I've been thinking for some time about whether kids music can co-exist peacefully -- or even prosper -- with record companies. David Bryne's presentation "Record Companies: Who Needs Them?" (first presented in Montreal last fall, which really started my thinking about this, and at SXSW Thursday) is a fairly stinging indictment of the current record company model.
So allow me to be snark-free for a little bit -- how relevant are his arguments to this particular segment of the music industry?
Let me start out by outlining how the current record company model fails even more spectacularly with the artists we cover here.
KidVid Tournament 2007: Day 1 Recap
Well, Day 1 of Zooglobble's KidVid Tournament 2007 is in the books and while there was no equivalent of the VCU upset over Duke, we already have a slight upset -- John Lithgow's #3 "Ya Gotta Have Pep" winning out over Laurie Berkner's "Farm Song". In the other matchup, #1 seed Steve Burns and Steven Drozd's "I Hog the Ground" handily beat a #4 seed, Farmer Jason's "Forest Rhymes."
Today's contests are a pair of 2-vs-3 matchups: Frances England's "Tricycle" going up against Sir Jerry's "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" and Gustafer Yellowgold's "I'm From the Sun" against AudraRox's "I Hope My Mama Says YES!". Go forth and vote there by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.
And if you haven't yet voted for the as-yet-unfilled 16th video slot, go here and do so. (And, yes, "Pieces of 8ight" is already in the other 15 videos.)
KidVid Tournament 2007: "Tricycle" (2) vs. "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" (3)
The other matchup on the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Lead BellyRegion, "Tricycle" from Frances England against the #3 seed, "Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" from Sir Jerry.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.
[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"Tricycle" - Frances England
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"Bees, Butterflies and Bugs" - Sir Jerry
To view this video, head to Sir Jerry's website. After clicking to "Enter the Website" and the website loads, click on the blue-skied landscape in the lower-right-hand corner. You want the video, not the live clip.
KidVid Tournament 2007: "I'm From The Sun" (2) vs. "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" (3)
Moving on to the second day of KidVid Tournament 2007, this matchup pits the #2 seed in the Pete Seeger Region, "I'm From The Sun" from Gustafer Yellowgold against the #3 seed, "I Hope My Mama Says YES!" from AudraRox.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Saturday noon-ish East Coast time.
[Note: Sorry about just showing links instead of embedding the videos. I'm trying to keep the playing field relatively level here -- if I can't show both videos here (i.e., they're not both on YouTube and clearly placed there at the artists' request) I'm only going to show the links for both of 'em.]
"I'm From the Sun" - Gustafer Yellowgold
To view this video, click on the YouTubed version here.
"I Hope My Mama Says YES!" - AudraRox
To view this video, head to Jack's Big Music Show player. Roll over the picture of a red-hair-streaked Audra on the right, kid on the left.
KidVid Tournament 2007: "Farm Song" (2) vs. "Ya Gotta Have Pep" (3)
The second competition in KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #2 seed in the Ella Jenkins Region, "Farm Song" from Laurie Berkner against the #3 seed, "Ya Gotta Have Pep" from John Lithgow.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday noon-ish East Coast time.
"Farm Song" - Laurie Berkner
To view this video, go to Jack's Big Music Show player. Click on the right-facing triangle, roll over the picture of Laurie in a yellow shirt and click.
"Ya Gotta Have Pep" - John Lithgow
Click here here to choose the format you want to watch on Razor & Tie's website or, if you prefer, on YouTube.
KidVid Tournament 2007: "I Hog The Ground" (1) vs. "Forest Rhymes" (4)
The first competition in KidVid Tournament 2007 pits the #1 seed in the Lead Belly Region, "I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" from Steve Burns and Steven Drozd against the #4 seed, "Forest Rhymes" from Farmer Jason.
Vote in the comments below. Rules: Video with most votes wins. One vote per e-mail address, please. Votes due by Friday noon-ish East Coast time.
"I Hog The Ground (Groundhog Song)" - Steve Burns and Steven Drozd
In spite of the Viacom-YouTube lawsuit, the video is still available there if you know where to look. When that inevitably gets removed (again), just go to Jack's Big Music Show player. Currently it's the video that plays whenever you go to the page, but if it's not the case later, just roll over the picture of a balding guy with the "I [Heart] Ground" shirt and click.
"Forest Rhymes" - Farmer Jason
Click here to view on Rhino's website or on the larger YouTube screen.
