"Alexa, play me the band Paddle to the Sea."
"I'm sorry but I can't find a song by Paddle to the Sea," she replied with a polite yet cursory tone.
"Alexa, play Verity."
"I'm sorry but I can't find a song called Verity."
My ego shriveled like baby spinach on a hot pan. If talking to devices is the future, then that won't be a place that indie bands (or non signed rappers etc.) will be a part of.
Is payola the only way to be spun? Who do I even pay to get played by a "Smart Speaker"? And will those with money control the ears of the future?
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When my band released our first LP, I had the optimism of a cheerleader on lab-grade speed. "This is our big break," I thought, as we received our 100 copies of the album in CD format (I wanted vinyl at the outset, but said we would drop the extra cash once we had sold out the CDs, which obviously would go quickly even in the current CD-phobic environment...And I also bought a bridge in Brooklyn but haven't been able to figure out how to set up my toll booth...)
Part of our album package with the fine folks at Indie Pool was a distribution deal that would put our music in all of the reputable online sources, some of which have gone out of business since then (which ones? I don't even remember the name) but the main ones still standing of note are Amazon, Spotify, and iTunes.
Our album didn't light the store shelves on fire (in fact, most stores did not carry us, as shelf space is held as tight as the skin of a snare drum...or was it my lack of marketing?) however I held a granule of hope that my digital side would keep us viable and maybe even attract some new fans from overseas.
For the first little while, I was quite happy with our arrangement. Indie Pool delivered the albums on time (I picked them up the day we were playing a show in Toronto at the Horseshoe Tavern
opening for legendary Canadian band Rusty) and for awhile, I could wow my small coterie of friends with my ability to conjure up my own album regardless of the online medium, much to their dismay.
Since Alexa moved into my house, that has changed. Small potatoes you might say, but how many artists will be ignored due to this corporate policy? Even the Stones started small.
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My next move will be interviewing some notable indie bands (many of whom I cannot find on Amazon's Echo device using Alexa voice recognition when I did a quick test run) to gauge their feelings about the new technology and how it might limit their career or at least make it harder to prove that they are actually in a band (everyone in Montreal claims to be in a band, you need to be able to vet this stuff on a daily basis.)
This article is just a call to arms of sorts, a plea to the community to let me know if you have seen your music disappear or be labelled non-existent by Alexa and her millenial or post-millenial-centric database of known/signed/major label artists or folks covering original songs when you ask for the actual song of note.
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If you have any feedback/concerns/quotes or if you'd like me to reach out for an interview, please email jeremybrendan@gmail.com.
PS At least we can still find my album on the Amazon website...But what happens when the web starts to become old hat, and the new hat won't even find me or my ilk? What will happen to the underground?
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