Actually, there are a number of music business lessons here. Like news is short haul and music is long haul. In other words, it used to be about making a splash and then making hay off of it. Kinda like a movie release...bombard the public with information and get them to pay before they realize it's crap. After all, it's all about the Benjamins.
You think it's all about your one big break. But the "New York Times" publishes the story of the year, an investigation of Trump's tax returns, and it's already in the rearview mirror. So, if you're not in it forever, you're better off not even starting. Because it's a really long haul, a mighty long way down rock 'n roll, from the Liverpool docks and chances are you'll never make it to the Hollywood Bowl, and the only people out on parole are the poor, because the rich don't go to jail. That's another lesson we learned this week, the IRS admitted it doesn't bother auditing the rich, it's too expensive...proving once again, the government is no match for the billionaires, even the millionaires.
Maybe you don't know what I'm talking about. But the preceding all comes from Mott the Hoople's "All the Way From Memphis":
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2GDMHnM
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3cXkm8h
But rock is dead, and contrary to what the Who sang, we can't say "Long Live Rock." Why? Because it's all been done, played out. And it's too expensive to make. You've got to form a band, you've got to rehearse, you've got to write and record and keep the band together, all of which are a near impossibility, never mind creating stuff so good that you can take it on the road and start a career. Whereas with hip-hop, you can borrow some beats online, post your new ditty on TikTok and you can be a star all over the world and go back to your own little life nearly instantly. As for hip-hop, it's rock in that it started as outside music and then was generally accepted and then morphed constantly, it's still morphing, whereas hair band ballads just about put a stake in the heart of rock and roll but grunge came along to rescue the genre and then...nothing, it's all over. You see what kept rock alive was the conception. The constant pushing of the envelope. No one's doing that anymore. So, you're another singer songwriter...well, you'd better be as good as Joni Mitchell, because we've seen that movie before.
But it's not about the music anymore, it's about the brand. Just ask Rihanna. And it's not like a lot of these acts are even responsible for the music, that's oftentimes old white guys in pop or studio rats in hip-hop and it's all so soulless that when the country breaks apart music can't deliver a believable message, because no one's got any credibility. Except for the nobodies. They're constantly telling you how great they are even though they almost always suck. Self-promotion...if your music doesn't speak for itself, if it doesn't go viral all by itself, however slowly, maybe you should look for another line of work.
And speaking of work, the government can't save the concert industry because the right and the left can't agree on a number, a package to save the starving. Once again, you've got to be rich to get paid. And you've got to play both sides. If you don't give money to the Republicans, they're gonna give you the shiv down the line.
And that's another weird thing about this Covid era, how so many musicians are out of their minds. Like Van Morrison.
I guess what we've learned is the music didn't inform the populace but vice versa back then. What I really mean is the musicians were influenced by what was happening in society and then they distilled the message for the masses, they didn't come up with the ideas themselves. So, in this mercenary culture what other message do you expect "artists" to come up with?
But everybody misses shows, concerts. They keep focusing on ways to do it, they're champing at the bit, give us our shows back.
Well, Trump had a club show in the backyard at the White House, featuring Amy Coney Barrett, and everybody got sick, especially those who went backstage, into the White House itself. Kinda like rock stars doing coke backstage and O.D.'ing back in their hotel room. It's all a party until it's not.
Superspreader events. You just can't put that many people together at one time, especially not indoors, and if you're packed together you're not safe outdoors either. And, the more exposed you are to the virus, the more you're infected, the worse your illness is.
But don't let the facts get in the way of emotions.
America has no character. It failed the marshmallow test. No one can forgo for a reward down the line, they want it now, even if it means death.
Today in "Parade," a right wing hype sheet if there ever was one, Jerry Seinfeld said he's not going to tour until the middle of 2022. Yet, my inbox is filled with agents who keep rescheduling shows, from the fall of 2020 to the late winter/early spring of 2021 and then to the summer of 2021. It's all busy work, making these people believe they're important when the truth is they're better off disconnecting from the internet and contemplating the world and their place in it and how they're gonna fix it. But no, if you believe it's true, it's gonna happen. Just like Trump believing he couldn't get infected, look how that turned out.
Which brings us to credibility. No one in America's got any anymore. That's the story of the weekend, how you can't believe what the doctors and the White House say, and Trump is parading around like he's Putin, giving a false image of his superiority, togetherness and imperviousness. You can't beat Covid on pure intention.
Then again, everybody in America is an optimist and no one wants to do the hard work.
And the left believes this is the nail in the coffin of Trump's campaign.
But if you go to Fox, and I do, you'll learn that the fault is the Democrats, and both the NYT and WaPo have done stories how the Republican base does not blame Trump and still doesn't see a need for masks. That's right, up is down and down is up, welcome to Eastern Europe!
And all of this is out of the authoritarian handbook, but no one in America has ever seen it so they think with their will and intent they can defeat Trump. No way, that's not the solution. He's not going quietly. Did you read Sunday's "New York Times Magazine" on the right's voter suppression campaign of decades?
https://nyti.ms/30ygmWB
It went live five days ago online, not a single person has e-mailed me about it. I read it from beginning to end and I can't say it's riveting but with all the facts together it's overwhelming, how the right suppresses the vote, and the governor of Texas does it right before our eyes and gets away with it. As for DeJoy, he told the judge he can't put back the sorting machines because they've been stripped for parts. In other words, even the law can't help you. As for Amy Coney Barrett and textualism, I point you to this opinion piece in the "Los Angeles Times," and you should read it:
"Op-Ed: Why Judge Barrett's legal philosophy is deeply antidemocratic": https://lat.ms/2HQgTNa
That's right, I subscribe to four newspapers as well as Apple News as well as combing Twitter and I don't know about you, but the last 72 hours all I've been doing is checking my newsfeed. It's kinda like the Kennedy assassination or 9/11, it's stopped the world cold, we want to know more. Then again, if you're getting your news from TV you're only getting a sliver. But America has forgotten how to read, or never learned, so most people are uninformed...but there's so much to know!
And Trump getting Covid is also representative of the public and the government, there's no preparation for a rainy day, no scouting of the possibilities and preparing for them. Then again, no one wants to pay any taxes to fund the government and the IRS and the CDC...oops, that's another organization that's fallen by the wayside, probably never to be resuscitated, like lawyers after Watergate.
And Trump's totally right, if you're a believer you're gonna be sick of so much winning. That's right, it's been going his way, facilitated by Bill Barr and the rest of the Donald's cronies. You may be losing, but they don't care about you. Did you catch that segment from last night's South Carolina debate? Where Harrison trumped the divisive Graham by saying that whomever wins must work with the other side for the benefit of all of the people? Probably not, if you know anything at all about the debate it's about the plexiglass shield, the campaign is all about the penumbra as opposed to the issues, Fox makes it that way.
As for Biden and the left refusing to go negative...do you really think the right would do this if Biden got sick? OF COURSE NOT! But the left is afraid of alienating Trump's core, the only ones who will take offense, and then the Democrats will become defensive, like Hillary did with the deplorables. Aren't you supposed to make hay while the sun shines (using that farm metaphor for the second time in this screed)? Trump's ill, if you're not going to focus on his mishandling of the virus when are you, this is the best time!
And we still don't have a plan for the virus.
And Cam Newton gets Covid but somehow college football players will not.
This is the best movie of my lifetime. I'm addicted. And so is America.
But the worst thing is we're paying for it, not only with our cash but in some cases our lives.
But since the internet flattened distribution, despite the cries of the hypesters, the big are no longer as big and falsehood reigns and give Trump credit, even in the hospital he's making news, he's dominating the discussion, there's no air for Biden or anybody else, never mind entertainers. Trump rode modern communications to victory once, he knows the game and the left still does not. And the truth is people are truly suffering, and Trump is giving them a scapegoat, many, from immigrants to China to Ilhan Omar...the Donald is appealing to the oppressed and claiming to be the most oppressed of all! Can you believe it, the president is the most oppressed person in America? What next...oh, wait a minute, everybody says they're oppressed, even Katy Perry, I guess he does speak for America.
So how are we gonna turn this ship around?
A ton of sacrifice, imposed by a leader.
But we don't have anyone with brains who has captured the imagination of the public and can carry the flag to the finish line.
So, tomorrow there will be a whole new set of facts. And we'll argue them but the truth is Trump is leading and we're reacting and nothing he does alienates his hard core and the right is rigging the election through voter suppression and all of this is happening in plain sight.
Scary.
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