From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) To: support-system-digest@smoe.org Subject: support-system-digest V4 #78 Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org Sender: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk support-system-digest Wednesday, March 21 2001 Volume 04 : Number 078 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Liz in Columbia House [Jason Long ] Random stuff... [Jason Long ] Re: Phairities [Emil Breton ] Re: Phairities [Jason Long ] One more thing... [Jason Long ] Re: support-system-digest V4 #77 ["Aaron Walker's Visi Account" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 04:36:56 -0500 From: Jason Long Subject: Liz in Columbia House Hey everyone, Just thought I'd mention for any Canadians on the list who are Columbia House members that this month, you can pick up a couple of discs featuring Liz material on sale. As part of their March Madness Clearance, they have the Higher Learning soundtrack (featuring Liz's "Don't Have Time) for $1.99, and the What's Up Matador 2-disc compilation (with Liz's "Stuck on an Island" and "Stratford-on-Guy") for $3.99. The only catch is that you have to purchase one regularly-priced selection to take advantage of the offer. To anyone who doesn't have the What's Up Matador discs, even if you already have the two Liz songs that are featured, the compilation is well worth picking up for the other great bands who appear on it, including some who have been discussed extensively on the list in the past (Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Pavement, Guided By Voices, Helium, Barbara Manning, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, etc.). Cheers, Jase ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 05:21:14 -0500 From: Jason Long Subject: Random stuff... Just a bunch of random comments and replies to various topics. Sorry if this comes out really disjointed. First of all, thank you to everyone who's written to me privately about the Phairities project. So far the response has been so good that I can't possibly think of not undertaking this now. I'll post updates as things progress, but right now I've pretty much decided that one disc will consist of studio recordings and the other of all the live material. Once I've had a chance to compile all of the material, work out the sequencing (I'm leaning towards having each disc be chronological, but we'll see) and create the master discs, I'll let everyone know and at that point we can arrange for a tree to distribute copies to everyone who's interested. Dan, I'm glad you like the Le Tigre album -- I had a feeling you would! They also have a new EP out entitled _From the Desk of Mr. Lady_. It's not as stunning as the album is, but it's still worth checking out. The last I heard, a new full-length should be out before the end of the year as well. LilRussianGirl, I'm happy to hear you picked up the Sarah Harmer disc. It's one of my current favorites. Just curious, what do American Hi Fi sound like? I haven't heard anything by them yet. Jen Trynin fans, take note: There seems to be a new official Web site in the works. It's under development, but you can visit it at [http://www.jentrynin.com]. Hopefully this means we can look forward to hearing new music from her at some point. I signed up for the news updates, and judging by where the link led, her new site is being hosted by Q Division, a Boston indie label. Looks promising... Jorge, sounds like you had a great time at the Sarah Harmer show. I still haven't had the pleasure myself, but hopefully I'll be able to catch her the next time she plays in Toronto. You're also right about Napster. Our music *is* still out there. I don't have many problems finding music by most of the artists we discuss on the list on there, although a few things do seem to be blocked. I've come to really appreciate Napster -- I end up buying a lot of albums that end up not really doing much for me, so I like having a way to preview music before I spend now. I've dodged a few bullets as a result, but I've also went ahead and picked up some albums I'd only been curious about and probably wouldn't have bought otherwise. I liked your question about what Liz might do when she retires from music (and please let that when actually be an if!). Personally, I could see her as a writer of some sort. She has written for magazines before; I remember a couple of pieces for Details, one of which was a line-by-line analysis of the lyrics to "Jealousy," and she did interview an opera singer (I think) for Chicago magazine sometime in 1996. Somehow I imagine Liz could write some pretty kick-ass fiction as well; I'd love to read a novel penned by her. Craig wrote: >Well, as co-organizer of last years Phest, I can tell >you that we had a great time. Unfortunately I will >more than likely not be able to take part in this years >Phest should one take place. There's a slim chance that >I could make it, but right now it's not looking good >right now. I have way too much going on in my life right now. What if Liz does tour this summer? I bet that could get you there. :) Really, though, it's too bad you don't think you could make it. Maybe next year? >I see there's been alot of Courtney Love/Hole talk recently. >I'm hoping whatever dispute with universal is settled soon >because I can't wait for the new Hole record. I'm >especially looking forward to the contribution that Hole >drummer Samantha Maloney will make to the new record. >Everyone always says how much they miss Patty, but I think >Sammy Lee is a far superior drummer. I think she's going to >bring a whole new powerful dynamic to the band. There's no question that Samantha is a great drummer, but I guess I'm more used to Patty's style. I think part of the thing is that I've heard Patty both live and on record, and with Samantha, the only studio recordings she has played on are a couple of b-sides that seem like they were rush-recorded. She is great live, though. I know a couple of people have recently asked about the "Rip. Mix. Burn." commercial. The extended version can be found at [http://www.apple.com/hardware/ads/ripmixburn-long.html]. Allison, your post about Pete Yorn has me curious, especially since not only is Liz a fan, but Brad Wood worked on his album. I went hunting around a few Web sites, trying to find more information, and it looks like the album isn't even out yet. It's supposed to be released next week, though. There are likely promo copies floating around, so I may check out Napster later to see if any of the songs have found their way there yet. Also, Katie, I just wanted to say it was so great to read your post -- don't be such a stranger, eh? I want to respond more in-depth, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow -- I just realized it's after 5:00 am and I haven't been to bed yet. Yikes! That's all for now -- more later, Jase ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 08:15:05 -0800 (PST) From: Emil Breton Subject: Re: Phairities Shit, I think I just sent a whole digest to the list. Damn it! It was like 28k so hopefully it bounced to Jase so he can stop it... yikes. All that for this pithy post: I downloaded an *excellent*-sounding mp3 of "That's the Way I Like It" (minus "Oh My God") from Squirt TV by way of Napster. It sounds remarkably bright and clean -- lightyears away from the hissy copy that was included on the original Phairities tape. So try Napster, Jase. Unfortunately, most of what shows up doesn't include the "Oh My God" intro. Give it a whirl anyway. Glad to hear Liz is still somewhat in touch with Brad Wood. (At least it seems she would be if she was taking an interest in a new artist he recently produced.) That Liz is in L.A. a lot probably means she's still working on the record (not a bad thing). I doubt she moved there. - -Emil Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:37:23 -0500 From: Jason Long Subject: Re: Phairities Emil wrote: >Shit, I think I just sent a whole digest to the list. >Damn it! It was like 28k so hopefully it bounced to >Jase so he can stop it... yikes. Yep, it bounced to me, although somehow only the first 9K went through anyhow. So nothing to worry about. >I downloaded an *excellent*-sounding mp3 of "That's >the Way I Like It" (minus "Oh My God") from Squirt TV >by way of Napster. It sounds remarkably bright and >clean -- lightyears away from the hissy copy that was >included on the original Phairities tape. So try >Napster, Jase. Unfortunately, most of what shows up >doesn't include the "Oh My God" intro. Give it a whirl >anyway. I'll definitely keep this in mind as an option. I really would prefer to keep the "Oh My God" intro intact, though, so hopefully I can clean up some of the hiss on my copy. I've noticed that Cool Edit Pro does have a few features to clean up hiss and noise reduction, although I haven't really played with them yet. So far, everything I've transferred from tape to disc I've left au naturel. I'm afraid of having an "Oltraver's Girly Sounds" incident by overdoing anything. Of course, it does help that the stuff I've already worked on was pretty clean sounding to begin with. The Los Angeles 04/11/95 tape I have is a first generation from a DAT master, and the only problem with the 04/25/95 tape lies in the fact that the taper's recording levels were set too high on a number of the songs. There's really nothing I can do to fix that. >Glad to hear Liz is still somewhat in touch with Brad >Wood. (At least it seems she would be if she was >taking an interest in a new artist he recently >produced.) That Liz is in L.A. a lot probably means >she's still working on the record (not a bad thing). I >doubt she moved there. And in a perfect world, this would mean that Liz is working on the new record with Brad, since I do believe he moved out to L.A. himself. Not to spread any false information or anything, but from what I've heard, Liz is now living in Southern California. But who knows? You can't always believe everything you hear. Cheers, Jase ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:41:22 -0500 From: Jason Long Subject: One more thing... ... and still keeping things on-topic (this has to be some sort of record for me!). I've never been able to find a copy of the show where Liz covered Elvis Costello's "Alison." A couple of people have suggested to me off-list that I should try to include it on the new Phairities compilation. Does anyone know if copies of this show have surfaced yet? If there are copies out there and someone could provide me with one or put me in touch with someone who has it, I would really appreciate it. It *would* make a nice inclusion. Cheers, Jase ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:38:37 -0600 From: "Aaron Walker's Visi Account" Subject: Re: support-system-digest V4 #77 Hey Jase. I'm pretty sure I've got a copy of this show at home. Just send me your address and I'll make a copy this week and send it out to you. I could also convert the tracks on it to aiff or wav and send you those files on a cdr. I can also help with duplication (I've got a 6x4x16 CDRW drive) when the time comes to distribute the discs. Let me know. - -- - -Aaron Walker > From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) > Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org > Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 01:15:14 -0500 (EST) > To: support-system-digest@smoe.org > Subject: support-system-digest V4 #77 > > One last request, if anyone at all has a CD-R of Liz's April 30, 1999 > Wellesley, MA show and would like to trade or loan me a copy, you'll be the > first person to get a copy of the finished product. I have a copy of this > show and absolutely love it, but my CD-Rom drive can't seem to read it, so > I can't digitally extract the audio from it. The versions of "Firewalker" > and "Don't Apologize" are the best ones I've heard, and I'd love to include > them. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:39:25 -0600 From: "Aaron Walker's Visi Account" Subject: Re: support-system-digest V4 #77 Oops, that was meant for Jason, not the list. Sorry. - -- - -Aaron Walker ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 14:44:33 -0600 From: "Aaron Walker's Visi Account" Subject: Re: support-system-digest V4 #74 There's an extended version of the Apple/Liz commercial: http://www.apple.com/hardware/ads/ripmixburn-long.html - -- - -Aaron Walker > From: owner-support-system-digest@smoe.org (support-system-digest) > Reply-To: support-system@smoe.org > Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2001 01:15:13 -0500 (EST) > To: support-system-digest@smoe.org > Subject: support-system-digest V4 #74 > > Subject: link for extended apple commercial > > Hi all- > Someone graciously posted the link for the extended Apple commercial. And now > I can't find it. Can someone repost that link - gotta see Aimee and Michael! > > paige- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 16:35:10 -0500 From: owner-support-system@smoe.org (by way of Jason Long ) Subject: Bounced message From: "Patrick OConnor" Subject: Courtney Strikes Back The following is the communication Courtney Love has been sending throughout the music business. Exciting times are on the way. Pat ARTIST RIGHTS AND RECORD COMPANIES Dear Fellow Recording Artists, I'm writing to ask you to join the chorus of recording artists who want us all to get a fair deal from the record companies. R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, U2, Alanis Morrissette, Bush, Prince and Q-Tip have called me with their support and we need your participation as well. There are 3 basic facts to all recording artists should know: 1. No one has ever represented the rights and interests of recording artists AS A GROUP in negotiations with record companies 2. Recording artists don't have access to quality health care and pension plans like the ones made available to actors and athletes through their unions. 3. Recording artists are paid royalties that represent a tiny fraction of the money their work earns. As I was working with my manager and my new attorneys on my lawsuit with the Universal Music Group, we realized that the most unfair clauses in my contract applied to ALL recording artists. Most importantly, no one was representing artists in an attempt to change the system. Recording artists need to form a new organization that will represent their interests in Washington and negotiate fair contract terms with record companies. Here's what you should know: THERE IS NO ONE WHO REPRESENTS RECORDING ARTISTS Recording artists don't have a single union that looks out for their interests. AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) has a contract with major labels for vocalists and the AFM (American Federation of Musicians) has a contract for non-singing musicians and session players. If you're in a band, your singer is represented by a different union (AFTRA) than the rest of your group (who are represented by the AFM). AFTRA negotiates contracts for TV and Radio performers. They don't pay very much attention to the recording business; it's not their priority. The AFM acts like band members are sidemen and session players because that's mostly who the union represents. Record companies like this system because neither union represents all artists. AFTRA and AFM only negotiate session fees and other minor issues for the singers or the "sidemen." Who looks after our interests in Washington? Until very recently, Congress believed that the RIAA spoke for recording artists. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) is a trade group that is paid for by record companies to represent their interests. The Napster hearings last summer and a few other issues have let Washington know that NO ONE speaks for recording artists right now. We have their attention and must act quickly to make sure artists have a voice. RECORDING ARTISTS DON'T HAVE A SAFETY NET Compare yourself to actors and baseball players. Like the music business, the film and the sports industries generate billions of dollars in income each year, but those industries offer far better benefits to the men and women who create their wealth. The Screen Actors Guild offers a fantastic health care plan to its members. That health plan is paid for by the contracts that SAG has negotiated with film studios. The baseball player's union has negotiated a pension plan that ensures that NO major league player ever finds himself without an income. Why shouldn't recording artists get the same benefits? RECORDING ARTISTS DON'T GET PAID Record companies have a 5% success rate. That means that 5% of all records released by major labels go gold or platinum. How do record companies get away with a 95% failure rate that would be totally unacceptable in any other business? Record companies keep almost all the profits. Recording artists get paid a tiny fraction of the money earned by their music. That allows record executives to be incredibly sloppy in running their companies and still create enormous amounts for cash for the corporations that own them. The royalty rates granted in every recording contract are very low to start with and then companies charge back every conceivable cost to an artist's royalty account. Artists pay for recording costs, video production costs, tour support, radio promotion, sales and marketing costs, packaging costs and any other cost the record company can subtract from their royalties. Record companies also reduce royalties by "forgetting" to report sales figure, miscalculating royalties and by preventing artists from auditing record company books. Recording contracts are unfair and a single artist negotiating an individual deal doesn't have the leverage to change the system. Artists will finally get paid what they deserve when they band together and force the recording industry to negotiate with them AS A GROUP. Thousands of successful artists who sold hundreds of millions of records and generated billions of dollars in profits for record companies find themselves broke and forgotten by the industry they made wealthy. Here a just a few examples of what we're talking about: Multiplatinum artists like TLC ("Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg," "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs") and Toni Braxton ("Unbreak My Heart" and "Breathe Again") have been forced to declare bankruptcy because their recording contracts didn't pay them enough to survive. Corrupt recording agreements forced the heirs of Jimi Hendrix ("Purple Haze," "All Along the Watchtower" and "Stone Free") to work menial jobs while his catalog generated millions of dollars each year for Universal Music. Florence Ballard from the Supremes ("Where Did Our Love Go," "Stop in the Name of Love" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" are just 3 of the 10 #1 hits she sang on) was on welfare when she died. Collective Soul earned almost no money from "Shine," one of the biggest alternative rock hits of the 90s when Atlantic paid almost all of their royalties to an outside production company. Merle Haggard ("I Threw Away the Rose," "Sing Me Back Home" and "Today I Started Loving You Again") enjoyed a string of 37 top-ten country singles (including 23 #1 hits) in the 60s and 70s. Yet he never received a record royalty check until last year when he released an album on the indie punk-rock label Epitaph. Even Elvis Presley, the biggest-selling artist of all time, died with an estate valued at not even $3 million. Think of it this way: recording artists are often the writers, directors and producers of their own records. They write the songs, choose the producers and engineers who record their music, hire and oversee the photographers and designers who create their CD artwork and oversee all parts of video production, from concept to director to final edit. Record companies advance money for recording costs and provide limited marketing services for the music that artists conceive and create. In exchange, they keep almost all of the money and 100% of the copyrights. Even the most successful recording artists in history (The Beatles, The Eagles, Nirvana, Eminem) have been paid a fraction of the money they deserved from sales of their records. This is a very big and very important project and we're in the early days. Here's what we're looking for: 1. Artists who are willing to speak to the media to publicly lend their support to the idea that recording artists need an organization that represents our interests in Washinton and with the record companies. We also would like you tell your managers and attorneys that you support this cause and that you expect them, as your representatives and employees to do the same. 2. Anyone who can tell us specific stories about how artists have been ripped off by record companies like the ones I told above. We're going to have to educate the public and the media and Congress and the only way we'll do that is by giving them examples they can relate to. NOW is the time for action. Artists like Garbage and N*SYNC have have joined me in questioning bad contracts and have also gone to court to change the system. Record companies have merged and re-merged to the point where they can no longer relate to their artists. Digital distribution will change the music industry forever; artists must make sure they finally get their fair share of the money their music earns. We need to come together quickly and present a united front to the industry. Your managers and attorneys will probably tell you not to rock the boat and not to risk your "relationship" with your record company by taking a stand. Most attorneys and managers are conflicted. Almost all entertainment law firms represent both artists and record companies. Lawyers can't take a stand against record companies because that's where they get most of their business. Even the best managers often have business relationships with labels and depend on record companies to refer new clients. Think about Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam's stand against TicketMaster. Everyone knew he was right and yet no other artist took a public stand against a company that we all knew was hurting our business because our managers and attorneys told us it would be a bad idea. Attorneys and managers are your employees. Make sure they know how you feel and that you want them to publicly support the idea that the terms of recording contracts are unfair and cover too long a time period. You also want them to supportan organization that will negotiate health and pension benefits for all recording artists. Artists have all the power. They create the music that makes the money that funds the business. No one has ever harnessed that power for artists' collective good. And remember something equally important: Actors had to fight to end the studio system that forced actors to work for one employer and baseball players had to strike to end the reserve clause that tied a player to one team for his entire career. Even though "experts" predicted economic disaster once actors and athletes gained their freedom, both the film business and baseball have enjoyed their greatest financial success once their talent was given its freedom. Join us now in taking a public stand. Your name will help get the attention that artists rights deserve. If you're willing to speak to the media or testify before Congress, you can help make our goals a reality. Do it for yourself, for your children and do it for the artists who inspired you to make music in the first place. Email us at: Artists@theredceiling.com Or send a fax to 323-934-2265 Give us your stories and your support. Tell us we can add your name to the list of artists who support this organization. And let us know how to contact you directly as we move forward on this project. If you're interested in learning more about my case with Universal, visit my manager's website: www.theredceiling.com You can download a copy of our cross-complaint and press releases that describe the issues we're taking to court. Thanks in advance for your support. Best regards, Courtney Love >> ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 18:54:01 -0500 From: Mike Marlatt Subject: obscure music question So in Paul Simon's speech at the Rock and Roll Hall of fame last night he thanked a bunch of people and then "those two girls from Covington, Kentucky" For some reason I'm dying to find out what this means? Who's he talking about? Anyone? thanks Mike Marlatt BMO NESBITT BURNS Tel: 443-1622 Fax:443-1524 **************************************************************************** This message and any attachments are confidential to the ordinary user of the e-mail address to which it was addressed and may also be privileged. If you are not the addressee, you may not copy, forward, disclose or use any part of the message or its attachments and should delete them from your system and kindly notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. Any opinions contained in this message are those of the author and are not given or endorsed by the Bank of Montreal Group of Companies including BMO Nesbitt Burns Group company or office through which this message is sent unless otherwise clearly indicated in this message. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, arrive late or contain viruses. The sender therefore does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the content of this message which arise as a result of Internet transmission. Unless otherwise stated, this transmission is neither an offer nor a solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase any security. Ce message, ainsi que tout document pouvant y jtre joint, est confidentiel et destini ` lutilisateur habituel de ladresse de courrier ilectronique ` qui il sadresse, et pourrait jtre priviligii. 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