[HANASHIR:15191] Re: Ideas Sprouting for CAJE Discussions and Workshops

[Ros Schwartz <ros_schwartz...>]

Thanks for writing this up Adrian.  I think a Jewish Musicians' 
Collective and Clearinghouse are excellent and extremely important ideas 
... long overdue ... I would be happy to help in any way I can, put me 
on whatever mailing list(s) this entails!

The only point I disagree with, in the proposal described, is the bid to 
have "auditions and approvals  [for the collective] to ensure some 
quality control."  Who says what is good and what is bad???  And ... who 
decides who gets to make that decision???  We all know of stories where 
one person absolutely hates a particular CD ... which goes on to sell 
many copies, because other people think it is just great.

What if people with high-quality standards might not want to be 
associated with a group / advertise on a website / which also included 
really poor quality releases?  Well, if someone is Important Enough to 
think that way, they are probably successful enough to work on their 
own, they don't need a collective.  Anyway, even the poorest quality 
release represents a significant investment of time and $, and 
_someone's_ heart's desire.  And ... people improve, they _want_ to 
improve.  If you say, "This CD is no good, we won't sell it, come back 
when you are Good Enough" ... you discourage rather than encourage 
fledging artists.

Perhaps the collective could offer a review service, whereby experienced 
artists preview a CD before publication, and give direction and advice 
to the artist about the work-in-process.  This would help maintain 
quality standards, and would surely be more encouraging and constructive 
than waiting until poor quality work has been produced, and then 
rejecting it!!!

In the end, I say:  tastes differ.  Let the audiences decide.

Thanks again to Judy for organising the pre-conference where all these 
ideas gestated, and to Adrian for opening the discussion on this list.

- Ros

Adrian Durlester wrote:
> At CAJE, at the wonderful workshops and roundtables organized by Judy, as
> well as at other times we began to get a good sense of the kind of things
> needed by our community. These include:
> 
> 1. A Grammy category for Contemporary Jewish Music. Linda Yelnick
> (leahhaifa (at) usa(dot)net) is at the forefront of this effort. Anyone who is
> eligible to join NARAS should do so.
> 
> 2. A Jewish Music Clearinghouse to make obtaining mechanical license and
> other rights easy. Jeff Klepper, Judah Cohen and I are beginning preliminary
> examination of this project. Anybody know of a potential donor to support
> such a massive undertaking? Anybody else what to be part of this effort? For
> those of you who don't understand what this is all about, visit
> http://www.harryfox.com and visit http://ww.cmpamusic.org to see what the
> Christian Music world has done for themselves.
> 
> 3. A Jewish Musician's Collective--Part I. While there are plenty of
> distributors out there (Tara, Soundswrite, Hatikvah, Sisu, ARE, etc.),
> everybody can't carry everything. Companies like CD Baby and Amazon are
> making it easier for us to sell our CDs. And PayPal makes it easy to sell
> via your own web site.  Some still think, however, that if we had our own
> Jewish Musician's Cooperative, perhaps independent, or perhaps affiliated
> with CD Baby or some other organization, that would make it possible for
> more people to have easier access (and perhaps make it easier for those
> without the retail savvy that some of us have.) We'd take orders and fulfill
> them, do some advertising, and make samples available on the web. (Note to
> Randi, Joel, Velvel, et al--this isn't intended to be competition, and we'd
> want to set it up with your blessing and cooperation. At this time, it's
> just an idea that came up which sounded interesting.) One important issue,
> which I'll raise up front, is whether this collective should be open to
> anyone who can pay the fee, or whether some audition and approval process is
> needed to assure some quality control. I'll make no secret that I favor the
> latter, but still want it to be as open as it can possibly be without
> sacrificing standards.)
> 
> 4. Jewish Musician's Collective Part II--In addition to a distribution
> channel, there are many artists who don't have the time, know-how, or
> wherewithal to handle many of the business aspects. Another idea being
> kicked around for the collective would be to make some services available
> like website design and hosting, business management services (contracts,
> travel arrangements, bookkeeping, bulk, direct and targeted mailings, block
> advertising, order processing, order fulfillment and shipping, phone and
> e-mail answering service, tax preparation, etc.), booking referrals
> (NOTE-this collective would not operate as an agent or artist's rep and
> would not book artists-let's leave that to Abi, Linda, Moshe and others who
> are the professionals at it. It would, however serve as a referral service,
> just as Judy does with JER and Moment does with its listings.) It could also
> offer mentoring services, and potentially producing, business manager and
> similar services.
> 
> This list is the best place to begin hashing out some of these ideas. Let's
> have at them. Just remember, it's Elul. Don't write anything to the list
> that you might wind up adding to the list of things you need to answer for
> at Yom Kippur.
> 
> Also, please note that I am serving as the reporter and messenger here. I
> don't claim to be the owner of any of these ideas, nor am I endorsing them
> all (although I do think they all have some potential, and being for a
> Grammy category is a no-brainer.)
> 
> Shavua Tov,
> 
> Adrian
> 
> Adrian A. Durlester, MTS
> E-mail: adrian (at) durlester(dot)com  www.durlester.com
> Director of Education & Congregational Life, Bethesda Jewish Congregation,
> Bethesda, MD
> www.bethesdajewish.com
> Co-Director, Hazamir/JTAI Choir of Greater DC
> Past Conf Chair, CAJE 27, August 4-8, 2002, Trinity University, San Antonio,
> TX
> List Owner, hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Jewish Songleaders/Performers List
> www.ehavanashira.org
> Co-Owner, l-torah (at) shamash(dot)org; Liberal Torah Discussion List
> 
> 
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