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To say that the music
industry is currently in total turmoil would be a grand if not also laughable
understatement. Major artists are leaving their labels (Madonna), others are
successfully releasing albums themselves from their flats in Oxford (Radiohead), and still others are
engaging in some combination of both, like purposely leaking their own material
ahead of schedule by leaving music-filled USB drives in bathrooms during their
shows (Nine Inch Nails). But as the music industry scrambles to reshape itself
and keep up with the digital revolution in music making and distribution, music
itself is arguably as popular and
interesting as ever. So why can’t industry leaders figure out what to do?
Unlike the music industry
as a whole, Vincent Moon seems to know what he is doing, and does it extremely
well. For over two years, Moon has been producing and directing music videos on
the streets of Paris and other exotic locales, by which I mean: windy rooftops
(Sufjan Stevens), alleyways (Stephen
Malkmus), tiny bathrooms (Grizzly Bear), parking lots (Animal Collective),
elevators (Arcade Fire), and phone booths (Casiotone for the Painfully Alone).
The videos, which Moon calls “Les Concerts a Emporter,”
are then posted to La Blogotheque, a
French website, and as of this week there are 90 different sets to enjoy. The
website translates “Les Concerts” as “Take Away Shows,” and the industry would
be wise to take notice.
Considering the
tumultuous state of music consumption nowadays, two facets of Moon’s video
collection stand out: 1) their seemingly low-fi, haphazard aesthetic, and 2)
the fact that they are available without any overt promotion for the artists,
their labels, their albums, or any other “tangible” industry product. One gets
the sense that Moon is making these videos because he truly just wants to watch
these people play in wholly unique ways, and then wants to let others watch as
well, the result of which is one part voyeurism, two parts exhibitionism, and
zero parts music corporation. As such, I’m poised to posit that a specific
seismic shift is occurring that the music industry is unwilling, or unable, to
embrace.
The shift, to put it
clearly, is one away from music as an über polished, neatly packaged experience
and toward music as being an organic and impermanent encounter. The name “Take
Away Shows,” accordingly, begs two simultaneous interpretations. First, these
videos are meant, quite literally, for the taking. They are available without a
subscription or a password or membership, and even come commercial-free, and
that’s obviously the point; the shows are pure, untainted music. It’s the
equivalent of musical Protestantism. Gone are the days in which you needed a
Catholic priest to intervene on your behalf; direct access to God is available
here and now without stuffy, corrupt intermediaries. There’s a pervasive sense
of nonchalance to Moon’s entire project, therefore, and it’s accompanied by a
feeling that the musicians just want to make music; they could care less, it
seems in these videos, if they get paid. If that’s true (a fact that is, of
course, debatable), the music industry is rendered wholly irrelevant and
superfluous in a system whereby art is consumed for art’s sake. The second
interpretation is that these little mini concerts are available “to go,” as if
the ticketed show has already happened and now you’ve caught the band behind
the venue, about to board the bus, but willing to play just one more song (a
second or third encore, perhaps), just for you. “We can’t promise it will be
that good,” you can imagine the band saying, “but here goes.” And then what
unfolds is an unparalleled performance that lets you into the nuanced behavior
of the musicians (their quirks, mistakes, patterns, and personalities) like
you’ve never seen before. No CD I know of has that bonus feature, that’s for sure, but it’s evidently what
listeners and viewers want.
Take Beirut’s performance
of “Nantes,” for
example, which has been watched over 475,000
times on YouTube (another version of the same song played while the band
descends a stairwell has been watched over 200,000 times, and yet another post
of the same video has seen over 100,000 plays). In the performance, the band
members look like any other group of people. Dressed casually, lead singer Zach
Condon strolls leisurely in a ragged sweater and with tousled hair. On the
streets of midday Paris, it’s convincing that Beirut doesn’t need a
record, a record label, or even a “real” concert; the art is so great that they
can play anywhere, anytime, on anything. “I don’t think we’re marching
today...we’re just playing next to these trashcans,” Condon says at the
beginning of the video. Yeah, right, just
playing next to the trashcans, like just anyone
could pull the song off. To boot, Moon’s direction is as inspiring as it is
lyrical and in the end the piece captures Beirut
in inimitable form.
But what does all this
mean, and what, more importantly, can the music industry learn from the
popularity from Moon’s work? The lesson (similar to the one they may have
learned from the Radiohead experiment) is that people still really like music.
A lot. As EMI’s new President Douglas Merrill has said, “I believe that fans will pay for music. I think the only
question is who they’ll pay and what they’ll pay...” Indeed. To equate
declining CD sales with a loss of interest in music in general would be a gross
mistake. Remarkable, sellable music is plainly all around us. Perhaps record
label executives need to get out of their offices, though, to see it. In fact,
such music may even be happening in the cafeteria of the label’s own building.
Vincent Moon has done stranger things than that, surely.
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it's like the Web. it's about the content. when something that looks like this (http://www.drudgereport.com/) gets 5.5 billion hits a year, well, we know that über polished and neatly packaged is not what's important.