He was a bright guy with a sense of humor and to write this means he's gone.
But he can't be. I just heard from him two weeks ago, we were discussing cars!
Milt loved cars. Had a passion for them. When I first met him at A&M he was driving a Merkur. Ford guaranteed to buy it back at a high price so he got one. For the last decade he'd been driving a Subaru Forester. Because of the high performance turbo engine. He hated the gas mileage, but it was paid for. We commiserated on this. That's one of the last times I saw him live. For lunch in Bel Air, when he paid the bill and said "I'm a patron of the arts." And I've been thinking a lot about Milt because with the freeway constantly closed I've been driving through that neighborhood on the way to Felice's.
I'm not saying I never cry. But when I got the e-mail today tears came to my eyes. How could it be?
Must have been a health issue.
But then to find out he was run over by the police, supposedly while in the bike lane...
What did Elvis Costello sing? Accidents will happen?
And his family had no suspicion. This is when it's worst. When the last time you see them they're alive and vibrant, and the next time it's in the box.
That same first time I saw Milt it was in his office at A&M. He gave me a record. That's what was different back then, everybody remotely attached to the music business was a fan. Sure, you could make money, but that's not what it was about.
And when A&M was sold and merged Milt went back to practicing law. First at Manatt, then he hung out his shingle, with David Altschul.
And he had his clients. Because Milt was sharp. And knew everybody from that era. And a lot of them still have force in the business.
And oh yeah, in the middle he worked at Napster. That's what all the headlines are saying. I'm sure if Milt were here now he'd laugh at that, how far and wide the word spread. Because Milt wasn't about fame, and he could find the irony and the joke in life experiences.
But he won't be having any more.
And just before I got the news I'd been OCD'ing about something. And then it hit me, how irrelevant my petty problems were in the face of death.
It's final.
We think we're gonna live forever.
Then we get cancer or have a heart attack and realize our time is limited.
Still, we expect to live to a ripe old age. Near ninety. Even though the older you get the more frail you become, and so many are gone, no one remembers what you do.
But I remember when the Police was the biggest band in the world.
And Bryan Adams ate up the chart with "Run To You," the entire "Reckless" album.
When A&M was owned by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, when artists came first, when quarterly numbers were not important. It all worked out in the end if you had the right acts and the right team, and they did.
So, so long Milt.
I just wish we'd had another lunch or phone call, or I'd run into you at an event and we'd had another conversation. That was the great thing about Milt, he was never jive, when you connected it was always real, he'd make a sly comment, illustrating that you and he were just cogs in the wheel, but were enjoying the ride.
What a bad pun, unintentional.
So here's where I whip out the cliches.
Hug your loved ones.
Live every day like it's your last, because it just might be.
And if you're doing it to be remembered, know that no one will be. Not even the Beatles, certainly not Steve Jobs. The sands of time will bury them like the pyramids.
Life is about experience. Eat it alive, while you still can.
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Monday 9 December 2013
Going Viral
TASTEMAKER ENDORSEMENT
It's personal and people are paying attention.
It's how "Call Me Maybe" went from a ditty with little traction to a worldwide smash. Credit Justin Bieber.
Celebrity endorsements are the number one way to get your music heard. Musicians endorse little, and sometimes want a piece of the action in return, but it's worth it. (Don't confuse this with paid endorsements a la Kim Kardashian.)
Especially on Twitter, where retweets are cheap and easy, if someone famous, with millions of followers, says you're great, you're gonna get a look. Then it's up to you.
It's about numbers and a dedicated fan base. In other words, if it's pop, the star must have millions. If there's credibility and passion...you don't need as big a following, Patterson Hood broke Alabama Shakes.
But don't try to get someone to tweet about you outside your genre. Think about who their followers are.
And you don't get many bites at the apple. You've got to deliver the first time. And it's always about a single track. And if your track is...meh, the chances of recovering from this are low.
GAMING THE SYSTEM
That's how Batkid triumphed. You think it was spontaneous generation?
"It turns out that the foundation had a slew of pro-bono help behind the scenes, perhaps most significantly from Clever Girls Collective, a social media company that orchestrated the event's viral take-off. Clever Girls handled all the social media in the Twitter-focused campaign and deployed its 6,000-plus network of paid influencers to spread the word as the event snowballed. The coverage included a morning-of Twitter chat that called for donations to the foundation and further elevated the event's signature hashtag, #SFBatkid."
http://bit.ly/1brPzY3
That's right, you can pay to get your story spread.
But can you afford it?
And although there's always someone to take your money, the best don't want to tar their reputations, they only work with what they believe they can sell.
Especially if you've got a one time event, with sexy elements, hire the team and try to get everybody motivated before the word gets out.
Yes, money counts.
Didn't used to, but chances are unless you've already made it, or your video has train-wreck value, you've been hyped.
BLOG ENDORSEMENT
People want to read that you're good. A press release does you almost no good. If you can get Pitchfork or any blog with traction to say your music is great, you're gonna get a lot of tire-kickers.
But reaching these sites is damn near impossible. Because they're overloaded with wannabes. This is where relationships become important. Lay the pipe long before you want the result. Or know someone who knows someone.
BUZZMAKERS
This could be dangerous. Because they don't care about you, only advertising/clicks.
BuzzFeed and Gawker are the kings.
To be edified, read this story from the "Wall Street Journal":
"Why Everyone Will Totally Read This Column: A Gawker Editor Tells How He Picks 'Viral' Content Readers Can't Resist Sharing": http://on.wsj.com/IKpr4y
TASTEMAKERS
Howard Stern is the number one exponent. The mainstream is just catching on to this. This is the number one appearance to generate virality, because of his dedicated fan base. It's less how many people listen as opposed to how passionate those listeners are. Just like it's always been in music. Where the pop artist of the day sells fewer tickets than the album act. Then again, most of the album acts drawing today made it decades ago.
TELEVISION
Because you've got a lot of people all watching at the same time.
Any TV doesn't yield dividends, especially when so many channels get such abysmal ratings, nowhere near 1 million people watching at any given time.
But the truth is if you can get on network or a hot cable show and people can see you for the very first time, it counts.
This is radically different than another performance by the usual suspects. This is Phoenix being on SNL before their album comes out. The imprimatur of the channel making everyone interested.
And it doesn't mean much if it's not available on YouTube thereafter. Except for awards shows and sporting events, we're all watching after the fact.
NEWSPAPERS
Don't mean anything unless it's on the website and easily found.
It's all about placement baby. Otherwise, the paper is always last and furthermore the young people who create virality don't read it. In other words, if you see your name in the newspaper, tell your mother, she's the only one who cares.
CONCLUSION
Only the faces have changed.
Then again, with so few meaningful outlets and so much competition, you must have the goods. Those with credibility spreading the word can't afford to make a mistake. If they say something is good, it must be.
And the cycle is so fast, that you might only go viral for a day.
But if you truly catch fire, you can go viral for years, people are still finding out about the aforementioned Alabama Shakes.
We're all looking for greatness, we all want to share. But not everything, only special things.
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It's personal and people are paying attention.
It's how "Call Me Maybe" went from a ditty with little traction to a worldwide smash. Credit Justin Bieber.
Celebrity endorsements are the number one way to get your music heard. Musicians endorse little, and sometimes want a piece of the action in return, but it's worth it. (Don't confuse this with paid endorsements a la Kim Kardashian.)
Especially on Twitter, where retweets are cheap and easy, if someone famous, with millions of followers, says you're great, you're gonna get a look. Then it's up to you.
It's about numbers and a dedicated fan base. In other words, if it's pop, the star must have millions. If there's credibility and passion...you don't need as big a following, Patterson Hood broke Alabama Shakes.
But don't try to get someone to tweet about you outside your genre. Think about who their followers are.
And you don't get many bites at the apple. You've got to deliver the first time. And it's always about a single track. And if your track is...meh, the chances of recovering from this are low.
GAMING THE SYSTEM
That's how Batkid triumphed. You think it was spontaneous generation?
"It turns out that the foundation had a slew of pro-bono help behind the scenes, perhaps most significantly from Clever Girls Collective, a social media company that orchestrated the event's viral take-off. Clever Girls handled all the social media in the Twitter-focused campaign and deployed its 6,000-plus network of paid influencers to spread the word as the event snowballed. The coverage included a morning-of Twitter chat that called for donations to the foundation and further elevated the event's signature hashtag, #SFBatkid."
http://bit.ly/1brPzY3
That's right, you can pay to get your story spread.
But can you afford it?
And although there's always someone to take your money, the best don't want to tar their reputations, they only work with what they believe they can sell.
Especially if you've got a one time event, with sexy elements, hire the team and try to get everybody motivated before the word gets out.
Yes, money counts.
Didn't used to, but chances are unless you've already made it, or your video has train-wreck value, you've been hyped.
BLOG ENDORSEMENT
People want to read that you're good. A press release does you almost no good. If you can get Pitchfork or any blog with traction to say your music is great, you're gonna get a lot of tire-kickers.
But reaching these sites is damn near impossible. Because they're overloaded with wannabes. This is where relationships become important. Lay the pipe long before you want the result. Or know someone who knows someone.
BUZZMAKERS
This could be dangerous. Because they don't care about you, only advertising/clicks.
BuzzFeed and Gawker are the kings.
To be edified, read this story from the "Wall Street Journal":
"Why Everyone Will Totally Read This Column: A Gawker Editor Tells How He Picks 'Viral' Content Readers Can't Resist Sharing": http://on.wsj.com/IKpr4y
TASTEMAKERS
Howard Stern is the number one exponent. The mainstream is just catching on to this. This is the number one appearance to generate virality, because of his dedicated fan base. It's less how many people listen as opposed to how passionate those listeners are. Just like it's always been in music. Where the pop artist of the day sells fewer tickets than the album act. Then again, most of the album acts drawing today made it decades ago.
TELEVISION
Because you've got a lot of people all watching at the same time.
Any TV doesn't yield dividends, especially when so many channels get such abysmal ratings, nowhere near 1 million people watching at any given time.
But the truth is if you can get on network or a hot cable show and people can see you for the very first time, it counts.
This is radically different than another performance by the usual suspects. This is Phoenix being on SNL before their album comes out. The imprimatur of the channel making everyone interested.
And it doesn't mean much if it's not available on YouTube thereafter. Except for awards shows and sporting events, we're all watching after the fact.
NEWSPAPERS
Don't mean anything unless it's on the website and easily found.
It's all about placement baby. Otherwise, the paper is always last and furthermore the young people who create virality don't read it. In other words, if you see your name in the newspaper, tell your mother, she's the only one who cares.
CONCLUSION
Only the faces have changed.
Then again, with so few meaningful outlets and so much competition, you must have the goods. Those with credibility spreading the word can't afford to make a mistake. If they say something is good, it must be.
And the cycle is so fast, that you might only go viral for a day.
But if you truly catch fire, you can go viral for years, people are still finding out about the aforementioned Alabama Shakes.
We're all looking for greatness, we all want to share. But not everything, only special things.
--
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Repeatability
You read a book once, you watch a movie a couple of times, but music is forever.
And this is a sea change. In monetization.
Isn't it funny that the film business has accepted this, yet the music business has not. You don't see actors taking to the Internet protesting Netflix, saying that they're losing all that money from DVDs... Oh, that's right, the studios screwed the talent on DVDs, but my point is streaming won in visual entertainment, but seemingly everyone who is a recording artist can't stop bitching about Spotify.
But this isn't about Spotify, or YouTube, or Beats Music, per se. It's about a difference in consumption.
Once upon a time, the big effort was getting people to buy your record.
Now it's getting people to LISTEN TO IT! AGAIN AND AGAIN!
In a world overflowing with entertainment, can you produce something so necessary that your fans and others can't help but be drawn to it and continue to listen to it?
This is the blockbuster syndrome.
Even in the nineties, when MTV was rampant, most people owned little music. CDs were expensive, nobody had many, so they sat there spinning albums, learning all the deep tracks, going to the show to hear them. Now they only have time for the hits. Are you writing and recording hits?
In other words, if it takes multiple plays to understand and get your music, chances are you won't even be niche, if that.
Difficult is passe. You can record the album tracks, but unless you're a superstar and they're as easily digestible and good as the hit, almost no one will listen.
This has already happened in the film business. Check the box office. One or two big winners and then also-rans. Everyone gravitates to the hits, they want to be part of the discussion, and oftentimes we know what's a stiff by Friday afternoon, with our minions out in the theatres reporting.
Same deal in TV. When a show gets bad ratings do they let it run a season to develop an audience? Only in rare instances, maybe when superstar talent is involved and they believe in it, otherwise the show's CANCELED!
That's what's happening throughout the music business. Albums are getting CANCELED, and no one seems to want to admit it.
Look at the SoundScan numbers, they're positively anemic. Everyone blames it on piracy, but the truth is the audience has outgrown the album format, it doesn't work for them, especially when they can go on YouTube and just get the hit.
So when you're laying down your tracks, if you want to gain an audience, you've got to think about them, not you. Is what you're doing so special that your fans will eat it up, play it incessantly and share it with their friends? Or is it good, something palatable people could enjoy, but will skip right over on their way to what's popular.
Don't decry popularity. Those tracks contain an essence most stuff that falls by the wayside does not. "Roar" works, even if it's not as good as Katy Perry's previous stuff. And if she ends up with enough hit singles people will push her album into the millions. But this is so different from when we sold millions to begin with, out of the box, because so many people were interested.
And the cycle is just that fast. Entering at number one is essentially irrelevant. Really, name the number one album from two weeks ago, three, I dare you.
So focus first on tracks. Get people clawing for more instead of foisting your work upon them. We live in a pull economy, and if you're all about pushing, you're probably not gonna last.
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And this is a sea change. In monetization.
Isn't it funny that the film business has accepted this, yet the music business has not. You don't see actors taking to the Internet protesting Netflix, saying that they're losing all that money from DVDs... Oh, that's right, the studios screwed the talent on DVDs, but my point is streaming won in visual entertainment, but seemingly everyone who is a recording artist can't stop bitching about Spotify.
But this isn't about Spotify, or YouTube, or Beats Music, per se. It's about a difference in consumption.
Once upon a time, the big effort was getting people to buy your record.
Now it's getting people to LISTEN TO IT! AGAIN AND AGAIN!
In a world overflowing with entertainment, can you produce something so necessary that your fans and others can't help but be drawn to it and continue to listen to it?
This is the blockbuster syndrome.
Even in the nineties, when MTV was rampant, most people owned little music. CDs were expensive, nobody had many, so they sat there spinning albums, learning all the deep tracks, going to the show to hear them. Now they only have time for the hits. Are you writing and recording hits?
In other words, if it takes multiple plays to understand and get your music, chances are you won't even be niche, if that.
Difficult is passe. You can record the album tracks, but unless you're a superstar and they're as easily digestible and good as the hit, almost no one will listen.
This has already happened in the film business. Check the box office. One or two big winners and then also-rans. Everyone gravitates to the hits, they want to be part of the discussion, and oftentimes we know what's a stiff by Friday afternoon, with our minions out in the theatres reporting.
Same deal in TV. When a show gets bad ratings do they let it run a season to develop an audience? Only in rare instances, maybe when superstar talent is involved and they believe in it, otherwise the show's CANCELED!
That's what's happening throughout the music business. Albums are getting CANCELED, and no one seems to want to admit it.
Look at the SoundScan numbers, they're positively anemic. Everyone blames it on piracy, but the truth is the audience has outgrown the album format, it doesn't work for them, especially when they can go on YouTube and just get the hit.
So when you're laying down your tracks, if you want to gain an audience, you've got to think about them, not you. Is what you're doing so special that your fans will eat it up, play it incessantly and share it with their friends? Or is it good, something palatable people could enjoy, but will skip right over on their way to what's popular.
Don't decry popularity. Those tracks contain an essence most stuff that falls by the wayside does not. "Roar" works, even if it's not as good as Katy Perry's previous stuff. And if she ends up with enough hit singles people will push her album into the millions. But this is so different from when we sold millions to begin with, out of the box, because so many people were interested.
And the cycle is just that fast. Entering at number one is essentially irrelevant. Really, name the number one album from two weeks ago, three, I dare you.
So focus first on tracks. Get people clawing for more instead of foisting your work upon them. We live in a pull economy, and if you're all about pushing, you're probably not gonna last.
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Sunday 8 December 2013
Nebraska
It's in black and white and it's depressing and Bruce Dern doesn't deserve an Oscar, anything else you'd like to know?
I've been reading about this movie for months. Because that's how you do it these days, you ramp up the publicity so that just maybe, people will go. I had to endure the history of Bruce Dern's career, and road trips with Alexander Payne through Nebraska, and if that had anything to do with this flick, I'd tell you, but it doesn't.
Yes, I went to the movies.
I just felt locked up inside. I'd read the newspapers, caught up on e-mail, the sun was setting and...I had to get out of the house.
That's why we used to go to the movies, to get out of the house, because nothing went on at home, there were no friends and no Internet and only a couple of TV channels, everything that happened was out. As a matter of fact, on the way out of the ArcLight I ran into Larry and Carol, which proves the point.
And it's so different in the dark cavern with the big screen. It's a scenario I know so well.
That's what I used to do in the late sixties and seventies. Go to the movies. I felt I knew the stars, that my life would just work if I could...meet Glenda Jackson, I had a crush on her. I knew all the players, back when you could see everything. And I did.
Movies used to be platformed. They opened in L.A. and New York first. When I first came to Los Angeles I literally went every night. It wasn't unusual for me to see three flicks in a day. I didn't go to become an expert, but that's what I was. Back before "Jaws" and "Star Wars" ruined the paradigm, with all their revenues, the same way Wall Street is ruining the country today.
Wall Street and the techies. They're skewing the entire nation. They make so much money that all that's left for the rest of us is crumbs. You're either a winner or a loser. And you know who gets the losers? The arts. Because it takes a special kind of intelligent, educated person to take the road less traveled, the one with bad odds, known as entertainment. There's no safety net. If you're not starting your career right after college, you've already missed a step.
So what we've got in music is reality TV. The same downtrodden denizens who will do anything to make it. There's not a backbone in the business. Everybody's looking to sell out. Sergey Brin and Larry Page want no press and Kanye West keeps telling us what a genius he is. And I'm sure there'd be musicians who spoke truth to power if only you could make as much money as you can in Silicon Valley, but you can't.
So it's a vast wasteland in music.
Of course I'm overstating the point. It's really just like tech. Incredible winners and losers. Instead of Google, Yahoo and Apple, it's Jay Z, Katy Perry and Rihanna. You can't get traction without hits, and you can't have hits unless you play Top Forty music, and tech is spread virally, built up by its users, and entertainment is still employing the ancient formula of hype.
Which brings us back to "Nebraska."
It's not even the movie they're hyping.
But it creeped me out.
There's are scenes where those with no money and no life are sitting catatonic watching television. This is why I left Utah and Vermont, I could see slow death seeping in everywhere.
Just like the buildings. Your mobile phone may be bright and shiny, but too often the edifices are cracking and need a new coat of paint. Yup, the bridge may collapse but you can get your television via cable, fiber optics or satellite dish. Oh, what a great country we live in, where the penumbra's fantastic and the core is rotten.
And that's what our movies used to be about. This rotten core. Before everybody with a profile was a winner and superheroes ruled the multiplex.
Watching "Nebraska" you're reminded that more people are losing than winning in America. That it's hard to get a job. And you don't really know your relatives until you share an inheritance. Bill Gates may be giving away his fortune, but most are praying for a pittance to get them by.
But no one wants to see this anymore. Everybody's praying at the altar of greed. Greed isn't good, it's the national credo, it's what we base every life choice upon, because if you're not rich, you're a poor loser who just can't get by.
So there's a sea of empty seats at "Nebraska," because no one wants to confront the ugly truth that they got the short end of the stick. That all they've got is drugs and alcohol and the same cronies at the bar.
We want hope and choice and the ability to lift ourselves up.
But the job creators tell us it's our own damn fault.
And now they've taken over the whole damn country. Movie studios are small cogs in giant conglomerates, slaves to the bottom line, just like record labels. That's right, the joke is on you.
But some people slip through. Like Alexander Payne.
His movie doesn't deserve an Oscar, but it touched my soul.
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I've been reading about this movie for months. Because that's how you do it these days, you ramp up the publicity so that just maybe, people will go. I had to endure the history of Bruce Dern's career, and road trips with Alexander Payne through Nebraska, and if that had anything to do with this flick, I'd tell you, but it doesn't.
Yes, I went to the movies.
I just felt locked up inside. I'd read the newspapers, caught up on e-mail, the sun was setting and...I had to get out of the house.
That's why we used to go to the movies, to get out of the house, because nothing went on at home, there were no friends and no Internet and only a couple of TV channels, everything that happened was out. As a matter of fact, on the way out of the ArcLight I ran into Larry and Carol, which proves the point.
And it's so different in the dark cavern with the big screen. It's a scenario I know so well.
That's what I used to do in the late sixties and seventies. Go to the movies. I felt I knew the stars, that my life would just work if I could...meet Glenda Jackson, I had a crush on her. I knew all the players, back when you could see everything. And I did.
Movies used to be platformed. They opened in L.A. and New York first. When I first came to Los Angeles I literally went every night. It wasn't unusual for me to see three flicks in a day. I didn't go to become an expert, but that's what I was. Back before "Jaws" and "Star Wars" ruined the paradigm, with all their revenues, the same way Wall Street is ruining the country today.
Wall Street and the techies. They're skewing the entire nation. They make so much money that all that's left for the rest of us is crumbs. You're either a winner or a loser. And you know who gets the losers? The arts. Because it takes a special kind of intelligent, educated person to take the road less traveled, the one with bad odds, known as entertainment. There's no safety net. If you're not starting your career right after college, you've already missed a step.
So what we've got in music is reality TV. The same downtrodden denizens who will do anything to make it. There's not a backbone in the business. Everybody's looking to sell out. Sergey Brin and Larry Page want no press and Kanye West keeps telling us what a genius he is. And I'm sure there'd be musicians who spoke truth to power if only you could make as much money as you can in Silicon Valley, but you can't.
So it's a vast wasteland in music.
Of course I'm overstating the point. It's really just like tech. Incredible winners and losers. Instead of Google, Yahoo and Apple, it's Jay Z, Katy Perry and Rihanna. You can't get traction without hits, and you can't have hits unless you play Top Forty music, and tech is spread virally, built up by its users, and entertainment is still employing the ancient formula of hype.
Which brings us back to "Nebraska."
It's not even the movie they're hyping.
But it creeped me out.
There's are scenes where those with no money and no life are sitting catatonic watching television. This is why I left Utah and Vermont, I could see slow death seeping in everywhere.
Just like the buildings. Your mobile phone may be bright and shiny, but too often the edifices are cracking and need a new coat of paint. Yup, the bridge may collapse but you can get your television via cable, fiber optics or satellite dish. Oh, what a great country we live in, where the penumbra's fantastic and the core is rotten.
And that's what our movies used to be about. This rotten core. Before everybody with a profile was a winner and superheroes ruled the multiplex.
Watching "Nebraska" you're reminded that more people are losing than winning in America. That it's hard to get a job. And you don't really know your relatives until you share an inheritance. Bill Gates may be giving away his fortune, but most are praying for a pittance to get them by.
But no one wants to see this anymore. Everybody's praying at the altar of greed. Greed isn't good, it's the national credo, it's what we base every life choice upon, because if you're not rich, you're a poor loser who just can't get by.
So there's a sea of empty seats at "Nebraska," because no one wants to confront the ugly truth that they got the short end of the stick. That all they've got is drugs and alcohol and the same cronies at the bar.
We want hope and choice and the ability to lift ourselves up.
But the job creators tell us it's our own damn fault.
And now they've taken over the whole damn country. Movie studios are small cogs in giant conglomerates, slaves to the bottom line, just like record labels. That's right, the joke is on you.
But some people slip through. Like Alexander Payne.
His movie doesn't deserve an Oscar, but it touched my soul.
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