The Beatles

It was 49 years ago today when the Fab Four invaded America via their beachhead on the Ed Sullivan Show. I was one week shy of my sixth birthday, but I still remember my family hurrying home from a Sunday visit to my Uncle Ted's house in Elwood to catch whatever in the world everybody was talking about. Well, it was worth talking about, and helped defined popular music for generations to come. 

I can't say that I was inspired to be a drummer by watching Ringo that night (as many doubtless were; my inspiration was Cubby on the Mickey Mouse Club), but it definitely had an impact. Watch it yourself to see why.

More on Amazon AutoRip

I recently wrote about Amazon AutoRip, which gives you free MP3 copies of any eligible CD you purchase from Amazon -- or have purchased in the past 15 years. Well, I purchase almost all my CDs from Amazon, and today received this email from them:

Dear Michael Miller, We thought you'd like to know that eligible songs from 647 CDs you have purchased from Amazon are being added to your Cloud Player library. This means that high-quality MP3 versions of these songs are available for you to play or download from Cloud Player for FREE. You can find your songs in the "Purchased" playlist. Please note that some songs from the above CDs are not eligible for this feature and may not be available in your Cloud Player library. In addition, we're excited to announce AutoRip. Now when you buy any CD with the logo, all songs from the MP3 version of that album will instantly be delivered to your Amazon Cloud Player library for FREE.

There was also a link to view all of the 647 CDs mentioned. Pretty sweet, if you ask me.

More Money

I've written before about the travails of the Minnesota Orchestra, whose musicians have now been locked out by management for more than 100 days. It's all because management wants the musicians to take a huge pay cut, in order to make the orchestra more profitable.

With that as background, I found the following somewhat incredible -- meaning, literally, it strained credibility. Last night, at dinner time, I fielded a call from the Minnesota Orchestra. (Not the musicians, but the management.) They were looking for me to contribute a little something something to their endowment fund. I gave the poor phone solicitor an earful about me supporting the musicians not the management, to which I got a continuation of the spiel, to which I said I wouldn't talk to them again until the musicians were paid what they're worth and hung up the phone.

End of story, until I got this follow-up email today. The gall of these people, begging for money while they lock out the musicians that make the Minnesota Orchestra great.


Here's the email:

Dear Mr. Miller,
Thank you for taking the time to speak with a Minnesota Orchestra Phone Representative regarding the Building for the Future campaign. 

The Campaign is poised to accomplish much more than capital improvements – our goal is to raise $30 million to help revitalize the current endowment. This important resource will ensure the continued growth of our artistic success and our financial viability, maintaining the Minnesota Orchestra as a source of inspiration for individuals of all ages for many generations to come. 

If you would like to learn more about this important initiative, please visit our campaign site. Again, thank you for your time. 

Sincerely,
Jessica Rau
Campaign Manager

Can you believe that? They want dissatisfied customers (excuse me, patrons) to contribute even more to their management coffers, even as we're deprived of music from our esteemed musicians. What a way to run a railroad...

Amazon AutoRip

Here's something cool, at least sort of. Amazon is introducing a new AutoRip service, which provides MP3 versions of selected CDs you purchase. Look for the blue/green AutoRip icon on new CD product pages; as soon as you purchase the CD, you also have access to MP3 versions of all the tracks, at no extra charge. These MP3 tracks are automatically added to your Amazon Cloud Player library, and can then be downloaded to your computer. The AutoRip tracks don't count towards your Cloud Player storage limits, either.

Even better, if you've purchased any CD from Amazno currently identified as AutoRip anytime in the past 15 years (since 1998), you get MP3 versions of those CDs for free, too. Kind of cool -- an added feature for past purchases. Good job, Amazon!

On the downside, we are are talking about MP3 files here, not lossless AAC or WMA. They're ripped at 256Kbps, which isn't horrible but could be better. And not every CD available has AutoRip capability; at present, only 50,000 CDs are available with AutoRip.

Still and all, a very nice way to build your digital library while still purchasing physical CDs. Learn more about AutoRip here.

Does Quality Matter?

I am saddened by the fact that so many people settle for low-quality digital recordings played on sub-hi fidelity equipment, such as the speakers in your average notebook computer. And I am further saddened by how many people don't really listen to music anymore, but just use it for background noise. All this is addressed in Steve Guttenberg's recent CNET column, "At What Point Does Lousy Sound Interfere with Enjoying Music?"

I find the comments to his article even more interesting. Like this one:

"Yes it's nice to hear great sounding music, but to me it's mostly background. I don't have that "oh my god, bluetooth sound, I'd rather hear nothing" attitude. I'll bet they believe gold plated digital connectors actually improve the sound quality."

Like I said, it saddens me. The days of having a few friends over to actually listen to a new album (and pass around the album cover, too) are long gone, apparently.

Music Sales

According to this article, 2012 music sales (revenues) were up 3.1%. However, individual track/album purchases (units) were down 1.8%. So people are buying slightly fewer items at slightly higher prices.

These numbers do not reflect royalties/licenses/whatever from digital music subscription services, such as Spotify, Pandora, and SiriusXM. Given the apparent shift from individual item sales/downloads to streaming subscriptions, this could be a big number. So things don't look so bad.

In specific detail, physical albums (CDs) remain the single largest format, even with a 12.8% decrease in unit sales. Digital album sales increased 14% and sales of individual digital tracks increased 5%. Those are smaller increases from past years, probably reflecting the shift to digital music streaming services.

My Brubeck Remembrances

Legendary jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck passed away on December 5th, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. It's gratifying to me how much Facebook and Twitter chatter has accompanied this event, virtually all praising Brubeck's music and many relaying personal remembrances associated with Mr. Brubeck and his tunes.

To that end, a few remembrances of my own.

My first encounter with Brubeck's music was back in 1972, when I was in 8th grade. I'd been taking drum lessons for three years or so, and my instructor, Jack Wagley, had just got me started on Joe Morello's New Directions in Rhythm book, which was all about playing in 3/4 and 5/4 time. I was doing fine with the 3/4 studies but not really swinging the 5/4 stuff. So Jack suggested (no, demanded) that I listen to some Dave Brubeck Quartet stuff, "Take Five" specifically. So I called up my dad and asked him to stop in at the local Lyric Records on his way home from work and pick up any Brubeck album with "Take Five" on it. He ended up bringing home a copy of Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits, which I immediately put on the old GE hi-fi and played the heck out of. I was hooked.

Well, the very next day after I got that first Brubeck LP, I was leaving my morning choir class when my choir teacher, Mrs. Earnshaw (I know her now as Phyllis Fulford) asked if I'd be interested in getting together some afternoons after school to "play a little Brubeck" with her on piano, band teacher Gene Smith on alto sax, and my ninth-grade friend Brian Siemers on bass. THE VERY NEXT DAY it was. Fortuitous. Of course, I said yes. The four of us put together a fairly good facsimile of the Brubeck Quartet, Mr. Smith had a nice light touch in the Desmond mold, Brian and I locked in the rhythm like we'd been doing it all along, and I even got to throw in my best Morello chops on the requisite "Take Five" drum solo. It was a blast, and we ended up playing "Take Five" at a Choral Club concert later that spring. I don't know who to thank, Phyl or my drum teacher or the unseen hand of fate, but that whole experience got me tuned into jazz in general and Brubeck in particular. And I can still swing the hell out of 5/4, thank you very much.

A little later that year the Brubeck Quartet came to town for an outdoor concert at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and Phyl and Brian and I snapped up tickets. It wasn't the "classic" Quartet; Desmond, Morello, and Wright were gone, replaced (if my memory serves me correctly) by Gerry Mulligan (bari sax), Alan Dawson (drums), and Jack Six (bass). But the concert was fantastic, and I even got talked into getting Brubeck's autograph for Phyllis, who was too shy or embarrassed or whatever to do it herself. This visit coincided with a clinic by Alan Dawson at Fred's Drums, the big local drum shop of the time, which was another fine learning experience. Heady times.

I listened to Brubeck pretty continuously over the years, but never got another chance to catch him in concert until a couple of years ago, after I'd moved up to the Twin Cities. He was playing with his long-standing current Quartet, with Bobby Militello on sax, Randy Jones on drums, and Michael Moore on bass. Brubeck himself was 89 years old, needed assistance getting to and from the piano, but played just as strongly as he had forty years before. It was a privilege to listen to the man play, a true joy.

And now, two years later, Dave Brubeck has left us. His music, however, remains, and remains a considerable influence on the worlds of both jazz and popular music. Brubeck was a unique pianist,  with his dense block chords punctuating the music in unexpected rhythms, while at the same time supporting his sweetly lyrical melodic lines. He was a very intelligent player, applying tons of advanced theory to even the simplest tunes; his own compositions were intricate and thoughtful, things of joy and beauty.

The world remembers Dave Brubeck for "Take Five," and that's fair, even if it wasn't his composition (Paul Desmond wrote it after hearing Joe Morello do some warm ups in five) and even if he didn't have a solo on it. But it was representative of his repertoire, cool and intelligent yet still swinging -- just like the man himself.

Dave Brubeck will be missed, of course, but will be remembered -- and will also be the key to other great memories. Thanks, Mr. Brubeck. You deserve a big time out.