July 03, 2010

By Sam Phillips

A good song will outlast us all.

After the music business broke down, I thought I would get out and walk with this idea instead of waiting for someone with the new business model to come and fix things.

I set up a little stand by the side of the road called the "Long Play," a music-and-art installation at my website SamPhillips.com. Starting in October 2009, I set out to write, record and digitally release five EPs and one full-length album in a year's time while making audio logs, short films, essays and other oddities connected to my creative process. Those who are interested pay a one-year subscription fee of $52—equal to $1 per week—and enter my world of writing, recording and musing where they can download the music and wander around in the ever-evolving "virtual museum" I have created.

I've heard and read a lot of interesting opinions about the death, and the possible resurrection, of the music business. But for me it's the same as it has been for more than 20 years—make something good. Great songs and musicians started this whole thing, have kept it going and will see it through because there are many people out there who love great music.

What I call "pop/novelty/flash" music caters to a sweet tooth and cashes in, but there also has to be music that sustains, inspires and moves us. People need some Louis Armstrong and Skip James to go with their "American Idol."

Instead of trying to grab more of the profit as it shrinks, maybe record companies, managers and others in the industry could create long-term wealth by helping artists and audiences develop their musical roots. U.S. public schools, which offer little or no music education, would be a great place to start this investment. I learned to love poetry because one of my teachers gave us great poems to read. Why not give schoolchildren great music to listen to? I believe that broadening and deepening musical tastes will result in better music and a hunger for more of it.

Most of the music and recordings I love aren't floating down the mainstream anymore because drought has narrowed the waters considerably. This got me to explore the back roads: The funds I have gathered from subscribers are smaller than major-label budgets, but are able to go further in fewer hands with more specific goals.

Violinist/arranger Eric Gorfain and I partnered on the Long Play because of our mutual interests in visual arts and music. While I'm making my own EP artwork and collages, he's taking photographs and making short films. After years of making records with well-known producers and engineers, the chance to record, mix and produce music on our own with some vintage gear at a workspace on the east side of Los Angeles seemed like a much better idea than mourning the old record business.

I am neither the first nor the last to do something like this and we are all learning as we go. By releasing music digitally, I discovered many of my listeners still want a physical CD or vinyl record. I will most likely partner with a record company to distribute some sort of physical recording at the end of this project.

Though the Long Play is more work, it also gives me the freedom to send more music out to my listeners than ever before. In the past, because the record company insisted on owning my recordings and would only pay me as a songwriter for 12 songs, it limited the amount of music I could release.

My motives for starting the Long Play are creative. I want to keep writing songs and making music without a broken, scared business telling me I can't. This is specifically important for me because I am a songwriter and a recording artist—not a pop star. There may not be enough money to pay executive salaries, but so far I have gathered enough subscriptions to make recordings with my band and to get the word out about the Long Play.

This experience has made me think that there's a way through—a long way that those who love music can take to the next great era of songs and recordings. ••••

Sam Phillips is a singer/songwriter whose albums include "Martinis & Bikinis" (Virgin) and "Don't Do Anything" (Nonesuch).

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