What The #&@$ Do You Do, Charles?!?

Charles Wisniewski
Senior Developer/Tech Lead
Joined The Orchard in June 2011

Now that we’ve renovated our office, you’re no longer in a cube and we can actually SEE you. More than ever we need to know, what the #&@$ do you do?!?!
The office renovation was AWESOME. I was in on the weekend before everyone moved in to help out a bit and it’s amazing that it all came together. The whole team of people involved is AWESOME: kudos.

Now for the “what would you say you do here:” I take requirements from the Product team, Ops team, other developers and bring the concepts to code. I’m also involved in coming up with the concepts and how they would actually work in our environment: we have a lot of moving pieces as everyone knows. Being a Tech Lead brings me together with Business, Marketing, Product, and Client teams. I try to learn from everyone.

That’s what you call diversity! For those not-so-tech-savvy, what’s an “environment?”
An environment is just that, though in this context it is the environment of hardware and software, and how they are networked together and interact.

Can you please walk us through a recent project you brought from concept to code to what we see live today?
Last year, I moved our data warehouse into a columnar db. What this means is all data which drive our Analytics and Accounting interfaces run faster. Over the past year, I’ve also been working to move all business logic — which in the context of computers is the same as in how people conduct business on paper and in person, i.e. a UPC cannot be assigned to more than one release — to a central place: our API. Those changes are hard to see from a user’s perspective… I also worked with Paulo in bringing our Analytics graphs to life.

In other news, we hear you’re our resident ‘outdoors/adventure guy.’ What’s the most extravagant tale you’ve lived to tell? 
I am writing this right now on my way to Vermont, my home away from home. Snowboarding is my favorite thing in the world, followed by skateboarding, surfing and rock climbing. Just being outdoors makes me happy; seeing the outdoors from 15,000 feet is insanely awesome. I did my first solo skydive last year and am looking forward to doing more. So far Ackim and Artur have come skydiving with me… Who’s next?

Before anyone replies with a “Me! Me!,” shall we perhaps spread a word of caution? Our infallible sources tell us your girlfriend broke her leg last time she jumped… 
My girlfriend did break her leg while skydiving. However, I broke my leg when I was 12 jumping off a 3 foot ledge; other people have broken their ankles just walking: life is dangerous!

Very true, very true. Well, we now not only know what the #&@$ you do, but also who to turn to when in need of some adrenaline-pumping activities. Thanks, Charles! And…. stay safe! 

favorite food: anything mexican
go-to karaoke song: Iron Maiden – Fear of the Dark
best kept secret about you: nice try!
random fact: I have a poem published.

“Roll” With The Great Gatsby

To the excitement of literature aficionados old and young alike, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, this summer’s quintessential 3D adaptation flick, hits theaters tomorrow.

Just think, it won’t be long now before you’re in the theater being captivated by Leonardo DiCaprio’s icy stare as he portrays the troubled and mysterious Gatsby in a world obsessed with stature and rich with excess.

If you should get the chance to focus on something other than the lush environment Luhrmann — known previously for his work on Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! – has created, make sure you listen up for Jelly Roll Morton’s “New Orleans Bump,” nestled away amongst the star-studded cast and adding to the musical pulse of this film.

Watch This Space: Amazon Disc on Demand

Working across both the digital and physical markets, I am frequently asked my thoughts on the future of physical music sales. While I believe a physical market will survive for music, I also often point to services like Amazon Disc on Demand as an interesting space to watch. Many questions arise over this service, and I aim in the below to address some of the more common questions I’m asked.

What exactly is Amazon Disc on Demand?

Amazon Disc on Demand uses the digital files that are delivered for the Amazon MP3 store to print a CD or DVD on demand for customers who order a physical copy. The transaction counts as a digital sale, but results in a physical copy.

What are the benefits of Disc on Demand?

No stock is held. You are able to sell to customers who prefer physical copies of releases without the exposure of having hundreds of units of stock sitting in warehouses across the world when demand may not justify that level of exposure.

What releases are good for Disc on Demand?

If the physical release of a title does not exist in the market, Disc on Demand provides a good option to reach customers who prefer physical units but may otherwise be missed. Disc on Demand is a particularly good option for older catalogue titles on which sales have slowed to the point where the physical is deleted, or perhaps should be to save on costs of slow-moving lines. It could also be a way to test the water for developing artists and releases.

In what territories does Amazon have the Disc on Demand program?

Disc on Demand is only live for music in the US and Germany at the moment. It is to be launching in one or two “major European territories” in the near future. These territories are not confirmed, but one could likely make some educated guesses.

Can I have a booklet with a Disc on Demand release?

Disc on Demand releases do include booklets which can be 4-32 pages. However, DoD booklet artwork currently needs to be in a different format than booklets for the MP3 store. Releases via the Orchard are currently set up using a standard template, but if you have an important release for DoD with which you would like to add a more detailed booklet, please contact your Client Manager.

But isn’t the quality really poor?

The Amazon Disc on Demand program suffers from a bit of a perception problem stemming from the somewhat lesser-quality of the packages at the time the service launched. Amazon has long since improved the quality of DoD products, increasing the booklet paper weight to 130gsm. Having seen several DoD packages, the quality can be indistinguishable from many “proper” physical releases.

If CDs are being printed to order, doesn’t it take a long time for customers to receive their copy?

No — the order is immediately sent to Amazon’s printing facilities, and the CD can be shipped out within 24 hours. No additional processing time occurs.

How is the pricing set?

While Amazon reserves the right to set retail price, a vendor can specify a desired list price and a royalty is paid through on this amount when a disc is sold. Your Client Manager can assist with further information.

Do Disc on Demand titles sell?

Sales of course vary by title, but we have seen steady sales through Disc on Demand. A particular recent success story happened with Acoustic Live by Nils Lofgren. When Nils toured as part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Acoustic Live sold over 700 units through Amazon Disc on Demand in Germany, hitting #3 on Amazon Germany’s Live Albums chart. The physical version of this title had been deleted, and Disc on Demand was able to service a market that otherwise would have been missed.

How do I have my releases delivered to Disc on Demand?

Please contact your Client Manager for further details.

Welcome, Ryan!

Introducing Ryan MacPhee, Senior Manager, Business Affairs

Hello everyone! I’m excited to be joining The Orchard here in New York. I will be working with the Content Acquisition team focused primarily on the many amazing services we offer in addition to distribution, including The Orchard Video Network, Sync Licensing, Compilations, Collections, as well as bringing new clients into the company.

Here’s some info about me: I was born in New Jersey, but grew up in Georgia. After graduating from Washington and Lee University in 2008, I spent most of the last five years split between Manhattan and Brooklyn, with a brief stint in Texas. When I’m not working, I like to wander around Williamsburg and go to shows. I try to stay active — ice hockey, snowboarding, wake boarding, and most recently I’ve gotten into rock climbing. When it comes to music, I have pretty wide tastes, but tend to gravitate towards classic, old-fashioned Rock (with a sweet spot for 80′s Synthpop). Again, very excited to be here, and looking forward to meeting everyone!

Psy: The Second Coming

For Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is only once all mankind has heard God’s message that the day of judgement will come. Only then, once everybody has had opportunity to repent, and the chance of enlightenment, will the wheat be separated from the chaff in the second coming of Christ. They believe one thing, I believe another, but that won’t keep them from knocking on a bank holiday…

Social media, having shrunk the world into a pistachio shell, may be a little quicker than going door to door. Perhaps the Jehovah’s should consider Psy’s “Gangnam Style” a blueprint for a new, shiny, 21st Century Apocalypse. Speaking of which, Psy’s second single (and music video) “Gentleman” has been released.

Gentleman is a revelation for Psy. Without the need to pander to the public’s fickle attention span, he has taken the opportunity to pass comment on society. Here, he does not disappoint. In a verbose deconstruction of modernity, comparable to Orwell’s Animal Farm, Psy brings home the implications of nihilism on good taste. After three minutes and fifty-eight seconds, the relative nature of truth is exposed — musically, Psy’s offering makes a shit, on a record player made out of shit, with a broken needle, sound great.

But it is through Psy’s exposure of implicit social norms, the very fabric of society, that the piece should be analysed — as conceptual art. Psy begins his video with a scene reminiscent of Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, while walking down the road with his droogs he raises a finger to the man by knocking over a traffic cone. In the words of Nelson Mandela, “When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw.” Certainly these words emanate from between the lines of the refrain “I’m a, I’m a, I’m a, Mother-Father-Gentleman.”

Later in the video, Psy is seen questioning the modern obsession with sanitation as he prevents a man from getting to his hotel room in order to relieve himself, by pressing all the many buttons in the elevator. He then “cupcakes” someone at a desk. The sterilizing quality of modernity is brought to bear; truly Psy has created a work of art that defies the gallery. But this is a metaphor on the grandest scale. We all bear witness to the otherness of good taste.

In the face of this anti-authoritarianism, the South Korean government has had no choice but to ban the video. Such is the burden of inspiration. Psy now joins the list of visionaries caught before their time, a list including Orwell, Mandela, Burgess and the Jehovah’s themselves. In Psy’s words, “My only goal was to avoid being called a one-hit wonder.” — truly a Christ-like sentiment.