The Future of Music:
Adventures in the Eye and Ear Trade
Words: Sandy Hunter
In our media saturated landscape, mono-sensory stimuli seems sooo 20th century. Never fear, musicians and their record companies are releasing DVDs in hopes of luring back the pleasure centers of those fickle consumers responsible for flagging record sales in the wake of file sharing and CD burning. Artists and labels from the major and minor sides of the tracks are releasing DVDs with specially commissioned visuals. Not only are these DVDs the evolved heirs apparent to enhanced CDs, music video compilations and concert videos, but they up the ante in terms of unique content and audio fidelity.
Groups such as Super Furry Animals, Autechre and Orbital have released visual discs, and DVD EPs are increasingly common fare (Zero7's "Destiny" single includes the video and remixes, while some copies of The Eminem Show are bundled with a DVD of clips). Overall, the range is wide, from the musically driven Baraka-like style of the recent 1 Giant Leap disc to Underworld's interactive playground Everything, Everything, a 5.1-ready AV treasure trove. This fall, Funki Porcini is releasing Fast Asleep, a new CD/DVD album on Ninja Tune, and Saint Etienne will be releasing a DVD with 12 short films about London, one for each of the songs on their upcoming album, Finisterre, on Mantra. West Coast electronic mainstay Moonshine has launched Moonshine Movies and, working with London company Addictive Television, has produced a number of DVDs. Transambient, Spaced Out and Mixmasters bring together dance music and appropriately freaky original visuals for couch-bound raveheads. So the question is begged: Is the industry moving in this direction en masse, arriving at some closer bedfellowship between music and cinema than music video?
The question isn't exactly a new one. Presenting VH1's Music Cinema several years ago, Francis Ford Coppola lamented the downfall of music videos. "This short form, basically commercials for records, is losing energy," said the prophetic director. "Why not have a longer form... an audio visual piece, not just two minutes, but 40 minutes? The sky is the limit for the new music cinema."
The sky may be the limit, but it ain't called the music "industry" for nothing. The huge content conglomerates controlling the music biz see music cinema, sold on disc or displayed on proprietary Web sites, as potential revenue streams, and the first attempts have been variations on the live concert theme. A recent Shakira MTV Unplugged Concert DVD sold in excess of 40,000 copies, offering enhanced sound quality but little more than the standard concert video fodder.
On the other hand, Underworld's DVD went beyond the bounds of the established live show format. Everything, Everything allows viewers/listeners to opt between footage from several live performances or absorb new graphics or live show visuals, both designed by Tomato (the London design company to which the members of Underworld belong), all while enjoying the music in crisp high-fidelity. Those inclined can program their own concert, complete with graphical forays between selected stage sets, or dabble with a keyboard-driven music mixer.
Not only did the DVD allow Underworld (and Tomato) to flex its unique audiovisual skill set, it offered their record label, V2, a chance to test the waters. Sharon Lord, V2's head of marketing, says that despite low sales thus far, it is becoming cheaper to put content, including backstage and concert footage, documentaries, interviews and especially music videos, onto a DVD package. "There is some really groundbreaking video work from artists and directors coming through that will never get on MTV or even MTV2," she says. "DVD is a really great way of getting them out there... and its not something people can just download, so it could be a way to fight downloading and piracy."
