I'm sure last week's trawl through the minutiae of Bob Dylan's new boxed set warmed many a heart after a hard Friday at work. But this time let's stick closer to home.

Let's talk about albums.
Albums are becoming a difficult proposition. The problem afflicting the whole of the music business is particularly acute for albums – there just ain't no money in it.
CD sales are continuing to decline and CDs, as a response to outlets like the Warehouse selling out-of-copyright or repackaged albums, are now cheaper than they've ever been.
There are also far fewer music shops as people switch to downloading music as bulk-commodity mp3s. Which they usually do on a song by song basis, making the album an even more financially-challenged commodity: why record those songs that are 'album songs”, as opposed to 'singles”, if no one's going to download them? The rule of downloading is that the most stand-out catchy tunes get the downloads. A long subtle 'album track” doesn't stand a chance.
And albums are expensive to make. Sure, they don't need to be Michael Jackson Thriller expensive, but if you're doing it properly it's going to cost. We do things a bit more cheaply in Tauranga where many musicians and helpers are willing to work for nothing, but in the big city everyone expects to get paid.
Once upon a time record companies would pony up with advances against sales. Now potential sales are fewer and further between that avenue is becoming tighter, especially for anyone not working directly in the chart arena.
So musicians around the world are turning to crowd sourcing to raise the money they need to record. And it's
happening here too.
This week emails went out from Midge Marsden and producer/bass player Neil Hannan seeking public donations for Midge's next album. Midge says: 'I was initially reluctant to agree with the idea of 'crowd funding' thinking it smacked of desperation, but having done some research, I came to the conclusion that it is the world wide way of the future, for funding music, movies and the arts.”

Not just donations
And he may well be right. What makes this model really hum is that you're not just being asked to give a donation. If you go to www.pledgeme.co.nz/1326 you'll see the whole thing in action: there's a video of Midge making his pitch; there are details of the proposed album, right down to the specific songs and musicians; and there are rewards for donating.
Yep, you don't just throw money at Midge, you get something back beyond righteous satisfaction.
For a $20 donation you get a Midge Tour Tea Towel (and why not?). For $25 you get the new CD when it's made. For $60 you get two tickets to Midge's next show in the area. And – skipping several in-between options – for $500 you get Midge and guitarist Chet O'Connell playing an hour-long house concert at your residence. ($2000 gets you the whole band for two hours which seems like a dynamite offer for Christmas parties!)
Midge is looking for a mere $11,000, bugger all in terms of album costs. He's already raised half. Why not pop along to the site and see if you can help out?

This weekend's gigs
And on to this weekend and a few local gigs coming up which may be of interest.
Saturday (7 September) afternoon sees a free gig from the blues and roots juggernaut that is Swamp Thing. The duo of Grant Haua and Michael Barker have featured regularly in this column and a free gig sounds just the ticket! They're playing at the new Brew Bar on the Strand, kicking off at 3.00pm.
Sunday sees another of the occasional shows at the Omokoroa Boat Club where the charismatic Paul Ubana Jones will be joined by well-travelled Nelson singer/songwriter Bryce Wastney. They kick off what should be a great gig at 4.00pm. Tickets are $25.
Also on Sunday, Hipnottick Erra will be presenting their unique brand of funk rock at La Mexica on the Stand at 3.00pm, and the Entertainers Club holds its monthly concert at 5.00pm at the Bureta Park Motor Inn. This Sunday they'll be featuring The Bay Blues Company, a Rob Smith-led septet which plays traditional New Orleans jazz. Ken Payne is also performing. It costs $10.