The Fingertips Q&A: Brian Sendrowitz of Beat Radio

THE FINGERTIPS Q&A

Brian Sendrowitz
(Beat Radio)

August 2009

"When I was a kid and I went to Square Circle to buy a record, I'd keep listening even if I didn't like it at first, because I just spent 15 bucks on it."

The Fingertips Q&A is one year old this month, launched in August 2008 with the express intent of allowing actual, working musicians the chance to talk about the state of the music industry in the digital age. This is not intended as a comprehensive discussion; each time I ask five (relatively) simple questions, all having something to do with making sense of what popular music in the 21st century is about. Easy!

This month we welcome Brian Sendrowitz, of the band Beat Radio, whose haunting song "Fearful" was featured on "This Week's Finds" back in 2006; a number of other free and legal MP3s from the band can be found via its listing in the Select Artist Guide.

Q: After all is said and done, what's your favorite thing about digital downloads? And what's your least favorite thing?

A: I think about this a lot. The MP3 has really become the medium I work in as an artist. I love the freedom I've been given because of it, the ability to make a recording that sounds however I want it to sound, and immediately be able to share it with people all over the world. And as a music fan I love how it's opened up a whole world to me, amazing artists I would never have heard otherwise. There are so many artists who wouldn't have made it through the old recording industry machine, and the machine was broken. Remember what kids were listening to before MP3s changed everything? They were listening to the Backstreet Boys. Now they're listening to Neutral Milk Hotel. It's amazing.

There is a downside though. Because we're so frequently not paying for records, we have no investment in them. When I was a kid and I went to Square Circle to buy a record, I'd keep listening even if I didn't like it at first, because I just spent 15 bucks on it. Some of those more challenging records ended up being the most rewarding. Now, for most of us, if something doesn't grab us right away, we can pretty quickly forget about it forever and move on to the next MP3 or zip file. But what are we missing out on?

Q: There's an idea floating around that says that music should ideally be treated like a utility, like water and electricity-- that it'll be "on tap," everyone pays a little each month and gets unlimited access. No more paying by the song or album, in other words. What do you think about this concept?

A: It's strange but on some gut level, this just feels wrong to me as a fan. I don't have any interest in it. The fun thing about buying records is that it's impulsive. A trip to a record store can feel like an adventure. The truth is I haven't bought very many CDs for a while but I still feel that way about vinyl. It's a treasure hunt. Sometimes you can stumble across a record and you feel like you just found the Holy Grail. Compared to this kind of experience, paying for a subscription service feels about as fun as going to the dentist, without drugs. Also, the truth is, there is more music out there free and readily accessible than I would ever have time to listen to. And I listen to music all the time.

As an artist, though, I'm already sort of doing this kind of thing I guess. I'm just not asking people for money. I'm asking them to follow me on Twitter, subscribe to my blog, be a Facebook fan, etc. From a business and marketing perspective, I don't think the subscription model can work in the long run. I think what is more realistic is a sort of artist patron type setup--something more along the lines of what public radio does. Not that I'm going to start doing pledge drives or anything. But I feel more comfortable just sort of passing around the tip jar, you know? Have records for sale for people who want to support what I'm doing. Maybe t-shirts, etc. Come out to a show. I'm probably the wrong person to give advice on this sort of thing. As a careerist, I've done a pretty poor job of it so far. Maybe if I'd had more financial success I'd have more of a sense of entitlement. I just figure there's lots of great music people could be listening to, and if they're taking the time to listen to mine, that makes me happy.

page 1 2