Well, Machinae got their deal. I have to admit that there's certain paradoxal feelings I'm having from this news.
Uppermost feeling is that I'm very happy for the band and I'm very happy for us, fans. Machinae Supremacy, if any band, deserves all the best possibilities any band could get. And contract will probably make doing music easier and they will get more fans which they also deserve. So I'm really happy for them. I hope that things will go smoothly and Machinae will evolve always further. Most bands have their "golden days" when they produce their best music and their creativity is at their peak level. I have feeling that best is yet to come when it comes to Machinae. I hope that this contract gives them boost to achieve their creativepeak and make something that really shakes music world. They have attitude, they have talent and they are pioneers so when they hit big (which I'm sure they will do) I'm expecting something incredible will happen. If this does not happen, I'm disappointed since I've always kept Machinae more than average rock band. Musicians can obtain power - too often they end up coming executives in big companies when their creativity ends up and fails. They become part of the system and eventually use their power only for getting their wallet thicker. Modern musicworld is too much of money and fame and most people have forgotten that music could be something else than singing songs to comfort masses. Music can change world. This is what I hope and expect Machinae to do when they have power. They, if anyone, can and will do it : change the world. I'm not expecting government falling (which could be great, however) or continents to shatter : maybe little miracle like making music free, independent, artist based and once again thing that people respect and love because it's sincerity and pureness. That artists could really get their living out of music without parasites living in their expense (read : record industry). Music should be art rather than industry. If someone actually good in it, he deserves to get his living out of it. Today it's nigh impossible because it's companies that make decisions what shit people have right to listen and how. This is wrong because music should be always be interaction between artist and fan, there is no really need for middlemen. If so, why Machinae did sign contract? Isn't it hypocrisy? I think not. World has gone too far and companies have too much power in this time. They suffocicate every independent artist that's working hard and doing good (life)work with his music. Machinae have done well, phenomenally good, while being independent. I just wonder how well it would have gone without restrictions and monopolies of music industries? If this modern system were not so thoroughly corrupted by big corporations they could have done it all the way to the end by themselves. But we live in this time so I understand the line Machinae has taken. It's the only reasonable line if they want to change things in this world. If they don't grow bigger and get more influence record companies would have make their task impossible at the end. Now they have possibility to reach higher and achieve their goals whatever they will be.
So guys : I really like this news and congratulations from me, you deserve this opportunity. This is good thing and I'm genuinely happy for it. It will be really weird to see you guys at record stores, windows, posters, maybe even TV and so on... Hear people listen your music at cars and from radio and all... I've kinda hoped that from beginning but still it's little weird thing... Anyways, it's weird in positive way!
There's still some things that bother me.
Here in Finland we had new copyright law last autumn. It was based on EU-directive and our cultureminister Tanja Karpela (nowadays Saarela) made big deal out of it. At last meters people noticed that whole law was tried to pass through at hurry and that it contained some serious points that were against principles us finns generally keep just and right. Because of that law it's now illegal to make copy of CD at home if it contains some sort of copyprotection. You can't even copy songs from it to your portable player or PC. It's illegal to order things abroad from outside of european economical-area if it's not for personal use. So it's illegal to order manga, anime, classbooks or DVD's if there's community or shopkeeper ordering them. This thing is really crucial since it practically makes owners of little shops at illegal state while they keep on doing it. Both of these laws are broken massively and daily and they are, at present state not supervised at all. Still it's against our moral sense to label people criminals for such things. Our culture minister did lie on several occasions when this law-thing came to processing. Music producers did campaign blaming all critic as false and only after this law WAS approved they acknowledged that critics were justified. Those two things were not only things that were criminalized with that law : it's actually illegal to record anything from TV anymore and it's illegal too if someone wants to organizedly discuss about breaking of copyprotections. You can't even copy a DVD anymore even if it's on your personal use! This all was made through with excuse of fighting against piracy when everyone who knows anything about filesharing and stuff will realize that they have nothing to do with those things. With this law mediaorganizations did got more powerfull weapons to dictate common people's life and make it harder to consume culture. Way the law was pushed through was dirty : lies and faked documents were used to make it go on. There was one true document thou from IFPI that was stating that this law was necessarity and that all critic was fraudulent and false. This document, open letter can be read at
http://www.ifpi.fi/ajankohtaista/article.html?newsid=118and it's singned by Spinefarm records too. Most record companies in Finland did this, thou. However it makes me sad. I've boycotted record companies that have signed that letter. At past I did buy CD's with several hundred euros per year. Last year I stopped buying them : I've bought only two CD's since that. Reason for this was because I really like that band and their music and they are really nice and sincere guys who love their fans. I respect them and love their music and they respect their fans so I felt obliged to buy their CD despite my boycot.
Last autumns incident with copyrightlaw made me lost most of my interest in music. It was such dirty play and it really felt like artists were either silent and let their fans to be accused as criminals or accused their fans themselves. It made me see most music they do quite phony since there were no respect from musicians side to music listeners so eventually I did find it ever harder to respect or love them or their music. Music depends so much on feelings. Somehow it turned my lover to my enemy or so I see it.
Other than that incident with copyright law I've always liked Spinefarm's artists and I even remember when they founded it back at 1990. Maybe it was just because this it hurted so much when they did sign that letter back then.
So, all in all I've some minor regrets considering your record deal but my faith on you is strong and I'm eager to see what good this contract will bring us. So congratulations for your guys!
EDIT : And yes, I almost forget. Teosto sucks big time : they even "forget" to transfer large sums of money to foreign copyright-owners last (this?) year. They also make up insane royalty-payments for radiostations so that's really hard or even impossible to run netradiostation with Teosto-music on it... It's just costs too much. And for example taxidrivers has to pay royalties for their radiostations in their cars - those radiostation already pay royalties from music they play from records which have roaylties in them as well. It's almost impossible to be musician in Finland without being Teosto-member and whole monster called Teosto seems more like mafia than benefactor for musicians. I hope that you can do things you like to do (like net-releases) there in Sweden so that you can keep maximum distance to Teosto and they idiotic rules. You are the artists so you should have all the rights to your music!
