I can't get this song out of my head.
It's very easy to ignore the Top Forty. It's very easy to ignore all music. That's what the business and inside fans don't understand, that they're in a bubble and what they live for, their passion, oftentimes doesn't translate.
I live for the Howard Stern show.
Because Howard is so good.
That's how you cut through the clutter, you search for excellence and pay attention.
And Howard's shtick has changed. He's now part of the interview circuit. Because America is about selling, and you can only get someone to go on the record when they're hawking something. And with Howard's newfound status, as a result of network television, he gets the A-listers, they're whores, and Stern gets more out of them than anyone else but now he too cannot make fun of these people, who so often deserve it. Howard "gets" Madonna" so he "gets" her new album? He could be the only one. It's already been forgotten.
But not Imagine Dragons. They're a hit act. Already excoriated on their second album.
That's what happens when you're not deep inside, you get the penumbra, you get the blowback, those who care say they're not worth caring about and then I was in a store and I heard "Radioactive" and had to pull it up on Spotify and they perform that on Stern but what got me was the single from the new album, "Shots."
Now the stories being told are fascinating. Despite the image of reality television, every act worth hearing struggles. For years. Two members of Imagine Dragons quit just before the band got signed. They were sick of playing covers and opening to almost no one. But it's in the struggle that you hone your chops, that you get really good.
And Imagine Dragons are really good.
I know you don't want to hear that, because if they're good, you're not.
Now I'm not saying you can't be nearly talentless and be successful. But that's a different kind of talent, one of conception, one wherein you look at the world a different way and come up with something so mind-blowing that people pay attention. That was Lou Reed's gift. But we haven't had that spirit here for so long.
But, if you can sing and write and play... Then you've got a chance.
So go to YouTube and pull up this interview.
Start by going to the yellow dot around 48:00, to hear the acoustic version of "Shots."
Acoustic. Hard to fake it there.
And they're not faking it whatsoever.
"Am I out of touch
Am I out of place"
NOT WHATSOEVER! NOT WITH THIS VOICE!
If you're not enraptured you've got no life, no soul.
"I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second day I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
Then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing I loved"
The harmonies kick in and you're in church. THE CHURCH OF ROCK AND ROLL!
There are changes, hooks. Cast aside your black clothing, your precious image, and just luxuriate in the sound.
And when you pull up the track on Spotify, listen to the studio version, you'll be horrified, it sounds like the strip mall as opposed to the sanctuary.
And this guy was religious. He went on a Mormon mission to Nebraska. Tells interesting stories about meth and gangs.
He talks about his depression. About his parents. He reveals a three-dimensional identity and you like someone who previously you didn't care a whit about.
Kind of like "Shots."
This is the hit take. Because greatness does not need polish, it's about capturing lightning in a bottle.
And they did here.
AND YOU BUY IT!
"Howard Stern Show Interviews Imagine Dragons 03/24/15": http://bit.ly/1Hcju8B
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Saturday 28 March 2015
Periscope
Tune in now, before the celebrities take over and the haters show up.
Something is happening here, but we don't know what it is...
The hype has been deafening. The digerati congregated at SXSW and declared Meerkat the new savior. Then it was crippled by Twitter, which announced its own, me-too product, and we're all sitting at home wondering what all the fuss is about, wondering whether it's just the new turntable.fm.
You remember turntable.fm, don't you? The service that ruled the airwaves for three weeks, before it crashed and burned and went out of business. Because the internet is endless fads. Kinda like boy bands. Sites come and they go. And if you're not busy being born, you're dying.
That's what Amazon does so well, reinvent itself, push the envelope. Now they're all about same day delivery. Whether it be by drone or not. Whereas Google was too stupid to realize mobile was going to disrupt their search monopoly. Just like Apple went from computer to iPod to iPhone to iPad, Google has been unable to have an Act II. Same with Facebook. Well, Facebook bought WhatsApp and now they're into virtual reality and they're trying, they're really trying to imitate Amazon and Apple and gain new traction, and one has to give them credit for it, but my main point is even Facebook may not be forever. And in a culture where everything is evanescent, do I have to pay attention? It won't be long before Facebook pages are calcified, set in amber, the site will be a ghost town no one goes to, because that's the nature of the internet, we use and we abandon, can you say Geocities? But for now, all the attention is on Meerkat and Periscope. And I'm not gonna give you a primer. There
are no instructions on the internet, just like with video games. You download the app and poke around and experiment and...
You find two naked girls in Westwood broadcasting from their kitchen.
Sex is always first.
Of course, you can pay for a one on one live stream on a cam site, but this isn't about money, this is about the bleeding edge. And that's what's so exciting about Meerkat and Periscope, it's all brand new.
Like I watched a sunrise in New Zealand. A cove in Australia. Someone making coffee in Amsterdam and a snowy spring in Siberia. Call me a voyeur, we're all voyeurs, and right now regular people are letting you into their lives, just for the fun of it, and it's strangely riveting.
They do it for the love. No one wants to be alone anymore. They want hearts and comments and interaction. They'll perform if you show up and comment.
And who are these people?
Nobodies. Those with time. Who are not reading the newspaper, who listen to the tribal drum and want to participate.
That's what's so fascinating about the bleeding edge of the internet. The power fanatics, the government and the wealthy, don't partake, they're behind the curve, so busy luxuriating in their status they can't see that they're threatened, that everybody's threatened.
But if something gains traction, the money moves in and the celebrities rule and the rest of us are excluded, left on the sidelines to pay and watch.
Believe me, no one's gonna want to see nobodies broadcasting in the future. Why?
But now everybody does have his own television station. And we'll get new stars, with talents we cannot predict.
And isn't it funny that Facebook is about our permanent record, but Snapchat and Meerkat and Periscope are about impermanence. Experiences have trumped objects and fleeting has replaced lasting. We're all in future shock. And I'd tell you you could ignore Meerkat and Periscope, but then you'd miss out on the fun. And it is fun to partake in something unformed, that is being developed on the fly.
You signed up for AOL and had no idea you were going to abandon it for the web, hell, you thought AOL WAS the web!
You didn't know you needed broadband, on your phone no less. LTE enabled Meerkat and Periscope, never forget that. Innovation runs on technological breakthroughs.
And you might Facetime or Skype into a loved one's life.
But what if you could Periscope into Britney Spears's life?
Oh, you'll be able to see Kim Kardashian's fake life, she shows up wherever money is to be made.
And you'll see sanitized backstage tours.
And cleaned-up shows.
But right now, you can see a cornucopia of talent that boggles the mind. Stuff you didn't think you'd watch that you couldn't even put a name on, but people are doing it.
And the nature of technology is we rarely foresee the uses. Remember when they kept telling us we needed computers to store our recipes? When's the last time you did that? Did anyone ever do that?
Now I'm watching a cold morning in Krakow. I've never been there, looks bleak.
And a fortysomething male in bed in Vegas answering random questions. He likes cheese, he's a singer.
And a guy doing karaoke in Los Angeles.
Who are these people?
What possessed them?
The desire to participate. To make up the future on the fly.
It's happening.
Right now.
And we don't know where it's going.
And it's titillating and exciting and you can't understand by reading about it, just download the apps and play.
You remember playing, don't you?
It's what you did before you worked 24/7 to find out you couldn't get ahead.
That's who's driving Meerkat and Periscope right now. Those outside the system, who have no idea where they're going, but want to have fun along the way.
Isn't that life?
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Something is happening here, but we don't know what it is...
The hype has been deafening. The digerati congregated at SXSW and declared Meerkat the new savior. Then it was crippled by Twitter, which announced its own, me-too product, and we're all sitting at home wondering what all the fuss is about, wondering whether it's just the new turntable.fm.
You remember turntable.fm, don't you? The service that ruled the airwaves for three weeks, before it crashed and burned and went out of business. Because the internet is endless fads. Kinda like boy bands. Sites come and they go. And if you're not busy being born, you're dying.
That's what Amazon does so well, reinvent itself, push the envelope. Now they're all about same day delivery. Whether it be by drone or not. Whereas Google was too stupid to realize mobile was going to disrupt their search monopoly. Just like Apple went from computer to iPod to iPhone to iPad, Google has been unable to have an Act II. Same with Facebook. Well, Facebook bought WhatsApp and now they're into virtual reality and they're trying, they're really trying to imitate Amazon and Apple and gain new traction, and one has to give them credit for it, but my main point is even Facebook may not be forever. And in a culture where everything is evanescent, do I have to pay attention? It won't be long before Facebook pages are calcified, set in amber, the site will be a ghost town no one goes to, because that's the nature of the internet, we use and we abandon, can you say Geocities? But for now, all the attention is on Meerkat and Periscope. And I'm not gonna give you a primer. There
are no instructions on the internet, just like with video games. You download the app and poke around and experiment and...
You find two naked girls in Westwood broadcasting from their kitchen.
Sex is always first.
Of course, you can pay for a one on one live stream on a cam site, but this isn't about money, this is about the bleeding edge. And that's what's so exciting about Meerkat and Periscope, it's all brand new.
Like I watched a sunrise in New Zealand. A cove in Australia. Someone making coffee in Amsterdam and a snowy spring in Siberia. Call me a voyeur, we're all voyeurs, and right now regular people are letting you into their lives, just for the fun of it, and it's strangely riveting.
They do it for the love. No one wants to be alone anymore. They want hearts and comments and interaction. They'll perform if you show up and comment.
And who are these people?
Nobodies. Those with time. Who are not reading the newspaper, who listen to the tribal drum and want to participate.
That's what's so fascinating about the bleeding edge of the internet. The power fanatics, the government and the wealthy, don't partake, they're behind the curve, so busy luxuriating in their status they can't see that they're threatened, that everybody's threatened.
But if something gains traction, the money moves in and the celebrities rule and the rest of us are excluded, left on the sidelines to pay and watch.
Believe me, no one's gonna want to see nobodies broadcasting in the future. Why?
But now everybody does have his own television station. And we'll get new stars, with talents we cannot predict.
And isn't it funny that Facebook is about our permanent record, but Snapchat and Meerkat and Periscope are about impermanence. Experiences have trumped objects and fleeting has replaced lasting. We're all in future shock. And I'd tell you you could ignore Meerkat and Periscope, but then you'd miss out on the fun. And it is fun to partake in something unformed, that is being developed on the fly.
You signed up for AOL and had no idea you were going to abandon it for the web, hell, you thought AOL WAS the web!
You didn't know you needed broadband, on your phone no less. LTE enabled Meerkat and Periscope, never forget that. Innovation runs on technological breakthroughs.
And you might Facetime or Skype into a loved one's life.
But what if you could Periscope into Britney Spears's life?
Oh, you'll be able to see Kim Kardashian's fake life, she shows up wherever money is to be made.
And you'll see sanitized backstage tours.
And cleaned-up shows.
But right now, you can see a cornucopia of talent that boggles the mind. Stuff you didn't think you'd watch that you couldn't even put a name on, but people are doing it.
And the nature of technology is we rarely foresee the uses. Remember when they kept telling us we needed computers to store our recipes? When's the last time you did that? Did anyone ever do that?
Now I'm watching a cold morning in Krakow. I've never been there, looks bleak.
And a fortysomething male in bed in Vegas answering random questions. He likes cheese, he's a singer.
And a guy doing karaoke in Los Angeles.
Who are these people?
What possessed them?
The desire to participate. To make up the future on the fly.
It's happening.
Right now.
And we don't know where it's going.
And it's titillating and exciting and you can't understand by reading about it, just download the apps and play.
You remember playing, don't you?
It's what you did before you worked 24/7 to find out you couldn't get ahead.
That's who's driving Meerkat and Periscope right now. Those outside the system, who have no idea where they're going, but want to have fun along the way.
Isn't that life?
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Friday 27 March 2015
Rhinofy-Stay A Little Longer
I can't stop playing this.
I discovered it on the Spotify playlist "Top 100 Country Tracks," which I follow and have synched to my phone and when I'm burned out on the usual suspects I pull it up and see what's going on in the country world.
And too many of the tracks are me-too.
But then I heard this.
I immediately pulled my phone out of my pocket to see who it was...BROTHERS OSBORNE?
Like in JEFFREY OSBORNE?
No, that's not country music.
And I don't know much about country music, I've just become inured to it because it's picked up the flag of rock and roll and is running with it, when everybody who's still playing that music has descended into narrow, unlistenable niches. So, is Brothers Osborne an old act or a new one? I'm confused. Because, like I said, I know Charlie Rich, but don't quiz me on George Strait's first fifty number ones, I'm clueless.
And I'm hooked from the very beginning.
It's the PICKING!
And the sound. Intimate, without being depressing.
And I'm not sure what the guy is singing about, but his voice is mellifluous if not outstanding and then the song changes, at first it's like a drive in the country, kind of like Danny O'Keefe's gem, "Along For The Ride," and then it switches completely, into a groove that's more akin to pop than country, rhythmic, but infectious nonetheless. And then back to that ride in the car...
And at this point there's a lead guitar. And I'm catching the lyric about taking t-shirts off each other, and I'm riding with the track, I'm enjoying it but it's not a ten, and then that guitar starts to wail, they're singing intensely, and two and a half minutes in, the track changes completely. You think it's fading out, you're enjoying the introspection and then...
A guitar comes in and starts jumping all over the track. Not high and trebly like on the metal cuts.
And then the guy starts picking faster, you're digging it, but believing it's going to fade out.
But it doesn't.
The guy starts wailing.
And you're waiting for the vocal to come back in, since there's no fade-out in evidence.
But the cut gets quiet at 4:24 and then there's an explosion of guitar, and then it's intense and they're picking at ten, it's like an Outlaws track, "Green Grass And High Tides."
And then it ends.
WHAT WAS THAT?
So I play it again.
And I've got that quiet, intimate picking... Is this really the same record?
And then there's that change, and I'm fully hooked.
And then there's that guitar wailing and when it ends I've got to hear it again and again and AGAIN!
I'm thinking this is closer to the Allman Brothers than country. It hearkens back to the seventies, when the guitar was king. And the guitar hasn't been king for so long.
But we baby boomers, we remember.
We went to Manny's, Sam Ash, we lusted after Fenders, we bought amps, we needed to replicate this sound. Hell, scratch a boomer and you'll find out he's got a rig in the garage and he practices and he's got a pickup band and now that his kids are out of the house it's what he LIVES FOR!
But these people don't play new music, they just spin the oldies. The classics.
And I'm thinking if only they heard this...
And you should hear this Brothers Osborne track "Stay A Little Longer."
There's a demo on Spotify, I'll include it in the playlist, it's the same song but not the same record, it doesn't have the same magic.
That intro picking, that hooks you immediately...it's absent.
The change works, but despite having wailing at the end, absent the production the demo doesn't succeed.
And let me reinforce, that wailing at the end of the single, produced version is not show-offy, it's restrained, which is why you enjoy it so much.
So, even if you think you hate country, if you can appreciate a good guitar solo...
You've got to listen to this.
Hang in there. Be sure to ride past the 2:30 mark.
So far, this is not burning up the chart, it's got some action, but it looks like it's gonna stall.
Then again, all the legendary tracks from way back when were not hits, they were not made for the chart, but for the listener, who appreciated them. Hell, " Fillmore East" broke the Allmans, but they didn't have a hit until AFTER!
So, check this out.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1Cc8lTX
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I discovered it on the Spotify playlist "Top 100 Country Tracks," which I follow and have synched to my phone and when I'm burned out on the usual suspects I pull it up and see what's going on in the country world.
And too many of the tracks are me-too.
But then I heard this.
I immediately pulled my phone out of my pocket to see who it was...BROTHERS OSBORNE?
Like in JEFFREY OSBORNE?
No, that's not country music.
And I don't know much about country music, I've just become inured to it because it's picked up the flag of rock and roll and is running with it, when everybody who's still playing that music has descended into narrow, unlistenable niches. So, is Brothers Osborne an old act or a new one? I'm confused. Because, like I said, I know Charlie Rich, but don't quiz me on George Strait's first fifty number ones, I'm clueless.
And I'm hooked from the very beginning.
It's the PICKING!
And the sound. Intimate, without being depressing.
And I'm not sure what the guy is singing about, but his voice is mellifluous if not outstanding and then the song changes, at first it's like a drive in the country, kind of like Danny O'Keefe's gem, "Along For The Ride," and then it switches completely, into a groove that's more akin to pop than country, rhythmic, but infectious nonetheless. And then back to that ride in the car...
And at this point there's a lead guitar. And I'm catching the lyric about taking t-shirts off each other, and I'm riding with the track, I'm enjoying it but it's not a ten, and then that guitar starts to wail, they're singing intensely, and two and a half minutes in, the track changes completely. You think it's fading out, you're enjoying the introspection and then...
A guitar comes in and starts jumping all over the track. Not high and trebly like on the metal cuts.
And then the guy starts picking faster, you're digging it, but believing it's going to fade out.
But it doesn't.
The guy starts wailing.
And you're waiting for the vocal to come back in, since there's no fade-out in evidence.
But the cut gets quiet at 4:24 and then there's an explosion of guitar, and then it's intense and they're picking at ten, it's like an Outlaws track, "Green Grass And High Tides."
And then it ends.
WHAT WAS THAT?
So I play it again.
And I've got that quiet, intimate picking... Is this really the same record?
And then there's that change, and I'm fully hooked.
And then there's that guitar wailing and when it ends I've got to hear it again and again and AGAIN!
I'm thinking this is closer to the Allman Brothers than country. It hearkens back to the seventies, when the guitar was king. And the guitar hasn't been king for so long.
But we baby boomers, we remember.
We went to Manny's, Sam Ash, we lusted after Fenders, we bought amps, we needed to replicate this sound. Hell, scratch a boomer and you'll find out he's got a rig in the garage and he practices and he's got a pickup band and now that his kids are out of the house it's what he LIVES FOR!
But these people don't play new music, they just spin the oldies. The classics.
And I'm thinking if only they heard this...
And you should hear this Brothers Osborne track "Stay A Little Longer."
There's a demo on Spotify, I'll include it in the playlist, it's the same song but not the same record, it doesn't have the same magic.
That intro picking, that hooks you immediately...it's absent.
The change works, but despite having wailing at the end, absent the production the demo doesn't succeed.
And let me reinforce, that wailing at the end of the single, produced version is not show-offy, it's restrained, which is why you enjoy it so much.
So, even if you think you hate country, if you can appreciate a good guitar solo...
You've got to listen to this.
Hang in there. Be sure to ride past the 2:30 mark.
So far, this is not burning up the chart, it's got some action, but it looks like it's gonna stall.
Then again, all the legendary tracks from way back when were not hits, they were not made for the chart, but for the listener, who appreciated them. Hell, " Fillmore East" broke the Allmans, but they didn't have a hit until AFTER!
So, check this out.
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/1Cc8lTX
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Wednesday 25 March 2015
BuzzFeed Motion Pictures
Ze Frank is educated and smart.
I've never come across that combination in the music business.
No, that's wrong. There's Cliff Burnstein, who's a few credits shy of a Ph.D. in math. What do they say at Q Prime? To do all the superfluous work and allow Cliff time to think, because when Cliff thinks Q Prime makes money.
Hmm...
I'm not saying I don't know a lot of intelligent people in the music business. But they're street smart. They know how to intimidate, negotiate. Theorize? That's absent. Which is why music's lunch has been eaten by tech. And speaking of tech victories, the big story in today's financial world is the "Forbes" cover story on Chris Sacca, the investor billionaire. You should read it. Chris has never given press access before. And this article proves why. Because you don't look totally positive. Chris has made some choices and behaved in ways that I would not have chosen to. But he's made the money. And that's the only scorecard people seem to keep these days. And by those standards, Chris is winning.
And it's not only money, unlike the Wall Street titans at Goldman Sachs, Chris has invested in companies you love and use. At least some of you. Like Uber, Twitter and Kickstarter. Chris is building things. Got to give him kudos for that.
But back to Ze.
Ze went to Brown.
But then he was a musician.
And I could delineate all of his history, but the point is Ze made it via his creativity, his art, which puts him in the same wheelhouse as musicians.
Only Ze was on the cutting edge.
Talk to anybody in social media. They all know Ze. Primarily for his 2006 web series "the show with ze frank." Early adopters win. If they continue to stay the course. If you're planning on being a YouTube star today, forget it. Same deal with imitating Katy Perry or Miley Cyrus. You're too far behind the curve. You've got to catch the NEXT wave.
So now Ze runs BuzzFeed Motion Pictures.
I get it, I get it, you HATE BuzzFeed! All that listicle crap. But they're two separate entities. Not all BuzzFeed Motion Pictures live on the BuzzFeed site.
Anyway, two years ago there were 2 people working there.
Now there are 170.
So you walk inside and everybody's happy and there's a lot going on.
This is contrary to the record label, where you see a sea of empty desks and everybody's depressed.
First you see the intern stations. PAID interns, that is. 30% graduate to fellowships. And then some become full time BuzzFeeders.
And what do full time BuzzFeeders do?
MAKE MOVIES!
Think about that. They're creating. With very little supervision. They have to meet the metrics, which they can see on a personal dashboard, but responsibility lies with them.
Everybody in music is shirking responsibility.
But music is cheap to make.
And now movies are too.
Ze commented on the fall of cable TV.
Are you watching this? It's kind of like digital photography. We heard about it for a decade and then it happened overnight. We heard about internet delivery of television programs and in the last two weeks, it's arrived.
And what do people want to see?
That's BuzzFeed's mission. To capture eyeballs. And to replace the cable TV producers.
Ze thinks their model stinks. Thinks the music labels' model stinks. Wherein you throw a ton of money at the wall and hope something sticks to pay for it all.
Ze believes you've got to pay as you go. Everything's got to win.
And what do you win with?
Ze thinks long form story, the cable television you're addicted to, may be history as much as the Russian novel.
The key is to create content people can identify with, see themselves in, that they can access at any time. Length, story? Irrelevant.
Mmm... Sounds like the music business, right? Where the creators want to make albums and the consumers want singles. And now we're entering this ridiculous era of exclusives, with Beats and Tidal. Once we start Balkanizing content, we're lost. But don't tell that to the greedy acts and labels, who don't comprehend the landscape and just want to line their pockets. The public HATES exclusives, they either tune out or steal.
So Ze's mission is to get people to BuzzFeed films. To not reinvent the wheel every time. To get people inured to, addicted to, their content. He's got people working on this mission. He just doesn't want to open doors and let everyone else in, he wants to plant a flag the consumer rallies around.
Meanwhile, they keep expanding.
They decided they wanted to crack the foreign market. They started making clips. And then someone stumbled upon making clips of foreigners eating American food and vice versa. Bingo, success!
Where is the risk in music?
Not there. Tracks are honed to the point of irrelevance. New is anathema. It's usually the same old thing over and over again.
But don't tell this to the inner circle.
That's what's wrong with music. You work in it or you live for it and you have no perspective...that the average person has tuned out, because it's incomprehensible or not good enough.
BuzzFeed is going for everyone.
Everybody makes about a clip a week.
They're building inventory.
You know their work, even if you don't know it's theirs. Like that clip comparing women's bodies over the ages, that's one of theirs.
They got a $50 million infusion from Andreessen Horowitz.
When did anybody last put this kind of money in music?
They don't, because it doesn't scale. It's not made for everyone. And people are closed off to reinventing the wheel.
Which is why you'd rather work at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures. Where you get to put your hands on the wheel. Where you're the master of your own domain. Where you can become a star.
"How Super Angel Chris Sacca Made Billions, Burned Bridges And Crafted The Best Seed Portfolio Ever": http://onforb.es/1CORadc
"Women's Ideal Body Types Throughout History": http://bit.ly/1zrIadK
BuzzFeedVideo YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/1uld5U4
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I've never come across that combination in the music business.
No, that's wrong. There's Cliff Burnstein, who's a few credits shy of a Ph.D. in math. What do they say at Q Prime? To do all the superfluous work and allow Cliff time to think, because when Cliff thinks Q Prime makes money.
Hmm...
I'm not saying I don't know a lot of intelligent people in the music business. But they're street smart. They know how to intimidate, negotiate. Theorize? That's absent. Which is why music's lunch has been eaten by tech. And speaking of tech victories, the big story in today's financial world is the "Forbes" cover story on Chris Sacca, the investor billionaire. You should read it. Chris has never given press access before. And this article proves why. Because you don't look totally positive. Chris has made some choices and behaved in ways that I would not have chosen to. But he's made the money. And that's the only scorecard people seem to keep these days. And by those standards, Chris is winning.
And it's not only money, unlike the Wall Street titans at Goldman Sachs, Chris has invested in companies you love and use. At least some of you. Like Uber, Twitter and Kickstarter. Chris is building things. Got to give him kudos for that.
But back to Ze.
Ze went to Brown.
But then he was a musician.
And I could delineate all of his history, but the point is Ze made it via his creativity, his art, which puts him in the same wheelhouse as musicians.
Only Ze was on the cutting edge.
Talk to anybody in social media. They all know Ze. Primarily for his 2006 web series "the show with ze frank." Early adopters win. If they continue to stay the course. If you're planning on being a YouTube star today, forget it. Same deal with imitating Katy Perry or Miley Cyrus. You're too far behind the curve. You've got to catch the NEXT wave.
So now Ze runs BuzzFeed Motion Pictures.
I get it, I get it, you HATE BuzzFeed! All that listicle crap. But they're two separate entities. Not all BuzzFeed Motion Pictures live on the BuzzFeed site.
Anyway, two years ago there were 2 people working there.
Now there are 170.
So you walk inside and everybody's happy and there's a lot going on.
This is contrary to the record label, where you see a sea of empty desks and everybody's depressed.
First you see the intern stations. PAID interns, that is. 30% graduate to fellowships. And then some become full time BuzzFeeders.
And what do full time BuzzFeeders do?
MAKE MOVIES!
Think about that. They're creating. With very little supervision. They have to meet the metrics, which they can see on a personal dashboard, but responsibility lies with them.
Everybody in music is shirking responsibility.
But music is cheap to make.
And now movies are too.
Ze commented on the fall of cable TV.
Are you watching this? It's kind of like digital photography. We heard about it for a decade and then it happened overnight. We heard about internet delivery of television programs and in the last two weeks, it's arrived.
And what do people want to see?
That's BuzzFeed's mission. To capture eyeballs. And to replace the cable TV producers.
Ze thinks their model stinks. Thinks the music labels' model stinks. Wherein you throw a ton of money at the wall and hope something sticks to pay for it all.
Ze believes you've got to pay as you go. Everything's got to win.
And what do you win with?
Ze thinks long form story, the cable television you're addicted to, may be history as much as the Russian novel.
The key is to create content people can identify with, see themselves in, that they can access at any time. Length, story? Irrelevant.
Mmm... Sounds like the music business, right? Where the creators want to make albums and the consumers want singles. And now we're entering this ridiculous era of exclusives, with Beats and Tidal. Once we start Balkanizing content, we're lost. But don't tell that to the greedy acts and labels, who don't comprehend the landscape and just want to line their pockets. The public HATES exclusives, they either tune out or steal.
So Ze's mission is to get people to BuzzFeed films. To not reinvent the wheel every time. To get people inured to, addicted to, their content. He's got people working on this mission. He just doesn't want to open doors and let everyone else in, he wants to plant a flag the consumer rallies around.
Meanwhile, they keep expanding.
They decided they wanted to crack the foreign market. They started making clips. And then someone stumbled upon making clips of foreigners eating American food and vice versa. Bingo, success!
Where is the risk in music?
Not there. Tracks are honed to the point of irrelevance. New is anathema. It's usually the same old thing over and over again.
But don't tell this to the inner circle.
That's what's wrong with music. You work in it or you live for it and you have no perspective...that the average person has tuned out, because it's incomprehensible or not good enough.
BuzzFeed is going for everyone.
Everybody makes about a clip a week.
They're building inventory.
You know their work, even if you don't know it's theirs. Like that clip comparing women's bodies over the ages, that's one of theirs.
They got a $50 million infusion from Andreessen Horowitz.
When did anybody last put this kind of money in music?
They don't, because it doesn't scale. It's not made for everyone. And people are closed off to reinventing the wheel.
Which is why you'd rather work at BuzzFeed Motion Pictures. Where you get to put your hands on the wheel. Where you're the master of your own domain. Where you can become a star.
"How Super Angel Chris Sacca Made Billions, Burned Bridges And Crafted The Best Seed Portfolio Ever": http://onforb.es/1CORadc
"Women's Ideal Body Types Throughout History": http://bit.ly/1zrIadK
BuzzFeedVideo YouTube channel: http://bit.ly/1uld5U4
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Tuesday 24 March 2015
Hate Mail Rules
1. CHECK YOUR GRAMMAR
No one's going to take you seriously if you use "there" instead of "their" or "your" instead of "you're." Maybe you should write your missives in Word first, where there's a grammar checker. Or maybe run your prospective words by your mother, since you want her to be proud of you. I'd say to get a review by your significant other, but I've yet to find a hater with a spouse.
2. SPELLCHECK
This is built into so many of today's programs, especially e-mail. How much effort does it take to scroll up to the menu and give it a go?
Then again, you're probably hating from your smartphone, and you don't want to risk waiting and having your anger subside. Otherwise you won't have the desired effect of pissing off your target. Hating must be done right away, when you're irate, when it's still the most important thing in the world. However, those worth hating judge you by your spelling mistakes. They're evidence of education. And if you haven't got any, the target will not take you seriously.
3. SCRUB SEARCH ENGINES
The problem with today's world is everybody is identifiable, researchable. Especially in this challenged economy where everybody is looking for a job and posts his curriculum vitae on LinkedIn. You don't want the recipient of your hatred to know you don't have a job, or a bad one. You're embarrassed about your situation enough! So hire a reputation company to get rid of stuff you don't want people to see. As for victims checking out your resume... You might think you've won, but the truth is victims like to laugh too!
4. DON'T HATE IN YOUR FIELD/BACKYARD
Otherwise it just evidences jealousy.
If you're in music, hate in sports or TV. Because if you hate in your preferred area it just shows that you're frustrated, you believe that the recipient has your job. Then again, haters hate because they don't know how to climb the business ladder, wherein social skills are key to advancement. However, this is not just a hater problem. With so few good jobs available, the populace is defeated. So, for this we must have sympathy for the hater.
5. CONTENT PEOPLE!
A reasoned argument has impact. Assuming the hate reaches the target, and you must assume this, being the head of a military operation with many strikes, you never know when you'll succeed, don't just say STOP, or YOU'RE A JERK! That stuff works on the schoolyard, when it's accompanied by physical intimidation and social status. But not online. Then again, you're lucky you have online as your sandbox, because haters tend to be wimpy loners who've found this one way to vent their anger that their lives are not working out. So, if you're hating on someone, delineate your complaint thoroughly. Point out not only the mistake, but the path of correction. This is your true mission, helping others. Why else would someone reach down in the pit and rescue you from your misery, acknowledge you and give you a job, if you're not helpful?
6. PUNCH UP, NOT DOWN
Only hate on those higher up the food chain than yourself. Nothing undercuts your status more than posing as popular and successful and then hating someone you keep saying is beneath you. It makes you look small and petty. Which is why when someone receives hate e-mail from an attorney or public figure, that contains no analysis (see #5 above), it changes the recipient's viewpoint of the hater. I'll give you the opposite example. Obama is President, that's why he does not hate, there's no one above him. He just experiences the vitriol and smiles. Whereas Republican Congresspeople and Fox News excoriate him, because they want his job.
7. ANONYMITY
Shows cowardice. It radiates fear. If you're not willing to put your name to your hate your hate will not be taken seriously.
8. CABAL
Some haters have friends, who they rally to pile on. Is the lone gunman more powerful than the army? It's debatable. But if you enlist your minions have a goal. And make sure you can win. Because if you rally everybody and don't get the desired response, which is usually a response at all, then you'll have a hard time getting everybody to hate together in the future.
9. SOCIAL NETWORKS
Twitter is on to your game. It's banning hate accounts based on phone number. How many phone numbers do you have? Not many, therefore you won't be able to keep creating new accounts for strategic attacks. Which is why you're best off hating in your own name.
10. TAKE HATING SERIOUSLY
One hate mail is dismissible. Could have been a missend, meant for someone else, and will be ignored. Then again, so much hate is ignored. Which is why you must send hundreds of e-mails even if you get no response. Because hating is the most important thing to you. If you stop hating, the terrorists win.
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No one's going to take you seriously if you use "there" instead of "their" or "your" instead of "you're." Maybe you should write your missives in Word first, where there's a grammar checker. Or maybe run your prospective words by your mother, since you want her to be proud of you. I'd say to get a review by your significant other, but I've yet to find a hater with a spouse.
2. SPELLCHECK
This is built into so many of today's programs, especially e-mail. How much effort does it take to scroll up to the menu and give it a go?
Then again, you're probably hating from your smartphone, and you don't want to risk waiting and having your anger subside. Otherwise you won't have the desired effect of pissing off your target. Hating must be done right away, when you're irate, when it's still the most important thing in the world. However, those worth hating judge you by your spelling mistakes. They're evidence of education. And if you haven't got any, the target will not take you seriously.
3. SCRUB SEARCH ENGINES
The problem with today's world is everybody is identifiable, researchable. Especially in this challenged economy where everybody is looking for a job and posts his curriculum vitae on LinkedIn. You don't want the recipient of your hatred to know you don't have a job, or a bad one. You're embarrassed about your situation enough! So hire a reputation company to get rid of stuff you don't want people to see. As for victims checking out your resume... You might think you've won, but the truth is victims like to laugh too!
4. DON'T HATE IN YOUR FIELD/BACKYARD
Otherwise it just evidences jealousy.
If you're in music, hate in sports or TV. Because if you hate in your preferred area it just shows that you're frustrated, you believe that the recipient has your job. Then again, haters hate because they don't know how to climb the business ladder, wherein social skills are key to advancement. However, this is not just a hater problem. With so few good jobs available, the populace is defeated. So, for this we must have sympathy for the hater.
5. CONTENT PEOPLE!
A reasoned argument has impact. Assuming the hate reaches the target, and you must assume this, being the head of a military operation with many strikes, you never know when you'll succeed, don't just say STOP, or YOU'RE A JERK! That stuff works on the schoolyard, when it's accompanied by physical intimidation and social status. But not online. Then again, you're lucky you have online as your sandbox, because haters tend to be wimpy loners who've found this one way to vent their anger that their lives are not working out. So, if you're hating on someone, delineate your complaint thoroughly. Point out not only the mistake, but the path of correction. This is your true mission, helping others. Why else would someone reach down in the pit and rescue you from your misery, acknowledge you and give you a job, if you're not helpful?
6. PUNCH UP, NOT DOWN
Only hate on those higher up the food chain than yourself. Nothing undercuts your status more than posing as popular and successful and then hating someone you keep saying is beneath you. It makes you look small and petty. Which is why when someone receives hate e-mail from an attorney or public figure, that contains no analysis (see #5 above), it changes the recipient's viewpoint of the hater. I'll give you the opposite example. Obama is President, that's why he does not hate, there's no one above him. He just experiences the vitriol and smiles. Whereas Republican Congresspeople and Fox News excoriate him, because they want his job.
7. ANONYMITY
Shows cowardice. It radiates fear. If you're not willing to put your name to your hate your hate will not be taken seriously.
8. CABAL
Some haters have friends, who they rally to pile on. Is the lone gunman more powerful than the army? It's debatable. But if you enlist your minions have a goal. And make sure you can win. Because if you rally everybody and don't get the desired response, which is usually a response at all, then you'll have a hard time getting everybody to hate together in the future.
9. SOCIAL NETWORKS
Twitter is on to your game. It's banning hate accounts based on phone number. How many phone numbers do you have? Not many, therefore you won't be able to keep creating new accounts for strategic attacks. Which is why you're best off hating in your own name.
10. TAKE HATING SERIOUSLY
One hate mail is dismissible. Could have been a missend, meant for someone else, and will be ignored. Then again, so much hate is ignored. Which is why you must send hundreds of e-mails even if you get no response. Because hating is the most important thing to you. If you stop hating, the terrorists win.
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Monday 23 March 2015
The Steve Jobs Book
"Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader": http://amzn.to/1EDdDGx
You are not Steve Jobs.
If you're reading this book for tips, to model yourself in his image, you're making a big mistake. Because Steve Jobs was sui generis.
And so are you.
That's one of the things wrong with America. The conformity. Want to know one thing Steve hated? That's it. He was about reaching into the future and bringing the unknown, what could only be imagined, into the present.
And sometimes he hit it out of the park...
And sometimes he whiffed.
Like selecting Walter Isaacson to write his biography.
This was the second time Steve's best efforts were thwarted.
The first was when he selected John Sculley as head of Apple.
Sculley put the dagger in Steve's back. Because what Sculley did best was play the politics.
That's not who Steve Jobs was.
Who was Steve Jobs?
A brilliant guy who was brought up in a blue collar family.
Mmm... Do you think that's why he was such a good businessman, such a fantastic negotiator?
I certainly do. Discomfort breeds restlessness. And aspiration.
It's the nobodies that change the world. And that's why our world today is stagnant. It's peopled by the scions of the rich, the poor have very few opportunities. But when everybody gets an even, fresh start... That's what the California educational system was about. College was cheap, everybody could go. And this is good, because you never know where revolution will come from.
My father paid for me to go to college.
Otherwise I never would have gone.
College is a joke. At least the classes are. Everything worth learning happens outside the classroom. Except maybe if you're in math or science. But if you only learn math or science you're an automaton. Jobs was right, the world runs on the humanities. And that's one of the reasons Apple eclipsed Microsoft. It wasn't only about the code, but usability, the focus on the end user was constant.
The press is calling "Becoming Steve Jobs" a rehabilitation of his image.
But the truth is Malcolm Gladwell got it right. Fifty years from now, Steve Jobs will be forgotten, just a blip on the radar screen. Whereas kids will still be singing Beatles songs. And the truth of Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa may live on. We never really know who will last, but isn't it funny that there was a Doors revival and a Zeppelin revival and no one from the eighties or nineties has ever come back?
Because some are superior.
And some are not.
So Steve is hungry. For knowledge and success.
He lived to work.
And it's true, Americans work too much, we need more leisure time, it recharges the batteries. But when done right, work is passion, it's what you live for, you can't wait to get into the office, to sit down in front of the computer. The crisis in our country is too much unfulfilling work, more than too much work.
Steve was cunning because he needed to be. It takes all your wits to live on no money.
And he soaked up knowledge. He sidled up to tech legends, cold-called them when he was nobody and they were only stars in their own backyard. It wasn't like calling Kanye, but the engineer whom only those who read the credits know.
And then Steve got booted from his own company.
That's what happens with geniuses. They're not good with people. They're intolerant, they want it their way. Which is in contrast to so many millennials, who were taught to get along, to be a member of the group. Steve Job had no group other than himself and maybe his family. His work kept him warm at night, he was lost when it wasn't going well. He was frustrated that others didn't see what he did and he did his best to bend their will/vision to his. Can you handle this much rejection? Most can't.
But Steve believed.
And he had a track record.
Supposedly there are no second acts in America.
But Steve defied the odds.
But he was no match for the Big C, none of us are.
So should you read this book?
If you're an Apple devotee. It delivers info heretofore unknown. About Steve's illness, his time in exile. Isaacson's book sucked because it was boring. Kind of like Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" or Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," many people bought it, few finished it.
But the problem really was Isaacson was not a member of the club, he was not a believer, he didn't get excited by tech to the point he moved to the Valley and it changed his life. Reading Isaacson about Jobs is like reading a newspaper review of an act the writer is not a fan of. Who cares what that person thinks? The only people going are fans. What would a fan think?
Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli are fans.
They were there for the breakthroughs. Not only the Mac, but the internet and the iPhone.
Oh, what a different world we live in.
And is Steve Jobs a tyrant?
Kinda.
But he softened over the years. He changed. We all do. And those who are willing to adjust win. That's one of the reasons we have so little confidence in our politicians, their rigid adherence to dogma. He not willing to learn and be open to changing his opinions is already dead, even if he's walking the earth.
And reading the book you can see that Steve Jobs's death was inevitable. Maybe if he'd gotten surgery earlier, he might have pulled through. The experts I've spoken with said no. But the point is we're all vulnerable, and life is too short to follow in another person's footsteps, you've got to take your own.
So, Steve Jobs, inspired by Bob Dylan and the Beatles and bitten by tech changed the world. It's all in this book.
Now it's your turn.
Don't do it his way.
You can't do it his way.
You can only do it your way.
Blow our minds, amaze us.
Steve would expect nothing less.
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You are not Steve Jobs.
If you're reading this book for tips, to model yourself in his image, you're making a big mistake. Because Steve Jobs was sui generis.
And so are you.
That's one of the things wrong with America. The conformity. Want to know one thing Steve hated? That's it. He was about reaching into the future and bringing the unknown, what could only be imagined, into the present.
And sometimes he hit it out of the park...
And sometimes he whiffed.
Like selecting Walter Isaacson to write his biography.
This was the second time Steve's best efforts were thwarted.
The first was when he selected John Sculley as head of Apple.
Sculley put the dagger in Steve's back. Because what Sculley did best was play the politics.
That's not who Steve Jobs was.
Who was Steve Jobs?
A brilliant guy who was brought up in a blue collar family.
Mmm... Do you think that's why he was such a good businessman, such a fantastic negotiator?
I certainly do. Discomfort breeds restlessness. And aspiration.
It's the nobodies that change the world. And that's why our world today is stagnant. It's peopled by the scions of the rich, the poor have very few opportunities. But when everybody gets an even, fresh start... That's what the California educational system was about. College was cheap, everybody could go. And this is good, because you never know where revolution will come from.
My father paid for me to go to college.
Otherwise I never would have gone.
College is a joke. At least the classes are. Everything worth learning happens outside the classroom. Except maybe if you're in math or science. But if you only learn math or science you're an automaton. Jobs was right, the world runs on the humanities. And that's one of the reasons Apple eclipsed Microsoft. It wasn't only about the code, but usability, the focus on the end user was constant.
The press is calling "Becoming Steve Jobs" a rehabilitation of his image.
But the truth is Malcolm Gladwell got it right. Fifty years from now, Steve Jobs will be forgotten, just a blip on the radar screen. Whereas kids will still be singing Beatles songs. And the truth of Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa may live on. We never really know who will last, but isn't it funny that there was a Doors revival and a Zeppelin revival and no one from the eighties or nineties has ever come back?
Because some are superior.
And some are not.
So Steve is hungry. For knowledge and success.
He lived to work.
And it's true, Americans work too much, we need more leisure time, it recharges the batteries. But when done right, work is passion, it's what you live for, you can't wait to get into the office, to sit down in front of the computer. The crisis in our country is too much unfulfilling work, more than too much work.
Steve was cunning because he needed to be. It takes all your wits to live on no money.
And he soaked up knowledge. He sidled up to tech legends, cold-called them when he was nobody and they were only stars in their own backyard. It wasn't like calling Kanye, but the engineer whom only those who read the credits know.
And then Steve got booted from his own company.
That's what happens with geniuses. They're not good with people. They're intolerant, they want it their way. Which is in contrast to so many millennials, who were taught to get along, to be a member of the group. Steve Job had no group other than himself and maybe his family. His work kept him warm at night, he was lost when it wasn't going well. He was frustrated that others didn't see what he did and he did his best to bend their will/vision to his. Can you handle this much rejection? Most can't.
But Steve believed.
And he had a track record.
Supposedly there are no second acts in America.
But Steve defied the odds.
But he was no match for the Big C, none of us are.
So should you read this book?
If you're an Apple devotee. It delivers info heretofore unknown. About Steve's illness, his time in exile. Isaacson's book sucked because it was boring. Kind of like Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" or Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," many people bought it, few finished it.
But the problem really was Isaacson was not a member of the club, he was not a believer, he didn't get excited by tech to the point he moved to the Valley and it changed his life. Reading Isaacson about Jobs is like reading a newspaper review of an act the writer is not a fan of. Who cares what that person thinks? The only people going are fans. What would a fan think?
Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli are fans.
They were there for the breakthroughs. Not only the Mac, but the internet and the iPhone.
Oh, what a different world we live in.
And is Steve Jobs a tyrant?
Kinda.
But he softened over the years. He changed. We all do. And those who are willing to adjust win. That's one of the reasons we have so little confidence in our politicians, their rigid adherence to dogma. He not willing to learn and be open to changing his opinions is already dead, even if he's walking the earth.
And reading the book you can see that Steve Jobs's death was inevitable. Maybe if he'd gotten surgery earlier, he might have pulled through. The experts I've spoken with said no. But the point is we're all vulnerable, and life is too short to follow in another person's footsteps, you've got to take your own.
So, Steve Jobs, inspired by Bob Dylan and the Beatles and bitten by tech changed the world. It's all in this book.
Now it's your turn.
Don't do it his way.
You can't do it his way.
You can only do it your way.
Blow our minds, amaze us.
Steve would expect nothing less.
--
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Sunday 22 March 2015
Today's America
You've got to watch this video.
That's right, scroll down this page and click on the Rolls-Royce.
http://lat.ms/1xqjwda
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where a real estate AGENT flaunts his wealth, not understanding it makes him a target?
One in which the populace believes if it just works hard, it too can make it. And one in which the rich operate behind gates and fly private and most people have no idea what their lifestyle, never mind their wealth, is like.
Is this how far we've come? Where we're all aspirational assholes? Droning on in our deadbeat jobs, watching "Shark Tank," thinking we too can invent a product and get rich? Or have we given up and are drinking and drugging because it's all useless.
And today Ted Cruz says he wants to be President. Have you watched "House of Cards"? Frank Underwood can't run for re-election because he can't find the money! You just don't decide you want the highest political office, you've got to purchase a ticket. And you get one by being beholden to the same people who are buying the houses in this video. And their interests do not align with those of the underclass. And believe me, you're a member of the underclass.
Do we blame the education system? One that has been underfunded to the point where art is not a part of the curriculum? When I went to public school, back in the sixties, a decade today's rich pooh-pooh and want to eliminate from memory, every student had art and music classes every week. And I'm not saying everybody became an artist, but some were inspired and everybody was exposed.
In these same sixties the motto was "Question Authority."
Now everybody bends to authority. And I'm not talking the police, I'm talking the money game. You go to work for the bank, for the institution. And sure, individuals come up with tech inventions, but those don't stimulate your mind, they're inert without human input.
Humanity. If Steve Jobs can get sick and die, so can you. No one lives forever and we all live in a society where if we don't help our brother, we're screwed. Want to get rich? Someone's going to have to buy your product. And if people don't have money, they won't be able to.
But the poor have been demonized. They don't pay taxes!
OF COURSE THEY DO! Maybe not income taxes, but sales taxes all day long. On food and gasoline, assuming they've got a car.
But no one wants to be a member of a loser group. And no one wants to hear from a loser group.
And you want to know a loser group?
ARTISTS!
Jeff Koons ain't changing the world, he's preying on rich people. That's what Art Basel is all about. Art fairs for the rich.
And it's not only rappers writing about lifestyle, it's also teens, marionettes controlled by old men, who will do anything to get rich. I'd blame them for not addressing the real issues, but they're too young and uneducated to know what they are, never mind analyze them.
And what's the main bitch in the music business?
MONEY!
That's right, this is an industry that sued its own customers.
The power of music? To change not only lives and society? I never see that mentioned. I just hear again and again about some act getting a sponsorship deal. And the handlers won't but the kibosh on this, they get a commission!
So we don't have a world in which artists will stand up for truth.
And believe me, an artist can, especially a musician, because it doesn't take a village to make a record, one person can do it by their lonesome.
Then again, HBO brings down a criminal and in music we mint criminals!
Music rode shotgun in the revolution of the sixties. Because middle class musicians were educated and had not only morals, but values. And sure, some got rich along the way, but that wasn't the only goal.
Neil Young wrote about the Kent State shootings and everybody questioned the actions of the National Guard.
Today no one questions anything. They just stare somnambulantly at their smartphone.
So we end up with a video like this. Where the lackey of the rich is too stupid to realize he's part of the problem. That he's wearing no clothes. That his Rolls-Royce was purchased on the backs of people who often barely inhabit the estates he sells. He should give up and become a social worker, he should give back.
But people stopped giving back when you could no longer make it as a teacher or social worker, when the bills were too high and you became a laughingstock. Remember Obama being criticized for being a community organizer? What kind of lame job is that? What does that prepare you for?
A red-blooded American inherits his wealth. Or starts a company like Walmart that double-dips in the safety net. Its employees require government aid because the company doesn't pay them enough and then they turn around and spend this cash at the store! And "House of Cards" made that point. I don't see that point in a hit record.
And I'm not going to tell you things are gonna change.
But I am gonna tell you we're living in a fucked up country.
Where we're all trying to climb a greased pole, assuming you can find it, assuming the richies haven't cut it down to build a new mansion.
"A $35-million tear-down: L.A.'s unreal estate has plenty of buyers": http://lat.ms/1xqjwda
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That's right, scroll down this page and click on the Rolls-Royce.
http://lat.ms/1xqjwda
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where a real estate AGENT flaunts his wealth, not understanding it makes him a target?
One in which the populace believes if it just works hard, it too can make it. And one in which the rich operate behind gates and fly private and most people have no idea what their lifestyle, never mind their wealth, is like.
Is this how far we've come? Where we're all aspirational assholes? Droning on in our deadbeat jobs, watching "Shark Tank," thinking we too can invent a product and get rich? Or have we given up and are drinking and drugging because it's all useless.
And today Ted Cruz says he wants to be President. Have you watched "House of Cards"? Frank Underwood can't run for re-election because he can't find the money! You just don't decide you want the highest political office, you've got to purchase a ticket. And you get one by being beholden to the same people who are buying the houses in this video. And their interests do not align with those of the underclass. And believe me, you're a member of the underclass.
Do we blame the education system? One that has been underfunded to the point where art is not a part of the curriculum? When I went to public school, back in the sixties, a decade today's rich pooh-pooh and want to eliminate from memory, every student had art and music classes every week. And I'm not saying everybody became an artist, but some were inspired and everybody was exposed.
In these same sixties the motto was "Question Authority."
Now everybody bends to authority. And I'm not talking the police, I'm talking the money game. You go to work for the bank, for the institution. And sure, individuals come up with tech inventions, but those don't stimulate your mind, they're inert without human input.
Humanity. If Steve Jobs can get sick and die, so can you. No one lives forever and we all live in a society where if we don't help our brother, we're screwed. Want to get rich? Someone's going to have to buy your product. And if people don't have money, they won't be able to.
But the poor have been demonized. They don't pay taxes!
OF COURSE THEY DO! Maybe not income taxes, but sales taxes all day long. On food and gasoline, assuming they've got a car.
But no one wants to be a member of a loser group. And no one wants to hear from a loser group.
And you want to know a loser group?
ARTISTS!
Jeff Koons ain't changing the world, he's preying on rich people. That's what Art Basel is all about. Art fairs for the rich.
And it's not only rappers writing about lifestyle, it's also teens, marionettes controlled by old men, who will do anything to get rich. I'd blame them for not addressing the real issues, but they're too young and uneducated to know what they are, never mind analyze them.
And what's the main bitch in the music business?
MONEY!
That's right, this is an industry that sued its own customers.
The power of music? To change not only lives and society? I never see that mentioned. I just hear again and again about some act getting a sponsorship deal. And the handlers won't but the kibosh on this, they get a commission!
So we don't have a world in which artists will stand up for truth.
And believe me, an artist can, especially a musician, because it doesn't take a village to make a record, one person can do it by their lonesome.
Then again, HBO brings down a criminal and in music we mint criminals!
Music rode shotgun in the revolution of the sixties. Because middle class musicians were educated and had not only morals, but values. And sure, some got rich along the way, but that wasn't the only goal.
Neil Young wrote about the Kent State shootings and everybody questioned the actions of the National Guard.
Today no one questions anything. They just stare somnambulantly at their smartphone.
So we end up with a video like this. Where the lackey of the rich is too stupid to realize he's part of the problem. That he's wearing no clothes. That his Rolls-Royce was purchased on the backs of people who often barely inhabit the estates he sells. He should give up and become a social worker, he should give back.
But people stopped giving back when you could no longer make it as a teacher or social worker, when the bills were too high and you became a laughingstock. Remember Obama being criticized for being a community organizer? What kind of lame job is that? What does that prepare you for?
A red-blooded American inherits his wealth. Or starts a company like Walmart that double-dips in the safety net. Its employees require government aid because the company doesn't pay them enough and then they turn around and spend this cash at the store! And "House of Cards" made that point. I don't see that point in a hit record.
And I'm not going to tell you things are gonna change.
But I am gonna tell you we're living in a fucked up country.
Where we're all trying to climb a greased pole, assuming you can find it, assuming the richies haven't cut it down to build a new mansion.
"A $35-million tear-down: L.A.'s unreal estate has plenty of buyers": http://lat.ms/1xqjwda
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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