For June’s blog post of the month, I chose “Letter [to] NPR All Songs Considered,” by David Lowery. In his blog he responds to an NPR blog post called “I Never Owned Any Music to Begin With.”

At the heart of both blogs is the issue of changing attitudes toward music ownership, and how music is acquired and consumed.

NPR’s blog demonstrates the expectation that many people have (particularly young people) that they shouldn’t have to pay for music.

David Lowery’s blog points out the problems with this expectation.

Lowery’s blog has garnered a lot of attention (it has hundreds of comments, and according to the site, received half a million views in only 2 days) and has been discussed across the media from Forbes to the Huffington Post. I think that’s because he has managed to articulate and explain the change in attitudes toward purchasing music in a way that identifies what many of us in the industry sensed was wrong but couldn’t quite put a finger on.

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Guitar Tree

The organic lifestyle movement has highlighted both an inconsistency and and opportunity for independent musicians.

If we can figure out a way to make music in a more sustainable way by staying local and relying on internet marketing and webcasting we can accomplish three main goals: (1) We can make our lives more balanced and sustainable in the long term; (2) By living more balanced lives, we can better grow and develop as people, which will make our music better because our songs will emanate from a more varied perspective; and (3) We can reduce our carbon footprint and be more engaged with our local community in our music-making.

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I was fortunate to recently speak with Adam Navone, drummer of Blue Turtle Seduction about their biofuel bus and how they cut down their emissions and how bands can make a difference with the environment.

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