Comment Archives: stories: Music: Our Town Could Be Your Life
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Actually, The PCP/PUP show IS all ages tonight.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
I wish Meow Meow would come back. It's dumb that it ever had to close. I petition to bring it back.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
love her, www.myspace.com/iamkellischaefer
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
the old Meow Meow was such a great place. Saw many of my favorite shows there.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Mr. Baggins - Cary Clarke here. I actually had originally written the phrase as "relationship with the (mostly) independent Sub Pop" because the 49% Warner ownership stake you mention. Word count always being a factor in print, I decided to cut it because 49% is not a majority share, which to my mind still justified the term "independent" for the purposes of this piece, though that is certainly debatable. Getting into the finer points of whether or not Sub Pop is independent would require its own column, I think.
So, I suppose this note is just meant to say "Yes, it could be argued that you are correct" and to let you know that I was at least thinking of this issue. I hope that explanation makes sense.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
sub pop is 49% owned by warner brothers making it NOT an indie label.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
The Shins are not even a band anymore, Mercer should just give it up and start calling it his solo project since thats exactly what it is ;(
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Thanks for the kind words, Tyger. I am going to miss Portland, too, a heckuvalot. I won't disappear, though - you'll see me around from time to time, and I look forward to being an ambassador to Portland music in Seattle. Meanwhile, I will continue writing this column for the foreseeable future.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Wow. Very well said Cary! Portland is going to miss you.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
To me, Portland indie pop begins and ends with Paper Brain.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
found another bit more informative moncrieff what's up? interview here:
http://www.theperishablepress.com/2009/06/…
Re: “Portland Music Ups and Downs”
wasn't CD Baby written up as a growing "green" company and as one of the top 20 companies to work for in Portland? Besides saving short term on benefits and destroying the culture, what does the AVL company gain?
I would also like to know, were the employees laid off (meaning when times got better they could come back to work) or were they terminated?
Re: “Portland Music Ups and Downs”
Executive cuts I meant.
When Discmakers (via AVL) bought CD Baby, they froze pay and told employees not to expect anything until raises in June.
Now that it's June, there has been another set of lies put forth to keep people strung along. Now the company is denying overdue raises, ignoring cost of living pay-increases, and suggesting hiring temps to do work after firing 10 people. This isn't how a friendly company does business, this is how capitalism kills the independent spirit.
Re: “Portland Music Ups and Downs”
I think all you reporter types keep missing the real story
CD Baby was started by Derek Sivers and acquired by AVL/Discmakers, but what made it run so well has always been those people who were there day in and day out. People who deeply cared.
Look at the reality:
For an entire year, the absentee owner of CD Baby (Derek Sivers) couldn't even bring himself to show up at his own business and prior to that, for many years he lived in Los Angeles and would show up in Portland sporadically, stay for a few weeks, then leave again. Yet, he took all the credit for it's growth and never mentioned the people who did all the work. He then sold the business to AVL without even a thank you to the 100 people who made his fortune for him.
I think Miss Maranda is right. AVL is in the process of streamlining it's operations and is methodically cutting out the heart of CD Baby. Sadly, CD Baby is now a company that is well on it's way to becoming another sterile entity on the internet, just like those companies that I believe prompted Mr. Sivers to start CD Baby in the first place.
Re: “Portland Music Ups and Downs”
Avoiding execute cuts and instead focusing the cutbacks on uninformed decisions, CD Baby lost several key employees last week, people who truly carried the spirit of the company.
The fact that the employees were made to sign non-disclosure agreements, despite their positions, is a sign that the company is frightened to have this news, and other inside information, leaked to the public.
At this point it's becoming clear that CD Baby is no longer an independent company, it's profit-driven motives over common sense and humanity make this company like any other. It was bound to happen eventually. Thanks AVL & Discmakers & D.Wendell Sivers.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
I wish I were a tenth as talented as TJO.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Whatever you do, do not go to http://www.myspace.com/whatsuponline to try and listen. Or do, if you want to hear an (ironically) awesome Swedish power pop band that appears in no way related to the (actually) awesome Portland band.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
Music should be heard not scene.
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
I <3 the artistery.
RSSGoing to Seattle?
Re: “Our Town Could Be Your Life”
If they switched the show to all-ages that's fantastic, but it was listed on the Aladdin website as only open to minors in the company of a parent. I'm hoping to get an explanation for that policy, but haven't yet.