Read that headline and ponder, if your serious about music, how can you ignore Asia?

That’s what most labels and artists have done. “Bootlegging”, or “They don’t speak english” might be one of the excuses, but not anymore, and even if they don’t, that doesn’t mean they can’t memorize words to your song and sing along, it happens all the time.

When I went to Asia, I got bitten by some kind of bug. I didn’t get sick, I just got the fever – for Asia.
You could argue this is attributable to many things, and you would be right, but I think my instincts were sensing what this article is eluding to: That you can’t ignore Asia if your serious about music.

Asia Pacific Market Grows – radioandmusic.com

Oh, and if that article isn’t enough to boggle your mind, this WILL.
From my sources in China working in the industry: the Chinese internet base is the largest in the world with 221 million users. At 16% penetration, this still leaves huge room for growth. That’s right, that stat represents 16% of China. You do the math.

Keep your eye here for more about my plans for music in Asia through Pro Soul.

As I blogged earlier, I recently got back from my first trip to China.

I also went to Hong Kong for 4 days and stayed with long time friend Ron who was nice enough to let me crash at his place. I didn’t say much about Hong Kong because I didn’t know how to do justice in describing it. Bob Lefsetz, an veteran and expert in the new music industry and accomplished writer, has described his first trip there exactly as I would, If I could write as well as he does here and here, and as I experienced it, feeling what I felt…

Warning: If you happen to peruse Bob’s other posts: He is extremely blunt and uses very colorful language. But one thing is for sure, you will be educated.

I’ve been going to a lot of fantastic concerts lately, Nightwish, Ladytron, and yesterday Rush. They were all great shows, unique and exciting to me in their own ways, and I’m not going to get into details because then I’d have to write a novel here, but yesterday I came to a realization at the Rush concert.
Nightwish put on an almost flawless show of intelligent, well written progressive rock, and although I am much newer to the band’s music, I knew many of their songs well. But the Rush show had far more emotional impact and was a far better to me for that reason. Why? Because I am emotionally invested in their music, I grew up with them, they influenced me in a big way both personally and musically as a producer with their technically challenging, jazz influenced, progressive style rock. Rush drummer Neil Peart‘s impersonal approach to lyrics and his propensity for addressing diverse subject matter including science fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, as well as secular, humanitarian and libertarian themes always seem to leave me wanting more with the lyrics to most songs I hear and work with.

The show reminded me that this emotional investment that comes from the fact that music affects you at specific times in your life based on what is happening and what your going through and gives the music and the artist even more impact to you personally.
That personal connection and relationship is what the new music industry is based on; It’s not about a physical product any more, it is ALL about that relationship between the artist and those they affect, their audience.

I’ve added a Rush song below for you ‘Subdivisions’, which according to Neil, is “an exploration of the background from which all of us (and probably most of our audience) have sprung.” I highly doubt the music will have the emotional impact for you that it does for me, but that’s what makes my relationship with the artist special. Now if only Rush had a blog!

I got back from Beijing China and Hong Kong recently, and I’ve been putting off this post for some time because honestly, I don’t know where to start. It’s an incredible place. Combine that with an unforgettable experience working with the talented Elika Mahony and some other Chinese musicians, and it gets more challenging to summarize, but here is my attempt.

I was working most of the time I was in Beijing, so I only saw so much. It was cool to work with some local chinese musicians, composers, singers for one project. At one point, none of them could understand what I was saying when Elika was out of the room and unable to translate, so I just hit the record button and things worked out! It was really great to work with Elika in person on some exciting new music and help with her studio setup.

I realised China is quite different than what I expected and the ideas about it many have. Sure, some things are more difficult, but otherwise, in many ways, people there can actually have it better than we do. It rained for a couple days and was windy so I got to see the clear sky, otherwise it is a haze. But the pollution isn’t as big a deal as some make it out to be depending on where you are. There are rows and rows of trees in the suburbs as far as the eye can see, just to help with the pollution though. And there are dogs and cats running around everywhere, and people have dogs as pets. Another thing I found unexpected here: Unlike India, There are not only a lot of Caucasians, but people of all races and backgrounds that speak english and a number of other languages. I’ve went to Italian, Indian, and middle eastern resteraunts that are actually better than Canada.

Another thing that is superior China is the service. For every one person serving you in retail or food industry, there are 4 in China waiting on you, and they do it with pride and sincerity unlike ‘the great west’, and the selection is massive and cheap. Quality, well that is another matter, but that is getting better as well… China is the land of the seemingly perfect knockoff. I was fooled. And yes, the great wall is incredible, photos can’t describe how massive it is. You basically have to climb a mountain to get to it as it is at the tops of the mountains, and when you are on it, it is wide enough for a car to drive on it. When you look out from it, it stretches across the mountain tops as far as the eye can see like a dragon across the mountains. China is beautiful in many ways. You can very likely have a higher quality of life there than in North America or even Europe. Yes, that’s right, in a communist country. Another sign of the collapse of the supposed ‘developed world’

And then there’s Hong Kong, the massive mecca, New York of Asia, of excess and the ultimate in selection and diversity from around the world. The buildings are 4 times the size of any you have seen. It is intense, and exhausting, but cool as well. over 7 million people and the streets are spotless. Thanks Ron for giving me a good taste of the ultimate modern city.

So I would go back again, and my view of the world is now forever changed. I have learned some valuable lessons, some that will undoubtedly affect the future of my career as a producer. But I wouldn’t change the experience as I have grown as a person because I no longer have to rely on certain misconceptions.
Now it’s back to my regular life, at least for the moment.

I’ve decided to create a widget to share my current fave songs because lately, I can barely contain myself about some of the music I have been listening to. (I’m not sure why really as no one I know or even work with really shares my eclectic and extreme range of taste in music…)

The first artist I have been really into lately is Finnish band Nightwish, which, if you listen to their older material with previous vocalist, have successfully married hard rock, opera and electronic music, no small feat. Their video for Amaranth puts to shame most north american music videos, never mind their music production. I was pleased to hear they are coming here on tour soon.

[myspace 15949066 Nightwish-Amaranth Video ]

And completely different, the other track I have been into lately is M.I.A ‘Baamboo Banga’
I have put this with other favorites in my box on the sidebar to the left.
When you come back to this blog next time, check it out for my latest favorite tracks!
You can even subscribe to my fave files widget using rss if you roll like that:
http://www.box.net/public/xqegzxngg0/rss.xml

Well, I’ve got my tickets and it’s confirmed, In two weeks I will be in China!
I am going to Beijing and Hong Kong for some music projects with Elika Mahony.

I am very excited to see what the new superpower of the world is like. I have been to the other superpower of the world, India a few years ago, and it was totally incredible.

I’ll let you know all about China when I get back… just not here on this blog.

Ever since I was a kid, i have loved the Cylons from the TV show Battlestar Galactica. I even made my very own super cool silver cylon mask out of paper mache for halloween once. When fan of the modern remake of BSG, and an artist I have produced, Laura Harley joked about listening to Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’ and thinking ‘enjoy the cylons’, I had my fuel to create the ultimate cylon tribute video.

Over the last few months, this video has become quite a mash up. What I did is start with the remix of Enjoy The Silence by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. Then I edited it and re created parts so that Laura could sing over top. So that was the musical mash up, a remake of the remix of the original song.
Then for the video, I cut my favorite clips, chosen to work with the lyrics of the song, and give a good overview of the new and old cylons, and show some of the drama and conflict between the cylons themselves.

So enough reading already, check out the video!

Enjoy The Cylons: Battlestar Galactica vs Depeche Mode on Vimeo.

(I posted a high quality download of this in comments below, because the youtube video is not available anymore in it’s original form.)

Last year I blogged about how the music industry is changing along with a lot of others…
Recently, A very detailed 18 page report has been published by renowned technology and market research company, Forrester. I don’t have access to the entire article, as that would be expensive, but here is the essence of it:

• Half of all music sold in the US will be digital in 2011 and sales of digitally downloaded music will surpass physical CD sales in 2012, reaching $4.8 billion in revenue by 2012, but in 2012, CD sales will be reduced to just $3.8 billion.
• “Media executives eager to stay afloat in this receding tide must clear the path of discovery and purchase, but only hardware and software providers can ultimately make listening to music as easy as turning on the radio.”
• The average MP3 player is only 57 percent full, suggesting that the devices are underutilized (correct in my case)
• DRM(digital rights management copy protection)-free music enables every profile page on MySpace.com or Facebook to immediately become a music store where friends sell friends their favorite tracks
• Cable TV style subscription music services will show modest growth, reaching just $459 million in revenue in 2012, while experiments in ad-supported downloads will be silenced by the powerful combination of DRM-free music and on-demand music streaming on sites like imeem.com
• It is now very clear: Digital Ownership IS The Music Model For The Future
• Forester’s recommendation to the ailing music industry: Solve The ‘Discovery Of New Music’ Problem Consumers Have First, Then Get Out Of The Consumer’s Way!

And the MOST important finding of this whole article in my opinion is:
“The industry has to redefine what its product is,” said analyst McQuivey. “Music executives have spent years tracking CD sales. But the ARTIST is the product — not just the source of it.
New forms of revenue will come from unexpected sources. For example, the industry has failed to capitalize on the growing popularity of video games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. In a market where musicians are happy to sell a million copies of a CD, a video game market where titles can sell five million copies is enough to motivate even the most depressed music executive.”
The Forrester report is based in part on a survey of more than 5,000 consumers in the US and Canada.

I found it particularly interesting that way back in 2001, Forester did a study that the industry essentially ignored that proved digital music sales to be the future of music.

More here: www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9874319-7.html
Forester document: www.forrester.com/go?docid=43759

Over the last 3 years I have been producing an album that is quite different than what I usually do by the very talented composer, pianist, and singer, Elika Mahony.
I have blogged last year about some of the challenges of producing an album like this, and about how intense a project like this can become.
With it’s combination of electronic elements with piano, live cello, guitar, and flute and other exotic live instruments such as Persian santur, nay flute, and Chinese erhu, I have to say that this album, called ‘Fire And Gold’ is not only the most diverse and elaborate production I have worked on, but one of the most expensive. But it has done extremely well, selling over a thousand copies shortly after release thanks to Elika’s innovative music promotion techniques worldwide. You can listen here.

For those who are familiar with the musical styles I usually produce, the classical and new age overtones of this spiritually inspired Baha’i album on the theme of tests and difficulties of life may not be your thing. But you will most likely still be able to appreciate Elika’s sweet voice and elegant melodies.

Elika is also using some of the latest online music promotion techniques such as selling electronic versions of her songs online by donation, and offering discounts for multiple CD orders. One of her fan’s have even created a music video for one of the songs, This Is Faith.

In the ongoing fight for the music industry to try and maintain the control they *used* to have, Canada is proposing a new compulsory music tax in addition to the digital download taxes, levy on digital music players, and the levy on blank CD’s. I kid you not, we are talking about billions of dollars collected here, and do you think I will get compensated when my music is downloaded? Nope. But Celine Dion will!

You can read the propaganda that the music industry has sent the media here.

I say propaganda because much of the information in this article comes from the music industry and is very misleading, such as the statement “More than 80% of Canada’s musicians earn less than $15,000 annually.”
This is not because of illegal downloading, but because of things like the lousy music that is released that people won’t pay for, artists who don’t promote themselves, and the fact that most artists go bankrupt because the retail stores, label, and distributors take over 70% of the profits from CD sales. Remove those people from the food chain and you have the new music industry, where the artist is back on top. and THAT is a proven fact.
(I get into this more in this post about the massive changes in the industry)
I’m really getting tired of media being too lazy to research this stuff before publishing, aren’t you?.

The incredible thing is this new tax, much like the levies mentioned above would be charged to everyone who uses the internet in Canada, not just those who download music, creating in total billions in tax and levy revenue for the music industry. How things like this get passed as law in a supposed democracy is beyond me.
What’s interesting is if it does become law, it will essentially make downloading music legal, along with burning music, which is essentially also legal now because we are paying dearly for it.
And that means that everything will change forever in the consumption of music. I only wish it could be done fairly, you know the good old way, where the industry gives the consumer what they want and get compensated for doing so, rather than by force.