Posts by Rob Stowell
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Yeah, I haven't heard anyone doing the math, but it didn't look at all likely they'd be able to command a straight majority. (More than 50% of the vote though- if we talkin' 'bout a Brown-Clegg man-date:)
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Because Clegg is a fucking fool if he lets Brown off the hook with nothing more than PR
Why? Changing the political game that much- in the Lib-Dem's favour- would be a very big f*cking deal.
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Even in TV, nothing gets funded without a broadcast commitment -- no matter how authentic and great the idea is. The networks are essentially the gatekeepers of what can be made
Yeah.
And that's always been a problem. And it's past the point where the writing on the wall is clear enough...
There's never, for example, been much- if any- funding for smaller broadcasters. But now that anyone can broadcast on the net- and there's plenty of spare satellite space- NZ on Air's raison d'etre needs to evolve quickly before it disappears completely.
There's not much stopping NZ on Air, eg having their own Freeview channel- both to air content the commercial stations won't, and to ginger-up the commercials with some thoughtful competition.
The 'dual-gatekeeper' model (with one gatekeeper, the broadcasters, having ahem, most of the power) has, IMHO, been quite destructive to NZ broadcasting, and all too often worked directly against NZ on Air's stated cultural goals. -
How about: set up a two-year trial with two panels- one a stripped back version of the current comercial radio/TV people. The other made up of expert opinions on NZ music (I'd nominate Liisa straight-up; plenty of other names spring to mind).
Any project that both panels approved would get funding straight-up. The remainder would be split 50:50 and projects from each funded.
(At the same time: drop the recording grant to $20k and a lot of $5k grants; and split up the video fund, allocating smaller sums ($500-2k) to people who want to make their own (non-broadcast spec for the internet) videos to buy basic gear.)
Set it up as a competition, and monitor the results (the three catagories) on a range of pre-agreed criterion (sales, gig numbers, continued musical out-put, downloads, website video hits, critical success AND air-play) closely over the two years- and continuing, if it worked.
I reckon there's a good chance a system like that would get better results from both groups. -
To the intense frustration of Labour cabinet ministers, Clegg has limited his options by saying that if one party secures the largest share of the vote and most seats, they will have a mandate to try to form a government.
I guess that's a strong indication Cameron's Conservative team will be batting first ;)
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When it comes to TV content the Commission seems to favour variety that reflects and develops NZ identity and culture, including funding of different genres and programmes that would not otherwise be made. When it comes to funding music content it is all about funding pop music, which in my view is a very narrow genre considering all the music that New Zealanders make. It doesn't have to be like this.
Spot on.
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I haven't heard much talk about what seems the most likely- though perhaps unpopular- outcome: that Brown, possibly with less than 30% of the vote, could fluke another term as PM (granting the Lib-Dems a referendum and, say, the Exchequer).
It seems the most likely simply because the Lib-Dems don't look as centre as they used to: in many ways (Europe, nukes) they look to the left of Labour.
It would be a curious government- Brown would have to eat a lot of humble pie for it to work (he's been practicing). Yet it still seems more likely than either a Tory majority or a Tory/LibDem arrangement.
What is the precedent- does the Queen ask the party with the most seats to try to form a govt first- or is it open slather horse-trading and deal-making as soon as votes are counted and no party has a majority? -
Still- great idea. Imagine if councils took music even one tenth as seriously as they take sport :)
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Lots of fairly inexpensive alternatives.to pro-tools. Garageband if you have a mac. Cubase LE comes with a lot of soundcards, and with a few free vsts and vst instruments is more than adequate.
Plus there are versions of pro-tools with m-audio soundcards that are pretty cheap too. Lack of software won't be holding anyone back. -
Quite a slick website, ACR. Any estimate on what it might have cost?
Mr Inwood reckons ACR is "... running off the smell of an oily rag".
How oily?
The website seems to have been registered by Dan Brown at Sol media.
If that's so, it's very very generous of Sol Media to do this for a sniff on an oleaginous scrap of cloth.