Drake Dominates

He's got the top 23 tracks in the U.S. on Spotify.

Globally he's got the top 17 of 18, only the deceased XXXTENTACION sneaks in and breaks up the hegemony.

The future is here. We've heard endlessly about the long tail, but the concomitant reaction is DOMINATION! In a world of unrelenting choice, the big get bigger, they dominate.

Don't get your knickers in a twist. The "Scorpion" tracks will fade soon enough. That's another futuristic result. With everything available for streaming, with spoon-feeding by radio out of step, people consume and move on. As for labels concerned that one act dominates the chart, trying to institute mathematical barriers to disallow this, FUGGETABOUTIT! This is what the people are listening to, acknowledge it. Ed Sheeran really is that dominant, he's the only act consistently selling out big shows in the U.K. right now. Taylor Swift papers, Sheeran sells. Why you want to keep him off the charts?

Actually, he's off the charts now. People are going to see him because they haven't forgotten, they want some of that action live.

Now if you've got no name recognition, everything happens slowly, unless you're a rapper tied into a household name. It could take a year for your track to break through. But if you're a star? You're here and you're GONE! This is the new normal. The big acts get bigger and seemingly everybody else is ignored. That's right, you can play, but you cannot get attention. And you can bitch all you want about it, but you can't beat the system. And now that Spotify allows everybody to see the statistics, see what is truly going on, in an unmodified, unmanipulated chart, can you hear me Soundscan, can you hear me Grammys, we know what people are truly listening to, and that's a good thing! Streaming has eliminated obfuscation, we want to know what's really happening. You can paper, like Ms. Swift, lying about how many tickets you've sold, or you can go to Spotify to see what's really happening.

Not Jay Z and Beyonce, they're not in the Top 50. That's right, publicity never meant less. The Carters are darlings of the press, they've been around long enough for the alta kachers at newspapers to be clued-in, but they're not. Because the public doesn't want them. Are they too old? Are their tracks not hits? Furthermore, they don't go clean. Then again, they have high ticket prices.

Now as other genres grow, they will populate the Top 50. But for now it's mostly hip-hop, a little electronic and a smidge of pop. Hip-hop rules streaming like the NBA runs on Twitter. The NFL is bludgeoning the players, telling them how to live, and the NBA lets the players rule. As a result the footballers are mostly faceless and the hoopsters have identities. Think about that. That's good management. And hell, the 76ers GM lost his gig because of his wife's tweets. The NBA is positively living in the present. Live in the past at your peril.

As for electronic...it's a scene that never dies. As for pop, it's on life support, because it doesn't know what it wants to be. Now pop is hip-hop with a bit of melody, which the public rejects. Hip-hop is built on credibility, identity, listeners bond to you. Pop is always about the song first, without a hit, you're dead in the water.

And if you're a rocker... Your fans are old and railing at the system and the sound is derivative instead of innovative.

So music is just like the rest of the world, the land of haves and have-nots. Get used to it.

And the modern release paradigm is no advance publicity...then again, Drake's minions all got the word online. That's the power of technology. If your fans are not spreading the word about you online, you're going nowhere. Harness the technology.

And isn't it funny that a mixed-race Jewish rapper from Toronto is the world's biggest star. This is anti-Trumpism at its core. Close the borders at your peril. We live in an homogenized, global world. You cannot go backward, if you do beware of falling behind. Toronto has the most ethnicities of any city in the world. This melting pot delivers artist after artist, always innovative, supported by the government. Think about that. Our greatest export in America used to be our culture. But by closing our borders we will fall behind. As for tech, with visa problems Indians are now staying home. Don't believe me if you want, just read, there are facts in this world. And you're worried about immigrants taking your job... We need these immigrants to create, and to do the manual labor we won't. Rail against the death of your system, your economy, your middle class status, but point to the real culprits, not the false ones. Lower taxes on corporations and everybody wins... NO! And I'm only getting political to show you that not only does the rest of the world not agree with us, but neither does our rank and file, our young people, who listen to Drake to the exclusion of so many. We gonna put a tax on him?

So expect it to come in waves. Forget sales, that's irrelevant, focus on listening. We're gonna have new domination every month or so. Some will come out of nowhere, others will be established players. And if an established player doesn't deliver, they've got the stink upon them. And if this happens to you, get right back in the game, people forget a failure, they're only looking for the hit. Cancel your tour and create. Or create on the road. Your fans cannot get enough new stuff, which you can load on streaming services immediately. And just maybe, one of your cuts will be picked up by the masses and you'll have a juggernaut.

And just maybe you'll take an advance from Spotify, go without a major label, making in excess of 50% on every stream.

But that's another e-mail.

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Re-Grammy Nomination Expansion

It's like adding 48 teams to the World Cup.

Todd Devonshire

____________________________________

second verse, same as the first. the grammys were started as a pubic relations stunt to remove the payola stink from music. kingston trio won for best country act because there was no folk category. on and on.

Chris Spector

____________________________________

In the 70's we called them The Grannies for good reason…and not much changed. thanks for this analysis.

Johanna Hall

____________________________________

This is so right on, Bob.

At the end of the day - an artist must ask themselves but ONE question to measure their own success:
"IF your name is put up on the marquee, will people show up?"
THAT answer marks your success. Period.

Nothing more. Not even radio play, and definitely not any award. Not even a Grammy.

I know plenty of Grammy award winning artists that can't draw a fly versus plenty without a Grammy nomination to their name that are selling out shows worldwide.

A Grammy win (or equivalent - a nomination) is nothing more than what your publicist can do with it.

In other words, it means nothing.

Real artists don't chase "awards" or define themselves by them.

I believe these "award shows" days are numbered.

With Gratitude,

Sandra Charamba
www.pavlo.com

____________________________________

When your client of 23 years, given the honorary title of an "Ambassador of the Blues", gets his first Grammy nomination for "Best Traditional Blues Album", which honored long overlooked Traditional Piedmont Blues artists, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and the award goes to those well know Traditional Blues Artists, the Rolling Stones.
It's as much fun as winning.
At least Guy's in the same boat as his friend and admirer Ian Anderson, who's band Jethro Tull won years ago for Best Hard Rock album. LOL

Cheers,
Thom Wolke

____________________________________

News Flash.

The major labels encourage all their employees to join the voting membership by faking their credits. I knew people in the mail room who voted!

Universal, with more market share in terms of new artists and catalog, has more Grammy members than any other label. You think they win any awards?

Duh.

The way to level the playing field is to limit voting memberships, or at least make them proportional. This forces both the indies and majors play on the same field.

But reality says this will never happen.

- Please withhold my name for obvious reasons

____________________________________

I guess they want participation trophies like all the little kids get Bob.

George Johns

____________________________________

Haven't you heard? Everyone gets a trophy these days.

Marty Winsch

____________________________________

Since the problem was created by men, it's men who should boycott and take responsibility.

Kai Strandskov

____________________________________

Bob.
Your scathing indictment of this careless, clumsy foolish organization known as the Grammys is clearly closer to the Grannys.
Revolution indeed.
What an extraordinarily dumb choice..
In the NEW world these Neanderthals must lope away to the caves they came from.
I despise competition in any regard. Your only competitor is yourself. How hard can you push that self to make wonderful music. We are lost in an era that describes an artist whose career has lasted 2 years as legends as icons, mega stars.
Fuck off, get out the way. Art is subjective & kiss my ass.
From the E-mails & Tweets that I have received from my SiriusXM audience it is very clear that Music is not a competitive sport.
Thank you for your severe response to this farce, this absurd "solution" they have come up with. Step aside and step up, a phrase they have heard before.
Michael Des Barres.

____________________________________

I always find it interesting to look at the more specialist categories. For example, in Metal the winner is often a well known name long past their prime, who should've won it for pioneering work years (even decades) ago but picks up their Grammy for an absolute also-ran of a track because they're the only name on the ballot the judges have heard of. Meanwhile, something that's truly shaken up the scene is lucky to get nominated because it may take years before their name seeps into the wider conscience.

Andy Vale

____________________________________

I used to consider it an honour to be a Grammy voter. I cared, I worked at it, at doing it honestly and thoughtfully.

But I quit years ago. Not just because it had lost its lustre generally, but mostly because the tossers would NOT let Boston have its own chapter. Soon after I moved here (1999) - a whole bunch of local music folks, many of them Grammy members like me, had a big meeting with the NARAS people at the Paradise one afternoon - it was in the air that this storied and great music city would finally get its due. But no...Boston had to remain an arm of the NYC chapter. How utterly fucking clueless, let alone insulting. I'd been here less than a year and I wanted to cross the room and throttle the little shit who announced it to the crowd of true music movers and shakers here. Absurd.
Come back Michael Greene - almost all is forgiven.

I still get a smattering of "Hey! My artist is up for XXX - give him/her/them a listen and your vote!" emails or FB messages. Wankers.
Honestly - fuck 'em all. Portnow's Complaint.

Hugo Burnham

____________________________________

Spot on assessment of the Grammys. The awards are the modern-day equivalent of the Titanic. The organizers settle in to their plush leather easy chairs, sip their cognac and puff their cigars, utterly oblivious to the tragedy that awaits them. I agree, it's time to jump ship and get to firmer ground.
Dan Beckerman
Viable Productions

____________________________________

True words Bob
I've been turned off by the Grammys since they overlooked the Fine Young Cannibals (one of the best pop albums of the time) and awarded Milli Vanilli (fakers)
Aloha
Doc

Aloha
Steve London

____________________________________

I used to vote but its not what it used to be. I'm not even a Grammy member anymore after 20+ years.

chrissssss
skeleton crew (i dont do that anymore either)

Bogdon Vasquaf

____________________________________

Yes to all of this!!

Two things that really pissed me off/blew my mind/threw me through a loop etc etc at this years Grammys.

1) I was so stoked that Kendrick was opening the show. I thought 'this is great! The white mans show is actually having a black hip hop artist open. What a moment!' but then they have to bring out U2?!?!? Give me a break! How was that a special 'moment'?! It ruined it! It ruined everything! Immediately I thought 'I should have known they can't just let a black hip hop artist have their time…of course they have to throw a white male into this'

Right off the top of the show after that moment, I was so turned off and could barely pay attention to the rest of it.

THEN U2 GETS THEIR OWN SEPARATE PERFORMANCE. Fuuuuuck offfff! WHO EVEN CARES ABOUT U2 ANYMORE?

2) I could NOT believe Despacito didn't win song of the year! You literally cannot say that track wasn't the song of the year. It dominated everything. Forever. Especially looking at the rest of the nominees in that category. How did it not win??!!

And don't even get me started on their treatment of female artists!!!

Ryan Cain

____________________________________

Damn! Beatdown! Preach on Bob!

Baris Ozyetis

____________________________________

When Jethro Tull won best Heavy Metal Over Metallica everyone knew plot was over.
An come on! Kendrick Lamar would play he Super Bowl in a minute if anyone asked.

Stevie Salas

____________________________________

I was a governor and a trustee for the recording academy for many years. One of the few black men from Los Angeles in that room. Most of which spoke with a heavy twang. Also, I was one of the authors of the proposals to get back some of the black categories they took away. I was successful. I also lost a lot of friends, or so called friends during the process.

I can't even tell how on point this letter is. It's actually even worse on the inside than you've written here.

I'm still very active in the music business. Have been for over 30 years now. Trying to get these people to move into the present is like trying to water ski off an oil freighter. You may move, but it'll be the slowest water ski you've ever had in your life!
So glad you wrote this!

Michael Bearden

____________________________________

I can speak for the classical committee - and please keep me anonymous.

I've been in the classical nominating committees on and off over the past ten years, and it is as fair as it will ever get. We vet entries that can sometimes be a) in the wrong category, and b) contenders that reached their position through bloc voting (this goes back forever - check out http://articles.latimes.com/1989-03-05/entertainment/ca-55_1_atlanta-symphony)

People on the panel are experts (I usually feel like I somehow snuck in the room) and biased opinions toward potentially nominated "friends" are easily noticed and called out, or invitations are simply no longer extended the following year. To err is human after all, but for the many judging committees I have served over the past 20 or so years, I can think of none fairer.

____________________________________

To me, the Grammys have only ever been a joke, the winners have mostly been loads of irrelevant forgettable shite, and the point of it a total mystery to me. Rock &
roll has in large part defined my life, but I have never watched the Grammys even once.. And your word "homogenized" perfectly describes it....

Young Hutchison

____________________________________

Re: Grammys - Art & Music should NEVER be a contest.

Keep up the great work!

Cheers!
G. DaPonte

____________________________________

I agree strongly with this post, but once again just throwing it out there: I get that Bruno Mars might not be considered "hardcore music fan favorite", but how is the safe bet the half Puerto Rican, half Filipino musician?

I'm sure this isn't your goal, but it feels like you're making the assumption that "minorities" means Black and not all people of color. I can see how it's a relatively "safe" bet, but for Filipino Americans like me, seeing that man and his band win a Grammy meant the world to a generation of Asian Americans who are used to seeing their voices be used as an accented gag--remember William Hung?

Jay Legaspi

____________________________________

Bob: I agree with you about the Grammy Awards fully. I used to cover them in the '70s and early '80s and I used to bat almost a perfect score in handicapping them. It wasn't hard.

Go for the insider L.A. groups or artists.

Exclude edgy of rebellious.

Consider when A Taste of Honey beat out the Cars, Elvis Costello, Chris Rea and Toto for Best New Artist in 1979.

Or Debby Boone winning the category in 1978 beating out Foreigner and Stephen Bishop but joined by Shaun Cassidy, and Andy Gibb.

There are thousands of these stories tied to the Grammy Awards.

Larry LeBlanc

____________________________________

3 words.

Fuck the Grammys.

Best,

Steven Sime

____________________________________

YES BOB!

David Weisz

____________________________________

The Grammys have be irreverent, well, I was going to say ever since Jethro Tull won the Heavy Metal award, but I'll say forever! One big ego trip!

Doug Pomerantz

____________________________________

One wonders if this expansion will extend to the jazz vocal category? Until a few years ago there were categories for Best Male Jazz Vocal and Best Female Jazz Vocal. This was consolidated into a single Best Jazz Vocal category some years ago. Since that time the ladies have dominated the category.

As a longtime member of the Screening Committees (which are not a secret) I can attest that what you refer to as "massaging" was far less sinister. A majority of the work involved confirming entrants
were eligible and in the correct categories. At times there were healthy discussions about where best to fit those artists whose music straddled fences.

Eligibility has become a red herring in the past decade with numerous Best New Artist winners who really weren't eligible. Shelby Lynne stands out as an example ( I think she won for her 3rd album!)

Ricky Schultz

____________________________________

This tracks so precisely what I have been saying about the Grammys ever since Portnoy took over, that I hope you don't mind that I re-post it on my Facebook page with attribution.

Thanks!

Charles McGarry

____________________________________

Your calculation, math analogy speaks volumes.

Great Bob...

Steve Anderko

____________________________________

Dave Marsh said it all back in 1978, I think it was, when he broke down exactly WHY the Grammys suck. As the years have passed, NARAS has simply expanded the level of suck. They've never been about rewarding artistry, even though sometimes the goals of NARAS actually allowed someone deserving to receive the award.

Marie Braden

____________________________________

tommy james never was nominated for a grammy! many people find that hard to believe....but it surely did not stop him from having hits, touring, writing a best selling book, having his own radio show on sirius after 50 years in the business and still going strong......hmmmmm.....carol ross

____________________________________

My thoughts exactly. There is an outdated and unsuitable pool of voters for the current musical climate. They pick based on name recognition and completely disrespect the sounds and music of the present day musicians. I appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you!

Angela N. Vance

____________________________________

MLK always said that you had to learn the system and change it from within. I don't believe ignoring will solve the problem. I suspect the ambivalence is people has aided the questionable decision making in the organization. Ignoring is a privileged position.

I agree with you that expanding the number of nominees is a strange way of modernizing and improving the Grammys.

Binta Niambi Brown

____________________________________

Something that will never happen - doing away the $100 yearly fee to be a voting member.

Let people who qualify to be voters, vote.

Nick Velo


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Caliphate

https://nyti.ms/2H3ysas

I was killing time waiting for lunch.

I needed cash, so I went into the bank, which has been turned into an investment center, with armchairs and couches, so I decided to sit down and read the newspaper.

Now if you're reading the "New York Times," you know they've got this new feature, where they ask their writers about their jobs, and the tech they're using. And speaking of the "New York Times," you should read the weekly Q&A with their former employee, Frank Rich, who was excoriated as a theatre critic but has incredible insight. This week he took the "Times" to task for ignoring the local story until it happened, i.e. 28 year old Alexandria Ocasio Cortez beating 56 year old established player Joseph Crowley in the local Democratic primary, and focusing on Trump voters and missing the future. Ain't that the "Times," when it gets it wrong it self-flagellates. The Trump win was two years ago, what about now? So read Rich here: https://nym.ag/2lIM1A3

Anyway, the writer they were profiling in the "Times" on Thursday was Steve Lohr, who instantly gained cred with me for reading on a Kindle, but he also listens to the podcast "Caliphate," he said to "do yourself a favor" and check it out.

So I did.

Now most projects don't hook me. That's Netflix's criterion re renewal, not how many people watch a program, but whether they stick with it! Many podcasts are amateurish. If you've got my attention, speak, be dynamic, or I'll tune out. And to be honest, I was half-listening to "Caliphate" until Rukmini said she made contact with ISIS via Instagram and LinkedIn.

You don't want to be left behind. You've got to forget about satiating those in the rearview mirror and focus on those in the headlights. Then again, the carmakers finally got the message, including Bluetooth and getting rid of CD players, even though the music industry is still manufacturing discs. But even more this reminded me of Netflix, which is pushing the envelope while film studios still haven't gone to day and date.

And that's Rukmini Callimachi. She's the ISIS reporter for the "Times." Of Romanian heritage, she went to Dartmouth, then Asia and she ended up here. She's middle class, she makes that point, in a world wherein everybody wants to be rich. But...

She likes to pick up the trash.

You've got to be on the ground, otherwise you don't really know what's going on. All the bloviators on cable news, they're familiar with the studio, they do no reporting. But Rukmini follows the artillery and scours the landscape for what's been left behind after ISIS retreats. She picks up hard drives, lists, and she rationalizes it by saying how much you learn, that if someone came to her apartment they'd see her Bank of America statement, see she likes rice milk, would get a pretty good idea of who she is, which she labels middle class.

And then she makes contact with that ISIS member online, he agrees to meet, she flies to Canada, where he's working a day gig, and...

As if that's not horrifying enough.

She's waiting for him and she tells a story.

About fear. About the FBI coming to her office.

They told her her life was in danger.

That's right, ISIS knows who she is. They badmouth her online, fat-shame her, impersonate her. And one night at ten o'clock there's a buzz at the door. A persistent one. Her husband is at work. She turns off the light and...

Worries that this is it.

And the FBI said to dial 911 if she was in trouble, immediately, she was on a list. So she does, and it's not like the lady who picks up is in-the-know, on guard, but she says she'll send the police to the door and...

I'll let you listen to find out what happens.

In any event, Rukmini says ISIS wins. Because we're afraid, of what might happen.

And Rukmini could get killed. I don't want to get killed. Hell, this does not only happen in the Middle East, go deep into the rap world and...

The government won't protect you or can't protect you.

And I'm wondering why Rukmini does this.

And that's when it dawns on me, it's the cause.

We all need a cause.

Our country's values are so screwed up that we think a cause is getting rich. Now I don't think you should aspire to starve, but is that gig really gonna fulfill you? As humans we need to be fulfilled. Which is why lottery winners lead a lousy life, if they even survive. Whereas Rukmini doesn't have time to think about the little things, she's caught up in the big things.

Think about this.

I certainly am.

And check out "Caliphate." The production is not stellar, but the story is. And Rukmini is too. She's not holier-than-thou, like not only our entertainers, but our CEOs, if you're rich you think you earned it, you deserved it, that you're better than the rest. And everybody else is so interested in getting wealthy that they pay fealty. But back before Reagan legitimized greed, when CEOs earned a salary closer to that of the rank and file, your life was about adventure and fulfillment, not your bank account.

But you get to be who you want to be. If you don't like what I have to say, go your own way.

But I'm telling you, listening to Rukmini on "Caliphate" was INSPIRING!

P.S. You can skip the "Prologue" and dive right into "Chapter One: The Reporter," it doesn't start strong, but then wow! Give it the twenty four minutes and then decide. I'm in.


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Famous

Spotify (23,755,910 streams): https://spoti.fi/2yT4HX5
YouTube (18,933,707 views): https://bit.ly/2Kv2bb3

"Don't get me wrong, it's pretty cool to be on TV
So all the folks back home can see me"

Podcast or music?

I was hiking in the mountains listening to my library, all the tracks I ripped and stole at the turn of the century. Funny how our collections are becoming superseded. But every once in a while I want to listen to the oldies to be comforted, to be wrapped up in a warm blanket, especially when they're on shuffle, when I don't know what will come next.

And then came the above issue, podcast or music?

Podcasts deliver, music rarely does.

Funny music scene we live in, insiders will pooh-pooh your taste, tell you how good today's music is and what an idiot you are, but it's hard to find an entry point, there's just so much stuff.

Whereas you discover a podcast you like and you can go deep. Kinda like being a fan of a musical artist in the old days.

But there's nothing like that hit of adrenaline when you discover new music. I remember hearing those Justin Bieber cuts on that Spotify playlist two years back... Now you're mocking my taste, but you're wrong, those tracks are GENIUS!

Which proves the point it's almost worthless to write about music anymore. Everybody's deep into their own niche. But listening to the country station on Sirius I was reminded that country has melody and tells stories, so I decided to pull up Spotify's Hot Country playlist. And it depressed me. Everybody's playing within a narrow stricture. It's retread pabulum. As Tom Petty said, it's the rock music of the seventies, only in this case with a twang.

And then I heard "Famous."

Yes, you read the above lyrics. All about having the spotlight upon you.

"And that I'm livin' it out
All the things I used to dream about
Yeah, it's pretty great, singin' on a stage
Proud 'cause there ain't an empty seat in the place"

I get it. The music is melodic, but the lyric is too self-satisfied, until...

"If I'm gonna be famous for somethin'
I wanna be famous for lovin' you"

THERE'S A TWIST! The bit about TV and live shows is just a setup, for the punch line, which resonates. This is the country of yore, a cut that would make Tom Petty chuckle.

"Yeah, I hope the first question people ask me
Is 'How's your girl and how's your family'
I could go on and on and on
Talkin' 'bout you for days"

You can just picture it!

"You can bet when I hear 'Congratulations'
Want it to be because we made it
Another five years
Best thing I got is right here"

And I'm thinking how this is a great song. A cut above. But why is this twangy girl getting to sing it? I'm thinking if someone else sang it, with less of a country inflection, it would be a monster.

And then I'm further confused, all this talk about being in love with a girl, is this an out lesbian track? If so, great!

But then I pull out my phone and look at the pic.

IT'S A LITTLE BOY!

Now funny how the biz is in the backwater. The standard on the phone is vertical, not horizontal, that's what you should make your artwork for, no one is listening to Spotify and turning their handset sideways. Which means the artwork is cut off. Then again, it's great to see the artwork the size of the phone and then...

I can't stop playing the song. You can sing it. The message resonates. The opposite of so much popular music, which is I'm a star, adore me, I'm better than you. The truth is most life moments are private, and this song captures that, love supersedes any fame.

And today I researched and found out this was the Coachella yodeling boy. Funny how the hype didn't reach me, I'm hyped all day, but the song...

It's always about the song.

That's how the Beatles hit.

Aretha failed on Columbia, but when she went to Atlantic and was matched with hit material...

And my new buddy Sarah Buxton, of "Stupid Girl" ("Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban) fame is a cowriter. And Keith Urban's song on this playlist, "Parallel Line," is crap, because ever since he failed by going his own way he's been playing by the rules, and that's not interesting.

"Famous" is.

And I don't know why I'm writing about it. My inbox will be full of the words of self-satisfied rockers in black hurling daggers, and the hip-hoppers will say it's junk and I'll say...

We're all just people on the planet.

Your hip tattoo, your outsider statement, ain't gonna look so good when you're sixty.

And you might be smoking as rebellion today, but when you're old you'll be dying to live, regretting your choice.

That's right, there's nothing more laughable than an oldster trying to look hip.

None of us are hip. All of us are human.

All of us care about relationships and love first and foremost.

As for Mason Ramsey being eleven, maybe that's better than the barely teenagers acting adult trying to have a hit. The truth is he's doing Taylor Swift's act. Sincerity. Innocence. From the perspective of someone acting their age. I think Mason is old enough to have a girlfriend, I had my first at eleven.

I'm a sucker for truth and justice, that's the American Way.

So I'm writing this so everybody involved will know they're on the right path, so they won't give up, MORE OF THIS PLEASE!


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Grammy Nomination Expansion

This is bullshit.

The problem wasn't that women and minorities weren't being nominated, but that they weren't WINNING! How in the hell is increasing the nominees in the top categories gonna solve this?

It isn't.

It's just tokenism. For an organization that is all about protecting the interests of marginal players at the expense of major ones. That's right, if you can't get nominated for a Grammy, you don't make music. There are a zillion categories. And if you've got any name recognition at all, you'll win, because the voters are clueless as to most nominees, as is the public. But the players just want to put "Grammy Nominee" on their resumes so they can book shows in bars until their dying days.

Make me puke.

And has expanding the nominees for Best Picture helped the Oscars?

NO WAY!

Those mainstream nominees never win, and their fans keep tuning out.

If I were a woman or minority I'd boycott this sham of an organization and its awards show, it's the only way to get back on track. Didn't Drake refuse to submit his work for nomination? Maybe more of that is in order. This is just old white people maintaining the status quo, no different from Trump voters, afraid African-Americans and Latinos are gonna usurp their power. So we've got safe bet Bruno Mars winning Best Album instead of hard core music fans' favorite Kendrick Lamar. But Kendrick didn't play the Super Bowl, he didn't homogenize himself for consumption, so he can't win. It's just like the NFL, where old white conservatives refuse to let their charges protest. This is unlike the NBA, where the players rule, which is why the NBA is burgeoning and the NFL is in free-fall. And ain't it sad that we're entertained by African-American athletes as they ruin their lives with head injuries, little different from deaths in the Roman Colosseum, but that's the country we live in, where the status quo continues to rule and the rest of us feel oppressed.

And how does the math work here? With so many nominees? Is the winner truly a winner? Someone who could have less than 15% of the vote?

And then there's the secret committee massaging the nominees.

And then there's the fealty paid to CBS, which supports this organization.

If you know your Grammy history, and you probably don't, it wasn't until the reign of Mike Greene that the awards gained any meaning, any traction, he brought the organization into the present. Before that legends were excluded and pop stars won, oftentimes acts that were instantly forgotten. And in the MTV era we lived in a monoculture, where we all knew what was popular, whereas today we've got no idea.

And for a while there, live events were propping up network television.

But that crashed, because playing for everybody in a fragmented economy means you satisfy nobody, just like the Grammy Awards.

We need a leader, not a placater.

We need revolution.

We need thought.

So now many more people are gonna be able to say they were nominated for a big award. Whoop-de-woo! Furthermore, there's no Grammy bounce anymore, because physical is dead and if your act has any traction you've already gotten tons of streams. As for those in the lesser categories, check their numbers on Spotify, utterly laughable, yet they go parading around saying they've won Grammys like it means something, when it doesn't.

So this "step forward" isn't gonna help anybody.

Let women perform on the show WITHOUT having to compromise their art in a duet. If these "Grammy moments" were so spectacular duets would rule Spotify and clips would dominate YouTube, but they don't. They're just train-wrecks. Used to be they were a novelty, when music was scarce, but now you can just fire up your computer or handset and see all matter of collaboration.

No, just let people sing their hits, solo.

And if you want to be really harsh, and you should be, someone MUST sing their nominated hit, not their new track. Believe me, they'll appear anyway.

And you can't sing a song unless you were nominated. Which will make appearance more exotic and more meaningful.

This isn't hard to do. You've just got to think like Steve Jobs, be willing to axe the past to go into the future. Eliminate the old ports for the new. But the Grammys are like Windows machines, with VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, all this legacy crap that few need. And now Apple is the most valuable company in the world. Think about that.

And think about ignoring the Grammys until they get it right.

And to get my attention, this meaningless organization with its meaningless awards needs to forget the CD people, all those hanging on to the past, and jump into the future, push the envelope instead of being sealed in amber.

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Steve Boom-This Week's Podcast

He runs Amazon Music. The service which might get little ink, but is a powerhouse. Voice control is everything, and Amazon Music is closely tied-in to Alexa. Furthermore, when I asked how many people had an Alexa-powered device at the Music Media Summit, where this podcast was recorded, almost everybody raised their hand. One person had an Apple HomePod. Only a couple had a Google Home. There's a first-mover advantage, and as long as you improve, you win. This is Apple's failure, the failure of Siri. I never use it, do you? And Google's voice recognition is quite good, but what makes Alexa work is Prime. Which seemingly everybody has, at least everybody willing to open their wallet.

You get free music with Prime.

You can get all the music just on your Echo/Alexa.

You can get a Spotify/Apple-type music subscription too.

And on your Echo Show, the lyrics are displayed.

Never underestimate ease of use, never underestimate the consumer's unwillingness to switch. This is how Apple has built its music streaming service, marketing to those already in the ecosystem.

But it gets better. You see Amazon is creating its own metadata. Not just name, title and song, but other categories, such that Amazon Music can make playlists on the fly! That's right, you're not limited to those created by curators. "Alexa, play me depressing music from 1967." I just tried it, the playlist started with "The Wind Cries Mary." And you can do this on the app, not only the Echo devices.

Furthermore, Amazon is not dominated by hip-hop, other genres get much larger play, this speaks to their broad audience.

Steve Boom is the guy.

Listen.

A snippet: https://bit.ly/2N2Zf7g

TuneIn: https://listen.tunein.com/steveboomletter

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-boom/id1316200737?i=1000414652168&mt=2

Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Dszldm6yohtwsj6xulxzkxf7peu?t=Steve_Boom-The_Bob_Lefsetz_Podcast

Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bob-lefsetz/steve-boom-29

Overcast: https://overcast.fm/+LBr95-W-8

Acast: https://www.acast.com/theboblefsetzpodcast/steve-boom

Castbox: https://castbox.fm/episode/Steve-Boom-id1099656-id82126032?country=us


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Fake News

We've got it in the record business too.

Let's start with the charts. WRONG! They exist for the producers, not the customers. They don't calculate what people are listening to, not when there's a formula of paid streams, video streams, sales and... But the bottom line is what is #1 may not be that big at all.

That's the story of the 2016 election, how the usual suspects missed the Trump surge. How august institutions thought they knew what was going on when they didn't.

Let's start with promotion/lifespan.

It's no longer a sprint, it's a marathon, more than ever. No one sells enough product in a week to make their numbers right away. If it doesn't sustain, you're not making any money. So when you ramp up all the publicity on the front end, the joke is on you. If you're smart, and this is a dumb business, you'll build the story over a year. If you do it right, the triumph will come months after release, even a year.

And you still may not feel like you're making any headway.

We did not see this coming.

The usual suspects said free music would disincentivize people to create. Well, just the opposite happened. With the barrier to entry so low, seemingly everybody is making music, and hounding us for attention.

Now, more than ever, you want to start small. It's about your fan base. Reaching it and sustaining it. Everybody else is an afterthought, especially if it's at the cost of your hard core fan. Hard core fans want constant communication and constant music, even if it's just covers on YouTube, satiate them.

Hip-hop is big, but not that big. It's the biggest genre, but it doesn't populate outside its fan base. This is unlike the sixties with AM radio and unlike the MTV era, when we were all listening to the same stuff. The business abhors chaos, it's trying to codify that which cannot be. Now is the time to follow your own muse, if labels were smart, and they're not, they'd sign non-hit acts, acts that don't follow trends, that are unique unto themselves. Because it's easy to reach somebody, and if you get it right, they'll spread the word to more people, and then you'll have a presence.

It's not only late night shows that don't move the needle. NOTHING on television moves the needle. Yes, morning television might let alta kachers know your aged act is on tour, but you're running on fumes anyway, you're on the tail end of this business that's built on creativity and innovation, and if you're just playing the hits...

Every show should be unique, every show should be different, to build excitement, to make people want to come more than once.

We're breaking away from not only TV, but radio. The last bastion of the old system. Yes, terrestrial radio has a big reach, but it's smaller than ever before, you're much better off spending your time pitching streaming services to get on their playlists.

Our business is in turmoil heretofore unseen.

Jay Z and Beyonce do a video at the Louvre and most people never see it. This is a far cry from Michael Jackson and "Thriller."

And on one hand, you should contemplate what can reach everybody.

On the other you shouldn't worry about it, because there are enough spoils for everybody good, even though most people are not.

Ignore the Soundscan charts. Completely. Laugh when you read them in the newspaper, illustrating how out of touch those outfits are.

The only statistics that are truly meaningful are touring numbers and streaming numbers. And at this late date, many genres still have not embraced the streaming model. No one is pushing non-hip-hop listeners to streaming, and therefore these other genres are being left behind. We can't see them on streaming services, they don't show up, not in prodigious numbers, so hip-hop rules and everything else seems irrelevant, but we know this is untrue.

Now, more than ever, is the time to be different. Genre is irrelevant, quality and creativity are. Creativity is about inspiration, the opposite of the collaborative track written by sixteen people. When music is massaged for consumption you've lost the plot. And isn't it funny that big hits like "The Greatest Showman" don't sound like anything else, but the audience gets them.

Everybody's inured to the old game.

Then you've got John Mayer who's turning it on its head. He blew up his career in "Playboy," dated Katy Perry and wanted more hits, fired his manager after not having any and ultimately ended up becoming a road dog with endless runway and endless bucks. Dead and Company just played their 100th gig. Turns out people are fans of music, not hits.

Then again, there's a dearth of singable songs out there.

Opportunity is rife for those thinking outside of the box.

Meanwhile, too many of those inside keep slinging fake news.


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Arroyo Seco Weekend-Day One

Hurray For The Riff Raff was a revelation.

Jack White was an inspiration.

Jeff Goldblum was a surprise.

And Gomez was having so much fun you felt like you wanted to join a band.

It's summer in Southern California. But despite being the longest days of the year, it gets cold at night. For the last couple of acts I parked my feet on the cart path, which retained the heat. That's right, Arroyo Seco is at the Rose Bowl, on the golf course. It's a beautiful site, with plenty of room to stretch out on. What does the festival stand for? I DON'T KNOW!

Maybe you grew up with Woodstock. Maybe you remember when sound reinforcement was bad, when bands could not perform harmonies, when lines for the port-a-potties were long and the food was execrable. That was the sixties, that was the seventies, that was half a century ago.

But now music is a mature business. It's almost pre-Beatles in a way. The glitz and glamour are gone. it's truly a business. Not the epicenter of the culture. And when you go to the show, it's about you, not them.

Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist. Of course there are superstars. Of course there are acts to die for, that you sing along with. But no one is as big as they used to be, ubiquity is history in the internet age. And if you miss the show, you will survive. You only have to be able to reach your social sites, you can't live a day without your handset, it's your most important possession, everything else is secondary.

So this was a day in the park.

My generation was mostly absent. It's weird to be the oldest person in the crowd. But it's good to be old. Life is about a pecking order. And when you reach my age, you're comfortable with who you are. Before that...

Everybody had on their look. Nobody came as a schlub. Can you meet someone at a festival like this? I'm not sure. Are the women dressing to impress the women or the men? I think the former. It's a veritable cornucopia of humanity, but almost no one was fat, that's the SoCal culture. But whereas I used to be elated that I'd made it this far, to the left coast, the whole country, the whole world, has been squeezed together. You fly cross-country on a whim. Everybody's reachable, findable, yet anonymous.

Like the acts.

I didn't get there early enough to see Dwight Twilley. I'M ON FIRE! Remember when that hit the airwaves? He could never equal it, the last time I saw him was at Madame Wong's, and he didn't play it. I didn't know he even still gigged. But I had a memorial to go to, I couldn't make it.

But I did see Shakey Graves. I wasn't impressed. The crowd liked him, but he didn't hook me. I was getting depressed. I was there alone in the heat and I stumbled over to the Willow tent where Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra were holding court and...

They hooked me.

It's not my kind of music. But they were having fun! Jeff talked to the audience, had them sing songs by those on the bill. And for a finale, he and the band covered "Harvest Moon." Hmm...a thinking musician, I'm all for that, especially in this brain-dead world.

I've seen the Milk Carton Kids up close and personal and I loved them. But it didn't work on a big stage, despite having a full band. If I'd missed them, there'd be no loss. But I stumbled back to the Willow tent to see Hurray For the Riff Raff and I was stunned.

Alynda Segarra is a star. How come nobody knows?

Her band was incredibly tight. And the songs were catchy and meaningful and she had the music in her and I was enraptured.

Then I saw on my phone she'd been doing it for ten years already, and I was reminded of the era we live in. Where you're lucky if you can fight your way to the middle. If you see her, you'll be closed. She's the woman we've been waiting for. But she's not TMZ-ready, and she's Puerto Rican, and do we have a racist, sexist media? Is there room for a Puerto Rican woman? I don't think so. Remember, this is the country with a hurricane on the island that got little help.

Just when you think rock and roll is dead you get re-inspired.

Sounded to me like some of the songs were radio-ready. But is the target audience even listening to the radio? This was a political show without being strident. I don't want to overstate the case, but don't pass up a chance to see this act. Hurray for Hurray For The Riff Raff.

As for Chrissie Hynde...

Do they come any cooler?

But unlike Alynda Segarra, Hynde and her Pretenders came up in an era where either you had a record deal or didn't count. Where if you got on the radio everybody knew who you were. So, we know the songs by heart. Especially the women in the audience. Women are inspired by Hynde, she made it her way in a boys' club. Her flock are believers.

As for the food...

I didn't eat anything good.

The gourmet hot dogs were not.

The lobster roll was good, but light on meat.

And the bratwurst was undercooked.

Could have just been what I picked. But my wallet was forty three dollars lighter and I had little satiation.

And then came Jack White.

I can't listen to his records. They're half-baked, the material is not superior.

And everybody laments the breakup of the White Stripes.

And the guy must have the best publicist, he's in the news constantly.

But on stage tonight...

It was like we didn't matter, like he wasn't doing it for us. Like he was beamed down from the heavens fully-formed, and didn't sound like anybody else.

We live in a hip-hop world. And one of the reasons this is so is because so much rock is derivative. But not White.

My favorite moment was when he played the drums and you could hear the piano and...

It was transcendent. You didn't have to know the material to appreciate it. White took us on an aural trip. I was transfixed. Grooving. He's an original in a sea of imitation.

The production was interesting, but didn't work in the sunlight.

But it didn't matter. The music expanded our minds. White delivered. He was the king of the show, whether the audience realized it or not. The band was polished. He picked like he did in "It Might Get Loud" and he made me a fan overnight.

As for the Specials...

I'm a huge ska fan. But while I watched they didn't play the classics, and at best it's ancient material, and it was weird after living in the future with Jack White to go back to the past. Nostalgia is creepy.

And I missed Margo Price, I was deep in conversation.

And Belle and Sebastian too.

But while the Specials disappointed, I wandered to the Willow tent to hear Gomez and...

I was stunned by the applause.

It's not that that there were that many people there. But seemingly every Gomez fan in L.A. was. They were singing along. They were elated.

And I haven't seen the band since they played the Palace over a decade ago. And I never loved them that much. But as I stood there, they got to me. It was the passion. And the sound. You're jaded, you think you've seen it all, and then you find you're hooked all over again.

Which made me late to see Neil Young.

I was planning to stay until the end. But when he was jamming on songs I didn't know ad infinitum I decided to bolt. That's right, I'm now a true Californian, leaving early to beat the traffic.

So what did we learn?

A festival is not about the music. The music is an afterthought. With the right music, the trappings are irrelevant. You've just got to see the acts.

But while one is grazing one can get turned on to new stuff.

So, there were moments there where I was fully-focused, my body was moving, I was grooving to the tunes, and then...

I was wandering amongst the assembled multitude and wondering how I fit in, not only here, but in life in general.

Maybe it's my age. Oldsters want to be treated special, and that's impossible at these huge events.

And for most of the day I was alone. Just like I used to be. When I needed to go to the show to complete myself.

And I felt broken for a good part of the day.

But Hurray For The Riff Raff gave me hope.

And Jack White proved...

There are still stars. They're different from you and me. They're not playing to us, but for themselves. They exude confidence. We can just stand there listening wondering...HOW DO THEY DO THIS?


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