Music links 2006 quarter 3, archived section of music links blog.

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July 2006
Beautiful, sunny and dry summer. I had better things to do than to sit besides my computer. If you wish to make familiar with Finnish outdoors, go see www.luontoon.fi.
August 2006

I thought I should list the CD:s I have bought during the first half of the year:


So, I have not stopped buying CD:s despite of the availability of free music. I have even got a couple of major labels by Warner. But there are no DRM:s in the list. A few words about the music.

Johanna Iivanainen has got a warm and beautiful voice, a very friendly voice, indeed. On Lenni-Kalle Taipale's album she sings the vocal solo of song Saarni and she makes twice a very accurate and clean full octave jump (unfortunately, some of the easy intervals are not as absolutely perfect).  Some of her songs are not as interesting, I think she should do more rhythmical stuff. Song Ylläs with Lapland influence is just excellent. She is the singer of group 1N and I like the song Maalaan, too.

Enya's Amarantine is very much what you'd expect Enya to do. However, there is something wrong with the sound quality. Some amps have been overdriven at moments, some microphones overly sensitive or whatever. It's not crystal-clear and Enya's music needs crystal-clear sound.

The Village Lantern simply is a perfect album.

Emma Salokoski has another beautiful voice, thinner and higher than Johanna's and very flexible. She sings most Latin rhythms here.

Gladsaxe is a band I met on street. According to a sticker behind their bus, they come from the merry old Denmark. It's a good album if you like the sound of steel pans.

During the second half of the year, I don't think I have to buy anything but Rowan.
September 2006

So, I have got my Rowan, and I'm happy with it. It looks like I will not be out for free music in a while. This is just my guess, but I think Red Berry Records is just Maggie and friends. Internet makes new business models possible. An artist can collect her fans and friends worldwide and create a profitable audience. Making music is not overly expensive, even if singing is more expensive than synth music. Everybody have a CD burner in their computers. And finally, PayPal makes it possible to take the money home. So, what do we need the cigar smoking black suit wearing big belly bosses for? Where is the value they add to the music?

At the same time the Major Labels are prisoners of old-fashion regional thinking. They did not want to release Lesiem Times in Finland, they did not want to publish Rainy Day outside Finland & Denmark. What sense it makes to refuse from some income? Let me guess again. The big ones are full of  regional bosses, country bosses and area bosses. These fellows have a sturdy grip of their thrones and they take pains to prevent any departure towards global thinking. Instead, they like to dabble with dead ideas like DRMs or region codes for DVDs. Kick out the midrange bosses and you are on your way to healing.

A word about DRM. There is no effective DRM for music or sound and there will not be one. Just take it. An artist can thrive only by having a loyal core audience, who proudly buys anyway. And the product must be released worldwide at the same time. Well, maybe it's also a good idea to make music for grownup people instead of kids. So, if you think you need a copy of Rowan, update your Flash player, have your credit card ready and ride to Maggie's website. I only will help this much: Maggie Reilly reviews and pictures and official Maggie Reilly website.





No free music during this season, so, no winner.

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