Irving Walks

It's an entrepreneurial business.

Remember when Matsushita bought MCA? They left David Geffen out of the loop, despite his huge stockholdings. Because Geffen plays by his own rules, he could cock up a deal, make it turn out in his favor. Best to leave wildcatters out of corporate business.

The same goes for Irving Azoff.

To think Irving Azoff could work for a public company is to believe Kim Kardashian could marry a white guy. He doesn't believe in any controls that he doesn't impose upon others. That's what the Front Line rollup was about to begin with. It may be hard to recollect, but there was a time, at the turn of the last decade, that the major labels held all the power in the music business (and if you still believe that, you work for one!) Irving would call them and ask for something and some lawyer would refuse, saying it was "corporate policy." It was then that Irving decided to gather all the artists and tell the labels that they had their own policy. Then the record companies failed and the artists gained all the power. Musical artists have more power than ever since the Beatles, if you don't believe this you're never going to make it, you're too busy looking for a sugar daddy, someone to tell you what to do. But today you make your own decisions. And you want someone in your corner to advise you. And that's Irving Azoff.

A better artist representative has never existed. Acts don't leave Irving, even though every once in a while he fires one. Because Irving extracts what no one else can. And if you look up the word "loyalty" you see his picture. If you're on his team, Irving will do anything for you, literally anything, even carry your dope. Ask him to tell you that story, how he was willing to take the fall for...

But a guy like that can't work for the man.

Could Steve Jobs work for the man?

No, he got fired.

If you haven't been fired by the man, or walked in frustration, then you're not an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur makes things happen. A corporate citizen plays politics, wins for himself, not others. Whereas when an entrepreneur wins, cash rains down on many.

So Irving had fourteen months left on his contract, had no intention of renewing and didn't want to be a lame duck. So he ankled Live Nation. Why now? THE FISCAL CLIFF! And everybody's happy. He walks with twenty acts, the ones you think, but his goal is not to stick it in the side of Live Nation but to do something new. To go back to his natural skill. Of artist representation.

But you may have heard that the music business is challenged.

So Irving's not limiting himself to music, but is kicking the tires at sports, fashion, tech...

But what about power?

It all comes down to contacts. And the only person with a better rolodex than Irving Azoff is Barack Obama.

So where does this leave us?

With a whole new music business.

The progenitors, those who constructed the modern music business, they're gone. Not even Doug Morris was there at the beginning. As for Lucian Grainge and Jimmy Iovine... Business was booming when they got in. Whereas Irving Azoff got started representing WLS deejays and dealing with Morris Levy

Michael Rapino is forty four. He's the last man standing at Live Nation. Everybody else walked or was killed. It's his company to run. And he's not beholden to the past, he can't remember it because he wasn't there.

Over at AEG... Irving gave Randy Phillips his job.

So what happens now?

You take over.

You young 'uns who are Internet savvy who don't even remember when MTV played videos. It's your sandbox. Record at home, distribute online and ignore the old farts lamenting the way it used to be, those days are never coming back.

Music has been a second class citizen for this entire decade. Sure, it was the canary in the coal mine for technology, but it's become a football kicked around by fat cats and is peopled by lowest common denominator denizens. Music can't drive the culture, because the people in it know little about data and think that you win through intimidation.

No, you win through ideas.

That's what songs are.

One great one can change the world.

Rihanna can't change the world. There's no there there. Hell, Kendrick Lamar sold more albums in the first week and he didn't even have a radio hit!

And if you write a great song, Live Nation and AEG are there to write you a big check to perform live.

But music will only really count when it recaptures the ethos of Irving Azoff. Isn't it interesting that the most powerful person in music can't work for the man and everybody in the business is looking to sell out to the man! You can't go anywhere without someone talking about a payment from the Fortune 500 or a TV network or...

Music must stand by itself. The acts must be beholden to no one but themselves.

Irving's been unleashed. Will he re-emerge as the most powerful person in the media landscape, will he become a household name, or will he retire with his riches like David Geffen or be an almost powerless blowhard like Barry Diller who owns a ragtag bunch of almost worthless companies but has the dying press at his beck and call?

I don't know.

But nature abhors a vacuum. Someone always comes in to fill the space.

It's not Lyor Cohen. What he did best was extract money from others. He's not a builder, he's a stealer.

Nor Jimmy Iovine, who doesn't have the balls to walk from Interscope, despite building Beats. I mean if he's so good at signing and breaking talent why does he need Universal again? Isn't that like someone too afraid to leave Microsoft?

The future of entertainment is not selling out. Art is not widgets. It makes people uncomfortable, angry, it's frequently banned. But art always emerges triumphant. It's no different from Warner caving to pressure and getting rid of Interscope and Death Row. Rap only went on to become more successful! The man never understands the game.

Everything's intertwined now. From music to the Internet to mobile handsets to politics. Without the shenanigans in D.C., Irving's exit never would have happened today.

Can you manage all this data? Can you be emotional in your art but cold-hearted in your business? Can you forget the past and look to the future?

That's what Irving Azoff did today.

Look to him for direction.


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"Stephen Stills"

Is it too late to rewrite history?

The two most anticipated albums of Christmas 1970 were George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" and Stephen Stills' solo debut. Harrison's triple album made the bigger splash, and means even less than Stills' debut today. As for Stephen's record... You couldn't go anywhere without hearing "Love The One You're With," his album was the dorm room soundtrack for months.

But now no one ever mentions it.

Neil Young is lionized and Stephen Stills is criticized. But once upon a time, Stills was the bigger act. And when you go back and listen to this debut, you scratch your head, why isn't it in the same canon as the unforgotten classics of that era, albums from Zeppelin to the aforementioned Mr. Young?

It's not like Stills was hiding in a hole. He wrote and sang Buffalo Springfield's biggest hit, "For What It's Worth," and he was truly the glue that held Crosby, Stills & Nash's debut together. Sure, "Marrakesh Express" was the radio hit, but the act built its reputation on "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes." And it was Stills' composition, "Carry On," that both opened and carried the follow-up, "Deja Vu." Today people only want to talk about Neil Young's "Helpless" and the cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," but when you dropped the needle on "Carry On" you had an auditory experience that truly blew your mind, akin to listening to "Gimmie Shelter" the previous fall. If you haven't heard "Carry On" emerge from the speakers of a first class stereo, you haven't lived. It was like an orchestra was playing inside your speakers, with angels singing along, you had to listen to it again and again and again.

And then the band broke up. And everybody went solo.

And Neil Young emerged first, with the sleeper hit, "After The Gold Rush." And Graham Nash came last, with the exquisite "Songs For Beginners," after David Crosby put out the almost unintelligible but gorgeous "If I Could Only Remember My Name." But the record everybody anticipated, the album everybody bought, was Stephen Stills' debut.

And it wasn't like today. With a tsunami of hype. There was no TV. At this point we'd switched loyalty from AM to FM, where repetition was out of the question until Lee Abrams concocted the "Superstars" format years later. The groundswell came from the people. Which is kind of where we're going today, with record labels faking YouTube plays and authors faking Amazon reviews, the only people we trust are...each other.

Still, there were rumors. That Stephen Stills was arrogant, a control freak. And with no Internet, rumors appeared to be fact, and Stills' career took a hit. Despite Neil Young abandoning him on the "Long May You Run" tour a few years later.

But that was after Manassas. Whose double album debut satisfied throughout.

But the record we're talking about today is the solo debut.

And the reason I'm writing about it is it's that time of year. Yup, cold snowy winter. The album cover pictured Stills in the snow. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stephenstills.jpg) This album was made for long dark nights alone with a joint or a drink, holding on until the days got longer and the depression lifted.

I was in my freshman year of college. This album and "Gasoline Alley" got me through. I'd come home from the Middlebury College Snow Bowl and drop the needle and feel warm and comforted, back when music was personal, when records were made just for you. When you went to the show and felt directly connected with the act, as opposed to your fellow concertgoers. There was no texting. There was no parading. We all wore the same bell bottoms, what identified us were our minds as opposed to our looks. In an era when personal development meant expanding one's brain as opposed to one's bank account.

Start with "Sit Yourself Down"...

"When I get restless, what I can do"

In your twenties you're looking for connection. We and our favorite acts were all the same age, going through the same experiences, we listened for insight, we were in it together. There's nothing worse than being alone and agitated, wanting to be together, but at loose ends.

"When I get older, mellow down
Get myself settled on a patch of ground"

We were burned out from the sixties, Vietnam took it out of us, Nixon's reelection put a stake in our hearts. We were returning to the land, our values were changing, but we were still in transition...it was years before Olivia Newton-John got mellow.

Then there's "Do For The Others."

We all bought guitars to try and replicate this sound, which we were unable to do. Not only could these people play, they could write and sing too. They'd been doing it for years, they didn't have parents who pushed them to be famous before puberty. There was no way to achieve this. Instead, becoming a musician required venturing into the wilderness, learning lessons along the way. It wasn't like college, there was no path, which made it that much more scary...and satisfying if you succeeded.

"Round, round, up and down
All along the lonely town
See him sinkin' low
Doesn't see the joy there is to know"

This was the culture of the era. An exploration of alienation, of loneliness, the human condition. You can't relate to today's stars or movies. They're all about winning, but you're riddled with self-doubt, you don't know if you'll ever get there, you're not even sure where there is.

And for that same acoustic wonderfulness, check out the closing cut "We Are Not Helpless."

And don't miss out on the bluesy "Go Back Home"...

The playing on this album is exquisite, and despite contributions by players as diverse as Ringo, Clapton and Hendrix, it all hangs together.

If you've never heard Stephen Stills' debut your jaw will drop. You won't believe there was an era when people with this amount of skill walked the earth and created masterpieces like this. That's how bountiful the classic rock era was, the secondary stuff has been forgotten and it's better than just about all the new stuff today.

Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/oaJDSY


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Loyalty

There are no apps.

I can't tell you how many people are waiting for BlackBerry 10. I see them with their Bolds, living in the dark ages, protesting they've not shifted to an Android or iPhone because they're waiting for this new product.

Which will be dead on arrival.

It's like buying a new car and finding out there's no gasoline. The handset is integral, but the apps are the ecosystem, they're the indispensable infrastructure.

This world is built on misinformation and ignorance. Listen to the hoi polloi and you'll never get it right. I still remember a friend telling me he wouldn't sign up for AOL because it was controlled by Scientologists, so he picked EarthLink, which is the company that was started by members of that tribe. And just today a woman told me she wouldn't buy a smartphone at all, because if you did all your movements would be tracked. She didn't know that law enforcement already utilizes the tracking ability in regular cell phones to apprehend criminals, and that you can turn location notices off on smartphones.

Then again, people click on phishing scams every day.

But the point is people don't know the facts.

I was at the top of Vail Mountain today, at 11,000 feet, and I had LTE on Verizon. Meanwhile, my buddy with AT&T tells me it's just as good, even though he didn't even have 3G. Yes, Verizon has a bigger LTE footprint than all its rivals. But try to convince someone with a rival provider, even after you e-mail them the "Consumer Reports" reports!

That's what loyalty does for you.

It's hard to gain a customer. It's not so easy to lose one.

All the bloviating online tells you to beware of alienating just a single customer, that you should sacrifice your personality and rationality for fear of losing one paying person. I'm gonna let you in on a dirty little secret. Very few people bitch. And it takes a long time for your company to lose customers and go downhill. Dell Hell was widespread long before there was a website excoriating the company. As for lost sales...there weren't that many, Dell's business model of selling direct when you could buy for cheap at your local office store is what hurt the company. Most buyers were too lazy to switch. They didn't want to venture into the unknown.

If I get an Android or iPhone, will I get my e-mail? Yup! Probably better than on a BlackBerry if you don't have an exchange server, and most individuals do not.

As for apps... Most people are still unaware of their utility. BlackBerry users can barely surf the web, never mind check the temperature, read the news and...

So focus on gaining customers. If your product is bad and your service is lousy, you'll be in trouble over time, but create a breakthrough product and gain your legion first. That's how BlackBerry triumphed to begin with. Imagine that, e-mail on a phone!

Now young people don't even use e-mail. And texting on an iPhone is free to other iPhones and for the first time ever, the quantity of texts sent in the U.S. has faltered.

Times constantly change.

You want to change with them.

But know that getting others to change is damn near impossible. Talk to the car brands. They just want to get you in for a test drive. Anything to experience their product. Because they know if you buy one...chances are you're gonna buy another.

P.S. I'm reading this book "The Chaperone." I don't really recommend it, it's about a woman who chaperones Louise Brooks to New York from Kansas. Fictionalized, of course. Meanwhile, Louise frustrates the chaperone, who ultimately learns there is method in some of Louise's madness:

"She would owe this understanding to her time in New York, and even more to Louise. That's what spending time with the young can do - it's the big payoff for all the pain. The young can exasperate, of course, and frighten, and condescend, and insult, and cut you with their still unrounded edges. But they can also drag you, as you protest and scold and try to pull away, right up to the window of the future, and even push you through."

Hear any young people bitch about the incomes of songwriters? They barely mention the demise of the album, never mind record company profits. Want to know where we're going? Interact with the young, they're literally the future, they'll show you the way. See any youngsters using BlackBerries? Once upon a time they all had Curves, they're long gone, because when you're young you're fickle, you're still experimenting, which is why advertisers barely care about oldsters, it's the young that are impressionable.


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Kennedy Center Honors

Johnny Carson has already been forgotten...

But Led Zeppelin is FOREVER!

In other words, what kind of crazy fucked up world do we live in where the President is black and the national anthem is "Stairway To Heaven"?

One in which the mainstream knows nothing and you know everything. Where hype is irrelevant and we all know the truth.

That it's been a long time since we rocked and rolled...

And for that matter, it's been a long time since we did the stroll!

The Buddy Guy tribute was surprisingly great.

But the highlight of tonight's show was Tina Fey's introduction of David Letterman. That's what we revere, excellence. Not good enough, not better than the rest, but superlative, that which makes our jaws drop and marvel in abandon at the ability to perform at the absolute zenith!

Now not a night went by in the eighties that I didn't watch David Letterman. I was stunned to see Sirajul and Mujibur in the montage, since they were banished for trying to capitalize on their fame, replaced by Rupert Jee, who played along and asked for nothing.

But I was astounded there was no mention of Merrill Markoe. Who invented that show, who's responsible for all that made Dave famous, the stunts you know and love, from Stupid Pet Tricks to...

But history is a rewrite.

Except for that which is indelible. Like music. You can't change "Good Times Bad Times." "The Rain Song" sounds the same as it did when you dropped the needle on "Houses Of The Holy" back in '73.

And it's great that Dave gave Ray Romano a gig.

And to see all those Dustin Hoffman movies reminded me of when film was an art form, instead of a worldwide money machine.

But what is truly lame about this show is the performances. Dustin's a great actor, to watch Liev and Naomi and Billy Connolly act just made me wince.

And give props to Jimmy Kimmel for commenting on the choreographer. Yup, we're supposed to respect classical music and everything else that's dying while we cling to pop. Led Zeppelin didn't need any money from the government to make it. No one has to spend money to keep them in the public consciousness. You see great is undeniable, we're all drawn to it.

And I love Jack Black, but his enthusiasm didn't make up for a substandard speech. We needed Wayne and Garth. Two stoners whose lives are not complete without Led Zeppelin IV.

That's the dirty little secret. This music keeps us alive. That's why they can never get it right at awards shows, on TV, music isn't something you see but something you feel. It's full of energy, it gets the endorphins jumping, makes you believe life is worth living. Come on, would you take a road trip without your favorite tunes? Talk radio only goes so far.

And who doesn't like Dave Grohl. Thank god he drummed. But the vocal fell...flat.

And give credit to Kid Rock, who picked a tune that fit smack dab in the middle of his range. Bob was an unexpected peak. Going from subtle to extreme, carving out the complete panoply of rock and roll.

And sure, Lenny Kravitz was good. But where's he been? It seemed this was a placement more than a perfect pick.

And then came the piece de resistance.

We knew they'd end with "Stairway."

But there's no more perfect fit than Heart. Ann Wilson made her bones singing Zeppelin covers. And her "Battle Of Evermore" is just about as good as the original.

So, what is usually substandard, the musical tribute, which had us all trepidatious, turned out to be a triumph.

Yo-Yo Ma was singing along. Bonnie Raitt had her hands in the air!

And did you catch the Prez singing along to "Whole Lotta Love"?

Forget the bloviators on the news. Even forget the techies.

Our true rock and roll heroes are...our true rock and roll heroes.

Never forget that not only was Zeppelin true to itself, the band raped and pillaged and did everything the moniker "rock star" now embodies. Not only did they make great music, they created the paradigm. Even Frank Zappa had to comment about the mud sharks...

So, boys and girls, in the year 2013, when the rich have all the money and your future is up for grabs, know that some things never change.

Music is the most powerful medium on Earth.

And Led Zeppelin has more power than anybody.


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Christmas Playlist

Sometimes, when you least expect it, you connect with who you used to be, every song triggers a memory, it's like your whole life is a highway and the feelings you thought were gone forever have suddenly shown up and are now riding shotgun.

I used to live in winter. It was a part of my life. The anticipation, those damp October nights, those dreary November days and then finally December, cold with snow. You stayed inside and played board games. "Wide World Of Sports" was the most fascinating program on television. You went outside in your flannel-lined jeans and romped in the snow and when your clothing had frozen board stiff you trundled up to your front door where your mom made you hot chocolate and you felt fully alive in a way you rarely do anymore.

That's what's great about the cold, it's invigorating. Stay still and you'll freeze. Keep moving and you've got no idea what you'll encounter.

And today, the last time I looked at the thermometer it was one degree. My nose had that tingling pre-frostbite feeling and when I got inside I slurped down the hot chocolate like it was the elixir of life. There's nothing better than being warmed from the inside.

And that's when I put on "Twilight."

Remember when you traveled with a box of cassettes? When you couldn't bear being without your music? Today Spotify sits on my iPhone and I have the history of recorded music at my fingertips. Anything I want to hear is just a click away. And I wanted to hear Shawn Colvin. Singing that Band song that no one knows.

"Don't send me no distant salutations
Or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day"

Not when you've got the right song in your ears. And in that eerie time before darkness this song was playing and I marveled at the power of music to evoke a feeling, to get the emotions right, to be positively human.

So I pulled up "King Harvest," from the second Band LP. And not only remembered Brad Weston playing it for me in his parents' den, but was stunned that this sound was once popular, that once upon a time stardom might arrive, but you didn't chase it, you focused inward, not out, you wanted to get the music right.

Which had my mind drifting, to Big Pink, to this concoction backing up the bard of my generation, and I pulled up "Tangled Up In Blue."

"Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'"

As I was driving up the access road to Mammoth Mountain. It was May 1st 1975. I'd driven across the desert, eaten at Baskin Robbins for dinner, since I was broke and had a gift certificate for my birthday, and was now where I never was before meeting people I barely knew and this record came on the radio.

And I remembered all that as the song played on.

But reveled in the fact that whatever the song meant then, now it meant something completely different.

When you're twenty two, the world is your oyster, you're gonna eat it alive, you're full of vigor, overflowing with optimism.

Then you get older and waste so much time you find yourself just existing, wondering what's around the next corner, if anything.

You're haunted by your memories. You think they're just that and then you stumble into someone you used to know and they're just as damaged as you are, but the sight of each other makes your hearts palpitate, there's a little spark of hope that wasn't there yesterday, making you feel like this life is worth living, even though the downs oftentimes outweigh the ups.

Christmas Playlist: http://spoti.fi/Vw92yS


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I Am Thankful For...

THE INTERNET

1. It allows me to reach all of you.

2. It puts the history of recorded music at my fingertips. What was once rare is now standing in plain sight. People might be financially-challenged, but music, the elixir of life, is right there for them to grab and listen to. It's music's heyday.

PSY

He showed a chubby man could break all the rules to become the biggest star in the world essentially overnight. His music did not sound like the mainstream, he was neither broken nor controlled by radio, and his sheer creativity shone through in his video, which soon became the most played YouTube clip ever.

It demonstrates that what's inside one's head is more important than money when it comes to both creativity and music. Just when you think you're locked out, PSY comes along with the key that shows how to open the door.

JUSTIN BIEBER

Because he discovered Carly Rae Jepsen, he single-handedly took her from a "Canadian Idol" wannabe to international star based on the sheer hookiness and unforgettableness of "Call Me Maybe." If you don't think "Call Me Maybe" is a stone cold smash, you're probably living in Brooklyn and staring at your shoes. Just because something is mainstream and monstrous that does not mean it's not good. "Call Me Maybe" is a classic. With many more teeth than "The Macarena." It will stick with kids for the rest of their lives.

Furthermore, the audience no longer sits by and listens passively. A veritable industry exploded on YouTube of "Call Me Maybe"...lip-synchs and parodies. Once again, you might not be rich, but that does not mean you can't play in the new music world.

APPLE

Because the iPhone 5 is so damn good. Android may sell more units, the stock may be challenged, but using the iPhone 5 is an utter pleasure, akin to having a communicator from "Star Trek." It's intuitive and it just works. Remember when the first iteration of technology was crap? Those days are long gone.

KID ROCK

For finally going on iTunes. AC/DC too.

Used to be musicians were leaders, now the stars play last.

Sure, it might have been about the album, but people have been cherry-picking tunes since the advent of the CD. Make a whole album that hangs together with a story and we're interested, but for all the pontificating that seems to happen twice a decade.

Now if only the holdouts could sign on to every streaming service, from Spotify to MOG to Deezer. Streaming is the way. Did people refuse to put their music on compact discs?

YOUTUBE

Because it's free. Because everything's available. Because it's the nation's radio station.

However I've come to hate the ads. Can't I just pay ten bucks a year to get rid of them?

GOOGLE

Forget antitrust. Isn't it incredible that you can get the answers to all your questions immediately? We need no Bing if we've got Google.

SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA

For stealing the show at Coachella, and then breaking up, just like the superstars of yore. You've got to follow your muse, not the money.

ELECTRIC DAISY CARNIVAL

Caught the powers that be flatfooted and single-handedly made the rest of the industry aware of the power of electronic music. Sure, the sound has been around forever, and ULTRA and other festivals triumphed too, but EDC is like Woodstock. It showed that what the mainstream thought was a sideshow is actually bigger than the main event. Furthermore, EDC, unlike Woodstock, happens every year. And there are more porta-potties!

PAUL MCCARTNEY

For continuing to try. His album sucked. He dyes his hair. But his live show is the best in the world, and he even played with the remnants of Nirvana. Most people are afraid to fail. McCartney keeps trying. Give him props. There's no one to replace him when he's gone.

PAUL TOLLETT

Single-handedly started the festival scene in America. He believed, he lost money, but he kept on trying. The site is nowhere near as good as AEG says it is. The sound bleed is terrible. Many in attendance don't care about most of the acts. But this is the granddaddy, it's about the experience, it's done for the fans, and that's the way it always should be.

LED ZEPPELIN

For not getting back together. For being honored by the Kennedy Center. For never apologizing for past behavior. For being rock stars through and through. You can't ask for more.

INSANE CLOWN POSSE

For giving meaning to the Juggalos. The downtrodden and the overlooked. We all need someone to believe in. In a nation where everybody envies the rich, the ICP banded together the losers. Give them credit.

NEIL YOUNG

For playing his own Sandy benefit and refusing to join in with the cluster... in NYC. It was about the money as opposed to making the scene. Neil isn't as admirable as everybody thinks. He loves money. But even more than McCartney, he keeps playing, he keeps taking chances, he follows his own muse, he's our number one still active rock star.

ROLLING STONE

For finally realizing we live in the Internet era. "Rolling Stone" has better musical updates on the Web and on Twitter than any other music source. Whether everybody will eventually realize this is...another thing.

GILBERT GOTTFRIED

For having the best Twitter feed and refusing to grovel to get his AFLAC job back. When you're right, double down, don't apologize.

VERIZON

For rolling out LTE before most people even knew what it was.

ELON MUSK

For being the new Steve Jobs. SpaceX, Tesla..."no" doesn't exist in Musk's lexicon. Furthermore, he not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. He doesn't bitch and moan and say he can't, he just does. Individuals make up this country. They push the envelope. The Doors were nothing without Jim Morrison and Apple is suffering without Steve Jobs. But thank god there are people like Elon Musk to pick up the slack.

JIMMY IOVINE

For convincing Americans that good sound is worth it. Beats may be substandard, but suddenly crap headphones were no longer good enough. Someday in the future we'll have enough bandwidth and high fidelity will reign once again.

NATE SILVER

For illustrating that facts and data matter. The days of the bloviator are over. If you operate in a quantifiable field, your opinion means nothing without the data. Music is not a data-driven enterprise, it's all about concepts and creativity. Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream...and come up with something that positively blows our minds!


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Rhinofy-Good News From The Next World

I can listen to "Waterfront" and "Let There Be Love" all day long.

Alas, after that initial hit period, Simple Minds lost traction. But this 1995 album sat in my Walkman for months, it energized me, it made me feel like I could conquer the world when I was at the lowest point in my life.

Ain't that how it always is. The albums that are panned, disdained by the critics, are our personal favorites. And we passionately emote to others how great they are but it never really translates, because there's not a big hit single, a memorable video...they think we're nuts. But that's what being a passionate music fan is all about, digging so deep you find a nugget that only you seem to get that makes your life worth living. It's just you and the band, riding shotgun. Yup, we wouldn't take a road trip without these favorites. We blast them from the dashboard stereo, singing along, with those stopped at lights clueless as to the words we're mouthing.

"7 Deadly Sins"

It's not the opener, but this is the track that sticks in my mind, the one I need to hear. It demands instant attention, it hooks you and then shoots you into outer space, thrilled to be along for the ride. The intro is like those Paxil explosions you get in your head, and then the guitar whips you around like a bobsled on the Matterhorn.

There's underlying propulsion in the track. Kind of like Winwood's "Night Train." But it's what's swirling around on top that hooks you, pushes out the rest of what's in your brain and demands attention. It's like you've donned ice skates and Apolo Ohno is whipping you around the track. You're scared, you're thrilled, you're screaming along at the top of your lungs. The cut starts out at ten and stays there. It's a shot of adrenaline. If "7 Deadly Sins" doesn't immediately penetrate you, make you rock your body, make you want to go to the show, then you don't like rock music and I hope you enjoy your night home alone with cookies and warm milk.


"She's A River"

This is the opening track. It too has a stinging guitar. But the groove is different, it's hypnotic. You know, the kind of cut you pump the accelerator in time to as you motor down the highway in your own personal cocoon.


"Night Music"

This is track two, and it too is a screamer, a raver, albeit not quite as good as the above two, but still extremely satisfying. And then...


"Hypnotised"

The record finally slows down. There's still that guitar. Whew, the axe sound throughout this record makes it. You just want to curl yourself around it.


"Great Leap Forward"

And then we're back on a tear. The energy on this album is utterly staggering. It's as if the band has something to prove, they're gonna get in your face and give it their all. And either you're gonna pay attention and lap it up or leave. It's black and white, either you like this sound or you don't. But if you ever liked Simple Minds, you'll be enthralled.


"This Time"

This is the majestic closer. Before the curtain comes down and you salivate for more.


Credit everyone involved. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill, who wrote all the songs. Keith Forsey, who helped produce. Brian Reeves, who engineered, Tom Lord Alge, who mixed. Unfortunately, "Good News From The Next World" came out at the completely wrong time. When MTV was moving away from rock towards pop and it was all about the hit single, which was absent from this album.

If it was released in the seventies, "Good News From The Next World" would be legendary.

Today it would build a steady touring base as word spread. Bands just don't make albums that are truly playable throughout.

But Simple Minds did.

Times change. Sometimes you're out of synch. You make your best effort but end up ignored. You lose momentum, you question your direction.

But sometimes it's the audience, not you. Sometimes you've got it right, and the best thing about recordings is they last forever, and in the digital world they don't go out of print but end up on Spotify to be discovered.

Give this one a chance. Really, play it. Crank it. You'll find yourself jolted alive, staring at the speakers, thrilled by the wondrous noise.


Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8

Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz


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Frequency

Don't e-mail every day unless you have something to say.

We're going to go on a cruise for my mother's 85th birthday, although she just celebrated her 86th yesterday, Happy Birthday Mom! We were catching up on the phone and the conversation veers so frequently to health, as in her buddies are not doing so well. Furthermore, for every hypochondriac there's another person who refuses to go to the doctor, even if he or she falls down...again and again and again. I'm not sure if you get more stubborn as you get older or whether you're just ready to die, but experiencing these stories with my mom is quite edifying. As for my mother... If she's complaining, it's the end of the world. She just powers on. And that's good.

Anyway, we bought this cruise and now the company who sold it to us e-mails me every day to try and sell me another. As it is, we're not going to take this cruise until next summer. Do they really think I'm interested in going again before that? And, if I hypothetically was, maybe they could send me a personalized offer that was extremely attractive. Instead, I just get the generic hype without the ability to unsubscribe.

Now I'm not gonna cancel this summer's cruise, but this company is doing its best to ensure I never use them again. I'm a person, not an e-mail address...dammit!

The best story I ever heard about this was told by Seth Godin.

Once upon a time there was a company called CDNow. It sold CDs over the Internet. You remember CDs, right? Those discs that were supposed to have the ultimate sound and last forever? I'm one of the few people who hasn't sold my collection... As for perfection... It doesn't exist and even vinyl sounds better.

Anyway, CDNow put out a newsletter every quarter that generated a ton of dough.

Then the company went public and in an effort to boost numbers sent two newsletters a quarter. Both did extremely well.

To make a long story short, by time they were done, CDNow was sending a newsletter every week. And then they truly were done, the company went into decline and was sold to Bertelsmann. Newsletters were generating almost no sales. The audience tuned out.

If you've got something interesting to say and an audience that wants to hear it, by all means reach out as often as you'd like. But if you're just trying to generate sales, trying to stay in your audience's mind, be careful about how often you intrude. It's the best way to turn people off. Banging at their door again and again and again.

First you earn the trust.

Then you sell.

If you're selling first, most people are ignoring you.

Build the relationship.

Nurture the relationship.

And know that everybody on the other end is an individual, with feelings and desires.

But that does not mean that the customer is always right. Because of newfound digital access, every complainer is reaching out, trying to make trouble, usually desiring something for free. They want a guarantee the product they bought will last forever and be better than anything else forever and even if it cost a dollar, they want to be able to get an instant response from your team. Ignore these people.

That's the flip side of Internet access. The ability to tune out unreasonable spam.

Don't be a culprit.


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You Might Be A Spammer...

IF YOU SEND A HOLIDAY E-CARD

Nothing says you're cheap and out of date more than sending a holiday e-card, especially if there's no personalization involved. If it's just to me, and there's more than a signature, then you get a pass. Otherwise, you look like someone tech retarded who doesn't realize fads come and go and you've just dated yourself back to 1999 or are a scammer trying to be all chummy with those you're not really friendly with. I mean if I don't know you, should I really be on your Christmas card list? And if so, do I get a gift?

I thought not.

That would cost money, as opposed to sending an e-card designed by your child or assistant that makes you look like you care when you really don't.

Not everything is replaced by tech. Some things are better in the real world. If you really care, send a physical card. And personalization always counts.

As for those long stories about what happened to your family this year... You can only send them if we actually know everybody involved, otherwise, these updates are best left unsent. If you want to be creative and give out some holiday wisdom, that's welcome. Then again, that would require an effort, and too many sending e-cards don't want to make one.


IF YOU SEND AN E-MAIL SAYING YOU LOVE MY BLOG

And you're not even on my list.

That's one thing bad about the Internet. Spam makes it so you think you can reach bigwigs, but you really can't, because they've all got super secret private e-mail addresses that only true friends and business colleagues possess. So you can send an e-mail to the black hole generic e-mail address, or try to find out the real address. But be sure, no one wants to hear from someone they don't know, unless to find out they've won the lottery or a prize, but scammers have made it so no one believes those e-mails either.

Did you see that article in the "New York Times" saying music blogs were passe? Seems the wannabes didn't read that, they were too busy sending boatloads of missives to people they think care, who don't. Oftentimes with detailed graphics and MP3s attached. This is no different than all that crap you get every day in your real mailbox. And did you notice the Post Office is fiscally challenged? That's what happens when you rely on spam for your business model. Then again, everyone in America (and the rest of the world!) thinks if you've got an inbox, they might as well fill it. Figuring they could get lucky. Yeah, as if I showed up at Staples Center and Mike D'Antoni told me to suit up.


YOU SEND SOMETHING "FASCINATING" YOU'VE FOUND TO PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW

Why is it everybody thinks they're a curator. Especially those who've got no idea what bcc means. You earn trust. And it's easy to dissipate. Send too much stuff people don't want and they never want to hear from you again. I know, they sign off my mailing list daily!


IF YOU THINK I WANT TO CONNECT ON LINKEDIN

I set my Postini filter to get rid of all these invites. But what fascinates me is the people who believe I'd want to hook up on the business networking service. I might recognize your name, but I've never met you. If you're inviting me to be your LinkedIn friend, you've lost any chance of becoming mine.

And while we're on LinkedIn, the longer the listing, the more bogus it is. If you don't think we can see through your faux resume...

Everybody looks above average on LinkedIn. Yes, I realize people get gigs as a result of the service, but I still think one thing never changes, it's who you know...in real life, in person. That's how you get a job. Because people only want to hire those they trust. More than your skills they want to know if you can get along, if you're gonna quit or steal or alienate customers. Most people can be trained to do the gig, but if their parents failed to instill them with manners...they're going to have a very hard time in this world.


IF YOU SEND A FACEBOOK INVITE

Actually, everybody who send one of those Facebook invites is a spammer. Actually, Facebook itself is built on spam. Giving you more information than you need to know to live your life. If you spend even an hour a day on Facebook, your career ain't going so well.


IF YOU SEND A PRESS RELEASE

Who and what is this mysterious press you think is salivating for this information, eager to distribute it around the world to individuals whose lives will be changed when they receive it. Your work is your press release. Its virality will depend on its quality.


IF YOU SAY TO CHECK OUT YOUR VIDEO ON TWITTER

That's right, spam seeps into all new platforms. That's what I want to do, check out the work of someone I don't know just because they knocked on my digital door.


CONCLUSION

If you want to succeed you should not be a spammer. It doesn't matter how creative your stunt is, what your pitch may be, all that matters is the underlying product.

We pull in today's world. And we hate push.

Show me someone who loves commercials and I'll show you someone who works for a TV network.

Access has become essentially impossible in the digital world. You might send it out there, but no one is listening or checking it out. That's why kids rely on text, they can control their network.

Furthermore, when you tell these people to stop cluttering your inbox they're offended! Believing they're helping you out, clueing you in, making your life better by hipping you to their production.

Ain't that a laugh.


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A Little More Rapino

Greetings from Vail, Colorado, where it's dumping!

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, then again, that hot chocolate might have helped!

I just wanted to flesh out a bit more about Rapino's interview yesterday. By me, as a matter of fact. At Aspen Live. Which I want to tell you is worth ten times the price because of the relationships you form. You can get information anywhere, but you cannot develop friends who'll not only watch your back, but help you in this crazy business of music. Half my social life is peopled with Aspen veterans. We bonded at 8,000 feet. I can rely on them.

Anyway, Rapino talked about "the complex."

No, he was not referring to an edifice featuring superstar concerts, rather he was talking about the landscape. That's what we find too little of in music. People who cannot only see what's going on today, but what's going to happen tomorrow. Anybody can book bands, anybody can count receipts. The old guard specialized in this. The new guard knows it's a veritable land rush in music and you've got to run!

That's when I know you're clueless. When you give me the knee-jerk reaction. Usually toting out bare bones facts. Yes, the gig sold out...but did the act do two shows the previous time through? Was the building smaller? Did tickets sell fast or slow? Is this genre on the way up or down?

Everything is intertwined, and if you don't know how to think, you're not gonna be a kingpin in the new music business. Bullying and intimidation are history. Don't forget, Live Nation is a public company. Used to be acts insisted on being paid in cash, they didn't trust promoters. Are we really worried that Live Nation or AEG are gonna stiff us?

I get tons of e-mail from people every day imploring me to get them to the next stop. As if I were a bus or a train and you could get on my back and I'd carry you on to success. I don't have that power and it no longer works that way. The era of the gatekeeper is fading. If you're blasting e-mail, you might be making yourself feel good, but you're making no progress whatsoever.

You start small.

You build big.

Michael Rapino didn't knock on Frank Barsalona's door and tell him to give him a gig. Even if he got inside the building, Frank would have thrown him out on his ass. You've got to pay your dues, you've got to find your own way. And there's nothing holding you back but yourself.

That's the essence of Rapino's story.

First there's the hard work far off the radar screen. Becoming the number one Labatt's rep. Impress those around you first. If you're good, you'll get promoted. There was no beer chart that Rapino was trying to climb. He was in a backwater, just like you. Just because the Internet allows you to reach everybody, that doesn't mean anybody cares.

And then there's following your dream.

If your dream comes true overnight, you're shooting too low. Or your success is temporary. And if you're dreaming big there are steps in the ladder. Not just the bottom and the top rungs. If you haven't been working hard, feeling that you've made no progress, wondering if you should give up, then I'm laughing...because you're not working at all.

If you're bitching that you can't afford it, I'm disgusted with you. Get a job. Buy a computer. Get an iPhone. It's not like you need to buy an apartment at the Dakota to play in music. Yup, too many are sour grapes. You're building a business. Would you try to open a store with no money? Then what makes you believe you can make it in music with no money?

If you're holier than thou, proving that you're poorer than everybody else, the world is ignoring you. Have fun in your pity party, because you ain't goin' nowhere.

Then there's the trigger. Labatt was intertwined with CPI, Cohl's company. Rapino got the bug. And it's the bug that sustains you.

Rapino also talked about lanes to the top. There are only a few. And most don't take you to the zenith. Rapino figured out being a brand manager was one of the three ways to the top at Labatt's. So he shot for that job, got it, and did better than everybody else, so he could get promoted.

As he was investing in himself.

You might be drinking beer and watching television. There's nothing wrong with either of these pursuits. But those who triumph have no time to waste, all their time is eaten up with getting ahead on their path. If you're relaxing, you're shooting for the middle. And the middle is shrinking.

Then Michael left Labatt's to form his own concert company. He raised the money. Instantly lost nearly half a million dollars. You know what that feels like?

First, can you convince someone else to invest in you? It doesn't happen by begging, but proving yourself. Having a track record and a plan.

Second, when things go wrong can you make them right? Perseverance is out the window in today's society. But that's what it takes to succeed.

And once in Europe with SFX/Clear Channel, Rapino took on all the work no one else wanted. Other territories. And suddenly, he was a monolith, his accomplishments could not be denied.

We can argue all day long whether Michael Rapino is doing a good job at Live Nation. But one thing we can all agree on is he earned the gig. Just because he didn't come up as a backstage runner who worked for a famous concert promoter after interning at a label that does not mean he isn't qualified, that he hasn't paid his dues. You think it's important that someone's watching. But you build your resume on the inside! Come on, we all know friends with LinkedIn pages that make them look like a CEO, but in reality they're losers. They can't keep a job, they piss people off, self-promotion is what they do best. Most true winners do the work, the promotion comes after the fact.

So now we're in an era where Live Nation is a pure concert play and the upside is in ticketing, online, with ticketmaster.com. What we're seeing is whether Michael Rapino can execute. Whether he can generate bigger margins and make the stock go up.

Unlike the old fat cats, lifestyle is not as important to him as the mission. And he's got decades left in the game, he's not nearing retirement.

You can sit at home and talk shit about Michael Rapino all day long.

But he's not listening.

That's what you don't understand. You can have someone's e-mail address, their Twitter handle, you think you can reach out and touch them. But you can't. They're ignoring you. Because you're not in the game, you don't count.

But you can if you want to.


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Cuban & Caren

From: Mike Caren
Re: Recordings Not Live

You hit it on the head here but you probably missed something important here.

We have a new generation and recording at home on your iPad doesn't require collaboration. Forget finding four great musicians (let alone four great musicians who all can write/contribute), try to find four musicians/artists who can get along long enough as a group to survive. Rap groups, very few. R&B groups, there's nothing better but where are they? Rock bands...forget the ones that reunite when they're broke, how many good ones stay together with their original line up long enough to be spectacular? In the "me" generation, the easiest way to get along with the rest of your band is to be the rest of your band. That's recording. With free, downloadable multi-track recording, as long as you can play a keyboard, sample, or program, you don't need anyone else. Or you can bring in day players and get rid of them as you see fit. Most hip hop/r&b/pop artists cherry pick the tracks. Few stay loyal to their producers (who are essentially their backing band on record) in any significant way. Hell, I hear LMFAO broke up after two albums and they (A) are a duo and (B) are relatives!

I'm not saying anything wrong with recording first. I was always personally into artists on record first, live second. Also, theoretically, who wants to duplicate the process of another era? With the speed in innovation in recording software, people are going to do incredible things. There are geniuses out there that otherwise would have never had access to instruments, let alone a studio. They're making music on every continent, in every community, and we're going to see some really incredible recordings. Just make sure you read about their live show before you go unless you're ok with someone just standing behind a laptop for an hour or worse, standing with four strangers who barely know their instruments that will never find a groove. Of course there can always be a LiveBand-Yelp to solve that issue...

___________________________________

From: Mark Cuban
Re: Concert Streaming

Right idea, wrong platform.

900k views of Coldplay would be a bad night for them on AXS.TV. That's more than 900k viewers in one night, not 60 days, which is exactly why bands are coming to us left and right. So are advertisers. They love reaching an audience. They love reaching people who otherwise might not have seen their concert. I doubt people are going to channel surf to a live online concert. They will and do channel surf their TV guide and sample our concerts. And we are getting better at this by the day

Not only do the bands get an audience, they also get the video master to release a DVD (multiple top selling concert DVDs came from our live broadcasts).

I've known that streaming live concerts is a great way to make people aware since we streamed the first live concerts online more than FIFTEEN years ago. No question the online viewing experience is better today, but it's kind of ironic how the mobile viewing experience is back to the little screens of streaming back in the day.

But wasn't going online supposed to be all about freedom from the gatekeepers? How is YouTube not the same as any other entertainment distributor ? They control the bandwidth. They control placement. yadda yadda.

Enter AXS.TV

We will broadcast your concerts. We will reach an audience for you. And it will sound great coming through the speakers on your HDTV or the speakers you connected. And it will look beautiful. Looks great, sounds great. Compare that to the experience on your phone, laptop or the ever disappearing desktop. Run it through your Roku or Boxee. We still kick their butt and btw, it kind of sucks when you try to watch the concert online and someone else in the house wants to watch Netflix or it crushes you mobile data limits

As far as the business of TV, Music used to rate too low when it was shown on analog tvs. Sounded bad, looked worse.

Those days are gone and our partners and advertisers know it too. Amex, Budweiser, Monster Cable, Nokia and more. All are on board with long term deals. Why?

Because Live Live, our slogan is not just about concerts it's about activation. You think people might get excited when they tweet to their friends who are watching a live stream ? They definitely get excited when they tweet /tumblr/FB to their friends watching on TV.
Our sponsors are all using music and sponsoring concerts. Which creates more value for that branding, online exclusively or online and AXS.TV? Or exclusive AXS.TV vs an online concert ?

AXS.TV loves music, we love showing concerts. We love talking music. We love having artists come on and perform. We want them to come on and promote. We will talk about new music and tell viewers that a single/album is being released that night and tell them to go watch. We will show artists doing great things on the stage and off. And we will put some Lefsetz attitude out there as well. We will have people with opinions come on the shows we produce and let them speak their minds.

And yes we are going to be at festivals. Whether we broadcast them or not.

We also are not stupid. You aren't going to see us doing weekly video countdown shows. No 100 best bodies of hip hop. No take overs. We know the role of YouTube and Vevo and we are going to let them to continue to do their job of presenting videos in response to searches. We don't believe they create awareness or are a discovery engine. People find or hear their music elsewhere and then search and watch on YouTube. Vevo does discovery, YouTube doesn’t.

AXS.TV is going to be a platform for live music. As much of it as we can get.

We are going to try a lot of different things. Some will work, some won't.

If you are a band that wants to reach an audience and activate them, we want to broadcast your concerts live. We want to have your artists in our studio, on our shows, being interviewed, on panels, guest hosting our shows.

Send me an email Mark@AXS.TV Let's do this !

m


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Rapino In Aspen

Are you a winner?

Everybody wants the glory, but few want to do the hard work.

So Michael Rapino grows up in Thunder Bay. That's closer to Winnipeg than Toronto. For those not Canada-savvy, that's NOWHERE!

And his friend at the Beer Store, that's what they call it, that's the only place to buy beer in Canada, tells him a job is open as a college rep at Labatt's.

So not only does Rapino track down the appropriate party, he develops a whole marketing plan, writes it down, before he shows up for the interview.

Are you willing to go the extra mile? Do you need it?

Getting a Labatt gig after college graduation, yes, Michael studied to become an accountant, worked at that for two weeks and gave up, he ended up becoming the number one rep. He read every book in the company library. He went for every educational weekend. He got promoted. He knew everything about the brand.

And then he decided one drunken night he wanted to be head of a concert company before he was forty.

Do you have that vision? He wrote it down on a napkin. He made it long before.

He was in beer for a decade. Although Labatt had a nexus with CPI, the concert company. He started his own concert company. He sold it to SFX. He took a pay cut to work in New York instead of going back to Labatt. Do you believe in yourself?

Then he was sent to Europe, where he shot sponsorship through the roof and got more and more territories and ultimately became the worldwide bigwig.

He not only wanted it, he NEEDED IT!

And don't forget he even defeated Michael Cohl in the process.

Oh, we learned that Live Nation is a pure concert play. And they don't want to sell tchotchkes with tickets, just more tickets. Artist fees are not going down, and it's all about the data.

Walls are done. That's what killed the record business. You're in it with your customers and the acts. And if you don't think Michael Rapino plays to win, you just don't know him.

This ain't the old music business. Where you get a few acts and win on intimidation. Saying you know everything when you know very little.

Rapino straddles the generations. He sees tomorrow and is not holding on to yesterday.

There are challenges ahead.

But now I know why he got the gig. You can smell the desire, the hard work, see both the charm and the sharp elbows.

It was fascinating to experience the man behind the image.

Furthermore, today it SNOWED!


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Rhinofy-No More Tears

The last good Ozzy.

He was lost after the untimely death of Randy Rhoads.

Then again, I'd be lying if I said I loved those albums when they came out. But after hearing "Flying High Again" every Saturday night on FM radio I suddenly realized I was a fan. That's how I came to love Foghat. The incessant airplay of those tracks you thought you hated to the point where you realized you loved them! Kind of like Journey's "Wheel In The Sky" and "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'".

I actually threw out Ozzy's initial double live album. I didn't want anybody to see it in my collection. But when Jeff Laufer called me back in the fall of '91 to get tickets to see the Ozzman at what was then called the Universal Amphitheatre, I decided to spin Ozzy's latest offering, "No More Tears." I was blown away. On this record alone Ozzy deserves to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist. There's not a single bum track. There are so many winners you just spin it in amazement.

"I Don't Want To Change The World"

Start here. Forget that "No More Tears" was the single. "I Don't Want To Change The World" is the metalhead's credo...

"I don't want to change the world
I don't want the world to change me"

Whew!

Life sucks. Just leave me with my music, it gets me by.

It's fast like Metallica, it's got a buzzsaw guitar that only appears in hard rock records, the kind that scares away those who don't belong. And there are multiple changes and a screaming guitar solo and there's an interlude in the middle you were not expecting that blows your mind.

"Don't tell me stories 'cause yesterday's glories
Have gone away, so far away"

Metal isn't about the past, it's about the present. That's why it works. Nothing else matters...school, work, responsibility...the music crowds all that out.

And there's even sarcastic humor:

"Tell me I'm a sinner I got news for you
I spoke to God this morning and he don't like you"

Ha! Take that!

"I Don't Want To Change The World" draws a line. You're either on one side or the other. You like to bang your head or you're a wimp. If this music doesn't energize you, channel your anger and make you feel happy...put on your Carpenters records.


"Hellraiser"

Also cowritten by Lemmy...

This is so deep in the album, you're stunned. By time you hit track 7, the songs should lose their edge, kind of like the last half hour of SNL. Instead "Hellraiser" separates the boys from the men. Can you party all night? Do you never get worn out? GOOD, COME RIGHT IN!

"I'm living on an endless road
Around the world for rock and roll"

This is what we all used to want, as late as 1991, when this album was released. To travel with the band. Feel the music, feel the groupies, getting high and ragged, living the life. The bankers may have money, but they ain't got this.

Check out Lemmy's version. It's not as good, but it's still special. Ozzy sings better, but Lemmy's voice has character.

Meanwhile, the way the track breaks down and gets heavy at 3:35...this is what we LOVE about album rock. This feeling. Which seems to be completely gone from today's landscape.


"Mr. Tinkertrain"

Not the best song on the album, which is like saying "Come Together" is not as good as "Here Comes The Sun," nevertheless "Mr. Tinkertrain" is a fantastic opener, as good as any the Stones have employed in decades. There's no pussyfooting. You're right in Ozzy's space, almost immediately. It's dark, it's dangerous...AND YOU'RE SO GLAD YOU OPENED THIS DOOR!

Your heart pulses to that bottom. Ozzy's voice is so inviting!


"Mama, I'm Coming Home"

This is the kind of stuff Kid Rock cuts that crosses over to country today. But back in the last century, something this good could get MTV airplay, and "Mama I'm Coming Home" did. This is the Ozzy to close all those who think they dislike Ozzy.


"No More Tears"

The initial single. A veritable tour de force. The intro is a vibrating tuning fork of a sound that gets your attention and draws you in. And then it's like a choir is singing in the background, you're at metal church and finally your pastor Ozzy arrives, Zakk Wylde playing him on with a flourish.

"No More Tears" is more than seven minutes long and not a second of it is wasted. It's like the anthem from hell.

Ozzy dominates, the change adds flavor, but it's the raw sound of the instruments that blows your mind.


"Time After Time" & "Road To Nowhere"

Both ballads, both just about as good as "Mama I'm Coming Home," you're stunned there's so much good music on this album as "Road To Nowhere" closes it. You're worn out, wet with sweat, drenched and tired.


So we went to that show...

It was my first Ozzy experience. With him spraying the audience with water, leading them in a standing wave back and forth to "Mr. Crowley"...it was more than a concert, it was a religious rite. I was converted on the spot. I never said a bad word about Ozzy again. I took my nine year old nephew to see him at the Forum for his first concert. And Ozzy didn't disappoint.

That was the "Ozzmosis" tour. And although the show was great, the album disappointed. Ozzy's never come through since. He's tried and tried and he keeps missing the mark. It looked like the special sauce was Zakk, but he couldn't replicate the greatness...it's like suddenly the Ozzman lost his path.

Then he went on TV and made a lot of money and ruined his career. Because suddenly Ozzy was owned by everybody, not just his hard core fans. Everybody knew he wasn't dangerous, that was just an image, but now the Prince of Darkness was a two-dimensional character on the box and nothing chews up and spits out talent like television.

Ozzfest ran its course. Ozzy's now reunited with Black Sabbath. And one could count him out, but I never will.

Because of "No More Tears."


Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8

Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz


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Aspen-Day Two

Stay in school.

I've known John Boyle for seventeen years. I met him here in Aspen as a matter of fact. A Good Time Charlie, Boyle's bounced around the music business for decades. Running college tours, working for Irving, even managing Xzibit.

Then it all came to a crashing halt.

That's what happens in the music business. Despite having a hit managing Alien Ant Farm, despite being involved in Xzibit's TV show, the name of which I've already forgotten, illustrating the longevity of MTV hits, Boyle ran out of options.

So he went to business school.

And now he's a completely different person. He learned something, and now he's CFO of Insomniac, along with some touchy-feely title regarding business development, but that's not the point.

The point is... My number one piece of advice for you in your musical career is to stay in school. There is a Justin Bieber. But what does Miley Cyrus do now? All she's got is her fame, and hopefully a couple of bucks. You don't want to be her, you want to plan for the future.

And if you're going to college to get a career, I pity you. Everything you learn will become outdated. Broaden your horizons. Sure, get drunk and smoke some dope, but learn about the philosophers, learn how to think, and if you then want a career go to graduate school. As for the "New York Times" writing about everybody dropping out of college to go into tech... First and foremost, those kids drop out of the Ivies... Second, few succeed.

So today Boyle's a changed man. And he talked about EDM and the Electric Daisy Carnival.

You know why I think electronic lasts? And I'm not absolutely sure that it does... It's because it's got the values of the audience. Today's younger generations are all about being a member of the group. Baby boomers are about winning, about being stars. Gen Y and those even younger just want to be included. Furthermore, this music is theirs. Created by independent-minded people, it's not what old men believe young 'uns should listen to.

And the experience is spectacular.

It's a whole new world out there. Driven by data and technology. Andrew Dreskin of Ticketfly spoke after Boyle. He's all about social ticketing. The data is mindblowing. Just like Nate Silver revolutionized polling, geeks are gonna revolutionize ticketing. Dreskin knows where you bought the ticket, how you found out about the gig, Ticketfly is overflowing with data which you can use to sell more tickets.

But what people want to see most, what they want to go to most, is electronic.

Which has been around forever. Since Kraftwerk.

Philip Blaine told us the history of electronic music. Do you know it's called house because it originated in the WareHOUSE?! Yup, in Chicago. Then came Detroit techno. There's a lot of history here. And for all the music you say you can't listen to, there's tons you love. Like "Blue Monday." And Kraftwerk's "Computer World" ("Welt" in the German edition!) is one of the best records ever made. Just because you're overwhelmed with the plethora of productions today doesn't mean you can't become a convert tomorrow.

Yes, there's so much. And the show market is oversaturated in L.A. But there are growth opportunities elsewhere.

But festivals are the big kahuna.

And Las Vegas is the new Ibiza. The new destination. Where you go to listen to electronic music in the clubs in not only the Wynn, but the new room in the MGM, where they're laying down so much money that...deejays are guaranteed twenty million dollars.

So first and foremost with Electric Daisy there's a trailer... Actually, every Insomniac event has three videos. Advance, building the set and aftermath. You'd think bands would become hip to this. Marketing their essence via video. Instead, they're still wrapped up in the eighties MTV clip model. Sell it like a movie, MTV is history!

And Insomniac spends a fortune on these videos. They've got six full time people working in the studio.

And tickets sell out in advance, with no acts announced, via said trailers. There's essentially no advertising! Yup, YOU'RE buying ads in the newspaper, YOU'RE touting radio, and the most successful festival in America utilizes neither. It goes where the fans are, online, it lets the fans do the work.

Now one day all these fans might look at each other and say they're done. But for now, they're spreading the word. They want to go. They want their peeps to go. It's nothing like a traditional show. At Electric Daisy, as well as the other festivals, the audience is part of the event, it's the headliner, it's the SHOW!

That's why you dress up. That's why you put on your happy face. You're PERFORMING!

You think you want early success. You think you want it to be easy.

But the true winners function off the radar screen for years. They have wins and losses over decades.

Like John Boyle.


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Concert Streaming

Greetings from Aspen Colorado where the snow is shitty and the hang is great.

Yup, it's the annual Aspen Live conference (http://www.aspenlive.com) which used to be populated by label people and now is almost exclusively attended by those focused on touring. Because that's where the money is.

And the way you make money today is to forget everything you knew about yesterday. You've got to stop holding back and start giving in. Say yes, not no. Take it from Metallica. Befuddled by Napster, they're leading the charge on Spotify. Think about that. If the biggest metal band in the world, one of the biggest acts in the world, managed by Cliff Burnstein, who was old school before there was a school, throws in with the streaming giant can it really be that bad? The last time Cliff got screwed he was playing quarters in elementary school. You've got to reevaluate constantly. What you knew six months ago might not apply today. Like EDM. Is it happening or peaking? Tiesto bombed in arenas but Kaskade sold out Staples. Huh? The jury is still out. But one thing we know is electronic is about the experience, they've got that nailed. So when Hank shoots EDM, he budgets extra, to shoot the show. I.e. the audience. Have you seen those trailers from Ultra, Electric Daisy and Hard? If you don't want to be there, your genitals are not functioning. They reek of sex and a good time. And isn't that what life is all about?

Anyway, Hank Neuberger is the streaming giant. He's responsible for shooting Coachella, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. And he made a good point about the promoters of these festivals. That they're the new moguls, the new Jac Holzmans, the new Ahmet Erteguns. They lay their money down and hold, they build...unlike the labels... HA!

So in streaming it's all about sponsorship. Someone's got to pay. $500-600,000 for a weekend. Wrigley wanted in. They sponsored Coachella. Now it's YouTube.

Hank thinks others are going to join the fray. I'm not so sure. Only one company wins online. There's one Facebook, one Amazon and one Google. Invent something new, don't try to tread on them. You can lose billions, like Bing!

Google/YouTube has the infrastructure, the streaming ability, the salespeople... You can't create that on a whim. Which is why Google paid so much for YouTube to begin with. Remember when everybody was laughing about the price? You're not laughing now, as you sit through the ads!

And the Apple maps fiasco shows that even Cupertino cannot always equal Google. And that the tech companies are fighting to the death. If you're not winning, you're losing.

Hank shoots these shows in higher def than TV. 24 megabits a second instead of 8. So when you tune in, it looks unbelievable! And it does! It's like you're at the show. Which is why people stay and watch, up to 50 minutes for Coachella. Advertisers want those eyeballs.

And so do bands.

Radiohead didn't want to say yes, but they had to, because everybody else did.

You see it's all about being live live. Sharing the experience around the globe. You may be on your couch in Brooklyn, but you're tweeting with your friend at the gig.

Does it cannibalize ticket sales?

Hell no. It's not like being there. Otherwise people would log in for hours. It makes you want to go, it makes fans. Holding back is so last century, you want all the exposure you can get. Not the manufactured kind, working the old school media, but the human one to one kind fostered on the web.

So say yes to streaming. Say yes to archiving. 900,000 people watched Coldplay's performance in the sixty day archive window. They wanted it, you're going to deny them?

This is like refusing to put your stuff on iTunes. You don't want to follow with tech, you want to lead.

How many festivals can stream?

Can there be consumer overload?

Will the acts ultimately want to participate in the license fee?

Will YouTube replace television? Music rates too low for traditional TV, but it works great online.

These are the issues we're debating in Aspen right now.

I've got to go, to hang with my homies at the Belly Up.

Meanwhile, PRAY FOR SNOW!


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Hobbyist/Professional

HOBBYIST

Pays for his equipment.

PROFESSIONAL

Gets it for free.

HOBBYIST

Earns his living outside music, his career is first, music is second.

PROFESSIONAL

First goal is to give up his day job, second goal is to make a lot of money.

JOURNEYMAN

A subset of professional. A journeyman just loves to play, get high, go on the road, experience the camaraderie.

STAR

Needs to dominate. Being a member of the group is not enough. If he or she can't make it to the very top, they're disappointed.

STAR

Knows he must be batting 1000 in at least one department. Must be able to sing, play or is beautiful. In a perfect world, all three. If you're not batting 1000 in one of these categories, either practice or admit you're a hobbyist.

JOURNEYMAN

If you want to play behind the best, your first skill must be networking. Your second skill must be the ability to get along. Your third must be your playing. If you get in the door and can't deliver musically, you're going to wash out. If you're a journeyman, practice is essential. You should never be the weak link. You should not only pick up where the front person is going, you should make him or her look better.

HOBBYIST

Has got no idea what it takes to make it. You can read "Billboard" and the rest of the trade magazines, they give you no idea how business is done, nor do any conferences or seminars illuminate the business fully. In order to know the business, you must know those in it. The music business is ruthless. Many want to be in it and it's almost impossible to stay in it. Before you decry the person at the top, investigate how he got there and how he stays there.

STAR

Long or short term? Short term...go on TV, although that paradigm is evaporating as I write this. "X Factor" is a nonstarter, the new "Idol" will be irrelevant and "The Voice" will crater soon, just like "Millionaire." Short term stars should think about getting out as soon as they get in. Become a movie star, tie in with the Fortune 500, you're running a business, credibility is irrelevant. If you're a long term star, your material is key, as is your credibility, think about tomorrow in every decision you make today.

HOBBYIST

Copies the riffs.

PROFESSIONAL

Creates the riffs.

HOBBYIST

Plays for money and complains the club owner is ripping him off.

PROFESSIONAL

Scalps his own tickets or keeps prices artificially low and employs paperless ticketing to get tickets in the hands of his fans.

HOBBYIST

Has no fans.

PROFESSIONAL

Relies on his fans. If your only fan is your label and radio, you're in trouble.

JOURNEYMAN

Might have a few fans in the audience, but his fans are the stars.

HOBBYIST

Buys off the rack.

PROFESSIONAL

Believes in customization.

HOBBYIST

Is all about the truth.

PROFESSIONAL

Never speaks the truth in public.

JOURNEYMAN

Only speaks the truth to other journeymen. Otherwise, his job is in jeopardy.

HOBBYIST

Will never become a professional. He's too wrapped up in his cocoon, he believes in safety, despite people telling him how good he is. It's a personal leap of faith to professionalism, and he's not willing to make it.

PROFESSIONAL

Exudes self-confidence. Is willing to risk everything to make it. Passion and desire are almost equal to talent.

HOBBYIST

Is afraid of getting screwed.

PROFESSIONAL

Has and will continue to get screwed until he becomes a superstar. If you haven't been screwed, you haven't made it.

JOURNEYMAN

Laughs about being screwed. His joy is in playing.

HOBBYIST

Has no manager.

PROFESSIONAL

Has a manager who is the secret to his success. Without a good manager, you've got no career.

JOURNEYMAN

Is his own manager. Nobody else cares that much.

HOBBYIST

Makes his records at home.

PROFESSIONAL

Makes his records in his engineer's home.

JOURNEYMAN

Makes his records at home.

HOBBYIST

Thinks it's all about luck and life isn't fair.

PROFESSIONAL

Makes his own luck and isn't concerned with fairness.

HOBBYIST

Has time to give his opinion.

PROFESSIONAL

Is too busy working to give an opinion.

HOBBYIST

Fields no offers. He creates demand.

PROFESSIONAL

Sifts through more offers as he gets more successful. Eventually gets to the point where he employs someone else to say no, so he doesn't look bad.

JOURNEYMAN

Is a juggler. He's thinking about not only this gig, but two down the line.

HOBBYIST

Is genuine all the time.

PROFESSIONAL

Is rarely genuine, he doesn't trust people and is wary of being stepped on, having his career thwarted.

HOBBYIST

Talks like he knows everybody.

PROFESSIONAL

Actually knows everybody.

HOBBYIST

Pays for his concert tickets.

PROFESSIONAL

Can always get in, can always pay, but usually is invited for free and rarely shows up.

HOBBYIST

No one cares if he's absent.

PROFESSIONAL

You feel his absence.

HOBBYIST

Sells crap. Stunned that the world doesn't stop and see its "greatness."

PROFESSIONAL

Doesn't go to market without an ace, a killer song or production.

HOBBYIST

Wastes time arguing.

PROFESSIONAL

Has got no time. If he hits a roadblock, he finds another way.

HOBBYIST

Is thrilled to be playing live anywhere.

PROFESSIONAL

Will not play unless you pay him, no matter what the promotional advantages or how good the cause is (unless it's a radio station show).

HOBBYIST

Can see today.

PROFESSIONAL

Can see tomorrow.

HOBBYIST

Is shocked that illicit favors have to be performed to get ahead.

PROFESSIONAL

Would blow anybody to get ahead, of either sex. It's his one and only life and one and only career, nothing's going to get in his way.


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