An open letter from Alan Wilder

The online magazine Sideline has exclusively published an open letter from Alan Wilder (Recoil, ex-Depeche Mode), titled "Music For The Masses - I think not", in which Wilder handles his vision on today's shifting music market and the position of the artist in this. Originally intended to be an interview, it quickly turned into a small essay in which Wilder touches the volume war, the effect of excessive compression, the download spiral, alternative ways to release music, the birth of the fan powered release of the limited enhanced single 'Prey'/'Allelujah' in Russia, Mute Records, Depeche Mode, and much more.

Link: Alan Wilder interview

This open letter offers you a unique insight in the music vision of Alan Wilder, one of the most influential musicians from the electronic scene.

CD or not CD - is it the question?

Is the CD format finally on the way out? If you ask Elvis Costello, the answer's a definite "yes," as he's announced he's releasing his next album Momofuku (due April 22), in vinyl and digital versions only. Elvis, of course, isn't the only one noting the disc's demise (nor that vinyl still holds value). OK, it's not as if the compact disc will go away all that quickly. Still, as with Radiohead's In Rainbows pricing experiment, it's one of those announcements that takes a bold stand and points to the future.

Will CD-On-Demand technology save the music industry?

Will CD-On-Demand (COD) technology save the music industry? More than likely not. What it does – and does it very well – is offer independent labels and artists a viable, attractive and economical means to offer their releases to music consumers.

What is COD? During the last 20 years, while CDs have remained the public's music format of choice, manufacturing technology has advanced to the point where professional pressings can be made to order. What started as an option for the Big Three to sell back catalogue releases has slowly been taken up by independent labels and artists for their new releases.

How does it work? The music is digitised and manufactured to the CD without audio compression, i.e. "Red Book" standard. The CD's physical specifications, tracks, and sampling are as per the original masters. This ensures the listener is hearing the music in its full recording quality. The CDs also come with the original artwork – although massive booklets are cut down to around 4 pages.

What’s the attraction? For an independent record label, getting distribution can be a tricky proposition...akin to walking through a minefield while wearing oversized boots. Labels are required to divulge all manner of proprietary information to a potential traditional retail music distributor while it, in turn, is reluctant to reveal any. The label really never knows what the distributor is really going to do in terms of pushing a release until after the contract is signed. And jockeying for a release date can be a hair-greying experience.

With the COD process, a savvy label knows where it stands. It’s entirely down to the label to market and promote its releases. There is no need for sensitive company information to be shared with utter strangers. A release date can be set in terms of days instead of weeks or months. More likely than not, royalty statements can be accessed in real time online. And, as CDs are only ever manufactured when a customer buys one online, there is no need for warehouse rental, stock insurance and, even better, the COD company handles the posting of the CDs. Last, but by no means least, the revenue split between a label and a COD manufacturer is far better than those between a label and a traditional music distributor.

Not every system is perfect. COD is no exception. People can only purchase COD CDs online. A customer will have to have a credit card or some alternative online method of paying (e.g. PayPal). There are also tax and import costs involved for international postage like any other import CD. These are relatively small prices to pay to provide music in a format that is still popular the world over.

COD is by no means the panacea, the holy grail or the magic wand to address the problems endemic within the music industry. So, while COD won’t save the music industry, it does provide an attractive means for the independent artist and the independent label to sell releases.

To find out more about how COD works, you can visit:

The Disk Kiosk or Sono Press or CDJ Shop

2008 - the year of psytrance in the UK?

Rumour has it that this will be the year that psytrance breaks through in the UK. While it has to be said that the same thing was said in 2006 and 2007…Ministry of Sound’s recent acknowledgement of the genre seems to bode well. Watch this space…

The big move

The move to our new HQ went far more smoothly than any of us had dared hope. Even the painting and decorating – which I’m kind of pleased to say we did entirely in-house. While things like re-building rotted window frames may not be for the faint hearted, the finished effort looks the business. And not a hint of Lawrence Lleweyln‐Bowen or Terrance Conran is to be seen. My lasting thought is that white gloss paint is still the most evil substance known to man.

Being much more visible has its good points and its bad. Relationships with regional press are booming. People singing outside the office...well...

Aardvark Records and voeveo announce music competition winner

Voeveo and Aardvark Records are pleased to announce London-based act Riveraire as the grand prize winner in the audio category of the voeveo incubator competition. voeveo’s incubator programme is all about supporting and helping creative people learn skills to build their mobile business.

The winning mobile fulltrack was "Down To The Ground", a rousing acoustic pop track with a bitter sweet lyric. Riveraire wins global digital distribution and promotion with the Cornwall-based independent record label Aardvark Records as part of the audio Grand Prize. Aardvark will license the winning track.

Alex di Savoia, Head of Communications at Aardvark Records, said; "As far as we’re aware this is the first deal of its kind in the music industry. A label scouting and working with an artist based on the strength of their audio productions for mobile telephones shows just how much the music industry is changing."

Annabel Youens, Community Director of voeveo said: "It's been quite amazing to see the Incubator succeed. It was always our vision to help independent artists form new relationships and build their skills by partnering them with industry mentors. We built voeveo to empower bands, musicians and other creative artists to manage their business how they want and tap into explosive mobile market. It's been a real pleasure to see Riveraire win and connect with Aardvark Records. Congrats!"

Riveraire’s Caroline Loftus said: "We’re really thrilled and excited about winning the Incubator Competition and for the opportunity to connect with a wider audience with the help of voeveo and Aardvark Records. As independent artists, it’s fantastic to receive mentorship and support at a grass roots level. It feels like a real boost for us and fellow independent artists who are striving to make their mark in the mobile and digital arenas."

Riveraire is an accomplished acoustic pop songwriting trio, bringing together the talents of London based Australian writer and performer Caroline Loftus and British songwriters Paul Carr and Paul Nolan. Their name harks back to the two Pauls’ northern roots and the river Aire in Yorkshire. Since meeting in London seven years ago, the team has been carefully crafting a catalogue of songs that combine soaring melodies, heartfelt words and Caroline’s rich and luscious vocals.

"Down To The Ground" will be distributed globally through Aardvark’s digital distribution network, including iTunes, MSN, Napster, eMusic and numerous other household digital music brand names.

London Trip: Day 6

The first port of call was The Telegraph. To say their office space in Victoria is impressive would be like saying China has a somewhat large population. Chilling out in the mezzanine lounge area, I almost forgot why I was there - I was there with Jane and Annabel from voeveo to chat about voeveo with the Communities Editor and Digital Editor.

While we covered similar ground to the Blognation interview, the subject of CD on Demand technology came up. Aardvark has just signed a deal with CDJShop and we’re pretty hot about the whole technology. I see it as revolutionising how CDs will be bought and manufactured. For those not in the know, CD on Demand allows a buyer to place an order for a CD online which then sees the order received and a retail quality CD manufactured in minutes.

Sound simple enough. So what’s the revolution? This technology means that CDs are only manufactured when there is an order. This eliminated the need for mass manufacturing of albums – which have to be stored somewhere prior to shipping. Eliminating storage requirements means there isn’t a need for costly insurance. The savings just roll on from there. Manufacturing savings are reflected in the costs of CDs which, on the whole, are significantly less expensive than traditional retail CDs. Labels and artists receive more from sales as there are no third parties in the distribution chain.

While there is a place for traditional retail CDs and traditional distribution (I’m still a fan of lazy afternoons milling around music retail shops), CD on Demand offers a real and viable alternative…especially for independent labels who find access to traditional distribution difficult.

The remainder of the day was spent speaking with music press and quelling rumours that I was in town because 1) Aardvark was being bought and/or 2) I was being headhunted by a major label. How these things get started never ceases to amaze and amuse me. I have too many things left to accomplish at Aardvark to even think of leaving. And while Aardvark has achieved rather a lot in a very short space of time, it hasn’t achieved nearly enough to be of serious interest to a major label or large independent. Cross my heart!