Project Unicorn

My local newspaper, The Orange County Register, featured a great article yesterday on local legend Greg MacGillivray, heralded as Orange County’s single most successful documentary filmmaker and a veritable icon of the IMAX format.

The article coincides with the release of a new film, MacGillivray Freeman’s “Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk 3D.” In this film Greg MacGillivray has once again brought front and center the precious role that water provides as a resource in all of our lives. Not only is it necessary from a physiological standpoint, it is also necessary to keep the human spirit alive. As a life-long surfer myself, and growing up and living in the same town where Greg lives today - Laguna Beach, I know I speak for many of us when I say that the water gives us surfers a reason to get up in the morning.

While surfers and environmentalists like myself have been moved and inspired by Greg’s work, Greg has drawn his own inspiration from greats like Jacques Cousteau. “Through a little TV screen, Jacques Cousteau changed people’s impression of the ocean environment. Through a large IMAX screen, I’m trying to change their emotional reaction,” he says.

I imagine it would be hard for any good natured human not to be emotionally moved by Greg’s films. “Into the Sea” and “Dolphins” both provide a tremendous perspective of the undersea world and our ‘friends’ that live there. Through each of his films, I have found him to be an inspirational and selfless warrior for the preservation of the ocean and the beings that inhabit it.

After work on Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” in 1980, MacGillivray committed his career to documentary filmmaking and to IMAX specifically. Though he admits Hollywood was tempting, maintaining his own “boutique studio” in Laguna Beach was ultimately more important.

In the article we also learn that MacGillivray had the opportunity to be of the biggest and best in Hollywood, however his passion for the ocean and his expertise in filmmaking in this genre has provided him with more rewards then Hollywood’s money or fame could buy. This is no more evident than in MacGillivray’s “Five Summer Stories” which The OC Register article says is “a landmark film, second only to “The Endless Summer” as the highest grossing and most-loved surfing movie in the genre’s history.” Over 26 years later it is still an iconic film with a cult-like following that embodies the true soulfulness of surfing.

“Whatever you fall in love with, you want to protect” – Greg MacGillivray

We all must ask ourselves what legacy will we leave when our time is up? For Greg MacGillivray, his legacy will be viewed by generations to come. There is no question he will be remembered as the man that gave the ocean a voice.

Unicorn Media is proud to have partnered with Greg and his team to showcase their films and the efforts behind the making of these masterpieces. Show Greg your support by checking out his work at www.UnicornMedia.com/macfreefilms

-Tim Morse, Director of Content/Artist Relations at Unicorn Media

Meredith Treinen Musings, Video

In the Unicorn Media inbox this morning I found an insightful article on the future of the music industry and the major label’s place in that future that I wanted to highlight with our readers. The thought inspiring post came from Digital Music New’s Paul Resnikoff who will be moderating a panel on Digital Strategies for Music Industry Leaders at NARM on May 7 as well as interviewing Lisa Loeb before her on-stage performance at the industry event. Paul’s article, titled “Resnikoff’s Parting Shot: Teaching Dinosaurs New Tricks,” purports the major record labels have been doomed from the beginning to not outlast the test of time, and that regardless of their strategies and tepid experiments to change their models, they simply aren’t wired to react to the disruptions taking place right in their backyards. Paul sites “The Innovator’s Delimma” by Clayton M. Christensen on the core principals of disruptive change:

“Christensen argues that incumbent, well-performing companies are ill-equipped to adapt to disruptive competitive changes, until it’s too late. The reason is that their existing infrastructures and revenue streams are totally inconsistent with newer models and consumption patterns, and that gives every advantage to the newer entrant.”

Paul also calls out the self-defeating efforts of the majors who are still filing counterproductive lawsuits, over-pricing their digital goods, lining their own pockets with multimillion dollar salaries, and charging the very companies who are set to help them through this change exorbitant fees to license their catalogs. Paul pointedly asks:

“…do these guys really want to grow anything beyond their bank accounts?”

The article points out the deals that the majors have cut with “new media” and social networking services like MySpace and others and how the labels have wisely negotiated an equity stake in many of these deals. But what about the start-ups with a great concept, who ‘get’ the pain being felt by the artist community and who ‘get’ the new ways that consumers want to consume and share media – but who are lacking the funds or old school connections to cut deals with the majors? These innovative disruptors are the ones that the majors should have their eyes on, and be willing to learn from and partner with. We agree with Paul’s opinion in the article when he states:

“almost every new concept happening in the music industry is ultimately an experiment. Because the pressing riddle is not whether consumers are interested in music, but exactly how businesses can effectively structure themselves around that demand.”

Amen! And we say, let the majors embrace these “experiments” because for change to truly happen, for the industry to truly move beyond the recognized slump it is experiencing, we all have to be willing to embrace the disruptive change emanating from the creative brains of the next generation of musicians and entrepreneurs. Paul closes with this comment:

And this game is just beginning. Indeed, a minority of companies have successfully survived disruptive transformations in the past, though survival is never, ever a pretty process. And transformed labels can only happen through increased experimentation - and a willingness to walk away from failures.

We couldn’t agree more Paul. It’s GAME ON! Let’s go majors. It’s time to step up to the plate. Please take the time to read Paul’s full article on this topic and if you like what you read you can also subscribe to his daily email newsletter, which is packed with valuable insider info on the industry along with Paul’s expert insights and opinions.

Meredith Treinen Music

Earth Day has arrived once again, and here at Unicorn Media we’re celebrating too.

As the environment has come to the forefront of political and social discussion, we have all been bombarded with eco-savvy ways to live a greener life. Everything from recycling to driving a hybrid to the more extreme. Who can forget Sheryl Crow’s infamous suggestion that we limit ourselves to one square when using the loo? Well if you’re anything like me, (let’s get serious Sheryl) Ms. Crow’s solution to our environmental problem may be a bit too much…or too little. Lucky for us, she’s not the only musician hopping on the biodiesel-powered bandwagon-or tour bus for that matter.

Artists like Barenaked Ladies, Coldplay, the Dave Mathews Band, and Jack Johnson are “greening” up their tours. Helping them in their efforts is the Maine-based environmental organization, Reverb. Founded in 2004 by Adam Gardner - a guitarist for the indie rock band Guster - Reverb works with artists to make their tours more environmentally friendly. These efforts span everything from driving biodiesel fueled tour buses to playing “Inconvenient Truth”-inspired videos before shows.

On a recent tour, Barenaked Ladies ate locally grown organic food using biodegradable cutlery and drank from reusable canteens instead of plastic bottles and cups. In an effort to offset the energy consumed by both their tours and CD manufacturing, bands like Coldplay are planting trees in third world countries. Alanis Morisette and the Red Hot Chili Peppers have both invited “greening coordinators” on stage to gather up broken and used guitar strings after gigs; the strings are then recycled by a New Hampshire company into jewelry. Tour crew members also collect partially used nine-volt batteries from distortion boxes and wireless microphones to be reused later. Artists like the Dave Mathews Band and Jack Johnson even use nonpetroleum-based cosmetics on stage.

So, are these artists’ attempts at more eco-friendly music really paying dividends? While many of these greening endeavors just may be feel-good public relations efforts, with the help of organizations like Reverb, these artists are at the very least keeping the “go green” campaign alive…and we say, that’s half the battle.

We here at Unicorn Media give these eco-friendly artists a round of applause for spreading environmental consciousness to concert-goers everywhere. Our suggestion for you trend-setting music lovers out there who strive to be environmentally responsible? Quit counting squares and celebrate Earth Day by checking out a green tour at a venue near you. (Meredith Treinen, Unicorn Media)

Meredith Treinen Music, Musings coldplay, earth day, environmential, green, unicorn coldplay, Unicorn Media, unicorn revolution

We spotted an interesting post from Eliot Van Buskirk on Wired’s Listening Post Blog today, MySpace Music Won’t Give Equity to Indie Bands which is a shining example of exactly why the time has come for a service like the one Unicorn Media is offering for the artist community. In a nutshell the piece points to an Wired interview with Wired reporter Laura Locke and MySpace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe who basically says that MySpace doesn’t plan on sharing its advertising revenues with the individual artists (whose profile pages the ads are being viewed from) anytime soon:

“…while MySpace is open to offering an equity deal similar to what the majors got to ‘the right partners,’ indie bands who are unaffiliated with an aggregator like The Orchard or a major label like Universal will not receive any the general revenue generated by MySpace Music.”

Will MySpace pay artists who host their hard-earned work on the site? Um, no.

“…They [artists] will, of course, receive a healthy share of their own song and merchandise sales, but none of the money generated by advertisements on their profile pages. That money will go to MySpace owner News Corp., the major labels and any indie music aggregators that manage to sign equity deals with MySpace.”

Hey, this is great news if you’re an investor in MySpace or record label. But if you’re an artist trying to make a living off of your work? Not so much. At the end of his post, Wired’s Eliot Van Buskirk writes,

“If you’re an indie artist on MySpace, it’s time to start shopping around for an aggregator. The Orchard, IODA and CD Baby are all possible candidates for signing equity deals with MySpace Music. It’s the only way you’re going to re-level the playing field and get the same treatment MySpace accords the major labels.”

Well Eliot, working with an aggregator might be the only way an artist can get some ad-revenue sharing love from MySpace, but that doesn’t mean they have to give in to ‘the man.’ Unicorn Media offers a perfect alternative for indie artists and bands that have built online followings and want to get back their fair share of the ad revenue being generated based on their reputations and popularity. Unicorn Media offers all artists (signed and unsigned) up to 50% of the ad revenue generated by their content on our site. So artists, take that super popular MySpace page and use it to drive your friends and fans to Unicorn Media where they can listen to your music and interact with you for free. And every time they listen to one of your songs, you get paid. Because at Unicorn, no artist is too small to share in the ad-revenue love. Your success is our success and Unicorn Media believes that artists should have a place to showcase their music in the high quality they intended it, build a fan base, interact directly with their fans and make money. Come join us in the entertainment revolution.

Meredith Treinen Music, Video

That’s right Unicorn fans, today the U rolled out a bunch of new upgrades to the site that will drastically improve your experience. We’re talking new features, added functionalities, and an improved look and feel - - oh my! The first thing you’ll notice is that we’ve completely revamped the welcome page to make it easier for you to find and enjoy music, videos and movies. The page is brighter, cleaner, more user-friendly and now has selection of featured artist recommendations to help you on your way to discovering your next new favorite artist or video on Unicorn Media. We’ve added new powerful browsing and searching functionality that lets you browse by artist, album, popularity and series, among other criteria. We’ve also given you the ability to add albums, series or artists to your playlist, flag content, and send us feedback through easy to use feedback forms. Want to know when your friends are online and on the site? Now you can! And for the social networking whore in all of us another new feature lets you discover what your friends are listening to or watching with the ability to share and email your playlists. Beyond all the changes that you can see visually on the site, we’ve also made some pretty hefty improvements behind the scenes that will make a big difference in the performance and reliability of the site and will ensure we can scale to meet the demands of listeners and viewers like you. So, what are you waiting for? Hit up the new site, check out the changes, and let us know what you think! Your humble servants of the entertainment revolution, The Unicorn Media Team

Meredith Treinen Musings

Indianapolis-based three-piece Shameless Self Promotion is a mix of indie rock and pop that draws listeners in with creative and thoughtful lyrics on top of catchy melodies. Much like their predecessors the Spill Canvas or Death Cab for Cutie, Ryan (vocals and guitar), Tyler (drums) and Levi (lead guitar and keys) bring down the house with a solid sound and great vocals. They make some great observations in their lyrics, with an outstanding use of metaphor and heartbreaking imagery at times. I especially like their softer tunes, like “Alive with You,” where the singer says he’d fold himself into a book of matches and put himself in his lady’s breast pocket, in hopes to keep her heart on fire. Definitely nice work on this one. Expressive vocal range is also a plus on this track. Another favorite of mine is “Rule of Thumb.” Again, not as rock-y, but a pop song with love as the topic. I really like the first few lines of each verse-very creative. The bridge is probably my favorite part of this tune, and the I like the idea of “baked revenge in this cake.”

Meredith Treinen Music

If you’ve been reading Unicorn Sightings the past few weeks you’ve probably noticed that we like to talk about all the great artists that appear on our site. From filmmakers to artists to comedians and even some great old vintage cartoons, our catalog is growing daily with all kinds of high-quality entertainment. And we mean that in both senses of the term “high quality.” Entertainment value-wise, our content is just awesome.

But where it gets even more interesting is in the technical sense of the term “high quality”, in our case, the recording quality and delivery to you. You see, Unicorn streams our music in CD-quality and our videos and films are streamed at a high enough bit that viewers can watch them on their plasma TVs with clear, sharp resolution.

Are you an artist that wants to get paid for all your hard work while making your content available all over the globe in the high quality you created it in? Contact us.

We’d also like to know when you’ve spotted an actual unicorn. And don’t tell us that unicorns don’t exist. They are everywhere.

Example?

An astute reader sent in a scan from a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine that clearly showed the unicorn is back.

In their “Bullseye” column, Entertainment Weekly illustrated that Unicorns are totally the new black with their headline - “Unicorns make comeback; rainbows still awaiting their big break.” We’d love to show you a scan, but we respect the original artist’s work. Pick up a copy for yourself and check it out.

Know anyone awaiting THEIR big break? We’d love to hear from them.

And keep those unicorn sightings coming!

Meredith Treinen Music, Video

Tanya has a great voice. It’s very sweet, clear and pensive. Her guitar backs a soft sound that has defined the acoustic folk musician, whose sound is poignant but light. Even better is her pairing with Kit Smith for their last album, Central Connection, which gives listeners great harmonies and a collaboration that is 10 years in the making. Tanya and Kit transcend the “folk,” “Americana,” and “acoustic” genres, blurring the lines and lulling listeners with their melodic, wispy tones. My current favorites are “More than a Sliver” and “Allison,” which are selections that feature Tanya in the lead, tackling issues like loneliness and divorce. Her lyrics are touching and the harmonies with Kit really pop the lead vocals into focus. The duo has been turning heads in San Francisco and Southern California and play regularly at several venues in the area.

Tanya and Kit are releasing their next set of music, The Hardest Part, on Unicorn Media. Check back here for an exclusive interview with Tanya!

Meredith Treinen Music

www.flickr.com

Unicorn Media Launch Party

Originally uploaded by Unicorn Media
Check out the Unicorn Media Flickr site with photos from the launch party at SXSW 2008!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/unicornmedia

Meredith Treinen Musings

If you’re from one of California’s many coastal communities – like I am - it’s a pretty good bet you surf, have surfed or know someone who surfs.

Songs have been written about the California surfer’s lifestyle for decades; movies made about the perfect California wave, and generations of surfers have come, gone, and left behind their legacies.

It might come as a surprise then that California isn’t the only locale with a happening surf scene on the mainland. Enter: Michigan’s five Great Lakes.

Wait. A lake? That people surf on? In the winter?

If proof is needed, you need look no further than “Unsalted, A Great Lakes Experience” currently streaming on Unicorn Media.

In this full length feature film, Vince Duer, a local Michigan filmmaker [and obvious adventurer] searches for the perfect Midwest wave – some larger than the touted perfect SoCal wave. He interviews hardy types who will stop at nothing, from sub-zero temps and brutal conditions to life-threatening situations, all in a quest of that perfect ride.

Part road trip, part documentary “Unsalted” is a riveting look at a subculture that I never knew existed. It’s well-produced, tightly edited and a gives a fun glimpse into America’s ‘other’ surfing scene.

To view Unsalted on UnicornMedia.com follow this link to the movie’s page: www.UnicornMedia.com/Unsalted

Meredith Treinen Video