FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2013
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Record industry reels in change
By Tyann Mullen Contributing Writer Many have been concerned over the years about where the recording industry is going. Some say it has been fading away; certainly it is rapidly changing. YouTube, Vimeo and other sites dedicated to entertainment have provided an easy and affordable way for artists to put their music out for others to hear. However, the benefits of that are never certain. A Nielsen study shows that 64 percent of YouTube viewers go to it to listen to music. YouTube is a free site, but it offers advertising deals so the owner of a video can receive revenue based on how many views the video draws. This sounds like a great deal: record some music, make some videos and receive some cash. But it falls far short of the big record deal most artists are longing for. The newest sensation to hit the digital world of music sharing involves streaming websites such as Spotify and Rdio. These sites allow users to listen to whole songs for free, with some limitations. Many artists have caught on and allow their music to be streamed from these sites. Others are still happy sticking to iTunes and Amazon for sharing their music.
back to hard copies of their music? It just doesn’t seem practical. We all want our music now, not next Tuesday. Still, a few artists out there have not made the transition to sharing their music digitally. Country legend Garth Brooks continues to stick to his traditional ways. Brooks’ music cannot be found on iTunes or other such sites. In a recent interview with Larry King, Brooks explained his reasoning for keeping his music distribution old-school. “They market singles, not albums,” he said of online distribution. “You make an album for a reason and that album in its entirety is a reflection of who the artist is at that time. You can’t discover that with a single.” Members of The Bright Side, a local pop rock band, placed vid-
eos of their music online hoping to gain some new followers and populate some interest to their band. “It’s free to put your videos up on these sites, so why wouldn’t you take the chance of someone seeing your music and loving it?” asked drummer Jack Powell.
A new era
It may be a scary time for the future of recording companies and artists, but some find it an exciting time as well. “The future of the music industry might be unknown right now, but that won’t stop people from listening,” said Powell. “And that’s what music is about.” So where does all this leave the recording industry? Whether hard copy or digital, musicians still need a place to record their music.
Close connections
At Saturn Sound Studios, located on Olive Avenue in West Palm Beach, musicians can find a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic University at the control panel. Robert Norris, managing partner of the company, studied music at PBA, graduating in 1997. For those hoping for a career in this rapidly changing field, Norris offers this advice: “Build your network before you leave college.” While Norris was a PBA student, he had contacts at First Baptist Church, helping promote Christian rock concerts. During the production of the church’s “Singing Christmas Tree,” the manager at Saturn Sound Studios needed some help with the project, so Norris worked there a bit. Then, a couple of months later,
Online piracy
Much of the music downloaded online is illegal. Some look to free sites like Spotify to make a difference in the ongoing issue of piracy. But if piracy is still such an issue, why don’t artists just go
PHOTO BY KELSO ALYEA
the studio called Norris with a longer-term opportunity. “I was over here in an hour,” Norris said. After jumping at that chance, Norris dived into the business, and finally, in 2002, he took over the studio with his business partner Bill Williams. Now, in addition to studio and on-site recordings, Norris and company do radio and television commercials, jingles, corporate videos and Web design. Saturn Sound Studios has won numerous awards, including gold and silver from the ADDY Awards, the world’s largest advertising competition. It can be a pressure-cooker business, with high-profile clients, nerve-wracking deadlines and expensive equipment. “You gotta know what’s going on in the new technology,” Norris said. “Buy good equipment, know how to use it, know what the market will bear. Keep in contact and take good care of your clients.” “The scariest times in this business are when you’re first starting out,” Norris said. He’s weathered the start-up storms and the deadline pressure with big-money customers “and their entourages running around.” With years of experience now, and with constant changes brought by technology, he’s settled on this perspective: “You start to realize that at the end of day, probably really family and friends are the only thing that really matters, and you come in to work and do the best you can and get on with your life.”
“You start to realize that at the end of day, probably really family and friends are the only thing that really matters, and you come in to work and do the best you can and get on with your life,” said Robert Norris, managing partner at Saturn Sound Studios.
The history of a hipster By Joshua Reid Contributing Writer
Going to church in our Sunday best used to mean a suit or jacket. Now, the Sunday best can be a flannel shirt and skinny jeans thanks in part to the new revolution of the hipster church.
PHOTO BY CHELSAE ANNE HORTON
“It’s a hot trend in contemporary churches,” said biblical studies major and worship leader Felipe Ocampo, pictured above. “The churches are attempting to stay young and adapt to this mentality.”
A hipster is a young adult or older teenager who tries his or her hardest to live against mainstream America. The person is associated with many things, including independent music. A hipster’s basic philosophy is to not be associated with things that are common. Recently, this trend is heading into the field of music ministry. “They want to run church in a way that’s appealing to that certain crowd of people,” said Daniel Heeney, a senior biblical studies major and worship leader at Palm Beach Atlantic University. Known for its trendy V-neck, skinny jeans, tattoos, and hipster glasses, which are thick, black frame spectacles, the hipster church is becoming the face of this generation. “It’s a hot trend in contemporary churches,” said biblical studies major and worship leader Felipe Ocampo, a senior. “The churches are attempting to stay young and adapt to this mentality.” With this trend comes the change of title from being a music pastor to a creative arts pastor. While there are some similarities in that music is still a prevalent source, there’s more demand for being a creative arts pastor depending on the setting. “With everything else in life you need great people skills,” said Luke Pinder, a PBA graduate from 2004 who is now a pastor of Sugar Hill Church in Georgia. “You need a deep understanding of the Gospel because at the end of the day you’re still a pastor, whether you’re a music pastor or a creative arts pastor. You need to know what tools to use to teach people to Jesus and use that message in an effective way to do so.” There’s a lot of feeling that while the hipster movement is popular, it’s mostly just a
fad that won’t last for long. “In the Gospel Jesus tells us to ‘Be His friend,’” Pinder said. “It can be hard to be friends with people who are different from us, and I think God understands that. I think this trend of hipsters can be effective, and in the Kingdom of God you need all different kinds of churches. No one can fit just in one specific style.” “I compare it to 80s music,” Pinder said. “While it was popular at the time, it eventually faded out and I think that will happen with the trend of the hipster church. It will be gone later and 20 years from now it will be something else.” With students studying and practicing to become future worship leaders, school of ministry professor Nathan Lane says the School of Ministry and School of Music are blending together. “There are classes in both fields for students who feel called to worship together,” Lane said. “It’s a concentration that’s for people who feel called to worship. Classes like worship, leading a worship arts ministry, and a practicum in ministry are all classes under the worship ministry concentration.” The school of music offers a worship leadership track that includes classes such as church music administration and creative worship design, Lane said. “God wants us to remain genuine to the Gospel and not be like everyone else, but be like Jesus,” Ocampo said. “Being a hipster is just like being a rapper or a skater or being country. It’s no better and we need to be more like Jesus rather than be more like hipsters.” “I think they have some good motives, but in the long run it won’t succeed because
it’s always clashing with society,” Heeney said.
HOW TO BECOME A HIPSTER How to become a hipster: One way is to wear the right clothes. Hipsters are an odd breed when it comes to fashion. Some will sport over-sized and mangled jackets and cut off jeans while others will wear thin fitting trousers and prim cardigans. Find a fashion style that expresses who you are. Another way to become a hipster is also listening to the right music. It requires being a step ahead of every trend, and often creating trends all your own. This can be accomplished by listening to non-mainstream music such as bands from the 1970s or garage bands. Finally, carrying out the hipster lifestyle requires having the right attitude. Just go out there and make the most of it. Being creative and finding unique things are what makes hipsters in the first place.
HOW TO DE-HIPSTER YOUR LIFE Some ways to de-hipster your life include doing things to blend into normal society such as listening to mainstream music, wearing regular clothing, and eating non-organic food, all complete opposites of what the traditional hipster stands for.