GCrites

^It seems like most youth cruising in Ohio was shut down by authorities years ago. Circleville, Chillicothe and Portsmouth all used to be jammed with cars on the weekends but are not today.

No people, not "ball"; you mean "bawl". She didn't shoot any baskets in MTS's office. She certainly sounds like does not fit the description of a baller or shot caller.

That chick is hot.

860k units to break even? It obviously can be done more efficiently than that or independent labels wouldn't exist.

^ With merch, I meant that merch (shirts, stickers) with the bands logo or image is seen over and over again around town and at shows. Merch is free for the label, because management/the band pays for it to be made, but the label gets money when people see the logo, find out if the act is any good or not, then buy the album due to good things they've heard about the band. I wasn't referring to bands that are "sponsored" by clothing like Korn and Adidas or bands' deals with the companies that make their musical equipment. When I said "brand recognition" I meant recognition of the act as a brand. jmecklenborg, you make some good points. The situation you describe with only a few songs getting finished out of a proposed homemade full album does happen a lot. In fact, I am stalled at three songs for an album project . The rest of the songs are written, it's just tearing apart my computer again, dragging it into the living room, programming the scratch drum machine, getting my voice in shape, blah blah blah. But, I am working with a guy on I've never met out in San Diego who knows more about mixing and mastering than me; I'm sending him all of my parts dry with no effects whatsoever. Then he adds more parts, such as the real drums. He might need to come along and kick me in the ass to get me going again. Also, it's true that a lot of this cheap recording sounds cheap to a trained ear. But throwaway pop listeners don't care, they only respond to the marketing push behind the act and 2-3 good hooks per song.

^Well, I guess I kind of thought of it myself. Insurance? What kind of insurance for these bands? Tour insurance? That makes sense, but a good live show makes an imprint that lasts forever. While tour support does cost money it can pay off big time... or sometimes not. Of course concerts have nothing to do with the label... until a bunch of people buy records because they were impressed by the live show, and remember the band years later because of the live show! I know that labels don't see money from merch. But, the marketing and brand recognition appeal of merch is undeniable. While it means a lot of money for the band, it also is FREE advertising for an act, often worn by influencers. When people wear merch, everyone sees it, not just mass media consumers. Basic production is CHEAP today -- production that casual music listeners don't notice, that is. Really cheap! You've been in the situation where you worked for a major label and once the contract was signed, a ton of money was spent on production in the '90s -- and sounded amazing. It's really tough to beat '90s production. These days, you can spend as much as you want on any type of record -- but you don't have to. There's this ongoing project that I really like, Vomitron (mp3.com/vomitron) where one guy does it all himself except for the drums. He records, writes all the songs and plays all the instruments. The production is explosively awesome, has about a billion tracks per song, the songs have a billion changes and most songs are at least six minutes. They are crystal clear and hit you like a ton of bricks. His albums would have cost millions to make in the '80s and '90s, but he does it all at home with Cubase on a laptop and instruments, amps and mics that he would have anyway as a musician. In fact, he has turned his laptop and mics into a mobile recording studio for fun and profit. If he can to this for basically free, a rap or pop album done on a simple set of beats (drum machine/keyboard setup), which many are, should cost nothing except for the cost of the producer's time with no engineers needed! You don't even need an actual studio because the equipment is so good today, no matter the genre! I don't agree that live shows are fewer and far between. It's the only way a lot bands can make any money. While there are fewer people at each show, there are more shows than ever. I didn't know about the spin-offs.

Massachusetts has more Massholes than OU, I guarantee it.

The way I look at major labels today is that they are one part of the diversified large media companies' asset allocation. Music used to be the high-yield-but-risky "stocks" section of the portfolio, but today it is the low-yield, low-risk "money market" aspect. In the '60s-'80s, labels would take a chance on certain bands and continue to hold them to see if they caught on. This is how AC/DC, Kiss, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Clapton's various bands, Yes, Nirvana, Def Leppard, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden Whitesnake and many more caught on -- they were allowed to use their first 1-4 records slowly build in sales until they turned into an unstoppable freight train. Meanwhile, they were doing exciting, solid live shows and earning the respect of real music fans and casual listeners alike. And of course, both the songwriting and musical chops were there (well, Kiss' musical chops are up for debate). They are the kinds of acts that have made by far the most money for the labels. While there were many Van Halens and Ozzys, there were also many Armored Saints and Metal Churches, bands that the labels sunk a lot of money into but saw relatively little return from. But today, for the media conglomerate, the mainstream label is thought of as a money market account. Short term, low-risk, low yield investments (acts) are the norm. Cliche rappers, Nickelbacks, Seethers and American Idol trash are extremely low risk and have built in promotion from TV and radio. I know that acts have to be "sold" to radio and TV, but how can they resist when so many acts will do anything to make it? Don't fit into the box TV or radio wants? Somebody else will! Also, recording is SO CHEAP today that it really distorts what majors want. A rap album that could easily make it on the radio can be done at home for $0 and sound professional (well, at least production-wise). Same way with a pop record. Rock and country bands cost quite a bit more to produce, but still much, much less than 10 years ago. So rap and pop have a cost advantage right out of the gate, making them more attractive to labels. But what's the problem with this? The acts have little value-added service beyond the album. Live shows are dull or non-existent, and have disproportionately low ticket sales for the number of records sold by the act. Few people buy merch, because they don't CARE about the act enough to buy merch. And therein lies the danger and the lack of long-term sizable returns from an act. People CARED about Black Sabbath in 1970 enough to buy, buy, buy and people CARE enough about Black Sabbath/Heaven and Hell in 2008 to buy, buy, buy. Just like in your personal investing, the money market (record label) is a quick, low-risk way to make only a little money. Note: this is the opposite of how most independent labels work, and is why many of them are flourshing. MTS can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'd imagine that Time Warner as a diversified corporation is seeking the stock-like higher risk/return objective somewhere else in its business, perhaps in cable TV or in the film business.

Indeed. There are lots and lots of interesting things to do on a farm, which can lead to well-adjusted kids. But due to cost, you pretty much have to be born into farms; you just don't say "Hmmm, exurban McMansion or farm... which should I choose?"

We celebrate the small towns of Ohio on this site. Walkable/bikeable areas of small towns are great for being a kid, as long as there are at least a few things to do. While they might not learn much about different types of people, at least they won't be isolated. And remember, kids aren't that much safer in the 'burbs, exurbs, small towns, and rural areas. Things like bullying, theft, fistfights, getting hit by cars, sports injuries and drugs care not of location. Add to the mix nonurban dangers such as quad/dirtbike crashes, tractor-related injuries, auto accidents from spending a lot of time in the car, hunting accidents, snakebites, hiking incidents, drowning in a pond, exploring old barns, tornadoes and injuries from animals -- just to name a few -- and kid safety outside of cities is little better if at all. Plus, the amount of childhood obesity in walkable cities is much lower.

Those kids in the picture could enjoy those same exact activities (jumping rope, practicing goals) in a modestly sized yard or heaven forbid, in a park with other kids -- have even more fun. I suppose in the exurban situation that one of their friends from school that lives two townships over could be delivered in an SUV to play with them.

^ Aw, jeez. Sounds like one of those types that builds a house next to the freeway and expects the government to build them a noise wall.

I don't know about that. It looks like a good place to raise a kid, but not necessarily a good place to BE a kid. When my oldest was about 8, several years ago, I drove through one of the neighborhoods like the one pictured, with big homes and large yards. I asked if he would like to live there. He said, no -- the houses were too far apart and his friends would be further away. It did not have the neighborhood feel that he was accustomed to. Now he's 17 and still feels the same way -- he has the freedom to use his bus pass all over the city, is not constrained by having to use a car all the time, etc. Until I was 12, my family lived in Groveport, an older suburb of Columbus. It was no ordinary post '60s suburb, because most of it consisted of a 1800s-early 1900s small town that was built on a human scale. I could walk or ride my bicycle everywhere I needed to go -- school, the store, friend's houses, bicycle trails, parks, the pool, whatever. The old R/W for the interurban tracks was a trail that got me where I needed to go. Then we moved to the country. Having land was nice, but except for the run-down trailer park across the road (which was bad news), there were no other human beings for miles. My bike was useless. Any time I wanted to see friends, they or I had to be chauffeured, wasting a bunch of our parents' time. Since that was inconvenient, my folks ended up spending a bunch of money on video games and quads/dirt bikes to keep me from going nuts. The quads and dirt bikes were good for me (we have 425 acres, though; most people don't have that luxury), but the video games almost turned me into one of those massively overweight, maladjusted video zombie kids. Ultra-long bus rides cut into my free and homework time (I can't read in a moving vehicle without getting a splitting headache, except oddly enough, I can read on a subway all day). I started doing really crappy in school and failed a grade. I'd say that I didn't totally recover from the loss of freedom that the lack of walk/bikeability provides a youth until I was in college in a walkable area at age 20. I had already had a driver's license and a really cool car for four years, but it took that long to break the chains. Obviously, if you're a kid born into an unwalkable situation, you don't know what you're missing, but living in an exurban hellhole on 1 acre without access to dirt bikes, guns, big mudholes, go-karts and other "real country" fun stuff, how do you keep from going nuts? Be an emo kid and cut yourself all the time? So that's where those kids come from!

Yes, sprawl.

So I tried some of that Camel snus stuff mentioned above. Orange flavor. I followed the instructions on the back of the tin and put it in my upper lip; man, I felt like a nincompoop reading instructions to use tobacco. The manual also said that I wouldn't have to spit, which was true, but it just felt right to spit anyway. It didn't hit near as hard as Grizzly, but I did get an OK buzz from the stuff. My spit was orange. Over time, I don't think my mouth would get tore up near as bad with snus as opposed to dip. Eh, back to the Grizz.

^ Um, that piece tries to make it sound like that the 1-5 years that other states have had smoking bans has cleaned up the health in those states in that short of time. No, that will take a generation or more, that is if smoking bans even have a significant impact on public health.

Those little bits and pieces screw the townships as well.

Yeah that class sounds like it would probably be less fun at 10:00 am in the evening.

Unfortunatley, racism is one of the key forces in human migration.

We can thank TV for this one. TV is racist and constantly reinforces thug imagery to keep young blacks out of mainstream society.

Looks like Wal-Mart's razor-thin profit margin couldn't handle that one!

Oooooh, if you just checked my profile, you'd see that I'm a Cincy East Sider. Well, actually, I grew up in Groveport and Ashville.

I have to admit, I thought TG was going to stand for transgendered and ALT was Alternative Lifestyle something.

They should add car washes to the list. There's always bums there, 'cause they know you've got change sitting out.

Heh heh, I always like it that when a school system is trying to pass a levy that they threaten to take away bus service for kids that live less than two miles from the school. Those kids shouldn't have bus service anyway (past 3rd grade). But, of course the idiots that designed the "neighborhoods" didn't put in sidewalks half the time!