Pennies for Play (fair compensation for creative content)

This is about the idea of PENNIES FOR PLAY.

PENNIES FOR PLAY . How does it work to give all musician fair streaming rates?
First no company taking a cut as large as Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc. second, no ads needed ever, so no data mining mess.

Next you pay like a credit card. You pay for $10 dollars worth of clicks, then access any artistic content under the system, music, art,writing, videos , film, news, school classes, blogs etc. Doesn’t have to limit to music.
The company that collects the money, pays out to the musician when he reaches say $50. With a check. it’s pay per view but on a very small scale. There are small fees for processing, not large chunks for company profits.

Let’s say artists got together and decided to do this on their own, even simpler.
For a fee you post your song. Then music listener buys say an amount of $10 . When he clicks on a song he pays a penny. The end of the month each artist gets a penny for every click he had. He again probably has to reach an amount of $50 or so before they send a check or you would have to send out checks for pennies.

The only major costs are granting credits to customers, tallying clicks, and paying the musician.

Positives include , no big company owned, no ads ever, no data mining, no monthly subscription fees ever, no big costs for customer,or musician, very low bureaucracy, and all musicians on a fair playing field, so quality counts more than promotion money. Those are a lot of pluses!!!
Thoughts?

Music That Challenges

MUSIC THAT CHALLENGES:

Part of what I’m doing has challenged the thinking of many:

1. Get back to basics – don’t over produce your music – let the song through, don’t muddy it with technical clutter.
2. D-Pop where the song is what counts. What doesn’t count is the promotional budget or the fame. Then all are on a level playing field with every new recording.
3. Don’t do videos – Videos are a trick that only about 9 ever promoted pop stars can afford with minimum budgets of $100,000 to make (at least) That is a trick to let money count, not quality, and block out all indie musicians that can’t afford it.
4. Support pennies for play – where everywhere you post your song, you get a penny per play. Customers pay to hear music, like a jukebox online. Works for all content.
5. Fair, no ad revue sites – open to all. Where EVERYONE gets a professional review for a fair processing fee per song.
6. The Music Revolution – that would change every aspect of music and get you a chance at a career by ending the monopoly of the Big 3 Labels that block out new music and prop up the same 9 pop stars you see promoted year after year.
7. Take a break from bands for awhile ( the usual electric guitars, bass, drums). This will force musicians to be innovative instead of fit a 60 year old formula done so well by thousands of others from last century.
8. No corporate radio station will play a protest song. Take away their licenses.
9. New type of Combo guitar playing where I try to play bass, rhythm, and lead all on one guitar. Style that is half way between band and singer songwriter.

You may agree or disagree with a point or two – but they are new ideas, progressive ideas, challenging ideas that will help make music exciting, fun, and out side of corporate hands!

Tom

Raining Down, recording and video by Greebly Mork

"Raining Down", is a brand new recording of a song of mine, by Greebly Mork.
Here is the link to his version and youtube video. Then under it I’ve added a link to my rough youtube demo. When you listen, I recommend you use your headphones and you’ll get the richest sound experience on both.

Raining Down, Greebly Mork
https://youtu.be/9G58_20tWWs

Raining Down, Hunkasaurus & His Pet Dog Guitar
https://youtu.be/ZxY4R4PeyfE

Greebly Mork is, not only a talented musician, arranger, etct; he is the moderator of an online Face Book music group called, "Reinventing the Wheel". The group may be virtually the only place most musicians can get a review of their music!
Mork has set up this basic rule; before a musician posts his song, he has to review and comment on 3 other songs. That has worked well. Visitors will find lots of great music from about 100 musicians so far; and each song posted on the site, is packed with lots of comments.

This is my review of "Raining Down" by Greebly Mork:

Wow! There is a lot here I wanted to talk about. Your version is topnotch studio work, compared to my rough live demo; so, listening to your version in headphones is a real treat. You get that professional crisp fullness, plus a solid clear separation of parts.
I liked the simple intro that gets things started, and keeps things in a basic form up to the big choruses, with those multi vocals you are celebrated for.
But what was a real delight to me is how you use the background vocals to, not double track the lead, but to add a second answering melody line to the chorus. That was really sweet!
Good guitar work on the middle. I like the 3 or 4 different leads that built up before the song goes back to the verses.
I may be just imagining this, but the second revised version I listened to, seemed more lean on instruments on the verses, which
gives the choruses more punch. You mentioned minor changes – was there some changes like that too?
The one thing that surprised me the most is your version sounds more optimistic than mine, believe it or not! That’s the fun of hearing another’s take.
Now every review has to have one negative – and here it is: I did NOT see the 11 measure’s long, vocal belting, "OHHHHHHHHHH" at the end on your version! But I’ll let that slide as artistic differences! LOL

Thanks for doing this! It’s a big treat to hear one’s song done up so well!

The Oscar Recap 2020

Musea likes to link to the fine annual Oscar recap of Melanie Pruit. Love film? Take a look!
https://listen2uraunt.wordpress.com/2020/02/16/thats-a-wrap-oscars-2019-2020-parasites-big-night/

Oscar Eve Movie List

Here’s an Oscar Eve Movie List by Jackie Hendricks.

It’s that time of year again – Oscars Eve, when I post my annual movie list. First, I want to congratulate myself for actually seeing movies in 2019, particularly during Oscar season, and actually managing to see all of the Best Picture nominees. So, none of you have any excuses. Try harder next time.

Seriously, though, I didn’t watch that many movies last year, but focused on targeted viewing of ones that got a lot of buzz or were nominated. I still missed several that would probably have ended up on my list (Uncut Gems, Just Mercy, Honey Boy, etc.). Of the ones I actually saw, I was rather disappointed overall. Maybe my expectations were too high, or my patience has worn thin as a new mom and I can’t sit through 2 ½ hours of anything anymore (seriously – why were so many movies 2 ½ hours??? And The Irishman was, like, a week long!), but the magic wasn’t there for me despite being there for so many of you.

Anyway, here’s the list of my top 10 favorites of 2019, followed by honorable mention, overrated, and underrated lists:

1. Parasite – this is probably the one movie that soared beyond the buzz I heard about it. It’s a really spectacular take on the class divide and wealth gap. And, wow, it is gorgeous – Bong has an incredible eye. I need to look into more of his films – this blew me away.
2. 1917 – I feel like this movie was tailor made to my taste. I love war movies. I love long tracking shots. I love Roger Deakins’s cinematography. I love “surprise! It’s a hot British actor you didn’t realize was in this movie!” It is, however, the safe Oscar bet.
3. Hustlers – I was skeptical of this movie when I first saw the trailers, but it really caught me off guard. It’s got everything you love about the classic mob or heist movie, but presents it in a fresh way: with women! J.Lo is spectacular and absolutely should have been nominated for her performance.
4. Knives Out – Criminally overlooked, this movie was a fun, captivating adventure that subtly wove magnificent social critique. It reminded me so much of watching Clue over and over again as a kid. And, it’s got something for everyone: donut holes, Chris Evans’s cable-knit sweater, and creaky staircases.
5. Jojo Rabbit – I am firmly in the camp that Taika Waititi pulled off a dark comedy about the end of Nazi Germany. I thought it was hilarious, touching, and smart. It sends a strong message in favor of critical thinking in the face of fascist propaganda.
6. Marriage Story – This movie climbs higher on my list the longer I think about it. It’s a frighteningly accurate portrayal of divorce (the legal scenes, the arguments) with stellar performances from the cast. Laura Dern is – rightly – getting the buzz that she’ll win the Oscar, but Adam Driver absolutely owns this film. Easily the performance of his career. And, when he sings “Being Alive,” it is EVERYTHING.
7. Joker – Again, another controversial movie, but I tend to read it as a cautionary tale rather than a celebration of the Joker. Yes, it’s basically a rewrite of Taxi Driver, but I thought it was done well. Joaquin Phoenix was the real selling point – the way he contorted his body in his performance was mesmerizing. Although I think Adam Driver is more deserving, I won’t be mad when he wins the Oscar. Bonus: it’s the first movie I saw with Adam, so it’s always going to have that going for it.
8. The Farewell – It’s an incredibly touching movie about family that is beautifully shot and extremely well acted. Awkwafina should have been nominated for her performance, but I think the whole cast needs recognition. I mean, the subtle “I have no idea what anyone is saying” expression that always rested on the Japanese fiancee’s face absolutely killed me. But, I also have to put an asterisk on this movie since I have been told it’s a bit like Green Book if you’re Chinese.
9. Peanut Butter Falcon – This is such a heartwarming and sweet movie that deserves more recognition. Shia LeBeouf really shines, and Zack Gottsagen makes a wonderful debut. It’s a really neat way to rewrite Huckleberry Finn.
10. The Last Black Man in San Francisco – Although I have never been a resident of SF myself, I thought this was a touching love story/elegy to the city that seems to be rapidly losing its identity to the tech industry and gentrification.

Honorable mention: Ford v Ferrari – this is a good movie that tells a neat story. It won’t stay with you forever, and I think Rush is the better recent race car film, but it’s definitely worth the watch. Little Women – I’ll complain about this below, but it merits a mention here because Adam really seemed to like it. I mean, he watched almost the whole movie (it is beautifully shot with great performances, to be fair). Avengers: Endgame – it’s a little silly to put on this list, but I really liked the concept (take the sitcom clip episode and make it into a movie!) and it was the first time Adam really kicked with a fury while I was pregnant, leading to many more MCU viewings to bond with him.

Overrated: The Irishman – this movie is boring. Joe Pesci is great, there are some incredible scenes with smart lines, but it doesn’t make up for it being boring. But it probably would have been AMAZING if it had only been 2 hours. Little Women – I never read the book, although I kinda knew the plot because it’s one of those stories that seems to be in the American collective memory, and I had really high expectations and thought I would fall in love when I saw it. NOPE – I strongly disliked the non-linear structure because I felt that I couldn’t get invested in the characters, and Jo is so annoying that I could not root for her. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – this movie is trash. It’s horrible. It’s too long, it’s got that stupid revisionist history that Tarantino seems to be invested in (it was clever one time, dude), it’s horribly racist to Bruce Lee (but congrats, Quentin, on not saying the n-word for once), and it’s just Tarantino’s film ego all over the place (look at me! I like classic westerns!). Pitt is excellent, but he always is, so I’m glad he might earn an Oscar for it at least. Midsommar & Us – I am not a horror fan, but after Get Out and Hereditary, I was all excited about the follow-up films so I went out of my comfort zone and saw these movies. Us is well acted (and definitely overlooked for performance awards), but I thought it was a far cry from Get Out. To be fair, maybe it’s because it is literally set too close to home for my comfort. Midsommar is gorgeous, and probably should be up for cinematography, but it’s so predictable and TOO LONG. Again, if it’s 2 ½ hours GET THEE TO THE EDITING ROOM.

Underrated: Hustlers, Knives Out, and The Farewell were probably the most overlooked, but the Academy really seemed to mail it in this year. I mean, I have an excuse to miss a lot of movies since I had a baby, but I have no idea what the Academy was busy doing.