The Culture Café Hunts the New Media
Part 1: Indies Records shows how to cope with new digital downloads.
MP3 Means Less CD's
The invention of the mp3 file, which can store musical information in a playable computer file, has set off a complex string of events and consumer choices which have changed the way we listen to music. When we changed from the LP to the CD, we were amazed at how portable and ubiquitous our music could be. Suddenly, we could play music on a train or in a car, with much better quality than the old cassettes. Quickly, cassettes and records were replaced in the music shop with gleaming colorful CD cases.
Now that mp3's are supplanting the CD, and record labels are going the way of the cassette, the radio host is left with a dilemma - how can I maintain contact with artists, and get their music out on the airwaves? Last year, one Czech label - Indies Records - came to me with a solution.
Indies.eu Comes To The Rescue
Indies Records produces and markets acoustic, folk, classical and pop music of the Czech Republic out of their offices near Prague. In the late 90's I received their pro-motional material, a few new releases and their very extensive catalog. But with shipping costs being so high, it was difficult to receive many releases from them. The language barrier didn't help either when I tried to contact them via email. By 2005, it was becoming difficult to receive many new releases from any foreign labels . Some of my show's European stalwarts - Felmay, ARC, and RealWorld - all cut back severely on the music they sent to WWUH, mostly because of costs.
Last year, Indies Records contacted me again, describing their well thought out system of digital distribution for their music. It relies on the user being able to download the music, similar to iTunes. they had decided to make their distribution all digital. That meant that they would no longer be sending me any physical CD's, but they did give me limited access to their downloadable catalog. With a username and password, I can now preview and download music from their website at indies.eu for free for the station. After about six months of "getting around to it", I finally started learning the process. I could select artists from their entire catalog, whole albums or single songs. The album artwork is included in the download, and every artist has their own page including a description of the artist , recent reviews (mostly in Czech, but some in English). and all of their albums. There are also some free song downloads for everyone who want to try out a few bands before buying.
This brought up several advantages. First there is more to choose from. I can choose the albums I want versus the label sending me what they are selling. Second, I can get the album as quickly as I can download it, which is pretty fast. Third, news and information about every artist is available on the site, and I can access it everywhere there is an internet access, including in the broadcast room. I now have downloaded a few of their artists, and keep up to date every week or two by checking their site for new albums.
The Website to the Airwaves in six somewhat easy steps
To tell the truth, it ends up being a lot more work for me. WWUH does not have the capacity to simply plug in an mp3 player to the broadcast board and play an mp3, as at some other stations. Instead of receiving pre-recorded CD's with artwork in the mail, usually without the jewel case, I have to jump through the following hoops.
- Log onto the Indies records website (they have an English version and a Czech version)
- Start searching through their catalog for relavent material. It helps to have their latest announcement email which seems to come monthly. I look for acoustic or folk based music, but I am not averse to the new sounds of bands like Gypsy.cz which mix in beats and experiment with new production methods or Traband which uses modern rock alongside singer-songwriter format.
- Once I find an artist I like, I usually look for their latest CD. On the page with the CD artwork is a description of the artist and the music, and the ability to play the CD without downloading it (streaming). If I still think the music will fit in with the show, I click on a download icon.
- At this point, a non-media user would be prompted for their payment information. The songs cost 0.58 euros each, equivalent to about 87 cents US - cheaper than Amazon or iTunes' $0.99 per song.
- I specify where on my computer I want the music to be downloaded to, then my browser takes care of the rest. Even though I have what I thought was a very large hard drive, I have noticed that it is filling up quickly with these downloads. The way out is to copy the mp3's to a CD-ROM on my cd recorder. I can put four to six albums on each CD-ROM, as long as the music is in mp3 format. I label the CD-ROM and make sure the songs are in separate files on the CD and not in folders . I try to copy the artwork and lyric book too, if it is available to be downloaded. I label each CD with the artist, album name, but the song list is a separate piece of paper. Now I can take it to the station for airplay.
- WWUH has two CD players capable of playing CD-ROM's. All of the CD players can play regular CD's. The problem is knowing what is where on the CD, and getting to the right track with the player. This is where my paper labeling comes in handy because I cannot see the file names on the player.
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It is my goal during my show to present music
from the rest of the world, which enlightens and entertains. The
Culture Café is a place where one can learn and be enriched by the
cultures of other humans occupying this earth.
It is my hope that once you hear the honest and emotional music
from another culture there's no reason anymore to be afraid of them.
This is the beginning of peace in our hearts and in our countries.
Join me on my website to see all my music
reviews, some links to concert websites, a list of world music labels
geocities.com/culturecafe913
Streaming audio from a recent Culture Café
show can be found at: wwuh.org/program/music/folk/sunday/culture_cafe.html
Other highly recommended websites for music
from the rest of the world: Afropop Worldwide - based on the weekly
Public Radio show: afropop.org
World Music to listen to and purchase: CDRoots.com
Links to ethnographic studies from the University
of Indiana: library.music.indiana.edu/music_resources/ethnic.html
Or email me for specific requests:
Brian Grosjean, World Music Director
"World Peace Through Cultural Celebration"
WWUH Radio 91.3FM
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117
Office: (860) 768-4703
Culture.cafe@earthlink.net
E-mail Brian: culturecafe913@yahoo.com
WWUH Program Guide 2008
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