1
No one is an accidental success.
You've got to want it, you've got to pursue it like you're running out of time.
Did you watch "Hamilton" on Disney+?
"Hamilton" is the biggest musical event of the past five years, far eclipsing Ariana Grande or Kanye or anybody on the hit parade. Because it wasn't built by the hit parade, it wasn't forced down anybody's throat, its spread was the essence of the internet, pull, not push, people wanted it.
And now they've got it.
Very few people have actually seen "Hamilton" on stage, compared with the number of people in America. But those who have testified. And those who haven't...listened to the Original Broadway Cast album.
We know about the success of the musical, what is not emphasized is the success of the soundtrack.
Maybe you needed children in the house. Word of mouth is more important than ever, but in the pre-internet era the spread was limited to the confines of your high school, today there are no boundaries, kids have more friends than ever, they consume more information than ever, adults rail against screen time but it has already transformed the younger generations in ways adults not only could not foresee but still don't understand. There's a network. Which is always on. And when something is deemed important, all youngsters know it.
You might be overwhelmed by apps, by comments, by Reddit, by YouTube and its influencers, but these young digital natives live on their devices and not only know the ropes of how to use them, but what is being said.
Which brings us to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Without the internet, there is no spontaneous combustion. And if you look, it was the youngsters out in the streets. MTV killed homophobia and racism amongst its viewers. Not completely, but there's no gay marriage without MTV. And the younger you are, the less racist you are. It's the old people who are most racist, and they're fading away and their beliefs will not radiate.
In "Hamilton" you have a story of white people portrayed by people of color. There might have been some head-scratching at first, but that's long gone. Then again, it's interesting that people of color can tell the white man's story, but white people can't tell the stories of people of color. I get it, it's kind of like racist jokes, you can tell them if you're a member of the tribe, you can use the "n" word if you're an African-American, but you don't want anybody else employing these expressions. Then again, we must move towards harmony as opposed to exclusiveness, but that's a debate for another day.
So, if you have someone in the house who is still in school, you know "Hamilton" by heart, you've heard it over and over and over again. And unlike today's hit parade, the music was not here and then gone, it sustains. In today's world it's harder to break through, but it's just as hard to stay on top. First and foremost, much of what makes it just isn't that good, secondly, there are always people vying for pole position. But slow and steady wins the race. Even slower than terrestrial radio. And in America today, oftentimes the news media does not reflect the hearts and minds of citizens. We used to live in a top-down culture, now it's bottom-up.
So, Apple should have paid beaucoup bucks for "Hamilton." Then again, at first the filming of the stage play was to be released theatrically. But Disney pivoted in the Covid-19 era and put it up on their television pay service. And now everybody can see it. Over and over and over again.
My point about Apple is "Hamilton" would have driven subscriptions. And it will do so for Disney. Even more, it will continue subscriptions. If you're young, you're not one and done, you need to be able to see "Hamilton" on demand, whenever. And old people too.
So there was tons of hype in advance of yesterday's launch, but I've yet to read the article about adoption, how many people watched, but those will come. And the numbers will be stratospheric, but unlike the Super Bowl, there will be repeatability.
So, if you have not watched "Hamilton," if you are not planning to watch "Hamilton" this weekend, you are in the minority. And you want to watch it because it's so damn good, but also because you want to be part of the discussion, that's what makes you feel human, when you can converse with others about something. That's what we're all looking for in this lockdown era.
Just one note... If you're new to the musical, watch it with the subtitles on. You'll glean so much more.
And unlike with Quibi, "Hamilton" is a very big bite, two hours and forty minutes, but you'll make it through, because you'll enjoy it and want to know how it turns out, marveling that you did not learn all this in school.
2
"How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore
And a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot
In the Caribbean by providence impoverished
In squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar?"
Why is it the nobodies from nowhere break into the entertainment scene?
Because they want it. And there are no pre-requirements.
You need to put in a decade of schooling to become an MD. There are hurdles to almost every profession in America today. And the disadvantaged have problems even getting to the starting line, now more than ever the disadvantaged are just that, they to go substandard schools and are not made aware of scholarship opportunities, meanwhile their parents are denigrated as are their schools themselves. That's America, if you're not successful it's your fault. But those people looking down on you were beneficiaries of elite educations, or they inherited their wealth, or they made money in business and they don't want you taking any of it.
But in entertainment...all doors are open. Which is why it's so hard to make it, everybody wants to play. And despite all the talk of controlling labels, the story of the last decade is democracy, individuals concocting hits all by themselves in their own little burgs.
Just as important is the influence of said work. It's confounding how whites are racist while they listen to hip-hop and adopt the lifestyle. But that's just how powerful entertainment and its stars are.
3
Desire and hard work. It doesn't matter what socioeconomic stratum you're from, you're not going to become an elite influencer if you're not willing to sacrifice everything to make it. And I mean EVERYTHING!
If you want a normal life, get a job, hopefully it will pay the bills.
But if you want to have influence, stop saving for a house, don't get married, don't have children, don't buy an expensive car, just WORK!
But you've got to establish a goal.
Alexander Hamilton wanted influence, power, he wanted to leave a dent in the universe. Don't equate this with getting rich. Sure, money can gain you a modicum of power, but nowhere near as much power as that of entertainers, those in the arts. Life is empty without the arts, despite all the put-down of art history majors. It's the ethereal creations of the artists that we're drawn to, that we want to spend time with, that we want to talk about, just like "Hamilton" itself. So keep your eye on the prize, but know what the prize is.
4
Don't undersell yourself. Hamilton wants to fight, he wants to be on the frontlines, he doesn't want to be in the background. This is no different from an NBA star wanting the ball as the clock ticks down. Hamilton believes in himself, he doesn't shy away from a challenge, he embraces it. And he's always looking for more responsibility.
But the problem with this is you make mistakes. And those are anathema in today's culture. Don't let this dissuade you, if you're not making mistakes, you're not taking enough risks.
5
"Talk less, smile more"
Aaron Burr wants to be a friend to everybody, not go on the record for fear of alienating someone. This is the philosophy of too many entertainers today. They stand for nothing. They want to touch everybody, but as a result they barely go beyond skin-deep. You don't make a fan by being bland, you make fans by having edges, by believing the message is more important than the fallout.
And speaking of Burr, actions have consequences. Don't be a hothead, try to work it out. What I mean is you might get caught up in the moment and regret it. You can never erase your brain. It's one thing to get into an argument, it's another to snuff out someone's life. There are lines you do not want to cross. But shy of this limit, which rarely comes into play, do not sacrifice your truth to be a member of the group, because the group does not need you, it's only a matter of time before you're ejected.
6
Men are ruled by the little head.
They want to go downtown and hang with the ladies.
They do things they regret.
In other words, the world revolves around sex. And it's no different today, when the world's richest man throws his wife overboard in pursuit of a good friend's spouse.
7
Loyalty is everything. I do not mean you should stay loyal to someone who committed a crime, what I'm saying is associate with those with character. Marry someone who will take their vows seriously, who won't abandon you when you least expect it, throwing your life into chaos. There are very few people you can trust, you realize this as you get older. And oftentimes the ones you can trust most have obvious flaws, but the truth is those you think are your buddies have deeper issues that they're hiding, which will ultimately surface, to your detriment.
8
Own your mistakes. The truth will set you free.
That's the essence of the Reynolds Pamphlet. Your enemies have no ammunition if you own your faux pas. And today, especially, what happened yesterday is forgotten tomorrow.
9
You may be paranoid, but that does not mean people aren't out to get you.
Jefferson, Madison, Burr...
10
"Hamilton" is the story of the abused. Americans who could not cotton to British rule. This is what is happening today. It's not only the Vichy Republicans, but the Vichy Democrats too, who want slow, marginal change, just like the Grammy organization. They say they're going to do something, and then do nothing as the time passes.
You try to work it out, but sometimes you become overloaded and rebel.
And people don't like it when you rebel. Wasn't that the essence of Trump's speech at Mt. Rushmore last night? We're going to restore law and order, keep the peace, a peace that is not working for most people.
11
Many more lessons will pop out as you watch "Hamilton." But the musical is not heavy-handed, the story is paramount, the aphorisms baked in. Immigrants do get the job done. Yesterday and today.
But the most impressive thing about "Hamilton" is that Lin-Manuel Miranda created it.
But it did not come out of thin air. Miranda was a fan of musicals, and of rap, from way back. "In the Heights" did not get as good reviews. He was working in darkness, with very little attention. When the spotlight shines, it's harder to maintain that level and quality of production.
But Lin-Manuel Miranda needed this. He needed to leave his mark, to tell his story. And he did not write a verse without a chorus, the quality sustains throughout, which is even more difficult because most of the action takes place in the first act. The second act is more cerebral. The aftermath. But the big wheel keeps on turning, life goes on, every moment counts, the big game only lasts one day, what are you gonna do, what are you gonna think about after that?
"Hamilton" is subversive, even though it's hiding in plain sight. When something is so good, and so truthful, it cannot be denied. And if you want to change people's behaviors, it's best to do this through art. Because when you grab people by their hearts and minds they'll follow you anywhere.
So, can you feel the success of "Hamilton" on television?
Maybe not. But if Lin-Manuel asked you to come together in concerted action, you'd probably follow his lead.
This is today's world. No one has complete mindshare. Trump is even sacrificing some of his, by going off the rails, by denying the effects of Covid-19. You can sacrifice belief, your heroes can betray you, it's not easy to let go, but at some point you do. Just like you stopped buying the albums of classic rock heroes after they released two or three duds in a row.
"Hamilton" will cement the footprint of Disney+. It's a masterstroke. To air it on TV for everybody over the holiday, instead of trying to hoover up money in the theatre and then drip it out on the flat screen as the buzz evaporates. This is a gift. This is the story of July 4th, 2020.
At first it's kind of stilted. Watching the filming of a play.
But since it's the original actors, the ones who sang on the soundtrack, it's very fulfilling, like seeing Freddie Mercury instead of Adam Lambert.
Are you still going to want to see it live?
Interesting question. I've been lucky to be up close and personal three times. Just a few rows back in August 2015, dead center in October of 2016.
And I also saw it in Los Angeles, but I was thrown off by the cast, the originals and their voices were burned into my brain.
It's been five years already. And the "Hamilton" flame still burns. People will still go see the stage play, but I think the TV show will hurt attendance a bit. But it won't be long before it will be a staple of high schools and summer camps, even summer stock. You see, "Hamilton" and its legend will not die. We were waiting for the Beatles to return, little did we know they would come back as a rap-based musical.
There were no duds on Beatle albums.
Just like there are no duds in "Hamilton."
Alexander Hamilton achieved his goal. He made a difference, and he will be remembered.
Same deal with Lin-Manuel Miranda.
If you plan to fly in this rarefied atmosphere know that success will come later rather than sooner, you've got to hoover up knowledge, you've got to make mistakes, you've got to find your way.
And it will take all your time.
And you still might not succeed.
But it isn't about promotion, who you know is important, but not definitive, it's about the WORK!
Is the work most important to you?
Then you've got a chance.
Put your head down. We are not watching. But we want to!
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Saturday 4 July 2020
Thursday 2 July 2020
The Dangerous Ones
https://bit.ly/2VFIvbM
This is what is wrong with the mainstream music business. A song like this cannot get signed, cannot be promoted, it does not fall within the strictures, the boundaries of the "hit" music business, and therefore it is ignored.
It is not 2012 anymore. There is no "Gangnam Style" virality, not even one manipulated by the record labels in concert with the promotional machine. There are too many messages, too many people looking for attention who don't deserve it. So, you can hide in plain sight. If you make it, that does not mean they will come. It can be great, and go unnoticed.
Like "The Dangerous Ones."
I didn't find out through the media, I got hipped in e-mail. That's the underground economy, we don't trust the purveyors, tied in with the PR people shoving stuff down our throat that does not really deserve attention.
And when I clicked I expected to unclick in a matter of moments.
But I did not.
Because of the honesty, because of the humanity, because of the reality.
I've got no problem with electronic music, no problem with machines, but the fact they are squeezing out human life bugs me. That only one kind of music an exist and be amplified.
I had no idea who this guy Kasey Anderson was, but upon starting my research it became clear, he was not making a living playing music, not one of any stature. Either he had a day job or lived at subsistence level. And the funny thing is despite all the technological development, you cannot live on minimum wage, you need to live with your parents, and if you complain about income they tell you to get a job when you already have one, even though you can't make the ends meet.
And I love that you can make music on your computer, but that does not mean you should be unable to make it on traditional instruments, this is not like film photography, with little use today, both machine and acoustic music should be able to exist side by side.
But they don't.
The above video was recorded in 2018. It hasn't changed, hasn't been remixed, it's the same as it ever was. But it's only now getting attention because Kasey Anderson's song "The Dangerous Ones" has been used in a new campaign film by Eleven Films. It's got 1.1 million views already, better than synching your music to an advertising campaign, this clip has MEANING!
https://twitter.com/Eleven_Films/status/1278733040903008256
So why does this song work?
Because of the chorus!
We've thrown over melody for beats. Why can't both coexist? Melody goes back to the beginning of time, but now it's a second-class citizen?
Furthermore, who said lyrics have to be about lifestyle, why can't they have meaning?
Now I'm not saying that Kasey Anderson will suddenly be on the front page. Nothing spreads that far. The system isn't built for this. It only promotes that with a marketing team, outlets don't want to hang it out there alone.
As for Mr. Anderson himself, he spent two years in jail for wire fraud, there goes that money issue again.
Being a songwriter is an honest profession, if you're as talented as Kasey Anderson.
It's not only our government that's screwed up.
"The Dangerous Ones" touches your soul...and isn't that what great art is all about?
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This is what is wrong with the mainstream music business. A song like this cannot get signed, cannot be promoted, it does not fall within the strictures, the boundaries of the "hit" music business, and therefore it is ignored.
It is not 2012 anymore. There is no "Gangnam Style" virality, not even one manipulated by the record labels in concert with the promotional machine. There are too many messages, too many people looking for attention who don't deserve it. So, you can hide in plain sight. If you make it, that does not mean they will come. It can be great, and go unnoticed.
Like "The Dangerous Ones."
I didn't find out through the media, I got hipped in e-mail. That's the underground economy, we don't trust the purveyors, tied in with the PR people shoving stuff down our throat that does not really deserve attention.
And when I clicked I expected to unclick in a matter of moments.
But I did not.
Because of the honesty, because of the humanity, because of the reality.
I've got no problem with electronic music, no problem with machines, but the fact they are squeezing out human life bugs me. That only one kind of music an exist and be amplified.
I had no idea who this guy Kasey Anderson was, but upon starting my research it became clear, he was not making a living playing music, not one of any stature. Either he had a day job or lived at subsistence level. And the funny thing is despite all the technological development, you cannot live on minimum wage, you need to live with your parents, and if you complain about income they tell you to get a job when you already have one, even though you can't make the ends meet.
And I love that you can make music on your computer, but that does not mean you should be unable to make it on traditional instruments, this is not like film photography, with little use today, both machine and acoustic music should be able to exist side by side.
But they don't.
The above video was recorded in 2018. It hasn't changed, hasn't been remixed, it's the same as it ever was. But it's only now getting attention because Kasey Anderson's song "The Dangerous Ones" has been used in a new campaign film by Eleven Films. It's got 1.1 million views already, better than synching your music to an advertising campaign, this clip has MEANING!
https://twitter.com/Eleven_Films/status/1278733040903008256
So why does this song work?
Because of the chorus!
We've thrown over melody for beats. Why can't both coexist? Melody goes back to the beginning of time, but now it's a second-class citizen?
Furthermore, who said lyrics have to be about lifestyle, why can't they have meaning?
Now I'm not saying that Kasey Anderson will suddenly be on the front page. Nothing spreads that far. The system isn't built for this. It only promotes that with a marketing team, outlets don't want to hang it out there alone.
As for Mr. Anderson himself, he spent two years in jail for wire fraud, there goes that money issue again.
Being a songwriter is an honest profession, if you're as talented as Kasey Anderson.
It's not only our government that's screwed up.
"The Dangerous Ones" touches your soul...and isn't that what great art is all about?
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Chris Frantz-This Week's Podcast
Drummer for Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. His new memoir, "Remain in Love," is being released on July 21st.
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chris-frantz/id1316200737?i=1000481772301
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3j6k1oUcqxYwj26PxKQrBO
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=74236506
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https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-30806836/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chris-frantz/id1316200737?i=1000481772301
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3j6k1oUcqxYwj26PxKQrBO
https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=74236506
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What's Coming
Trump's not gonna lose. Either he's going to declare victory or drop out of the race.
Over the weekend Fox News floated a trial balloon. They said there was GOP discussion about Trump not running, and then Hannity got into it too. If you read further, you realized there were essentially no facts, no one said Trump was going to do this, but...
I love living in the now. Because for the first time I've realized...I'VE GOT NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
There's the famous movie business line, "Nobody knows anything," coined by screenwriter William Goldman. I never believed this. I felt I could sense what would resonate with the public and what would not.
I no longer believe that.
Because of so many other factors...timing, marketing, national mood. I mean why in hell was the Queen movie so successful when all the reviews trashed it? This is not "Ace Ventura," which at least had humor you could laugh at or pooh-pooh. This was a lame biopic. But it resonated with the public. Maybe people need heroes. Maybe people need to reminisce about classic rock. Maybe people love the story of an outsider who triumphs, and then loses it all. Who knows? I could speculate all day long, but one thing is for sure, no one expected "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be a blockbuster.
Which brings us to 2020. Covid-19? I remember reading in the paper about what was happening in China, there was no way I felt it could happen here, not at this level.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden? I had no idea that the anti-Bernie faction would circle the wagons, have Amy & Pete drop out and anoint Biden.
Black Lives Matter? They've been killing blacks willy-nilly for years. After Ferguson I expected a firestorm that never happened. I even heard Spike Lee say things were now gonna be different, because everybody had a camera. But it took years for all the stars to align, for the conflagration to ignite, seemingly overnight, and to have protests in Idaho and Utah...have you been to these places, unfathomable!
Which is why I tell all those who believe Biden will skate to victory that the election is still four months away, anything could happen. Hickenlooper was a shoo-in, and then the right ginned-up an ethics violation, he made a couple of faux pas...and he survived the primary and should win the election in November, but what looked like smooth sailing was not.
And this is not only in politics. It's in all walks of life. Hell, music is a harbinger of this. The scene looks placid, you know what works and what does not, and then something from left field triumphs, turns over the table, and what was new is now old and forgotten. Actually, we're ripe for that, because we haven't had a new sound in twenty years. Popular music has consolidated in an era where everything else has exploded into a zillion niches. Kinda like ski production. There are a number of gigantic companies, which in some cases own multiple brands, but this has engendered a plethora of indie operations, more companies are making more skis than ever before. And the indies are the ones with the breakthroughs. Which is the way it used to happen in music, and it is still happening now, it's just that those in power can't realize it. There's been consolidation to the point that many are left out, especially in genres that are not emphasized, meanwhile, those genres are growing.
So back to Trump. He can't handle losing, you know that. And right now things are looking very bad. To the point where Republican infrastructure is starting to freak out, because it's fearful Trump will bring the whole party down, not only losing the Presidency, but the Senate.
Then again, all this infrastructure was against Trump until it flipped and was for him. But, there are elected officials who will probably lose their seats because they've supported Trump, like Cory Gardner, it's the human stain.
So, if Fox can gin up enough support, they'll throw Trump overboard. And this will not be good for the Democrats. Almost no one is enthusiastic about Joe Biden, check the polls, it's an anti-Trump vote, and if suddenly Trump is removed and someone rational runs in his place...he or she might win!
But if Trump stays in and loses on paper, he's not going to sacrifice his position, that's not the authoritarian playbook. And, authoritarians don't play by the rules, so stop talking about the law.
Kinda like Rachel Maddow and the rest of the left wing press corps pointing out Trump's failures. Who is this helping? MSNBC's audience has made its mind up about Trump. So, you watch and they quote the "New York Times" and get flabbergasted over everything Trump and his cronies do and take themselves out of the discussion, they're not making any difference.
Same deal on the other side. You need to go to the Fox News site on a regular basis. They can put a negative spin on the biggest left wing triumph. And they pick and choose the news and...
The media is following.
The public is leading.
But the public has little investment in the game. The public is willing to turn on a dime, jettison what once was while it invests in something new.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 keeps ravaging the populace. And now even Trump is mellowing on masks, as even Mitch McConnell advocates for them.
So hopefully this weekend you're staying home. Saving yourself.
Then again, whenever I go out I see groups of maskless youngsters hanging in close proximity.
Proving there's a vacuum in leadership that someone will fill. This disorganization will not go on forever. These narratives will not continue forever.
Watch the movie!
"Rough polling stretch has GOP operatives asking: Could Trump drop out? - Some GOP operatives are wondering if the president could drop out of the presidential race if his poll numbers don't improve": https://fxn.ws/2NPX6NJ
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Over the weekend Fox News floated a trial balloon. They said there was GOP discussion about Trump not running, and then Hannity got into it too. If you read further, you realized there were essentially no facts, no one said Trump was going to do this, but...
I love living in the now. Because for the first time I've realized...I'VE GOT NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!
There's the famous movie business line, "Nobody knows anything," coined by screenwriter William Goldman. I never believed this. I felt I could sense what would resonate with the public and what would not.
I no longer believe that.
Because of so many other factors...timing, marketing, national mood. I mean why in hell was the Queen movie so successful when all the reviews trashed it? This is not "Ace Ventura," which at least had humor you could laugh at or pooh-pooh. This was a lame biopic. But it resonated with the public. Maybe people need heroes. Maybe people need to reminisce about classic rock. Maybe people love the story of an outsider who triumphs, and then loses it all. Who knows? I could speculate all day long, but one thing is for sure, no one expected "Bohemian Rhapsody" to be a blockbuster.
Which brings us to 2020. Covid-19? I remember reading in the paper about what was happening in China, there was no way I felt it could happen here, not at this level.
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden? I had no idea that the anti-Bernie faction would circle the wagons, have Amy & Pete drop out and anoint Biden.
Black Lives Matter? They've been killing blacks willy-nilly for years. After Ferguson I expected a firestorm that never happened. I even heard Spike Lee say things were now gonna be different, because everybody had a camera. But it took years for all the stars to align, for the conflagration to ignite, seemingly overnight, and to have protests in Idaho and Utah...have you been to these places, unfathomable!
Which is why I tell all those who believe Biden will skate to victory that the election is still four months away, anything could happen. Hickenlooper was a shoo-in, and then the right ginned-up an ethics violation, he made a couple of faux pas...and he survived the primary and should win the election in November, but what looked like smooth sailing was not.
And this is not only in politics. It's in all walks of life. Hell, music is a harbinger of this. The scene looks placid, you know what works and what does not, and then something from left field triumphs, turns over the table, and what was new is now old and forgotten. Actually, we're ripe for that, because we haven't had a new sound in twenty years. Popular music has consolidated in an era where everything else has exploded into a zillion niches. Kinda like ski production. There are a number of gigantic companies, which in some cases own multiple brands, but this has engendered a plethora of indie operations, more companies are making more skis than ever before. And the indies are the ones with the breakthroughs. Which is the way it used to happen in music, and it is still happening now, it's just that those in power can't realize it. There's been consolidation to the point that many are left out, especially in genres that are not emphasized, meanwhile, those genres are growing.
So back to Trump. He can't handle losing, you know that. And right now things are looking very bad. To the point where Republican infrastructure is starting to freak out, because it's fearful Trump will bring the whole party down, not only losing the Presidency, but the Senate.
Then again, all this infrastructure was against Trump until it flipped and was for him. But, there are elected officials who will probably lose their seats because they've supported Trump, like Cory Gardner, it's the human stain.
So, if Fox can gin up enough support, they'll throw Trump overboard. And this will not be good for the Democrats. Almost no one is enthusiastic about Joe Biden, check the polls, it's an anti-Trump vote, and if suddenly Trump is removed and someone rational runs in his place...he or she might win!
But if Trump stays in and loses on paper, he's not going to sacrifice his position, that's not the authoritarian playbook. And, authoritarians don't play by the rules, so stop talking about the law.
Kinda like Rachel Maddow and the rest of the left wing press corps pointing out Trump's failures. Who is this helping? MSNBC's audience has made its mind up about Trump. So, you watch and they quote the "New York Times" and get flabbergasted over everything Trump and his cronies do and take themselves out of the discussion, they're not making any difference.
Same deal on the other side. You need to go to the Fox News site on a regular basis. They can put a negative spin on the biggest left wing triumph. And they pick and choose the news and...
The media is following.
The public is leading.
But the public has little investment in the game. The public is willing to turn on a dime, jettison what once was while it invests in something new.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 keeps ravaging the populace. And now even Trump is mellowing on masks, as even Mitch McConnell advocates for them.
So hopefully this weekend you're staying home. Saving yourself.
Then again, whenever I go out I see groups of maskless youngsters hanging in close proximity.
Proving there's a vacuum in leadership that someone will fill. This disorganization will not go on forever. These narratives will not continue forever.
Watch the movie!
"Rough polling stretch has GOP operatives asking: Could Trump drop out? - Some GOP operatives are wondering if the president could drop out of the presidential race if his poll numbers don't improve": https://fxn.ws/2NPX6NJ
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Wednesday 1 July 2020
Chaos
Which came first, Trump or the internet?
Once again, music was the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption.
Music has been disrupted, we're at the end of the line of technology, we've got an on demand system where you can get everything in the history of recorded music for one low price. (As for those quibbling as to availability, these are the same people buying tracks and talking about the minor tweaks to technology yet to come...IGNORE THEM!)
So, now it's about software, about the music.
And what have we learned?
A hit is smaller than it's ever been in our lifetimes. The media trumpets the Top Ten, but most of the audience, the public, has not heard these tracks.
We have a codification of what is supposedly successful, the Spotify Top 50, but it does not comport with the listening habits of the public at large.
And what big media says, the newspapers, the TV outlets, also means less than ever before and has less impact upon the populace than ever before, even though those involved deny this, if they're even aware of it.
You see the internet has turned us into a Tower of Babel nation.
In the eighties we lived in a monoculture. One story for everybody. MTV. Reagan. There was a distinct narrative, and unlike in the sixties, there were no contrary voices, none that got any real traction.
So no one was prepared for the internet and the blowing up of the paradigm, where everything became granular instead of singular.
At first only college students had high speed connections. The public at large was on AOL. And then everything splintered into a zillion factions and it hasn't been the same since. Sure, Trump was built by television, a paradigm that cannot be replicated, but he spread because of the internet.
Not that platforms are unimportant.
Which means that newsgatherers still have power. I.e. the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" and to a degree the "Wall Street Journal." If any of these outlets breaks a story, it becomes fodder for discussion, but their interpretation of it is secondary to the facts. Their spin is only for a tribe, which is a subsection of the public.
Which brings us to the internet.
People always talk about the influence of the internet on outside forces, like newspapers. But more interesting is the internet's influence upon itself. For twenty years it was about great leaps forward, in both hardware and software. What was hip today, was gone tomorrow. But then...it all stabilized. It was a game of musical chairs, and if you didn't have one, you couldn't get one.
Google owns search.
Facebook owns social networking.
Amazon owns shopping.
As for Apple...it's a niche product. As for Microsoft, it's mostly about business. So, let's leave them out of the discussion.
In other words, Google, Facebook and Amazon are the true powers in society today. But unlike the media outlets of yore, they're just platforms, they come with no content, how are they used, HOW SHOULD THEY BE USED!
Only a few are asking these questions, despite all the hoopla in the news. You see the questions are so big, no one can wrap their head around them, so they ignore them. Especially the public, which can understand digital, not analog. We taught to the test and now no one can think. Except for an elite, which as a result has power, which as a result is hated, to the point where the ignorant can gain traction, like the candidates running for office who believe in QAnon. And nothing is to be trusted, not a video or a tweet, anything can be manipulated, whether it was or was not, so there's no truth.
So, Google forgot its mantra, it's doing harm all day long. With paid search results at the top of the page, search is inherently skewed. Even worse, each individual gets different results. Even worse, it's all about commerce, if it makes a dollar, it's cool, even if everybody sacrifices their privacy and gets misinformation in the process.
As for Amazon... It's competing with Google in search, it's only the hoi polloi who don't know this. To the point where you can't find what you're looking for through the sponsored products.
And then that brings us to Facebook.
All of these outfits are run by stunted people. Nerds. Educated in the sciences but not the humanities. That's right, as you told your kids that college was about getting a job, you contributed to the death of America, as did the institutions of higher learning that served your children. College used to be about broadening the horizons of students, educating them so they could deal with any possibility. Now, if the square peg does not fit into the hole, they're lost.
But Google just hoovers up content.
Amazon is selling products.
But the essence of Facebook, of its subsidiary Instagram, of its low-level competitor Snapchat, is user content.
These platforms say they're benign, but they're the problem.
Now, everybody has got their own set of beliefs. Backed up by personal research. Veracity is irrelevant. It's all emotion all the time. And if you challenge someone's opinion, you're the problem.
So, how do we eliminate the chaos?
We can't, because our institutions are not prepared for it, they are not addressing it, they're just moseying along like nothing's changed. Look at music, media keeps printing a Top Ten, which is ridiculous. Not only does the Top Ten not mean what it used to, it's oftentimes different every week. And let's take the strange case of Bob Dylan's new album. All this hoopla, #2 on the chart... But is anybody listening? OF COURSE NOT! Did you try? Once was enough for "Murder Most Foul," as for the rest of the new album...only three of the cuts have in excess of one million streams on Spotify. And despite the number of subscribers, it's a well-known fact that streams on Apple are less, as for purchases...only old people buy music and they don't have time to listen to it! So what we've got here is not even a turntable hit, but a press hit, that has absolutely no impact on the culture. Come on, just try to listen to listen all the way through to "Rough and Rowdy Ways," I DARE YOU!
But you'll blow back anyway. Without even listening. Because you need something to cling to, Bob Dylan, the past...you are unaware of the present and all the problems it presents.
Sure, Facebook can say it's just a conduit for information. But that's a problem when it's the ONLY conduit for information, the way MOST people get their information, in a world where people go ever deeper into their own, self-reinforcing silo. Most people get their information online, which is the wild west, and instead of being tamed, it's growing ever wilder.
Meanwhile, those in power, in the old game, say it's all about the election, and voting, when the actual process is so antique and untrustworthy any digital native does not trust it, whatever the result.
Do you get to vote?
Are the voter rolls public, can they be analyzed?
How many polling places are there?
Can you vote by mail?
How is the vote counted?
This system worked in the pre-internet era, but not today. Voting is digital in concept, 1's and 2's, but analog in execution, and the public just can't accept that, no way.
So, what happens?
Well, many vote for a strongman, they can't handle this dissonance, they want to forget about it, give the power to someone else so they can live their lives, as they sacrifice their privacy and other rights.
As for those who don't want to concede power...
Many are just plain ignorant. Even worse, they can't hear the truth. They literally don't hear it, they're on different sites, or they don't want to hear it.
So what's the way out of this?
Well, let's be honest, the baby boomers are the problem. They say they're digital natives, but despite having all the hardware they're usually digitally clueless and just want the present (or the past!) reinforced when the truth is we don't live where they used to and never will again. Can we stop trying to save record stores and bookstores and newspapers and...what next, film cameras, buggy whips?
So, the switch has flipped, now it's no longer about the hardware, about the pipe, but the software, and we're patently unprepared to address this. It's murky, and in a digital era we expect it to be black and white. There's the opposite of consensus. And since the almighty buck is paramount, there can be little change.
So, companies are boycotting Facebook. Good, it brings up the question. But Mark Zuckerberg is unprepared to answer it. It's like asking an art history major to program a computer. Zuckerberg doesn't know enough about the humanities to take the right course. And, since Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp are businesses, we look at them as business constructs, when they're much more than this.
Do we allow falsehoods?
Do we allow manipulations?
We've got to have a code, anything can't go.
But right now anything does.
So, you think Trump is the show. You think all the problems can be solved with an election.
But the problem is the internet.
How do we deal with the effects of this edifice we've built? Which we thought was bringing people together, but in truth was driving them apart!
That's the question of our age.
But the end result is we all live in these United States, but in our heads we could not be more distant.
This calls for the best and brightest unfettered by constructs like the past and dollars and cents to address. It is not going away. It is getting worse. We're all alienated, and therefore we are susceptible to niche tribes, which may be purveying falsehoods.
The internet has huge benefits, enough with the boomer naysaying about screen time, etc., if nothing else it leaves them out of the discussion...if you're not participating online, you've got no idea what is going on.
But let's just admit that traditional institutions have lost power. That at no time in history have individuals felt as empowered as they do now. They've got access, but they haven't got smarts, because their information is tainted.
Are we going to start printing science books that say the earth is flat?
Are we going to start printing Shakespeare plays that are really written by Ben Jonson?
Are we going to continue to allow mislabeling and misinformation to the point where truth cannot be established and forward progress cannot be achieved?
In the past, we lived in a top-down society. The few media outlets and the elites dictated. Now just the opposite is happening, and those who ruled in the past cannot accept this, if they can see it at all, they believe they and their old precepts still rule when they do not.
I'm not saying these questions are easy to address.
But we've got to start.
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Once again, music was the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption.
Music has been disrupted, we're at the end of the line of technology, we've got an on demand system where you can get everything in the history of recorded music for one low price. (As for those quibbling as to availability, these are the same people buying tracks and talking about the minor tweaks to technology yet to come...IGNORE THEM!)
So, now it's about software, about the music.
And what have we learned?
A hit is smaller than it's ever been in our lifetimes. The media trumpets the Top Ten, but most of the audience, the public, has not heard these tracks.
We have a codification of what is supposedly successful, the Spotify Top 50, but it does not comport with the listening habits of the public at large.
And what big media says, the newspapers, the TV outlets, also means less than ever before and has less impact upon the populace than ever before, even though those involved deny this, if they're even aware of it.
You see the internet has turned us into a Tower of Babel nation.
In the eighties we lived in a monoculture. One story for everybody. MTV. Reagan. There was a distinct narrative, and unlike in the sixties, there were no contrary voices, none that got any real traction.
So no one was prepared for the internet and the blowing up of the paradigm, where everything became granular instead of singular.
At first only college students had high speed connections. The public at large was on AOL. And then everything splintered into a zillion factions and it hasn't been the same since. Sure, Trump was built by television, a paradigm that cannot be replicated, but he spread because of the internet.
Not that platforms are unimportant.
Which means that newsgatherers still have power. I.e. the "New York Times" and the "Washington Post" and to a degree the "Wall Street Journal." If any of these outlets breaks a story, it becomes fodder for discussion, but their interpretation of it is secondary to the facts. Their spin is only for a tribe, which is a subsection of the public.
Which brings us to the internet.
People always talk about the influence of the internet on outside forces, like newspapers. But more interesting is the internet's influence upon itself. For twenty years it was about great leaps forward, in both hardware and software. What was hip today, was gone tomorrow. But then...it all stabilized. It was a game of musical chairs, and if you didn't have one, you couldn't get one.
Google owns search.
Facebook owns social networking.
Amazon owns shopping.
As for Apple...it's a niche product. As for Microsoft, it's mostly about business. So, let's leave them out of the discussion.
In other words, Google, Facebook and Amazon are the true powers in society today. But unlike the media outlets of yore, they're just platforms, they come with no content, how are they used, HOW SHOULD THEY BE USED!
Only a few are asking these questions, despite all the hoopla in the news. You see the questions are so big, no one can wrap their head around them, so they ignore them. Especially the public, which can understand digital, not analog. We taught to the test and now no one can think. Except for an elite, which as a result has power, which as a result is hated, to the point where the ignorant can gain traction, like the candidates running for office who believe in QAnon. And nothing is to be trusted, not a video or a tweet, anything can be manipulated, whether it was or was not, so there's no truth.
So, Google forgot its mantra, it's doing harm all day long. With paid search results at the top of the page, search is inherently skewed. Even worse, each individual gets different results. Even worse, it's all about commerce, if it makes a dollar, it's cool, even if everybody sacrifices their privacy and gets misinformation in the process.
As for Amazon... It's competing with Google in search, it's only the hoi polloi who don't know this. To the point where you can't find what you're looking for through the sponsored products.
And then that brings us to Facebook.
All of these outfits are run by stunted people. Nerds. Educated in the sciences but not the humanities. That's right, as you told your kids that college was about getting a job, you contributed to the death of America, as did the institutions of higher learning that served your children. College used to be about broadening the horizons of students, educating them so they could deal with any possibility. Now, if the square peg does not fit into the hole, they're lost.
But Google just hoovers up content.
Amazon is selling products.
But the essence of Facebook, of its subsidiary Instagram, of its low-level competitor Snapchat, is user content.
These platforms say they're benign, but they're the problem.
Now, everybody has got their own set of beliefs. Backed up by personal research. Veracity is irrelevant. It's all emotion all the time. And if you challenge someone's opinion, you're the problem.
So, how do we eliminate the chaos?
We can't, because our institutions are not prepared for it, they are not addressing it, they're just moseying along like nothing's changed. Look at music, media keeps printing a Top Ten, which is ridiculous. Not only does the Top Ten not mean what it used to, it's oftentimes different every week. And let's take the strange case of Bob Dylan's new album. All this hoopla, #2 on the chart... But is anybody listening? OF COURSE NOT! Did you try? Once was enough for "Murder Most Foul," as for the rest of the new album...only three of the cuts have in excess of one million streams on Spotify. And despite the number of subscribers, it's a well-known fact that streams on Apple are less, as for purchases...only old people buy music and they don't have time to listen to it! So what we've got here is not even a turntable hit, but a press hit, that has absolutely no impact on the culture. Come on, just try to listen to listen all the way through to "Rough and Rowdy Ways," I DARE YOU!
But you'll blow back anyway. Without even listening. Because you need something to cling to, Bob Dylan, the past...you are unaware of the present and all the problems it presents.
Sure, Facebook can say it's just a conduit for information. But that's a problem when it's the ONLY conduit for information, the way MOST people get their information, in a world where people go ever deeper into their own, self-reinforcing silo. Most people get their information online, which is the wild west, and instead of being tamed, it's growing ever wilder.
Meanwhile, those in power, in the old game, say it's all about the election, and voting, when the actual process is so antique and untrustworthy any digital native does not trust it, whatever the result.
Do you get to vote?
Are the voter rolls public, can they be analyzed?
How many polling places are there?
Can you vote by mail?
How is the vote counted?
This system worked in the pre-internet era, but not today. Voting is digital in concept, 1's and 2's, but analog in execution, and the public just can't accept that, no way.
So, what happens?
Well, many vote for a strongman, they can't handle this dissonance, they want to forget about it, give the power to someone else so they can live their lives, as they sacrifice their privacy and other rights.
As for those who don't want to concede power...
Many are just plain ignorant. Even worse, they can't hear the truth. They literally don't hear it, they're on different sites, or they don't want to hear it.
So what's the way out of this?
Well, let's be honest, the baby boomers are the problem. They say they're digital natives, but despite having all the hardware they're usually digitally clueless and just want the present (or the past!) reinforced when the truth is we don't live where they used to and never will again. Can we stop trying to save record stores and bookstores and newspapers and...what next, film cameras, buggy whips?
So, the switch has flipped, now it's no longer about the hardware, about the pipe, but the software, and we're patently unprepared to address this. It's murky, and in a digital era we expect it to be black and white. There's the opposite of consensus. And since the almighty buck is paramount, there can be little change.
So, companies are boycotting Facebook. Good, it brings up the question. But Mark Zuckerberg is unprepared to answer it. It's like asking an art history major to program a computer. Zuckerberg doesn't know enough about the humanities to take the right course. And, since Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp are businesses, we look at them as business constructs, when they're much more than this.
Do we allow falsehoods?
Do we allow manipulations?
We've got to have a code, anything can't go.
But right now anything does.
So, you think Trump is the show. You think all the problems can be solved with an election.
But the problem is the internet.
How do we deal with the effects of this edifice we've built? Which we thought was bringing people together, but in truth was driving them apart!
That's the question of our age.
But the end result is we all live in these United States, but in our heads we could not be more distant.
This calls for the best and brightest unfettered by constructs like the past and dollars and cents to address. It is not going away. It is getting worse. We're all alienated, and therefore we are susceptible to niche tribes, which may be purveying falsehoods.
The internet has huge benefits, enough with the boomer naysaying about screen time, etc., if nothing else it leaves them out of the discussion...if you're not participating online, you've got no idea what is going on.
But let's just admit that traditional institutions have lost power. That at no time in history have individuals felt as empowered as they do now. They've got access, but they haven't got smarts, because their information is tainted.
Are we going to start printing science books that say the earth is flat?
Are we going to start printing Shakespeare plays that are really written by Ben Jonson?
Are we going to continue to allow mislabeling and misinformation to the point where truth cannot be established and forward progress cannot be achieved?
In the past, we lived in a top-down society. The few media outlets and the elites dictated. Now just the opposite is happening, and those who ruled in the past cannot accept this, if they can see it at all, they believe they and their old precepts still rule when they do not.
I'm not saying these questions are easy to address.
But we've got to start.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Tuesday 30 June 2020
Three Dog Night Originals-This Week On SiriusXM
Show Playlist:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3id5lS5
Pandora: https://bit.ly/31viHTJ
Tune in today June 30th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive
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-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3id5lS5
Pandora: https://bit.ly/31viHTJ
Tune in today June 30th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.
Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive
If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
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Monday 29 June 2020
F2020
TikTok (until it's taken down): https://bit.ly/38ajcUw
Instagram: https://bit.ly/2NFBV0H
This is a hit!
I didn't spell out the F-word in the title, otherwise anybody working at a corporation wouldn't receive this, and they should.
I know nothing about this other than the video. I've never heard of the act before, I don't know if what they're saying re acceptance is true or not. But I want to believe they had 4.5 million views in half a day before this was taken down and then re-upped.
Why is this so engaging?
It's the chorus. Not only the words, but the actual music, hear it enough and you want to sing along.
And the deadpan women... It's almost like Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video, and the fact that there's no emotion while the lyrics have so much meaning...
And then the middle finger(s).
Maybe TikTok fulfills the promise of great undiscovered acts that the internet was supposed to surface. I'm not sure where else this stuff lives. The F-word makes it a nonstarter in many places. And TikTok is singular, user-created content, whereas YouTube is too broad.
So, you're flying on your ingenuity, your creativity...in an era where those are secondary to a team of twenty writers polishing a turd.
Isn't it funny we've been waiting for an anthem encapsulating these insane days from the usual suspect superstars and none have come close and then these unknowns nail it.
And referring to the year as human.
And giving the personal viewpoint as opposed to painting in the broad platitudes most pop stars employ.
And one thing is for sure, a committee would never come up with this, never mind the professional songwriters.
This is the essence of "popular" music. It's about inspiration more than execution. In other words, you can refine your chops at Berklee and still be unable to create anything original that anyone wants to hear.
This song represents the zeitgeist, employing TikTok, profanity, attitude, personality...and it's more about the message than the money.
FANTASTIC!
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Instagram: https://bit.ly/2NFBV0H
This is a hit!
I didn't spell out the F-word in the title, otherwise anybody working at a corporation wouldn't receive this, and they should.
I know nothing about this other than the video. I've never heard of the act before, I don't know if what they're saying re acceptance is true or not. But I want to believe they had 4.5 million views in half a day before this was taken down and then re-upped.
Why is this so engaging?
It's the chorus. Not only the words, but the actual music, hear it enough and you want to sing along.
And the deadpan women... It's almost like Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video, and the fact that there's no emotion while the lyrics have so much meaning...
And then the middle finger(s).
Maybe TikTok fulfills the promise of great undiscovered acts that the internet was supposed to surface. I'm not sure where else this stuff lives. The F-word makes it a nonstarter in many places. And TikTok is singular, user-created content, whereas YouTube is too broad.
So, you're flying on your ingenuity, your creativity...in an era where those are secondary to a team of twenty writers polishing a turd.
Isn't it funny we've been waiting for an anthem encapsulating these insane days from the usual suspect superstars and none have come close and then these unknowns nail it.
And referring to the year as human.
And giving the personal viewpoint as opposed to painting in the broad platitudes most pop stars employ.
And one thing is for sure, a committee would never come up with this, never mind the professional songwriters.
This is the essence of "popular" music. It's about inspiration more than execution. In other words, you can refine your chops at Berklee and still be unable to create anything original that anyone wants to hear.
This song represents the zeitgeist, employing TikTok, profanity, attitude, personality...and it's more about the message than the money.
FANTASTIC!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Holly Humberstone
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3dDLfwI
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2BMZxOr
"A couple more tequilas
And I'll tell you how I'm feeling"
Actually, I no longer drink. It has to do with being stopped for drunk driving on the night John Lennon was assassinated. Getting a suspended sentence and not being able to drive within eight hours of having a drink. And a new girlfriend biting me much too violently and me being unable to leave her house and drive home, afraid to risk getting stopped and losing my license for two years, before the days of Uber, when it was unfathomable in Los Angeles.
But I'd love to tell you how I'm feeling.
Then again, I'm a big believer in Jackson Browne's "The Late Show":
"Maybe people only ask you how you're doing
'Cause that's easier than letting on how little they could care"
I want to talk, but they don't want to listen. So I stay quiet, so I internalize, kind of like Tori Amos's "Silent All These Years." Not that I'm gonna spill my guts right now. Do that online and get ready for the blowback. People don't know you, but they hate you anyway, and need to let you know it.
This music thing is funny. They've been making it for an eternity, and everybody purveying it says it's the same, that you're too old if you don't get it, it's just as good...
But it's not.
Or maybe it's the feeling I'm looking for.
Music can engender many responses, but the one that resonates most for me is the one wherein I'm elevated, floating above the surface, in a bubble with just the music and me, it's set me free, to a space where I can be myself, understood for who I am and happy.
Most of the people making this music are damaged. Not open and understanding, instead they're off-putting and difficult. I've met the household names. But when they speak from their souls, it resonates with mine.
Funny thing about music, if you're in the wrong mood it's like nails on a chalkboard, you need to stop it immediately. But if it's right, you don't want to turn it off. I'm capable of playing the same track ten or twenty times in a row, literally, I want to bask in the feeling, I don't want to let it go, I'm anything but a playlist guy, they're buzzkills.
"Don't wanna kill your evening
Don't wanna be a buzzkill
If I'm coming on strong"
I like to come on strong, I don't like to hold anything back, no hidden agendas, I want to make my message clear, do you agree with me, that's what I'm looking for, someone who feels like I do.
"Maybe this time I'll say something
Something a little wild, out loud
Maybe this time I'll say something
I've been feeling for a while, out loud"
But I'm not gonna. It's too tough, I feel it, but I can't verbalize it, maybe I want to own it, if I reveal it it'll be cheapened.
I guess I'm different.
I didn't go to the gig to get drunk and meet people. I went to sit and bask in the sound, connect with the performer one on one.
But that paradigm seems to have evaporated. First and foremost, there are no longer any seats, who said you have to stand to enjoy music, it just takes energy away that I need to create the bubble and drift.
Now doing research, I see that a Vevo video of Holly Humberstone's "Overkill" has been released. So, there must be a backstory, even though she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, even though she only has three songs on streaming services.
So the truth is I discovered Holly Humberstone from an e-mail I did not want to get. I hate mass e-mails. Personalized, are cool. But too many are self-promotional in some way, there's an agenda, and that turns me off, what I like most are the ones that reveal truth back.
"And you don't have to say it back
I jus wanna know where your head's at"
I want to know where everybody's head is at.
So, as I deleted this e-mail with a playlist, debating whether to e-mail the sender to take me off his list, I decided to check it out, because it came from the U.K.
Which is a very different market.
And the first cut on the playlist was Holly Humberstone's "Overkill."
I'd like to tell you the remaining twenty-odd tracks were just as good, even worth listening to again, but that would be lying, there was a good change in this one Haim song, "Gasoline," but when I checked out the rest of the new album it was not as good.
But when I played "Overkill" again, it still reached me.
And then I took a break for lunch, some business, and when I sat back in front of my computer to write about it, "Overkill" sounded awful, I had to stop it. Was it really not that good, or was it me?
It was me.
When I was a teenager, there was no internet, you could be bored, your music was all you had. Now there are so many distractions. And I'm so busy. And I'm not complaining about that, but I must admit I miss the feeling of going deep into something that may not appeal at first, today I just click through.
But right now I'm frustrated. My dermatologist prescribed five days of 20mg of prednisone to address my skin problem. An interim step while we wait for approval of the multi-thousand dollar net to me IVIG which requires five hours five days in a row in a chair. The prednisone worked. The itching went away, the spots mellowed, but prednisone works differently from IVIG, and it doesn't last as long, will it carry me through until the Rituxan kicks in, obviating the need for said IVIG?
So I think I'm crashing.
I retreated into my lair. I was deciding what to do.
And that's when I pulled up Holly Humberstone's "Overkill."
All three Holly Humberstone tracks are good. Well, "Falling Asleep At The Wheel" is close to "Overkill," but "Overkill"...
"Going up and down the country"
"Overkill" is the kind of cut you listen to driving up PCH with the sunroof open and the A/C on. When you feel like the luckiest person in the world, when you feel like your life works, when you're happy.
And I'll get e-mail saying it sucks. In more ways than I can even conjure.
But no one likes everything.
But if you're looking for something that speaks to your head and heart, as well as your hips, that elusive elixir that makes a hit song...
"Overkill" may reach you.
Live on Vevo: https://bit.ly/2YGT5Bw
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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YouTube: https://bit.ly/2BMZxOr
"A couple more tequilas
And I'll tell you how I'm feeling"
Actually, I no longer drink. It has to do with being stopped for drunk driving on the night John Lennon was assassinated. Getting a suspended sentence and not being able to drive within eight hours of having a drink. And a new girlfriend biting me much too violently and me being unable to leave her house and drive home, afraid to risk getting stopped and losing my license for two years, before the days of Uber, when it was unfathomable in Los Angeles.
But I'd love to tell you how I'm feeling.
Then again, I'm a big believer in Jackson Browne's "The Late Show":
"Maybe people only ask you how you're doing
'Cause that's easier than letting on how little they could care"
I want to talk, but they don't want to listen. So I stay quiet, so I internalize, kind of like Tori Amos's "Silent All These Years." Not that I'm gonna spill my guts right now. Do that online and get ready for the blowback. People don't know you, but they hate you anyway, and need to let you know it.
This music thing is funny. They've been making it for an eternity, and everybody purveying it says it's the same, that you're too old if you don't get it, it's just as good...
But it's not.
Or maybe it's the feeling I'm looking for.
Music can engender many responses, but the one that resonates most for me is the one wherein I'm elevated, floating above the surface, in a bubble with just the music and me, it's set me free, to a space where I can be myself, understood for who I am and happy.
Most of the people making this music are damaged. Not open and understanding, instead they're off-putting and difficult. I've met the household names. But when they speak from their souls, it resonates with mine.
Funny thing about music, if you're in the wrong mood it's like nails on a chalkboard, you need to stop it immediately. But if it's right, you don't want to turn it off. I'm capable of playing the same track ten or twenty times in a row, literally, I want to bask in the feeling, I don't want to let it go, I'm anything but a playlist guy, they're buzzkills.
"Don't wanna kill your evening
Don't wanna be a buzzkill
If I'm coming on strong"
I like to come on strong, I don't like to hold anything back, no hidden agendas, I want to make my message clear, do you agree with me, that's what I'm looking for, someone who feels like I do.
"Maybe this time I'll say something
Something a little wild, out loud
Maybe this time I'll say something
I've been feeling for a while, out loud"
But I'm not gonna. It's too tough, I feel it, but I can't verbalize it, maybe I want to own it, if I reveal it it'll be cheapened.
I guess I'm different.
I didn't go to the gig to get drunk and meet people. I went to sit and bask in the sound, connect with the performer one on one.
But that paradigm seems to have evaporated. First and foremost, there are no longer any seats, who said you have to stand to enjoy music, it just takes energy away that I need to create the bubble and drift.
Now doing research, I see that a Vevo video of Holly Humberstone's "Overkill" has been released. So, there must be a backstory, even though she doesn't even have a Wikipedia page, even though she only has three songs on streaming services.
So the truth is I discovered Holly Humberstone from an e-mail I did not want to get. I hate mass e-mails. Personalized, are cool. But too many are self-promotional in some way, there's an agenda, and that turns me off, what I like most are the ones that reveal truth back.
"And you don't have to say it back
I jus wanna know where your head's at"
I want to know where everybody's head is at.
So, as I deleted this e-mail with a playlist, debating whether to e-mail the sender to take me off his list, I decided to check it out, because it came from the U.K.
Which is a very different market.
And the first cut on the playlist was Holly Humberstone's "Overkill."
I'd like to tell you the remaining twenty-odd tracks were just as good, even worth listening to again, but that would be lying, there was a good change in this one Haim song, "Gasoline," but when I checked out the rest of the new album it was not as good.
But when I played "Overkill" again, it still reached me.
And then I took a break for lunch, some business, and when I sat back in front of my computer to write about it, "Overkill" sounded awful, I had to stop it. Was it really not that good, or was it me?
It was me.
When I was a teenager, there was no internet, you could be bored, your music was all you had. Now there are so many distractions. And I'm so busy. And I'm not complaining about that, but I must admit I miss the feeling of going deep into something that may not appeal at first, today I just click through.
But right now I'm frustrated. My dermatologist prescribed five days of 20mg of prednisone to address my skin problem. An interim step while we wait for approval of the multi-thousand dollar net to me IVIG which requires five hours five days in a row in a chair. The prednisone worked. The itching went away, the spots mellowed, but prednisone works differently from IVIG, and it doesn't last as long, will it carry me through until the Rituxan kicks in, obviating the need for said IVIG?
So I think I'm crashing.
I retreated into my lair. I was deciding what to do.
And that's when I pulled up Holly Humberstone's "Overkill."
All three Holly Humberstone tracks are good. Well, "Falling Asleep At The Wheel" is close to "Overkill," but "Overkill"...
"Going up and down the country"
"Overkill" is the kind of cut you listen to driving up PCH with the sunroof open and the A/C on. When you feel like the luckiest person in the world, when you feel like your life works, when you're happy.
And I'll get e-mail saying it sucks. In more ways than I can even conjure.
But no one likes everything.
But if you're looking for something that speaks to your head and heart, as well as your hips, that elusive elixir that makes a hit song...
"Overkill" may reach you.
Live on Vevo: https://bit.ly/2YGT5Bw
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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Sunday 28 June 2020
The Chase Rice Concert
"Chase Rice's Tour Stop #1 - Hosts Absolutely Packed Concert... No Masks, Social Distancing": https://bit.ly/3iagwL9
Who thought this was a good idea?
Interesting this is getting no coverage in the music trades. Crickets on "Billboard," ditto on "Pollstar," never mind "Hits." Funny how a business that makes its money working weekends is covered by writers who don't. So, what happens is insiders find out from outsiders and outsiders control the narrative. Right now there are 13,800 stories covering this insane event online, my e-mail is blowing up, now what?
It's all about superspreader events.
Hopefully you trust the "Scientific American":
"How 'Superspreading' Events Drive Most COVID-19 Spread - As few as 10 percent of infected people may drive a whopping 80 percent of cases in specific types of situations": https://bit.ly/3icExkE
"These numbers mean that preventing superspreader events could go a long way toward stopping COVID-19, says Samuel Scarpino, a network scientist who studies infectious disease at Northeastern University. Scientists have identified factors that catalyze such events, including large crowd sizes, close contact between people and confined spaces with poor ventilation. Current evidence suggests that it is mostly circumstances such as these, rather than the biology of specific individuals, that sets the stage for extreme spreading of the novel coronavirus."
And if you only trust right-leaning media, let me point you to this "Wall Street Journal" article, which unfortunately is behind a paywall:
"Superspreader Events Offer a Clue on Curbing Coronavirus - Some scientists think banning mass gatherings may be enough to keep the pandemic in check": https://on.wsj.com/31rxA9w
"Superspreading events could even reignite the epidemic when the situation appears under control, said Cristopher Moore, a physicist with the Santa Fe Institute."
As if Covid-19 cases are not burgeoning in Tennessee at this very moment!
But from a business perspective, the one issue that screams out, that is pulsing in lights, is LIABILITY!
You know people are gonna get sick. If Trump's people got infected setting up for Tulsa, imagine what happened last night.
Just wait. From the same "Wall Street Journal" article above:
"Superspreading events exist in many infectious diseases, but with Covid-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes, they are especially dangerous because the virus has a longer period of incubation in which patients show no symptoms but can infect others."
In other words, you don't think you have it, but then you do. And when you do, someone's got to pay for it, literally, especially if you die.
Can you say deep pockets?
If you get it from a family member, or a neighbor, you're not gonna sue. But when it's Chase Rice represented by CAA in a public venue...it's open season! Hell, let's sue the record company and the manager too, we can always strip their names from the lawsuit at the last moment.
And do you know how much it costs to defend these suits?
Assuming you don't settle them.
And I guarantee you there was no insurance last night, not for this, not for Covid-19 infection. So, the entities are bare.
Last time I checked CAA was controlled by private equity firm TPG, which paid $400 million to CAA execs last year, which has $103 billion under management. You think some lawyer doesn't want a piece of that, on contingency, it's a GOLD MINE!
So, the people who booked this show need to be fired. To set an example. Otherwise the music industry is just like the federal government, ceding Covid-19 decisions to the fifty states, without coordination.
And what we know now is this lack of uniformity has resulted in soaring infection rates, because states opened too soon. Meanwhile, the EU won't even let Americans in. So, if their venues happen to open up, which I sincerely doubt, since they're way more intelligent than us, without this b.s. concept of "freedom"...to infect people so they die...Americans won't be able to play there.
Now if you're following this, Chase Rice has been ostracized, the blowback has been incredible.
But they told attendees to social distance!
That does not absolve them of responsibility. And it also proves that people not only need to be told what to do, but it needs to be enforced, and the easiest way to do this is to have no concerts at all, not to provide the opportunity to get infected, just like you don't invite your friend who just got out of rehab to watch you shoot up.
Notice, AEG and Live Nation are sitting on the sidelines. One is controlled by a billionaire, the other is a public company. They're run on smarts. They see the whole picture. They'd never do this.
And now you know some other bozos are gonna try to have shows. And we'll be arguing about them just like we are about masks. But in this case, if the dates play, many more people will get infected.
I'm sure Chase Rice is too ignorant to realize he set himself up for blowback, that people would not be posting hosannas online.
But this is America. Where science is irrelevant and we must respect the whims and wants of the uneducated and dumb as much as the informed and intelligent. Where you have the right to kill others willy-nilly, in the name of freedom. Where people are so into money, they'll sacrifice life.
INSANE!
P.S. Chris Willman just posted about this on "Variety," kudos: https://bit.ly/2BiKyMa
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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Who thought this was a good idea?
Interesting this is getting no coverage in the music trades. Crickets on "Billboard," ditto on "Pollstar," never mind "Hits." Funny how a business that makes its money working weekends is covered by writers who don't. So, what happens is insiders find out from outsiders and outsiders control the narrative. Right now there are 13,800 stories covering this insane event online, my e-mail is blowing up, now what?
It's all about superspreader events.
Hopefully you trust the "Scientific American":
"How 'Superspreading' Events Drive Most COVID-19 Spread - As few as 10 percent of infected people may drive a whopping 80 percent of cases in specific types of situations": https://bit.ly/3icExkE
"These numbers mean that preventing superspreader events could go a long way toward stopping COVID-19, says Samuel Scarpino, a network scientist who studies infectious disease at Northeastern University. Scientists have identified factors that catalyze such events, including large crowd sizes, close contact between people and confined spaces with poor ventilation. Current evidence suggests that it is mostly circumstances such as these, rather than the biology of specific individuals, that sets the stage for extreme spreading of the novel coronavirus."
And if you only trust right-leaning media, let me point you to this "Wall Street Journal" article, which unfortunately is behind a paywall:
"Superspreader Events Offer a Clue on Curbing Coronavirus - Some scientists think banning mass gatherings may be enough to keep the pandemic in check": https://on.wsj.com/31rxA9w
"Superspreading events could even reignite the epidemic when the situation appears under control, said Cristopher Moore, a physicist with the Santa Fe Institute."
As if Covid-19 cases are not burgeoning in Tennessee at this very moment!
But from a business perspective, the one issue that screams out, that is pulsing in lights, is LIABILITY!
You know people are gonna get sick. If Trump's people got infected setting up for Tulsa, imagine what happened last night.
Just wait. From the same "Wall Street Journal" article above:
"Superspreading events exist in many infectious diseases, but with Covid-19, the disease the new coronavirus causes, they are especially dangerous because the virus has a longer period of incubation in which patients show no symptoms but can infect others."
In other words, you don't think you have it, but then you do. And when you do, someone's got to pay for it, literally, especially if you die.
Can you say deep pockets?
If you get it from a family member, or a neighbor, you're not gonna sue. But when it's Chase Rice represented by CAA in a public venue...it's open season! Hell, let's sue the record company and the manager too, we can always strip their names from the lawsuit at the last moment.
And do you know how much it costs to defend these suits?
Assuming you don't settle them.
And I guarantee you there was no insurance last night, not for this, not for Covid-19 infection. So, the entities are bare.
Last time I checked CAA was controlled by private equity firm TPG, which paid $400 million to CAA execs last year, which has $103 billion under management. You think some lawyer doesn't want a piece of that, on contingency, it's a GOLD MINE!
So, the people who booked this show need to be fired. To set an example. Otherwise the music industry is just like the federal government, ceding Covid-19 decisions to the fifty states, without coordination.
And what we know now is this lack of uniformity has resulted in soaring infection rates, because states opened too soon. Meanwhile, the EU won't even let Americans in. So, if their venues happen to open up, which I sincerely doubt, since they're way more intelligent than us, without this b.s. concept of "freedom"...to infect people so they die...Americans won't be able to play there.
Now if you're following this, Chase Rice has been ostracized, the blowback has been incredible.
But they told attendees to social distance!
That does not absolve them of responsibility. And it also proves that people not only need to be told what to do, but it needs to be enforced, and the easiest way to do this is to have no concerts at all, not to provide the opportunity to get infected, just like you don't invite your friend who just got out of rehab to watch you shoot up.
Notice, AEG and Live Nation are sitting on the sidelines. One is controlled by a billionaire, the other is a public company. They're run on smarts. They see the whole picture. They'd never do this.
And now you know some other bozos are gonna try to have shows. And we'll be arguing about them just like we are about masks. But in this case, if the dates play, many more people will get infected.
I'm sure Chase Rice is too ignorant to realize he set himself up for blowback, that people would not be posting hosannas online.
But this is America. Where science is irrelevant and we must respect the whims and wants of the uneducated and dumb as much as the informed and intelligent. Where you have the right to kill others willy-nilly, in the name of freedom. Where people are so into money, they'll sacrifice life.
INSANE!
P.S. Chris Willman just posted about this on "Variety," kudos: https://bit.ly/2BiKyMa
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
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Country Masks
This is a call to action.
Musicians are the most influential people in the world. Check the social media stats. It's time for them to use this influence for good.
Forget the so-called social media "influencers," that's a different thing, that's about whoring yourself out to corporations as you set yourself on fire for attention, the musicians are selling their identities, their credibility, and we can argue all day long that musician credibility is at a low point, but compared to those empowered in the government, these players and singers and rappers look like seers.
Old people are staying home. Not all of them, but check the statistics, many are afraid to go to restaurants. But many are part of the Fox News disinformation network. Read Margaret Sullivan's article in the WaPo today: https://wapo.st/2Vt5qHl Three studies have now concluded that Fox News caused its viewers to not take the coronavirus seriously to their detriment. I don't care if you don't believe it, my point is to ignore these people for now, right wing oldsters, if they can be reached at all, it'll be through their progeny, the young, who hang on every word of the rappers.
Last night "A Hard Day's Night" was on television. It reminded me of how we all instantly started to grow our hair long, bought guitars to play along, to try and become rock stars. That's how influential musicians are. Which is why so many youngsters aspire to be rappers. They want to be like these acts.
As for country... That's the music of many conservatives, red states, those who believe that they should be free to not don masks. The funny thing is too many country acts are not free. They're afraid of being Dixie-Chicked. But in an era where there's no more "Dixie," does this old paradigm really apply, if all the country acts join together with one message, especially when even country artists rap?
And heavy metal. Lamb of God and other acts you may not be aware of are very influential, and they have red-leaning fans. As does the still relevant, amazingly so, Insane Clown Posse.
So...
The music industry told everybody to put a black square on their social media feeds. What did that accomplish? NOTHING! If anything, it clogged up the channel when important messages needed to be distributed.
So, every musician, everybody in the Spotify Top 50, everybody with an audience, everybody ever paid for playing, must now take a picture of themselves in a mask and post it to Instagram, the most influential social media site, where young people live, with a caption telling people to WEAR THEIR F***ING MASKS!
Maybe we should leave the swear word in. Illustrating how important this concept is. Or maybe we can come up with a better tagline. I've been trying, unsuccessfully at this point. Should it have the word "mask" in it, is "cover" okay?
But musicians must do it.
Check the web, musicians are SELLING masks, UMG is even behind it, but there's not a concerted effort to tell people to wear them. Unfortunately this is today's music business, money first, but that must change.
And the effort cannot be led by the Grammys. That outfit has no credibility.
But do you remember the launch of Tidal? The service failed, but the press conference got a ton of attention, it's still seared in my brain, because of the confluence of superstars from all different genres.
One other thing... Musicians must wear their masks 24/7 in public. Yup, this cannot be about telling people to vote when you've never voted yourself. This cannot be about telling people to stop doing drugs when you're still getting high. This is about walking the walk.
Furthermore, there should be a concomitant campaign to shame those musicians who are not wearing masks. Same deal with members of the public. This is social media shaming with a BENEFIT!
Bottom line, masks reduce transmission by 90%. Or in that neighborhood. Let's not argue numbers, the point is wearing a mask is altruistic if you've got Covid-19 and you're wearing a mask, the odds of transmitting the virus are very low, like those hairdressers who wore masks but infected none of their clients.
Once again, if you want to argue with me, I'm not listening to you. You're either on the bus or off. That's the spirit of the sixties. You're with us or against us. And the wheels of justice move slowly, which is why it's going to take a long time to see if the Black Lives Matter protests will have a serious effect, but if everybody in America wore a mask we'd see Covid-19 infections decrease immediately, to a de minimis level. This is not complicated, it's just that the disinformation network is causing people not to mask-up (maybe that's the name of the campaign).
July 4th is around the corner. If you think everybody is gonna stay home, you don't realize infections jumped after Memorial Day weekend.
And the odds of getting infected outside are lower, but not infinitesimal. And after you're at the beach...you're gonna go inside to stream movies and... The holiday weekend will be an incubator for infection.
But not if everybody wears a mask.
Sure, young people tend not to die when infected (although some do!), but they are the ones moving about this country freely. Even worse is asymptomatic people. Who infect zillions without knowing it!
This has to be a concerted campaign. Leaving politics and the government out. They've forgotten about us, it's time for us to lead.
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? It spread like wildfire, most people were not even knowledgeable as to the disease it was raising money for, but they wanted in on the action.
People will want in on the action.
Maybe there's a song. A very simple one. That can be cut in all genres, just like Shania Twain released multiple versions of her songs years ago. Maybe we should bring back Mutt Lange to do it. He knows a hit. Force him to work quickly, normally anathema to him.
Or a certified hitmaker like Pharrell. Even better, Max Martin. He may be a Swede, but he lives in Los Angeles.
And then these tracks can be pushed on TikTok, instead of the drivel the companies are now seeding. Get the public to make videos of this mask-wearing song.
And maybe even have a contest. Where you get access to your favorite hitmaker.
But oftentimes today participation is its own reward.
This is not hard, it's damn easy.
And it will make a huge difference.
Start posting to Instagram TODAY!
P.S. This is the best illustration of the benefit of masking up I've seen: https://bit.ly/2YIn6B0 Click it and spread it.
P.P.S. Music is both serious and irreverent. Keep these concepts in mind when you post. Blandness is anathema.
P.P.P.S. Do we need an organization, or can this just happen spontaneously? I don't know. But if there is an organization, it must be one run by musicians. No big business filters in-between.
P.P.P.P.S. I've got no problem with enlisting corporations. All those companies dying to attach themselves to the credibility of musicians. They've got the money, they advertise, they love a cause. And right now, corporations are feeling their oats, standing up to Facebook and hitting Zuck where it hurts, his pocketbook. These corporations would love to align with this.
P.P.P.P.P.S. Like Covid-19, this program can explode exponentially. Because people want to be part of the pack, they want to believe in something, they want to DO something. Our goal is to get everybody wearing a mask next weekend. At the pool, on the lake, in the backyard, in the house, this must be cool. And if media doesn't pick up on the effort by itself, we'll employ the high-priced music PR people to do this for free. No money is changing hands here, this is not about the Benjamins, but LIFE! It's a matter of life and death, don't you forget it.
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Either post and wear the damn mask or get out of the way. Look yourself in the mirror, do something for somebody else for a change. Forget about money, let's all unite as Americans for the sake of Americans, is that such a hard concept to fathom?
--
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--
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-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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Musicians are the most influential people in the world. Check the social media stats. It's time for them to use this influence for good.
Forget the so-called social media "influencers," that's a different thing, that's about whoring yourself out to corporations as you set yourself on fire for attention, the musicians are selling their identities, their credibility, and we can argue all day long that musician credibility is at a low point, but compared to those empowered in the government, these players and singers and rappers look like seers.
Old people are staying home. Not all of them, but check the statistics, many are afraid to go to restaurants. But many are part of the Fox News disinformation network. Read Margaret Sullivan's article in the WaPo today: https://wapo.st/2Vt5qHl Three studies have now concluded that Fox News caused its viewers to not take the coronavirus seriously to their detriment. I don't care if you don't believe it, my point is to ignore these people for now, right wing oldsters, if they can be reached at all, it'll be through their progeny, the young, who hang on every word of the rappers.
Last night "A Hard Day's Night" was on television. It reminded me of how we all instantly started to grow our hair long, bought guitars to play along, to try and become rock stars. That's how influential musicians are. Which is why so many youngsters aspire to be rappers. They want to be like these acts.
As for country... That's the music of many conservatives, red states, those who believe that they should be free to not don masks. The funny thing is too many country acts are not free. They're afraid of being Dixie-Chicked. But in an era where there's no more "Dixie," does this old paradigm really apply, if all the country acts join together with one message, especially when even country artists rap?
And heavy metal. Lamb of God and other acts you may not be aware of are very influential, and they have red-leaning fans. As does the still relevant, amazingly so, Insane Clown Posse.
So...
The music industry told everybody to put a black square on their social media feeds. What did that accomplish? NOTHING! If anything, it clogged up the channel when important messages needed to be distributed.
So, every musician, everybody in the Spotify Top 50, everybody with an audience, everybody ever paid for playing, must now take a picture of themselves in a mask and post it to Instagram, the most influential social media site, where young people live, with a caption telling people to WEAR THEIR F***ING MASKS!
Maybe we should leave the swear word in. Illustrating how important this concept is. Or maybe we can come up with a better tagline. I've been trying, unsuccessfully at this point. Should it have the word "mask" in it, is "cover" okay?
But musicians must do it.
Check the web, musicians are SELLING masks, UMG is even behind it, but there's not a concerted effort to tell people to wear them. Unfortunately this is today's music business, money first, but that must change.
And the effort cannot be led by the Grammys. That outfit has no credibility.
But do you remember the launch of Tidal? The service failed, but the press conference got a ton of attention, it's still seared in my brain, because of the confluence of superstars from all different genres.
One other thing... Musicians must wear their masks 24/7 in public. Yup, this cannot be about telling people to vote when you've never voted yourself. This cannot be about telling people to stop doing drugs when you're still getting high. This is about walking the walk.
Furthermore, there should be a concomitant campaign to shame those musicians who are not wearing masks. Same deal with members of the public. This is social media shaming with a BENEFIT!
Bottom line, masks reduce transmission by 90%. Or in that neighborhood. Let's not argue numbers, the point is wearing a mask is altruistic if you've got Covid-19 and you're wearing a mask, the odds of transmitting the virus are very low, like those hairdressers who wore masks but infected none of their clients.
Once again, if you want to argue with me, I'm not listening to you. You're either on the bus or off. That's the spirit of the sixties. You're with us or against us. And the wheels of justice move slowly, which is why it's going to take a long time to see if the Black Lives Matter protests will have a serious effect, but if everybody in America wore a mask we'd see Covid-19 infections decrease immediately, to a de minimis level. This is not complicated, it's just that the disinformation network is causing people not to mask-up (maybe that's the name of the campaign).
July 4th is around the corner. If you think everybody is gonna stay home, you don't realize infections jumped after Memorial Day weekend.
And the odds of getting infected outside are lower, but not infinitesimal. And after you're at the beach...you're gonna go inside to stream movies and... The holiday weekend will be an incubator for infection.
But not if everybody wears a mask.
Sure, young people tend not to die when infected (although some do!), but they are the ones moving about this country freely. Even worse is asymptomatic people. Who infect zillions without knowing it!
This has to be a concerted campaign. Leaving politics and the government out. They've forgotten about us, it's time for us to lead.
Remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? It spread like wildfire, most people were not even knowledgeable as to the disease it was raising money for, but they wanted in on the action.
People will want in on the action.
Maybe there's a song. A very simple one. That can be cut in all genres, just like Shania Twain released multiple versions of her songs years ago. Maybe we should bring back Mutt Lange to do it. He knows a hit. Force him to work quickly, normally anathema to him.
Or a certified hitmaker like Pharrell. Even better, Max Martin. He may be a Swede, but he lives in Los Angeles.
And then these tracks can be pushed on TikTok, instead of the drivel the companies are now seeding. Get the public to make videos of this mask-wearing song.
And maybe even have a contest. Where you get access to your favorite hitmaker.
But oftentimes today participation is its own reward.
This is not hard, it's damn easy.
And it will make a huge difference.
Start posting to Instagram TODAY!
P.S. This is the best illustration of the benefit of masking up I've seen: https://bit.ly/2YIn6B0 Click it and spread it.
P.P.S. Music is both serious and irreverent. Keep these concepts in mind when you post. Blandness is anathema.
P.P.P.S. Do we need an organization, or can this just happen spontaneously? I don't know. But if there is an organization, it must be one run by musicians. No big business filters in-between.
P.P.P.P.S. I've got no problem with enlisting corporations. All those companies dying to attach themselves to the credibility of musicians. They've got the money, they advertise, they love a cause. And right now, corporations are feeling their oats, standing up to Facebook and hitting Zuck where it hurts, his pocketbook. These corporations would love to align with this.
P.P.P.P.P.S. Like Covid-19, this program can explode exponentially. Because people want to be part of the pack, they want to believe in something, they want to DO something. Our goal is to get everybody wearing a mask next weekend. At the pool, on the lake, in the backyard, in the house, this must be cool. And if media doesn't pick up on the effort by itself, we'll employ the high-priced music PR people to do this for free. No money is changing hands here, this is not about the Benjamins, but LIFE! It's a matter of life and death, don't you forget it.
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Either post and wear the damn mask or get out of the way. Look yourself in the mirror, do something for somebody else for a change. Forget about money, let's all unite as Americans for the sake of Americans, is that such a hard concept to fathom?
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1
If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
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