Skip to main content

A modest proposal for fixing the music industry | Brian McTear |





This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Brian McTear grew up wanting to be a rock star, but he had one problem: In the late ‘90s, we all just stopped paying for music. How can a hard-working musician or producer make a living now? McTear, with his project Weathervane Music, has stumbled on a way — and it’s both practical and deeply focused on our shared love of music. And yes, his model can work for all kinds of content creators.



Brian McTear is a nationally respected record producer, musician, and owner of one of Philadelphia’s most revered independent recording studios, Miner Street Recordings in Fishtown. He is also the founder of Weathervane Music, a nonprofit arts and culture organization whose mission is to advance independent music and the community that surrounds it. Weathervane is working to develop a program to provide teaching materials for college and university recording programs to change the way future engineers learn to record music. Brian grew up one of seven children in the Chester County suburbs of Philadelphia. Though surprisingly healthy, he and his youngest sister have been treated all their lives for Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the respiratory and digestive systems. In the 18 years since he entered the Philadelphia music community, Brian has worked with countless local artists such as Dr. Dog, Kurt Vile, and The War on Drugs, as well as national artists like Sharon Van Etten and Joan Osborne.



About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New Music Artist Spotlight EXCLUSIVE: Steampunk Musical and Interview With Gretchen Suarez-Peña

New Music Artist Spotlight: Steampunk Musical & Interview With Gretchen Suarez-Peña New Music Resource was excited to interview exciting musical theater playwright and director Gretchen Suarez-Peña about her latest musical theater production: Melina A Steampunk Musical Tragedy. Gretchen Suarez-Peña is a long-time playwright and lover of the theatre. She has been acting, directing, and writing plays since her teenage years. Her most recent success was winning overall best full-length play at the 2018 Tampa Bay Theatre Festival for her show Conversations in the Car. Playwright and Director Gretchen Suarez-Peña NMR: How did you start in musical theatre? What inspired you to follow this path?  I've been involved in musical theatre since I was a kid. I loved the theatre, acting, singing, and acting in middle school and high school. I participated in every thespian competition and community theatre production I could at that time and into college and early ...

Percussion 101: How to Play Hand Crash Cymbols

Young Girl Plays Cymbals The hand cymbals (or crash cymbals ) are extremely versatile percussion instruments . The hand cymbals are used in the military, drum and bugle corps , the orchestra, and wind ensembles. Proper percussion hand cymbal technique takes many years of practice and hard work, as well as stamina and upper body strength. The most common use of the hand cymbals is in the drum line, whether in a high school band or a professional drum and bugle corps. Two cymbals are held by straps to the cymbal player's hands. In marching band and drum and bugle corps, the cymbal player often will loop their own hand in the strap, then grab the strap.  Protect Your Hands Tape, strap pads, and gloves are often used to protect the cymbal player's hands from blisters and the slow grinding away of skin during a lengthy band show. In the orchestra setting, where the crash cymbal is often reserved for music accents and shorter music passages, the percussion player does...

Machinima Magic using Moviestorm, Final Cut, and Photoshop

For those who have been wondering about the hiatus here at the New Music Resource, wonder no more! The past six months I have been working on a sci-fi machinima musical Libertaria: The Virtual Opera . Created almost entirely in the machinima software platform Moviestorm and scored with a catchy combo of electronic music, film scores, and dramatic vocals, Libertaria has been an incredible collaborative project. Moviestorm has been an excellent and inexpensive way to create an entire epic sci-fi tale for a minimal amount of resources. Almost three years ago I started using Moviestorm for a variety of video projects, and then decided to make an entire feature length musical using only machinima. The project proved challenging, involved a couple of dozen singers, animators, and other artistic professionals volunteering their talent and resources to create an incredible feature. W atch a the lo-res version of  the song Pilar of the Underground from Libertaria: The Virtual Opera : ...