About Nicolas Heliotis

hardly art - quality records for quality people since very recently

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• Comment on Nicolas Heliotis's answer…

  0 0 As a thought experiment -- would you feel the same way about this if we were talking about easily reproduce-able works of physical art? Sculpture made from casts, or prints? Now, if a person had the tools necessary to re-cast a sculptor's work's would you be okay with them doing that? My point here is that when we talk about music / recordings we are not just talking about "information", we are talking about art. I think you are gaining a lot of mileage in your arguments via that terminology and I don't think it is totally accurate. (sorry, I am a bit rushed here but wanted to throw that out there; hopefully it is at least mostly clear) Nicolas Heliotis commented over 2 years ago

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  Tips on finding your audience...

  0 0 All the stuff Megan and Ben say here is really smart. Megan's point about building relationships with other bands is really right on, and I would take it even further. Not only bands, but artists, venues, labels, etc -- find people that are doing things that you think are cool and let them know and try to get involved. This will take time but building these relationships is wholly worthwhile -- not only for whatever band you are currently working on but for future bands / projects as well. Nicolas Heliotis answered in Music Panel over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

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  How does an artist/musician go about getting signed? What steps need to be taken in order to be discovered?

  0 0 Some years back I met a girl -- at some point that first night I asked her what she wanted to be / do. She said she wanted to be a secret agent. I asked how you became a secret agent and she said it wasn't something you pursued - "THEY find YOU", she assured me. I think getting signed is like that. Labels will come to you, or (and this is more often the case) they won't. Nicolas Heliotis answered in Music Panel over 2 years ago Answer and comment »

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  How should I organize my records?

  2 0 Alphabetical. Genres are for squares. Nicolas Heliotis answered in Music Panel over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 8 more answers »

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  remembering The Rocket , once a Seattle fav for musicians- what's your go-to publication or website for leading edge music now?

  2 0 I really like Raven Sings the Blues - http://ravensingstheblues.blogspot.com/ I also spend a lot of time on websites of record labels I like and / or distributors that carry bands I like. There are still labels that you can pretty consistently count on to release good records. Florida's Dying is a really great distro. Almost everything on there is super good - http://www.floridasdying.com/ Also, lots of really great record stores have weekly mailing lists outlining good stuff coming out that week / being reissued / etc. Apart from the local stores, I really like the updates I get from Other Music in NYC and San Francisco's Aquarius. When I'm stumped, I just ask Ruben what I should buy. Nicolas Heliotis answered in Music Panel over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 5 more answers »

• Comment on Nicolas Heliotis's answer…

  0 0 Indie labels are not run by saints or anything, but they don't do any of the things (as far as I am aware, and my experience is certainly limited here) that you outline in the second to last paragraph here. Regarding the free market stuff...I will concede that it isn't really a free market. People that have power are going to use it to keep the playing field un-level -- but I honestly think that is a reality that is going to exist whatever the system of music distribution is. I mean, right? Digging this conversation by the way! Nicolas Heliotis commented over 2 years ago

• Comment on Nicolas Heliotis's answer…

  0 0 I really do mean this. It maybe came off a little sarcastic but connecting with alt-weeklies is hugely important when trying to get the word out about bands. We don't have advertising budgets necessary to force new bands down the throats of consumers so getting good publicity at a local level is an enormous help. Nicolas Heliotis commented over 2 years ago

• Comment on Nicolas Heliotis's answer…

  0 0 I think you bring up a lot of good points here (as you did in the original question). Regarding paragraph one - people constantly pay more for things then the cost of the individual elements that make up that thing. That is a big part of capitalism, right? I almost made a Big Mac analogy here but I think you get what I mean. What is important isn't what a thing costs but instead what people are willing to pay for it. Right? Paragraph two -- I totally agree, except I would replace the word "authority" with "ability". Again, I (and other people - including commenters here) choose and do want to spend money on records, cds, mp3s (be it for artwork, convenience, or whatever). Sometimes for me it is as simple as wanting to play a song for someone bad enough to spend $.99 at iTunes. Now, that is certainly lazy consumerism -- but lazy consumerism is a reality that record labels (as well as other companies) can take advantage of. As for $15 CDs -- I agree the age of $15 CDs (as a standard) is pretty much over. We try to hit $10 and $11 dollar price points (often new releases will be on sale for as low as $9) to make it somewhat more reasonable for the consumer. Regarding hobbyists vs professional musicians. I didn't mean to put words in your mouth. My point I guess is that the system in place (record label pays for recording - consumers buy recording - record label pays artist) is a system that allows for certain bands / artists to make a living making art. Is it a perfect system? No. Is it a system in danger? Maybe / probably. Are some labels still finding ways to thrive? It seems so. I would argue that for whatever evils record labels have committed / perpetuated one thing they did do is help fund and create a lot of really great art. Right? Getting to the crux of our disagreement -- if each of us had used qualifiers we might not be disagreeing at all? I think you are talking major labels and I am talking indie labels maybe? Nicolas Heliotis commented over 2 years ago

• Comment on Emily Pothast's answer…

  0 0 I really like this answer -- brings up a lot of the points I was trying to get at but much more clearly! Nicolas Heliotis commented over 2 years ago

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  How can we get record company dinosaurs out of the way and figure out where the tip jar should go?

  2 0 A couple of points in response. "A physical copy of that information is worth about a dime now." To you, perhaps, but a lot of people still buy CDs and you are completely disregarding LPs. A lot of people buy MP3s on iTunes and elsewhere. There is definitely a class of people who WANT to spend money on music (be it CDs, LPs, MP3s, live music, whatever) and smart record labels are trying to connect with those people specifically. I for one probably spend more money on vinyl than food and shelter -- I am the kind of person that record labels should be trying to market to. Record labels have more than "limited legal authority to dictate the circumstances under which that information is copied" -- they have legal authority. Enforcing may be a little trickier but they do own the music, whether you like it or not. "How can we get past the idea that people owe a record company for shoveling bits around" I think this is a pretty facile way of looking at the situation. Record labels do a lot more than this for their bands (please see earlier posts for more of me arguing on behalf of the label). You very almost point out yourself that without the support of labels (or some other system) artists will be operating as "hobbyists" -- this brings up the very legitimate point that (at their best) a record label serves as a support system (largely this support comes as money for studio time, tour support, etc) for artists which allow them to focus full time on their art. Overall, I think that you may be viewing the situation in overly black and white terms. Before advocating for the "demise of these obsolete and hopelessly-clueless middlemen" perhaps a deeper understanding of the system (the positives and negatives) is in order? Nicolas Heliotis answered in Music Panel over 2 years ago Answer, comment & read 6 more answers »

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