Steely Dan's 1972 debut gets no love, despite having two smash hits and a legendary track. Possibly this is because it features multiple lead singers. This was before we knew that Steely Dan was charting its own course in the history of rock and roll, positively sui generis, and all the talk is about the later albums, even the commercially disappointing second, "Countdown To Ecstasy," but before they were exploring, testing limits, taking us to heretofore unknown places, Steely Dan produced an album so exquisite it flummoxed the cognoscenti. They didn't know if it was a singles band, since at this point many hip bands had no hits, and the Top Forty crowd still listening to AM had no idea of the band's depth. Furthermore, the record came out on the positively lame label ABC and the only cred Donald Fagen and Walter Becker had was playing with Jay and the Americans, and that was no cred at all. But if I could only take one Steely Dan LP to a desert isle, "Can't Buy A Thrill" would be
it.
DO IT AGAIN
"You go back Jack do it again"
A breath of fresh air, a tunnel into an unknown dark world that was so enticing, "Do It Again" lit up the radio in the winter of 72-73, it was a cut you could never burn out on, it was enticing.
There were hooks, but the magic was the sound itself, which was like nothing else on the radio, such a far cry from today.
Is it Denny Dias's electric sitar, Fagen's keyboards, Skunk Baxter's six string or ALL OF IT!
We had no idea this was the beginning of a legendary band, we thought it was just a single.
We were wrong.
DIRTY WORK
"Do It Again" was the hit, but "Dirty Work" is the legendary track, prevalent for years on soft rock FM stations when they used to have those.
But...the lead is sung by David Palmer. And the song is such a classic the band still has to perform it live today, but it's done by a backup singer. Still...this is bittersweet in the best way. This is the track that convinces you the band may be something more.
KINGS
A precursor to "Kid Charlemagne" and the rest of the "Royal Scam."
It was almost too pop, before we knew that Steely Dan was not. The tracks although sometimes sweet were anything but lowest common denominator.
Love the piano notes, the solo by Elliott Randall, the band always had the best players, but it's the overall concoction that enraptures, back when album tracks were no worse than the hits, when they took you on a journey of their own.
MIDNITE CRUISER
"Felonius my old friend"
Huh? When you finally bought "Can't Buy A Thrill" after hearing it in a friend's dorm room and you heard the above lyric you realized this was not a mainstream pop band, these were INTELLECTUALS!
You never hear this anymore. It's sung by drummer Jim Hodder and features a solo by Skunk and it's so sweet and melodic without being cloying...it's part of the underlying magic that makes "Can't Buy A Thrill" so great.
ONLY A FOOL WOULD SAY THAT
Lead vocals were shared by Fagen and Palmer. And it had jazz influences when we were suspicious of those. It's my least favorite song on the record, but it's far superior to so much of the dreck proffered today.
REELIN' IN THE YEARS
The other hit. With the instantly recognizable Elliott Randall guitar solo and those LYRICS!
No wasted words, it's hard to figure out what to quote.
"You've been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean"
Cutting. With attitude. Our hits didn't usually sound like this.
"Reelin' In The Years" didn't go as high up the chart as "Do It Again," but it had an even larger place in the public consciousness. It was a rager with an underbelly. You could appreciate it if you were a mindless idiot or a brilliant Ph.D. candidate.
"Are you reelin' in the years
Stowin' away the time"
That's what we baby boomers are doing. Reeling it all back, trying to make sense of what once, who we were, who we are now. Our music is part of our DNA, and it's songs like "Reelin' In The Years" that bridge the gap without playing as nostalgia. It's not a moment in time, but a sacred item that keeps providing insight.
FIRE IN THE HOLE
Whereas "Only A Fool Would Say That" was too jazzy and soft, "Fire In The Hole" had an edge that illustrated the band was not playing to our preconceptions.
The more you listen, the more you like it.
"I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn"
BROOKLYN (OWES THE CHARMER UNDER ME)
My favorite cut on the LP.
Maybe it's Skunk's steel guitar.
Maybe it's David Palmer's mellifluous vocal.
Maybe it's the changes.
Maybe it's the nearly incomprehensible lyrics.
Maybe it's the whole damn thing, perfect from another world yet so right in the one the listener inhabits.
The chorus with the full background vocals...
I sang this song in my head for months years after this album came out. I was playing the record and it stuck. It provided optimism in an era that was pretty damn good. It was the soundtrack to my first serious romance.
CHANGE OF THE GUARD
Totally solid. With shared vocals by Palmer and Fagen. It's pure pop without being such. You can't listen without having your head nod, you sway to the music. It's light and dark at the same time. How did they do this?
TURN THAT HEARTBEAT OVER AGAIN
A closer. A summation. The band is making its exit and your only choice is to flip the vinyl and play it all over again.
And there you have it. An album with no lowlights and extreme highlights. Something so good we didn't know how to categorize it. Was this future pop or credible album rock or..?
Sometimes you start and we have no idea where you're going.
Like with the first Led Zeppelin album.
Today bands start out as one thing and that's what they remain. And they don't get better, they just repeat themselves.
Steely Dan did not repeat itself. It expanded is oeuvre, became more edgy and then smoother and ultimately we got hooked and went along for the ride, despite the band giving up the road, despite the lack of huge hits, their music was all over FM radio, fans bought the LPs without hearing them first, dropped them on their turntables and went deeper.
And it all started with "Can't Buy A Thrill."
You should check it out. It's all there.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1FKdzG7
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Friday 12 June 2015
Thursday 11 June 2015
Twitter Transition
Maybe Twitter's unfixable.
Maybe it's a fad like MySpace. Something gee-whiz, brand new, that is succeeded by a platform with more functionality.
Twitter told us we want instant news.
But it never turned into a comprehensible service.
It's the internet at its worst. A small enterprise where you communicate amongst your circle, with a bit of access to the famous, which morphs into a tsunami of hype that we ultimately ignore.
Twitter is a great place to find out what's happening right now. To read press releases. But it does a bad job of making the results comprehensible to the masses. It's Alta Vista, and we're waiting for Google.
If you think Jack Dorsey can save it, you're unaware of Square. Another product that got left in the dust. Dorsey didn't realize that starting is only the beginning. That to win you've got to deal with or supersede the entrenched elements, like the banks. Square was the small new thing that turned into the small old thing. And in today's world that's death. Furthermore, Dorsey's image has been shattered by the naysayers. He seems to take too much credit, and based on Square's results the rumors seem true.
So what to do?
Credit Chris Sacca for criticizing the company. This is something we rarely see at established businesses, a ground floor investor questioning management and direction. Everybody at the old company drinks the kool-aid, lines up behind the boss and marches towards the cliff. And then they're surprised when someone steals their cheese, like in the music business.
Twitter is a feature, not a standalone service. Snapchat moves into entertainment and Twitter can't even make its existing service usable. Twitter should be part of a search engine. Or should include other features. Maybe it's less about having everybody tweet than categorizing info to make it accessible. We don't care what the nobody has to say, and right now it's only the vocal nobodies tweeting away. Along with the brands, both corporations and people, who want to keep us informed of their efforts and whereabouts. But this self-promotion seems phony and ultimately rings hollow.
So what we've learned once again is the internet eats companies. What is on everybody's lips, clicked on today, is left on the scrapheap tomorrow. Remember when we all live-tweeted TV shows? That's akin to remembering the Macarena, or the Hula Hoop. It's already nostalgia.
But how come every fad is seen as lasting?
Maybe it's our short term economy.
Maybe it's media that needs something to trumpet.
The failure is certainly not the public. The public leads on the internet. And the public kicked the tires on Twitter and then abandoned it. Leaving it to those addicted to testify just like they did about Google Glass and now the Apple Watch. The sideshow becomes the main show, but only for a little while.
We want information.
We want to connect.
Twitter was a start.
It certainly won't be the end.
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Maybe it's a fad like MySpace. Something gee-whiz, brand new, that is succeeded by a platform with more functionality.
Twitter told us we want instant news.
But it never turned into a comprehensible service.
It's the internet at its worst. A small enterprise where you communicate amongst your circle, with a bit of access to the famous, which morphs into a tsunami of hype that we ultimately ignore.
Twitter is a great place to find out what's happening right now. To read press releases. But it does a bad job of making the results comprehensible to the masses. It's Alta Vista, and we're waiting for Google.
If you think Jack Dorsey can save it, you're unaware of Square. Another product that got left in the dust. Dorsey didn't realize that starting is only the beginning. That to win you've got to deal with or supersede the entrenched elements, like the banks. Square was the small new thing that turned into the small old thing. And in today's world that's death. Furthermore, Dorsey's image has been shattered by the naysayers. He seems to take too much credit, and based on Square's results the rumors seem true.
So what to do?
Credit Chris Sacca for criticizing the company. This is something we rarely see at established businesses, a ground floor investor questioning management and direction. Everybody at the old company drinks the kool-aid, lines up behind the boss and marches towards the cliff. And then they're surprised when someone steals their cheese, like in the music business.
Twitter is a feature, not a standalone service. Snapchat moves into entertainment and Twitter can't even make its existing service usable. Twitter should be part of a search engine. Or should include other features. Maybe it's less about having everybody tweet than categorizing info to make it accessible. We don't care what the nobody has to say, and right now it's only the vocal nobodies tweeting away. Along with the brands, both corporations and people, who want to keep us informed of their efforts and whereabouts. But this self-promotion seems phony and ultimately rings hollow.
So what we've learned once again is the internet eats companies. What is on everybody's lips, clicked on today, is left on the scrapheap tomorrow. Remember when we all live-tweeted TV shows? That's akin to remembering the Macarena, or the Hula Hoop. It's already nostalgia.
But how come every fad is seen as lasting?
Maybe it's our short term economy.
Maybe it's media that needs something to trumpet.
The failure is certainly not the public. The public leads on the internet. And the public kicked the tires on Twitter and then abandoned it. Leaving it to those addicted to testify just like they did about Google Glass and now the Apple Watch. The sideshow becomes the main show, but only for a little while.
We want information.
We want to connect.
Twitter was a start.
It certainly won't be the end.
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Wednesday 10 June 2015
Apple Music
It's toast.
Its success was based upon eliminating free. But that positively non-techie entity known as the government put the kibosh on that. Now the labels and Apple are too scared to enact their plan of eliminating freemium. So while the techies leap ahead, creating solutions to problems we didn't even know we had, those in the music business stay mired in the past, believing backroom dealings and brawn will get them what they want. But it won't in the new world.
Apple Music provides nothing new other than a live radio service, which is mildly interesting, but never forget that iTunes Radio didn't put a dent in Pandora. And sure, Beats 1 will make it worldwide before Pandora ever does, but is that what the world is clamoring for, a global radio service? I don't think so.
But the heart and soul of Apple Music is its streaming service. And it broke the number one rule of technology. That in order to succeed you've got to deliver something better, bring in those who were disinterested or scared to participate previously, and there's nothing in Apple Music that isn't widely available elsewhere, including its social network and playlists. Is that what we need, a new place to display musicians' thoughts and wares? You can't compete with Facebook just like you can't compete with Google. Innovation can kill them, but there's nothing innovative about Connect other than it's located on Apple's platform.
As for playlists... The internet is inundated with them. And if hand-curated playlists were the key to success, the original Beats Music would have triumphed. But to call it an also-ran would be generous. Turns out to win, or at least play the game in a meaningful way, you've got to have a freemium offering. And Apple Music does not.
It could change. It should change. Three months free is a good start, but there's no incentive to keep up your subscription. And those already desirous of paying for streaming already do, and getting someone to switch is difficult, especially to a company that evidences such hubris.
That's right, there's a huge backlash to Monday's presentation. Primarily in the press, because the public doesn't care. But you can't find anybody saying anything good, from Iovine to Cue. Furthermore, there's the story of the indie act having previous ties to Iovine and being fake. Those who care are aghast, even if most people don't give a crap. But the truth is Iovine is tone-deaf. He's way out of his league. He comes from a land where relationships and intimidation mean everything. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours and we'll make it on the image of propped-up stars. But the truth is in the modern era the winners are faceless techies who go their own way, whether they be Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Evan Spiegel of Snapchat or Nick Woodman of GoPro. They're giant slayers who think different, something Apple used to have a hold on.
I'm mortified by my experience with the Apple Watch. Jony Ive may be a great designer, but when it comes to what's under the sheen, he's brain dead. You're selling me a watch that doesn't tell time, that doesn't perform the basic functions of a wristwatch? And you're selling it as a luxury good? This is all wrong and does not portend a good future, especially when Angela Ahrendts is hired to promote it. I used to believe in Apple, but my faith is flagging.
And I need something and someone to believe in.
Daniel Ek's story is more interesting than Iovine's. Ek slayed piracy, Iovine sold crappy headphones as fashion items. I still listen to my old Sennheisers, will anyone listen to their old Beats? We want people who suffered, who are in it with us, providing us something we can't get elsewhere, whereas Apple Music seems constructed to save the major labels, artists and Apple...AND WE DON'T CARE!
That's right, Apple Music is hermetically sealed. The public does not need to pay to save the music industry, the music industry must innovate its way out of the hole. Assuming there's a hole to begin with! All the new tools have allowed acts to find their audience, interact with them and super-serve them. So, recordings are a smaller piece of the pie, but listening to Lucian Grainge rant against freemium is like listening to a manufacturing plant owner rail against China. We don't want to overpay for music and we don't want to pay $3000 for a flat screen. Welcome to today.
Of course Apple Music won't fail completely. But it will not eviscerate YouTube, it will not get everybody to pay, it probably won't even dominate the streaming sphere.
Because you've got to live in the real world.
And the world we live in, especially online, is one in which you must respect your customer, and hew to reality.
The reality is right now music is primarily a freemium product. And you won't get everyone to pay by either closing down YouTube or offering this imitative service. You will only win by providing what the customer wants, by having people play in to your web. And the customer doesn't want Apple Music, doesn't need Apple Music, and the hardest problem facing musicians is getting people to listen to their tunes at all, not getting paid.
But don't expect anybody in the music-industrial complex to acknowledge this.
P.S. It doesn't matter whether the government nails the labels or Apple for past behavior, it prevents them from heinous activity in the future. Believe me, the last thing the music industry wants is government scrutiny, it's got more skeletons in its closet than a graveyard.
"Who is Loren Kramar? The 'unsigned' artist Apple advertised has major label connections": http://tnw.co/1KqoOJb
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Its success was based upon eliminating free. But that positively non-techie entity known as the government put the kibosh on that. Now the labels and Apple are too scared to enact their plan of eliminating freemium. So while the techies leap ahead, creating solutions to problems we didn't even know we had, those in the music business stay mired in the past, believing backroom dealings and brawn will get them what they want. But it won't in the new world.
Apple Music provides nothing new other than a live radio service, which is mildly interesting, but never forget that iTunes Radio didn't put a dent in Pandora. And sure, Beats 1 will make it worldwide before Pandora ever does, but is that what the world is clamoring for, a global radio service? I don't think so.
But the heart and soul of Apple Music is its streaming service. And it broke the number one rule of technology. That in order to succeed you've got to deliver something better, bring in those who were disinterested or scared to participate previously, and there's nothing in Apple Music that isn't widely available elsewhere, including its social network and playlists. Is that what we need, a new place to display musicians' thoughts and wares? You can't compete with Facebook just like you can't compete with Google. Innovation can kill them, but there's nothing innovative about Connect other than it's located on Apple's platform.
As for playlists... The internet is inundated with them. And if hand-curated playlists were the key to success, the original Beats Music would have triumphed. But to call it an also-ran would be generous. Turns out to win, or at least play the game in a meaningful way, you've got to have a freemium offering. And Apple Music does not.
It could change. It should change. Three months free is a good start, but there's no incentive to keep up your subscription. And those already desirous of paying for streaming already do, and getting someone to switch is difficult, especially to a company that evidences such hubris.
That's right, there's a huge backlash to Monday's presentation. Primarily in the press, because the public doesn't care. But you can't find anybody saying anything good, from Iovine to Cue. Furthermore, there's the story of the indie act having previous ties to Iovine and being fake. Those who care are aghast, even if most people don't give a crap. But the truth is Iovine is tone-deaf. He's way out of his league. He comes from a land where relationships and intimidation mean everything. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours and we'll make it on the image of propped-up stars. But the truth is in the modern era the winners are faceless techies who go their own way, whether they be Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Evan Spiegel of Snapchat or Nick Woodman of GoPro. They're giant slayers who think different, something Apple used to have a hold on.
I'm mortified by my experience with the Apple Watch. Jony Ive may be a great designer, but when it comes to what's under the sheen, he's brain dead. You're selling me a watch that doesn't tell time, that doesn't perform the basic functions of a wristwatch? And you're selling it as a luxury good? This is all wrong and does not portend a good future, especially when Angela Ahrendts is hired to promote it. I used to believe in Apple, but my faith is flagging.
And I need something and someone to believe in.
Daniel Ek's story is more interesting than Iovine's. Ek slayed piracy, Iovine sold crappy headphones as fashion items. I still listen to my old Sennheisers, will anyone listen to their old Beats? We want people who suffered, who are in it with us, providing us something we can't get elsewhere, whereas Apple Music seems constructed to save the major labels, artists and Apple...AND WE DON'T CARE!
That's right, Apple Music is hermetically sealed. The public does not need to pay to save the music industry, the music industry must innovate its way out of the hole. Assuming there's a hole to begin with! All the new tools have allowed acts to find their audience, interact with them and super-serve them. So, recordings are a smaller piece of the pie, but listening to Lucian Grainge rant against freemium is like listening to a manufacturing plant owner rail against China. We don't want to overpay for music and we don't want to pay $3000 for a flat screen. Welcome to today.
Of course Apple Music won't fail completely. But it will not eviscerate YouTube, it will not get everybody to pay, it probably won't even dominate the streaming sphere.
Because you've got to live in the real world.
And the world we live in, especially online, is one in which you must respect your customer, and hew to reality.
The reality is right now music is primarily a freemium product. And you won't get everyone to pay by either closing down YouTube or offering this imitative service. You will only win by providing what the customer wants, by having people play in to your web. And the customer doesn't want Apple Music, doesn't need Apple Music, and the hardest problem facing musicians is getting people to listen to their tunes at all, not getting paid.
But don't expect anybody in the music-industrial complex to acknowledge this.
P.S. It doesn't matter whether the government nails the labels or Apple for past behavior, it prevents them from heinous activity in the future. Believe me, the last thing the music industry wants is government scrutiny, it's got more skeletons in its closet than a graveyard.
"Who is Loren Kramar? The 'unsigned' artist Apple advertised has major label connections": http://tnw.co/1KqoOJb
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Tuesday 9 June 2015
John Oliver Rules
PAY YOUR DUES
HBO did not hire John Oliver with no CV. Oliver had spent years in the trenches at the "Daily Show," honing his craft, playing number two before he ascended to the anchor chair.
Do not believe you're ready before you truly are.
Study those in line ahead of you.
Know that your history is precursor to your success.
FORMULA
Like a pop song. Verse chorus verse chorus bridge. People become inured to the framework. Oliver's "How is this still a thing?" is evidence. We understand the game, we look forward to it, it's a singular element and Oliver owns it. Be yourself, but distill yourself into something comprehensible, establish your own hooks, we loops are waiting to become ensnared.
WRITERS
There are too many brilliant asides for Oliver to come up with them all by his lonesome. No one can break through without the help of others. Furthermore, the team must know they're subservient to the star. Once the team feels responsible the whole edifice collapses.
HAVE AN EDGE
If you're not willing to offend, you're not willing to speak the truth, and the reason Oliver resonates is because of the endless parade of truth. Sure, he makes some politically incorrect statements. But his willingness to hang it all out there, to not only talk but take action, is what titillates us. We need people to believe in. And we believe most in those whose risks resonate.
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
Oliver pokes fun at himself without eviscerating his talent or message. We're all imperfect. Acknowledge your failings and you become humanized, and we can only identify with humans.
HANG IT OUT THERE
Every week Oliver tries to top himself, to deliver, he never phones it in. Being a fan is like seeing your favorite band in a third tier market, when they hit it over the fence you're titillated and fulfilled because you were there! Oliver doesn't hit a grand slam every week, but we keep rooting for him. Once again, we need someone to believe in.
SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER
Corporations are our enemy, not in all cases, but in many. Worried primarily about their stock price, their handsomely compensated executives underpay and fire their employees, assuming they're not independent contractors (can you hear me Live Nation: "Exposing the employment ploy at concert promoter Live Nation": http://lat.ms/1cKTo2H) all while paying no taxes. To see Oliver skewer institutions like Budweiser and McDonald's is enough to make you get up off the couch and cheer!
HAVE A SENSE OF HISTORY
When Oliver shows clips from the sixties, making the same point he's trying to make today, it reinforces his point. We're all just players in a script lasting decades, centuries, millennia. If you think it's only about today, you haven't lived too long.
FREEDOM REIGNS
Oliver could not do his show on network. Just like Howard Stern has flourished behind Sirius XM's paywall, Oliver could only do his act on pay cable. Which limits his audience but bonds his adherents to him ever closer.
PERSONALITY COUNTS
Talk about wanting to have a beer with someone... Oliver is the anti-star, the guy from the neighborhood who broke through who isn't consumed by the trappings. He doesn't believe he's entitled to be interviewed by TMZ, he's not that big a star. And the truth is the last big star was Michael Jackson. The internet flattened stardom, we're all just in it together.
OUTRAGE IS APPEALING
In a world where we die from a thousand cuts from which there is no judge, jury or justice, only a shrug of the shoulders, we unite behind someone who is pissed at the small stuff as well as the big. In an era where our elected officials don't represent us, we need someone to believe in.
STARDOM IS A VICTORY LAP FAR IN THE FUTURE
In an era where a record can stiff in a weekend, people don't realize how hard it is to penetrate popular culture and ultimately rise above. You have to labor in obscurity and then keep doing great work for years before most people realize and recognize you. Oliver is still not a star. Jay Z and Beyonce are, but they're squandering their stardom, Jay Z is all about himself in a world where we're all in it together and Beyonce is too busy being iconic. As for the pretenders...Rihanna to Maroon 5, they're just fodder for the tabloids. In a world that moves so fast, music moves too slow. Hits used to last 12 weeks, today they last a full year. But they won't forever. Because the public won't stand for it. The public knows today is already in the rearview mirror and they're only interested in he who is being born as opposed to he who is dying, or stalling, or so busy trying to lasso up everybody that he forgets the core audience who supports him.
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HBO did not hire John Oliver with no CV. Oliver had spent years in the trenches at the "Daily Show," honing his craft, playing number two before he ascended to the anchor chair.
Do not believe you're ready before you truly are.
Study those in line ahead of you.
Know that your history is precursor to your success.
FORMULA
Like a pop song. Verse chorus verse chorus bridge. People become inured to the framework. Oliver's "How is this still a thing?" is evidence. We understand the game, we look forward to it, it's a singular element and Oliver owns it. Be yourself, but distill yourself into something comprehensible, establish your own hooks, we loops are waiting to become ensnared.
WRITERS
There are too many brilliant asides for Oliver to come up with them all by his lonesome. No one can break through without the help of others. Furthermore, the team must know they're subservient to the star. Once the team feels responsible the whole edifice collapses.
HAVE AN EDGE
If you're not willing to offend, you're not willing to speak the truth, and the reason Oliver resonates is because of the endless parade of truth. Sure, he makes some politically incorrect statements. But his willingness to hang it all out there, to not only talk but take action, is what titillates us. We need people to believe in. And we believe most in those whose risks resonate.
DON'T TAKE YOURSELF TOO SERIOUSLY
Oliver pokes fun at himself without eviscerating his talent or message. We're all imperfect. Acknowledge your failings and you become humanized, and we can only identify with humans.
HANG IT OUT THERE
Every week Oliver tries to top himself, to deliver, he never phones it in. Being a fan is like seeing your favorite band in a third tier market, when they hit it over the fence you're titillated and fulfilled because you were there! Oliver doesn't hit a grand slam every week, but we keep rooting for him. Once again, we need someone to believe in.
SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER
Corporations are our enemy, not in all cases, but in many. Worried primarily about their stock price, their handsomely compensated executives underpay and fire their employees, assuming they're not independent contractors (can you hear me Live Nation: "Exposing the employment ploy at concert promoter Live Nation": http://lat.ms/1cKTo2H) all while paying no taxes. To see Oliver skewer institutions like Budweiser and McDonald's is enough to make you get up off the couch and cheer!
HAVE A SENSE OF HISTORY
When Oliver shows clips from the sixties, making the same point he's trying to make today, it reinforces his point. We're all just players in a script lasting decades, centuries, millennia. If you think it's only about today, you haven't lived too long.
FREEDOM REIGNS
Oliver could not do his show on network. Just like Howard Stern has flourished behind Sirius XM's paywall, Oliver could only do his act on pay cable. Which limits his audience but bonds his adherents to him ever closer.
PERSONALITY COUNTS
Talk about wanting to have a beer with someone... Oliver is the anti-star, the guy from the neighborhood who broke through who isn't consumed by the trappings. He doesn't believe he's entitled to be interviewed by TMZ, he's not that big a star. And the truth is the last big star was Michael Jackson. The internet flattened stardom, we're all just in it together.
OUTRAGE IS APPEALING
In a world where we die from a thousand cuts from which there is no judge, jury or justice, only a shrug of the shoulders, we unite behind someone who is pissed at the small stuff as well as the big. In an era where our elected officials don't represent us, we need someone to believe in.
STARDOM IS A VICTORY LAP FAR IN THE FUTURE
In an era where a record can stiff in a weekend, people don't realize how hard it is to penetrate popular culture and ultimately rise above. You have to labor in obscurity and then keep doing great work for years before most people realize and recognize you. Oliver is still not a star. Jay Z and Beyonce are, but they're squandering their stardom, Jay Z is all about himself in a world where we're all in it together and Beyonce is too busy being iconic. As for the pretenders...Rihanna to Maroon 5, they're just fodder for the tabloids. In a world that moves so fast, music moves too slow. Hits used to last 12 weeks, today they last a full year. But they won't forever. Because the public won't stand for it. The public knows today is already in the rearview mirror and they're only interested in he who is being born as opposed to he who is dying, or stalling, or so busy trying to lasso up everybody that he forgets the core audience who supports him.
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Monday 8 June 2015
The Allen Klein Book
I want you to read it, so you can see how the world really works.
A man from nothing, who even lived in the orphanage, desires to make it. Chances are you don't have this drive, you did not do without. And therefore you're not only unwilling to do the extreme work, you're unable to cut corners, work in the shady areas, because life is about survival, and if you've got no one looking out for you you understand this.
So he managed the Beatles and the Stones. Sounds interesting, but not really.
What is interesting is Allen was insecure, he could not be alone. He lived to make others feel good, burnishing his own image in the process.
And how did he achieve his goals?
BY REINVENTING THE PARADIGM!
That's what they don't teach you in school.
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where youngsters reinvent the paradigm, with Napster and file-trading and so much more, and the old farts at the record companies cry foul and refuse to enter the future?
One in which those with power have no skin in the game.
That's what's interesting in tech. It's your money. Or maybe the VC's money. But there are no established enterprises willing to dole out cash with no supervision like record companies. Most records fail. But it wasn't that easy to get a deal.
And it also wasn't easy to get paid.
The Animals threatened Donn Arden with a lawsuit, the agent refused to pay the band. What did Arden do? Open a drawer full of writs and throw them out the window! Those are the kinds of characters who used to run the music business. Today, everybody's sucked at the corporate tit their entire career, they don't know what living by your wits is all about, and the business is worse for it.
First and foremost Allen Klein was smart. Ingenious. He didn't take no for an answer, he just rejiggered the formula in order to succeed.
The label said royalties couldn't exceed 5%?
No problem, Allen decided to form his own company for Sam Cooke, and then license the records to RCA.
This is no different from Irving Azoff starting his own performing rights organization. When confronted with a problem amateurs kick and scream, professionals rewrite the rules of the game.
So by having his own label, by pressing the records himself, there could be no issue of royalty underpayment. And since the company owned the records, there could be a reversion clause, Sam Cooke could end up with his masters.
Actually, Klein ended up owning the masters. That's why he's got a bad rep, Klein couldn't help himself. He'd help you, but he'd dip where you couldn't see it, screwing you while he was aiding you.
Do you have the cojones for this?
Probably not.
But the truth is the record business was built on obfuscation and irregularities, oftentimes illegalities. They can teach you how to market at music business college, but they won't teach you how to cheat, and they most certainly won't teach you how to reinvent the wheel. And Allen Klein reinvented the wheel.
There's so much horseshit in this world. All this crap about you can make it if you really try.
Actually, no. Chances are you're not smart enough, and even if you are you didn't go to the school of hard knocks, you're not willing to do what it takes.
The truth is successful people aren't worried about others' reactions. They're all about making others feel uncomfortable, asking for the ungettable. Because you don't get if you don't ask and rules were meant to be broken and the spoils go to those who lead.
Want to make money?
Go where everybody else isn't.
Make friends, relationships yield opportunities.
Find someone's weak point and promise what will make them happy.
A great musician or a producer is usually a lousy businessman. Klein would get their ear by promising them a million dollars, with no commission, only a guarantee that if he delivered the money, they'd give him his accounting business.
But unbeknownst to the talent Klein would figure out a way to get paid on the deal. Furthermore, he might end up owning your catalog.
The truth is winners aren't team players. Certainly not the traditional teams. They're not about getting a gig at the company, but making the company crazy, via their demands or their competition.
And we haven't had that spirit in the record business for far too long.
The self-starters are gone. The corporations control the cash flow. And the best and the brightest are going where there are opportunities, as opposed to the entities in the music business run by boomers who want all the glory and the pay and won't thrown young 'uns a bone.
The book is dry. But the subject matter is intriguing.
It's not like it used to be. Certainly not in the record business. But in life? SAME AS IT EVER WAS!
P.S. Experience counts. Klein lost a bundle on an indie movie early in his career. But it was this business structure, where the producer owns the negative, that he transferred to the record business. The truth is we fumble and we learn along the way. Which is why those wet behind the ears rarely have success, or maintain it. The legends build upon their losses, they divine what works, and then they conquer and everybody knows their name and wants to be them. But they never can be. Because the originals broke the mold. You've got to break the mold too.
"Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll": http://amzn.to/1ds4BWt
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A man from nothing, who even lived in the orphanage, desires to make it. Chances are you don't have this drive, you did not do without. And therefore you're not only unwilling to do the extreme work, you're unable to cut corners, work in the shady areas, because life is about survival, and if you've got no one looking out for you you understand this.
So he managed the Beatles and the Stones. Sounds interesting, but not really.
What is interesting is Allen was insecure, he could not be alone. He lived to make others feel good, burnishing his own image in the process.
And how did he achieve his goals?
BY REINVENTING THE PARADIGM!
That's what they don't teach you in school.
What kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where youngsters reinvent the paradigm, with Napster and file-trading and so much more, and the old farts at the record companies cry foul and refuse to enter the future?
One in which those with power have no skin in the game.
That's what's interesting in tech. It's your money. Or maybe the VC's money. But there are no established enterprises willing to dole out cash with no supervision like record companies. Most records fail. But it wasn't that easy to get a deal.
And it also wasn't easy to get paid.
The Animals threatened Donn Arden with a lawsuit, the agent refused to pay the band. What did Arden do? Open a drawer full of writs and throw them out the window! Those are the kinds of characters who used to run the music business. Today, everybody's sucked at the corporate tit their entire career, they don't know what living by your wits is all about, and the business is worse for it.
First and foremost Allen Klein was smart. Ingenious. He didn't take no for an answer, he just rejiggered the formula in order to succeed.
The label said royalties couldn't exceed 5%?
No problem, Allen decided to form his own company for Sam Cooke, and then license the records to RCA.
This is no different from Irving Azoff starting his own performing rights organization. When confronted with a problem amateurs kick and scream, professionals rewrite the rules of the game.
So by having his own label, by pressing the records himself, there could be no issue of royalty underpayment. And since the company owned the records, there could be a reversion clause, Sam Cooke could end up with his masters.
Actually, Klein ended up owning the masters. That's why he's got a bad rep, Klein couldn't help himself. He'd help you, but he'd dip where you couldn't see it, screwing you while he was aiding you.
Do you have the cojones for this?
Probably not.
But the truth is the record business was built on obfuscation and irregularities, oftentimes illegalities. They can teach you how to market at music business college, but they won't teach you how to cheat, and they most certainly won't teach you how to reinvent the wheel. And Allen Klein reinvented the wheel.
There's so much horseshit in this world. All this crap about you can make it if you really try.
Actually, no. Chances are you're not smart enough, and even if you are you didn't go to the school of hard knocks, you're not willing to do what it takes.
The truth is successful people aren't worried about others' reactions. They're all about making others feel uncomfortable, asking for the ungettable. Because you don't get if you don't ask and rules were meant to be broken and the spoils go to those who lead.
Want to make money?
Go where everybody else isn't.
Make friends, relationships yield opportunities.
Find someone's weak point and promise what will make them happy.
A great musician or a producer is usually a lousy businessman. Klein would get their ear by promising them a million dollars, with no commission, only a guarantee that if he delivered the money, they'd give him his accounting business.
But unbeknownst to the talent Klein would figure out a way to get paid on the deal. Furthermore, he might end up owning your catalog.
The truth is winners aren't team players. Certainly not the traditional teams. They're not about getting a gig at the company, but making the company crazy, via their demands or their competition.
And we haven't had that spirit in the record business for far too long.
The self-starters are gone. The corporations control the cash flow. And the best and the brightest are going where there are opportunities, as opposed to the entities in the music business run by boomers who want all the glory and the pay and won't thrown young 'uns a bone.
The book is dry. But the subject matter is intriguing.
It's not like it used to be. Certainly not in the record business. But in life? SAME AS IT EVER WAS!
P.S. Experience counts. Klein lost a bundle on an indie movie early in his career. But it was this business structure, where the producer owns the negative, that he transferred to the record business. The truth is we fumble and we learn along the way. Which is why those wet behind the ears rarely have success, or maintain it. The legends build upon their losses, they divine what works, and then they conquer and everybody knows their name and wants to be them. But they never can be. Because the originals broke the mold. You've got to break the mold too.
"Allen Klein: The Man Who Bailed Out the Beatles, Made the Stones, and Transformed Rock & Roll": http://amzn.to/1ds4BWt
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WWDC
BILL HADER
Steve Jobs brings us "1984" and Tim Cook delivers this?
The intro was overlong and unfunny. Hollywood has no reason to fear Silicon Valley. And just because someone is famous, that does not mean we care. Come on, Bill Hader? Why does he get the slot, everyone but the press agrees that SNL is no longer must see TV, we catch what we want on YouTube, which is why...
CRAIG FEDERIGHI
Did not disappoint, loved his asides, like making fun of the breakthrough of resizing windows. Federighi has all the offhand irreverence musicians used to evidence, before they all became automatons in service of corporations. We're addicted to your personality, not your image.
EL CAPITAN
1
Lousy name, but ever since they left the cats behind they've been missing the target. But at least they're staying with the California theme, and by staying in the Park, they avoid admitting what everybody inside knows...El Capitan is a maintenance product, made to fix all the stuff Yosemite broke. Which ain't a bad thing. Also give the company credit for releasing a new OS every year. What's that cliche, "Real men ship?" Try to eliminate the bugs, but don't miss the market, release it.
2
Yosemite is slow on old Macs. There was a ton of talk about speed today, and it's necessary.
iOS
A few cool things, like multitasking and the new additional tools when typing.
But the truth is most people are not power users, most of the features talked about today are for those who extract every ounce of performance from their devices. A few features are intuitive and will be adopted by the hoi polloi, most will not. But none will get in your way. As for your phone knowing your life and suggesting appropriately... Kinda creepy, has never worked previously, and probably another feature few will use.
JENNIFER BAILEY
You can't complain Apple is light on women, not with two taking the stage today!
Jennifer Bailey was very impressive, I had to Google her, turns out she went to Middlebury!
As for Apple Pay... If you're following this closely, Google is not gonna charge the banks, whereas Apple still is. For now. We will pay with our mobile devices. Will Apple win? Does it have to win? It's still early.
MAPS
Remember when we laughed about Apple Maps?
Turns out maps are a feature, that multiple companies provide, as a way to keep people in their ecosystem and make money. Differentiating between mapping companies is like arguing about browsers, so in the past. They all work.
Lesson... Don't get hung up in the petty wars of today, take the long view.
What used to be standalone is now a feature. What used to be cool is now de rigueur. We keep marching forward and what seems important today may be irrelevant tomorrow.
NEWS
The biggest story of today's keynote and the least focused upon.
Bottom line, media is losing control of its platform. Data already tells us this. Visits to the "New York Times"'s website have flattened. Turns out people don't go to the source but the aggregator, which is why Apple's News is such a big deal. Facebook was there first, but Apple is doing it better. Facebook sees news as a sidebar, an also-ran, just another thing in your feed. Apple has concentrated all news in one place and this is phenomenal for news junkies. How good it is for media companies is up in the air. Do they keep the advertising money? They certainly are not in control of views. In other words, people might gravitate to a new news source. You took a hundred years to build your brand and now an upstart may upstage you. Assuming that upstart has news to proffer. Which is why aggregation apps like this will eviscerate linkbait sites like the "Huffington Post." Actually, linkbait is gonna die because it doesn't deliver for advertisers, they pay and get nothing in return.
But the truth is we want one news portal, without bias, and today Apple delivered it.
We're a nation addicted to news, we want to know what's going on, this is today's big story, can't wait to use the app.
P.S. Introduced by Susan Prescott. Another heretofore unknown Apple female. It's all good, except for the endless Warriors comments by Susan and the rest of those on stage. The more you act like an insider club the more we feel excluded, and that's anathema in today's world. You're supposed to level the playing field, you're supposed to make us feel like we belong.
SWIFT
The big story here is not the language, but that it's going to be open source.
I'd say Apple is being generous here, and it is, but this is mostly about establishing standards. That's what wins in our chaotic world, standards. Which is why Windows Phone has died, it's not one of the two standards. Then again, in the music world we keep crying foul when someone uses recordings, wanting to get paid for every usage, it's good to see a company that understands it's about the BIG MONEY!
WATCH
I'm returning mine. It's too soon, if ever.
They assume you're constantly vertical. Just try checking the time if you're lying down.
And you can't read the face in sunlight and if you're over forty, good luck seeing the screen.
The Apple Watch must be bigger and display the time at all times. The rest of the complaints are secondary, about speed and charging. You've got to perform the core functions perfectly, otherwise people don't care. Notice they didn't state how many watches have been sold. Now that they're just about caught up with back orders you're gonna start seeing stories about what a failure the Watch is. You'll be able to buy one instantly and the only people testifying paid for it. And I haven't seen any celebrities wearing them recently...
The new Google Glass?
Looks like it!
P.S. Once upon a time there was a car that was a boat. It failed because it performed both functions poorly. Is the Watch a timepiece or a computer? Furthermore, the Watch fails the egalitarian test. Steve Jobs gave away almost nothing for free and what distinguished the products was features. To survive Apple must fix functionality and drop the price, and have only a couple of models. Isn't that also what Jobs did when he came back to Apple, streamline the product line and make it comprehensible? If you can figure out the Watch offerings...you work for Apple.
TRENT REZNOR
Om Malik @om "Why is Trent Reznor even a thing."
Now that's hysterical.
In case you don't get it, that's one of John Oliver's constructs. Making jokes about stuff people still talk about that's irrelevant.
The truth is we care more about what Om has to say than Trent. Om is a bigger star than Trent. Who's a has-been speaking to fortysomethings.
I'm not saying Trent is not entitled to his career, I'm just saying...why should we be listening to him?
JIMMY IOVINE
Street smart but uneducated. Can he not read a teleprompter or just not read? Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave. Steve rehearsed, had to get it perfect. Jimmy looks like he just rolled out of bed. A bad day for music, a great day for tech. I'd rather listen to Jennifer Bailey or Susan Prescott any day of the week. Historically the music business has been built on relationships and intimidation. I won't say they're irrelevant in tech, but they're barely in the back seat. Furthermore, who cares about record labels getting paid? Did you see that "Rolling Stone" graph charting rising ticket prices? They've even outpaced the price of a college education! You've got to take a loan out to go to the show and the labels and artists can't stop bitching about getting paid. Ends up looking like greed, it only alienates the paying public. Makes me wonder what the future of recordings is anyway, maybe live is everything. The popsters can't tour and the rest earn their living on the road.
Interesting...
CHAOS
Give Jimmy credit, he's trying to solve the music business's problems. Although you wonder what team he's on...
People don't know where to go, Jimmy's squad built one place.
But it's a walled garden. That certainly didn't work at Beats Music.
Furthermore, curated playlists are better than algorithms but I'm still not sure I care about almost all of them. The Beats Music playlists were a five minute diversion, I'm not sure they'll be all that important here. We don't want our machines to tell us what to listen to but our friends. Social media is more important than Jimmy's team of music experts. Because we don't know who they are and why should we trust them?
Having said all that...putting all music features in one place is a good idea. But if the Connect elements are behind the paywall...they're a nonstarter. And they only work if Apple gains 60%+ market share, otherwise we still need to find this information elsewhere, so Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Wikipedia are still important. Is Connect the new Ping? Maybe...
BEATS 1
This is classic music industry stupidity. Everyone's looking to Iovine to save them, but they don't realize if Beats 1 radio is successful Apple is going to have more power than ever, it will make the stars, and the labels will be fighting to be featured. Believe me, it's not gonna be free-form, otherwise radio consultants would not exist. Data will tell Apple what works. And that same data will keep your record off, and when radio dies you'll have even a harder time getting noticed.
This radio service is Pandora's worst nightmare. Because we all prefer live to canned.
But do we want radio at all?
Zane Lowe... No one in the U.S. cares a whit about BBC 1. Are they going to care about your show? As for those of stars... If they were radio personalities they wouldn't be musicians. A novelty that wears thin very quickly.
Still, Beats 1 radio is a good idea.
However... Only Apple can afford to do it. It appears to be free. With no subscription fee and no ads... Is this something the government should look into? Is this unfair competition? How is Sirius supposed to survive, never mind Pandora? Then again, Sirius is all human creation, but Beats 1 is FREE!
CONNECT 2
Is this the new SoundCloud? Then again, is Connect free or behind the paywall? One of the many unanswered questions in today's presentation. I mean you get a chance to tell everybody and then you punt?
As for the "One More Thing"... Yes, Steve Jobs was famous for this, but his presentations were not two and a half hours long! At this length Apple Music should have been FIRST!
DRAKE
Was actually good.
Then again, he's a performer, he owns the stage.
SIRI
If it worked we'd all be using it, and we're not.
Did you notice it pulled up Imagine Dragons by mistake? I didn't know they were in the "Selma" soundtrack!
It's cool that you can pull up old charts.
But if you think you can do it by voice control...you have no frustration level, you're willing to waste time ad infinitum.
THE WEEKND
Make me puke!
Is this what we've come to, where an Apple keynote becomes a promotional opportunity?
The Weeknd can't play a hit, he's got to whip out a new track? Reminds me of the Grammys, where all the acts play their new cut instead of what people want to hear.
This scares me. This is evidence of Jimmy Iovine's ties to the music business. A great big club that has been screwing listeners for decades. Republic is giving high fives and we fill manipulated.
The track was actually good...
Then again, it was a track and not very live. More like a machine. But there's a clear dividing line between the two. We want our machines to serve us, not the other way around. And Apple's trying to do that, with its products, but including this hype of a performance...eeww...
CONCLUSION
It was more pep rally than presentation. And that made me feel contempt for the presenters. And that's a mistake.
As for Apple Music... It's very simple, there's no breakthrough feature that will get people to pay. It's just a better looking Spotify. It evidences no reason to give up YouTube, where music lives. As for the rest of the info... You can get it all elsewhere...and believe me, artists will post Connect content elsewhere because they don't want to take the chance that people won't see it.
So, Apple is providing tools, which it is doing its best to improve. They get kudos for that.
As for their Music service... Not bad. Like the family pricing, which all its competitors will instantly match. That's right major labels, you wanted people to pay more, Jimmy just go them to pay LESS! Unimpressed with the playlists. And when I saw the bubbles on screen I was reminded what a complete disaster the original Beats Music service was. And I ask why should the new one be successful?
Beats Music failed because of the short trial and the paywall.
Music has got a longer trial but still a paywall.
Unless Music goes into the freemium business... It will have limited impact, it'll be a slightly larger Rhapsody. Because it turns out right now people see no reason to pay $10 a month to rent music. We might get there, but the key will be convenience and usability, and today's product, although it make steps in that direction, evidences no breakthroughs.
Because those breakthroughs come from techies.
And Iovine, et al, are music people. They built the service they want to use. Is it the one the people want to use?
Doubtful.
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Steve Jobs brings us "1984" and Tim Cook delivers this?
The intro was overlong and unfunny. Hollywood has no reason to fear Silicon Valley. And just because someone is famous, that does not mean we care. Come on, Bill Hader? Why does he get the slot, everyone but the press agrees that SNL is no longer must see TV, we catch what we want on YouTube, which is why...
CRAIG FEDERIGHI
Did not disappoint, loved his asides, like making fun of the breakthrough of resizing windows. Federighi has all the offhand irreverence musicians used to evidence, before they all became automatons in service of corporations. We're addicted to your personality, not your image.
EL CAPITAN
1
Lousy name, but ever since they left the cats behind they've been missing the target. But at least they're staying with the California theme, and by staying in the Park, they avoid admitting what everybody inside knows...El Capitan is a maintenance product, made to fix all the stuff Yosemite broke. Which ain't a bad thing. Also give the company credit for releasing a new OS every year. What's that cliche, "Real men ship?" Try to eliminate the bugs, but don't miss the market, release it.
2
Yosemite is slow on old Macs. There was a ton of talk about speed today, and it's necessary.
iOS
A few cool things, like multitasking and the new additional tools when typing.
But the truth is most people are not power users, most of the features talked about today are for those who extract every ounce of performance from their devices. A few features are intuitive and will be adopted by the hoi polloi, most will not. But none will get in your way. As for your phone knowing your life and suggesting appropriately... Kinda creepy, has never worked previously, and probably another feature few will use.
JENNIFER BAILEY
You can't complain Apple is light on women, not with two taking the stage today!
Jennifer Bailey was very impressive, I had to Google her, turns out she went to Middlebury!
As for Apple Pay... If you're following this closely, Google is not gonna charge the banks, whereas Apple still is. For now. We will pay with our mobile devices. Will Apple win? Does it have to win? It's still early.
MAPS
Remember when we laughed about Apple Maps?
Turns out maps are a feature, that multiple companies provide, as a way to keep people in their ecosystem and make money. Differentiating between mapping companies is like arguing about browsers, so in the past. They all work.
Lesson... Don't get hung up in the petty wars of today, take the long view.
What used to be standalone is now a feature. What used to be cool is now de rigueur. We keep marching forward and what seems important today may be irrelevant tomorrow.
NEWS
The biggest story of today's keynote and the least focused upon.
Bottom line, media is losing control of its platform. Data already tells us this. Visits to the "New York Times"'s website have flattened. Turns out people don't go to the source but the aggregator, which is why Apple's News is such a big deal. Facebook was there first, but Apple is doing it better. Facebook sees news as a sidebar, an also-ran, just another thing in your feed. Apple has concentrated all news in one place and this is phenomenal for news junkies. How good it is for media companies is up in the air. Do they keep the advertising money? They certainly are not in control of views. In other words, people might gravitate to a new news source. You took a hundred years to build your brand and now an upstart may upstage you. Assuming that upstart has news to proffer. Which is why aggregation apps like this will eviscerate linkbait sites like the "Huffington Post." Actually, linkbait is gonna die because it doesn't deliver for advertisers, they pay and get nothing in return.
But the truth is we want one news portal, without bias, and today Apple delivered it.
We're a nation addicted to news, we want to know what's going on, this is today's big story, can't wait to use the app.
P.S. Introduced by Susan Prescott. Another heretofore unknown Apple female. It's all good, except for the endless Warriors comments by Susan and the rest of those on stage. The more you act like an insider club the more we feel excluded, and that's anathema in today's world. You're supposed to level the playing field, you're supposed to make us feel like we belong.
SWIFT
The big story here is not the language, but that it's going to be open source.
I'd say Apple is being generous here, and it is, but this is mostly about establishing standards. That's what wins in our chaotic world, standards. Which is why Windows Phone has died, it's not one of the two standards. Then again, in the music world we keep crying foul when someone uses recordings, wanting to get paid for every usage, it's good to see a company that understands it's about the BIG MONEY!
WATCH
I'm returning mine. It's too soon, if ever.
They assume you're constantly vertical. Just try checking the time if you're lying down.
And you can't read the face in sunlight and if you're over forty, good luck seeing the screen.
The Apple Watch must be bigger and display the time at all times. The rest of the complaints are secondary, about speed and charging. You've got to perform the core functions perfectly, otherwise people don't care. Notice they didn't state how many watches have been sold. Now that they're just about caught up with back orders you're gonna start seeing stories about what a failure the Watch is. You'll be able to buy one instantly and the only people testifying paid for it. And I haven't seen any celebrities wearing them recently...
The new Google Glass?
Looks like it!
P.S. Once upon a time there was a car that was a boat. It failed because it performed both functions poorly. Is the Watch a timepiece or a computer? Furthermore, the Watch fails the egalitarian test. Steve Jobs gave away almost nothing for free and what distinguished the products was features. To survive Apple must fix functionality and drop the price, and have only a couple of models. Isn't that also what Jobs did when he came back to Apple, streamline the product line and make it comprehensible? If you can figure out the Watch offerings...you work for Apple.
TRENT REZNOR
Om Malik @om "Why is Trent Reznor even a thing."
Now that's hysterical.
In case you don't get it, that's one of John Oliver's constructs. Making jokes about stuff people still talk about that's irrelevant.
The truth is we care more about what Om has to say than Trent. Om is a bigger star than Trent. Who's a has-been speaking to fortysomethings.
I'm not saying Trent is not entitled to his career, I'm just saying...why should we be listening to him?
JIMMY IOVINE
Street smart but uneducated. Can he not read a teleprompter or just not read? Steve Jobs is rolling in his grave. Steve rehearsed, had to get it perfect. Jimmy looks like he just rolled out of bed. A bad day for music, a great day for tech. I'd rather listen to Jennifer Bailey or Susan Prescott any day of the week. Historically the music business has been built on relationships and intimidation. I won't say they're irrelevant in tech, but they're barely in the back seat. Furthermore, who cares about record labels getting paid? Did you see that "Rolling Stone" graph charting rising ticket prices? They've even outpaced the price of a college education! You've got to take a loan out to go to the show and the labels and artists can't stop bitching about getting paid. Ends up looking like greed, it only alienates the paying public. Makes me wonder what the future of recordings is anyway, maybe live is everything. The popsters can't tour and the rest earn their living on the road.
Interesting...
CHAOS
Give Jimmy credit, he's trying to solve the music business's problems. Although you wonder what team he's on...
People don't know where to go, Jimmy's squad built one place.
But it's a walled garden. That certainly didn't work at Beats Music.
Furthermore, curated playlists are better than algorithms but I'm still not sure I care about almost all of them. The Beats Music playlists were a five minute diversion, I'm not sure they'll be all that important here. We don't want our machines to tell us what to listen to but our friends. Social media is more important than Jimmy's team of music experts. Because we don't know who they are and why should we trust them?
Having said all that...putting all music features in one place is a good idea. But if the Connect elements are behind the paywall...they're a nonstarter. And they only work if Apple gains 60%+ market share, otherwise we still need to find this information elsewhere, so Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and Wikipedia are still important. Is Connect the new Ping? Maybe...
BEATS 1
This is classic music industry stupidity. Everyone's looking to Iovine to save them, but they don't realize if Beats 1 radio is successful Apple is going to have more power than ever, it will make the stars, and the labels will be fighting to be featured. Believe me, it's not gonna be free-form, otherwise radio consultants would not exist. Data will tell Apple what works. And that same data will keep your record off, and when radio dies you'll have even a harder time getting noticed.
This radio service is Pandora's worst nightmare. Because we all prefer live to canned.
But do we want radio at all?
Zane Lowe... No one in the U.S. cares a whit about BBC 1. Are they going to care about your show? As for those of stars... If they were radio personalities they wouldn't be musicians. A novelty that wears thin very quickly.
Still, Beats 1 radio is a good idea.
However... Only Apple can afford to do it. It appears to be free. With no subscription fee and no ads... Is this something the government should look into? Is this unfair competition? How is Sirius supposed to survive, never mind Pandora? Then again, Sirius is all human creation, but Beats 1 is FREE!
CONNECT 2
Is this the new SoundCloud? Then again, is Connect free or behind the paywall? One of the many unanswered questions in today's presentation. I mean you get a chance to tell everybody and then you punt?
As for the "One More Thing"... Yes, Steve Jobs was famous for this, but his presentations were not two and a half hours long! At this length Apple Music should have been FIRST!
DRAKE
Was actually good.
Then again, he's a performer, he owns the stage.
SIRI
If it worked we'd all be using it, and we're not.
Did you notice it pulled up Imagine Dragons by mistake? I didn't know they were in the "Selma" soundtrack!
It's cool that you can pull up old charts.
But if you think you can do it by voice control...you have no frustration level, you're willing to waste time ad infinitum.
THE WEEKND
Make me puke!
Is this what we've come to, where an Apple keynote becomes a promotional opportunity?
The Weeknd can't play a hit, he's got to whip out a new track? Reminds me of the Grammys, where all the acts play their new cut instead of what people want to hear.
This scares me. This is evidence of Jimmy Iovine's ties to the music business. A great big club that has been screwing listeners for decades. Republic is giving high fives and we fill manipulated.
The track was actually good...
Then again, it was a track and not very live. More like a machine. But there's a clear dividing line between the two. We want our machines to serve us, not the other way around. And Apple's trying to do that, with its products, but including this hype of a performance...eeww...
CONCLUSION
It was more pep rally than presentation. And that made me feel contempt for the presenters. And that's a mistake.
As for Apple Music... It's very simple, there's no breakthrough feature that will get people to pay. It's just a better looking Spotify. It evidences no reason to give up YouTube, where music lives. As for the rest of the info... You can get it all elsewhere...and believe me, artists will post Connect content elsewhere because they don't want to take the chance that people won't see it.
So, Apple is providing tools, which it is doing its best to improve. They get kudos for that.
As for their Music service... Not bad. Like the family pricing, which all its competitors will instantly match. That's right major labels, you wanted people to pay more, Jimmy just go them to pay LESS! Unimpressed with the playlists. And when I saw the bubbles on screen I was reminded what a complete disaster the original Beats Music service was. And I ask why should the new one be successful?
Beats Music failed because of the short trial and the paywall.
Music has got a longer trial but still a paywall.
Unless Music goes into the freemium business... It will have limited impact, it'll be a slightly larger Rhapsody. Because it turns out right now people see no reason to pay $10 a month to rent music. We might get there, but the key will be convenience and usability, and today's product, although it make steps in that direction, evidences no breakthroughs.
Because those breakthroughs come from techies.
And Iovine, et al, are music people. They built the service they want to use. Is it the one the people want to use?
Doubtful.
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