Zappa's Estate
NPR posted a disappointing article about Frank Zappa's estate trying to stop people from performing his music. From his widow:
Every composer has to deal with lousy performances. The issue for an estate is to set some clear goals and run with them. If they want to establish a performance practice, that's fantastic. Go for it. But they'll be far better served by working constructively towards that goal, rather than by litigiously.
Apparently, Gail Zappa's been sending out cease-and-desist letters to cover bands, accusing them of 'identity theft'. Not only is that a waste of time in pursuit of a patently false legal argument, she's wasting the estate's resources on billable hours for her lawyers. The Zappa estate would see better returns on that money by setting up a performance course or even a center.
There's no real distinction made in the article between the styles of Zappa's music. It's not clear, for instance, if Gail objects to a bar band covering "Dinah Moe Humm" or if it's strictly the quasi-classical music that she wants reproduced accurately. It seems like she's trying to protect every note Zappa ever wrote. Either way, she's establishing a reputation that will end up turning people away from her husband's music rather than exposing more people to it.
Having worked with my fair share of difficult estates, I can attest to the soul-weariness that creeps in after a few sharp exchanges or ultimatums. Estates' reputations precede them, and artists will quickly learn to not even bother with an estate that's known to be troublesome. James Joyce scholarship is slowly emerging from an ice age brought on by the shenanigans of the writer's grandson, Stephen. There's simply no upside to being so controlling. The control these heirs seek ends up being more pernicious than anything else, and no one really comes out a winner.
"Somebody goes out there, plays music — it's not played very well; it doesn't sound anything like what the composer intended...And they are telling the audience that's never heard it before that this is Frank Zappa's music. It's not. It's some wretched version of it."It is Zappa's music. Get over it.
Every composer has to deal with lousy performances. The issue for an estate is to set some clear goals and run with them. If they want to establish a performance practice, that's fantastic. Go for it. But they'll be far better served by working constructively towards that goal, rather than by litigiously.
Apparently, Gail Zappa's been sending out cease-and-desist letters to cover bands, accusing them of 'identity theft'. Not only is that a waste of time in pursuit of a patently false legal argument, she's wasting the estate's resources on billable hours for her lawyers. The Zappa estate would see better returns on that money by setting up a performance course or even a center.
There's no real distinction made in the article between the styles of Zappa's music. It's not clear, for instance, if Gail objects to a bar band covering "Dinah Moe Humm" or if it's strictly the quasi-classical music that she wants reproduced accurately. It seems like she's trying to protect every note Zappa ever wrote. Either way, she's establishing a reputation that will end up turning people away from her husband's music rather than exposing more people to it. Having worked with my fair share of difficult estates, I can attest to the soul-weariness that creeps in after a few sharp exchanges or ultimatums. Estates' reputations precede them, and artists will quickly learn to not even bother with an estate that's known to be troublesome. James Joyce scholarship is slowly emerging from an ice age brought on by the shenanigans of the writer's grandson, Stephen. There's simply no upside to being so controlling. The control these heirs seek ends up being more pernicious than anything else, and no one really comes out a winner.
Labels: Frank Zappa, jodru
posted by jodru at 16:28
2 Comments:
I've heard that this is the case with her. The Bernstein estate is notorious as well.
I thought she didn't want it reproduced at all and is fighting her own kids over this matter. Isn't she trying to round up any sheet music that exists? I heard from some musicians who performed with Zappa in the past that she wants to get back at Frank for "having a girl in every port." I have some copies of the Black Page, but we had to transcribe it for ourselves...
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home