sessions for The Division Bellin 1994, and was originally recorded under the tentative title The Big Spliff.

Paulina Cassidy review at Hypnagogue. Order the CD for $14 / Download for $9

“Fifteen atmospheric pieces that straddle the boundaries of ambient and dream pop wait for you here, with soft vocals chanting beneath heavy layers of echo and effect. Sugar Wingshiver is another excellent release from this unique artist. Take this journey.”

Two new albums added to Bandcamp: Steve Roach’s Immersion: One and Steve Roach’s Immersion: Two

Witty Headline Goes Here

Another day, another band struggles to get their music heard. If you order a pie from Lonesome’s Pizza here in Portland, you might get a one-of-a-kind pizza box including a local band’s CD. Why? Because, few people want to buy music, but many people want to buy pizza!

Steve Roach and I were talking, and he mentioned a new Jon Hassell 3-CD box set version of City: Works of Fiction. It’s a reissue of a 1990 album with 2 bonus discs. I check in at rdio, and it’s up for streaming.

I don’t understand why labels think it’s a smart idea to put their releases up for free streaming immediately. Seems really suicidal. Why would I go and buy this CD when I can hear it for free, whenever I want?

I appreciate your support of Projekt, and I appreciate that many of you still buy our releases (CDs or downloads). You guys are fantastic, because you allow the music to continue by supporting our work.

I know people love free streaming music. I totally understand, I like it to. But Projekt is a “business;” meaning I am trying to earn a living at this. And paying my artists royalties for their creations is part of that business (in fact, I am in the middle of dispersing royalties, in which Shea and I prepare the spread sheets, and then I mail out checks to Projekt’s artists).

Giving away what we’re trying to sell seems like a bad business model to me. And yet so many labels feel it’s what they have to do. I disagree. I don’t put most new Projekt albums on streaming sites (or Amazon prime). I’d like to see Projekt artists earning something for their work.

Naturally, you can listen to samples of the Projekt releases at our website, via bandcamp embeds. But giving away the entire album at release date? Not so exciting to me.

A few weeks ago, Amazon added “free streaming” to their $99-per-year prime service. Effectively giving away the music that they have been selling for decades. Then last week they added a service where you can read all the Kindle books you want for $9.99 a month. As an artist, I don’t like either of these. They might be wonderful for consumers, but yet again the artist is expected to give away their creation so the big corporations can make more money. All Amazon want is to sell their prime service; in that sense, they are a lot like the locker sites that want to sell you a premium download subscription.

Creative artists are the chum they use to bait customers into buying their premiums. The fact that the artist earns $.007 per stream is somehow acceptable in their world.

Shea jokingly asks, “When will things I really consume figure out this model??  How about $10 a month for all-you-can-drink cortados? Or $40 a month for unlimited sushi?  Seriously! Why is it ok to squeeze more and more out of creative/artistic content?”

To which I replied, “Right! Why is it that only intellectual property has discovered the benefits of giving away your product for free? Come on vinyl pressing plants, headphone manufacturers, restaurants and baggy jeans. ‘Profit’ is so last century.”< Shea replied, with noticeable enthusiasm, "What timing!  TGI Friday’s has introduced Endless Appetizers for only $10.” Werner Herzog could have written this line:

6:59 p.m. The (mozzarella) sticks are inevitable, though. Like death, they will find me. 

Werner Herzog in Burden of Dreams Speaking of the jungle: (YouTube clip) “Kinski always says it’s full of erotic elements. I don’t see it so much erotic. I see it more full of obscenity. It’s just – Nature here is vile and base. I wouldn’t see anything erotical here. I would see fornication and asphyxiation and choking and fighting for survival and… growing and… just rotting away.”

Tomorrow!!! SomaFM and Projekt present the internet radio premiere of Steve Roach’s The Delicate Forever on SomaFm’s Drone Zone. Tuesday July 22 at Noon Pacific Time, 3pm Eastern, 8pm (20:00) GMT. Tune in at http://SomaFM.com/dronezone/

How Coffee Fueled the Civil War – Read at NYTimes.com< After studying the Civil War extensively in school - ugh - this is the most interesting aspect of the war. And I guess all wars. Who controls the coffee? True facts about the Tapir – Watch at YouTube.com “Well, I never thought silly hobbies were appropriate for a grown Tapir, but I do have one trick.” And Bear clapped, “Let’s see it!” he said. “All right, oh! Oh my. Holy… is that!?!”

Tundra Excerpts by Erik Wollo – Watch at YouTube.com A two-minute cross selection of tracks from the Tundra ep

“Well Spring” by Steve Roach – Watch at at YouTube.com Beautiful moving video paintings by Steve Matson, 5 minutes long

Go the Fu€k To Sleep – Read by Werner Herzog at YouTube.com “The tiger reclines in the simmering jungle, the sparrow has silenced her cheep…”

Projekt’s July 22nd releases in stores tomorrow…

Hello….. This ProjektList was sent at 11:05 this morning. If you are not on the ProjektList, sign-up with the sign-up form on the right side of the page. This is the short-link, if you want to share: https://www.projekt.com/store/?p=5436

Sam writes: Some of you have been receiving the Projekt list for years, if not decades! Do you remember back in the late 90s, when the ProjektList was filled with my thoughts, and ramblings on things that interested me, plus political perspective (oh those days of discussing why Al Gore would be better for the country than George Bush. Yall were so young and naive back then!!!). Some of you loved my thoughts and comments mixed with the music, some of you hated my thoughts and comments mixed with the music. When Facebook came along, it seemed like that would be a place to post the non-music-related stuff, to get it off the ProjektList. But I have found that we have reached a two-fold dead-end with that. (1) Facebook sucks these days, nobody sees posts anymore (more about that below) and (2) when I look at the data about which parts of the ProjektList you are interested in (’cause dude! I see the data of which link-y are getting the most click-y) I notice you are clicking over to the dumb videos, and what I bought my son for his birthday, and non-music-stuff. Oh? Not a lot of people are following through to the music that we’re selling in the webstore.

What?

The ProjektList is serving as a filter for fun stuff to distract you from your day?!?

Ok. I can do that. Perhaps the solution to this problem is to return the elist to where it began: something more like a blog with bits of entertainment, stuff that is catching my eye, with just the right mix of music and internet-based-dumbness.

You know: the stuff that we all use to make our days a little less tedious.

For example, last week, I went to Movie Madness, a DVD store here in Portland OR. Yep! A real-life rent-a-DVD store. I discovered that there are more CLASH DVDs than I can count on two hands, and I’ve only seen two of the last 30 Best Foreign Film Oscar winners.

I also saw “Rosebud,” the sled from Citizen Kane. Who knew it was green with yellow text? Here’s a pix of me with the lion statue from the Kane Xanadu set.

Oh my! The real world. It’s out there.

Why have I been spending my time on youTube, watching videos of cats knocking other cats down stairs!

I want to live!

That said, we all love cats… but maybe goats are the future! Shea hit upon this trend a while back, sending me this video. And now Slate confirms what Shea has known: Goats are the new Cats.

Speaking of Goats, the Belmont Goats are moving. Apparently their two block-long / one block-wide field has gotten too valuable. They are being shipped off to the suburbs (well, 92nd Ave); I bet somebody will build another 5 story condo on their spot. Sounds like what happened to 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. Well, minus the goats.

The days of thriving Facebook pages are coming to an end quickly

Why does Facebook suck? Let me count the ways! We were discussing this on my FB page this weekend. If you are an artist, band or small business, and have been wondering what the heck is wrong with your page these days, the two videos on this link are essential viewing to understand why Facebook has become useless.

“Facebook has this ongoing incentive to restrict more and more the organic reach of posts, in order to force people to pay to promote them. And I think that really changes the ethos of the site.”

What I have heard is that only 3% of the people who like the Projekt Records FB page see my posts. This means all those bands and labels you “liked?” Well, you’re no longer seeing their updates in your feed! Facebook is rigged to keep you from seeing the posts you wanted to see. Why? They want us to pay… for every post. And we’re not talking something reasonable like $10 a month. We’re talking between $30 and $150…. a POST!!! I’m so fed up with Facebook.

As an experiment, I tried doing a paid post on my personal page (where it’s cheaper than a business page). It cost $7. You know what happened? My post got 8 likes. Back in the day (ie: two months ago), most posts got 30 – 100 likes. Not anymore. It’s pay-to-play at Facebook now.< Those videos also explain all the fake profiles making friend requests. I was talking about this last month; I knew it was some sort of scam. Facebook is jamming us with fakes, to water down our reach even more. Did you know that Facebook has more than 83 million fake profiles!?!?

Also of interest, the Facebook “transmission of anger” mood manipulation experiment. They skewed what some people saw in their feeds, to see how they reacted. Thank you, big brother. Hmmmm? Let me think about this for a minute. Do I want my social networking site messing with my head?

No.

And let’s ask the question, Is Facebook breeding loneliness?

” The problem is multi-fold. The time we spend socializing online not only discourages face-to-face communication, but it also undermines our confidence at engaging in real conversations with real people about the real problems and issues that thread through our lives. Indeed, social networking provides a means of escape, an easy out on having to confront those parts of our lives we wish were different; more glamorous, and less mundane. “

Supreme Court Rules JCPenney Allowed to Sacrifice Employees to Appease Cthulhu

Read all about it here

More comments and thoughts after this commercial break…

Pre-order these great releases from across the darkwave genre. More titles here.

Raison D’etre: Requiem for Abandoned Souls Expanded 2-CD Re-issue | $25 Expected Mid July. Contains the original disc with a bonus track and a second disc with material from various live performances from 2003 and 2004. The music becomes a pulsating, throbbing entity that comes sobbing out of your speakers only to lament the crumbling states of whatever you are stressed about at that moment. Tanzwut: Eselsmesse Limited Edition 2-CD | $25 Expected Late July. Hailed as a cult band and innovators of the genre, Tanzwut is one of the exceptional bands of the gothic/medieval scene; their outstanding skills allow them to compose and perform both as rock act and medieval band.

Titles available for pre-order:

Agonoize: Apokalypse Limited 2-CD Berlin-based inferno of hard beats, brutal shouts and thudding bass. $23 Android Lust: The Dividing 10th Anniversary 2-LP Features brand new remixes from Collide, Gregory Stewart (Z Marr/Combichrist), I, Parasite, Inertial and R010R. $25 Black Lung: The Great Golden Goal Motivational pieces specifically designed for workspace and gym. $15 Cocksure: TVMALSV Bridging the gap between waxtrax! era industrial and future sounds of mass corruption. $14 Deine Lakaien: Acoustic II $25 Deine Lakaien: Farewell/Where the Winds Don’t Blow CDS First taster for the new album Crystal Palace. $11 Deine Lakaien: Crystal Palace Limited Box A return to the sonic atmospheres of the early days (1986-1990). $49 Deine Lakaien: Crystal Palace Limited Digipak +3 Bonus Tracks $25 Die Form: Rayon X Limited 2-CD New album from cult French multimedia-fetish-art-project. $27 Die Form: Rayon X Limited 2-CD + Large Shirt $110 Die Form: Rayon X Limited 2-CD + XL Shirt $110 Die Form: Rayon X $19 Die Form: Rayon X LP $22 Funker Vogt: Survivor 3-CD Box Collector’s Edition with bonus material and rare, unreleased tracks. $26 Grendel: Soilbleed Redux V.2 Remastered re-issue with bonus tracks. $12 Hexperos: Lost in the Great Sea The sound of ancient instruments played by brilliant musicians. $20 In Slaughter Natives: Cannula Coma Legio The band delves into more obscure ambient territories. $14 In Strict Confidence: Lifelines Vol. 1 (91-98) – The Extended Versions Extended versions of the original tracks. $16 In Strict Confidence: Lifelines Vol. 2 (98-04) – The Extended Versions $16 KMFDM: We Are Live album features favorites new and old. $14 Lacrimosa: Live in Mexico City Live album with bonus DVD. $30 Lustmord: Beyond Re-issue One full hour of frightening and addictive darkest ambient. $15 Lustmord: Kraków October 22 2010 Live limited edition. $24 Lustmord: The Dark Places of the Earth Re-issue The pinnacle of dark ambient. $15 Noisuf-X: Invasion Limited 2-CD NOISUF-X dominates the dancefloors of the global club scene. $24 Pride and Fall: Turn the Lights On EP Remix contest EP with exclusive b-side. $15 Prude: The Dark Age of Consent Wild mix of 70’s NYC punk/glam with a harsh, damaged electronic edge. $14 Rome: A Passage to Rhodesia Limited Edition DVD/2-CD/Book Unites instant dark folk classics with ambient collages in the best industrial and experimental traditions. $165 Sequential Access: Sex Addict Anonymous 13 tracks of pure golden era electro-industrial. $14 Sopor Aeternus: Mitternacht CD/Book All-new album with 36-page book. $55 Sopor Aeternus: Mitternacht 2-LP $90 Staubkind: Alles Was Ich Bin Limited 4-CD Box Berlin-based group walks the tightrope between cinematic rock anthems and fragile ballads. $53 Staubkind: Alles Was Ich Bin Limited 2-CD $23 The Birthday Massacre: Violet LP Limited Ediition purple vinyl. $19 The Klinik: 1984-1991 8-CD Box The most comprehensive anthology of the band’s music ever released. $90 The Lonely Soul Experience: Path of Blood Blutengel’s Chris Pohl takes us into opulent fantasy-worlds. $19 Various Artists: Amphi Festival 2014 Who’s who of the electro and gothic scene. $15 Various Artists: History of NDW A MUST-HAVE for all fans of German electro hits of the 80s. $22

 

Animal Magnetism: Tigers Roam Wild on Dating Sites. Hoping for Roaring Success, Singles Post Photos With Big Cats Read the article at the Wall Street Journal

I really want to make “poorly photoshopped photo with tiger in foreground” into a succesful internet meme. Who will help me go there? Change your profile photo to include the wikipedia tiger and message me with your link. And use #tigerselfie

Projekt Records Music tidbits

Download free music from Black Tape For A Blue Girl at Bandcamp. Italian coverage at Ondarock.

Textura listens to Metcalf/Seelig’s Intention & Nerell/Seelig’s Tree of Life. Read the review. Buy both CDs for $23 at Projekt.

Fantastic Aurelio Voltaire interview in the new issue of Gothic Beauty Magazine. Download your copy today.

Lovesliescrushing’s 1993 debut Bloweyelashwish added to Bandcamp. A brilliant slice of 90s shoegaze music. For sale for $7. And don’t forget the sale code below.

Steve Roach & Erik Wollo are both in Echoes’ the Best of 2014, so far.

And here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…. The King of Goth, Peter Murphy, said in Rolling Stone Magazine: “I keep asking, ‘My God, how did I get that high? How do I get that high again, and how do I sustain it for an hour?'”

After his meth bust, should Peter Murphy really be talking about getting “high” ?

derp.

Too soon?

You can stream the whole Lion album at the RS link above.

Where’s that Bagel recipe? Sorry. Ran out of time & room…. next Monday.

The new Projekt eList needs your help!

Sam and Shea really love snark! The Projekt virtual office is full of snide remarks on all sorts of topics; nothing is off-limits and yes, that includes some snarky things about the music industry and even the music we sell. But we need your help! We don’t produce nearly enough snark. Do you have some sarcastic comment about music? Send it our way via Twitter (use hashtag #ProjektRecords so we can find your tweet). If we use it, you’ll get a free download code for a Projekt album!

You can also give us a heads up on the latest distracting goat/cat/tiger profile pic trend, videos we have to see, articles we have to read, and unmentionable things we won’t be able to print because of the draconian hand of our email service provider. If your link is exciting and gets used, we’ll reward that with a free download code, too.

And please message me directly with questions, complaints, thoughts on the new format, and anything else you think would make the elist more exciting for everyone.

Sam