Why does this CD only have seven songs?

The fact that buying a physical CD is slowly going out of style has bands thinking.

Young girls stood in line for hours before the midnight release of the newest Backstreet Boys album in hopes of finding a new favorite song that they could have on repeat in their car and listen to the catchiness until their ears bleed.

And then less than two years later, the same fans repeat the same super-fan thing for the new album. The hype comes full-circle in a short time.

You don’t usually see a band going more than two years before they release new material. And that interval seems to get smaller and smaller.

Ever pick up a CD with less than 10 songs on it? No, the band didn’t just put seven songs on a CD because they couldn’t think of 5 more songs to write. The typical 12-song CD days are slowly coming to an end.

The faster a fan has new music in their hands, the happier a fan is. With iTunes and Amazon, music stores make it easy to have someone just buy a single song instead of a full CD.

Universal Records product Forever The Sickest Kids is currently taking the new trend of shorter CDs (an EP) and running with it.

Instead of writing a full-length CD, they are creating three EP’s within a year in a half. The band is currently just about to release its second of three next month.

But why else would any band do that? Don’t they know that fans want to listen to a longer record? Glad you asked. And the answer is yes, they are well aware of that.

Unfortunately, that’s not how labels work. Like any other smart business, they produce a product to make them money. With a decline of physical CD sales and the power to release more material in less time is just another way of thinking about efficiency to a company.

Releasing an EP is good for bands and labels for two main reasons.

1. A cost standpoint

First of all, most signed bands usually aren’t a part of multi-million dollar contracts. The band gets a set amount of time or songs for the new album they produce - written in a contract. With less songs, the band is able to have enough time to get all of its songs done in the time period allowed and not spend any of its own money to make more songs than a contract allows. And the band also doesn’t have to throw more money a band’s way to use for recording.

1. A marketing standpoint

With material being released every eight months to a year, fans always have something to grasp onto. Whether its a new music video, a new single from the album or new shirts with a design of the album cover, the Backstreet Boys fans finally feel like they are apart of the band with so much getting thrown their way. 

Sure, they always thought Nick Carter was singing all the lyrics to directly to them. Fans are crazy like that. But they feel a sense of belonging with their favorite band.

From a labels perspective, it gives them something to do. Sounds obvious. But giving the label something to do means they are making money from the current music video they are producing or another project they are working on. No business wants to see a lull for a year. You’d have some bored marketing directors.

So the next time you pick up a new CD with less songs than you want on it, just know that you fell for the trick.

Now is not a good time

How exactly can a different country help lower violence and drug trafficking in Mexico? No idea. 

America has its own drug lords to worry about trafficking within our own country. If our country can’t stop it in its own territory, how the heck is it supposed to stop them in a different country? No idea. 

There was a constant theme running through my head while hundreds of students, faculty and supporters watched Mexican Consul General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez deliver his speech about the bi-centennial celebration of mexican independence and drug trafficking in Mexico.

While Gutierrez was explaining the problems about Mexico and how the United States should become involved, I couldn’t grasp how exactly we would be able to help as a country. This is me trying to be optimistic about it too.

America could send money over to help fund more law enforcement and military to stop these drug lords who are in charge of drug trafficking. Wait, our country is in a deficit. And even if we gave Mexico money for that purpose, would the money actually be used for stopping trafficking? 

The term narco-terrorism was brought up many times throughout the speech in regards to how the consul sees this problem in Mexico. During the presentation, Gutierrez said 10 murders occur for every 100,000 citizens in the country per year.

Mexico had a population of 106 million people in 2008. So just over 10,600 deaths happen from murder in results from drug trafficking. Just imagine how much money America would have to spend in order to get the 10,600 murders down to a reasonable level. Good luck getting that through the state or federal budget.

Another thing that was shocking was that the consul were more focused on cutting down the violence than the drug trafficking itself.

"I want to stress the need of cooperation from the United States and other countries in fighting drug trafficking,” Gutierrez said. “It is necessary to have participation of all those involved in the chain of drug trade, so that there is hope of significantly reducing the levels of violence."

This statement alone leads people to believe that violence is the bigger issue. So how is America going to help stop violence in Mexico when we can’t even keep murder rates down in our own country?

It seems like Mexico has to do a lot of the work themselves. Sure, America relies on other countries when a situation gets out of hand for us. But something tells me, asking a country that is trying to get itself out of a recession is not going to help a whole lot.

Gutierrez primarily focused on making California the target source for help. Currently, California is setting a record for the longest-delayed budget. California is also finding itself in a massive deficit--several years in a row. So how much help is California going to be?

Take a wild guess. We can't even fix our crisis in the UC/CSU system, let alone a whole new project of drug trafficking in Mexico.

The good hearts of Americans would love to help out a terrible problem in Mexico. Americans are all about giving back. We love the feeling of doing something good for people in need. 

But for lack of a better phrase: now is not a good time.

Pandablast 2010

By: Marshall Hampson

At the beginning of every Fall semester, Associated Students Inc. puts on an event called Phlagleblast to get the students acquainted with the features of the University Union. Every section of the Union has an information table to help students understand what each section is there for.

By the looks inside of the University Union at Sacramento State on Sept. 15, the event’s longest line was found in front of Panda Express. 

Was it called Phlagleblast or Pandablast? It should have been called Pandablast.

By the way, Panda Express had nothing to do with the event.

Free prizes were given out throughout the day if students went up to each table and collected a stamp from a certain location. The event seriously felt like a party with balloons and streamers everywhere in the three-story building.

But the main attraction wasn’t giving out free prizes. In fact, it was still charging customers during lunch time.

With the new addition of Panda Express in the Hornets Nest, ASI under-estimated the power of Sac State’s favorite new chinese place. While every event table in the Union had around 4-5 students waiting for a stamp and information, Panda Express held a line far greater than any in the Union.

The line was constantly wrapping around the Hornets Nest for a solid half hour. Students who rushed out of their classes to the Union, appeared to be food deprived. With students waiting about 15 minutes to get their food in a massive line, more students followed the trend.

Loud music, balloons and streamers only added to the scene of a hungry student looking for food. Students rushed past the Java City on the first floor of the University Union and headed straight for Panda Express. Most students performed this without glancing at their surroundings. Talk about students on a mission.

The other scenario that was a constant theme was the fact that people who were participating in the free-prize giveaways, somehow got distracted.

Whether it was students getting bored of collecting stamps or it was that the students were hungry because it was lunch, Phlagleblast suffered. The line for Panda Express grew longer and longer and almost made it out to the University Union’s main lobby.

The main lobby is about 50 feet away from Panda Express. But last year, this whole trend didn’t take place.

The former chinese food restaurant, Kung Fu Fats, didn’t have the same effect. Sure, the restaurant provided good chinese food, but Kung Fu Fats does not have the name recognition like Panda Express does. 

Last year, students focused on the event on hand and seemed more involved with what was actually going on in the Union. This year just seemed like a mad rush to Panda Express.

Sac State made a smart decision by replacing with Kung Fu Fats with Panda Express. It’s popular, the students enjoy it and it is obviously making a lot in sales since being open.

Phlagleblast still did its job by informing students and getting students involved with activities in the University Union. But you could wonder if ASI expected a chinese restaurant to draw students away from the annual event and create a hype bigger than the actual event.

Make Friends, Not Fans

Think of the last time you went to a show. Did you meet the band you wanted to see? Did they take time out of loading and unloading equipment to meet you? By the way, you’re a total stranger to them.

So why would a band care about who they talk to and how they talk to them?

As a member of a unsigned band, going to shows has made it apparent to figure out which bands care about its followers.

Most people in the Sacramento area go to the Boardwalk and Club Retro to see their favorite signed bands play. Being at 100-plus shows in my lifetime, it’s a very rare occurrence if a signed band doesn’t take time to do autographs and meet the people who are making the band financially stable by coming out to shows. 

As an unsigned band, chances are slim to make it to the next level. 

For one, the band should have an instant hit song that new listeners to grasp onto. This may seem obvious, but don’t expect to see your friend’s band make it big if they aren’t musically talented and aware of their audience. But this is only half the battle. 

Unsigned bands, take notes.

1. Some of the best memories at shows come from meeting a favorite member of the band they listen to everyday in the car. People share good experiences with their friends. See, now a friend who has never been to show in his/her life is all of the sudden thinking about tagging along the next time a show happens.

2. Actually get to know people. In the music business, it’s all about who you know and making connections. This includes anybody who would ever think about listening to your music. Make a fan a friend. You just gave someone a free CD to listen to, get to know them. 

3. Friends should stay as your friends, not clients. If they genuinely consider you a friend, they don’t need to be told three times a day that they should buy your T-shirt or CD on iTunes. Nobody wants to hear an egotistical salesman.

4. Show support. You can’t expect people to come to your shows if you flake on your friends because you didn’t want to watch their basketball game or watch them graduate.  It sounds really simple, but people remember flakes. Don’t be one of them. Not everything is about how well your band is doing.

5. Keep chugging along. Doing steps 1-4 once isn’t going to make your band successful. Like most things in life, you need to work hard for what you want. Not everybody is going to want to be a friend, but there’s no point in not trying.

It’s not easy being an unsigned band that is trying to make it to the next level. Odds are not in your favor and you have people to please -- not to mention thinking of the other countless ways of getting your band to the next level. 

Playing a show in front of hundreds of friends and fans is a lot more rewarding than playing a show in front of 50 people that probably didn’t come to the show to see your band play.

So I’ll say this again. Make friends, not fans.

The same first week with a new twist

By: Marshall Hampson

I’m going to be honest. This week was a complete blur. It got to the point where I couldn’t seem to recall what happened on what day. Sounds like a college student who just woke up from a massive hangover, right?

My first week of school actually started three weeks ago as the State Hornet editors held budget and training meetings to get set for the first issue. “Production night” is a phrase that could have been the death of me. 

As the sports editor, music was keeping me sane as I was completing the layout of the sports section for 14 hours during production night - overlapping into Tuesday morning.

At least my first day of school was exciting.

With going to bed at 5 a.m., 7:30 a.m. came at me like a freight train. All I could think about when I woke up was: “Well, today can’t be much worse.”

And by the strength of God and Starbucks, Tuesday was a “normal” first day of school. Seeing my journalism friends in my classes helped me get past the fact that I was running on two and a half hours of sleep. I felt like I was at my home away from home. We all get along as if we’ve all known each other since childhood.

But my job still remained my focus point throughout the week. I have a paper to produce and writers to help. Being somewhat a perfectionist, the first sports section of the State Hornet had to pass the expectations of myself.

It did. On Wednesday morning before my music theory class, I grabbed the paper and read it in the hallway outside of my class. I felt I had accomplished something more than anything I did last semester when I opened the paper up to page B4. 

Gazing at a beautifully put-together section and a headline reading, “Hornets swarm Hornet Stadium”, made me happier than winning the Best Sports Writer award last semester.

Despite being so wrapped up in my job, I wanted to not lose grip on my personal life. I still have a band to manage and want spend time with my friends and family. My band, Grenade Jumper, decided to take all of the songs we’ve been recording recently and release our second EP within the next few months. This is a huge step considering we’re all off to college and keeping the band together.

I also learned a very important lesson on Wednesday. Don’t be afraid to tell people how you really feel. This lesson came up twice that day. Why should you have a fear of being rejected? Why are people afraid to ask for help when they know they need it? 

“Go big or go home” is my band’s motto and will always influence me. If you actually take a risk, you’ll realize that the end result is not as bad as seems. The result might not be the one you wanted, but you can at least look back at the situation and say you had enough confidence to take the risk.

Thursday soon rolled along and everything seemed calm. Yes, I had to edit my writers’ articles and go to all of my classes in the midst of my hectic schedule. But maybe since I’ve already been through enough my first week than any person should have to go through in a month, that I dealt with the pressure and stress easier.

This is what college life is about: dealing and adapting to new situations. I can make a huge deal about everything that comes my way or I can just roll with the punches.

Here’s to a semester of making the most of out of situations.