And I Hope Neil Young will remember....

Thank you for the education!

I assume (now) that it is derisively referred to as a horse dewormer is because that is probably the labeled use for most of the Ivermectin purchased by these misinformed folks that use it on themselves to fight Covid 19.

 

The fact remains that MediaBiasFactCheck.com rates Rolling Stone as a High Accuracy.

Regarding your reference to the Daily Mail post, that was an article with almost no substance. The only tiny bit of information in it was that not all of the 270 folks signing the letter were medical doctors. The Daily Mail is a poor and inaccurate source although likely correct on that small aspect. So only 90 some odd medical doctors signed it. This is still far more "authority" on the topic than Joe Rogan has in support of his irresponsible position that Ivermectin is good and vaccines problematic for Covid 19.

Regarding you being pleased that Spotify is retaining Joe Rogan, that issue doesn't bother me in the least. As I've said, I like Joe Rogan. David Crosby had similar comments in an interview I saw of his. As I already mentioned earlier he had two main issues, First they didn't want their music associated with dangerous Covid 19 misinformation and second, Spotify only pays the music artists pocket change which is the bulk of the Spotify content. He refused to say he wanted Joe Rogan removed from Spotify, even when the interviewer asked that pointed question multiple times.

Finally Covid 19 misinformation is killing Americans. I've previously mentioned this fact. The death rate per 100,000 population in the USA is the worst for all first world countries and there's only 17 small third world countries with a worse rate. Okay Brazil is pretty big but the rest are rather small third world countries.
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

But we have this poor death rate because of folks like Joe Rogan spreading misinformation. Too many folks treating the pandemic as a political issue instead of a healthcare issue.

 

Indeed. This damaged brain still has some correct memory functions. Yes: Dr. Dr. Douglas was or perhaps still is the University of Leicester's (particularly CLMS) U.S. Representative. He's told us such right here on this board.

 

quote: Spotify generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream, meaning you'll need about 250 streams to make a dollar.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream

Pocket change, spreading Covid 19 misinformation at the same time is just adding insult to injury from the musical artist's point of view.

 

I decided to research a little more.

Spotify and Pandora pays the musicians horribly. These musicians make up the bulk of their content.

Here's some quotes from an article.

• Spotify generally pays between $.003 and $.005 per stream, meaning you'll need about 250 streams to make a dollar.
• This hasn't always been the case — Spotify's payout rates have changed over time. In 2014, they paid $.00521 on average, but two years later, the average rate dropped to $.00437. By 2017, the average pay rate had been reduced again to around $.00397, according to artist-rights site The Trichordist.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-does-spotify-pay-per-stream

It is getting worse?

I have a stereo Amazon Echo system setup in my house and subscribe to Amazon Prime music. I thought I'd check how this compares with Spotify. I found this.

HOW MUCH DOES AMAZON MUSIC PAY PER STREAM?
On average, Amazon Music shells out roughly $0.0082 per stream on the platform to the owners of the recording.
https://producerhive.com/music-marketing-tips/streaming-royalties-breakdown/#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20Amazon%20Music,for%20music%20streaming%20services%20globally.

Wow! that's a huge difference almost three times as much being paid by Amazon than Spotify. The above article also has the following quotes.

HOW MUCH DOES APPLE MUSIC PAY PER STREAM?
Although the number is constantly fluctuating, in 2022, Apple Music pays 0.00783 per stream on its platform.

HOW MUCH DOES PANDORA PAY PER STREAM?
Although it is the sixth-largest music streaming platform, Pandora falls far behind other streaming services when it comes to paying artists. In 2022, musicians earn only 0.00133 per stream on Pandora.

I suggest you use Amazon Music or Apple Music. They give the musicians a far greater compensation for their music.

 

I don't know the context of Joe Rogan's use of the 'Forbiden Word.'
I do not condone its use, not have I ever. Joe Rogan publicly apologized. Only time will tell Whether he is able to redeem himself or not. Meanwhile his content, with the exception of that which was recently removed, will remain available via Spotify. Digital Age Book Burning stopped in it's tracks, once again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/arts/music/joe-rogan-spotify.html

 

I think it's "didn't most musicians expect...," Steve. COVID saw to that. Nearly 2 years ago, my son expected to spend his 50th birthday in a cave in Kentucky, listening to his favourite band. You can guess how that turned out -- and he's STILL not there. And SO many other musicians were forced to cancel all their live gigs. Not much of a living left for many, for a long time. Finally, live gigs were starting to come back - and then it struck again.

I believe the payment policies of companies like Spotify make it worse, not better, for musicians - and right now, the effect is hardship inflicted on top of hardship.

 

I have friends who are/were professional performers and I can't figure out how they make any money. Ticket sales help of courseif you're a big enough draw but one friend of a friend's band just got a "record contract". How does THAT work in an era of extensive digital piracy?

Meanwhile (Hijack Alert!!) Adele decided to press 500,000 LP albums of her most recent release. This...what...gesture to the past? Concession to the Highly Opinionated? Anyway, the vinyl industry is in a bit of a panic because there isn't really capacity to press half a million copies of any LP these days. The order is enormous. Would have been a big pressing even in 1965, actually, but now...nearly unfillable. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2021/11/22/22797290/adele-vinyl-record-supply-chain-delays

Why ARE people demanding vinyl? I grew up with LPs. A brand new press does sound good, yes, but I don't know that it sounds better than good digital (not MP3 compressed). I don't see how it can be nostalgia...most people buying these releases aren't old enough to remember when vinyl was king.

hssss-pop-hssss-pop

 

What's next? A return to reel-to-reel?

 

Old school days - yes for bigger groups, but there are huge caveats. Trent Reznor, Billy Corrigan, and a number of other technically and financially savvy musicians have argued that most musicians should be giving away their music… build a fan base and commercialize it with fan club merchandise, website paid-premium exclusives, and touring. Unfortunately, touring only becomes moderately profitable once you hit a certain size. There are a lot of surprisingly successful bands that now tour more for publicity/marketing (festivals) than to earn a living. Some major acts hardly even tour. Have friends and relatives that regularly tour with major acts and most of them have other jobs to really pay the bills. The circuit bands that build a good sized fan base in a region and can even land paying gigs most weekends, rarely really are earning a good living. Of the nearly half dozen concert venue hall owners I know, there’s probably not one without a criminal history. It’s really becoming a winner take all industry, and the wins are based on social media and online revenue.

If you follow the industry much, there’s been some great conversations since Morello stirred up a hornets nest by attacking new musician trends. Pretty unanimous outcry against his arguments though, the business model has entirely changed from the old school model. Now days streaming and online marketing/ social media are often more valuable than touring. What Morello really rages against now is how many industry heavyweights now openly argue that musicians need to be focusing on their IT/Social Media skills - than practicing with their gear, writing, and theory.

Shrugs, no interest in ever striving to play pro (serious lack of talent!), but pretty excited to have a new Ibanez Nita Strauss on the way for meditative fun.

 

It's a retro thing, as I see it. A new manifestation of whatever makes electric guitarists crazy about tube amps. Yeah, they sound thicker and warmer... sometimes, for sure. To me, it varies...a lot. Maybe if I was a better player... Tube electronic equipment, whether hi-fi or on stage is mostly a status thing, the way I see it. And the cost reflects it. I'll pass. (Do you know what tubes COST, nowadays? HOLY!!)

And vinyl is the same thing. I'll confess I have 3 vintage turntables - but I've had two of 'em since the heydays of vinyl. The other one is a fine German one that I bought (in good shape) in a thrift store for $5 in the 90s. Couldn't resist. I have really good cartridges all around - and I know what internet places (mostly Japan) I need to get GOOD replacement styli - even though the manufacturers are long gone.

And again, the basic difference I find is a warmth -again, not always. I think that's in the mechanics (or electronics) of the beast.
The output of retro electronic equipment - tubes, turntables and cartridges etc. - is somewhat like fine liquor. There are impurities in both - and it's those impurities which give the products - music or liquid - their distinct flavors and aromas. A matter of taste.

And I, of course, have none. And reel-to-reel? I'm pretty sure it might be next -- if they can cure tape hiss... remember?

 

That's where Dolby came from!

 

Luckily for Ibanez, a whole slew of people (including me) have come to realize how good Ibanez guitars are - at pretty fair prices. I have an Ibanez Artcore, myself - nice, hollow-bodied, jazz-style archtop. Love it!

A Nita Strauss? Nice. Deep Space Blonde?

 

Oh, goody then. IIRC, I never saw a (home) Dolby-equipped reel-to-reel. I thought they were on their way to extinction at the advent of Dolby. (Ray Dolby's sound processes, that is, not Thomas Dolby, "Blinded by Science." I remember both.)

I do remember Dolby-equipped cassette decks, though. I still have lots of cassettes, but as in everything else, I'm "not playing with a full deck."

Man, is this thread ever hijacked!

 

The revolution in piracy was digitalization. The 1,000th generation is as perfect as the original. Not true when you make cassette tapes of an LP. But I suspect you already knew that.

 

Regarding tubes...I have an engineer/former rock guitarist who prefers tube amps and he DOES know better. I don't really "get" why there would be a difference in sound quality but I do know that solid state amplifiers suffer significantly higher levels of third order IMD distortion than do tube amps and this is unavoidable. We see this in high powered radio frequency linear amplifiers. It is, as I understand it, a consequence of the much lower supply voltages solid state devices use. Apparently (but don't quote me here) the lower supply voltage means that the designer is using a larger slice of the characteristic response curve and that means accepting more non-linearity. Whether you could hear this difference I don't know.

 

And now, (ahem) could we PLEASE get back to my ORIGINAL hijack? Why do people want vinyl?