FORUM ON TAPE EXCHANGE

The response to the "Tape Exchange Proposal" letter in the issue before last has brought more mail than any other letter we have printed. I would like to share a couple of the responses in order to get additional feedback on these proposals. If we are to form a truly universal exchange and communication program, we should have as many comments and criticisms from as many of the prospective "exchangers" as possible. So, let's hear from you! M.J.

Dear Marvin,

I found the July/August issue of Polyphony particularly significant because of your editorial and the tape exchange idea proposed by Chuck Larrieu in the letters column. Reading the two items was like finding the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle. At last I was able to put into perspective some deeply held ideas I had about using synthesizers in creative home recordings and then being able to reach an audience of listeners.

Until the July/August issue, I became increasingly annoyed that Polyphony was excessively technique oriented. It was all right to know how modifications could be made to equipment to achieve a certain effect but for what purpose? One could easily tire of the effect once the novelty wore off. Sure it was great to build the equipment and tinker with circuitry. Some of the sound effects were interesting and even amusing. But again, for what purpose? Beyond the obvious learning process involved with building the circuit and creating the sound effects there should have been, it seemed to me, some meaningful application. Hopefully now, with the apparent change in editorial philosophy, Polyphony can become more instrumental in not only delineating user application but also in coordinating a peer group tape sales/exchange network aiding in the distribution and/or selling of subscriber compositions.

At this point I'd like to develop first, my idea of how a tape exchange could be implemented and secondly, how the tape exchange concept could be expanded to include other artists in the so called "home recording" category.

In order to get the tape exchange into operation we have to assume that those involved with collecting, cataloging, and duplicating materials would do so on a voluntary basis. Once the exchange was operational then a fee structure could be worked out to compensate those involved.

Organizationally, centers or holding libraries could be located in three zones of the U.S.: East, Central and West. Theses libraries would then compile a list of the material they have and send these lists to Polyphony. The zonal libraries would act as screening agents and make recommendations to Polyphony regarding the general quality of the recordings submitted. The purpose would be to reduce the workload of Polyphony in reviewing material. At the same time, the readership of Polyphony would have access to the list of materials held by the zonal libraries simply by requesting the current list of materials available by including a self-addressed and stamped envelope to Polyphony. The resulting lists from the zonal libraries could then be compiled into one catalog listing all the materials available. A brief description of the material would be given along with either the selling price or exchange option asked by the composer. The composer's address would also be listed unless requested otherwise.

It is assumed the composer has taken the necessary steps to protect his material by copyright. Neither the zonal libraries or Polyphony can be held responsible for any duplication which might result after the recorded material is sold or exchanged. The composer who has his material in the marketplace, so to speak, solely must be responsible for the protection of his material! The composer must also be prepared to duplicate his own material for sale or exchange unless he makes an arrangement with a zonal library to duplicate his tape in return for a percentage of the selling price. However, the zonal library must not put itself in a position of assuming any debts or liabilities incurred by any composer. To do otherwise would jeopardize the existence and success of the tape sales/exchange network.

Up to this point the thrust of my discussion has centered around the home recording synthesist and the exchange and/or sale of his material to other like-minded individuals. But I think the growth potential is much greater and rewarding (not only individually but more importantly, commercially) if we open up the tape sales/exchange network to include other artists/composers. In other words, an interdisciplinary approach.

I'd like to bring to your attention an individual who has been working to further the expressive qualities of stereo recording through the creative use of narration, music, and electronic sound effects. He is Lawrence Russell, an instructor in the Creative Writing Dept, at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. He is also the editor/publisher of D.N.A. Stereo Tape Magazine (currently defunct).

The possibilities of applying synthesizer music to the type of creative sound work that Lawrence does has endless variations and it is for this reason that I want others to know about his work. In a utopian gesture Lawrence offers a free duplication service for the many creative tapes he and his friends have composed. Upon request he will provide a listing of the tapes available along with a brief description of each. Then, when you have selected the tapes you want, all you need to do is provide reel to reel or cassette tapes to cover the program material you want along with return postage. Lawrence will dupe the requested tape selections free of charge and return the material to you. His address is: Lawrence Russell, (Contact Details). Lawrence explains his free duping by writing:

"The fact that DNA material is offered gratis is not through any revolutionary social principle; it is simply a means of exploiting the magnetic tape medium to its fullest without an absurdly expensive overhead. The idea of trying to sell the avante-garde has always struck me as being next to futile; the land is full of small literary magazines who sell to nowhere but the public libraries and sit with embarrassing anonymity on the shelves of the occasional bookstore."

One should listen to Lawrence's tapes with an open mind and glean new creative insights from them. Freshness of thought and expression as well as the compelling use of sound is the whole point and therein lies the value and enjoyment of these tapes.

Another type of sound artist that could be included in the proposed home tape sales/exchange network would be the practitioners of text-sound art. An overview of the well-known artists in the medium as well as the frustrations of not having a viable public outlet was described by Richard Kostelanetz (a text-audio artist himself) in the Winter 1978 issue of the "Performing Arts Journal". He concludes:

"Text-sound art, it is clear, is interesting and consequential — it is a distinct artistic category, with a small army of practitioners; but the greatest threat to its survival not to speak of its development — is, simply, its unavailability... What is needed at the beginning, of course, are selective anthologies, not only to make everyone aware of what is being done, but also to prompt current practitioners to move onto something else... Until records and various printed materials become readily available, North America text-sound will remain a private art that will have — public existence only in second-hand forms, such as this essay; and that unavailability becomes, to be frank, an example of de facto censorship that is no longer tolerable."

There are probably other groups who, like Russell and Kostelanetz, are attempting to use sound in a creative manner. They, as well as the readers of Polyphony, would benefit from the interchange of ideas that would come from the coordinated effort of a centrally directed tape sales/exchange network such as I'm suggesting. It certainly remains to be seen whether or not the network concept will work. But I think the current restrictive corporate controlled system of sound marketing can be circumvented by the determination of those desiring an open and far reaching sales/exchange network for the so-called "home" recordist, whatever his area of emphasis.

I think the success of the proposed network would have an impact on the mass market. It would mean, for example, people would have a personalized choice in creative sound selections. We would not be locked into format programming such as the ubiquitous Top 40 concept. Interestingly enough, at the First Annual Conference on Radio Programming, coordinated by the National Association of Broadcasters at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Chicago, August 20th through the 23rd, Jack Thayer of NBC noted that radio programmers should be aware of new trends in communication. He believed that young people were in effect turning inward and becoming interested in "interior exploration". At the same meeting, Joseph Smith, chairman of Elecktra/Asylum, stated that it was his experience that it was difficult to persuade radio stations to play new kinds of music. However, he revealed that record buyers were indicating a desire for more innovative styles of music, much beyond what the radio stations were offering. In other words, people are ready to accept new and different types of music beyond what the corporate system can or is willing to offer. The message, as I see it, is loud and clear; provide what appeals to them instead of being force fed through the mass media.

If catalogues, such as might be developed through the home tape sales/exchange network, were made available through existing retail record stores, or even new stores, then contact could be made with a larger segment of the public. Accordingly, if this were successful, you could be sure the mass media people would fall in line.

Even though I may be somewhat of a visionary in my thinking, I still believe the tape sales/exchange network can be made to work at the grass roots level. I, for one, would volunteer my time to establish the zonal library for the West Coast if others agreed to the organizational concept I've presented in this letter. I solicit your comments and criticisms. The end goal is too important not to pursue a workable alternative to the current restrictive corporate system. Perhaps, in the end, the idea of trying to sell the avante-garde may not be so futile after all.

Sincerely,
Will Nordby, San Aselmo, CA

Perhaps the most important statement in Will's letter is the next to the last sentence, "The end goal is too important not to pursue a workable alternative to the current restrictive corporate system." What do you think? Anybody willing to be a zone library? M.J.

MUSIC DISTRIBUTION

Many musicians composing in electronic music have at one time wanted to 1) distribute their music to wider number of people, and 2) have the option of listening to music by others working the same field. The following plan is a proposed means to the above end. While any course of action cannot satisfy all needs, I do feel the proposed system is better than the one we currently have and could make a positive contribution to a wider dissemination of creative music.

First, we need to examine the present system and its flaws, as well as some simple (but possibly incorrect) solutions.

FLAWS IN THE PRESENT SYSTEM

The present distribution system is geared towards mass marketing, and the selling of albums in the hundreds of thousands or millions. Realistically speaking, although some "electronic musicians" (and by this I mean to include experimental rock and jazz types) make music that appeals to a wide number of people, a lot of our music has less potential for pleasing a mass audience. However — much of this music could probably find at least 1,000 interested pairs of ears, and possibly many more.

Due to the need for mass marketing, a record company will prefer to put money into promoting someone with a track record instead of an unknown who may be onto something, but is unproven in the marketplace. Additionally, greatest hits albums and repackages are on the increase — no new studio time is required, the records are inexpensive to produce, and the albums feature well known artists. All these factors contribute to a rough scene for launching musicians who do not fit in with the "commercially acceptable" mainstream.

Unless some electronic music group manages to capture the public's fancy on a mass level (which is always possible), major record companies will continue to be cautious about promoting something which is thought of as non-commercial.

TAPE EXCHANGES

Realistically speaking, the idea of individual composers forming tape exchanges is appealing, since it allows direct communication between like-minded people. But I feel there are two serious problems.

One, this type of operation severely limits the amount of music that can get out in the world. It makes advertising difficult, and it would be very hard to reach those members of the general public who are interested in this type of stuff.

Second, a system like this is hard to turn into a profit-maker; as a result, it means that the operation is somebody's part-time job. I think it's mandatory to set up the proposed distribution system as a business; this would offer incentive to those willing to put out the products, allow for advertising, and insure royalties to musicians for their work.

EXISTING INDEPENDENT LABELS

There are several independent labels; however, they seldom pool their efforts in creating a unified front (there are some noticeable exceptions I know of in the Bay Area), and operate at a relative distance from each other. I feel a better way is to combine electronic musicians of all persuasions under one company, so that listeners can have a rich library of possibilities to choose from. This will also allow people to expand their tastes — rock fans can sample classical tape techniques, for example, or vice-versa.

SOLVING THE BIG PROBLEM

As I see it, the big problem with independent distribution is how to sell the things. If you see an ad in a magazine promoting someone you've never heard of who is selling some of his or her music, how tempted are you to rush right out and buy it? Certainly, the odds would improve if you could hear a sample of the music being advertised. So, the solution to the big problem is: a sampler record.

THE MECHANICS OF THE THING

Let's set up an actual example. We'll use an arbitrary company name of Polyphony Records (abbreviated PR), and it will be halfway between a tape exchange and a full-fledged record company.

PR must first have some music to sell, and four artists releasing four albums seems like a good place to start. First, that's a smaller number of albums to have to store, send out, and the like; starting the label with too many artists would be over-ambitious and probably not very practical. These four artists would contribute pieces of their music to an EP (extended play) record — or any other medium would probably be OK for starters. PR would charge a price for the EP — maybe $3 — that would cover the cost of mailing the thing, with some left over to compensate the people doing the work, overhead, all those funny expenses that crop up whether you want them to or not, and maybe even some advertising.

Along with the EP would be a form for ordering any or all of the music you liked on the EP, with the understanding that delivery would take from 8 to 10 weeks. That way, PR would have a good idea of what kind of quantities to order (ordering too many records and having to eat them would kill off the company very fast, so this helps to prevent this problem).

Eventually, more artists would accumulate, and it would be time to release another sampler EP. Or, if enough good music has flowed into the place, perhaps an LP.

AN AMBITIOUS VARIATION ON THE ABOVE

A splashier way to start would be to gather about 30 artists, give each of them 3 minutes to show their stuff, and put out a double album which would sell for about $9. In many ways it would be a very commercial item — lots of different kinds of music for $10, how can you go wrong? Those albums in which you were particularly interested could again be ordered. A double record like this might even be commercial enough to retail through stores.

SOLVING A SMALL PROBLEM

OK... What if no one orders a particular album from the sampler, or only a very small group of people? If only, say, 30 people are interested in an album, it would be impossible to run off that few albums without incurring a financial loss. Perhaps the people running PR could arrange to have limited-run tape dubs made, or simply give the names of the interested listeners to the artist who would then figure out what to do. That way, although PR would not be directly involved with production of the music, people would still get to hear the music they wanted to hear (which is the point of the whole thing in the first place!).

AFFILIATION WITH A DISTRIBUTOR

It is likely that at some point in PR's future a major label will express interest in distributing some of PR's products. Their best bet would be to take the best-selling releases and attempt to distribute these among stores. This would bring more income to the artists and would simultaneously bring in more income to PR. With the extra income PR could carry more and more types of minority music, and let the bigger distributor handle the general interest sales... in the long run everyone would benefit.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE ARTISTS

We've already pointed out what advantages there are to the people who run this enterprise: a possible independent way to make a living. This would require hard work, but then again, what doesn't? For the artists, a simple contract would spell out what's in it for them.

PROBLEMS

One problem is physically warehousing these records, shipping containers, stamps, address labels, mailing lists, and the like; this is also a factor that must be included in the cost of running PR. So, PR is going to have to have a certain amount of space — it couldn't be operated out of someone's closet, although a garage might make do...

Another problem is raising the capital to get the thing off the ground, although it's really not all that hefty. For a ballpark figure of $2,000 it would be possible to press 1,000 good quality EPs, ship them, and minimally promote them. This figure could maybe even be trimmed, but by how much I don't really know offhand. Nonetheless, this isn't really prohibitive. Assuming a profit on the sampler record, selling these would provide enough funds to keep the company afloat as more orders come in for records represented on the sampler. Then the records would be pressed and sent. The key point is that the prices of anything offered by PR would have to be capable of making a profit, or the company will not be able to grow — and it will have to grow if it is to provide more music to more people.

CHOOSING ARTISTS

The people running PR would pretty much have to have the final say over what will be chosen for inclusion on the sampler record. This fails to solve one of the problems with traditional record companies — what if the person listening to the music just isn't into your particular groove? Hopefully, however, the people at PR would genuinely listen to things, get a few different opinions, and evaluate with an open mind rather than just playing the first 30 seconds to see if it has a chorus you can hum.

FINAL TOUCHES

Artists could also be selected by people already on the label; they would receive tapes for evaluation, and vote on what new artists they'd like to see on the label. This kind of thing appeals to me — that way, if you like someone's music, you can be pretty sure they'll like people that you'll like.

FINAL COMMENTS

There are probably at least one or two dedicated music aficionados who have the interest, the stamina, the dedication, and the objectivity to make this thing work. There is hopefully a minimum audience of 1,000 people or so who are interested in new music and would love to see something like this happen.

There are doubtless refinements that could be added, details to think of, and problems to solve. But by creating something in-between a "tape club" and a full-fledged record company, maybe it's just possible to please most of the people most of the time. Comments and genius ideas are greatly needed... let's have 'em.
Craig Anderton