Steve Albini on the state of the industry

Thanks, same!

What makes you think he's lecturing? He stating his opinions in front of people who obviously liked to listen, otherwise they would've walked out. If you don't agree with him, fine, nothing wrong with that. But then just don't listen and walk away. And, Keith Richards, while I like the guy as a unique character and appreciate what he does, he doesn't impress me as a musician at all. Mediocre to put it politely. Only my view, of course, but since you've stated yours I guess I'm allowed to state mine.

Hi Levon, I realize Mr. Albini has worked on lots of records and is considered an excellent engineer. He seems like a great guy for artists to work with, but his own music clearly never went far, which is why I joked about there being maybe 50 people who cared about it. I've seen my income drop by more than 90% from the new digital paradigm. I think artists are basically being screwed, and just learning workarounds to cope with it. Historically, this isn't anything new, artists were at the beck and call of royalty since time immemorial. But, when guys who were not part of the original NYC Punk music scene wax poetic about it, I have to call bullshit on them, I was there, on the inside, from the very beginning.

I also must admit, I don't have time to spend reading everything he had to say in his lectures or articles, so I may be rushing to judgement, but I did read enough to get the gist of what he was saying. I'm not trying to crack wise here, but a keynote address by definition is a lecture.

As for not agreeing with him, well, I think it's important that musicians use their voice to promote fair treatment, not sit back and smile while being kicked to the gutter. The Chinese don't care about copyrights, and we're heading in that direction ourselves now, because congressman basically don't understand how it works, and powerful business interests seduce them easily.

My friend had 1.4 million plays of his song on Spotify, and he got a $45 check. Do I need to say much more?

I just remembered, another friend had a song of his featured in the most popular British tv comedy. In the scene, girls were jumping up and down in their bedroom, dancing to his track for over a minute and a half, (an eternity in TV time), and he also received a check for.. $45, ( what's up with that number?)

I too always want to hear from the living dead.

Actually rap is performance art that is tremendous live when done well. Recordings don't do it justice.

one of my favorite quotes of all time is from Jeff Beck, "you can do anything as long as it's not boring"

^ That's a first.

Really though, your point about him having a certain point of view is spot on. His view of the industry is that of indie rock bands, not songwriters. Looking at it from where he's coming from, I totally get what he's saying.

I think I see both sides to this. I personally am a huge proponent of Albini and his philosophy regarding the music industry, but have spent some time in my past working with Nashville songwriters and such. I don't think anything Albini's said is relevant to people involved in old record business. He's gone on the record to say that no one should try to make a career out of music; do it as a hobby and if it makes enough money, spend more time on it. Albini merely sees his engineering and mixing duties as a day job, and his bands are just side projects he does for fun.

I think the best thing for people not living in that paradigm to do is to just fucking ignore everything Mr. Albini has said and move on to find solutions for your problems. He is not the guy to ask how to save Nashville, unless you want artsy-fartsy punk rock to invade your city.

For underground/DIY types like myself, I wholeheartedly agree with everything he's said IN THE CONTEXT of punk, underground, and whatnot. Any of you ever booked a house show tour? It brings in a shit ton of money. No middle management, no label, no managers, just split between the band members minus the expenses to travel and eat. There is literally no better time to be in an underground band.

And as a side note, though Albini is known to work with a lot of uncouth music unfit for mainstream consumption, take a listen to the album Hymn of the Immortal Wind by MONO. It is the single most beautiful piece of art I've ever heard, and a lot of it's due to Albini's knowledge of engineering and recording records. Seriously, take a listen. He's really good at what he does.

Yeah, maybe about 50 people in my residential neighborhood. All of his bands hold legendary status where I live. I can't really go to any rock show around here without meeting someone who doesn't own a Big Black, Rapeman, or Shellac record. His bands are much more far reaching than you might think. All this to say, I wouldn't dismiss the underground scene as something inferior or insignificant to the big record business model. It's simply different. Two completely separate industries operating on completely different business models.

What's good for one business model will be terrible for the other. The internet is bad for the big record industry, the internet is the best thing to ever happen to the underground industry. Is there really a need to bridge the gap? I don't think so. Each need their own solutions to their own issues.

...and it doesn't make it stink less.

This I absolutely agree with!

One more word on Keith Richards. I kinda like the guy. He's a true character and he undoubtedly has created a big piece of music history. I just don't see him as a brilliant musician, even though he was, at a time, quite brilliant in his simplicity. For me, the Stones were good up until 'Exile'. After that, meh. I recently saw a 2013 Stones concert on YouTube, could've been in Philadelphia but I'm not sure. Anyway, they invited other people on stage to play with them. Big mistake. They invited John Mayer. Major big mistake. John clearly showed how mediocre Keith and also Ron Wood are when he traded licks and solos with them. The difference was ridiculous. Only my opinion of course. Sorry for the OT.