“I’d like to make the rather provocative case, here at the beginning of a radio
conference, that Radio is not merely obsolete, but is so devoid of coherent
meaning as a concept delineating a category of media, that we might as well
abandon the idea of it alltogether.”
“To be absolutely clear: radio skills are, I would argue, more relevant than ever
because we have pushed through the bottom and have ended up back at the
top… In a new context, in a new era, with new tools and new audiences – but with techniques, understandings and, most importantly, the experience to make it work.”
On paper, Google is taking a principled stand in favor of open
technologies. But they’re not really. First, WebM is not truly
an open technology because it almost certainly uses patents owned
by MPEG-LA or its members. Right now, the patent holders are
ignoring it because it’s too small to bother with. We’ve seen
this tactic many times before (for example, NTP vs. RIM): bide
your time until a lot of people are using the infringing software
and then hit it with a massive lawsuit for maximum profit. WebM
is its own patent trap, and Google refuses to indemnify users
against possible claims further down the road. If they were
certain it was IP-clean then why hesitate to provide that
protection? Clearly they don’t want that unknown, possibly large
liability on their balance sheet.
I am attending the second edition of Un-convention Groningen, which takes place in the shadows of the Eurosonic Noorderslag Seminar in Groningen. As was the case with the first edition, it is awesome. And I am not saying that just because New Music Labs, the company I co-founded in 2009, organizes it 🙂
There is no money in arts, anymore
Obviously, a lot of the folks on the various panels testify to the fact that there is hardly any money left in making music. The big margins (if they ever existed) have disappeared for all. Only by ways of full-on, relentless hard work are most musicians able to make a living of their arts. As is the case for video-makers.
There is no money in music videos, either
During the panel on the role of the music video, it became clear that the times that big sums were paid to movie-makers to create video clips for music are over as well. But panelist Andre Maat said a few interesting things.
First off, he decided to only make videos for music that he actually liked. Because there is hardly any pay in it, he decided to only invest his time in stuff that he enjoyed.
Secondly, he decided to try and do something new for every new clip. Something that he had never done before. Just to keep it interesting, he used the occasion to experiment.
And then, the magic happens. Because if that experimentation resulted in really stunning video’s, like the one for Kraak & Smaak below, he immediately got requests to do that same thing for a well paid commercial. Sometimes even more than once.
There is money in a good creative portfolio, though
So there you have it, being creative might not pay real euro’s right away. Being creative does allow you to experiment, build your portfolio and get well-paid jobs as a result. So if you’re in a band, find video makers that can work with your music to expand their portfolio. If you’re a designer, find a band that suits you and develop new work together. Put all of that in your portfolio, it will be worth somehing eventually. And if not, you had a great time creating anyways 🙂
