I didn't buy the LP because of the cover. Any band that refuses to put its mugs on its debut...makes me suspicious. Meanwhile, that girl in the photo...she seemed to be from a different era, not 1978, when New Wave was ascendant.
And then I heard the record.
That's right, I passed up a chance to buy a promo because of the cover and the band's lame name. And then on a long drive up from La Costa, after visiting my girlfriend's parents, KMET, or maybe it was KLOS, played the whole first side at 10 PM on a Sunday night and I heard "Good Times Roll."
GOOD TIMES ROLL
"Let them brush your rock and roll hair"
Huh?
The magic in this track is encapsulated in its sound. The lyrics are just a dollop of irony laid on top, along with the Beach Boys harmonies...WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS?
Billed as the aforementioned "New Wave," the Cars' music was not. Rather it was rock with new sounds. They may have been wearing skinny ties, but this sounded nothing like the angry young men coming out of the U.K., never mind the leather-jacketed youth from NYC.
And there hadn't been a new hit band from Boston in years.
But it was really all about those synths. Before they became overdone and burned out.
How could you employ one of the most famous song titles of all time and create something brand new?
That's the magic of "Good Times Roll." Never mind leaving out "Let The"...
And the irony was they didn't sound like such good times. It's as if the most alienated man in the world was sitting on a couch reflecting. This album with the obvious cover was suddenly the coolest thing around, it resonated.
MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL
Like a Shadow Morton production transposed into the eighties. Street, yet the more it played on the more fully-developed and modern it became.
And when Ric Ocasek sang...
"But she used to be mine"
That was the hook.
Simple, yet so right.
JUST WHAT I NEEDED
Just what we need right now. A track that starts off in your face, grabs you by the neck and won't let go. There's no crime in writing a perfect hit. It might seem obvious, but it's so hard to do. A 3:46 minute ditty, "Just What I Needed" is irresistible, and it attaches itself to you and won't let go the more you play it. You could crank it on the radio and it would fill the space. It was new, but it was not thin, "Just What I Needed" hooked all those who weren't paying attention. They were suddenly fans. This is how you make a star.
YOU'RE ALL I'VE GOT TONIGHT
It was heavy. This presaged the hair band ballads of a decade hence, but sans the calculation and the wimpiness.
Well, it isn't exactly a ballad, it's not really slow, but it's not really fast either. Beavis & Butt-head might make fun of "You're All I've Got Tonight," but they would be unable to stop themselves from banging their heads to it.
And there you have the magic of the Cars. Whatever you thought of the band intellectually, you couldn't resist the music, you were drawn in.
BYE BYE LOVE
I actually prefer this to "My Best Friend's Girl."
It's denser, yet even more simple. It's a blend of modern and the Beach Boys, except for that magical pre-chorus. Where did they come up with that?
This was back when it was no crime to be catchy. Why does everybody who doesn't make Top Forty music refuse to be catchy today? When did catchy get such a bad rep?
Those synths, those drums, those guitars, that vocal, that chorus. A pocket symphony a decade and a half hence!
MOVING IN STEREO
Slower, darker, made for your bedroom more than radio, it showed the Cars' range. I got into this track last, but that was the pleasure of diverse albums, when LPs weren't over an hour long and you could comprehend and digest them, that which you passed over ultimately became your favorite.
Dark and dreamy, with an underbelly you wanted to caress and lay down next to..."Moving In Stereo" is subtle yet it enraptures you.
The very next day I went to the record store in Westwood. I was afraid I'd missed my chance, was that promo copy of "The Cars" still available?
It was. Word had not yet gotten out.
I came home and dropped the needle and fell into immediate bliss. That was the magic of the Cars, their music wasn't obvious, but it did not require repeated listenings to get into.
At this point we did not know that Ric Ocasek was the genius, even if Ben Orr was the face. Ben sang some of the songs, but not all. And that was David Robinson on drums, to the cognoscenti forever the man behind Jonathan Richman.
The band had cred.
They'd also paid their dues.
In the late seventies paying your dues still counted. We were not inundated with wet behind the ears pre-adolescents, pop didn't rule until MTV dominated in the eighties. Rather this was the age of AOR, the behemoth stations that were hip and owned their marketplace. They were not eager to move on from corporate rock, but bands like the Cars eased the way, made it easier for angrier stuff like Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson. Then disco came along and blew the paradigm apart.
Not that the Cars helped themselves.
Every album got worse.
And then, when it looked like it was nearly over, they hooked up with Mutt Lange and released "Heartbeat City," which was all over MTV and the airwaves back in '84.
But the debut was produced by Roy Thomas Baker, before he lost the plot, before Mutt inherited his mantle as the go-to guy.
And on one level the Cars' debut sounds dated.
On another, it exists in its own ether. Nothing ever sounded exactly like it, either then or now. As a result we're left with this masterpiece which gets no accolades, that seems to have been lost to the sands of time, but will never be forgotten by those who were alive and aware back in '78.
It was just what we needed!
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/1FiQd08
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Friday 25 September 2015
Thursday 24 September 2015
Yogi Berra
He was a team player in a world where stars dominated. The press was all about Mickey, but it was Yogi who we loved. And kept on loving long after his playing days were through, because although he was a member of the jockocracy, Yogi danced to the beat of his own drummer, he was not beyond feuding with George Steinbrenner, because winning isn't everything, it's how you play the game that counts.
But back then the Yankees were winning everything.
It was so different from today. No one flew, never mind went to spring training camp. But we couldn't wait for the season to begin. We'd camp out in damp basements watching exhibition games when the snow had already melted but it was still too cold to go outside. We flipped baseball cards. We bought books. Baseball was the National Pastime.
Before the players grew moustaches and gained free agency. Before we discovered their foibles. Sure, Joe Namath transcended the stars who preceded him, he played both on and off the field and won in both arenas. But before that athletes were two-dimensional.
And then there was Yogi.
Maybe it's because he was involved in every play, catching the ball. Sure, Bill Dickey had preceded him, but at this point stars were outfielders, pitchers, maybe shortstops, catchers were just part of the battery, integral but insignificant.
But Yogi could not only field, he could hit. You could count on Yogi.
He won the first game I ever went to.
That's right, I was a baseball fanatic. Every day after school I walked down to the park for a pick-up game. I practiced with this contraption made of mesh and rubber bands that bounced the ball back to you. I owned my own glove and my own bat and my own ball. And although this made me privileged, it was a way for my dad to make up for the fact that he was the least athletic man in the neighborhood. We stopped playing catch in kindergarten, I'd superseded his ability. And he never came to my Little League games.
But he took me to Yankee Stadium.
When Schaefer ruled and no one you knew had season tickets and even though the bleachers were under a buck you never sat there. The outfield was for city kids. You can hear their stories everywhere, about a hardscrabble life of collecting returnable bottles so they could go to the game and get the autograph of a player. I grew up in the suburbs. After all, it was the sixties. When the economy was flourishing and our first generation parents wanted to provide a better life.
My father owned a liquor store. And brought home the wares for us to consume. And there was Cott grape and Schweppes ginger ale but also Yoo-hoo. With Yankees on the bottle. Gil McDougald, others just before my time, and then Yogi.
Whose fame only grew with the namesake bear. Being first, everyone believed the Hanna-Barbera animated character was a direct reference. Forget having your own video game, even your own E! show. Yogi was bigger than the Kardashians because you never saw him working it, he just was. And he didn't take a victory lap and he didn't pooh-pooh the accolades, he just laughed.
He was our favorite.
Because he endured.
Roger Maris broke the home run record. My dad took me to that game too, October 1st, 1961, the very last day of the season. It was a line drive to right, it didn't clear the wall, which wasn't even chest high out there, by much. I felt I'd witnessed something special, long before attendance at Woodstock was a badge of honor. The stadium was far from full. The game was meaningless, the Yankees had already sewn up the pennant. Mickey had fallen out of the race, he'd gotten hurt and his production went down and Roger was carrying the flag. Unloved Roger, who was challenging Babe Ruth's record. He was soon traded away and forgotten, but no one alive back then didn't know he broke the home run record. When the NFL was still a fledgling sport and if you made news, we knew it.
My mom and dad took me to Old Timer's Day that year too. Three games in one season! Tickets were scarce so we had to sit in the upper deck. This was long before escalators, you had to walk up. And I stopped halfway and refused to go further. Because I'd been to the stadium and I knew on the third deck the seatbacks were bolted to the concrete and your legs swung free. At least it looked that way to me, the only other time I'd been at the ballpark. Lord knows how my 'rents convinced me to keep climbing. And I felt embarrassed I'd cried, but I ultimately felt triumphant that I'd been there.
But back to that first game. In the spring. The women went somewhere else, the men went to the game. My dad and me and Harry and Michael. My dad's long gone. He lived long enough to see cell phones in the car, but not the internet. He loved to talk on the phone. If he'd lived he would have died in a car accident, he'd have been distracted talking on the phone, yelling into it, making a point. My dad rarely listened and was rarely calm. He cared too much about what he was saying. Harry lived a lot longer, even though he had multiple heart surgeries. They drank beer, we ate hot dogs and the game went into extra innings.
This was New York, not L.A. No one ever left early. But it was a doubleheader, did the length of the first game preclude staying for the second?
No and yes. We stayed for half of the second game. Didn't leave because the Yankees were losing but because we had to meet the girls. That's what they called them back then, before feminism hit. And sure, there was discrimination and a glass ceiling and it was tough being an African-American, but this was before Vietnam, long after World War II and Korea, we were in a momentary state of bliss.
But the game was tied. And it was the bottom of the 14th. And it looked like no one was ever gonna win.
And Yogi pinch-hit.
I've seen Mickey Mantle strike out. It's so weird when the game turns upon their appearance. If only he could drive one over the fence the Yankees would win. But Mickey never came through in the clutch, not when I went.
But Yogi did.
There were a couple of men on base. But we were no longer on the edge of our seats, it felt like the game would go on forever.
Then Yogi hit one between the infielders, took off towards first, touched the bag and then immediately circled back towards the dugout and ran right in.
I wasn't sure what had happened. I was too young, too inexperienced. It had all occurred too quickly. But Yogi knew it was all over, that he'd sealed the deal.
Long before he was famous for malapropisms, Yogi was famous for clutch hits.
No one ever hated him.
Rather all of us loved him. Because he was always there and he always delivered.
Yogi's success was not about statistics, most fans can't recite his numbers. They're actually wowed when they find out they're so good. But Yogi contributed to the victory.
Sure, Whitey Ford mowed 'em down, but he didn't play every day.
And Moose was an iron horse at first, and occasionally unloaded at the plate, but he frequently struck out, his average wasn't that good.
Bobby Richardson was a choirboy. An incredible second baseman, you admired him, but you didn't love him.
Tony Kubek and Clete Boyer were dependable. Never screwed up. But their personalities were not strong.
And by this time, Elston Howard was frequently behind the plate. As solid as Yogi, but without the persona.
In the outfield were Roger and Mickey.
And by this time, usually Yogi was in left, they needed his bat in the lineup and his arm was strong. He might have been a famous backstop, and not a legendary outfielder, but his rep didn't take a hit, he could play the position.
The '61 Yanks.
Who was better, them or the '27 edition with Gehrig and Ruth?
I don't know.
But I do know that although Joltin' Joe showed up as an old timer, Lou and the Babe were dead, they'd played in a bygone era, it was now a modern game.
It was on TV, all the time, there were no cable channels.
And you played for all the marbles. There were no playoffs other than a World Series which took place in the afternoon, on weekdays while we were still at school.
It was all over long before the snow fell. They were truly the boys of summer.
Back before the Beatles. Back before long hair. Back before the assassinations. We had no idea the sixties would be an era of such turmoil. We thought it would be the same as it ever was. With ballplayers the biggest stars in the land. Regular people, selling cars in the winter, not relaxing down in Florida, our best selves. Or so we thought.
I'm not sure the younger generation has any idea who Yogi Berra was. At best, they can compare statistics. Then again, he wasn't at the tippity-top, and that's all that anybody cares about today.
But we cared about more.
And those of us who were there look back and can't remember who won.
But we remember who was there.
And at this point, we recall Yogi just as much as Mickey. Mantle was the star, but Yogi was the Yankees' soul. He not only played with dignity, he played for fun. Because, after all, it's just a game. Simple, with rules. One that we all paid attention to.
So, so long Yogi. You're in our hearts, it's sad you're gone, but you had a long run, you carried the torch of what once was, which so many of us baby boomers still want to believe in. You illustrated what life was about, giving your all in service to the team. Because without others, we're nobody.
Without Yogi Berra, we're so much less.
He was the American Dream personified. Making it from the lower class to the mainstream.
With Yogi goes some of our hopes and dreams.
But he entertained us along the way.
Without making an effort to do so.
Yogi never played to the crowd, all his attention was focused inside the diamond. We felt hanging with him would make our lives complete.
But we never got the chance.
He may not have had matinee good looks, he may not have been educated, but Yogi Berra had the goods.
He was anything but the average bear.
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But back then the Yankees were winning everything.
It was so different from today. No one flew, never mind went to spring training camp. But we couldn't wait for the season to begin. We'd camp out in damp basements watching exhibition games when the snow had already melted but it was still too cold to go outside. We flipped baseball cards. We bought books. Baseball was the National Pastime.
Before the players grew moustaches and gained free agency. Before we discovered their foibles. Sure, Joe Namath transcended the stars who preceded him, he played both on and off the field and won in both arenas. But before that athletes were two-dimensional.
And then there was Yogi.
Maybe it's because he was involved in every play, catching the ball. Sure, Bill Dickey had preceded him, but at this point stars were outfielders, pitchers, maybe shortstops, catchers were just part of the battery, integral but insignificant.
But Yogi could not only field, he could hit. You could count on Yogi.
He won the first game I ever went to.
That's right, I was a baseball fanatic. Every day after school I walked down to the park for a pick-up game. I practiced with this contraption made of mesh and rubber bands that bounced the ball back to you. I owned my own glove and my own bat and my own ball. And although this made me privileged, it was a way for my dad to make up for the fact that he was the least athletic man in the neighborhood. We stopped playing catch in kindergarten, I'd superseded his ability. And he never came to my Little League games.
But he took me to Yankee Stadium.
When Schaefer ruled and no one you knew had season tickets and even though the bleachers were under a buck you never sat there. The outfield was for city kids. You can hear their stories everywhere, about a hardscrabble life of collecting returnable bottles so they could go to the game and get the autograph of a player. I grew up in the suburbs. After all, it was the sixties. When the economy was flourishing and our first generation parents wanted to provide a better life.
My father owned a liquor store. And brought home the wares for us to consume. And there was Cott grape and Schweppes ginger ale but also Yoo-hoo. With Yankees on the bottle. Gil McDougald, others just before my time, and then Yogi.
Whose fame only grew with the namesake bear. Being first, everyone believed the Hanna-Barbera animated character was a direct reference. Forget having your own video game, even your own E! show. Yogi was bigger than the Kardashians because you never saw him working it, he just was. And he didn't take a victory lap and he didn't pooh-pooh the accolades, he just laughed.
He was our favorite.
Because he endured.
Roger Maris broke the home run record. My dad took me to that game too, October 1st, 1961, the very last day of the season. It was a line drive to right, it didn't clear the wall, which wasn't even chest high out there, by much. I felt I'd witnessed something special, long before attendance at Woodstock was a badge of honor. The stadium was far from full. The game was meaningless, the Yankees had already sewn up the pennant. Mickey had fallen out of the race, he'd gotten hurt and his production went down and Roger was carrying the flag. Unloved Roger, who was challenging Babe Ruth's record. He was soon traded away and forgotten, but no one alive back then didn't know he broke the home run record. When the NFL was still a fledgling sport and if you made news, we knew it.
My mom and dad took me to Old Timer's Day that year too. Three games in one season! Tickets were scarce so we had to sit in the upper deck. This was long before escalators, you had to walk up. And I stopped halfway and refused to go further. Because I'd been to the stadium and I knew on the third deck the seatbacks were bolted to the concrete and your legs swung free. At least it looked that way to me, the only other time I'd been at the ballpark. Lord knows how my 'rents convinced me to keep climbing. And I felt embarrassed I'd cried, but I ultimately felt triumphant that I'd been there.
But back to that first game. In the spring. The women went somewhere else, the men went to the game. My dad and me and Harry and Michael. My dad's long gone. He lived long enough to see cell phones in the car, but not the internet. He loved to talk on the phone. If he'd lived he would have died in a car accident, he'd have been distracted talking on the phone, yelling into it, making a point. My dad rarely listened and was rarely calm. He cared too much about what he was saying. Harry lived a lot longer, even though he had multiple heart surgeries. They drank beer, we ate hot dogs and the game went into extra innings.
This was New York, not L.A. No one ever left early. But it was a doubleheader, did the length of the first game preclude staying for the second?
No and yes. We stayed for half of the second game. Didn't leave because the Yankees were losing but because we had to meet the girls. That's what they called them back then, before feminism hit. And sure, there was discrimination and a glass ceiling and it was tough being an African-American, but this was before Vietnam, long after World War II and Korea, we were in a momentary state of bliss.
But the game was tied. And it was the bottom of the 14th. And it looked like no one was ever gonna win.
And Yogi pinch-hit.
I've seen Mickey Mantle strike out. It's so weird when the game turns upon their appearance. If only he could drive one over the fence the Yankees would win. But Mickey never came through in the clutch, not when I went.
But Yogi did.
There were a couple of men on base. But we were no longer on the edge of our seats, it felt like the game would go on forever.
Then Yogi hit one between the infielders, took off towards first, touched the bag and then immediately circled back towards the dugout and ran right in.
I wasn't sure what had happened. I was too young, too inexperienced. It had all occurred too quickly. But Yogi knew it was all over, that he'd sealed the deal.
Long before he was famous for malapropisms, Yogi was famous for clutch hits.
No one ever hated him.
Rather all of us loved him. Because he was always there and he always delivered.
Yogi's success was not about statistics, most fans can't recite his numbers. They're actually wowed when they find out they're so good. But Yogi contributed to the victory.
Sure, Whitey Ford mowed 'em down, but he didn't play every day.
And Moose was an iron horse at first, and occasionally unloaded at the plate, but he frequently struck out, his average wasn't that good.
Bobby Richardson was a choirboy. An incredible second baseman, you admired him, but you didn't love him.
Tony Kubek and Clete Boyer were dependable. Never screwed up. But their personalities were not strong.
And by this time, Elston Howard was frequently behind the plate. As solid as Yogi, but without the persona.
In the outfield were Roger and Mickey.
And by this time, usually Yogi was in left, they needed his bat in the lineup and his arm was strong. He might have been a famous backstop, and not a legendary outfielder, but his rep didn't take a hit, he could play the position.
The '61 Yanks.
Who was better, them or the '27 edition with Gehrig and Ruth?
I don't know.
But I do know that although Joltin' Joe showed up as an old timer, Lou and the Babe were dead, they'd played in a bygone era, it was now a modern game.
It was on TV, all the time, there were no cable channels.
And you played for all the marbles. There were no playoffs other than a World Series which took place in the afternoon, on weekdays while we were still at school.
It was all over long before the snow fell. They were truly the boys of summer.
Back before the Beatles. Back before long hair. Back before the assassinations. We had no idea the sixties would be an era of such turmoil. We thought it would be the same as it ever was. With ballplayers the biggest stars in the land. Regular people, selling cars in the winter, not relaxing down in Florida, our best selves. Or so we thought.
I'm not sure the younger generation has any idea who Yogi Berra was. At best, they can compare statistics. Then again, he wasn't at the tippity-top, and that's all that anybody cares about today.
But we cared about more.
And those of us who were there look back and can't remember who won.
But we remember who was there.
And at this point, we recall Yogi just as much as Mickey. Mantle was the star, but Yogi was the Yankees' soul. He not only played with dignity, he played for fun. Because, after all, it's just a game. Simple, with rules. One that we all paid attention to.
So, so long Yogi. You're in our hearts, it's sad you're gone, but you had a long run, you carried the torch of what once was, which so many of us baby boomers still want to believe in. You illustrated what life was about, giving your all in service to the team. Because without others, we're nobody.
Without Yogi Berra, we're so much less.
He was the American Dream personified. Making it from the lower class to the mainstream.
With Yogi goes some of our hopes and dreams.
But he entertained us along the way.
Without making an effort to do so.
Yogi never played to the crowd, all his attention was focused inside the diamond. We felt hanging with him would make our lives complete.
But we never got the chance.
He may not have had matinee good looks, he may not have been educated, but Yogi Berra had the goods.
He was anything but the average bear.
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Apple Music's Functionality Failure
They broke Clayton Christensen's rule.
The other night, I decided to play some MP3s. Retro, I know. But I heard a song on the radio and I wanted to hear more by that artist and I didn't want to pay for bandwidth when I knew I had most of his canon on my phone and...
There started my problems.
Finding the artist's MP3s was far from simple. I had to navigate to my music as opposed to streaming, I had to search, and when I hit shuffle I kept on hearing the same songs again. Did I press the wrong selection, was I only listening to one album? No, shuffle in Apple Music is broken. It'll play the same song multiple times before it plays all of them. Furthermore, my artwork is screwed up. And this is frustrating. I want a separate Apple Music app for my MP3s and another for my streams. And that's when it hit me, Cupertino had broken the rule outlined in the "Innovator's Dilemma."
When you encounter disruption, you save your enterprise by building a cheaper, less-profitable operation across the street. And eventually there comes a tipping point when the new enterprise subsumes the old. You don't mix them together. If you're trying to placate your old customers, you're screwing the new, and that's death.
Steve Jobs never did this.
Mac aficionados know that when OS X was introduced you could boot into either it or OS 9, but they did not work on the same screen, that would be too confusing. Just like you can run Windows on your Mac today, but not without closing down OS X and rebooting into it.
Apple realized MP3s were dying. At least I hope they realized this. But they were fearful of not only cannibalizing said business, but alienating iTunes customers. Instead, Apple decided to hamstring both old and new listeners, which is important, because companies that do this fail.
You jump over the fence and join the revolution. You don't bring the old to the new. It's what hobbled Microsoft. So busy making sure old machines and software could work with the new operating system, PCs became clunky and the spaghetti code in the OS became untrustworthy. Instead of just working, it didn't.
And now Apple is doing the same thing.
And this is death in tech. If you're not willing to destroy the old business model on the way to the new, you're gonna lose in the long run.
Yes, Apple has zillions of credit card numbers. Yes, Apple is the world's most valuable company, a juggernaut. But IBM is a shadow of what it once was, as is Microsoft. Nothing is forever. When the great disruption comes you've got to sacrifice what once was, however profitable it might be, or you will die in the future.
The problem with streaming in the United States is that most people just don't see the need to subscribe. Furthermore, they don't see the need to experiment. Getting someone to try something is the hardest part. And when they do try something and they get less functionality than before, they're out.
This is what's happening with Apple Music, and this hurts not only Apple, but the music business at large.
It'd be like having a CD player that spins vinyl. Actually, they tried this. Needless to say, it failed.
As for streaming sound quality, Clayton Christensen went on to say that the new solution may not equal the quality of the old, but it's good enough and it's cheap. If you're an iTunes customer you're going to go to streaming, you just don't know it yet. Because streaming is cheaper if you're a heavy buyer, and owning nothing you can gain improvement along the way. Imagine if you were hobbled by your internet speed of fifteen years ago! But you kept paying the cable company and you kept getting higher speed.
As for DSL... It failed in the marketplace. Everybody moved on to cable. Verizon only succeeded with a whole new delivery system, FiOS. It wasn't about improving copper wire, but abandoning it, which is what telephone companies are now doing.
The point is not that musicians are complaining about royalty rates. It's not even about Neil Young's rants about sound quality. They're roadkill on the way to the future, diversions at best.
It's about the world's most valuable company trying to hold on to its customers.
We're beholden to corporations. We follow them more than bands. They're peopled by the best and the brightest. We study them to see when they succeed and fail. When they sacrifice credibility, when they miss innovation.
When hip-hop started to gain traction did record companies insist that DJs and MCs include rock elements to satiate the old audience?
OF COURSE NOT!
You leave the past behind.
Streaming is a disruptive technology. It's already killed purchase. YouTube demonstrated this. The goal is to capture as many people and generate as much money as possible.
YouTube didn't care about MP3s. Didn't even care about copyrights at first. And so far, YouTube has won. It's easy to navigate and easy to play. But Google was protecting no legacy interests, they started with a clean slate.
Apple Music's interface is too cluttered. Functionality is hampered. And this scares me, Apple was once a fountain of innovation. But now that it's protecting its past, it's screwed.
In Silicon Valley, Clayton Christensen's work is gospel.
How did Apple miss out?
P.S. In case you're not using Apple Music... The app both streams and plays your MP3s. The dividing line is blurry, nearly incomprehensible, and whereas the old Music app synched only the songs you chose, the new app lists all of the tracks in your iTunes library, and you can't find those that are actually synched! And you've got to keep clicking back between streams and MP3s, and even though some may say they love Apple Music, the truth is early adopters always yell loudest, but not everybody follows their lead.
P.P.S. I don't expect Apple to break out the number of paying Music customers, it's not their style, when they lose they obfuscate.
P.P.P.S. Just because you downloaded the app, that does not mean you use it. Look at Twitter... Massive sign-ups and little usage. Furthermore, Apple pushed Music updates, and people now download these without thinking.
P.P.P.P.S. With customers and momentum Apple still might win the music streaming wars, but based on their ignorance of Clayton Christensen's rules one doubts the company will win in the future. You need someone to say no, you need someone to make the hard decisions. Autocrats lead the best companies, consensus builders fail, pleasing everyone ultimately pleases no one. In other words, Tim Cook knows how to make the trains run on time, but can he get them to the next destination?
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The other night, I decided to play some MP3s. Retro, I know. But I heard a song on the radio and I wanted to hear more by that artist and I didn't want to pay for bandwidth when I knew I had most of his canon on my phone and...
There started my problems.
Finding the artist's MP3s was far from simple. I had to navigate to my music as opposed to streaming, I had to search, and when I hit shuffle I kept on hearing the same songs again. Did I press the wrong selection, was I only listening to one album? No, shuffle in Apple Music is broken. It'll play the same song multiple times before it plays all of them. Furthermore, my artwork is screwed up. And this is frustrating. I want a separate Apple Music app for my MP3s and another for my streams. And that's when it hit me, Cupertino had broken the rule outlined in the "Innovator's Dilemma."
When you encounter disruption, you save your enterprise by building a cheaper, less-profitable operation across the street. And eventually there comes a tipping point when the new enterprise subsumes the old. You don't mix them together. If you're trying to placate your old customers, you're screwing the new, and that's death.
Steve Jobs never did this.
Mac aficionados know that when OS X was introduced you could boot into either it or OS 9, but they did not work on the same screen, that would be too confusing. Just like you can run Windows on your Mac today, but not without closing down OS X and rebooting into it.
Apple realized MP3s were dying. At least I hope they realized this. But they were fearful of not only cannibalizing said business, but alienating iTunes customers. Instead, Apple decided to hamstring both old and new listeners, which is important, because companies that do this fail.
You jump over the fence and join the revolution. You don't bring the old to the new. It's what hobbled Microsoft. So busy making sure old machines and software could work with the new operating system, PCs became clunky and the spaghetti code in the OS became untrustworthy. Instead of just working, it didn't.
And now Apple is doing the same thing.
And this is death in tech. If you're not willing to destroy the old business model on the way to the new, you're gonna lose in the long run.
Yes, Apple has zillions of credit card numbers. Yes, Apple is the world's most valuable company, a juggernaut. But IBM is a shadow of what it once was, as is Microsoft. Nothing is forever. When the great disruption comes you've got to sacrifice what once was, however profitable it might be, or you will die in the future.
The problem with streaming in the United States is that most people just don't see the need to subscribe. Furthermore, they don't see the need to experiment. Getting someone to try something is the hardest part. And when they do try something and they get less functionality than before, they're out.
This is what's happening with Apple Music, and this hurts not only Apple, but the music business at large.
It'd be like having a CD player that spins vinyl. Actually, they tried this. Needless to say, it failed.
As for streaming sound quality, Clayton Christensen went on to say that the new solution may not equal the quality of the old, but it's good enough and it's cheap. If you're an iTunes customer you're going to go to streaming, you just don't know it yet. Because streaming is cheaper if you're a heavy buyer, and owning nothing you can gain improvement along the way. Imagine if you were hobbled by your internet speed of fifteen years ago! But you kept paying the cable company and you kept getting higher speed.
As for DSL... It failed in the marketplace. Everybody moved on to cable. Verizon only succeeded with a whole new delivery system, FiOS. It wasn't about improving copper wire, but abandoning it, which is what telephone companies are now doing.
The point is not that musicians are complaining about royalty rates. It's not even about Neil Young's rants about sound quality. They're roadkill on the way to the future, diversions at best.
It's about the world's most valuable company trying to hold on to its customers.
We're beholden to corporations. We follow them more than bands. They're peopled by the best and the brightest. We study them to see when they succeed and fail. When they sacrifice credibility, when they miss innovation.
When hip-hop started to gain traction did record companies insist that DJs and MCs include rock elements to satiate the old audience?
OF COURSE NOT!
You leave the past behind.
Streaming is a disruptive technology. It's already killed purchase. YouTube demonstrated this. The goal is to capture as many people and generate as much money as possible.
YouTube didn't care about MP3s. Didn't even care about copyrights at first. And so far, YouTube has won. It's easy to navigate and easy to play. But Google was protecting no legacy interests, they started with a clean slate.
Apple Music's interface is too cluttered. Functionality is hampered. And this scares me, Apple was once a fountain of innovation. But now that it's protecting its past, it's screwed.
In Silicon Valley, Clayton Christensen's work is gospel.
How did Apple miss out?
P.S. In case you're not using Apple Music... The app both streams and plays your MP3s. The dividing line is blurry, nearly incomprehensible, and whereas the old Music app synched only the songs you chose, the new app lists all of the tracks in your iTunes library, and you can't find those that are actually synched! And you've got to keep clicking back between streams and MP3s, and even though some may say they love Apple Music, the truth is early adopters always yell loudest, but not everybody follows their lead.
P.P.S. I don't expect Apple to break out the number of paying Music customers, it's not their style, when they lose they obfuscate.
P.P.P.S. Just because you downloaded the app, that does not mean you use it. Look at Twitter... Massive sign-ups and little usage. Furthermore, Apple pushed Music updates, and people now download these without thinking.
P.P.P.P.S. With customers and momentum Apple still might win the music streaming wars, but based on their ignorance of Clayton Christensen's rules one doubts the company will win in the future. You need someone to say no, you need someone to make the hard decisions. Autocrats lead the best companies, consensus builders fail, pleasing everyone ultimately pleases no one. In other words, Tim Cook knows how to make the trains run on time, but can he get them to the next destination?
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Monday 21 September 2015
Spotify United States Top 50
A funny thing happened on the way to streaming... Acts became bigger than their singles. The truth is if you're popular today, people want more of your music. And if it's good, they'll continue to play it. Even if it didn't all come from the same LP. Look at Drake, famous for dropping new tracks all the time. But the truth is his audience is listening.
Furthermore, radio is out of the loop. At best it's a place you get started. Kind of like the FM of yore.
For evidence let me point to the big winner, the Weeknd.
It's all about "Can't Feel My Face," right?
Wrong. The Weeknd has six tracks in Spotify's United States Top 50. That brings us right back to 1964, when the Beatles dominated the radio chart. Only today, you get paid when people listen. That's right, Capitol sold "Meet The Beatles" and the band only got paid once. Today, the Weeknd is cleaning up, as fans are streaming his tracks over and over again. The Weeknd dominates listening patterns in a way we either haven't seen or haven't been able to measure in eons. He's the biggest star in music listening. If anything, the hype has been too small. This guy is GIGANTIC!
As is Justin Bieber. He's only got two tracks in the Top 50, but "What Do You Mean" is sitting at number one. You lead with the track, without a hit you're nowhere. That's what got everybody interested in the Weeknd's album.
But you know who else is every bit as big as the hype? Lyor Cohen's Fetty Wap. It may have taken a long time for "Trap Queen" to break through, but listeners can't get enough of Fetty, he's not a one hit wonder on Spotify, Fetty has FIVE tracks in the Top 50!
And then there's Drake. The supposed downfall of Serena Williams. The Canadian has SIX tracks in the Top 50.
Ed Sheeran has three, although one is with the Weeknd, "Dark Times," you should listen to it, it's so far from Top Forty fodder you'll find yourself reconsidering your hatred of pop music. "Dark Times" is closer to underground FM than iHeart.
Not that every act has multiple tracks in the Top 50.
But what we've learned is if you've got the goods, the audience wants more than the single. You're only handcuffed by your ability to create great tracks. We've got listeners galore.
And then you wonder why everyone's bitching about Spotify payments...
The truth is acts like the Weeknd, Drake and Ed Sheeran are dominating listening. Don't argue with data, Nate Silver said no one had run for President this late and won but the press keeps telling Biden to jump in. The same way the press keeps trumpeting the low Spotify payment story. You don't hear any of these acts bitching about their Spotify payments, nor their cowriters. Max Martin is all over the Weeknd album...do you see him in the press complaining he can't make enough money? OF COURSE NOT!
The rich are getting richer and the marginal are being squeezed to the periphery.
Everything you know is wrong. Everything you've based your precepts on is kaput.
Once everything is available for one low price, or via a freemium tier, it turns out listeners want more than the hit. Look back, in the old days you had to wait for your favorite to come on the radio. And needless to say, ACTS DIDN'T GET PAID FOR RADIO PLAY! Most people never purchased the single, never mind the album. But once the act's repertoire has been unlocked online, people not only want the hit, they want so much more!
And sure, right now payments are relatively low, but they're only gonna grow as more people subscribe. And then the winners are gonna get paid ad infinitum, as long as you're listening, they're making money. With no shipping and no billing and no preorders, none of the junk clogging up the system in the past.
Drake puts out a steady stream of music. Bieber doesn't wait until he has an album to put out a track. The Weeknd started off without a label, giving away his music for free. They're harnessing the new system while idiots like Keith Richards are missing what's going on.
In the old days, it was all about the first week number. To get press and reorders. But today press means ever less. And physical retail is essentially irrelevant. The only criterion is whether people listen. And by that standard Keith Richards's new album is an abject failure. Many of the tracks on "Crosseyed Heart" don't even have 100,000 listens. The Weeknd has multiple tracks with TRIPLE DIGIT MILLION LISTENS! Keith's got 17,242 followers on Spotify. The Weeknd has 1,768,752. As for the demo... Let me remind you, it's oldsters with deep pockets who can pay for Spotify. As for physical...where are you gonna find it? As for digital, Keith's album is number 11 at the iTunes Store, but we've got no idea how many people are actually listening to it, never mind that sales of albums at the iTunes Store are anemic.
So it all comes down to listens. Which are not about the first week but the long term. If Keith Richards's album is in the iTunes Top 50 six months from now I'll eat my hat, but Major Lazer's "Lean On" is still number 7 on Spotify and it came out MARCH 2ND! Proving if you make it, you've got a long listening life, a long time to make money. It's not like the old days where when a record fell off the chart its financial life was history.
As for Major Lazer... Diplo is also represented at number 13, with Bieber and Skrillex. Turns out the public is not stupid. They know it's the same guy. Or maybe they don't, maybe they just know a hit when they hear it.
And it's always been about hits. Cream did not break big until "Sunshine Of Your Love" crossed over to Top 40. You may love the niche act, and that's fine, but when they complain they're broke the truth is not that many people are listening to them. And if not that many people "buy" a product it makes little money, it fails in the marketplace. Windows Phone is pretty good, although stiff in the marketplace, are you complaining that Microsoft has been treated unfairly, railing against app makers who won't write for the platform?
Of course not.
This is the reality.
Repeating once again...
1. It's about listens, everything else is irrelevant.
2. It starts with the hit.
3. If you've got a hit, people will check out more. If it too is good, they'll play it, irrelevant of whether radio or any other gatekeeper has anointed it and is exposing it.
4. Longevity counts. That's how you make money in the new world. A rocket ship to the moon is not a good financial plan. Used to be, you could move tonnage/sell product for a week or two and who cared what happened thereafter. But now there's little upfront bump and if you can't sustain... You're Keith Richards and Tom Petty and every other has-been who gets old media ramped up and then fails in the marketplace.
5. Old media is dumb and beholden to the marketers who are also antiques in many cases. Just because they write about it, that does not mean anybody cares. You don't get paid for press, you get paid for listens.
6. With enough listens you end up with sponsorship and live/touring opportunities. It's not what feels successful, but what IS successful. You point to your listens and the game begins. Then again, if you've got the listens the advertisers and promoters will be beating down your door, they understand numbers, they know more about the new paradigm than the labels, never mind the acts.
7. You're a winner or a loser. You're on the chart or you're not. Complaining is worthless. Everyone can't be a doctor and everyone can't be Mark Zuckerberg. Stop bitching when you can't make it in music and do something else.
8. Good is not good enough. The Spotify Top 50 is laden with hooks. And that's why they call them hooks, BECAUSE THEY HOOK THE LISTENER! This ain't gonna change, if you're making music today it must hook the listener instantly, otherwise people push the button and move on. If you can't make me pay attention in five seconds, I'm outta here. Don't shoot the messenger, face reality.
9. Bigger acts are coming. You can go to the record store and feel left out, no one can buy everything. Same deal at the iTunes Store. But on streaming services everything is available. And once the charts become more well known, people are gonna click over to find out what's going on. And what is happening will become even more successful. In an era of chaos, we gravitate to the winners. The oldsters complain, but the youngsters know this is the game.
You're not limited. The single is just a starting point. People want more if you're great. Very few are.
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Furthermore, radio is out of the loop. At best it's a place you get started. Kind of like the FM of yore.
For evidence let me point to the big winner, the Weeknd.
It's all about "Can't Feel My Face," right?
Wrong. The Weeknd has six tracks in Spotify's United States Top 50. That brings us right back to 1964, when the Beatles dominated the radio chart. Only today, you get paid when people listen. That's right, Capitol sold "Meet The Beatles" and the band only got paid once. Today, the Weeknd is cleaning up, as fans are streaming his tracks over and over again. The Weeknd dominates listening patterns in a way we either haven't seen or haven't been able to measure in eons. He's the biggest star in music listening. If anything, the hype has been too small. This guy is GIGANTIC!
As is Justin Bieber. He's only got two tracks in the Top 50, but "What Do You Mean" is sitting at number one. You lead with the track, without a hit you're nowhere. That's what got everybody interested in the Weeknd's album.
But you know who else is every bit as big as the hype? Lyor Cohen's Fetty Wap. It may have taken a long time for "Trap Queen" to break through, but listeners can't get enough of Fetty, he's not a one hit wonder on Spotify, Fetty has FIVE tracks in the Top 50!
And then there's Drake. The supposed downfall of Serena Williams. The Canadian has SIX tracks in the Top 50.
Ed Sheeran has three, although one is with the Weeknd, "Dark Times," you should listen to it, it's so far from Top Forty fodder you'll find yourself reconsidering your hatred of pop music. "Dark Times" is closer to underground FM than iHeart.
Not that every act has multiple tracks in the Top 50.
But what we've learned is if you've got the goods, the audience wants more than the single. You're only handcuffed by your ability to create great tracks. We've got listeners galore.
And then you wonder why everyone's bitching about Spotify payments...
The truth is acts like the Weeknd, Drake and Ed Sheeran are dominating listening. Don't argue with data, Nate Silver said no one had run for President this late and won but the press keeps telling Biden to jump in. The same way the press keeps trumpeting the low Spotify payment story. You don't hear any of these acts bitching about their Spotify payments, nor their cowriters. Max Martin is all over the Weeknd album...do you see him in the press complaining he can't make enough money? OF COURSE NOT!
The rich are getting richer and the marginal are being squeezed to the periphery.
Everything you know is wrong. Everything you've based your precepts on is kaput.
Once everything is available for one low price, or via a freemium tier, it turns out listeners want more than the hit. Look back, in the old days you had to wait for your favorite to come on the radio. And needless to say, ACTS DIDN'T GET PAID FOR RADIO PLAY! Most people never purchased the single, never mind the album. But once the act's repertoire has been unlocked online, people not only want the hit, they want so much more!
And sure, right now payments are relatively low, but they're only gonna grow as more people subscribe. And then the winners are gonna get paid ad infinitum, as long as you're listening, they're making money. With no shipping and no billing and no preorders, none of the junk clogging up the system in the past.
Drake puts out a steady stream of music. Bieber doesn't wait until he has an album to put out a track. The Weeknd started off without a label, giving away his music for free. They're harnessing the new system while idiots like Keith Richards are missing what's going on.
In the old days, it was all about the first week number. To get press and reorders. But today press means ever less. And physical retail is essentially irrelevant. The only criterion is whether people listen. And by that standard Keith Richards's new album is an abject failure. Many of the tracks on "Crosseyed Heart" don't even have 100,000 listens. The Weeknd has multiple tracks with TRIPLE DIGIT MILLION LISTENS! Keith's got 17,242 followers on Spotify. The Weeknd has 1,768,752. As for the demo... Let me remind you, it's oldsters with deep pockets who can pay for Spotify. As for physical...where are you gonna find it? As for digital, Keith's album is number 11 at the iTunes Store, but we've got no idea how many people are actually listening to it, never mind that sales of albums at the iTunes Store are anemic.
So it all comes down to listens. Which are not about the first week but the long term. If Keith Richards's album is in the iTunes Top 50 six months from now I'll eat my hat, but Major Lazer's "Lean On" is still number 7 on Spotify and it came out MARCH 2ND! Proving if you make it, you've got a long listening life, a long time to make money. It's not like the old days where when a record fell off the chart its financial life was history.
As for Major Lazer... Diplo is also represented at number 13, with Bieber and Skrillex. Turns out the public is not stupid. They know it's the same guy. Or maybe they don't, maybe they just know a hit when they hear it.
And it's always been about hits. Cream did not break big until "Sunshine Of Your Love" crossed over to Top 40. You may love the niche act, and that's fine, but when they complain they're broke the truth is not that many people are listening to them. And if not that many people "buy" a product it makes little money, it fails in the marketplace. Windows Phone is pretty good, although stiff in the marketplace, are you complaining that Microsoft has been treated unfairly, railing against app makers who won't write for the platform?
Of course not.
This is the reality.
Repeating once again...
1. It's about listens, everything else is irrelevant.
2. It starts with the hit.
3. If you've got a hit, people will check out more. If it too is good, they'll play it, irrelevant of whether radio or any other gatekeeper has anointed it and is exposing it.
4. Longevity counts. That's how you make money in the new world. A rocket ship to the moon is not a good financial plan. Used to be, you could move tonnage/sell product for a week or two and who cared what happened thereafter. But now there's little upfront bump and if you can't sustain... You're Keith Richards and Tom Petty and every other has-been who gets old media ramped up and then fails in the marketplace.
5. Old media is dumb and beholden to the marketers who are also antiques in many cases. Just because they write about it, that does not mean anybody cares. You don't get paid for press, you get paid for listens.
6. With enough listens you end up with sponsorship and live/touring opportunities. It's not what feels successful, but what IS successful. You point to your listens and the game begins. Then again, if you've got the listens the advertisers and promoters will be beating down your door, they understand numbers, they know more about the new paradigm than the labels, never mind the acts.
7. You're a winner or a loser. You're on the chart or you're not. Complaining is worthless. Everyone can't be a doctor and everyone can't be Mark Zuckerberg. Stop bitching when you can't make it in music and do something else.
8. Good is not good enough. The Spotify Top 50 is laden with hooks. And that's why they call them hooks, BECAUSE THEY HOOK THE LISTENER! This ain't gonna change, if you're making music today it must hook the listener instantly, otherwise people push the button and move on. If you can't make me pay attention in five seconds, I'm outta here. Don't shoot the messenger, face reality.
9. Bigger acts are coming. You can go to the record store and feel left out, no one can buy everything. Same deal at the iTunes Store. But on streaming services everything is available. And once the charts become more well known, people are gonna click over to find out what's going on. And what is happening will become even more successful. In an era of chaos, we gravitate to the winners. The oldsters complain, but the youngsters know this is the game.
You're not limited. The single is just a starting point. People want more if you're great. Very few are.
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Sunday 20 September 2015
The Apple Music Ad
http://bit.ly/1OoCWpf
In one minute Apple did more for the cause of streaming than Spotify has provided in half a decade. This is the buzz we're looking for, the antidote to the crybaby musicians who keep bitching they can't get paid.
Know how you get paid? By convincing people to pay for something! And Spotify has done a bad job of this. I won't say marketing is everything, but it helps, especially when the message is muddled.
Music is happiness. You want that, right?
And music is cool. And when it gets inside of you it makes you do all kinds of crazy stuff, like dance to Phil Collins and get up the courage to ask for a date and supersede your personal best in an athletic endeavor.
We want more of that, right?
Finally, someone is cutting through the b.s. and illustrating the advantages of streaming services as opposed to the disadvantages. In one fell swoop Apple has changed the dialogue.
There were music players before the iPod and there were streaming services before Apple Music. But they were all startups, with startup mentalities, coming from behind, converting users one by one. Whereas winners play for all the marbles.
If only Apple Music were free.
Well, it is for ninety days, but for most people that window is about to close.
Imagine if Apple Music continued with freemium. Oh, the musicians would complain but the public would be enticed to check it out. But just as some are closing the door on their trial subscriptions, others are coming in, and there will be no dialogue. It's as if MTV subscriptions expired back in '81.
Come on people...
Only one streaming service is gonna win. Just read Robert Reich in today's "Times" if you doubt me, he seems to know more about the internet than those under twenty, never mind everybody working in the music business.
And Apple Music, unlike the iPod, is incredibly flawed. It's confusing, it just doesn't work. As for beta products that are improved, that's Microsoft's paradigm, not Apple's. People expect Apple Music to work out of the box, but it doesn't.
But streaming has already won and playlists are the new radio.
It's what's happening now.
And in one fell swoop Apple got the message out to the world. Kind of like Prince showed his skills at the Super Bowl. Apple rose to the occasion. We thought they'd lost their advertising cool with the death of Steve Jobs, but they've still got it. And now everybody's talking about it. Started on Twitter and gravitated to the web and the story might not have legs, but it had an impact.
Then again, you can stream the clip for free online forevermore, whereas in music acts want to keep their wares behind bars.
I'm happy about all this, are you?
P.S. "Instant Boyfriend Mixtape Service"... Apple has a sense of humor, something sorely lacking in the music business today. What kind of bizarre world do we live in where a corporation is filling in for Frank Zappa?
Robert Reich - "Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful": http://nyti.ms/1j1GYqO
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In one minute Apple did more for the cause of streaming than Spotify has provided in half a decade. This is the buzz we're looking for, the antidote to the crybaby musicians who keep bitching they can't get paid.
Know how you get paid? By convincing people to pay for something! And Spotify has done a bad job of this. I won't say marketing is everything, but it helps, especially when the message is muddled.
Music is happiness. You want that, right?
And music is cool. And when it gets inside of you it makes you do all kinds of crazy stuff, like dance to Phil Collins and get up the courage to ask for a date and supersede your personal best in an athletic endeavor.
We want more of that, right?
Finally, someone is cutting through the b.s. and illustrating the advantages of streaming services as opposed to the disadvantages. In one fell swoop Apple has changed the dialogue.
There were music players before the iPod and there were streaming services before Apple Music. But they were all startups, with startup mentalities, coming from behind, converting users one by one. Whereas winners play for all the marbles.
If only Apple Music were free.
Well, it is for ninety days, but for most people that window is about to close.
Imagine if Apple Music continued with freemium. Oh, the musicians would complain but the public would be enticed to check it out. But just as some are closing the door on their trial subscriptions, others are coming in, and there will be no dialogue. It's as if MTV subscriptions expired back in '81.
Come on people...
Only one streaming service is gonna win. Just read Robert Reich in today's "Times" if you doubt me, he seems to know more about the internet than those under twenty, never mind everybody working in the music business.
And Apple Music, unlike the iPod, is incredibly flawed. It's confusing, it just doesn't work. As for beta products that are improved, that's Microsoft's paradigm, not Apple's. People expect Apple Music to work out of the box, but it doesn't.
But streaming has already won and playlists are the new radio.
It's what's happening now.
And in one fell swoop Apple got the message out to the world. Kind of like Prince showed his skills at the Super Bowl. Apple rose to the occasion. We thought they'd lost their advertising cool with the death of Steve Jobs, but they've still got it. And now everybody's talking about it. Started on Twitter and gravitated to the web and the story might not have legs, but it had an impact.
Then again, you can stream the clip for free online forevermore, whereas in music acts want to keep their wares behind bars.
I'm happy about all this, are you?
P.S. "Instant Boyfriend Mixtape Service"... Apple has a sense of humor, something sorely lacking in the music business today. What kind of bizarre world do we live in where a corporation is filling in for Frank Zappa?
Robert Reich - "Big Tech Has Become Way Too Powerful": http://nyti.ms/1j1GYqO
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The John Seabrook Book
"The Song Machine: Inside The Hit Factory": http://amzn.to/1JiBWv8
We're not in Kansas anymore.
You will find the content of this book so offensive you will stop blaming Spotify for the death of music.
Not that it's that good.
John Seabrook is a writer for the "New Yorker." He specializes in covering what those in the industry already know. Which is the problem with this tome. If you work in the hit industry, you won't learn a thing. If you've been paying attention to music for the past fifteen years except for the hits, you'll keep nodding your head saying "I know that." But the truth is we live in a bifurcated land where those playing by the old rules lose and those playing by the new take all the marbles. And the old people and those following in their footsteps don't like it.
All the money's in pop music. In a world of chaos, where there are more tracks than anybody can know, never mind listen to, we gravitate to that which has been anointed. Oh, not you, never you, you know better, you know what's good, who has talent... My inbox is filled with the self-satisfied self-congratulating. As if anybody cared what they had to say. The old bands have been touring so long there's no need to see them, they haven't had a hit in decades and even the nostalgia is wearing thin. Yes, classic rockers and those who followed them set the world on fire, but as they say...what have you done for me lately?
Not much.
Everybody lionizes the Beatles, with their melodic tunes you could sing along to.
And then there are the classic rockers, from Hendrix to Clapton to Zeppelin with a dose of west coast thrown in for good measure. They were virtuosos testing limits who took us on adventures, they set our minds free, we stayed up all night listening to their albums, we went to the show to get closer, and we haven't had that spirit here since 1999. Sure, songs might rule in country, where they play guitars, never underestimate the audience for that music, even as you pooh-pooh it, but in pop...
Gargantuan stars were built by MTV. But the whole world was watching and by time the door closed on the boy bands, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, sales were dropping, money was missing and everybody with a computer was making music.
And out of this came...
Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The producer was king. Songs written by committee have ruled. And John Seabrook does an excellent job of telling you how these records are made, and you'll be horrified.
Despite all the money in Rihanna and Katy Perry, no one's bothered to explain the nougat at the center of their candy-coated productions. We're inundated with info on their success, who they're dating, how much money they're making, but what's at the core...nada.
Until now.
The book starts off with the story of Max Martin. Which begins with his mentor Denniz PoP. I wish Seabrook went deeper, talked about Karl Martin Sandberg's, i.e. Max Martin's, music school roots, how he became so proficient in music. But we do learn the story of Ace of Base. But from there we jump to the story of Lou Pearlman and his charges and too much of this is repeats. Those paying attention know all of it. There are a few details, but also a few mistakes... Like 'N Sync recorded for Areola? A boob of a label? No, that's "Ariola." And it's Andy Schuon, not Schoun. And most people won't care, but those who do have a hard time taking a book seriously when there are such basic mistakes. Has anybody ever heard of Google? Or has proofreading gone out the window?
But then Max Martin gets cold, and the story truly begins. He hooks up with Dr. Luke, an arrogant prick who knows how the world works. Max asks if he can rent Luke's studio...Luke says you can work FREE! Being talented is at most fifty percent of success, knowing how to navigate people...it's the other fifty.
And they concoct "Since U Been Gone."
But then comes a detour into Clive Davis, who is lionized, as if only Clive knows a hit. You know all this too.
But then comes the story of Rihanna.
And the creation of the track and hook formula.
No, they don't write the songs the way they used to. Some make the beats and others create the topline and Seabrook does a great job of delineating how this works. If only he threw out the retread info, he's so busy writing a survey of the past couple of decades that the good info is nearly drowned out. And the section on K-Pop is nearly superfluous. But when it comes to creating "Umbrella"...
They don't sit in studios with guitars and pianos, writing melodies and lyrics together. At best, they do that in Nashville. Rather producers come up with beats and then they have their favorite topliners create melodies and hooks on top. And if there aren't enough hooks in the track, they start all over. They're in the business of hit singles, not album dreck. And they know one hook is not enough, that you've got to grab the public instantly and continue to thrill them.
And this formula is working.
I'm not judging it, just telling you how it is.
Could change... But this is how our biggest star, Taylor Swift, creates her music. She's tied up with Max Martin. And so is this summer's phenom the Weeknd. And Miley Cyrus's hits were written by the usual suspects. And there are more players than Max and Luke, but they're all similar, they're men behind the curtain who create the formula, no different from junk food, that's right, Frito-Lay adds unnatural flavorings to keep you addicted, and so do these producers.
So what we've got is a generation gap so wide that the boomers and even the Gen-X'ers can't see across it. They keep clamoring for a return to what once was the same way Justin Timberlake begged for music videos to return to MTV. Music videos are now an on demand item on YouTube, and if melody and albums and all the rest of what once was comes back it will be different, and certainly made by a younger generation free from the past that understands today's world.
This is where we are. The youngsters drive music consumption. The reason those making oldster music can't make money on Spotify is because their audience doesn't have time to listen. But the youngsters...they've got music on all the time. But we keep crapping on their music. The truth is, they've tuned us out. And they're not looking for what we once had. To them, music is purely sauce, constant background noise or dance fodder...it ain't gonna change the world, that's for tech.
Who are Benny Blanco and Ester Dean? Are you familiar with the canon of Tricky Stewart? Believe me, he's much more important culturally and financially than Keith Richards, whose album is sinking like a stone, despite all the fawning press. How about Stargate? And Sturken and Rogers? All the people truly driving popular culture are in this book. That's why you should read it. And that's why you're gonna hate it. This is music? This is what we've come to?
Yes.
People want to make money. These producers have gone where the money is. The labels are following them. Songs are written in camps. And we're so far from the garden Joni Mitchell is incapable of writing a song about it.
We've got all this info on legal, Don Passman writes an excellent book. People know how not to get ripped-off. But they don't know how to succeed, because they don't know how the game is played. Because those involved are too busy making money to slow down and tell a press that doesn't care.
Credit Seabrook for caring. He was curious as to the genesis of his son's musical favorites.
I just wish he'd gone deeper.
Read this. It's not out for a couple of weeks. But make a note, pre-order it. And at times your eyes will be rolling in the back of your head as what you already know is repeated simplistically. But then comes the meat...
As for those profiled in the book...they're too busy trying to make hits to worry about inaccurate portrayals. Because the truth is songwriting and producing are evanescent careers. As my famous friend says - put Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon in a room for a month and tell them if they write a hit we'll have world peace...and they won't be able to do it. You lose the pulse, your instincts are untrustworthy, you just don't want it bad enough.
But these cats do.
And Max Martin has a career longer than the legends.
Which is why you must pay attention. "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" may be pablum, but it's better than any rock ballad since. And "Since U Been Gone" is probably the best rock record of this century. And you may not know the rest of the hits in this book, but what the men don't know, the little girls understand.
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We're not in Kansas anymore.
You will find the content of this book so offensive you will stop blaming Spotify for the death of music.
Not that it's that good.
John Seabrook is a writer for the "New Yorker." He specializes in covering what those in the industry already know. Which is the problem with this tome. If you work in the hit industry, you won't learn a thing. If you've been paying attention to music for the past fifteen years except for the hits, you'll keep nodding your head saying "I know that." But the truth is we live in a bifurcated land where those playing by the old rules lose and those playing by the new take all the marbles. And the old people and those following in their footsteps don't like it.
All the money's in pop music. In a world of chaos, where there are more tracks than anybody can know, never mind listen to, we gravitate to that which has been anointed. Oh, not you, never you, you know better, you know what's good, who has talent... My inbox is filled with the self-satisfied self-congratulating. As if anybody cared what they had to say. The old bands have been touring so long there's no need to see them, they haven't had a hit in decades and even the nostalgia is wearing thin. Yes, classic rockers and those who followed them set the world on fire, but as they say...what have you done for me lately?
Not much.
Everybody lionizes the Beatles, with their melodic tunes you could sing along to.
And then there are the classic rockers, from Hendrix to Clapton to Zeppelin with a dose of west coast thrown in for good measure. They were virtuosos testing limits who took us on adventures, they set our minds free, we stayed up all night listening to their albums, we went to the show to get closer, and we haven't had that spirit here since 1999. Sure, songs might rule in country, where they play guitars, never underestimate the audience for that music, even as you pooh-pooh it, but in pop...
Gargantuan stars were built by MTV. But the whole world was watching and by time the door closed on the boy bands, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, sales were dropping, money was missing and everybody with a computer was making music.
And out of this came...
Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The producer was king. Songs written by committee have ruled. And John Seabrook does an excellent job of telling you how these records are made, and you'll be horrified.
Despite all the money in Rihanna and Katy Perry, no one's bothered to explain the nougat at the center of their candy-coated productions. We're inundated with info on their success, who they're dating, how much money they're making, but what's at the core...nada.
Until now.
The book starts off with the story of Max Martin. Which begins with his mentor Denniz PoP. I wish Seabrook went deeper, talked about Karl Martin Sandberg's, i.e. Max Martin's, music school roots, how he became so proficient in music. But we do learn the story of Ace of Base. But from there we jump to the story of Lou Pearlman and his charges and too much of this is repeats. Those paying attention know all of it. There are a few details, but also a few mistakes... Like 'N Sync recorded for Areola? A boob of a label? No, that's "Ariola." And it's Andy Schuon, not Schoun. And most people won't care, but those who do have a hard time taking a book seriously when there are such basic mistakes. Has anybody ever heard of Google? Or has proofreading gone out the window?
But then Max Martin gets cold, and the story truly begins. He hooks up with Dr. Luke, an arrogant prick who knows how the world works. Max asks if he can rent Luke's studio...Luke says you can work FREE! Being talented is at most fifty percent of success, knowing how to navigate people...it's the other fifty.
And they concoct "Since U Been Gone."
But then comes a detour into Clive Davis, who is lionized, as if only Clive knows a hit. You know all this too.
But then comes the story of Rihanna.
And the creation of the track and hook formula.
No, they don't write the songs the way they used to. Some make the beats and others create the topline and Seabrook does a great job of delineating how this works. If only he threw out the retread info, he's so busy writing a survey of the past couple of decades that the good info is nearly drowned out. And the section on K-Pop is nearly superfluous. But when it comes to creating "Umbrella"...
They don't sit in studios with guitars and pianos, writing melodies and lyrics together. At best, they do that in Nashville. Rather producers come up with beats and then they have their favorite topliners create melodies and hooks on top. And if there aren't enough hooks in the track, they start all over. They're in the business of hit singles, not album dreck. And they know one hook is not enough, that you've got to grab the public instantly and continue to thrill them.
And this formula is working.
I'm not judging it, just telling you how it is.
Could change... But this is how our biggest star, Taylor Swift, creates her music. She's tied up with Max Martin. And so is this summer's phenom the Weeknd. And Miley Cyrus's hits were written by the usual suspects. And there are more players than Max and Luke, but they're all similar, they're men behind the curtain who create the formula, no different from junk food, that's right, Frito-Lay adds unnatural flavorings to keep you addicted, and so do these producers.
So what we've got is a generation gap so wide that the boomers and even the Gen-X'ers can't see across it. They keep clamoring for a return to what once was the same way Justin Timberlake begged for music videos to return to MTV. Music videos are now an on demand item on YouTube, and if melody and albums and all the rest of what once was comes back it will be different, and certainly made by a younger generation free from the past that understands today's world.
This is where we are. The youngsters drive music consumption. The reason those making oldster music can't make money on Spotify is because their audience doesn't have time to listen. But the youngsters...they've got music on all the time. But we keep crapping on their music. The truth is, they've tuned us out. And they're not looking for what we once had. To them, music is purely sauce, constant background noise or dance fodder...it ain't gonna change the world, that's for tech.
Who are Benny Blanco and Ester Dean? Are you familiar with the canon of Tricky Stewart? Believe me, he's much more important culturally and financially than Keith Richards, whose album is sinking like a stone, despite all the fawning press. How about Stargate? And Sturken and Rogers? All the people truly driving popular culture are in this book. That's why you should read it. And that's why you're gonna hate it. This is music? This is what we've come to?
Yes.
People want to make money. These producers have gone where the money is. The labels are following them. Songs are written in camps. And we're so far from the garden Joni Mitchell is incapable of writing a song about it.
We've got all this info on legal, Don Passman writes an excellent book. People know how not to get ripped-off. But they don't know how to succeed, because they don't know how the game is played. Because those involved are too busy making money to slow down and tell a press that doesn't care.
Credit Seabrook for caring. He was curious as to the genesis of his son's musical favorites.
I just wish he'd gone deeper.
Read this. It's not out for a couple of weeks. But make a note, pre-order it. And at times your eyes will be rolling in the back of your head as what you already know is repeated simplistically. But then comes the meat...
As for those profiled in the book...they're too busy trying to make hits to worry about inaccurate portrayals. Because the truth is songwriting and producing are evanescent careers. As my famous friend says - put Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon in a room for a month and tell them if they write a hit we'll have world peace...and they won't be able to do it. You lose the pulse, your instincts are untrustworthy, you just don't want it bad enough.
But these cats do.
And Max Martin has a career longer than the legends.
Which is why you must pay attention. "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)" may be pablum, but it's better than any rock ballad since. And "Since U Been Gone" is probably the best rock record of this century. And you may not know the rest of the hits in this book, but what the men don't know, the little girls understand.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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