I also think you can maintain an air of mystique and have a good artist-fan relationship. Just regulate what your prepared to make public.

thank you for your honesty Shaun.

What you are saying is a slightly modified version that Mike Masnick talks about at Techdirt.com. He has been studying Trent Resnor for a while now (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090201/1408273588.shtml) He talks about this formula: Connect With Fans (CwF) + Reason To Buy (RtB) = The Business Model ($$$$).  He is absolutely right, and you are saying the same thing.

What has changed is the immediacy of music. People come and go at a very fast pace, like you said. They connect through various means (and radio is becoming less and less important as an avenue), facebook, twitter, myspace, pandora. And that is just to name a few. They want to connect with the artist and now they can. They love the music so much that they have to share with their friends so they all can share in the joy.

It is exciting to see how Technology plays a part, but you are right that it isn’t the only thing. If a band creates a Twitter, but does nothing with it what is the point? Or if their myspace only serves the purpose of show off tour dates, but never interacts than it will be of little use. I know there is a bright future ahead and it can easily happen with or without the labels. Either way whether the “music biz,” as in the labels, dies or not music will continue to be made and I am pretty sure money will follow.

mixing commerce and the gospel is a potentially toxic combination. adding fame to the equation and it can be downright deadly.

I’m still trying to figure out how personally engaging the fans is going to help disengage them from their wallets… so far I haven’t seen that happening.

Our company has several internet based projects that do very well as long as you stick to very cheap or free. How to monetize the transition to the digital age for music is one of the toughest things yet to solve. It takes time to convince folks to begin to pay for things they are accustomed to getting for free.. but it does happen..  My Grandparents would never have paid to watch TV.. my parents can’t live without their cable packages… I’d never pay to listen to radio.. my son on the other hand… only XM for him! I just hope we can all hold out until the transition is complete.. Me.. I’d love to see big LP’s again..LOL!!

Even under the old music business model, you still had to meet and greet after concerts and go to media events and such – the audience may have been controlled, but from my perspective that’s a heck of a lot of strangers to interact with on an almost daily basis. That sort of interaction feeds the extrovert, but it drains the introvert.

Now add to that the responsibility to be nice (or at least civil) to any old random schmo who stumbles across my website or blog and criticizes my music… I just couldn’t fake that for too long. I’d become known as the artist with the bad temper who told everybody off. Not good for business! Probably not good for my spiritual development, either.

Of course, the other reason I never pursued a career in the music business is because I don’t have enough talent. (But hey, that never stopped a lot of people.)

One of my favorite artists created his last album in his basement with some friends, mixed it on his Mac, and then released it through an independent distributor.  It was just as good as anything the big music machine ever produced.  And they were all songs that he wrote from his life experience, which made the music more interesting.

Now back to practicing my kazoo….

let me first say that i am pro- “mystique”! haha. isn’t it funny how christians get there back up about such things? i think that mystique is devastatingly UNDERrated in christian music especially, and could be largely responsible for the lack of impact it has on the world. as christians, we are called to be “wise as a serpent, and innocent as a dove”. do we really think that this is accomplished by creating our little CCM bubble where we are all “genuine”, and “real”, and uber-accessible to eachother? key word: eachother. we are in our own little world, friends. and until we wise up and create some “real”, “genuine” mystique or intrigue, we will have some good pat-on-the-back feel-good religious times together, but we will die alone inside the plastic bubble we have created to isolate ourselves from all that truly connects with the world. now, on to some less emotionally charged thoughts. sorry, as an aspiring musician, this is a topic i am passionate about.

it seems to me that the difference now, as opposed to the pre-internet/digital age, is that mystique is more difficult to manufacture. i think that mystique is a natural personality trait in some people, especially, but not always, in artists possessing extreme talent/brilliance in music and/or thought. they are often “space cadets”, or borderline savants. withdrawn, distant, “mysterious”. for those types, having a direct online portal into their lives will not decrease (in any big way) their “mystique”, because it is simply a part of who they are, and they will conduct their dealings with the public as such. furthermore, the fans who dig that kind of thing will not be heckling for the artist’s attention online and leaving mindless comments/questions, offended when no one responds. they will, rather, embrace the distance between them and the artist, chalking it up to all the qualities they love about the artist anyway, and simply admire the art, and pay the cover for the next show. though the coming age of the music business is frightening in some ways and very uncertain, my personal hope is that it will ultimately expose and draw attention back to the REAL artists, and real art. i’m not saying that the “real” artists are only the ones with mystique…far from it. there are entire genres of music (most country music, for example) that pay no mind to it, and, by nature, for the most part, don’t need to. but for the genres that, by nature, exude “mystique”, it will become more and more clear who has it and who doesn’t, because, as you said, artists are so exposed now. i think the new age of the business will ultimately be a good thing, and bring back a flood of real, great art. i hope, rather.

anyway…i will have to go shlogging more often. peace,

Lee

p.s. a possible future blog topic for you: “why did radio go down the crapper after the 90’s? and with regard to christian music, to what degree is the praise and worship movement responsible for the dumbing down of art?” (of course, the problem with this question is that it already knows it’s own answer, and likes to hear the sound of it’s own voice. shutting up now…)