“As for rights holders protesting that music has been devalued… The public thinks a buck a track is too much, unless you’re a casual consumer. And you can’t make your numbers with the infrequent buyer, that’s why airlines have rewards programs, they want to entice and retain their good customers, those who fly tens of thousands of miles a year.”

Which is not only true, it also strengthened my belief that the post I wrote on creating an on-going relationship with your customers, though subscriptions, has us on the right track. Note that Bob doesn’t actually say this in his article, and has written many times on how he is not a fan of rental, but I am interpreting it this way. Bob did recently change from being ownership minded to denouncing ownership over streaming after experiencing Spotify which offers a rent-like service. Just for clarity purposes, the subscription model I propose is not rental oriented, but ownership focused. Read about it here.

Download “Oh, Death!”, the first single off of their album “God Bless Your Weary Soul, Amanda Richardson” below and stream the full album here.

DOWNLOAD Pearl and the Beard – Oh, Death! (MP3)

For those interested in news updates related to Family Records, my artist management/development firm, and Engine Room Recordings, where I am the head of A&R, you can continue to follow those on their respective websites instead. I will post a short summary of news updates for both here once every two weeks for those casually interested. These news updates actually relate to my writing and analysis here, and are often direct applications of the topics discussed. It just seemed better to split them up and remain focused per destination. Below is the first new summary update.

Family Records

• In a crazy collaboration with Cobras, Pearl and the Beard just shot a video for their Will Smith medley. The band also was included on Amazon‘s “Folk Yeah! Indie Folk for Fall” alongside The Decemberists, Frightened Rabbit, and others.
• Wakey!Wakey! just returned from a 2 week tour, and will be appearing on the CW’s One Tree Hill November 9th. More here.
• Casey Shea just released “In Search Of Seas” as a free download and has been busy writing more tunes with some established Universal and Bug Music writers. More news coming!
• Lacrymosa is about to start recordings her debut LP, produced by yours truly, as part of her senior project at NYU. More news soon.

Engine Room Recordings

• The Bloodsugars are announcing their amazing new album “I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On” this week with their first single debuting at Stereogum. LP release Nov. 3.
• US Royalty recently released their great “Midsommar” 7″, an ERR first, and it debuted digitally on iTunes. They’re on a semi-permanent tour and also just released their new music video.
• Middle Distance Runner album “The Sun And Earth” will be released mid-October and they’ll be playing a ton of CMJ Showcases. Catch these guys when you can.
• Porter Block just announced tour dates with Mike Doughty.

08.24 @ DC9 w/ Ugly Purple Sweater (Washington, DC)
08.25 @ Murph’s Bar w/ Adam Rivera (Philadelphia, PA)

Update: Second video has Mike playing through the piano parts a bit.

An exclusive interview with Wesley Verhoeve, manager of artists Wakey!Wakey! and Casey Shea, highlights the 65th edition of the podcast. Wes talks about the role of an artist manager.

Denise and I had a chat for the latest episode of the One Tree Hill podcast that she presents. One of the most fun talks I’ve had in an interview setting. Hope the OTH fans aren’t bored by the music biz talk!