This year's Alabama Shakes.
I'm a triangulator. I wait until all indicators flash red. Then I pay attention.
I'm not saying I did not check out St. Paul & The Broken Bones from the initial e-mail regarding their music, but when friends start tweeting about it, when more people start e-mailing me about it, I know...there's something going on.
And I guarantee you it's manufactured.
How do I know? If you Google the band, one of the first hits is news of their scheduled appearance on "CBS This Morning: Saturday," that's tomorrow in case you want to set your DVR.
You see someone is working this.
But I don't mean that as criticism, only explanation. See the music and the performance are driving this.
Let's start with the performance. Because all links connect to the following YouTube video:
http://bit.ly/1cbo3W0
Check it out. It does not reek of Los Angeles. No one that chubby is allowed over Mulholland. And it's not New York, there's no slickness involved. It screams nothing so much as Alabama, where the band turns out to hail from.
But as Kiki Dee sang, it's all about having the music in you. And this guy definitely does. That's the magic, not the track.
And the track is not resonating. It's only got 185,398 plays as I write this, and the clip has been up since July 15, 2013.
What I'm saying is this is not an instant reaction record, otherwise the count would be in seven figures. It can't go viral because there are no naked bodies and the song...just isn't catchy enough.
But if you go deeper, and I did not months ago, when I first got the link, you discover...the track "Like A Mighty River" is far superior to "Call Me," which is featured in the above clip. In other words, St. Paul, etc. may be addressing the number one problem in music, material. Especially for soul revues. Performance only goes so far, do we want to hear you on wax?
But the truth is today's younger generation does not have this music in their DNA. Hipsters will talk about Sharon Jones, but the truth is the Commitments occurred decades ago. Is the public ready for soul?
In a world populated by phony, real always resonates.
That's right. Everybody knows those pop hits are written by committee, and that one guy raps and another one, two or three provide the beats. It's all assembly line, it might as well be fabricated by Foxconn or Pegatron. So when you experience something alive, that breathes, that does not reek of the machine, you stop and pay attention. Which is what is driving St. Paul, etc.
And the truth is we're going down the wrong path, with curated playlists.
Unless we start rating said lists. Because we don't want to sit and listen passively to anybody's picks, we want our own, all the time.
But we're all still interested in the direct hit, the anointed number we must pay attention to that delivers.
The point is I've known about St. Paul, etc. for a while. But the preponderance of e-mail and tweets has finally got me digging deeper today. And what I've found is substance, something to pay attention to.
Not that much attention, the label/manager/publicity person are going to do their best to force us to pay attention, to anoint this as fantastic, but it's not.
But it is worth paying attention to, it is a start.
Proving once again, it starts with the music, performance thereof helps, and the only way to rise above is with the push of professional players, it's the only way to float above the cacophony, to get the professional posters/tweeters excited about it.
Yes, there are tons of tastemakers out there. And I pay attention to very few. But when all of them are on to something, I pay attention.
P.S. The key with music like this is to entice people to see it live, that truly bonds them to the act and gets them talking about it. And then it's about...delivering the killer track that makes the commitment of the fan worthwhile, allowing him or her to say...I TOLD YOU SO!
P.P.S. The first thing a surfer does is go to your Wikipedia site. If you haven't got one, build towards one, it's an imprimatur of legitimacy. St. Paul, etc. don't have one, bad move. Second, make sure the first Google hit is your own URL, which you must have. St. Paul, etc.'s initial hit is Facebook, and nothing turns me off more, it's the home of the self-promoters. If you don't look legitimate, it's hard for me to take you seriously, the hurdle is that much higher.
Check out "Like A Mighty River" live on YouTube here: http://bit.ly/1h41aPR
Check out the entire album on Spotify here: http://spoti.fi/ODX4YW
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Friday 28 March 2014
Rhinofy-Frank Zappa Primer
PEACHES EN REGALIA
Because most people would not believe it was him, didn't know it was him and were surprised it was him when they heard it coming out of the speaker.
An instrumental, you cannot help but conduct the theoretical orchestra with your hands.
For the newbie, for the non-fan...you'll be immediately enraptured, especially as the track unfolds.
This was not the most famous track on "Hot Rats" when it appeared, but it has become so.
WILLIE THE PIMP
The English cats were not the only ones who could write an indelible riff. "Willie The Pimp" was the most famous and played track off "Hot Rats" when the album was released back in 1969, featuring the vocal of Captain Beefheart when he was still perceived as a curio, during the "Trout Mask Replica" days...this is heavy, hypnotic music.
TROUBLE EVERY DAY
From the initial double album, "Freak Out," this is Zappa's take on the Watts riots.
"Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess"
Can you imagine Pink singing this?
Welcome to the sixties, where musicians commented about the world around them, the injustice, the irrationality.
This track had limited impact upon release, the album was a stiff, but it lived on, as all great things do, its image was embellished with each passing year.
HUNGRY FREAKS DADDY
The opening cut on "Freak Out."
"Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached
Mister America
Try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of
Hungry freaks daddy"
We were the hungry freaks. Not all of us, not right away. But the hip listened to albums like this, the rest of us ultimately got clued in by the radio, and suddenly America was populated by a younger generation thinking for itself. Not worried about getting rich, not going to the gym to look good on Instagram, but focused on what was inside.
CALL ANY VEGETABLE
"Absolutely Free," the second album, was when the Mothers started to get traction. Because it was so weird, but at the same time was not seen as outside, but a leader. Its titles entered the collective consciousness before the music did, if it did at all.
Suddenly, people would start saying brown shoes don't make it, everybody knew the name "Suzy Creamcheese," even if they had no idea where it came from, and of course there was the album's opening cut "Plastic People." But it was "Call Any Vegetable" that was most easily accessible and gained the most notoriety.
STATUS BACK BABY
Pure genius.
I didn't hear it until I was in college, but it perfectly encapsulated my feelings about high school.
You see today everybody is indoctrinated, everybody drinks the kool-aid, no one wants to be a loner, we live in an era of groupthink, and nowhere is it worse than in high school.
But here we've got Frank and his band making fun of it all, even using the sing-songy melodies of high school numbers!
"The other night we painted posters
They played some records by the Coasters
Bow wow wow wow
A bunch of pom-pom girls looked down their nose at me
They had painted tons of posters, I had painted three
I hear the secret whispers everywhere I go
My school spirit is at an all time low"
FLOWER PUNK
And here's where we come to the apotheosis, the breakthrough, the "Sgt. Pepper" parody, "We're Only In It For The Money."
You couldn't say that back then. Money came last, you couldn't admit that was your motive. There's a reason Gene Simmons had no success in the sixties.
"Flower Punk," a parody of "Hey Joe," is my favorite cut on the album, especially because of the ending, wherein there's a different soliloquy in each channel. Talk about cognitive dissonance! I was in a friend's basement and he made me listen, that's how into our music we were back then. And then you turned the dial to hear what was in one speaker, and then the other. Utterly fascinating.
YOU DIDN'T TRY TO CALL ME
And after his greatest success did Frank Zappa deliver what the label desired, did he build upon what came before? No, he issued an album credited to Ruben & the Jets that was a take off on doo wop. Huh?
This track won't make much sense until you listen to the ORIGINAL! From the initial double album, "Freak Out." It's a totally different number in its first incarnation, it's got the feel of sixties flower power. Frank wasn't just recutting his songs acoustic for MTV, but totally reworking them!
And after you listen to both versions...the lyrics truly start to resonate.
"I dig you so much man, why didn't you call me
If you could have seen me in the afternoon
I was hung up, I even washed the car
I, I reprimered the right front fender, man
We were gonna go, we were gonna go out
And get some root beer afterwards, man
And I was gonna show everybody my new carburetor
And you didn't try to call me"
Reprimering the front fender, cracks me up every time!
Unlike today, you weren't at home upgrading your RAM, but working on your car. But one thing remains the same, the waiting...it's truly the hardest part, when they don't call or text or...
DIRECTLY FROM MY HEART TO YOU
Featuring Don "Sugarcane" Harris, this proves, once again, that despite making innovative comedy and social commentary records, Zappa could play by everybody else's rules and win.
MY GUITAR WANTS TO KILL YOUR MAMA
From "Weasels Ripped My Flesh," like "Directly From My Heart To You," it featured blistering guitarwork and the title entered the public consciousness like the titles from "Absolutely Free," even if people had never heard the actual track.
SHARLEENA
"Chunga's Revenge" never gets any love, despite being solid throughout.
It's the first album featuring Flo & Eddie of the Turtles, Frank renamed them...their full names were the Phlorescent Leech and Eddie.
You'll be nodding your head to this. Then again, maybe not, especially if you haven't been hooked by the above.
THE MUD SHARK
Yes, from the Edgewater Inn, where the rock stars fished out the window and...
This was our first exposure to the story.
And truly, the whole album is the story. "Fillmore East" has to be listened to from beginning to the end, like a Firesign Theatre record, to hear the story.
There are so many classic lines that I quote on a regular basis... Most regularly the line wherein the rock star asks the groupie to come on their bus and the girl asks where they're playing tomorrow night and the musician says...TIERRA DEL FUEGO!
Frank Zappa has done more for the godforsaken archipelago than anyone else, he made tons of people aware of it, like ME!
Furthermore, Bwana Dik is a legend, enormous thou art!
If you've got an hour...your mind will be twisted and edified more than it will be in days of endless surfing and Facebooking.
EDDIE, ARE YOU KIDDING
From the subsequent live album, "Just Another Band From L.A."
You got it even if you didn't live in L.A. and were unaware of Zachary All.
Check it out.
MAGDALENA
What the Barenaked Ladies would sound like if they were truly dangerous.
MONTANA
From the true breakthrough, 1974's "Over-Nite Sensation."
Yes, it took a decade and a plethora of albums and then a ditty about raising dental floss in Montana that got most paying attention.
I'M THE SLIME
Once upon a time, SNL was a ritual, we gathered in front of the set at 11:30 to see our leaders, they weren't just commenting on the goings-on, they WERE the goings-on!
And finally, the show featured Zappa, and during this number...the slime truly oozed from the TV monitors, check it out:
http://bit.ly/P8tXwt
DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW
And now EVERYBODY knows Frank.
It was dumb, it was base, but our hero finally became a national star, and for that we were appreciative.
VALLEY GIRL
It made Moon Zappa famous. It was a hit when Top Forty ruled, and it defined an entire culture, even more than the movie of the same title. If you drive by the Sherman Oaks Galleria and this song doesn't go through your brain, you weren't conscious back in '82.
The above is just a taste, an entry point, I've left tons of quality material out, as well as many fans' favorites.
Zappa soldiered on, whether the records sold or not. He created a huge body of work and died before his time and unfortunately has been fading in significance as only the hits from the eras he played in sustain. But, if you were ever bitten by the bug, you'll never forget him.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1jV2Oqy
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Because most people would not believe it was him, didn't know it was him and were surprised it was him when they heard it coming out of the speaker.
An instrumental, you cannot help but conduct the theoretical orchestra with your hands.
For the newbie, for the non-fan...you'll be immediately enraptured, especially as the track unfolds.
This was not the most famous track on "Hot Rats" when it appeared, but it has become so.
WILLIE THE PIMP
The English cats were not the only ones who could write an indelible riff. "Willie The Pimp" was the most famous and played track off "Hot Rats" when the album was released back in 1969, featuring the vocal of Captain Beefheart when he was still perceived as a curio, during the "Trout Mask Replica" days...this is heavy, hypnotic music.
TROUBLE EVERY DAY
From the initial double album, "Freak Out," this is Zappa's take on the Watts riots.
"Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess"
Can you imagine Pink singing this?
Welcome to the sixties, where musicians commented about the world around them, the injustice, the irrationality.
This track had limited impact upon release, the album was a stiff, but it lived on, as all great things do, its image was embellished with each passing year.
HUNGRY FREAKS DADDY
The opening cut on "Freak Out."
"Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached
Mister America
Try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of
Hungry freaks daddy"
We were the hungry freaks. Not all of us, not right away. But the hip listened to albums like this, the rest of us ultimately got clued in by the radio, and suddenly America was populated by a younger generation thinking for itself. Not worried about getting rich, not going to the gym to look good on Instagram, but focused on what was inside.
CALL ANY VEGETABLE
"Absolutely Free," the second album, was when the Mothers started to get traction. Because it was so weird, but at the same time was not seen as outside, but a leader. Its titles entered the collective consciousness before the music did, if it did at all.
Suddenly, people would start saying brown shoes don't make it, everybody knew the name "Suzy Creamcheese," even if they had no idea where it came from, and of course there was the album's opening cut "Plastic People." But it was "Call Any Vegetable" that was most easily accessible and gained the most notoriety.
STATUS BACK BABY
Pure genius.
I didn't hear it until I was in college, but it perfectly encapsulated my feelings about high school.
You see today everybody is indoctrinated, everybody drinks the kool-aid, no one wants to be a loner, we live in an era of groupthink, and nowhere is it worse than in high school.
But here we've got Frank and his band making fun of it all, even using the sing-songy melodies of high school numbers!
"The other night we painted posters
They played some records by the Coasters
Bow wow wow wow
A bunch of pom-pom girls looked down their nose at me
They had painted tons of posters, I had painted three
I hear the secret whispers everywhere I go
My school spirit is at an all time low"
FLOWER PUNK
And here's where we come to the apotheosis, the breakthrough, the "Sgt. Pepper" parody, "We're Only In It For The Money."
You couldn't say that back then. Money came last, you couldn't admit that was your motive. There's a reason Gene Simmons had no success in the sixties.
"Flower Punk," a parody of "Hey Joe," is my favorite cut on the album, especially because of the ending, wherein there's a different soliloquy in each channel. Talk about cognitive dissonance! I was in a friend's basement and he made me listen, that's how into our music we were back then. And then you turned the dial to hear what was in one speaker, and then the other. Utterly fascinating.
YOU DIDN'T TRY TO CALL ME
And after his greatest success did Frank Zappa deliver what the label desired, did he build upon what came before? No, he issued an album credited to Ruben & the Jets that was a take off on doo wop. Huh?
This track won't make much sense until you listen to the ORIGINAL! From the initial double album, "Freak Out." It's a totally different number in its first incarnation, it's got the feel of sixties flower power. Frank wasn't just recutting his songs acoustic for MTV, but totally reworking them!
And after you listen to both versions...the lyrics truly start to resonate.
"I dig you so much man, why didn't you call me
If you could have seen me in the afternoon
I was hung up, I even washed the car
I, I reprimered the right front fender, man
We were gonna go, we were gonna go out
And get some root beer afterwards, man
And I was gonna show everybody my new carburetor
And you didn't try to call me"
Reprimering the front fender, cracks me up every time!
Unlike today, you weren't at home upgrading your RAM, but working on your car. But one thing remains the same, the waiting...it's truly the hardest part, when they don't call or text or...
DIRECTLY FROM MY HEART TO YOU
Featuring Don "Sugarcane" Harris, this proves, once again, that despite making innovative comedy and social commentary records, Zappa could play by everybody else's rules and win.
MY GUITAR WANTS TO KILL YOUR MAMA
From "Weasels Ripped My Flesh," like "Directly From My Heart To You," it featured blistering guitarwork and the title entered the public consciousness like the titles from "Absolutely Free," even if people had never heard the actual track.
SHARLEENA
"Chunga's Revenge" never gets any love, despite being solid throughout.
It's the first album featuring Flo & Eddie of the Turtles, Frank renamed them...their full names were the Phlorescent Leech and Eddie.
You'll be nodding your head to this. Then again, maybe not, especially if you haven't been hooked by the above.
THE MUD SHARK
Yes, from the Edgewater Inn, where the rock stars fished out the window and...
This was our first exposure to the story.
And truly, the whole album is the story. "Fillmore East" has to be listened to from beginning to the end, like a Firesign Theatre record, to hear the story.
There are so many classic lines that I quote on a regular basis... Most regularly the line wherein the rock star asks the groupie to come on their bus and the girl asks where they're playing tomorrow night and the musician says...TIERRA DEL FUEGO!
Frank Zappa has done more for the godforsaken archipelago than anyone else, he made tons of people aware of it, like ME!
Furthermore, Bwana Dik is a legend, enormous thou art!
If you've got an hour...your mind will be twisted and edified more than it will be in days of endless surfing and Facebooking.
EDDIE, ARE YOU KIDDING
From the subsequent live album, "Just Another Band From L.A."
You got it even if you didn't live in L.A. and were unaware of Zachary All.
Check it out.
MAGDALENA
What the Barenaked Ladies would sound like if they were truly dangerous.
MONTANA
From the true breakthrough, 1974's "Over-Nite Sensation."
Yes, it took a decade and a plethora of albums and then a ditty about raising dental floss in Montana that got most paying attention.
I'M THE SLIME
Once upon a time, SNL was a ritual, we gathered in front of the set at 11:30 to see our leaders, they weren't just commenting on the goings-on, they WERE the goings-on!
And finally, the show featured Zappa, and during this number...the slime truly oozed from the TV monitors, check it out:
http://bit.ly/P8tXwt
DON'T EAT THE YELLOW SNOW
And now EVERYBODY knows Frank.
It was dumb, it was base, but our hero finally became a national star, and for that we were appreciative.
VALLEY GIRL
It made Moon Zappa famous. It was a hit when Top Forty ruled, and it defined an entire culture, even more than the movie of the same title. If you drive by the Sherman Oaks Galleria and this song doesn't go through your brain, you weren't conscious back in '82.
The above is just a taste, an entry point, I've left tons of quality material out, as well as many fans' favorites.
Zappa soldiered on, whether the records sold or not. He created a huge body of work and died before his time and unfortunately has been fading in significance as only the hits from the eras he played in sustain. But, if you were ever bitten by the bug, you'll never forget him.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1jV2Oqy
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--
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Wednesday 26 March 2014
Wu-Tang Album
"Why Wu-Tang Will Release Just One Copy Of Its Secret Album": http://onforb.es/1drxUYk
They've already achieved their goal.
Money comes after awareness, and today awareness is all about cool. How can you create something that gets people to forward your message?
That's how I found out, I don't read the almost worthless "Forbes" on a regular basis. By letting amateurs participate they've diluted the brand. But assuming this is real, and not an early April Fool's joke, it's genius, because my inbox is filling up with people forwarding me this message.
The key is to think outside the box, pardon the pun. If you're just sitting at home bitching that not enough people are paying for your music, you're gonna lose. The point is people have plenty of money to give you, you've just got to find a way to make it palatable. That's Amanda Palmer's genius.
But don't think just because you made it someone cares. Someone forwarded me another article about a deejay bitching he just hasn't had enough financial support, urging people to pay musicians. But the problem is, I've never heard of this guy. I've heard of Wu-Tang.
The blockbuster syndrome. You hate it, but own it. Success is rarely gradual today, there's no middle ground. You're nobody until you percolate and everybody knows your name. It can happen with a veritable unknown, like the Alabama Shakes, but it's the already established who can take advantage of new paradigms.
In other words, recorded music cannot be your only revenue stream. The music has to motivate people to spend other money. That's the wall Gaga doesn't know she's gonna hit. We're still interested in her shenanigans, but without hit music, her album has been long forgotten, when she enters the next tour cycle...LOOK OUT!
We live in an era of cacophony. How do you break through the clutter?
The same way the artists did back in the sixties. Through creativity.
Concept is king. Just ask the abstract expressionists. You might be able to duplicate a Jackson Pollock, but could you come up with the idea?
The acts of yore were always getting us to challenge our preconceptions, taking us into their private world. Frank Zappa built a cult upon it. And his cult gives him greater longevity than many who topped the chart but said nothing.
In other words, TV competition shows will get you notoriety, but they won't sustain you.
Tommy Silverman has been talking about selling one expensive album for nearly a decade. But it's not about talk as much as execution. Ideas can be great, but unless you step forward and execute, take the time and risk, no big deal. Hell, I wrote about doing an a cappella TV show nearly fifteen years ago. No one called, I didn't lift a finger, someone else did it, without me.
But it's not only the physical album, but the art exhibitions. Taking the music live. Wu-Tang is going to sell an experience!
And the idea of a patron buying the project and releasing it for free... Even better than Samsung would be a baller, a rich fan, who could burnish his or her own image by granting the album to the public.
And yes, it does all come down to the music. But in an era where David Crosby just released an album and it's already been forgotten, Fleetwood Mac put out new music and it was ignored...
If you're gonna make it, LEARN HOW TO SELL IT!
Facebook and Twitter are a small echo chamber.
Think outside the box!
Oh, there goes that pun again...
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--
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They've already achieved their goal.
Money comes after awareness, and today awareness is all about cool. How can you create something that gets people to forward your message?
That's how I found out, I don't read the almost worthless "Forbes" on a regular basis. By letting amateurs participate they've diluted the brand. But assuming this is real, and not an early April Fool's joke, it's genius, because my inbox is filling up with people forwarding me this message.
The key is to think outside the box, pardon the pun. If you're just sitting at home bitching that not enough people are paying for your music, you're gonna lose. The point is people have plenty of money to give you, you've just got to find a way to make it palatable. That's Amanda Palmer's genius.
But don't think just because you made it someone cares. Someone forwarded me another article about a deejay bitching he just hasn't had enough financial support, urging people to pay musicians. But the problem is, I've never heard of this guy. I've heard of Wu-Tang.
The blockbuster syndrome. You hate it, but own it. Success is rarely gradual today, there's no middle ground. You're nobody until you percolate and everybody knows your name. It can happen with a veritable unknown, like the Alabama Shakes, but it's the already established who can take advantage of new paradigms.
In other words, recorded music cannot be your only revenue stream. The music has to motivate people to spend other money. That's the wall Gaga doesn't know she's gonna hit. We're still interested in her shenanigans, but without hit music, her album has been long forgotten, when she enters the next tour cycle...LOOK OUT!
We live in an era of cacophony. How do you break through the clutter?
The same way the artists did back in the sixties. Through creativity.
Concept is king. Just ask the abstract expressionists. You might be able to duplicate a Jackson Pollock, but could you come up with the idea?
The acts of yore were always getting us to challenge our preconceptions, taking us into their private world. Frank Zappa built a cult upon it. And his cult gives him greater longevity than many who topped the chart but said nothing.
In other words, TV competition shows will get you notoriety, but they won't sustain you.
Tommy Silverman has been talking about selling one expensive album for nearly a decade. But it's not about talk as much as execution. Ideas can be great, but unless you step forward and execute, take the time and risk, no big deal. Hell, I wrote about doing an a cappella TV show nearly fifteen years ago. No one called, I didn't lift a finger, someone else did it, without me.
But it's not only the physical album, but the art exhibitions. Taking the music live. Wu-Tang is going to sell an experience!
And the idea of a patron buying the project and releasing it for free... Even better than Samsung would be a baller, a rich fan, who could burnish his or her own image by granting the album to the public.
And yes, it does all come down to the music. But in an era where David Crosby just released an album and it's already been forgotten, Fleetwood Mac put out new music and it was ignored...
If you're gonna make it, LEARN HOW TO SELL IT!
Facebook and Twitter are a small echo chamber.
Think outside the box!
Oh, there goes that pun again...
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Tuesday 25 March 2014
Popcorn Time
Watch Richard Greenfield's YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da6kCM2i6cw
Thank god we're in the music business, we've already been through the transition, we've already been pushed back to zero, we're in an era of rebirth so strong that if you think the music business is in trouble, you're not in it. Blockbuster acts make more money than ever before. Piracy has been eviscerated, killed by the aforementioned YouTube and legal streaming services, and from here on, it's only up.
Kind of like that Pixar movie...
Except the filmed entertainment business, now shot on digital, is screwed. Because unlike the music business, these pricks always thought they were better than us, that their fans "respected" their work and chose not to pirate it. What a bunch of hogwash.
Listening to music is easy. The entire history thereof. If it's not on the streaming service, it's certainly on YouTube. If you're still stealing you're a hoarder and need treatment. Why waste so much time to own that which is freely available?
Not truly free. YouTube pays. As do the streaming services. And if you're complaining about the payout, you never would have invested in Verizon or Comcast or any enterprise wherein startup costs are high and dividends are paid forever. Just check the stocks of cable providers, they're cash cows, people pay every month for infrastructure that was built eons ago.
So the movie business's worst nightmare just happened. A site that will be all but impossible to take down has launched that allows you to watch everything, now, for free. Movies in the theatres, movies on home video, movies you can't find anywhere else.
There was a hole and somebody filled it. Film people were so busy protecting theatre owners and cable channels and everybody else who paid for their product, the same way record labels protected brick and mortar retailers, that they forgot about the customers, who want a simple interface and access. Sure, if you're a teen you might want to go to the theatre to make out and cause trouble, or if you're an alta kacher you might go out of habit, but everybody else just doesn't understand the theatre experience anymore. You mean I have to get into my car, park, and the movie doesn't start when I want it to? We all live in an on demand world, except in the movie business.
We've got what everybody wants in the music business. All access streaming. Yup, that's what people want. YouTube is the music player of choice. It dwarfs not only CDs and MP3s, but dedicated music streaming sites. This is also the problem of the labels, who wouldn't let music streaming sites launch early enough, such that YouTube got a head start, but the point is...we're at the end of the road. The consumer is living in a land of luxury, a pure nirvana, he's lost all incentive to pirate. Can we get him to pay for dedicated streaming services? We're gonna find out.
And now the movie business is gonna have to move forward, gonna have to deliver all their product, instantly, on demand. Windows are going to collapse, prices are going to come down, because the public now has an easy alternative.
Ain't technology grand!
Not if you're a struggling band without superstar talent. Suddenly, no one has time for you.
Not if you're a traditional record company. Sure, you might make a ton of money off streaming in the future, but these companies have not configured themselves for the new reality, within which...
Talent is king.
Never forget, distribution is truly king, if you can't access it, it's like it doesn't exist. But as I illustrated above, the music distribution problem has been solved. The only issue is what flows through the pipeline, what people choose to play.
And what they choose is superstar talent. The blockbuster syndrome.
The superstar talent may make less money off recordings than in the past, but live business exceeds the past by a huge factor. Concert tickets have gone up in price even more than college tuition! And then there's sponsorships/endorsements and privates and sync and so many avenues of remuneration that no one who is a superstar is bitching.
Yes, all the bitching is from those who've been left out. Even Thom Yorke isn't bitching for himself, but the theoretical people following in his footsteps. But anybody as good and big as Radiohead will have no problem making money in the future, it's there to be had. Will they make as much as techies and bankers? Maybe not, but almost nobody does.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da6kCM2i6cw
Thank god we're in the music business, we've already been through the transition, we've already been pushed back to zero, we're in an era of rebirth so strong that if you think the music business is in trouble, you're not in it. Blockbuster acts make more money than ever before. Piracy has been eviscerated, killed by the aforementioned YouTube and legal streaming services, and from here on, it's only up.
Kind of like that Pixar movie...
Except the filmed entertainment business, now shot on digital, is screwed. Because unlike the music business, these pricks always thought they were better than us, that their fans "respected" their work and chose not to pirate it. What a bunch of hogwash.
Listening to music is easy. The entire history thereof. If it's not on the streaming service, it's certainly on YouTube. If you're still stealing you're a hoarder and need treatment. Why waste so much time to own that which is freely available?
Not truly free. YouTube pays. As do the streaming services. And if you're complaining about the payout, you never would have invested in Verizon or Comcast or any enterprise wherein startup costs are high and dividends are paid forever. Just check the stocks of cable providers, they're cash cows, people pay every month for infrastructure that was built eons ago.
So the movie business's worst nightmare just happened. A site that will be all but impossible to take down has launched that allows you to watch everything, now, for free. Movies in the theatres, movies on home video, movies you can't find anywhere else.
There was a hole and somebody filled it. Film people were so busy protecting theatre owners and cable channels and everybody else who paid for their product, the same way record labels protected brick and mortar retailers, that they forgot about the customers, who want a simple interface and access. Sure, if you're a teen you might want to go to the theatre to make out and cause trouble, or if you're an alta kacher you might go out of habit, but everybody else just doesn't understand the theatre experience anymore. You mean I have to get into my car, park, and the movie doesn't start when I want it to? We all live in an on demand world, except in the movie business.
We've got what everybody wants in the music business. All access streaming. Yup, that's what people want. YouTube is the music player of choice. It dwarfs not only CDs and MP3s, but dedicated music streaming sites. This is also the problem of the labels, who wouldn't let music streaming sites launch early enough, such that YouTube got a head start, but the point is...we're at the end of the road. The consumer is living in a land of luxury, a pure nirvana, he's lost all incentive to pirate. Can we get him to pay for dedicated streaming services? We're gonna find out.
And now the movie business is gonna have to move forward, gonna have to deliver all their product, instantly, on demand. Windows are going to collapse, prices are going to come down, because the public now has an easy alternative.
Ain't technology grand!
Not if you're a struggling band without superstar talent. Suddenly, no one has time for you.
Not if you're a traditional record company. Sure, you might make a ton of money off streaming in the future, but these companies have not configured themselves for the new reality, within which...
Talent is king.
Never forget, distribution is truly king, if you can't access it, it's like it doesn't exist. But as I illustrated above, the music distribution problem has been solved. The only issue is what flows through the pipeline, what people choose to play.
And what they choose is superstar talent. The blockbuster syndrome.
The superstar talent may make less money off recordings than in the past, but live business exceeds the past by a huge factor. Concert tickets have gone up in price even more than college tuition! And then there's sponsorships/endorsements and privates and sync and so many avenues of remuneration that no one who is a superstar is bitching.
Yes, all the bitching is from those who've been left out. Even Thom Yorke isn't bitching for himself, but the theoretical people following in his footsteps. But anybody as good and big as Radiohead will have no problem making money in the future, it's there to be had. Will they make as much as techies and bankers? Maybe not, but almost nobody does.
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Sunday 23 March 2014
L'Wren Scott
She died, get over it.
If the "New York Times" doesn't stop tributing this willowy ex-model with the fake name who has no meaning in the lives of the rest of the world, those not member of the glitterati, I'm gonna open the window and scream I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!
Supposedly the paper of record, the "Times" has been caught up in the story of a woman living beyond her means who just happened to be the girlfriend of a famous rock star, maybe the most famous rock star, sorry Sir Paul.
And I'm sorry Mick. The show does not go on. You canceled the Stones shows. Good move.
But this is a personal matter. Not one for everybody who ever touched fame to be given a chance to testify how they knew her but didn't.
Hell, if you want to read the best story, check out the one in the "New York Post," wherein they delineate the foibles of the wannabe rich and famous, how smoke and mirrors make them look fabulous, but the truth is they're going broke and they're afraid to lean on their famous friends who are too narcissistic to help out the little people:
"Scott's suicide reveals tragic side of city's glitzy scene": http://bit.ly/1hToIcw
Or, as they say, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll.
But at least if you make it to the top in music, you can sing your hit forever, you were famous for something legitimate. Although I am looking forward to thirty years from now to the package rap reunion shows, with everybody squeezing into their leathers like Fat Elvis and testifying about danger while backstage they're worried about retirement and the leaking of their Depends.
Yes, we live in a phony society where truth rides in the back of the bus and we glorify anybody who's tall, thin and acts like they're rich.
It's like we're all aspirational, to become fashion nitwits. If I want a pair of sneakers, why would I want them to be made by Prada? Doesn't Nike specialize in performance, aren't sneakers about performance?
I guess not, in a country where how you look is so important. Imagine if Obama weren't black...never mind his wife. Some people can't get over this, just like they still make fun of gays, Jews and anybody who is not like them, an ignorant bully.
But still, why can't we focus on real issues?
Because the people in charge don't want us to. The truth is those who run this country like us unintelligent and uninformed. They laugh at us as they pull the strings of society.
And I'm starting to think you just can't battle it. Last night I watched Robert Reich's income inequality documentary on Netflix. It was incredibly well done, it just wasn't a talking head, it's available everywhere. (http://inequalityforall.com)
But almost no one will see it, because Republicans will say it's flawed, because you just can't trust short people, never mind Democrats, and most people are tied up in the shenanigans of L'Wren Scott, nee Luann Bambrough.
She was a model who became a stylist who dated Mick Jagger who became a designer. Whoop-de-doo! She deserves more attention than a Rhodes scholar!
Oh, that's right, the educated and the intelligent are to be despised, not trusted. They think they're better than us, with their ability to read and analyze and hold two opposing concepts in their brains at the same time.
Then again, the number one story coming out of SXSW is rampant commercialism. And the only people who can turn the tide are the musicians themselves, who fell for this boondoggle, that the only way they could survive was to tie up with the Fortune 500.
The truth is the Fortune 500 will always be richer than you. And that most of these "entertainers" deserve neither the notice nor the cash. Create a song as ubiquitous as Doritos, satisfying and lasting, and then maybe you'll make a difference.
Instead we're telling everybody L'Wren Scott is a role model. Someone to aspire to be. Albeit without offing yourself in the end.
Actually, what I've read makes me believe L'Wren would be horrified at the big deal her death has become, how her entire life has been raked over the coals and exposed. She liked her privacy.
But you give that up now. It's all grist for the mill. For those looking to make money selling media, burnish their image by attaching themselves to someone further up the food chain and the ignorant who believe these people are worthy of adulation and imitation.
Yes, the lesson of Kim Kardashian is you look to your progenitor and exceed her.
Paris Hilton created the paradigm, of being famous for nothing. Kim just got on the gravy train and executed not by whim, but with cold calculation.
And the truth is now every idiot in America is trying to imitate her, the way every singing show on TV is populated with Mariah Carey clones.
So there you have it. The underclass is trying to be famous for nothing and the rich are all trying to get wealthier in tech and anybody with an art history degree is to be derided, even the President said so, since they have no financial future.
I'm an art history major. I'm glad to starve.
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If the "New York Times" doesn't stop tributing this willowy ex-model with the fake name who has no meaning in the lives of the rest of the world, those not member of the glitterati, I'm gonna open the window and scream I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!
Supposedly the paper of record, the "Times" has been caught up in the story of a woman living beyond her means who just happened to be the girlfriend of a famous rock star, maybe the most famous rock star, sorry Sir Paul.
And I'm sorry Mick. The show does not go on. You canceled the Stones shows. Good move.
But this is a personal matter. Not one for everybody who ever touched fame to be given a chance to testify how they knew her but didn't.
Hell, if you want to read the best story, check out the one in the "New York Post," wherein they delineate the foibles of the wannabe rich and famous, how smoke and mirrors make them look fabulous, but the truth is they're going broke and they're afraid to lean on their famous friends who are too narcissistic to help out the little people:
"Scott's suicide reveals tragic side of city's glitzy scene": http://bit.ly/1hToIcw
Or, as they say, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll.
But at least if you make it to the top in music, you can sing your hit forever, you were famous for something legitimate. Although I am looking forward to thirty years from now to the package rap reunion shows, with everybody squeezing into their leathers like Fat Elvis and testifying about danger while backstage they're worried about retirement and the leaking of their Depends.
Yes, we live in a phony society where truth rides in the back of the bus and we glorify anybody who's tall, thin and acts like they're rich.
It's like we're all aspirational, to become fashion nitwits. If I want a pair of sneakers, why would I want them to be made by Prada? Doesn't Nike specialize in performance, aren't sneakers about performance?
I guess not, in a country where how you look is so important. Imagine if Obama weren't black...never mind his wife. Some people can't get over this, just like they still make fun of gays, Jews and anybody who is not like them, an ignorant bully.
But still, why can't we focus on real issues?
Because the people in charge don't want us to. The truth is those who run this country like us unintelligent and uninformed. They laugh at us as they pull the strings of society.
And I'm starting to think you just can't battle it. Last night I watched Robert Reich's income inequality documentary on Netflix. It was incredibly well done, it just wasn't a talking head, it's available everywhere. (http://inequalityforall.com)
But almost no one will see it, because Republicans will say it's flawed, because you just can't trust short people, never mind Democrats, and most people are tied up in the shenanigans of L'Wren Scott, nee Luann Bambrough.
She was a model who became a stylist who dated Mick Jagger who became a designer. Whoop-de-doo! She deserves more attention than a Rhodes scholar!
Oh, that's right, the educated and the intelligent are to be despised, not trusted. They think they're better than us, with their ability to read and analyze and hold two opposing concepts in their brains at the same time.
Then again, the number one story coming out of SXSW is rampant commercialism. And the only people who can turn the tide are the musicians themselves, who fell for this boondoggle, that the only way they could survive was to tie up with the Fortune 500.
The truth is the Fortune 500 will always be richer than you. And that most of these "entertainers" deserve neither the notice nor the cash. Create a song as ubiquitous as Doritos, satisfying and lasting, and then maybe you'll make a difference.
Instead we're telling everybody L'Wren Scott is a role model. Someone to aspire to be. Albeit without offing yourself in the end.
Actually, what I've read makes me believe L'Wren would be horrified at the big deal her death has become, how her entire life has been raked over the coals and exposed. She liked her privacy.
But you give that up now. It's all grist for the mill. For those looking to make money selling media, burnish their image by attaching themselves to someone further up the food chain and the ignorant who believe these people are worthy of adulation and imitation.
Yes, the lesson of Kim Kardashian is you look to your progenitor and exceed her.
Paris Hilton created the paradigm, of being famous for nothing. Kim just got on the gravy train and executed not by whim, but with cold calculation.
And the truth is now every idiot in America is trying to imitate her, the way every singing show on TV is populated with Mariah Carey clones.
So there you have it. The underclass is trying to be famous for nothing and the rich are all trying to get wealthier in tech and anybody with an art history degree is to be derided, even the President said so, since they have no financial future.
I'm an art history major. I'm glad to starve.
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The Sunday Paper
I read it with my iPhone.
No, I don't read it ON my iPhone, (oh wait, that's not true, I do, the night before, when I can't wait for tomorrow's news), but with my handheld wireless device by my side, in my pocket, ready to look up anybody who says something provocative or intimate...I want to know them.
Kind of like that guy who was flummoxed when his anonymous dating profile was sussed out by a prospective date. There is no such thing as anonymity anymore. Unless you have neither computer nor smartphone, nor tablet too, almost forgot that one. You're leaving digital cookies not only for corporations, but sleuthers. If someone is interested in you, and most people are not, they can dig down and find out who you are.
That's right. As you're trying to get famous, e-mailing people you don't know to try and get them to write about your music so others will follow you, the girl you've ignored next door, the geeky boy who can never seem to get the words out...they've assembled a full dossier on you, they know where you went to college, what you've eaten for lunch... That's what Twitter and Facebook are best for, your secret admirers.
But the Internet is also good for curiosity. Not only what happened to those high school colleagues, but what is the history of the writer, what do they look like.
I just started reading Rachel Kushner's "Flamethrowers." There are so many good insights. Unfortunately, what's in between them is difficult to read. But books are just like records, hipsters don't want to admit they like the mainstream, they've got to trumpet what most people can't digest, what they won't put enough time into, so the arbiters can feel superior. But what fascinated me most was who this Rachel Kushner was. The pic in the book (yes, a friend sent me a hard copy as a gift, thank you Daniel!) seemed at odds with the story. I Googled, I checked the images, I wanted to know more.
You think you want to become famous.
But what you're truly looking for is to become known. That's why you post. Sure, sometimes you want to demonstrate that you're better than the rest, but usually you just want to share.
And the truth is you are. You're building a cobweb of information that lies dormant until someone, a person you may have never had contact with, becomes intrigued.
Kind of like me and Sarah L. Courteau, author of this week's Modern Love column. Her boyfriend said she hogged the bed, was she a large woman?
Oh, it doesn't really matter, thin, fat or otherwise. It's just I wanted to flesh out the details of the story. I wanted more. That's what the Internet provides, more.
We used to think a little was enough. But the truth is humans are voracious animals. If we become intrigued, we become insatiable.
And everyone is a star. Just like Sly Stone sang.
Those people up on stage may have throngs of fans, but they're oftentimes lonely, and there's a limit to how many people you can screw and have a conversation with and...
The truth is very few deserve and command this attention. In a world where everything's available, we gravitate to excellence. It's why there's one Google and one Amazon and only one Taylor Swift and one Justin Timberlake. We don't need another Taylor Swift, certainly not a local one, when the internationally famous one is all over the Internet for us to size up and listen to.
So instead of being frustrated that you're not world famous, know that you are part of the fabric of this great nation of ours. And the more you reveal your identity, your truth, the more we become intrigued. We don't want to listen to you implore us to buy your album, we don't want to be sold something, we just want to know who you are. Testify about your thoughts and dreams and imperfections and we'll go down the rabbit hole with you.
Will this deliver monetary rewards?
Doubtful.
But if you think money solves your intimacy problems, delivers happiness, then you know no rich people.
I'm not saying it's good to be poor, to be struggling, to worry about food and shelter. But I am saying if you've got the basics covered, we live in an era where it's very easy to connect.
There are dating sites for those with Asperger's, those who are fat, those who are Muslim and those who are gay. Used to be you lived in an empty silo, now you live in a vast cornucopia of like-minded people and if haters decry you it makes no difference, usually because there's little penetration between worlds. That's what the old music guard can't get over, that no one is listening to them as they say hit music sucks. The people who enjoy it...are enjoying it.
So you can look up my life, examine my digital cookies, but if you think you truly know me...
But that's the nature of life. We all believe we know those we don't, that if we just interacted with someone else our lives would be complete.
And this mashup of old technology and new has so many confused. Stalk someone and reveal this information and your prey will run.
But instead of sitting home alone, watching the tube, now you can surf endlessly, learning about your heart's desire, so when you encounter them live...
And it's all about live. In an era where Billy Joel makes no new records but has Brian Johnson comes on stage at Madison Square Garden to sing "You Shook Me All Night Long" (http://bit.ly/1nRhkpo) it's all about the experience.
And my experience is dreaming who these people might be, those who feel it necessary to reveal their truths online, like me.
"An Act of Protection, Even as Things Fell Apart": http://nyti.ms/1dEkumH
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No, I don't read it ON my iPhone, (oh wait, that's not true, I do, the night before, when I can't wait for tomorrow's news), but with my handheld wireless device by my side, in my pocket, ready to look up anybody who says something provocative or intimate...I want to know them.
Kind of like that guy who was flummoxed when his anonymous dating profile was sussed out by a prospective date. There is no such thing as anonymity anymore. Unless you have neither computer nor smartphone, nor tablet too, almost forgot that one. You're leaving digital cookies not only for corporations, but sleuthers. If someone is interested in you, and most people are not, they can dig down and find out who you are.
That's right. As you're trying to get famous, e-mailing people you don't know to try and get them to write about your music so others will follow you, the girl you've ignored next door, the geeky boy who can never seem to get the words out...they've assembled a full dossier on you, they know where you went to college, what you've eaten for lunch... That's what Twitter and Facebook are best for, your secret admirers.
But the Internet is also good for curiosity. Not only what happened to those high school colleagues, but what is the history of the writer, what do they look like.
I just started reading Rachel Kushner's "Flamethrowers." There are so many good insights. Unfortunately, what's in between them is difficult to read. But books are just like records, hipsters don't want to admit they like the mainstream, they've got to trumpet what most people can't digest, what they won't put enough time into, so the arbiters can feel superior. But what fascinated me most was who this Rachel Kushner was. The pic in the book (yes, a friend sent me a hard copy as a gift, thank you Daniel!) seemed at odds with the story. I Googled, I checked the images, I wanted to know more.
You think you want to become famous.
But what you're truly looking for is to become known. That's why you post. Sure, sometimes you want to demonstrate that you're better than the rest, but usually you just want to share.
And the truth is you are. You're building a cobweb of information that lies dormant until someone, a person you may have never had contact with, becomes intrigued.
Kind of like me and Sarah L. Courteau, author of this week's Modern Love column. Her boyfriend said she hogged the bed, was she a large woman?
Oh, it doesn't really matter, thin, fat or otherwise. It's just I wanted to flesh out the details of the story. I wanted more. That's what the Internet provides, more.
We used to think a little was enough. But the truth is humans are voracious animals. If we become intrigued, we become insatiable.
And everyone is a star. Just like Sly Stone sang.
Those people up on stage may have throngs of fans, but they're oftentimes lonely, and there's a limit to how many people you can screw and have a conversation with and...
The truth is very few deserve and command this attention. In a world where everything's available, we gravitate to excellence. It's why there's one Google and one Amazon and only one Taylor Swift and one Justin Timberlake. We don't need another Taylor Swift, certainly not a local one, when the internationally famous one is all over the Internet for us to size up and listen to.
So instead of being frustrated that you're not world famous, know that you are part of the fabric of this great nation of ours. And the more you reveal your identity, your truth, the more we become intrigued. We don't want to listen to you implore us to buy your album, we don't want to be sold something, we just want to know who you are. Testify about your thoughts and dreams and imperfections and we'll go down the rabbit hole with you.
Will this deliver monetary rewards?
Doubtful.
But if you think money solves your intimacy problems, delivers happiness, then you know no rich people.
I'm not saying it's good to be poor, to be struggling, to worry about food and shelter. But I am saying if you've got the basics covered, we live in an era where it's very easy to connect.
There are dating sites for those with Asperger's, those who are fat, those who are Muslim and those who are gay. Used to be you lived in an empty silo, now you live in a vast cornucopia of like-minded people and if haters decry you it makes no difference, usually because there's little penetration between worlds. That's what the old music guard can't get over, that no one is listening to them as they say hit music sucks. The people who enjoy it...are enjoying it.
So you can look up my life, examine my digital cookies, but if you think you truly know me...
But that's the nature of life. We all believe we know those we don't, that if we just interacted with someone else our lives would be complete.
And this mashup of old technology and new has so many confused. Stalk someone and reveal this information and your prey will run.
But instead of sitting home alone, watching the tube, now you can surf endlessly, learning about your heart's desire, so when you encounter them live...
And it's all about live. In an era where Billy Joel makes no new records but has Brian Johnson comes on stage at Madison Square Garden to sing "You Shook Me All Night Long" (http://bit.ly/1nRhkpo) it's all about the experience.
And my experience is dreaming who these people might be, those who feel it necessary to reveal their truths online, like me.
"An Act of Protection, Even as Things Fell Apart": http://nyti.ms/1dEkumH
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