The David Lowery Screed

http://bit.ly/LXtS8P

If only he'd make music as riveting as his writing, with as many people caring about what he has to sing. Then again, Lowery is preaching to the converted, wannabe artists who are pissed the gravy train broke down before they could get their fair share.

While we're at it, why don't we save the printers' jobs too. And bring back Smith-Corona. That company had employees...

I believe artists should be paid. But that does not mean they should be paid the same way they used to be. As for inequality, the fact that they make so much less than the corporate fat cats...why not do a little protesting instead of fighting a little girl who's on your side?

We live in a land of misinformation. Distributed by powerful people to keep you in your place. They like that David Lowery is beating up on this little girl, because that takes the attention off of them and the heinous activities they're engaged in.

I'm beginning to believe George Carlin was right. You can vote, but it doesn't make any difference. The owners of this country have a strong grasp upon the machinery and they're never going to let you be in control, never gonna let you drive. As long as you believe the Republican mantra..."the party of the rich and soon to be rich"...you're in trouble.

Why don't you face it. Most people don't want to hear your music.

And, if some do, that does not mean you're gonna be rich.

And if you think being rich is everything, you never read Gregg Allman's book, wherein he states:

"Money doesn't impress me worth a f**k, and it doesn't make me feel good. I've had it both ways - I've been rich and I've been broke."

Gregg's all about playing music.


To be fighting file-sharing is akin to protesting dot matrix printers. File-trading is on its way out. Because it takes too much time to do it. And you don't fight piracy with laws, but economic solutions. It doesn't pay to steal if you can listen instantly on Spotify and its ilk.

And please stop bitching about the low payouts... That's like saying Apple should liquidate and give the proceeds back to its stockholders, which is what Michael Dell so famously said in the nineties. Spotify is a trojan horse. You get hooked, and then you pay for higher quality on your mobile. Facebook stock gets hammered because of its inadequate mobile strategy and you're not smart enough to see the connection to music??? You can't get Spotify and its brethren on your handset without paying. And you will. Because you like the convenience of having all your music at your fingertips all the time.

Yes, most people still think you've got to stream your music to Spotify on your handset. But no, your playlists synch, it's just like owning them.

The public will figure this out a few years down the line.

As for the value of Spotify... That's an investment game. Hell, it's worth a little less since the Facebook debacle. If you want money, switch sides, go into tech. But your odds of getting laid and getting high are so much lower.

We're in the midst of a wrenching transition. Anybody who says they know where it's gonna end up is just plain wrong. But one thing's for sure, we're not gonna be where we started.

The major labels, if they exist, will look different. They might not be in control. A future label might get the short end of the stick instead of the long.

The people in power are not listening to you. Not Universal, not Spotify, not Verizon, not Time Warner. Because they've got the power and you refuse to understand their game. They're fighting for survival and you want them to pay attention to musical artists. That's like Al Qaeda being distracted by U.S. high school protests.

You want to make a difference?

MAKE GREAT MUSIC!

Then the doors open.

Lady Gaga famously told Steve Jobs Ping sucked. Was he so powerful that he could make it successful? No, she was right. She spoke truth to power. Are you speaking truth to power?

That intern David Lowery is beating up on has no power. He's wasting his time. And you're high-fiving him as if it all makes a difference. You're involved in a circle jerk anybody with the chance of making a difference is ignoring.

Why is it everybody in America can't see the big picture? Why do union members vote for Scott Walker? Why do poor people want fewer taxes on the rich? Why do musicians think they can shame people into doing the right thing?

If that was possible, nobody would talk on their handset on the freeway. But this behavior is plentiful, to the point where deaths have not declined since the hands-free laws have been in place, because everybody ignores them.

If we want to talk about law and shame, why don't we get all the musicians to stop doing dope?

But they're gonna say those are stupid laws.

And the public is gonna say that fourteen dollars for a CD with one good track is stupid.

You start first with a killer product. And then you leverage this for change. Knowing that economics are more powerful than emotions.

David Lowery is not gonna make a difference. He's speaking in an echo chamber. He's got the right to do this, but that does not mean we should applaud it.

He's right. The artists have suffered financially with the collapse of the CD model/Napster. But with destruction comes opportunity... Don't forget, the record companies sued to kill the Diamond Rio, the predecessor of the iPod.

Do you want to give up your iPod to satiate David Lowery?

Just hang in there. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Spotify pays most of its revenues to rights holders. The fact that labels come before acts and they don't distribute all their income... Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

And the fact that revenues are low now...

Live Nation is worried about Sillerman and Burkle, not your misunderstanding of ticket fees, which you think its company Ticketmaster swallows whole.

The problem is the artists.

And it still is.

Want to be powerful Mr. Lowery? Then make good music and sell it yourself. Be the new Curt Flood instead of one of the faceless minions agitating for the way it always was.


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