Posts by Heather Gaye
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if we are going to let radio programmers have any say in the music that is made then we're stuffed..sorry.
...And now these same people are making the decisions on what gets funding....excuse my bahasa, but they can totally fuck off
Yeah, I'd tend to agree with that. I still have a few unresolved issues about mainstream radio, but they've mainly been put to rest by attending a lot of good gigs with fun people whose complaints about funding have pretty much dwindled to tokenism.
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..oh, ok
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Hamish/Heather
I didn't realise that you were both Everton fans*coff* are you taking the piss? I can't tell..
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and regardless of what Brendan does, that is wrong wrong wrong
who's decision was it to let mainstream radio programmers pick who gets funding anyway?
The name of the organisation is NZ On Air. No point funding music that's not going to get played. That's their mandate.
I do, however, agree that we're well overdue for a reassessment of whether we actually need this particular funding model at all. I believe the original idea was better kiwi mainstream music than imported. It was purely about the business. It's a lot more expensive for a major label to record a kiwi act than just importing sure winners from the UK or US. The funding acted as an incentive (and some grants are loans, nominally at least) for the multinationals to invest their money into local acts. However, now a significant proportion of funding now goes to independent kiwi labels. It's likely the funding doesn't really make any difference to the amount of kiwi music being played any more.
Personally I say hand it all over to CreativeNZ. Get some ballet out of it, oh yeah.
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Man, that post took a page's worth of comments to write. I think I've been pre-empted a few times since I started.
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Something has drained NZ music of its uniqueness in the last few years. Some guy from a band was on Nat Radio this morning and he put his finger on it,NZ bands feel they need to compete with overseas acts. They do to be commercially successful I guess, but as Russel says, it's nigh on impossible to make a crust on music in NZ anyway.
With respect, that's bollix, or at least an observation based on a very narrow window of kiwi music. I know there's a lot of bands that ape non-nz acts, badly, and some of them are pretty popular. Lots of young enthusiastic bands that want to copy their heroes, and probably have aspirations of cracking the States. However, of all the kiwis I know that actually make an income (or supplement their existing income) from music, none of them write music they wouldn't otherwise want to listen to, just because it'll sell (I've heard rumours about one band, but they're pretty much the hall-emptier of the industry).
Dave Gibson once told me (somewhat tipsily) that he'd love to make music like Radiohead, but he just writes the music that's in his head. Their music is honest, they're not trying to be anyone else but themselves. I know not many people like Elemenop, and fair enough, but to snub them for not being 'NZ enough' is pretty unfair.
There's plenty of debate about what does, or should constitute 'NZ music' anyway. I listen to (many, many, many) kiwi bands of varying genres - some of them are currently enjoying a little overseas success, some are just cruising the pubs. A lot of them get played on bFM. None of them are played on The Edge, or Sleepytime FM or whatever. Frankly, now that the Datsuns wannabes have calmed their strats a little, and making music is more normalised, there's a *lot* of really diverse, interesting music in NZ right now. Most of it can be traced back to non-kiwi influences, but that's no reflection on the authenticity (or outright enjoyability) of the music at all.
The main argument is one that's been made before: that the government support and involvement of NZ On Air have ushered in a mainstream that is essentially aping overseas genres to get played on the radio.
This is true to some extent...
There is a good case that NZOA have actually succeeded in a "de-mainstreaming" of kiwi music being funded. Radio stations ultimately make the final decision about who gets NZOA funding, based on a shortlist selected by NZOA. From what I've heard, the NZOA boffins (props to Brendan Smythe) stack the deck in favour of a bunch of really good acts that aren't mainstream enough to get major label interest. Just through this exposure the final funding choices have, over time, skewed towards some more interesting music.
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The Zamora goal against Everton is on You Tube and provides sustenance.
OH! OH! Linky plz
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I'm calling THEATRE!
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:) My fifteen minutes of fame!
Now, if she can just organise the mash-up for it I'll be truly happy.
The thought has crossed my mind.
A great month for the Hammers (not MC) and a nervous weekend coming up, no?
I refuse to feel any kind of excitement, dread, or nailbiting anticipation. I am as the water on a clear day. My fingers will not be bloody stumps.
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Mrs Peter Davies clearly isn't her legitimate name
Man, this is a really weird conversation.
Anyway, in the absence of any discussion that makes the remotest amount of sense, I really have to side with Craig... I'm pretty sure that the point of his original post is that there's no use getting huffy about what bishup Tamaki calls himself. The Clark thing was an example. To paraphrase: "You could get huffy and insist that she should refer to herself Mrs Peter Davies. But that would be stupid."
Apologies if I read wrong.
Tamaki can call himself Lord High Poo-Bah and Super Peitty Princess of the Universe for all I care.
I'd actually prefer it if he did.