December 02, 2005

• We haven't updated the website in a couple of years, but I'm still proud to be a member of the Independent Electronic Musician Collective. Although I don't know if any of us could claim to have "made it".. We do have positive relationships with the net and each other..
• MC Frontalot via Song Fight! has done pretty well.
• Arctic Monkeys (spit) got to number one in the UK based mostly on internet chatter. Everyone seems to forget that to get to number one nowadays you have to sell approximately four copies of your single. Test Icicles got signed to Domino based mostly on the strength of their Myspace page.
• The other day I heard a great story on NPR about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! and what a good Pitchfork review did for them.
• > known for their positive relationships with the internet public enemy released there's a poison goin' on as an mp3 download way back in '99 (due to some dispute with their label at the time). chuck d has been vocal in his defense of file sharing and p2p.
• Dang muteboy, you beat me to it. I was just listening to the Front yesterday. He's a funny guy.
• Harvey Danger released their latest album as a free download.
• Oh yeah, ah, Arctic Monkeys, internet chatter, yes, yes indeed. Wolf Parade.
• The Decemberists first music video (for "Sixteen Military Wives" was released via BitTorrent
• They Might Be Giants springs to mind, with their Homestar Runner associations and the "clock radio" downloadable free stream program. I think they also had some sort of thing called "Dial-a-Tone" a while ago, although I don't really remember what it was all about, nor can I find it on their website.
• Internet-based artists are about all I listen to, so answering the second part of your question might be kind of silly. As far as "made it", it's hard to tell. DJ Dangermouse comes to mind, as does any of the many live artists on archive.org. Or do you just want some good free music to download? (warning: preponderance of electronica, randomness)
• John Frusciante released a bunch of demos and an entire album on the internet. Despite his pseudo-obscurity I think the internet contributed heavily to his solo successes.
• Also worth a mention: Steadman has embraced the internet with a vengeance. And they've gotten multiple BoingBoing mentions so it's probably been worth it.
• I've heard that Jane Siberry recently put up a bunch of her albums for download with "self-determined" pricing.
• I think they also had some sort of thing called "Dial-a-Tone" a while ago, although I don't really remember what it was all about, nor can I find it on their website. Perhaps you're thinking of Dial-A-Song?
• Oh yeah, ah, Arctic Monkeys, internet chatter, yes, yes indeed. So it was your fault!
• Man, how could I forget DJ Danger Mouse for the Grey Album and the Decemeberists, "reportedly the first band to distribute a video via bittorrent"? Thanks all! Short list though...
• Lightning Bolt, A Hawk and A Hacksaw, Vampire Belt, and Make A Rising are all pretty cool hipster, instrumental bands. This promotion site gets some pretty good musicians to put up mp3s.
• Janis Ian, who has written a very good article about the issue.
• That Janis Ian article is a good read, JB! Thanks. Although perhaps not new in outlook to most people here (she's for free downloading and she's anti-RIAA), the followup to her original article had this amusing epilog: "Change in merchandise sales after article posting (previous sales averaged over one year): Up 25% Change in merchandise sales after beginning free downloads: Up 300% Offers of server space to store downloads: 31 Offers to help me convert to Linux: 16 Offers to help convert our download files from MP3 to Ogg Vorbis: 9 Offers to publish a book expose of the music industry I should write: 5 Offers to publish a book expose of my life I should write: 3 Offers to ghost-write a book expose of my life I shouldn't write: 2 Offers of marriage: 1"