Showlist DC : More

Stuff to read:
• Roger Catlin rants about Ticketmaster and its annoying fees and policies [Washington Post]. On the stupid fake-words that Ticketmaster makes customers enter, Catlin writes:

The method serves mostly to slow people down by having to retype the barely legible wavy words, while it allows scalpers to buy up every ticket to, say, a Bruce Springsteen show at Verizon Center on April 1 that sold out in one minute according to my computer. Can’t figure out why I got shut out while the local scalper Web site lists literally hundreds of tickets available at prices up to $1,000 each.

The problem is: everybody KNOWS how much Ticketmaster stinks, but if you want to go to a concert at a Ticketmaster venue, you’ve gotta use ‘em.

• Artomatic 2012 is still going to be in Crystal City– but at a different venue than previously announced [ARLnow]. Artomatic starts on May 18.
• David Mermelstein on the collaboration between pianist Christopher O’Riley (known for his adaptations of Radiohead songs) and cellist Matt Haimovitz (who is known for playing traditional classical music in non-traditional venues) [Washington Post].
• Book Review: Aaron Leitko on Gary Marcus‘s book Guitar Zero: the New Musician and the Science of Learning (available on Amazon).

In “Guitar Zero,” Marcus uses his musical midlife crisis to frame a discussion of the science of adult learning and music’s effect on the human brain. For the past couple of decades, developmental psychologists have believed that complex skills, such as playing an instrument, are best acquired during brief windows of time, usually in early childhood, when the brain is more malleable.

• Apparently everyone wants to talk to Fat Trel. Chris Richards at the Washington Post interviewed the rapper. Fat Trel was the cover of last week’s CityPaper as well.
• Hamil R. Harris reports on opera singers bringing “Art Songs” back to church [Washington Post].
• Day 9 of Justin Moyer‘s “Edie Sedgwick goes to SXSW” [Washington CityPaper]. Also, Chris Richards has his latest SXSW report [Washington Post]. The corporate presence at this year’s SXSW felt oppressive, contaminating the festival’s hallowed musical ecosystem of sharing and discovery. Bemoaners have bemoaned that SXSW has slowly lost its soul over the course of 26 years, but this go-round was exponentially yuckier than last spring’s. Nearly every musical transaction felt sticky with Mountain Dew.
• Live Reviews: Megan Buerger on The-Dream at Fillmore Silver Spring [Washington Post]. Andy Hess on John K Samson at the Black Cat [DCist]. Anne Midgette on Vadim Repin at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Cecelia Porter on BSO at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Stephen Brookes on Folger Consort at Folger Shakespeare Library’s Elizabethan Theatre [Washington Post].

Stuff to win:
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of lawn tickets to see the Black Keys at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 5/18. (contest ends today at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to Vetusta Morla at U Street Music Hall on 3/21 (contest ends Tuesday 3/20 at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of the Big Pink‘s Future This on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Wednesday 3/21).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Electric Guest’s Troubleman 7″ (white). Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Thursday 3/22).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a three-month Slacker Premium Subscription (contest ends Friday 3/23).

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Happy Monday, everyone! I know I just put out a request for feedback last week on these Music Notes (and thanks to everyone for your encouraging comments!), but I’d like to ask your advice again. There are a few commentators out there who refer to ShowlistDC as “the eye-bleed site”. I can understand their sense of overwhelmment: I set out to make SLDC a comprehensive DC-area listing site, and that means that I’ve collected a huge amount of information for the site. Many of you have sent me notes over the past year and a half with ideas and suggestions for the site (many of which I’ve implemented!), and I’d like to open up the floor: what would you like to see differently on the main listing page (or the venue pages) of ShowlistDC? Would you like me to display the show listings in a different way? Would you like more information, like ticket prices, links to where to buy tickets, concert start times, genre information, or something else? I’ve been working on adding some flags to denote concerts that are new or changed, so that feature is on its way. But if there’s anything else you would like me to do to make SLDC an easier-to-navigate site, please do let me know! Leave a comment here or send me an email at showlistdc@gmail.com, and know that I’m always excited to talk about ways to make SLDC better.

JUST ANNOUNCED: Radiohead with Caribou at the Verizon Center on June 3. Tickets ($69.50 plus fees) on sale Saturday, March 10th.

Stuff to read:
• Steven Overly at the Washington Post writes a lengthy feature on SoundExchange, the company that pays royalties for streaming music.

Today, about 1,400 streaming music services in the United States send SoundExchange a list of recordings they’ve played and royalty payments each month. That translates to about 16,000 checks sent to artists and rights owners each quarter.

“Lady Gaga and Katy Perry get decent checks from us,” Huppe said. “But you know what’s even more rewarding? It’s the working class artists who we track down.”

SoundExchange has found and delivered royalties to a rabbi who performs comedy, cash-strapped indie bands and little-known children’s artists, among others. Of the 60,000 payments it made last year, Huppe said about 90 percent were worth less than $5,000.

But the nonprofit has tens of millions of dollars sitting in its coffers waiting to be distributed, Huppe said. Many small artists aren’t familiar with the group, and as one might expect, are skeptical when an organization declares it has their unclaimed money.

• the Vinyl District gives an overview of Listen Local First’s trip to SXSW. You can also check out LLF’s Kickstarter campaign here.
• HyperVocal interviewed Ice Cube when he was in town last week. They talk about giving Obama a record deal.
• Huffington Post writes a profile about Rock the Vote‘s legal challenges with Florida’s voting laws.
• Business Insider gives us a list of Shazam’s most requested songs of all time. The list is a fairly unsurprising selection of modern pop hits, to which we say: if you have to get your phone to identify Adele for you, then you’re probably doing it wrong.
• Live Reviews: Sarah Godfrey on Young Jeezy at the Fillmore [Washington Post]. Anne Midgette on Angela Gheorghiu with the Washington National Opera [Washington Post]. Samantha Buker on BSO‘s “Voices of Light” at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Joe Banno on Yefim Bronfman at Strathmore [Washington Post]. Charles T Downey on Benjamin Grosvenor at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre [Washington Post]. Downey again on Jerusalem String Quartet at the Barns of Wolf Trap [Washington Post].

Audiovisual stuff:
• Laura Gibson stopped by NPR’s DC office for a Tiny Desk Concert.

Stuff to win:
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Mount Carmel‘s Real Women on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends today).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Tuesday 3/6).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a pair of tickets to see The Beach Boys at Merriweather Post Pavilion on 6/15 (contest ends Tuesday 3/6 at noon).
• The Vinyl District is giving away a copy of Nirvana‘s Nevermind on vinyl. Winner must have a North American mailing address (contest ends Wednesday 3/7).
• DCHeavyMetal.com is giving away a pair of tickets to see Rammstein at 1st Mariner on 4/25 and a pair of tickets to see Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper at Jiffy Lube Live on 6/30 (contest ends Friday 3/9 at 5 PM).