Quote:
Originally posted by CountryFriedChick
I'll probably do that  when is the next contest? BTW me and my grandpa are going to look for an electric guitar tomorrow so I'm excited about that.  |
I don't know when but the admins will surely put an announcement about it.
And **** I'm happy for you!
Amazing. I want to get a grandpa like yours. Make it 2 please.
Which one are you gonna get? Ibanez, PRS, Fender, or Gibson? I say PRS is the best choice. Cheap but it's 'warm'. Hand-made guitars.
Save the money for the (rumoured) Taylor signature Les Paul.
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And Jim Mahoney (President of A2IM) has put out a statement of how 'Indie' our Queen is:
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Hi Dave. I believe there are two (maybe more) conversation threads at play here. On one hand there is the fan’s interpretation of “indie” and on the other there is the all too real commerce angle of how independently owned music masters are valued in negotiations by platforms that benefit from the use of music.
While I’m sensitive to the fact that major labels sometimes market a new band intentionally as “indie” to gain “cred” and that, I think, drives some of the debate on this topic, there is something deeper at play that is of primary concern to A2IM and to our independently owned/controlled label members (which, by the way, includes a great number of artist owned entities including Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records). Our concern is a fair marketplace that allows independent labels and artists to offer the same possibilities to artists they sign (or music they make) as the majors if the artist or the music is good enough.
Where it concerns commerce and how “independent” music is valued by YouTube (or any other commerce platform), independents – that is to say anyone that is not signed directly to a major label – have more in common than they have differences. While there are independents distributed by major labels (or major label owned “indie distributors” like ADA, Caroline, Fontana, etc.) and there are 100% DIY’ers, you can be sure that there is only ONE WAY that most companies making money off of the use of music are trying to compensate anyone that is not distinctly a major label: lesser than! And that is harmful for ALL independents. How? Well, if major labels are compensated greater than or provided greater access to market than independent labels or artists it will become harder for independent labels to sign exciting acts or independents will have no choice but to sign distribution deals with majors which, in turn, would strangle independently owned distributors (like E1, Redeye, Burnside, etc.) and so on down the chain ultimately having the potential to result in a world where there are only hobbyists and artists deemed “good enough” to get signed to a major.
Taylor Swift, for instance, is signed to the independently owned Big Machine Records who has a distribution deal with Universal but who maintains their own separate A&R, marketing, promotion, and business staff. To discredit the claim that her GRAMMY nominations are rightfully counted in the tally of independents’ nominations is not only to discredit the efforts of the Big Machine staff but also to damage all independents (DIY’ers to large, established independently owned companies). Whether on Big Machine Records and played on mainstream outlets, on Righteous Babe Records, or self-released like 2009′s Best Reggae Album GRAMMY winner Burning Spear, it is valuable to the cause of ALL independents to be able to point to independent successes so that commerce partners understand that we bring great music – and even HIT MUSIC – to the market and deserve to have our music valued fairly.
Music has a long and very rich history of independent labels investing in and exposing great music to fans. Just because artists can now elect to go “DIY” or because major labels sign directly and then use marketing ploys to get indie cred should not mean that independently owned/controlled labels should have less claim to the term “independent”.
Anyway I hope that whereas it concerns the business of music I’ve helped define an important consideration for you in your fairly regular comments about “What Is INDIE?” and I continue to look forward to reading your thoughts on the many forums that you contribute to.
Best regards,
Jim
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but yeah he's a great grandpa and I needed a new case for my acoustic so I thought I'd get him to come with me and help me pick out a good electric as well. 
