From: Peter Asher
Subject: RE: Rinofy-Sailin' Shoes
A Polaroid I took back in the day which I thought you might enjoy.
pic.twitter.com/pdxPhNrx
My favourite Lowell song of all was always "Long Distance Love". But
all of them great.
Peter
_________________________________________________
From: Gabriel Dixon
Subject: Re: Feature Creep
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your compliments on the 2008 album. I value your opinion, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Regarding my last release. Honestly, I'm not unsympathetic to your feelings on it. I took a chance with it, not because the 2008 album was criticized, it wasn't really, but because I needed to experiment with the album-making process to feel artistically vital and fulfilled. I also wanted to see what works for me and what doesn't. Now I know. I'm mostly proud of my last record, particularly the songs, but I may have made a mistake in placing trust with others above myself. It's a trap that some artists fall into after releasing a few recordings which are creatively satisfying to them, but not to "the masses." It's easy to throw up your hands and say, "I don't know what is good." "One Spark" is exactly the kind of record that I, with the input of a smart and well-meaning business team, decided to make. Yes, I'll admit I bit my tongue a few times during the recording and planning process, but what can I say? I'm glad I took a risk and did something different, rather than trying to reproduce the record I created in 2008. Hopefully, I take away the right lessons from the experience.
By the way, I agree with you about the iTunes update, although I don't know how much Steve Jobs' absence had to do with it. I mean, he didn't have a perfect track record either. Remember MobileMe?
All the best,
Gabe Dixon
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
"I miss you, come back to me
I wish you'd come back to me"
That's the essence.
We live in a lonely, alienated world surrounded by messages from winners. You're not thin enough, not beautiful enough, not rich enough and if only you were like them, you'd be happy.
But they're just like you. With more questions than answers. Unhappy frequently. Afraid to show it.
So we look to artists to speak truth. That's why we revere them.
"But nobody heard
And the world turned
And the world turned
And the world turned"
Ain't that the truth. Almost nobody cares and almost nobody hears. You cry and if anyone hears you they run away. Or answer once and then lose your number. They don't want to be brought down.
This is the music that speaks to me. That which underlines, demonstrates and explains human truth.
Loneliness kills.
You can hate your spouse. You can feel crowded. But there's nothing worse than being disconnected and fearful. We cannot live without human connection. But after telling you who to be and how to act in school, you graduate and absolutely no one cares what you do. It's like walking out of prison with no rehabilitation. No one clues you in how life really works.
So you turn to a record to explain it, to ride shotgun.
And the records on the hit parade don't do it, they just make you feel inadequate.
Then there are tracks made seemingly only for you. That truly keep you warm at night.
Like Gabe Dixon's "And The World Turned."
Spotify: http://spoti.fi/11hKstL
YouTube: http://bit.ly/moH5hX
_________________________________________________
From: Jim Cregan
Subject: Tower Of Power and Little Feat story
Hi Bob,
Great to hear your reviews of Tower of Power and Little Feat.
I was producing an album (Not a Little Girl Anymore) for a British singer- songwriter named Linda Lewis when the Warner Bros Music show came to London. She was on Warners at the time so we were invited to the show. We were completely blown away as was everybody there. We were in the middle of recording an album at Apple Studios in Savile Row so whilst backstage I asked Lowell George and the Tower of Power horn section if they wanted to play on the record. Maybe they just wanted to see the studio, but they all said yes. They would have to come down around midnight which of course suited us fine. Lowell played on the first night arriving with just a Strat and an MXR compressor. He plugged straight into the console asked engineer Phil McDonald (Imagine) to add 2db of 3K and just played it in one take. "May You Never" (John Martyn) was the song and when I asked what payment he wanted he just said a gram or two of coke would do it...
Meanwhile T of P were in the next room scribbling charts for their contribution (Love Where Are You Now) but more interestingly they offered us a new song that they said they had written for Linda Ronstadt. They then proceeded to sing what became the title track and it was almost impossible to keep a straight face as these hairy guys sang, in perfect four part harmony, this beautiful song about not being a little girl anymore...
The great thing about those days was we could make decisions on the spot about what went on the record and also who did what. Complete artistic freedom.
And the camaraderie, the desire to join in and contribute meant so much to all of us. No wonder we loved our jobs. It's called playing music, not working it.
Keep writing to us Bob, we need you.
All the best
Jim Cregan
London
_________________________________________________
From: Bob Ezrin
Subject: Re: NYTimes: Censoring Myself for Success - K'Naan
http://nyti.ms/UL0fwU
K'naan is a true innocent. One of the very few. He's a poet whose words were set to the rhythm of his bare feet - and then was convinced that this is really urban music. He got caught up in a heady and seductive world - kind of like Drake has. They're both brilliant and genuine young men who grew up in Toronto in a "kinder, gentler" and in many ways more sophisticated country. They both succumbed to the allure of the Big Time. In Drake's case, he is able to put one part of himself forward and fit right in. But in K'naan's case the problem is that no part of him, nor the whole of him, fits completely anywhere in particular.
He is a complex child of a horrible war and a profound peace. Anyway, he believed everything he was being told. And yes he caved - because he would always believe what the "prophets" tell him because they know and do so much more than he. And he's Canadian which means he has an innate humility and the presumption of inferiority to powerful Americans - especially New Yorkers.
So I take this article at face value. And I believe him. I hear the shame here when he admits that he was an envious "fox" who was seduced by the apparently beautiful gait of the prophets - so much so that he was willing to engage in pretense and emulation in order to be more like them than like himself. And he deeply regrets this. Read this article again and hear the idealistic poet yearning for his innocence back. When I read it I wasn't cynical about it at all. I was moved to tears. But then again I have known him for a long time and I can take him at his word.
_________________________________________________
From: Dave Dederer
Subject: Re: Another Leno comment
Bob,
The Presidents were on Leno a few times in the mid 1990s. Every time we were on the show, Jay came to our dressing room -- alone, with fruit basket or other gift in hand -- to introduce himself and chat for a little while during the long hours between arrival and taping. We were also free to wander around the set as we pleased. I recall playing frisbee in the glorious LA winter sun (glorious if you're from Seattle) in the parking lot next to one of Jay's crazy cars.
The set felt like a warm, friendly and welcoming place, not typical for a TV or film production environment.
Contrast this with a visit to Letterman, where guests are sequestered in a tiny green room far from the stage for hours before taping, then held after the end of taping in another green room immediately adjacent to the stage while the halls are cleared after the show so Dave doesn't have to even see any of his guests, much less interact with them.
I didn't meet a lot people in the entertainment business willing to do what Jay did every time we visited his show, which was to take a minute to say hello and have a very human and real interaction.
Dave
_________________________________________________
Subject: Billy Joel and the Beach Boys
Bob,
I started as a keyboard player with the Beach Boys in the fall of 1974 ( after King Harvest kind of just petered out for the moment) . One of our gigs was a the Forum in Philadelphia, and the opening act was Billy Joel. As Billy Hinsche says in his post, nobody cared. Yes, Billy had had the hit with Piano Man, but the crowd was noisy and disrespectful and unkind. At the end of Billy's set, he said, well, thanks a lot, my name is Leon Russell, and I hope you've enjoyed the show, or some such thing. But he definitely said my name is Leon Russell. Of course, nobody in the crowd listened or cared or maybe even knew who Leon Russell was. But I did and I thought it was really funny, which drew me in as a Billy Joel fan immediately.
Just another little story from the road.
Ron Altbach
_________________________________________________
Subject: Re: Frequency
So true. I think if you go see live music, it's inevitable that you end up receiving an overwhelming number of shitty emails from promoters and venues, indiscriminately promoting acts of every stripe, often so packed with hideous formatting that it makes me think these people learned NOTHING from MySpace, never mind the more recent lessons of using data topersonalize the experience. I can't even be bothered to unsubscribe - TicketMaster, Live Nation, Goldenvoice, etc - instant delete.
But there's one or two that don't get my trigger finger quite so itchy. McCabe's and Largo, because good shows sell fast and I see a lot of shows at those two venues, but also The Troub.
The Troub - one of the oldest, and nowadays one of the best - but for reasons (or maybe it's just a reason) that's entirely its own. Actually, I can point to two reasons, but they're related.
One, the email tells you which shows are likely to sell out soon. That's amazingly helpful information sometimes, and can be just enough to light a fire under my ass when I'm on the fence. Or the opposite, if the artist isn't someone I want to see while fighting for sight lines and to preserve my square foot of space. But the soon-to-sell-out info is really just part of the charm.
Two, the emails have a paragraph or two of thoughts and personal input from the woman who writes them. Yeah, sometimes that can be a big "who cares," or T.M.I., but I think I just as often find the personal touch charming. There's a real person watching ticket sales, talking about recent shows, and trying to psych everyone up to get out there and buy tickets. now! Before they all sell out!
In this day and age of too many generic, worthless emails, even on topic that ostensibly are of real interest to me, a dose of humanity can go a long way.
Or it's a bot and I'm a sucker. But it's a damn good bot.
David B. Oshinsky
_________________________________________________
Subject: Re: Aspen-Day Two
Please publish this anonymously if you do so as I am locked into a long term deal with Ticketfly but I sell far fewer tix since I made the switch from Ticketweb whose events coexist on ticketmaster. Convinced that not being on ticketmaster has hurt my business.
Club owner
_________________________________________________
From: Stephen Tatton
Subject: Anecdote
Thought of you this past weekend at my parents' house for Christmas. My mom, who is 66, and could only loosely be considered "with it" in terms of tech and society in general said:
"You don't even need these services, if you want to hear something you can find it on Youtube."
HALLELUJAH!
So why can an out of touch mom who lives in the South Texas country figure this out and most of the world can't?
_________________________________________________
From: Larry Butler
Subject: RE: A Little More Lowell (And Little Feat)
Hey, Bob,
Re: Hunter Thompson's infamous quote about the music biz - it wasn't - it was about the TV business.
I did a little research on it a couple months ago for an article I was writing and came across this factual piece of background at About.com/urbandlegends (I love search engines, if you dig deep enough to get to the truth). The actual quote comes from:
"Hunter S. Thompson's book called Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s (New York: Summit Books, 1988). There, toward the bottom of page 43...
"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason.
Which is more or less true. For the most part, they are dirty little animals with huge brains and no pulse."
Exact quote. The full piece, clearly lambasting the business of TV journalism, was originally published as a bylined column in the San Francisco Examiner on November 4, 1985. It was not about radio, it was not about the music industry, it was not about show business in general nor about the corporate communications industry (though for all we know Thompson might well have agreed that the characterization fits equally well in every case). It was about television. Period.
As for the phantom tag line ("There's also a negative side"), it's nowhere to be found in the original article. Nice joke, but Thompson didn't write it."
Larry Butler
_________________________________________________
From: Robin Millar
Subject: RE: The Album
I used to be paid by all the major labels just to come up with running orders for their upcoming releases. This was the 1980s and the start of the over-long CD, the bonus tracks, remixes, hidden tracks and so on and so on.
It was the easiest money I ever made. I just used to put the best 3 tracks 1,2 and 3. The rest I'd write on the backs of business cards, shuffle them and deal them out.
In other words it didn't matter. First there were only ever 3 really good tracks and sometimes only two and sometimes only one. Second even in 1983 the attention span was ten minutes max.
You're right, once the concept of side 1 and side 2 disappeared with the CD the whole shape of an album was in my opinion already gone to dust. No shape, no respite, no break. The effort in coming up with a great running order for sides 1 and 2 was well worth it....and even then you were trying to sustain interest for 22 minutes before the listener got up, changed sides, lit a cigarette, made a phone call, put some more coffee on then dropped the needle again.
Funny how movies are getting longer though?
Cheers
Robin
_________________________________________________
From: H H Burnham
Subject: Unbelievable...or not?
Good Morning.
I just saw this in FaceBook this morning (I'm in London, why this is so early).
I don't know whether to be angry, horrified, or step back and realize I am just out-of-touch with reality.
Is this kosher? Sounds like slavery/abuse to me. He sounds like a complete twat.
"Digital Bear Entertainment and mixer/producer/manager Jordan Tishler are looking for a recent or soon-to-be graduate who wants a unique position in a high profile mix studio and artist management company in Cambridge.
You must be ultra reliable and trustworthy, supremely organized, have great communication skills, and be capable of self-motivation and independent work. The job requires at least a one-year commitment (better if longer).
This position is full-time and unpaid. Work hours are mostly daytime with occasional nights and weekends. Schedule flexibility is crucial and the expectation that you will earn money to support yourself during the weekday evenings.
You will receive daily, hands-on guidance from Jordan Tishler who is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring. You will participate in all aspects of ongoing business, and have lots of responsibility, visibility, networking, and creative input. You will be responsible for PR and marketing of the company, management of client scheduling and coordinating with other employees, supervising industry networking events, participating in artists' management needs, and above all else recruiting new talent!
Have a look at digitalbear.com
Sound like you? Email your resume to Jordan at info@digitalbear.com"
I hope you enjoy the holidays, Bob. I continue to push students here to read you...the 'Myth Buster' for the music biz they think they know. Thank you, as always.
A Very Happy New Year to you!
Hugo B
_________________________________________________
From: DAJiE Music Group
Subject: The business of illusions
TWITTER FOLLOWERS?
We all know the importance of image in the music business and having a strong online presence. Often it is how you are judged and how labels and industry taste makers determine your "buzz" or fan base. FUTURE STAR can build your value with our Twitter service. We are able to offer as many Twitter followers as you want to your account. You don't have to follow anybody back and we don't even need your password or access to your account. We can do as little or as many followers as you'd like! Let us set your page on fire and get you noticed today. This is a very popular service!
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE LIKES?
If you are an artist, company or brand that is looking to increase your social network image and buzz then Facebook is a great place to accomplish this. FUTURE STAR is able to sky rocket your statistics by providing you with Facebook "likes" on your fan pages! This is crucial for artists wanting to create hype and really have a strong online buzz. Remember, everything in the entertainment industry is about image and the way others portray you. If you appear to be a superstar, you will get treated as a superstar! Let us build up your Facebook presence today!
YOUTUBE VIEWS?
YouTube has become a necessity in today's times when promoting yourself. Whether you are uploading a new music video or any type of promotional video to YouTube, you still need to generate traffic which is better known as "views". These views are what create the viral buzz and superstar image you have been looking for. Hire FUTURE STAR today to increase the views on your YouTube videos. We can also provide channel subscribers and video likes. We have done this service for many artists and celebrities with great success. Many became featured videos and received YouTube honors on their channels! Results are guaranteed for our services as always so let's get started today!
INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS?
So you've got your Twitter, Facebook and YouTube covered and now they have to introduce a new social media platform to throw off all your numbers right? Don't worry you're in good hands with FUTURE STAR. We now offer Instagram followers to complete it all and give you that superstar look and image that you're after. The more followers on your page the more others will want to follow also. Perception is reality in the online world and especially the entertainment business!
_________________________________________________
Subject: Re: Feature Creep
Bob,
Thanks for writing this article about the iTunes 11. What a disaster, frustrating piece of shit. I am to busy to try and figure out what the hell is going on, Upgrade? That was a down grade. Horrible. Not even close to what it was. It's like a new language. Idiots. They have No clue what people want and need.
So thanks for article.
Kenny Aronoff
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Friday, 11 January 2013
Rhinofy-Tower Of Power
Back in the dark ages of the seventies, when I lived in Vermont and there was one snowy television station and no FM radio other than the low power college station, I was clued in to what to listen to by two things...the press, mostly "Rolling Stone," but "Fusion" and "Crawdaddy" too, and the Warner/Reprise sampler albums. And "Burbank" was not my favorite iteration, but it began with a track so infectious that even in the white haven of Middlebury it evoked the funk and the ooze of Oakland.
I'm speaking, of course, of Tower Of Power's "Down To The Nightclub."
"It's Saturday night and I'm just hangin' out
Lookin' for a place to party
I jump into my ride and I hit the road
'Cause there's only one place to go
Down to the nightclub
Ooh, the women be righteously ready and pretty
To the nightclub
We go bumpty, bumpty, bump
BUMP CITY!"
BUMP CITY!
I thought that was the name of the track, actually it was the name of the album, but what an IMAGE! This was years before disco burgeoned. This was about going to a smoky club, getting your buzz on and...TOUCHING!
You can't do that on the Internet. No cam will give you the human touch. You've got to leave your house for that. And listening to "Down To The Nightclub," you wanted nothing so much as to throw on your dancing shoes, race out the door and PARTICIPATE!
But the song is magical for so many reasons.
There's the intro. Which sets the mood, sets your mind free and gets you ready for...
The story.
This track is not made for the radio so much as for you. Screw the rules. The rules would excise the intro, but that's one of the things that makes this track.
Along with that hooky... BUMPTY, BUMPTY, BUMP!
As well as that entrancing bridge...
"The joint be jumpin'
THE MAMAS BE HUMPIN'!"
"Down To The Nightclub" is one of those songs you like immediately, but the more you play it, and you're driven to, the more you become enamored of it. Kind of like a great nightclub!
"What Is Hip?"
"Down To The Nightclub" was on the second album, the aforementioned "Bump City." The third album, the eponymous "Tower Of Power," opened with a definitive soul/funk number entitled "What Is Hip?"
This is a precursor to rap, an honest black world where the truth is spoken. If you haven't looked yourself in the mirror and wondered if you were hip...YOU'RE JACK NICHOLSON!
When you hear Lenny Williams sing, "You in a HIP TRIP!" you crack up.
But it gets even better...
"What's hip today might become PASSE!"
Could you say it better yourself?
OF COURSE NOT!
That's what we depend on art for, to distill what we all know in an economical, comprehensible fashion.
If you're truly hip, you'll love "What Is Hip?," it cracks me up every time I hear it.
"Only So Much Oil In The Ground"
SOONER OR LATER THERE WON'T BE NONE AROUND!
From an album entitled "Urban Renewal" to boot!
The sense of humor is amazing. It's like Frank Zappa moved to Oakland, and the resulting music was infused with his zinging social commentary.
It gets better...
WE CAN'T CUT LOOSE WITHOUT THAT JUICE!
Utterly hysterical! Could you say it better? You need your gasoline, to cruise, to get to the nightclub, TO LIVE!
THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR OUR ABUSE!
It's the same way today as it was back then, right after the initial gas shortage of 1974. Just ask east coast residents in the wake of Sandy, lining up for their hit.
And there's much more than these three tracks. But start here. They're infectious, they're deep, they're satisfying.
And the band may have become more famous for its horn section than its own material, the Tower Of Power horns backed up Little Feat on its live album "Waiting For Columbus," but these tracks should neither be overlooked nor forgotten.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
I'm speaking, of course, of Tower Of Power's "Down To The Nightclub."
"It's Saturday night and I'm just hangin' out
Lookin' for a place to party
I jump into my ride and I hit the road
'Cause there's only one place to go
Down to the nightclub
Ooh, the women be righteously ready and pretty
To the nightclub
We go bumpty, bumpty, bump
BUMP CITY!"
BUMP CITY!
I thought that was the name of the track, actually it was the name of the album, but what an IMAGE! This was years before disco burgeoned. This was about going to a smoky club, getting your buzz on and...TOUCHING!
You can't do that on the Internet. No cam will give you the human touch. You've got to leave your house for that. And listening to "Down To The Nightclub," you wanted nothing so much as to throw on your dancing shoes, race out the door and PARTICIPATE!
But the song is magical for so many reasons.
There's the intro. Which sets the mood, sets your mind free and gets you ready for...
The story.
This track is not made for the radio so much as for you. Screw the rules. The rules would excise the intro, but that's one of the things that makes this track.
Along with that hooky... BUMPTY, BUMPTY, BUMP!
As well as that entrancing bridge...
"The joint be jumpin'
THE MAMAS BE HUMPIN'!"
"Down To The Nightclub" is one of those songs you like immediately, but the more you play it, and you're driven to, the more you become enamored of it. Kind of like a great nightclub!
"What Is Hip?"
"Down To The Nightclub" was on the second album, the aforementioned "Bump City." The third album, the eponymous "Tower Of Power," opened with a definitive soul/funk number entitled "What Is Hip?"
This is a precursor to rap, an honest black world where the truth is spoken. If you haven't looked yourself in the mirror and wondered if you were hip...YOU'RE JACK NICHOLSON!
When you hear Lenny Williams sing, "You in a HIP TRIP!" you crack up.
But it gets even better...
"What's hip today might become PASSE!"
Could you say it better yourself?
OF COURSE NOT!
That's what we depend on art for, to distill what we all know in an economical, comprehensible fashion.
If you're truly hip, you'll love "What Is Hip?," it cracks me up every time I hear it.
"Only So Much Oil In The Ground"
SOONER OR LATER THERE WON'T BE NONE AROUND!
From an album entitled "Urban Renewal" to boot!
The sense of humor is amazing. It's like Frank Zappa moved to Oakland, and the resulting music was infused with his zinging social commentary.
It gets better...
WE CAN'T CUT LOOSE WITHOUT THAT JUICE!
Utterly hysterical! Could you say it better? You need your gasoline, to cruise, to get to the nightclub, TO LIVE!
THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR OUR ABUSE!
It's the same way today as it was back then, right after the initial gas shortage of 1974. Just ask east coast residents in the wake of Sandy, lining up for their hit.
And there's much more than these three tracks. But start here. They're infectious, they're deep, they're satisfying.
And the band may have become more famous for its horn section than its own material, the Tower Of Power horns backed up Little Feat on its live album "Waiting For Columbus," but these tracks should neither be overlooked nor forgotten.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
Previous Rhinofy playlists: http://www.rhinofy.com/lefsetz
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Winners and Losers
Otherwise known as the haves and the have-nots.
You get to choose. If you're riding through life willy-nilly, thinking everything will work out fine, you're delusional. Now, more than ever, there's a dividing line. You're up here...or you're down there. And don't expect the mainstream media and your friends and teachers to tell you. Kind of like they didn't tell us Reagan-era greed would lead to income inequality.
I read about Michael Milken making half a billion dollars in the eighties. I saw my boomer brethren getting rich in that decade. I just thought it wasn't my turn yet. Or to quote Led Zeppelin, my time was gonna come.
The joke was on me. As the years wore on you could only become truly rich if you were involved in finance. As for the rest of us, James McMurtry had it right, we can't make it here anymore.
That's right. I will never be one of the one percent. Because I don't do the right kind of job. I was riding the lift in Vail when my seatmate talked about buying a shirt at the Plaza. He'd forgotten his button-down, he went down to the hotel store, got up to the cash register and it turned out the new item was $1700. Yup, you've got that right. There's no decimal point in between the zeros. And another seatmate said "So you put it back on the rack, right?" And this guy said "No, I was already at the cash register, what could I do?" But it gets even worse! Turns out he had his button-down shirt in his suitcase. It was packed at the bottom. But he never returned his purchase.
Can you afford a $1700 shirt?
I certainly can't.
And you can tell me you don't need one, but you would like access to the best doctors and the ability to sway government policy and if you think you've got the same ability to do this as the rich, you probably think Rebecca Black is talented and Carly Rae Jepsen has a career.
But now we're in the Internet era. We've got hucksters like Chris Anderson telling you there's a long tail, that there's a market for everything online!
Put it in the iTunes Store. It won't move. Most of the material does not. People only want what is exceptional. It's like society in general, we've got winners and losers.
But you got a trophy for participating in soccer. Your mother loves you. Of course the world is gonna embrace your art.
Fuggedaboutit.
Oh, you don't take my word for it? You think I'm a narcissistic prick constantly raining on your parade? Then how about the words of Marc Andreessen, who launched Netscape and is now a big VC.
"In liberal arts, only the best of the best will make top dollar, a person will have to be good enough that his book is a best seller or her song goes global..."
In other words, there's no place for a journeyman, no place for a middling act, you're either Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or you're living four to a room, maybe in your mother's basement, driving a van to gigs waiting for that one big break that's never gonna come.
The odds are longer than they've ever been before. With everything available online consumers only have time for the best, hell, they barely have any time at all. Just like Wal-Mart destroyed Main Street with its buying power and resulting cheap prices, the old game has been killed. Kind of like Amazon put the stake in the heart of Best Buy.
If you want to succeed in the future, you've got to get the right degree from the right institution.
Or, as Andreessen puts it:
"In two words, 'study STEM' (science, technology, engineering and math)..."
Physics is too hard? Computer science too challenging? That's fine, let the computer tell you what to do as opposed to the reverse. That's the dividing line today, according to Andreessen, do you tell the computer what to do or vice versa? Do you own Burger King or serve shakes?
And, as Andreessen says:
"If you have a degree in English from a tier B state school, you're not prepared."
You don't like hearing this. I don't like hearing this. But I didn't like hearing that bankers were raping and pillaging in the eighties. But you know who was left out, me!
And read Tom Wolfe's essay in "Newsweek." All the money on Wall Street is now in high speed trading. With the Quants. And the mainstream press didn't write a single story about it until a decade after it debuted.
So you're at home, Facebooking, making your tunes in GarageBand, believing you're just an inch away from stardom. Because no one will tell you the truth. Oh, you hear music is a hard game, but you see all those stars from...YESTERYEAR! Coldplay benefited from MTV airplay. As did Dave Matthews Band. Without it, they'd be a fraction as big as they are today. Even the vaunted Phish... They're not growing new fans, it's the same damn audience that keeps them alive, and Phish has been doing it for DECADES!
But no, you're gonna break the rules. With little effort and a lot of chutzpah, you're gonna make it. You're gonna use the tools of the web to get in everybody's face and will yourself to success, as if you yourself didn't ignore spam all day long. You watch "Gangnam Style" more than once but you cannot name a single other video you've sat through completely. You went to see "Skyfall" but haven't been to the movies since. Your calendar is so full of activities that you can't even schedule a dinner. Meanwhile, you're looking over your shoulder, worried the guy behind you is gonna steal your job, that you'll never reach the guy in front of you.
Oh, you still don't believe me! Then look at the app world. Sure, you use Yelp! And look at Instagram, sold for a billion dollars! But most apps are black holes that don't even return their investment. Read the below story in the "New York Times" for edification. Oh, that's right, you don't like anybody raining on your parade, you're a positive person, you're different.
HOGWASH!
Quants make millions of dollars in an instant, and they grow nothing. They're gaming the system. Major labels buy YouTube views. The game is so stacked against you that if you knew the truth you wouldn't even start.
So, if you like playing music, be my guest.
If you can book a few gigs, even go on tour, great!
But if you're expecting a lifetime of riches, a career, a NetJet account and vacations on Richard Branson's private island...PLAY THE LOTTERY!
Andreessen-"Jobs fight: Haves vs. the have-nots": http://usat.ly/U7R4oy
"As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living": http://nyti.ms/Uz56x2
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
You get to choose. If you're riding through life willy-nilly, thinking everything will work out fine, you're delusional. Now, more than ever, there's a dividing line. You're up here...or you're down there. And don't expect the mainstream media and your friends and teachers to tell you. Kind of like they didn't tell us Reagan-era greed would lead to income inequality.
I read about Michael Milken making half a billion dollars in the eighties. I saw my boomer brethren getting rich in that decade. I just thought it wasn't my turn yet. Or to quote Led Zeppelin, my time was gonna come.
The joke was on me. As the years wore on you could only become truly rich if you were involved in finance. As for the rest of us, James McMurtry had it right, we can't make it here anymore.
That's right. I will never be one of the one percent. Because I don't do the right kind of job. I was riding the lift in Vail when my seatmate talked about buying a shirt at the Plaza. He'd forgotten his button-down, he went down to the hotel store, got up to the cash register and it turned out the new item was $1700. Yup, you've got that right. There's no decimal point in between the zeros. And another seatmate said "So you put it back on the rack, right?" And this guy said "No, I was already at the cash register, what could I do?" But it gets even worse! Turns out he had his button-down shirt in his suitcase. It was packed at the bottom. But he never returned his purchase.
Can you afford a $1700 shirt?
I certainly can't.
And you can tell me you don't need one, but you would like access to the best doctors and the ability to sway government policy and if you think you've got the same ability to do this as the rich, you probably think Rebecca Black is talented and Carly Rae Jepsen has a career.
But now we're in the Internet era. We've got hucksters like Chris Anderson telling you there's a long tail, that there's a market for everything online!
Put it in the iTunes Store. It won't move. Most of the material does not. People only want what is exceptional. It's like society in general, we've got winners and losers.
But you got a trophy for participating in soccer. Your mother loves you. Of course the world is gonna embrace your art.
Fuggedaboutit.
Oh, you don't take my word for it? You think I'm a narcissistic prick constantly raining on your parade? Then how about the words of Marc Andreessen, who launched Netscape and is now a big VC.
"In liberal arts, only the best of the best will make top dollar, a person will have to be good enough that his book is a best seller or her song goes global..."
In other words, there's no place for a journeyman, no place for a middling act, you're either Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or you're living four to a room, maybe in your mother's basement, driving a van to gigs waiting for that one big break that's never gonna come.
The odds are longer than they've ever been before. With everything available online consumers only have time for the best, hell, they barely have any time at all. Just like Wal-Mart destroyed Main Street with its buying power and resulting cheap prices, the old game has been killed. Kind of like Amazon put the stake in the heart of Best Buy.
If you want to succeed in the future, you've got to get the right degree from the right institution.
Or, as Andreessen puts it:
"In two words, 'study STEM' (science, technology, engineering and math)..."
Physics is too hard? Computer science too challenging? That's fine, let the computer tell you what to do as opposed to the reverse. That's the dividing line today, according to Andreessen, do you tell the computer what to do or vice versa? Do you own Burger King or serve shakes?
And, as Andreessen says:
"If you have a degree in English from a tier B state school, you're not prepared."
You don't like hearing this. I don't like hearing this. But I didn't like hearing that bankers were raping and pillaging in the eighties. But you know who was left out, me!
And read Tom Wolfe's essay in "Newsweek." All the money on Wall Street is now in high speed trading. With the Quants. And the mainstream press didn't write a single story about it until a decade after it debuted.
So you're at home, Facebooking, making your tunes in GarageBand, believing you're just an inch away from stardom. Because no one will tell you the truth. Oh, you hear music is a hard game, but you see all those stars from...YESTERYEAR! Coldplay benefited from MTV airplay. As did Dave Matthews Band. Without it, they'd be a fraction as big as they are today. Even the vaunted Phish... They're not growing new fans, it's the same damn audience that keeps them alive, and Phish has been doing it for DECADES!
But no, you're gonna break the rules. With little effort and a lot of chutzpah, you're gonna make it. You're gonna use the tools of the web to get in everybody's face and will yourself to success, as if you yourself didn't ignore spam all day long. You watch "Gangnam Style" more than once but you cannot name a single other video you've sat through completely. You went to see "Skyfall" but haven't been to the movies since. Your calendar is so full of activities that you can't even schedule a dinner. Meanwhile, you're looking over your shoulder, worried the guy behind you is gonna steal your job, that you'll never reach the guy in front of you.
Oh, you still don't believe me! Then look at the app world. Sure, you use Yelp! And look at Instagram, sold for a billion dollars! But most apps are black holes that don't even return their investment. Read the below story in the "New York Times" for edification. Oh, that's right, you don't like anybody raining on your parade, you're a positive person, you're different.
HOGWASH!
Quants make millions of dollars in an instant, and they grow nothing. They're gaming the system. Major labels buy YouTube views. The game is so stacked against you that if you knew the truth you wouldn't even start.
So, if you like playing music, be my guest.
If you can book a few gigs, even go on tour, great!
But if you're expecting a lifetime of riches, a career, a NetJet account and vacations on Richard Branson's private island...PLAY THE LOTTERY!
Andreessen-"Jobs fight: Haves vs. the have-nots": http://usat.ly/U7R4oy
"As Boom Lures App Creators, Tough Part Is Making a Living": http://nyti.ms/Uz56x2
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Rules Of Engagement
1. Long Haul, Not Front-Load
Front-loading is for movies and SoundScan. You're not making movies and SoundScan means less than ever before and will continue to die.
You wanted a big first week in SoundScan so retailers would order more music and the mainstream press would hype your debut. Physical retail is dying and now inventory is unlimited online. Elvis Presley dies and there are few records in the store, it takes weeks to catch up with demand. Michael Jackson passes and albums and tracks start flying out of the iTunes Store immediately. If there's demand, it can be fulfilled today. But you've got to create the demand. One spike of publicity is not going to do it. At best, it creates a bit of awareness. But it doesn't get anybody to listen. Assuming you're paying attention to the mainstream press, it's a long way from there to listening to the music. How can you get people to listen to the music first?
"Gone Girl" was a viral sensation. Most people weren't even aware of the hype upon release. Great word of mouth sold the book. Music is now more like books, taking a while to marinate and spread in society. But music, when done right, lasts even longer. Your goal is to have a career.
If you're doing publicity at all, and publicity is only for pussies, your artwork should sell itself, a campaign should last at least a year. Or don't even start.
2. Lead With Your Art
A great publicity campaign for a lame record is worthless. Kind of like a great video for a lame song. Focus on the art. Date of release doesn't matter. Some things blow up immediately, most take a while to find their niche and grow. Think about what you're selling and focus on that. PSY wasn't selling a song but a video. So he made sure the video was excellent. What sold the video was viral word of mouth. The mainstream press was last. The mainstream press is only first on what is lame and evanescent. What's cool starts off the radar.
3. Celebrity Imprimatur
The Carly Rae Jepsen story. Justin Bieber tweeted about "Call Me Maybe." Celebrities endorsing music that they've got no investment in draws attention to it. It's the best way to reach new listeners. This used to be the opening band syndrome. That can still work a bit, but people have been trained to think the opening act at a concert is lame, that it may not even square with the taste of the audience, that their placement is more about money than music. Look at the Twitter followings of some of these famous musicians. They can reach the target audience much better than the mainstream press. Unlike the mainstream press they're trusted. This paradigm works now, it might be abused into irrelevance in the future. Just like YouTube views and Amazon reviews are now faked.
4. Give Your Audience The Tools
If you want mystery today, put up the video, release the track online and then say and do nothing else. Create a frenzy surrounding your track, have questions asked. That's a reasonable way to go. But even more reasonable is to have a plethora of information available to surfers once they get hooked. Wikipedia and Facebook pages, a Twitter feed. The problem with mainstream media is it stops. Whereas if you really entice someone they want more. Online is about endless links and discovery. Allow those who are interested to do this.
5. Be Outside
In the eighties and nineties we had a monoculture. Driven by MTV and radio. Whereas in the sixties we had the mainstream and alternative. We've got the mainstream and alternative today. The mainstream is dependent upon hits. A ton of exposure. It's more about the mania than the art. There is a business in this, but less than ever before. Many used to sell double digit millions. Now only Adele can do this. You want to align with your fans, not the machine. That's the key to longevity. If you get so big the machine is interested you can play with it, but last. If you put the machine first, you're alienating those sneezers who will push you over the tipping point.
6. Your Fans Do The Work
If nobody is retweeting, if your video count doesn't go up, maybe your art and its message are not good enough. If you can't inspire people to do your work for you, you won't make it today. We're inundated with publicity, it washes right off of us. The only thing that sticks is the words of our friends.
7. Steady Stream Of Art
Don't be worried about killing what's breaking. The longer you stay on something, the shorter your career. Money men are interested in milking the hit, artists want to have careers. Keep pushing stuff out there. Satisfy the bleeding edge. These people are the ones who broke you to begin with.
8. Touring Is A Victory Lap
It used to be where you made fans, now it's where you cement relationships and make money. Don't tour so long you avoid your online presence. Online is a fire that you must continually stoke.
9. Mobile
If your site and its attendant elements don't work seamlessly on handheld devices you're operating with one hand behind your back.
10. Statistics Versus Money
Be your own barometer. Worry about pleasing yourself, not others. Don't worry if all your sales are not counted, if you're not mentioned in the trades. Have your own plan and be satisfied with your achievements. If you're Amazon, you keep growing and put profits in the future. If you're a fad, the money comes first. Create your own plan.
11. Have Your Own Schedule
The disadvantage of being tied to a major label is their agenda is different. They've got quarterly profit reports, they want you to put out your music during the Christmas selling season. Furthermore, major corporations are the opposite of nimble. They need agreement and approval which can take forever to achieve. You want to be able to turn on a dime. Maybe you need a second video. Maybe you need a new track. The web is about fast and slow. Fast to make changes, slow to grow.
12. Immediate Is Not Necessary
It costs nothing to have your video up on YouTube. No one's going to delete it or ship it back. It's a land mine waiting to be discovered. If you believe, stay the course. You never know what might trigger interest.
13. Fake Is Found Out
Society is more sophisticated than ever before. Websites are dedicated to decoding the truth. If you try to break the rules, you'll be found out, and you may never recover from the hurt.
14. New Forums
First came Twitter, then came Tumblr, Pinterest... Don't cover everything in a scorched earth policy, participate where your fans are, where it fits for you. Tumblr allows you to go on at length. Pinterest is for pictures. If you're a photo whore, Pinterest might be where you want to be. The key is to take chances and have fun. The web is all about risks, which are anathema to major labels and the rest of the old guard.
15. Radio
Comes last. If it's first and your track fails, which even those of the superstars do, it's done. Better to percolate online and be added by radio long after the fact. Cee Lo's "Forget You" percolated online long before it became a radio staple. Hell, the original version with the obscenity was a web phenomenon. Perfect execution. Drop it without publicity and let the online denizens build it into a monolith. Surfers owned it, the mainstream press was picking up the crumbs.
16. Cycles
Are permanent now. It's just like life. You're working and creating constantly. Sure, it takes up all your time, but creators want to create. If you feel burdened by the constant need to be in your audience's face...you won't make it. This is what Amanda Palmer does best. That's why she raised over a mil on Kickstarter. She continues rallying her troops, posting on her site, oftentimes not even about music, but life. She's three-dimensional, people are drawn to her.
17. Not All Your Fans Are Hipsters
There are very few hipsters out there. The regular people will support you, play to them.
18. TV
Ain't what it used to be. Whether it be late night or track placements. It's hard to game the system anymore. Late night will give you a professional video, but it won't sell records. If your song is so good that it'll break out of a TV show, chances are it'll break just fine alone online.
19. No Rules
These are just guidelines. Create new ways of doing things constantly. Just don't do it the old way. It ain't even working for the old farts.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Front-loading is for movies and SoundScan. You're not making movies and SoundScan means less than ever before and will continue to die.
You wanted a big first week in SoundScan so retailers would order more music and the mainstream press would hype your debut. Physical retail is dying and now inventory is unlimited online. Elvis Presley dies and there are few records in the store, it takes weeks to catch up with demand. Michael Jackson passes and albums and tracks start flying out of the iTunes Store immediately. If there's demand, it can be fulfilled today. But you've got to create the demand. One spike of publicity is not going to do it. At best, it creates a bit of awareness. But it doesn't get anybody to listen. Assuming you're paying attention to the mainstream press, it's a long way from there to listening to the music. How can you get people to listen to the music first?
"Gone Girl" was a viral sensation. Most people weren't even aware of the hype upon release. Great word of mouth sold the book. Music is now more like books, taking a while to marinate and spread in society. But music, when done right, lasts even longer. Your goal is to have a career.
If you're doing publicity at all, and publicity is only for pussies, your artwork should sell itself, a campaign should last at least a year. Or don't even start.
2. Lead With Your Art
A great publicity campaign for a lame record is worthless. Kind of like a great video for a lame song. Focus on the art. Date of release doesn't matter. Some things blow up immediately, most take a while to find their niche and grow. Think about what you're selling and focus on that. PSY wasn't selling a song but a video. So he made sure the video was excellent. What sold the video was viral word of mouth. The mainstream press was last. The mainstream press is only first on what is lame and evanescent. What's cool starts off the radar.
3. Celebrity Imprimatur
The Carly Rae Jepsen story. Justin Bieber tweeted about "Call Me Maybe." Celebrities endorsing music that they've got no investment in draws attention to it. It's the best way to reach new listeners. This used to be the opening band syndrome. That can still work a bit, but people have been trained to think the opening act at a concert is lame, that it may not even square with the taste of the audience, that their placement is more about money than music. Look at the Twitter followings of some of these famous musicians. They can reach the target audience much better than the mainstream press. Unlike the mainstream press they're trusted. This paradigm works now, it might be abused into irrelevance in the future. Just like YouTube views and Amazon reviews are now faked.
4. Give Your Audience The Tools
If you want mystery today, put up the video, release the track online and then say and do nothing else. Create a frenzy surrounding your track, have questions asked. That's a reasonable way to go. But even more reasonable is to have a plethora of information available to surfers once they get hooked. Wikipedia and Facebook pages, a Twitter feed. The problem with mainstream media is it stops. Whereas if you really entice someone they want more. Online is about endless links and discovery. Allow those who are interested to do this.
5. Be Outside
In the eighties and nineties we had a monoculture. Driven by MTV and radio. Whereas in the sixties we had the mainstream and alternative. We've got the mainstream and alternative today. The mainstream is dependent upon hits. A ton of exposure. It's more about the mania than the art. There is a business in this, but less than ever before. Many used to sell double digit millions. Now only Adele can do this. You want to align with your fans, not the machine. That's the key to longevity. If you get so big the machine is interested you can play with it, but last. If you put the machine first, you're alienating those sneezers who will push you over the tipping point.
6. Your Fans Do The Work
If nobody is retweeting, if your video count doesn't go up, maybe your art and its message are not good enough. If you can't inspire people to do your work for you, you won't make it today. We're inundated with publicity, it washes right off of us. The only thing that sticks is the words of our friends.
7. Steady Stream Of Art
Don't be worried about killing what's breaking. The longer you stay on something, the shorter your career. Money men are interested in milking the hit, artists want to have careers. Keep pushing stuff out there. Satisfy the bleeding edge. These people are the ones who broke you to begin with.
8. Touring Is A Victory Lap
It used to be where you made fans, now it's where you cement relationships and make money. Don't tour so long you avoid your online presence. Online is a fire that you must continually stoke.
9. Mobile
If your site and its attendant elements don't work seamlessly on handheld devices you're operating with one hand behind your back.
10. Statistics Versus Money
Be your own barometer. Worry about pleasing yourself, not others. Don't worry if all your sales are not counted, if you're not mentioned in the trades. Have your own plan and be satisfied with your achievements. If you're Amazon, you keep growing and put profits in the future. If you're a fad, the money comes first. Create your own plan.
11. Have Your Own Schedule
The disadvantage of being tied to a major label is their agenda is different. They've got quarterly profit reports, they want you to put out your music during the Christmas selling season. Furthermore, major corporations are the opposite of nimble. They need agreement and approval which can take forever to achieve. You want to be able to turn on a dime. Maybe you need a second video. Maybe you need a new track. The web is about fast and slow. Fast to make changes, slow to grow.
12. Immediate Is Not Necessary
It costs nothing to have your video up on YouTube. No one's going to delete it or ship it back. It's a land mine waiting to be discovered. If you believe, stay the course. You never know what might trigger interest.
13. Fake Is Found Out
Society is more sophisticated than ever before. Websites are dedicated to decoding the truth. If you try to break the rules, you'll be found out, and you may never recover from the hurt.
14. New Forums
First came Twitter, then came Tumblr, Pinterest... Don't cover everything in a scorched earth policy, participate where your fans are, where it fits for you. Tumblr allows you to go on at length. Pinterest is for pictures. If you're a photo whore, Pinterest might be where you want to be. The key is to take chances and have fun. The web is all about risks, which are anathema to major labels and the rest of the old guard.
15. Radio
Comes last. If it's first and your track fails, which even those of the superstars do, it's done. Better to percolate online and be added by radio long after the fact. Cee Lo's "Forget You" percolated online long before it became a radio staple. Hell, the original version with the obscenity was a web phenomenon. Perfect execution. Drop it without publicity and let the online denizens build it into a monolith. Surfers owned it, the mainstream press was picking up the crumbs.
16. Cycles
Are permanent now. It's just like life. You're working and creating constantly. Sure, it takes up all your time, but creators want to create. If you feel burdened by the constant need to be in your audience's face...you won't make it. This is what Amanda Palmer does best. That's why she raised over a mil on Kickstarter. She continues rallying her troops, posting on her site, oftentimes not even about music, but life. She's three-dimensional, people are drawn to her.
17. Not All Your Fans Are Hipsters
There are very few hipsters out there. The regular people will support you, play to them.
18. TV
Ain't what it used to be. Whether it be late night or track placements. It's hard to game the system anymore. Late night will give you a professional video, but it won't sell records. If your song is so good that it'll break out of a TV show, chances are it'll break just fine alone online.
19. No Rules
These are just guidelines. Create new ways of doing things constantly. Just don't do it the old way. It ain't even working for the old farts.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
More David Bowie
My inbox is blowing up with Bowie backlash.
And normally I would not react in print, but I've got two points to make.
The first is a correction.
It turns out the YouTube video of the clip has in excess of two million plays. Why the Vevo take has so few... All I can say is when I clicked on the link on Bowie's page yesterday, Tuesday, the link didn't work at all!
But the reason I'm invading your inbox one more time today is because I want to delineate a point about our society. Frank Rich did a good job of writing about it the other week in "New York." It's that we build false heroes in our society, like David Petraeus, the press looks at them uncritically and then...we find out these people are human.
Kind of like Lance Armstrong. If you follow his history, you know about that drug test that... You knew he was doping. But if you wrote that, and I did, you were attacked, look at what he's doing for cancer research!
Bottom line, people need someone to believe in. And they defend that same person to high heaven until a sharp spike is driven into their mind proving otherwise.
Point one.
The ticket fee problem is the acts' fault, not Ticketmaster's.
Ticketmaster would go to all-in ticketing tomorrow. It's the acts that don't want to do this. But the ignorant public keeps blaming Ticketmaster.
So my inbox is filling up with people saying MAYBE DAVID BOWIE WANTED TO MAKE THIS MUSIC! GET OFF HIS BACK!
Giving this ancient hero all kinds of credit and breaks he doesn't deserve.
Maybe you believe otherwise.
Or is your life so simple and overwhelming that you've got heroes, that you truly think these people are better than you, with pure motives and an inability to fail.
Ever meet any of your heroes?
You'd be stunned.
So often famous people are mercurial, difficult, and they don't give you the time of day. If you haven't been dissed by one of your heroes, you haven't met one.
So I take a critical approach to David Bowie's new music and his marketing plan and the basic response is...
HOW COULD YOU? HE'S DAVID BOWIE!
This is the same kind of thinking that got the press and the nation believing there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq because the President and his minions said so. What's going to keep this nation free is not guns, but critical thinking.
If we're still talking about David Bowie's new music a year from now, I'd be stunned.
BUT HE'S DAVID BOWIE! STOP TALKING RIGHT NOW!
I saw David Bowie perform "Ziggy Stardust" before most of you were born, at the Music Hall in Boston back in '72. He was great then, he hasn't been great in a long time.
Could he be great again?
We'll see.
But if you think the new track is great please don't send me any recommendations. And good luck in this new world where good is not good enough, where you've got to be SPECTACULAR to succeed!
We're truly living in an era of superstars.
And if you can't deliver at this high level you're forgotten or you never made it.
What did Jack Nicholson say in that movie...
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH?
You want to believe your heroes are flawless and your music is worth listening to.
HA!
"Suckers For Superheroes," Frank Rich on Petraeus, et al: http://nym.ag/12gmPzK
P.S. The more e-mail that comes in, the more people agree with me. Proving once again the haters are knee-jerk reactors who attack first.
P.P.S. While I've got your attention, I want to tell you someone e-mailed me a solution for my iTunes search problem. The default is to search the entire library. Click on the magnifying glass on the left-hand side of the search window and select "Filter By: All" in the drop-down menu and it works the old way. Thank god for crowdsourcing, but these programs should be intuitive to the individual.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
And normally I would not react in print, but I've got two points to make.
The first is a correction.
It turns out the YouTube video of the clip has in excess of two million plays. Why the Vevo take has so few... All I can say is when I clicked on the link on Bowie's page yesterday, Tuesday, the link didn't work at all!
But the reason I'm invading your inbox one more time today is because I want to delineate a point about our society. Frank Rich did a good job of writing about it the other week in "New York." It's that we build false heroes in our society, like David Petraeus, the press looks at them uncritically and then...we find out these people are human.
Kind of like Lance Armstrong. If you follow his history, you know about that drug test that... You knew he was doping. But if you wrote that, and I did, you were attacked, look at what he's doing for cancer research!
Bottom line, people need someone to believe in. And they defend that same person to high heaven until a sharp spike is driven into their mind proving otherwise.
Point one.
The ticket fee problem is the acts' fault, not Ticketmaster's.
Ticketmaster would go to all-in ticketing tomorrow. It's the acts that don't want to do this. But the ignorant public keeps blaming Ticketmaster.
So my inbox is filling up with people saying MAYBE DAVID BOWIE WANTED TO MAKE THIS MUSIC! GET OFF HIS BACK!
Giving this ancient hero all kinds of credit and breaks he doesn't deserve.
Maybe you believe otherwise.
Or is your life so simple and overwhelming that you've got heroes, that you truly think these people are better than you, with pure motives and an inability to fail.
Ever meet any of your heroes?
You'd be stunned.
So often famous people are mercurial, difficult, and they don't give you the time of day. If you haven't been dissed by one of your heroes, you haven't met one.
So I take a critical approach to David Bowie's new music and his marketing plan and the basic response is...
HOW COULD YOU? HE'S DAVID BOWIE!
This is the same kind of thinking that got the press and the nation believing there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq because the President and his minions said so. What's going to keep this nation free is not guns, but critical thinking.
If we're still talking about David Bowie's new music a year from now, I'd be stunned.
BUT HE'S DAVID BOWIE! STOP TALKING RIGHT NOW!
I saw David Bowie perform "Ziggy Stardust" before most of you were born, at the Music Hall in Boston back in '72. He was great then, he hasn't been great in a long time.
Could he be great again?
We'll see.
But if you think the new track is great please don't send me any recommendations. And good luck in this new world where good is not good enough, where you've got to be SPECTACULAR to succeed!
We're truly living in an era of superstars.
And if you can't deliver at this high level you're forgotten or you never made it.
What did Jack Nicholson say in that movie...
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH?
You want to believe your heroes are flawless and your music is worth listening to.
HA!
"Suckers For Superheroes," Frank Rich on Petraeus, et al: http://nym.ag/12gmPzK
P.S. The more e-mail that comes in, the more people agree with me. Proving once again the haters are knee-jerk reactors who attack first.
P.P.S. While I've got your attention, I want to tell you someone e-mailed me a solution for my iTunes search problem. The default is to search the entire library. Click on the magnifying glass on the left-hand side of the search window and select "Filter By: All" in the drop-down menu and it works the old way. Thank god for crowdsourcing, but these programs should be intuitive to the individual.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
David Bowie
Yesterday's news.
I'm not talking about the man himself so much as his new track, his new album... A circle jerk publicity campaign that the old wave ate up and we've already moved on from. I mean how can someone who used to get it so right, who was on the bleeding edge, get it so wrong?
This is the guy who did Berlin/electronic before most people had a clue who Eno was and did the Bowie Bonds deal and now he signs with Sony and puts out a new album and the sycophantic press hypes it and drives those who care, who aren't that many, hell there are only 29,359 views on Vevo as I write this, to the video which features a song so dirgey and so mediocre as to tarnish his entire legacy, if he hadn't been doing that himself for decades.
How come these oldsters don't get it? They made music that lasted forever, now they just want to play for a day. Employ the old school publicity paradigm on steroids which is ignored by everybody but the aforementioned sycophants who think we're still living in 1974.
Bowie, want to get it right?
Do it the Mumford way.
UNDERSELL!
First he needed to go on the road, playing small venues at fair prices that you couldn't get in. That would generate real publicity. For what happened as opposed to what's coming. And if you've got something real, the fans do the work for you. They tweet, they Instagram, they spread the word. Instead, Bowie's caught up in the mainstream echo chamber.
Second, you put out a new track that kills. And "Where Are We Now?" does not. It needed to be upbeat, it needed to be one listen. Not something that you might like over time, not when the whole world is watching.
Third, leave the audience hanging, waiting for more.
Instead of the album, drip out the singles. Create cutting edge videos. Keep the excitement going. Keep your name in circulation.
But NO, David Jones shows his age by doing it the old way, getting a check from Sony and trying to drive something down our throats that we don't want.
Maybe he ain't got great new music in him. Maybe he's dried up. If so, don't call our attention to substandard work, you ruin any opportunity for clamor if you somehow come up with something good in the future.
But my bottom line point is now more than ever music is for the long haul. You start slow and build. If you start big, you oftentimes fail thereafter. Like where do PSY and Carly Rae Jepsen go now? But at least give them credit, they came up with certified hits. The PSY video is riveting and the Carly Rae Jepsen song is so hooky, it's velcro.
The news cycle is endless. Nothing sticks. We don't want announcements, we want SUBSTANCE!
David Bowie: "Where Are We Now?": http://bit.ly/10cYRYX
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
I'm not talking about the man himself so much as his new track, his new album... A circle jerk publicity campaign that the old wave ate up and we've already moved on from. I mean how can someone who used to get it so right, who was on the bleeding edge, get it so wrong?
This is the guy who did Berlin/electronic before most people had a clue who Eno was and did the Bowie Bonds deal and now he signs with Sony and puts out a new album and the sycophantic press hypes it and drives those who care, who aren't that many, hell there are only 29,359 views on Vevo as I write this, to the video which features a song so dirgey and so mediocre as to tarnish his entire legacy, if he hadn't been doing that himself for decades.
How come these oldsters don't get it? They made music that lasted forever, now they just want to play for a day. Employ the old school publicity paradigm on steroids which is ignored by everybody but the aforementioned sycophants who think we're still living in 1974.
Bowie, want to get it right?
Do it the Mumford way.
UNDERSELL!
First he needed to go on the road, playing small venues at fair prices that you couldn't get in. That would generate real publicity. For what happened as opposed to what's coming. And if you've got something real, the fans do the work for you. They tweet, they Instagram, they spread the word. Instead, Bowie's caught up in the mainstream echo chamber.
Second, you put out a new track that kills. And "Where Are We Now?" does not. It needed to be upbeat, it needed to be one listen. Not something that you might like over time, not when the whole world is watching.
Third, leave the audience hanging, waiting for more.
Instead of the album, drip out the singles. Create cutting edge videos. Keep the excitement going. Keep your name in circulation.
But NO, David Jones shows his age by doing it the old way, getting a check from Sony and trying to drive something down our throats that we don't want.
Maybe he ain't got great new music in him. Maybe he's dried up. If so, don't call our attention to substandard work, you ruin any opportunity for clamor if you somehow come up with something good in the future.
But my bottom line point is now more than ever music is for the long haul. You start slow and build. If you start big, you oftentimes fail thereafter. Like where do PSY and Carly Rae Jepsen go now? But at least give them credit, they came up with certified hits. The PSY video is riveting and the Carly Rae Jepsen song is so hooky, it's velcro.
The news cycle is endless. Nothing sticks. We don't want announcements, we want SUBSTANCE!
David Bowie: "Where Are We Now?": http://bit.ly/10cYRYX
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Feature Creep
iTunes 11 is a disaster. If Steve Jobs were still alive it wouldn't have happened, and if it had, someone would have been fired.
They took a program which did what it was supposed to, manage your music and allow you to shop in the iTunes Store, and added so many features as to make it unusable.
Let's start with the search. Instead of getting the tracks in your library, you're proffered choices. And navigating to your selection is slow and it used to be you just searched and what you were looking for was in the window. But no, they had to IMPROVE IT!
And once you've got your selection, you've got a flippy triangle that gives you choices, always a different number, as many as nine! All I want to do is play a track! And this is my business. Is listening to music the business of anyone at Apple?
The company blinked. It endured hated for so long it upgraded a program that worked fine to begin with. They pushed it over the edge. They turned it into Microsoft Word, something with so many features it's damn near unusable.
Steve Jobs famously said on his deathbed not to run the company like Disney, where the enterprise was paralyzed by asking "What would Walt do?" But to abandon one of Jobs' core principles is headscratching. Usability always came first! You needed no training, no manual, everything just worked and you could employ it intuitively.
Not iTunes 11.
Only the haters bitch. If you listen to the haters, you're screwed.
Were the hoi polloi complaining? No, iTunes was their default, the go-to item.
It's only the blowhards and "power-users" who complained about iTunes.
If something's not broken, don't fix it.
Most of your user base, most of your fans, won't complain unless you screw up. They're satisfied. We see this time and again in the logo world. Some idiot at the company decides to modernize and comes up with a new logo they like, the hipsters like, but the mainstream users hate! Most recently with the University of California. I didn't attend, but anybody, including myself, could see the new logo didn't have the same gravitas. You put in four years (maybe more) and you end up with a trendy seal? For something that takes this investment you want an imprimatur of tradition. Hell, my college diploma is in Latin, I can't read it, but I know it's serious!
And this is especially true in music.
DON'T LISTEN TO THE CRITICS TELLING YOU TO CHANGE!
It's one thing if you're convinced you're on the wrong path, if you've got questions. But if you think you're doing it right, stay the course, don't listen to idiots telling you to change willy-nilly, even if you haven't gotten commercial traction yet. Change the sound and you'll alienate those who are already on board. Kind of like Gabe Dixon. He put out one of my favorite albums of the century, 2008's "The Gabe Dixon Band," then he followed it up with a slick concoction I can't even listen to. He should have just stayed the course, waited for people to catch up, he had it right!
Kind of like the iPhone 5.
Do you find the rank and file, those getting an Android for free, bitching that the iPhone 5 doesn't have the latest and greatest features? No, you only hear from the bleeding edge, people who upgrade their phones sometimes twice a year, that the iPhone 5 doesn't have this or that. But these are always features used by almost nobody. They're cool, but do they belong in a phone? Hell, most of these phones are hard enough to use to begin with, to get more than e-mail, texts and calls out of. Simplicity is a virtue. In addition to a huge curated app store, what makes the iPhone 5 great is the easy upgradability and the answers to your questions, never mind the raw usability.
Sure, Apple was first with the tablet, then again that's not really true, the company made the first USABLE tablet.
And even Palm made a "touch" smartphone previously.
As for the iPod, it was just a refinement of what already existed, albeit with high speed transfer.
You don't always have to lead.
But you do have to get it right.
And Apple got it wrong with iTunes 11.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
They took a program which did what it was supposed to, manage your music and allow you to shop in the iTunes Store, and added so many features as to make it unusable.
Let's start with the search. Instead of getting the tracks in your library, you're proffered choices. And navigating to your selection is slow and it used to be you just searched and what you were looking for was in the window. But no, they had to IMPROVE IT!
And once you've got your selection, you've got a flippy triangle that gives you choices, always a different number, as many as nine! All I want to do is play a track! And this is my business. Is listening to music the business of anyone at Apple?
The company blinked. It endured hated for so long it upgraded a program that worked fine to begin with. They pushed it over the edge. They turned it into Microsoft Word, something with so many features it's damn near unusable.
Steve Jobs famously said on his deathbed not to run the company like Disney, where the enterprise was paralyzed by asking "What would Walt do?" But to abandon one of Jobs' core principles is headscratching. Usability always came first! You needed no training, no manual, everything just worked and you could employ it intuitively.
Not iTunes 11.
Only the haters bitch. If you listen to the haters, you're screwed.
Were the hoi polloi complaining? No, iTunes was their default, the go-to item.
It's only the blowhards and "power-users" who complained about iTunes.
If something's not broken, don't fix it.
Most of your user base, most of your fans, won't complain unless you screw up. They're satisfied. We see this time and again in the logo world. Some idiot at the company decides to modernize and comes up with a new logo they like, the hipsters like, but the mainstream users hate! Most recently with the University of California. I didn't attend, but anybody, including myself, could see the new logo didn't have the same gravitas. You put in four years (maybe more) and you end up with a trendy seal? For something that takes this investment you want an imprimatur of tradition. Hell, my college diploma is in Latin, I can't read it, but I know it's serious!
And this is especially true in music.
DON'T LISTEN TO THE CRITICS TELLING YOU TO CHANGE!
It's one thing if you're convinced you're on the wrong path, if you've got questions. But if you think you're doing it right, stay the course, don't listen to idiots telling you to change willy-nilly, even if you haven't gotten commercial traction yet. Change the sound and you'll alienate those who are already on board. Kind of like Gabe Dixon. He put out one of my favorite albums of the century, 2008's "The Gabe Dixon Band," then he followed it up with a slick concoction I can't even listen to. He should have just stayed the course, waited for people to catch up, he had it right!
Kind of like the iPhone 5.
Do you find the rank and file, those getting an Android for free, bitching that the iPhone 5 doesn't have the latest and greatest features? No, you only hear from the bleeding edge, people who upgrade their phones sometimes twice a year, that the iPhone 5 doesn't have this or that. But these are always features used by almost nobody. They're cool, but do they belong in a phone? Hell, most of these phones are hard enough to use to begin with, to get more than e-mail, texts and calls out of. Simplicity is a virtue. In addition to a huge curated app store, what makes the iPhone 5 great is the easy upgradability and the answers to your questions, never mind the raw usability.
Sure, Apple was first with the tablet, then again that's not really true, the company made the first USABLE tablet.
And even Palm made a "touch" smartphone previously.
As for the iPod, it was just a refinement of what already existed, albeit with high speed transfer.
You don't always have to lead.
But you do have to get it right.
And Apple got it wrong with iTunes 11.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Monday, 7 January 2013
What The Hell, One More
I'm not gonna write a book.
Not a day goes by that I don't get that e-mail. Well, at least multiple times a week. People think that will give me the imprimatur of success, will cement my credibility!
But the bottom line is I already reach more people than just about every author alive and if I took time out to write something new, I wouldn't be able to do this.
You see I love the connection. Even more I love the writing. This is what I do. I'm not gonna change it for some old wave wankers who've got no idea what's going on.
You want to talk about a challenged business... If you think music is bad, you've got to look at books. The quantities they sell are paltry. They don't know who their readers are. If you think musicians are loath to social network, you don't know any authors. They want to hang at home, preferably writing in longhand or on a Smith-Corona, thinking there is fulfillment and joy in doing it the old way. But not a one of them doesn't complain that he doesn't have more readers. That's the nature of art, you want more people to be exposed to it.
And now you can do this, but the old pros refuse to. Don Henley refuses to participate online, won't tweet, won't comment, yet he's one of the most erudite and opinionated musicians alive. Huh? What's the problem Don? You afraid of the haters?
Oh, they're legion. They come out of obscurity to eviscerate you and then go back into their holes, wearing the cloak of anonymity all the while. But if you're not bobbing in the cesspool online you're not even playing. It's like refusing to be on AM radio in the sixties. Huh? That's where all the people are!
Some days I write great stuff, and sometimes my work is mediocre. By my standards anyway. I'm never bad. You know why? I've done it too much. That's your 10,000 hours right there. But although my audience likes good, they don't really erupt until I create great. Which no one can do on a regular basis. So I keep pushing the rock uphill, waiting for inspiration, waiting to create incredible so my computer starts ringing like a pinball machine and I've got a euphoria...that lasts until the end of the day if I'm lucky. Then it's back to the salt mines to create something new.
And that's my philosophy. I don't believe in selling, I believe in creating. I'm better off staying home and writing than doing any publicity. Because publicity is so bad at hitting the target. Most people reading or listening or watching just don't care. But if I win online, my minions will forward what I have to say to like-minded people. I win through my art. Or lose, that's the nature of the game.
I revere Tom Wolfe. But he took a decade to write a novel that was poorly reviewed and it sank like a stone. He could have serialized it online and worked out the kinks while he was building an audience and had a huge hit. That's how he did it with "Bonfire Of The Vanities," it originally appeared in serialized form in "Rolling Stone." But NO, as John Belushi once bellowed, he had to do it the old school way, he had to employ a traditional publisher and get that big fat check. I hope that money keeps him warm at night, while he's absent from the public discussion.
That's what creators want... To be part of the public discussion.
And let me tell you, you don't always win.
But the thrill is in playing.
The online game is a full contact sport. It's like nothing previous. You've got to be great, you've got to persevere, and if you gain traction you can reach more people than traditional media outlets. Hell, I reach more people than some TELEVISION STATIONS!
And I'm not saying this to boast, I'm just telling you that if you're inured to old rules you're doomed to failure. The old metrics no longer apply.
Create.
Display online. Good and bad, warts and all.
Build an audience.
Have fun.
Don't worry about money.
And if you hang in there for years, and are truly exceptional, you will be a star.
And the kind of star you'll be might look different from the radio and video stars of yore, but chances are you'll be bigger than the radio and video stars of today!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Not a day goes by that I don't get that e-mail. Well, at least multiple times a week. People think that will give me the imprimatur of success, will cement my credibility!
But the bottom line is I already reach more people than just about every author alive and if I took time out to write something new, I wouldn't be able to do this.
You see I love the connection. Even more I love the writing. This is what I do. I'm not gonna change it for some old wave wankers who've got no idea what's going on.
You want to talk about a challenged business... If you think music is bad, you've got to look at books. The quantities they sell are paltry. They don't know who their readers are. If you think musicians are loath to social network, you don't know any authors. They want to hang at home, preferably writing in longhand or on a Smith-Corona, thinking there is fulfillment and joy in doing it the old way. But not a one of them doesn't complain that he doesn't have more readers. That's the nature of art, you want more people to be exposed to it.
And now you can do this, but the old pros refuse to. Don Henley refuses to participate online, won't tweet, won't comment, yet he's one of the most erudite and opinionated musicians alive. Huh? What's the problem Don? You afraid of the haters?
Oh, they're legion. They come out of obscurity to eviscerate you and then go back into their holes, wearing the cloak of anonymity all the while. But if you're not bobbing in the cesspool online you're not even playing. It's like refusing to be on AM radio in the sixties. Huh? That's where all the people are!
Some days I write great stuff, and sometimes my work is mediocre. By my standards anyway. I'm never bad. You know why? I've done it too much. That's your 10,000 hours right there. But although my audience likes good, they don't really erupt until I create great. Which no one can do on a regular basis. So I keep pushing the rock uphill, waiting for inspiration, waiting to create incredible so my computer starts ringing like a pinball machine and I've got a euphoria...that lasts until the end of the day if I'm lucky. Then it's back to the salt mines to create something new.
And that's my philosophy. I don't believe in selling, I believe in creating. I'm better off staying home and writing than doing any publicity. Because publicity is so bad at hitting the target. Most people reading or listening or watching just don't care. But if I win online, my minions will forward what I have to say to like-minded people. I win through my art. Or lose, that's the nature of the game.
I revere Tom Wolfe. But he took a decade to write a novel that was poorly reviewed and it sank like a stone. He could have serialized it online and worked out the kinks while he was building an audience and had a huge hit. That's how he did it with "Bonfire Of The Vanities," it originally appeared in serialized form in "Rolling Stone." But NO, as John Belushi once bellowed, he had to do it the old school way, he had to employ a traditional publisher and get that big fat check. I hope that money keeps him warm at night, while he's absent from the public discussion.
That's what creators want... To be part of the public discussion.
And let me tell you, you don't always win.
But the thrill is in playing.
The online game is a full contact sport. It's like nothing previous. You've got to be great, you've got to persevere, and if you gain traction you can reach more people than traditional media outlets. Hell, I reach more people than some TELEVISION STATIONS!
And I'm not saying this to boast, I'm just telling you that if you're inured to old rules you're doomed to failure. The old metrics no longer apply.
Create.
Display online. Good and bad, warts and all.
Build an audience.
Have fun.
Don't worry about money.
And if you hang in there for years, and are truly exceptional, you will be a star.
And the kind of star you'll be might look different from the radio and video stars of yore, but chances are you'll be bigger than the radio and video stars of today!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
The Album
1. Is a revenue producing item for the label, it's how they get their money back.
2. Is a trigger for publicity.
3. Is too long. On vinyl, you were loath to put more than forty minutes of music on a side. The most classic of double albums, and the cliche is there's not one that could not be a single, fit on one CD no problem.
4. On vinyl there were four key tracks. Openers and closers on both sides. The CD is incomprehensible. You don't know what songs you should check out, so overwhelmed, you ignore everything but the hit.
5. Had its breakthrough with "Sgt. Pepper." If you've got a rock opera or something to say over ten or twelve tracks, be my guest, create an album. But I can't even remember the last cohesive album statement that was any good. This is a straw man.
6. Mainstream publicity is the weakest of them all. Because the mainstream constantly needs a new stream of info. And your product gets brought down by the crap they feature the following day or week. You want word of mouth publicity. And word of mouth publicity doesn't work on albums, but tracks. You want to go viral. This depends on a cut, not an album. The days of hearing a song on the radio and buying the album so you could hear that and more are done. There's not a single in existence that you can't hear alone on YouTube.
7. CDs at gigs are souvenirs. People don't buy them to listen.
8. The fact that your hard core listens to your album is fine if you're satiated with only reaching your hard core. But if you find a musician who's satisfied with the size of his audience, he's not a musician.
9. Network news was killed by cable news which was killed by the Net. People want the latest on demand. And you're dropping an album every year or so? And the radio is eking out the music track by track, if you're lucky? In today's world you want to be in the public eye constantly. I'm not saying you should make less music, just that you shouldn't see it as an album.
10. With the cost of production and distribution so low, it's time to experiment, which is anathema to the dying majors. If you're a metal band with country roots, cut a country song, why not? The album release cycle was a prison, you've been unchained, why do you want to stay inside?
11. The audience has no time. There are too many stimuli. You're looking for the one track that can set off the explosion. And you never know what track that will be, which is why you must keep creating. Otherwise you can make an album that stiffs and your career can be over.
12. The audience is looking for great things. If you create something great, there's a plethora of people ready to spread the word. This is more powerful than any newspaper or radio station. But your track must be great, otherwise virality stops cold. You can buy a few YouTube views but you can't fake virality. The old days of paying radio to play your middling song into a hit are dead.
13. Labels don't want to abandon the album because it changes their revenue model. You've got to pay for the exec's car, his kids' private school, his vacation... He likes the old way, he's gonna fight for the old way.
14. The acts listened to albums so they want to cut albums. Not realizing the way you become a hero today is to do it the opposite or a new way from your heroes. You don't want to do what's already been done.
15. The album will not die overnight. But it's dying as we speak, look at track sales.
16. Sales are miniscule compared to listens. We're going to a listen world, i.e. streaming. It's not whether you sold it, but whether people listened to it!
17. You're the victim of too many bad albums before you.
18. There will always be a demand for superstar albums. But are you a superstar? Furthermore, there are fewer stars than ever before. People don't have time for more.
19. You want a career. Careers live in the minds of listeners, not gatekeepers. The listener wants nothing more than new music. You don't want to go on a date once a year with the love of your life, but constantly. And you don't want to go to the same places and do the same things.
20. Albums were originally collections of 78s. Don't let the format dictate the music. That begat Napster, when there were too many overpriced CDs with only one good track. You've been freed. Then again, it's a wilderness and you don't know where to go.
21. Think outside the box. Don't do it like everybody else does. Make a twenty minute single. Or a two minute one. Issue a challenge to yourself or your audience. This stimulates and creates heat. And what you want is heat.
22. Albums ruled in the classic rock era because of scarcity. You couldn't hear much and you couldn't afford much. You played every cut because it was all you had. It's kind of like dating. Once upon a time you were limited to the people you bumped into physically, now your universe is...the universe! You can even hook up with Russians online! Tell someone to date someone undesirable while they're hanging out at the Playboy Mansion. That's kind of like telling someone to listen to your crap when they can listen to the best music made, which is just as free online.
23. Artists need to be leaders, not followers. In this case, the audience wants singles and it's the artists who are locked in the past. Artists need to get in front of the audience, they need to lead, to titillate and entrance!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
2. Is a trigger for publicity.
3. Is too long. On vinyl, you were loath to put more than forty minutes of music on a side. The most classic of double albums, and the cliche is there's not one that could not be a single, fit on one CD no problem.
4. On vinyl there were four key tracks. Openers and closers on both sides. The CD is incomprehensible. You don't know what songs you should check out, so overwhelmed, you ignore everything but the hit.
5. Had its breakthrough with "Sgt. Pepper." If you've got a rock opera or something to say over ten or twelve tracks, be my guest, create an album. But I can't even remember the last cohesive album statement that was any good. This is a straw man.
6. Mainstream publicity is the weakest of them all. Because the mainstream constantly needs a new stream of info. And your product gets brought down by the crap they feature the following day or week. You want word of mouth publicity. And word of mouth publicity doesn't work on albums, but tracks. You want to go viral. This depends on a cut, not an album. The days of hearing a song on the radio and buying the album so you could hear that and more are done. There's not a single in existence that you can't hear alone on YouTube.
7. CDs at gigs are souvenirs. People don't buy them to listen.
8. The fact that your hard core listens to your album is fine if you're satiated with only reaching your hard core. But if you find a musician who's satisfied with the size of his audience, he's not a musician.
9. Network news was killed by cable news which was killed by the Net. People want the latest on demand. And you're dropping an album every year or so? And the radio is eking out the music track by track, if you're lucky? In today's world you want to be in the public eye constantly. I'm not saying you should make less music, just that you shouldn't see it as an album.
10. With the cost of production and distribution so low, it's time to experiment, which is anathema to the dying majors. If you're a metal band with country roots, cut a country song, why not? The album release cycle was a prison, you've been unchained, why do you want to stay inside?
11. The audience has no time. There are too many stimuli. You're looking for the one track that can set off the explosion. And you never know what track that will be, which is why you must keep creating. Otherwise you can make an album that stiffs and your career can be over.
12. The audience is looking for great things. If you create something great, there's a plethora of people ready to spread the word. This is more powerful than any newspaper or radio station. But your track must be great, otherwise virality stops cold. You can buy a few YouTube views but you can't fake virality. The old days of paying radio to play your middling song into a hit are dead.
13. Labels don't want to abandon the album because it changes their revenue model. You've got to pay for the exec's car, his kids' private school, his vacation... He likes the old way, he's gonna fight for the old way.
14. The acts listened to albums so they want to cut albums. Not realizing the way you become a hero today is to do it the opposite or a new way from your heroes. You don't want to do what's already been done.
15. The album will not die overnight. But it's dying as we speak, look at track sales.
16. Sales are miniscule compared to listens. We're going to a listen world, i.e. streaming. It's not whether you sold it, but whether people listened to it!
17. You're the victim of too many bad albums before you.
18. There will always be a demand for superstar albums. But are you a superstar? Furthermore, there are fewer stars than ever before. People don't have time for more.
19. You want a career. Careers live in the minds of listeners, not gatekeepers. The listener wants nothing more than new music. You don't want to go on a date once a year with the love of your life, but constantly. And you don't want to go to the same places and do the same things.
20. Albums were originally collections of 78s. Don't let the format dictate the music. That begat Napster, when there were too many overpriced CDs with only one good track. You've been freed. Then again, it's a wilderness and you don't know where to go.
21. Think outside the box. Don't do it like everybody else does. Make a twenty minute single. Or a two minute one. Issue a challenge to yourself or your audience. This stimulates and creates heat. And what you want is heat.
22. Albums ruled in the classic rock era because of scarcity. You couldn't hear much and you couldn't afford much. You played every cut because it was all you had. It's kind of like dating. Once upon a time you were limited to the people you bumped into physically, now your universe is...the universe! You can even hook up with Russians online! Tell someone to date someone undesirable while they're hanging out at the Playboy Mansion. That's kind of like telling someone to listen to your crap when they can listen to the best music made, which is just as free online.
23. Artists need to be leaders, not followers. In this case, the audience wants singles and it's the artists who are locked in the past. Artists need to get in front of the audience, they need to lead, to titillate and entrance!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Face Facts
NO ALBUMS
A circle jerk in a world where nobody has time for anything but the best. I hope you have fun making your long player, because you're the only one who cares!
ATTENTION SPANS
Are huge. Assuming people are interested. Just watch someone play "World of Warcraft." Then again, WOW is better than your music. People have all the time in the world for that which is truly incredible. We live in a world of hits and misses, there's nothing in between. If you're not the best at what you do, give up or enjoy your third class ride.
RADIO
Didn't break PSY and it didn't break Kendrick Lamar. Sure, we've still got CDs, some people still use Windows XP, but XP's not the future and neither is radio. We live in an on demand world. If you can't pull it immediately, no one's gonna sit around waiting for it.
IMMEDIACY
You can cut a track in an hour and have it up online almost instantly. But acts take a year to make an album and wait for the right time to release it and be the beneficiary of one shot of publicity. Music is not like a movie. Music, when done right, plays forever. It builds over time, it doesn't spike so much as rise and plateau. Release it when it's ready. There's little money in recordings anyway. Why are you playing the old game?
DADDY'S MONEY
Take it and you give up control. And in art, control is everything.
STREAMING
22% of Beggars' Group's revenues come from streams, and most of its acts make more money from streaming than track sales. But you refuse to be on Spotify. Then again, you're probably not as good as Adele, Jack White and... Then again, your label probably doesn't give you 50% of streaming revenues, like Beggars does.
Streaming already won. YouTube is America's radio station.
Read this article: http://bit.ly/XrQ8jD
TIME
Even though you can reach everybody in an instant, it takes longer to make it. And even the biggest stars in the world don't have the penetration of yore. I bet at least a third of you reading this have never heard "Umbrella," or any Rihanna song. But you won't read that statistic in the newspaper, which believes it's still the arbiter of truth and that everybody is reading it.
TOMORROW
Fleetwood Mac had it right, if you stop thinking about tomorrow I hope you're happy with today, and knowing this is the best it's ever gonna get. What's the end game for the L.A. "Times"? It balanced the books, reducing its staff and news hole, and now you can get the local info in the "New York Times," and everything else everywhere else. Tribune may have emerged from bankruptcy, but the company ain't going up.
CABLE
With a bill that high it can't survive. You're not gonna pay your wireless bill and your cable bill. And you can see the shows you want online. Cable is the music business in 2000, it just doesn't know it yet.
SPAM
No one is going to listen to your music because you sent them an e-mail, tweet or Facebook link. Hope this effort makes you feel good, because it's worthless.
MUSIC
Is the most powerful medium in the world, but the people making it treat it like a second class citizen. They let executives tell them how to change it and die to tie in with companies with different agendas. Want to be a big, powerful success? Make something unique, individual, with something to say, and don't sell out. What was PSY selling again? HIMSELF!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
A circle jerk in a world where nobody has time for anything but the best. I hope you have fun making your long player, because you're the only one who cares!
ATTENTION SPANS
Are huge. Assuming people are interested. Just watch someone play "World of Warcraft." Then again, WOW is better than your music. People have all the time in the world for that which is truly incredible. We live in a world of hits and misses, there's nothing in between. If you're not the best at what you do, give up or enjoy your third class ride.
RADIO
Didn't break PSY and it didn't break Kendrick Lamar. Sure, we've still got CDs, some people still use Windows XP, but XP's not the future and neither is radio. We live in an on demand world. If you can't pull it immediately, no one's gonna sit around waiting for it.
IMMEDIACY
You can cut a track in an hour and have it up online almost instantly. But acts take a year to make an album and wait for the right time to release it and be the beneficiary of one shot of publicity. Music is not like a movie. Music, when done right, plays forever. It builds over time, it doesn't spike so much as rise and plateau. Release it when it's ready. There's little money in recordings anyway. Why are you playing the old game?
DADDY'S MONEY
Take it and you give up control. And in art, control is everything.
STREAMING
22% of Beggars' Group's revenues come from streams, and most of its acts make more money from streaming than track sales. But you refuse to be on Spotify. Then again, you're probably not as good as Adele, Jack White and... Then again, your label probably doesn't give you 50% of streaming revenues, like Beggars does.
Streaming already won. YouTube is America's radio station.
Read this article: http://bit.ly/XrQ8jD
TIME
Even though you can reach everybody in an instant, it takes longer to make it. And even the biggest stars in the world don't have the penetration of yore. I bet at least a third of you reading this have never heard "Umbrella," or any Rihanna song. But you won't read that statistic in the newspaper, which believes it's still the arbiter of truth and that everybody is reading it.
TOMORROW
Fleetwood Mac had it right, if you stop thinking about tomorrow I hope you're happy with today, and knowing this is the best it's ever gonna get. What's the end game for the L.A. "Times"? It balanced the books, reducing its staff and news hole, and now you can get the local info in the "New York Times," and everything else everywhere else. Tribune may have emerged from bankruptcy, but the company ain't going up.
CABLE
With a bill that high it can't survive. You're not gonna pay your wireless bill and your cable bill. And you can see the shows you want online. Cable is the music business in 2000, it just doesn't know it yet.
SPAM
No one is going to listen to your music because you sent them an e-mail, tweet or Facebook link. Hope this effort makes you feel good, because it's worthless.
MUSIC
Is the most powerful medium in the world, but the people making it treat it like a second class citizen. They let executives tell them how to change it and die to tie in with companies with different agendas. Want to be a big, powerful success? Make something unique, individual, with something to say, and don't sell out. What was PSY selling again? HIMSELF!
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Sunday, 6 January 2013
Philip Blaine's EDM Playlist
STYLO
Howard Stern must have been in reruns, because I was pushing the buttons on the satellite and I heard this track on the Spectrum. I was entranced and transported, lifted from the cabin of my car into the stratosphere, I immediately came home and dialed up this Gorillaz track.
I didn't think I liked Gorillaz or Mos Def, but suddenly I was a huge fan. That's the power of the filter. With so much music out there, especially with tons of detritus, it's easy to let it all bounce off you and ignore it. Then someone knowledgeable points the way and you smile and say I LOVE THIS!
We were in Aspen and Philip Blaine gave a ten minute history of electronic music. He whipped through genres and years and was so excited about what he was talking about I immediately wanted to hear every track. So I told him to create a playlist, the history of EDM, so you (and me!) could be clued in.
Here it is.
P.S. I've attached a Spotify playlist. Unfortunately every cut is not available, most glaring is the absence of Moby's breakthrough "Play," and I'm not sure each track is the definitive one, but it's a start.
P.P.S. "Stylo" has a troubled history, Eddy Grant says it's a rip-off, and listening to his "Time Warp," you kind of agree (http://bit.ly/c33CLN). And I'm sure the EDM police will crack down upon me and say "Stylo" doesn't fit the genre, but listen anyway, have your horizons broadened, discover that what you always listen to is not the only thing you like.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
PHILIP BLAINE'S EDM PLAYLIST
Bob -
As requested here is the list. It's simply some highlights of artists during my personal journey through the history of Electronic Dance Music (EDM).
There are earlier artists, and artists that have done just as much to influence EDM at large, but here is a selection from the talk I presented briefly at the Aspen Live Conference. Again, this is just a sampling...
KRAFTWERK
Interestingly in the '70s during the time of disco - and although their pure electronic sound was a different dynamic - Kraftwerk's music was also played in some disco clubs and became a crossover option for DJs. Their sound is still relevant today, and they garner the utmost respect from other musicians and fans alike. Check out the songs "Trans-Europe Express" and "Tour de France."
NEW ORDER
Released Blue Monday in 1983, maintains as a timeless song before its time. New Order led to many influences (In some ways everyone in EDM) and they co-owned the club Hacienda (Manchester, UK) with Factory Records. As you will see on this list, many of the artists came from this club scene.
FRANKIE KNUCKLES
In the early 80's Knuckles played a club called the Warehouse in Chicago. I never went but heard the lore for years to come. This "House" music deemed him the godfather of House. Check out "Your Love" and "Whistle Song."
DERRICK MAY
Derrick's "Strings of Life" took me on a journey of my mind, career, and the dance floor. Although unleashed in 1987, it made strong influences for years to come. One has to mention names Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson and then Detroit Techno was born...
http://bit.ly/9o9zlY
KEVIN SAUNDERSON
His project Inner City released two hit singles: "Good Life" and "Big Fun," which dominated the dance floors for years after their release in 1988.
A GUY CALLED GERALD
Also from Manchester, England, in 1989 with his underground acid-house track "Voodoo Ray." Just listen to this song... It makes the list. Period. Acid House stormed the underground... And helped birth the first rave scene in the USA... Los Angeles. A place of great weather and deserts perfect for raving.
THE KLF
A punk rock mentality gone pop. Two UK industry veterans, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, came together and left a huge mark on the music scene from 87-92. They were also known for their publicity stunts. One was a press trip to an island off of Scotland where they had to wear hooded robes and partake in a ceremony where they burned a wicker man. Also, in later years they burned million British Pounds in public. Check out "What Time is Love," "3am Eternal" and "Last Train to Transcentral."
ORBITAL
In 1990, two brothers, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, came to my house with their manager Rob and blew my mind with Chime and the entire album. They are also noted as being the first EDM act to dominate a proper festival. The most proper of them all... The British institution of Glastonbury in 1994. Also listen to "Halcyon."
808 STATE
A part of other artists from the influential club Hacienda, 808 State truly hit America with "Cubik" in 1991. Which was added to radio stations like KROQ in many major markets. Their name refers to the 808 drum machine. Also check out "Pacific State" and "Ooops."
MASSIVE ATTACK
In 1991, "Unfinished Sympathy" introduced the world to the genre Trip Hop. Also from their hometown of Bristol were their associates Tricky and Portishead. Other early classic songs are "Safe From Harm," "Blue Lines" and "Protection."
2 BAD MICE
"Bombscare" released in 1992. When founding member Rob Playford came on the scene and then eventually started the record label Moving Shadow they became synonymous with a variety of sounds... Breakbeat of course, then sounds that led to Jungle and Drum 'n' Bass. These Moving Shadow sounds also influenced many current Dubstep artists. Also, listen to the wicked "Hold it Down."
JAM AND SPOON
Their ambient techno sound was not consistently popular when it hit the scene in 1992, although it stood apart from everything else. "Stella" helped defined this new genre.
PAUL OAKENFOLD
He popularized the art of DJing like no other. He opened for U2 in 1993 and started Perfecto Recordings. Mostly a DJ and a producer he didn't release a full studio album until 2002 when he had a big his with "Ready Steady Go."
MOBY
After the Chicago and Detroit pioneers, Moby (NYC) was one of the first US artists with his song "Go" in 1992 to get international acclaim. He is also the one of the first EDM artists to become so commercially loved and accepted that every track from his 1999 album "Play" was licensed for use in TV shows, commercials, and films. Every song is a gem, listen to the whole thing start to finish.
UNDERWORLD
When "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" was released in 1994, I was hit like I was when I first heard Nirvana. They played their first USA show at my Organic festival in 1996. Along with Danny Boyle, Underworld was a producer and did the soundtrack for the Olympics in 2012. Noted songs are: "Dirty Epic," "Born Slippy," and "King of Snake."
CHEMICAL BROTHERS
Yet another from Manchester! They were first known in 1993 as The Dust Brothers (not the US artist) and their remixes they did for prominent EDM artists of the time. In 1995, with the name change came the album "Exit Plant Dust." Their sampling of live drum sounds made them one of the first EDM artists with popularity in the indie rock circles. Check out "Leave Home," "Setting Sun," and "Block Rockin' Beats."
DJ SHADOW
1996 the album "Endtroducing" was made entirely of sampled sounds... This album defined the diversity of EDM. Its wide range of truly cultured chill out/trip hop type sounds are a delight! Must listen to whole album. Once you are a few minutes in you'll hear why.
GOLDIE
He became the first commercially prolific Drum n' Bass artist. He played breakbeats with a new technique, and is credited with inventing the production technique of "time stretching." His song that got me was "Inner City Life."
KRUDER AND DORFMEISTER
1998, The K & D Sessions - both original work and a compilation of other artists mixed in. An evening with this album is for EDM which for others might be Barry White or Miles Davis. Another case where one must listen to whole album but if to pick one song check out "Lexicon." They are most associated with the genre of Trip Hop.
FATBOY SLIM
Became so popular that he was asked to perform at Mick Jagger's birthday party. He turned down the gig. Noted for sampling many popular songs and many pseudonyms. He released the projects first album "Better Living through Chemistry" in 1996. Check out "The Rockafeller Skank," "Praise You" and the video for "Weapon of Choice."
ARMAND VAN HELDEN
The Godfather of Re-mixes, he popularized the mixing of known artists into dance tracks. His first smash hit, "Professional Widow," was a remix of a Tori Amos song, and became a club sensation, eclipsing sales of the original track. His work reinvented the way we experienced music, with his new sound called "speed garage." His mixes of songs including Sneaker Pimps' "Spin Spin Sugar" were highly influential from his start in 1996.
DAFT PUNK
Their first album "Homework" was in 1997. Unlike many of the other EDM artist who were single oriented, they were able to do their EDM-mastery via the traditional multi-song album format as a complete work of art. Each song was made into a music video, and was elaborately art-directed to create visually stunning works. Their distinct sound was highly sampled by many artists including Kanye West. To be noted: One of the members of Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter, had project called Stardust which released one song in 1998 called "Music Sound Better With You" and is legendry EDM anthem. Other songs to check out are: "Da Funk," "Around the World," and "One More Time."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAJWQCC7L0
CAFE DEL MAR
Unlike the rest of this list... Cafe del Mar was the influence of a notable sound... It defined "Chill-out Music," and was widely played in cafes, bars, and even spas world wide. Not an artist but a club... then as an album (from many collaborators). The club is on the island of Ibiza - it was EDM as travel and leisure. They are now on the 18th compilation album release.
This is a simple stab at history... Meat Beat Manifesto, Leftfield, The Orb, Groove Armada, The Prodigy and later of course Skrillex, Deadmau5 and literally hundreds of artists are not mentioned here. Holy shit, Roni Size and Adam F... EDM is vast and here to stay... What a long strange trip it's been...
Please join in...listen, hit the dance floor and sample this culture!
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/SdWNMQ
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Howard Stern must have been in reruns, because I was pushing the buttons on the satellite and I heard this track on the Spectrum. I was entranced and transported, lifted from the cabin of my car into the stratosphere, I immediately came home and dialed up this Gorillaz track.
I didn't think I liked Gorillaz or Mos Def, but suddenly I was a huge fan. That's the power of the filter. With so much music out there, especially with tons of detritus, it's easy to let it all bounce off you and ignore it. Then someone knowledgeable points the way and you smile and say I LOVE THIS!
We were in Aspen and Philip Blaine gave a ten minute history of electronic music. He whipped through genres and years and was so excited about what he was talking about I immediately wanted to hear every track. So I told him to create a playlist, the history of EDM, so you (and me!) could be clued in.
Here it is.
P.S. I've attached a Spotify playlist. Unfortunately every cut is not available, most glaring is the absence of Moby's breakthrough "Play," and I'm not sure each track is the definitive one, but it's a start.
P.P.S. "Stylo" has a troubled history, Eddy Grant says it's a rip-off, and listening to his "Time Warp," you kind of agree (http://bit.ly/c33CLN). And I'm sure the EDM police will crack down upon me and say "Stylo" doesn't fit the genre, but listen anyway, have your horizons broadened, discover that what you always listen to is not the only thing you like.
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
PHILIP BLAINE'S EDM PLAYLIST
Bob -
As requested here is the list. It's simply some highlights of artists during my personal journey through the history of Electronic Dance Music (EDM).
There are earlier artists, and artists that have done just as much to influence EDM at large, but here is a selection from the talk I presented briefly at the Aspen Live Conference. Again, this is just a sampling...
KRAFTWERK
Interestingly in the '70s during the time of disco - and although their pure electronic sound was a different dynamic - Kraftwerk's music was also played in some disco clubs and became a crossover option for DJs. Their sound is still relevant today, and they garner the utmost respect from other musicians and fans alike. Check out the songs "Trans-Europe Express" and "Tour de France."
NEW ORDER
Released Blue Monday in 1983, maintains as a timeless song before its time. New Order led to many influences (In some ways everyone in EDM) and they co-owned the club Hacienda (Manchester, UK) with Factory Records. As you will see on this list, many of the artists came from this club scene.
FRANKIE KNUCKLES
In the early 80's Knuckles played a club called the Warehouse in Chicago. I never went but heard the lore for years to come. This "House" music deemed him the godfather of House. Check out "Your Love" and "Whistle Song."
DERRICK MAY
Derrick's "Strings of Life" took me on a journey of my mind, career, and the dance floor. Although unleashed in 1987, it made strong influences for years to come. One has to mention names Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson and then Detroit Techno was born...
http://bit.ly/9o9zlY
KEVIN SAUNDERSON
His project Inner City released two hit singles: "Good Life" and "Big Fun," which dominated the dance floors for years after their release in 1988.
A GUY CALLED GERALD
Also from Manchester, England, in 1989 with his underground acid-house track "Voodoo Ray." Just listen to this song... It makes the list. Period. Acid House stormed the underground... And helped birth the first rave scene in the USA... Los Angeles. A place of great weather and deserts perfect for raving.
THE KLF
A punk rock mentality gone pop. Two UK industry veterans, Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty, came together and left a huge mark on the music scene from 87-92. They were also known for their publicity stunts. One was a press trip to an island off of Scotland where they had to wear hooded robes and partake in a ceremony where they burned a wicker man. Also, in later years they burned million British Pounds in public. Check out "What Time is Love," "3am Eternal" and "Last Train to Transcentral."
ORBITAL
In 1990, two brothers, Phil and Paul Hartnoll, came to my house with their manager Rob and blew my mind with Chime and the entire album. They are also noted as being the first EDM act to dominate a proper festival. The most proper of them all... The British institution of Glastonbury in 1994. Also listen to "Halcyon."
808 STATE
A part of other artists from the influential club Hacienda, 808 State truly hit America with "Cubik" in 1991. Which was added to radio stations like KROQ in many major markets. Their name refers to the 808 drum machine. Also check out "Pacific State" and "Ooops."
MASSIVE ATTACK
In 1991, "Unfinished Sympathy" introduced the world to the genre Trip Hop. Also from their hometown of Bristol were their associates Tricky and Portishead. Other early classic songs are "Safe From Harm," "Blue Lines" and "Protection."
2 BAD MICE
"Bombscare" released in 1992. When founding member Rob Playford came on the scene and then eventually started the record label Moving Shadow they became synonymous with a variety of sounds... Breakbeat of course, then sounds that led to Jungle and Drum 'n' Bass. These Moving Shadow sounds also influenced many current Dubstep artists. Also, listen to the wicked "Hold it Down."
JAM AND SPOON
Their ambient techno sound was not consistently popular when it hit the scene in 1992, although it stood apart from everything else. "Stella" helped defined this new genre.
PAUL OAKENFOLD
He popularized the art of DJing like no other. He opened for U2 in 1993 and started Perfecto Recordings. Mostly a DJ and a producer he didn't release a full studio album until 2002 when he had a big his with "Ready Steady Go."
MOBY
After the Chicago and Detroit pioneers, Moby (NYC) was one of the first US artists with his song "Go" in 1992 to get international acclaim. He is also the one of the first EDM artists to become so commercially loved and accepted that every track from his 1999 album "Play" was licensed for use in TV shows, commercials, and films. Every song is a gem, listen to the whole thing start to finish.
UNDERWORLD
When "Dubnobasswithmyheadman" was released in 1994, I was hit like I was when I first heard Nirvana. They played their first USA show at my Organic festival in 1996. Along with Danny Boyle, Underworld was a producer and did the soundtrack for the Olympics in 2012. Noted songs are: "Dirty Epic," "Born Slippy," and "King of Snake."
CHEMICAL BROTHERS
Yet another from Manchester! They were first known in 1993 as The Dust Brothers (not the US artist) and their remixes they did for prominent EDM artists of the time. In 1995, with the name change came the album "Exit Plant Dust." Their sampling of live drum sounds made them one of the first EDM artists with popularity in the indie rock circles. Check out "Leave Home," "Setting Sun," and "Block Rockin' Beats."
DJ SHADOW
1996 the album "Endtroducing" was made entirely of sampled sounds... This album defined the diversity of EDM. Its wide range of truly cultured chill out/trip hop type sounds are a delight! Must listen to whole album. Once you are a few minutes in you'll hear why.
GOLDIE
He became the first commercially prolific Drum n' Bass artist. He played breakbeats with a new technique, and is credited with inventing the production technique of "time stretching." His song that got me was "Inner City Life."
KRUDER AND DORFMEISTER
1998, The K & D Sessions - both original work and a compilation of other artists mixed in. An evening with this album is for EDM which for others might be Barry White or Miles Davis. Another case where one must listen to whole album but if to pick one song check out "Lexicon." They are most associated with the genre of Trip Hop.
FATBOY SLIM
Became so popular that he was asked to perform at Mick Jagger's birthday party. He turned down the gig. Noted for sampling many popular songs and many pseudonyms. He released the projects first album "Better Living through Chemistry" in 1996. Check out "The Rockafeller Skank," "Praise You" and the video for "Weapon of Choice."
ARMAND VAN HELDEN
The Godfather of Re-mixes, he popularized the mixing of known artists into dance tracks. His first smash hit, "Professional Widow," was a remix of a Tori Amos song, and became a club sensation, eclipsing sales of the original track. His work reinvented the way we experienced music, with his new sound called "speed garage." His mixes of songs including Sneaker Pimps' "Spin Spin Sugar" were highly influential from his start in 1996.
DAFT PUNK
Their first album "Homework" was in 1997. Unlike many of the other EDM artist who were single oriented, they were able to do their EDM-mastery via the traditional multi-song album format as a complete work of art. Each song was made into a music video, and was elaborately art-directed to create visually stunning works. Their distinct sound was highly sampled by many artists including Kanye West. To be noted: One of the members of Daft Punk, Thomas Bangalter, had project called Stardust which released one song in 1998 called "Music Sound Better With You" and is legendry EDM anthem. Other songs to check out are: "Da Funk," "Around the World," and "One More Time."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAJWQCC7L0
CAFE DEL MAR
Unlike the rest of this list... Cafe del Mar was the influence of a notable sound... It defined "Chill-out Music," and was widely played in cafes, bars, and even spas world wide. Not an artist but a club... then as an album (from many collaborators). The club is on the island of Ibiza - it was EDM as travel and leisure. They are now on the 18th compilation album release.
This is a simple stab at history... Meat Beat Manifesto, Leftfield, The Orb, Groove Armada, The Prodigy and later of course Skrillex, Deadmau5 and literally hundreds of artists are not mentioned here. Holy shit, Roni Size and Adam F... EDM is vast and here to stay... What a long strange trip it's been...
Please join in...listen, hit the dance floor and sample this culture!
Spotify playlist: http://spoti.fi/SdWNMQ
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
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
--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)