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Newsletter 2020 August |
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What is the Future of Live Music?
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Right now is a difficult time for musicians and people whose livelihood depends on live music. Many musicians are out of work and some without income. What's going to happen when gigs are permitted? Will there be any small venues left to host live music? The organization NITO is sponsoring a Bill in Congress now called RESTART that will provide loans and grants to small business to cover 6 months of payroll, benefits, and expenses. Call your congressperson now and offer support for this Bill. Your support can help get this important Bill passed that may be instrumental in helping save some clubs. Here's the link:
https://nitolive.org/resources/congressional-outreach
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Art often thrives when given constraints. I asked our endorsers and artists what they think will be the future of live music for the remainder of 2020 and beyond.
ARTIST RESPONSES
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"Strangely enough I have been earning most of my money from recording and production. That said, lack of live venues affects my income. Over all ASCAP income has been affected as well. If you’re in the union there are still some streams of royalty revenue that you still can get."
–Bernard Grobman, NYC, facebook.com/bernardgrobmanmusic
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"My belief is the city ain't going to allow any indoor live events until we have a vaccine or herd immunity. So nothing until Spring next year."
–Andy Altmann, NYC, altmannproductions.com/
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"I have been a full time musician for over 20 years and I have never experienced anything like this before! In '08, over 60 restaurants and venues closed in my area, but now many more then that will not survive. Bands will not survive! We all must admit that the industry has changed. 3 cents per spin on digital music will not pay bills!"
–Adrian Watt, North Carolina, facebook.com/TrainWrecknc
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"I think we will suffer big problems for 3 years. We need a big paradigm shift in our society, for all in the world."
–Daniele Gregolin, Italy, youtu.be/xcRgV126oIw
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"Places attempting live gigs in the UK in August but I don’t see it happening. I cannot imagine gigs happening in pubs for ages. Right now the Long Ryders are scheduled to play Japan in May 2021 and I would not be surprised if that was postponed. Mankind has gathered to make music for tens of thousands of years. This is not going to stop."
–Sid Griffin, London, sidgriffin.bandcamp.com
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"Lately, I have had a few offers to re-start playing in clubs, but - with everyone still feeling out the best way to move forward - there are just so many questions: can we social distance on a small stage? Do singers/horn player need masks? How to monetize with an audience of 50? Yes, we will get through this, but times will remain tough for some time."
–Wayne Eagles, Canada, www.wayneeagles.com
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"Ben is only 14, so he has the luxury of not relying on gigging to support himself. He can't wait to get back out there and he believes that once a vaccine is widely distributed live music will come back in small clubs in the winter. He hopes that SXSW will be the trailblazer with a wide variety of different sized events. Ben hopes and expects to be there when the floodgates open."
–Aaron Goldsmith, on behalf of Ben Goldsmith, Long Island, NY, instagram.com/bengoldsmithmusic
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"What the value of the live experience is in the first place? We have an opportunity to redefine our goals and how people experience our craft. What sets us apart from other artists? How do we deliver this as a unique experience people can enjoy at home and engage with our fans? The only answer is to double down on our passion. Create something new, repackage ourselves and redefine what we have to offer."
–Keith Thompson, Portland, OR
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I have opened a guitar repair shop (One Louder Guitar Service) and I am focusing on that and revamping my YouTube channel. I've been teaching more and recording tracks from my home studio. I'm having to focus on generating income in the short term instead of being able to say 'ok, this month, I'll focus on writing because next month we're touring'..."
–Eddie Heinzelman, Nashville, www.eddieheinzelman.com/
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"Will things just bounce back once there is a vaccine? I think each individual venue will have their own story. The places that own the building or have good relationships with their landlord will probably survive. But that leaves a lot of other venues out in the cold. Currently I’m playing outside at a few different places within NYC."
–Stew Cutler, NYC, www.stewcutler.com/
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"I have not been able to perform since February. I miss the money but what I miss most is the joy of performing and the relationships I have with the audience and the other musicians."
–Kim Workman, Washington
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"Ultimately, everything is going to go back to normal, which will be especially true once a vaccine is introduced. As it stands right now, European tours and festivals are being booked, and looking like they are going to happen as normal with some provisions made. I anticipate everything being mostly back to where we were worldwide by 2022."
–Mark Kloeppel, Missouri, www.facebook.com/extrememanagementgroup
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"As a Jazz artist I usually play in small venues that are not made for social distancing. The jazz scene in the city was already struggling so I can imagine many historic places won't make it through this crisis. There are many great initiatives for online alternatives that are very encouraging. I'm certainly making the best of the situation and finding new ways to create revenue."
–Daan Klein, NYC, Daan on Spotify
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"I’ve been hearing about the drive-in type gigs, driveway gigs, etc., I think it’s great! Like back in the day, get cats together and play! I played a live outside gig last Friday, first one since January. It was weird. I wore a mask all night, unfortunately barely anybody in the audience was wearing one. I think we need to unite more on fighting this virus. There have always been starving artists, pandemic or not. We just have to find new ways to pay the bills and that’s that."
–Doug Johns, Ohio, dougjohns.com/
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"We are in a revised phase two still here in Nashville. Most bars on lower Broadway here are shut down again. All bars are ordered to close at 10:00. I canceled a lot of my live accompaniments last month as I saw a few of my friends get sick. I'm still doing writes for artists. We’re all just trying to stay busy and stay working."
–Randy Barnette, Nashville, facebook.com/barnetterandy
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"Short and quick: I have no clue!!!! Too much fluidity in guidelines and information. As a bar owner, I’m seeing the same thing."
–Phil Demmel, California, instagram.com/phildemmel/
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"It’s difficult to say. I think it will be important to diversify income streams during this time and the in the future. Maybe scaled down shows may make it possible to continue to be a working class musician. I think being adaptable and innovative will be the key to coming out on top of all of this. I’m certain we will find a way to make the musician/artist life sustainable. Best of luck to everyone!”
–Tony Natalizio, Detroit, www.tnatmusic.com
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Product : AMT U-2 Ultima
We're excited to introduce the new AMT Pangaea Ultima U2. The Ultima is a multi-effect pedal in a mini sized pedal. It has a ton of features and is super small.
The AMT U-2 Pangaea Ultima is a hardware platform on which various guitar effects can be implemented by the pedal's software. Changing the functionality of the device is carried out by changing the parameters of the device.
There are 6 parameters that the user can modify: IR/CabSim FX, Modulation FX, IR Stereo CabSim, Stereo Delay, Stereo Reverb, Pre/Post FX
Features
- IR CabSim FX: an analog-digital preamp section with three channels: clean, low & high gain
- Modulation FX: 8 modulations effects
- IR Stereo CabSim: powerful stereo IR impulse responses cabinet emulator
- Stereo Delay: Multifunctional STEREO IN/OUT Delay effect
- Stereo Reverb: Multifunctional STEREO IN/OUT Reverb with 7 types of reverb
- Pre/Post FX: The firmware that turns the Ultima U-2 device to the PRE / POST effect processor
Limited quantity available. In stock, order now!
Click here to learn more...
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Story: Happiness in Action
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“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.”
–Benjamin Disraeli
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What better advice than to take action? Don’t stress about what to do or where to start, just start and all else will follow. Stop procrastinating. But why sometimes when we act it is still difficult to achieve happiness? Do we make our happiness conditional not on our action, but on the acceptance of our action?
Have you ever based your happiness on another person’s reaction to your efforts? If you have, you have handed the other person the key to your happiness and said, "unless you react positively, or in the way I expect, I will deny myself happiness." Happiness was once in your control by the simple virtue of doing something for your own satisfaction, and you have now decided to let some other person decide if you will allow yourself happiness. That’s madness.
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Instead, put your full effort in to action towards a goal and understand that alone is sufficient for your happiness. You have “won” even before you have started. The action is the end in itself and you are not left waiting for completeness in the acceptance of your work from others. As you derive more of your happiness from the action and not the conditional acceptance, you necessarily become more in control of your own happiness.
For example, the goal of gardening could be ultimately the caring for or stewardship of the earth in our local corner of the ecology. However, if your goal is a bountiful harvest, then you are basing your happiness on something outside of your control. Weather, drought, too much rain, temperature variations are all outside our control. Pests, diseases, or invasive plants could harm the crop and then may force a choice between a bountiful harvest and using sprays which could damage our local ecology.
As musicians, if we put our job satisfaction in the hands of our band mates or audience, happiness may be difficult to achieve. Why? Craft the perfect part and then wait for the compliments? What about constructive criticism? Maybe the audience doesn’t applaud? How does all that affect your happiness? Both the reaction of the band and the applause of the audience are out of our control.
We can only control our input and stay focused on deriving our satisfaction from our own actions that we control, not from the acceptance of others. If you don’t derive happiness from what you do, this may be a clue that what you do is not for you. Give your full effort and you will win your own happiness. Winning the hearts, minds, and approval of other is not under our control and it is nothing less than insanity to pursue it.
Bottom Line: Stay focused, derive your satisfaction from action, happiness can follow.
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