RumbleBLOG

Recently, the music-business blogger extraordinaire behind TheMusicSnob.com interviewed our fearless leader, Paul Anthony, about Rumblefish and music licensing, and Paul offered up tips about submissions and placement to aspiring musicians (check out his words of wisdom here). Since turnaround is fair play, we thought we’d ask Mr. Snob (or, as his mother calls him, Brian) about his site, his feelings about the industry and the music he makes himself, and he was only too glad to oblige.

You’ve said that you started TheMusicSnob.com as a way to “figure out” the music industry, but was there some “ah ha” moment that really made you actually sit down and start writing?
TheMusicSnob.com began as a Wikipedia-style resource for people to add and edit information on venues, blogs and any other music-related tool or business. You can see the wiki here. Unlike Wikipedia, though, our wiki is intended to be a subjective resource, where “snobs” can leave pros and cons related to any subject at hand, as a way for each musician to share their insight and personal experiences. The Music Snob wiki continues to grow, but it wasn’t answering some specific questions I really wanted to address. So I started the blog, where I can post my own findings, such as interviews with companies like Rumblefish, research into licensing, and any humorous asides I feel like contributing.

What kind of response have you received from readers?
Response has been very positive. People enjoy the playful and sometimes sarcastic tone, coupled with our serious analysis. The content seems to fall into three general types, which attract different readers. A lot of beginning musicians dig the basic industry articles. Others with more particular needs, such as licensing info, seek out the company interviews and articles. And we get a lot of non-musicians through places like StumbleUpon that eat up some of the ridiculous humor posts.

Where do you get your information for the site?
There are several music “marketing” and “business news” blogs that I tend to sweep regularly, but my most useful resource is really my personal experience. I write the blog as I am, a musician trying to answer different questions about making and marketing music. My favorite way of getting answers is to interview people. Instead of wasting time surfing the internet, I love calling someone in the industry on the phone and getting their honest perspective. It’s so much more valuable.

How do you decide what to cover or who to profile on your site?
Company profiles are typically the result of questions I want to answer. For example, since I am very interested in licensing my music, I profile music licensing companies. Other times, people approach me offering to share their experience. I love doing this because it gives me and my readers valuable info and acts as a promotional tool for musicians and others we cover, so it’s a win-win situation. If anyone reading this wants to be interviewed for TheMusicSnob, just drop me a line at brian@themusicsnob.com.

What is the best or most helpful lesson that you’ve learned since starting the site?
Looking more closely at the industry has changed my expectations and priorities. I’ve realized that the opportunity costs (for an unknown artist) of selling a $0.99 download to someone online are not worth the investment of time and energy required. The returns just aren’t there. So I’ve decided to let consumers have my music for free, and try to focus on licensing opportunities. My goal at this point is to help pay down my recording bills, so I can go back in the studio and generate more bills! 

Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your own music.

My music can be downloaded for FREE here.
 I think of my songs as individual movies, really; original narratives with compelling lyrics, and beautiful orchestrations that reflect the terms of a song. Each song represents a hypothetical reality, moment or emotion personified. To do so, they must be internally consistent; in other words, each instrumental part and each lyric work in unison towards a common purpose. People have always told me that my music reminds them of the movies. It’s emotive, sometimes intense, and each song typically has a dramatic arc reflecting a narrative development. And the sounds themselves, which lately have included lush string arrangements, reinforce the similarities to soundtrack music. So I think my music is particularly well-suited to movie soundtracks, because it contains so much character development and emotional movement already. The listener senses that something important or beautiful is occurring, and wants to be a part of that.

Are you really a music snob?
I am a huge music snob!

What’s the most “music-snobby” thing about you?
I tend to be very critical during a first listening. Looking back on the first time I heard some of my favorite albums, I thought they sucked. It’s only after hearing something a couple more times that I give it a fair chance. I’m also very opinionated about music orchestration. I think each note should exist as part of a larger purpose, so I like to hear well-written instrumental parts that show an awareness of melody and harmony, where the instrumental lines engage each other, and develop somehow. One of the worst things about pop music these days is that the instrumental tracks are written not to be heard, really, but merely to fill the space behind the singer’s voice. This is a wasted chance to extend and nuance a song’s message.

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