Tom Perrotta, "Nine Inches."
I just finished Malcolm Gladwell's "David and Goliath." I wish I could recommend it. But it's flawed. The concept is not coherent enough and you start wondering re the cherry-picking of examples, I mean David Boies made it because of his dyslexia? And the problem with successful people, like Gary Cohn, whose ascension from aluminum salesman to President of Goldman Sachs is chronicled in the book, is that...people never tell the truth about themselves, especially after they've made it, it's all about the myth, which is unfortunate, because the great unwashed believe the myth and try to emulate and achieve that which cannot be gotten, unaware the game was rigged from the get-go.
But that's "nonfiction."
Fiction's a whole 'nother animal. Ironically, when fiction is done right, it makes your hair stand on end with its accurate depiction of life, especially inner life.
That's what we're all interested in, that's what life is truly about, what's going on inside someone's head. People rarely reveal it, and when they do it comes out in fits and starts and is so often filtered, but life is about the brain not the body, and nowhere is this evidenced more than in Perrotta's book.
discovered him by accident. Removing his short story collection, 1994's "Bad Haircut," from the shelf of the Santa Monica Library where I used to spend so much time before the Internet hit big and I rarely left the house.
And "Bad Haircut" was a good attempt. But it wasn't fully-realized. Just another writer trying to find his niche and climb above the dead end of teaching creative writing in college.
Next came "The Wishbones." Which I didn't read until six years later but which you should read immediately. It's the story of a garage band, musicians who never became famous. Not a sanitized film take, but the real story of getting older and playing for your living and what your life is like, it's exceptional.
Then came "Election." Yes, the story of Reese Witherspoon's best movie was first a book, which I read after seeing the incredible flick that seems to have been forgotten but was truly great. In this instance, the film is a bit better, this happens so rarely, like in the case of Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys," yet the book is still satisfying after seeing the movie.
And after the even better "Joe College," Perrotta broke through, with "Little Children" and "The Abstinence Teacher." But the problem was that Perrotta was now taking himself too seriously, the books had a heaviness his earlier work did not. He stopped being ours and started becoming theirs, and nothing alienates a core audience more.
And speaking of aliens, Perrotta jumped the shark with a genre book thereafter, "The Leftovers," about a post-apocalyptic world. It failed. With everybody dashing for cash, writing about zombies and vampires, true readers became unsatisfied...is it about money or art?
And now comes the unexpected "Nine Inches." Perrotta returning to his original framework, the short story. He went back to basics, like John Lennon recording fifties songs, if he wrote new ones that sounded like the originals instead of doing covers.
But Perrotta is so much better now, he's got so much more under his belt, it's the aforementioned Gladwell's 10,000 hours in action. "Nine Inches" is a master at work.
But it's getting little traction. Because it's the genre fiction that's triumphing and everybody pooh-poohs short stories.
And short work can be unsatisfying...because it ENDS!
You don't want to read "Nine Inches" from start to finish in a day or two, which you could easily do. You want to savor each story. You truly have no other choice, because that's how much they stick with you.
Can you convince yourself your present significant other is number one, burying in your mind the one who got away?
The person who appears to have it all together...is that just a facade?
Do we all have hopes and dreams, and are too many of those shattered and unfulfilled?
I've already told you too much.
But I will say if you're not truly haunted reading the title story and "Grade My Teacher," you've got no heart, no soul, and you're no friend of mine.
http://amzn.to/GC6I9S
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Saturday, 5 October 2013
Dominance
We want to go where everybody else goes.
So I'm reading a story in today's "Los Angeles Times" about redesigning the Dodger Dog, the hot dog staple served since 1958 that has not changed a whit. Turns out the Texas Rangers have a two pound concoction and Atlanta has a hot dog with cole slaw and pulled pork, and I'm reading this article thinking the writer, Chris Erskine, has a good idea, one that could be implemented easily, but it will get no traction, because very few read the "Los Angeles Times" anymore.
The "Los Angeles Times" punted. Focusing on profitability as opposed to reach, it sacrificed its position as the voice of Los Angeles, its power is now minimal. Instead of cutting back, it should have been doubling down, like Amazon.
Bezos keeps inventing, keeps pushing, keeps reinvesting. His goal? To be the last man standing.
Pandora's problem is it's a one trick pony. Apple doesn't need iTunes to be profitable, it's just one element of its portfolio. Not that Pandora doesn't have reach today, but my point is despite all this hoopla about niche, turns out we're moving towards an era of dominance.
It's already happened in movies. The studios make fewer than ever. They've closed their indie divisions. All they want is blockbusters. Know why? That's all the public is interested in seeing! Despite all the boomers saying there's nothing to see, the truth is they don't go, they'd rather stay home. Which is one of the reasons we're in a new golden age of television.
But it's not only in movies, but music. We know who Miley Cyrus is, to the point that even Sinead O'Connor and Amanda Palmer are weighing in on her, but we don't know much more than the Top Ten, because that's all most people are interested in.
It's human nature. We want to feel part of society. We want to be able to go to a party and have a conversation, we want points of commonality, and the enterprises that figure this out will win in the future.
That's what troubles me about Apple's upscale mobile phone strategy. Once you start leaving people out, you're on the road to niche-ville, which can be very profitable today, but can be a disaster tomorrow. Mac sales were not going anywhere until the iPod gained traction. If Apple comes up with a new killer product, the company will continue to soar. Without it, it's a death spiral.
Take Google. It's the only search engine. There's no need to go anywhere else. Google understands dominance.
Apple used to too. That was the key to the success of the iPod. It was the ONLY music player.
In other words, the jump from the minor leagues is bigger than ever. If you're a profitable niche act, and you're happy, more power to you, but if you want to go mainstream, if you want everybody to be aware of you, that's a much bigger hurdle. In other words, while you sit at home railing against the state of pop music, saying this and that band is better, it proves you don't understand the game. Sure, some people want to go to the small show, but most want to go to the big one, with the major act, which is one of the reasons the club business has died.
If you don't strive for dominance and maintain your position, you're doomed. Credit Facebook, it's the dominant social network. It keeps reinvesting. It doesn't want to be left behind. It purchases Instagram. It keeps integrating elements invented elsewhere. It strives to be the only place we want to go, because our friends are there!
And just like the iPod, maybe Facebook is not forever, or ultimately its features are subsumed by another entity.
But my point is we're in an era where we're gravitating to the bigger and bigger, those playing for all the marbles.
And the public wants this. Because it makes the world coherent, it makes people feel connected. It makes them happy.
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So I'm reading a story in today's "Los Angeles Times" about redesigning the Dodger Dog, the hot dog staple served since 1958 that has not changed a whit. Turns out the Texas Rangers have a two pound concoction and Atlanta has a hot dog with cole slaw and pulled pork, and I'm reading this article thinking the writer, Chris Erskine, has a good idea, one that could be implemented easily, but it will get no traction, because very few read the "Los Angeles Times" anymore.
The "Los Angeles Times" punted. Focusing on profitability as opposed to reach, it sacrificed its position as the voice of Los Angeles, its power is now minimal. Instead of cutting back, it should have been doubling down, like Amazon.
Bezos keeps inventing, keeps pushing, keeps reinvesting. His goal? To be the last man standing.
Pandora's problem is it's a one trick pony. Apple doesn't need iTunes to be profitable, it's just one element of its portfolio. Not that Pandora doesn't have reach today, but my point is despite all this hoopla about niche, turns out we're moving towards an era of dominance.
It's already happened in movies. The studios make fewer than ever. They've closed their indie divisions. All they want is blockbusters. Know why? That's all the public is interested in seeing! Despite all the boomers saying there's nothing to see, the truth is they don't go, they'd rather stay home. Which is one of the reasons we're in a new golden age of television.
But it's not only in movies, but music. We know who Miley Cyrus is, to the point that even Sinead O'Connor and Amanda Palmer are weighing in on her, but we don't know much more than the Top Ten, because that's all most people are interested in.
It's human nature. We want to feel part of society. We want to be able to go to a party and have a conversation, we want points of commonality, and the enterprises that figure this out will win in the future.
That's what troubles me about Apple's upscale mobile phone strategy. Once you start leaving people out, you're on the road to niche-ville, which can be very profitable today, but can be a disaster tomorrow. Mac sales were not going anywhere until the iPod gained traction. If Apple comes up with a new killer product, the company will continue to soar. Without it, it's a death spiral.
Take Google. It's the only search engine. There's no need to go anywhere else. Google understands dominance.
Apple used to too. That was the key to the success of the iPod. It was the ONLY music player.
In other words, the jump from the minor leagues is bigger than ever. If you're a profitable niche act, and you're happy, more power to you, but if you want to go mainstream, if you want everybody to be aware of you, that's a much bigger hurdle. In other words, while you sit at home railing against the state of pop music, saying this and that band is better, it proves you don't understand the game. Sure, some people want to go to the small show, but most want to go to the big one, with the major act, which is one of the reasons the club business has died.
If you don't strive for dominance and maintain your position, you're doomed. Credit Facebook, it's the dominant social network. It keeps reinvesting. It doesn't want to be left behind. It purchases Instagram. It keeps integrating elements invented elsewhere. It strives to be the only place we want to go, because our friends are there!
And just like the iPod, maybe Facebook is not forever, or ultimately its features are subsumed by another entity.
But my point is we're in an era where we're gravitating to the bigger and bigger, those playing for all the marbles.
And the public wants this. Because it makes the world coherent, it makes people feel connected. It makes them happy.
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Friday, 4 October 2013
Rhinofy-Marshall Tucker's Debut
I know, I know, they reinvented themselves as a country act, but it all began with the incredible first two tracks on the band's debut.
They were on Capricorn, need we know more?
Yes, back when the Allman Brothers were the most credible band in the land, the thinking man's Grateful Dead, before they broke through to the mainstream in the fall of '73 with "Ramblin' Man," if it was on Phil Walden's label, we paid attention. We didn't need to hear a song on the radio, the label was enough.
And if you dropped the needle on Marshall Tucker's debut, you were wowed.
Today, bands sequence albums so they flow, so they build up to the best and there's a denouement thereafter, even though only the most diehard fans even play the whole thing, but back when vinyl records were not even forty minutes long acts knew they had to hit us with their best shot, right up front.
There was an explosion of guitars, even a flute, and the band settled into the groove of "Take The Highway." All of which was a set-up for the languid follow-up, the killer track, Marshall Tucker's piece-de-resistance, the six minute long "Can't You See."
A flute? A six minute track?
Yes, this was back in the seventies, when if you weren't testing limits, you got no attention, when there was Top Forty radio, but it was an afterthought, a place where those truly clueless discovered six months or a year later what everybody clued-in, going to shows multiple times a month, already knew.
Oftentimes acts can be made by one extended cut, ergo Lynyrd Skynyrd with "Free Bird," it doesn't have to be a single, it only has to be great, and "Can't You See" is fantastic.
It starts out quiet. And then there's that damn flute once again. It's like the act has taken you out to a meadow, where there are no distractions, so they can expose you, make you focus on greatness.
And the greatness truly begins when the guitar starts to play thirty seconds into the song. Somehow, people have come to believe it's about how fast you can play, when it's really about tone, and soul.
And then Toy Caldwell, the key songwriter, the band's genius, starts to sing.
"Gonna take a freight train
Down at the station, lord
I don't care where it goes"
Ain't that the seventies, when there wasn't a red-blooded American who didn't fantasize about sticking out his thumb and seeing this great country of ours. Maybe it was "Easy Rider," maybe it was the excitement of the west coast, but we all wanted to go out and see it.
Not that this is exactly what "Can't You See" is about. It's really about desperation, being left. Still, it's reflective, back when all the great music wasn't in-your-face, telling you how much better the singer is than the listener.
And then there's some chicken-pickin', and a subtle piano, it's like it's Sunday afternoon and no one has to show off, they're just in the groove, enjoying playing music.
And despite so much air in the track, there's so much going on, very subtly, between the piano, the guitar and the vocal, your head is swirling like the crazy cups at Disneyland.
And then comes the solo, where the guitar notes are being squeezed out, like he truly means it.
And then the whole number breaks down and then reconstitutes, walks off the stage, it's like the band's going on down the road and you can't help but follow them.
"Gonna take a freight train
Down at the station, lord
And I'm never comin' back"
That's what music does best, take us away. And there's no specific element of "Can't You See" that puts it over the top, it's the way it all hangs together, the way the band is locked into the groove, the way it makes us feel that makes it so great.
And even though "Take The Highway" is the opener, you get into "Can't You See" first, and then discover how great "Take The Highway" is, with its couplet:
"And the time has finally come
For me to pack my bags and walk away"
That's how it truly was, before cell phones and Facebook, when you were gone it was like the other person didn't even exist. You had to go back to your hometown, where you might or might not run into them or hear some gossip. You could hit the road and reinvent yourself.
We were all reinventing ourselves in the seventies. And our guide was the music.
"Take The Highway" breaks down in the middle like a jazz number, and then comes back together, batting you over the head with its excellence. And the rest of the debut is not this great, better than serviceable, but we were all eager to hear what came next. Which after two more albums in a similar mold, but not as good and not as successful, turned out to be more country, with eventual radio hits like "Fire On The Mountain" and "Heard It In A Love Song," but really it was all about the debut.
Then Tommy Caldwell died. Then the heart of the group, Toy Caldwell, but there's still a band on the road milking the story, because the attendees cannot forget, the joy of "Take The Highway," with its improvisation and dynamics and "Can't You See," which captured the cultural zeitgeist and delivered a unique, satisfying listening experience all at the same time.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
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They were on Capricorn, need we know more?
Yes, back when the Allman Brothers were the most credible band in the land, the thinking man's Grateful Dead, before they broke through to the mainstream in the fall of '73 with "Ramblin' Man," if it was on Phil Walden's label, we paid attention. We didn't need to hear a song on the radio, the label was enough.
And if you dropped the needle on Marshall Tucker's debut, you were wowed.
Today, bands sequence albums so they flow, so they build up to the best and there's a denouement thereafter, even though only the most diehard fans even play the whole thing, but back when vinyl records were not even forty minutes long acts knew they had to hit us with their best shot, right up front.
There was an explosion of guitars, even a flute, and the band settled into the groove of "Take The Highway." All of which was a set-up for the languid follow-up, the killer track, Marshall Tucker's piece-de-resistance, the six minute long "Can't You See."
A flute? A six minute track?
Yes, this was back in the seventies, when if you weren't testing limits, you got no attention, when there was Top Forty radio, but it was an afterthought, a place where those truly clueless discovered six months or a year later what everybody clued-in, going to shows multiple times a month, already knew.
Oftentimes acts can be made by one extended cut, ergo Lynyrd Skynyrd with "Free Bird," it doesn't have to be a single, it only has to be great, and "Can't You See" is fantastic.
It starts out quiet. And then there's that damn flute once again. It's like the act has taken you out to a meadow, where there are no distractions, so they can expose you, make you focus on greatness.
And the greatness truly begins when the guitar starts to play thirty seconds into the song. Somehow, people have come to believe it's about how fast you can play, when it's really about tone, and soul.
And then Toy Caldwell, the key songwriter, the band's genius, starts to sing.
"Gonna take a freight train
Down at the station, lord
I don't care where it goes"
Ain't that the seventies, when there wasn't a red-blooded American who didn't fantasize about sticking out his thumb and seeing this great country of ours. Maybe it was "Easy Rider," maybe it was the excitement of the west coast, but we all wanted to go out and see it.
Not that this is exactly what "Can't You See" is about. It's really about desperation, being left. Still, it's reflective, back when all the great music wasn't in-your-face, telling you how much better the singer is than the listener.
And then there's some chicken-pickin', and a subtle piano, it's like it's Sunday afternoon and no one has to show off, they're just in the groove, enjoying playing music.
And despite so much air in the track, there's so much going on, very subtly, between the piano, the guitar and the vocal, your head is swirling like the crazy cups at Disneyland.
And then comes the solo, where the guitar notes are being squeezed out, like he truly means it.
And then the whole number breaks down and then reconstitutes, walks off the stage, it's like the band's going on down the road and you can't help but follow them.
"Gonna take a freight train
Down at the station, lord
And I'm never comin' back"
That's what music does best, take us away. And there's no specific element of "Can't You See" that puts it over the top, it's the way it all hangs together, the way the band is locked into the groove, the way it makes us feel that makes it so great.
And even though "Take The Highway" is the opener, you get into "Can't You See" first, and then discover how great "Take The Highway" is, with its couplet:
"And the time has finally come
For me to pack my bags and walk away"
That's how it truly was, before cell phones and Facebook, when you were gone it was like the other person didn't even exist. You had to go back to your hometown, where you might or might not run into them or hear some gossip. You could hit the road and reinvent yourself.
We were all reinventing ourselves in the seventies. And our guide was the music.
"Take The Highway" breaks down in the middle like a jazz number, and then comes back together, batting you over the head with its excellence. And the rest of the debut is not this great, better than serviceable, but we were all eager to hear what came next. Which after two more albums in a similar mold, but not as good and not as successful, turned out to be more country, with eventual radio hits like "Fire On The Mountain" and "Heard It In A Love Song," but really it was all about the debut.
Then Tommy Caldwell died. Then the heart of the group, Toy Caldwell, but there's still a band on the road milking the story, because the attendees cannot forget, the joy of "Take The Highway," with its improvisation and dynamics and "Can't You See," which captured the cultural zeitgeist and delivered a unique, satisfying listening experience all at the same time.
Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/p6HcZ8
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Thursday, 3 October 2013
Observations
1. We just want someone to listen to us.
My mother broke her hip, she's in rehab, she wants to get out, but imprisoned she needs someone to listen to her story, I'm providing that service.
That's what we all want. Someone we don't have to be our best self with. Someone we can reveal our inadequacies and frustrations to. Someone who will patiently listen and won't give us unwanted advice. We usually don't want any advice, we just want to be heard. A great listener possesses the key to friendship. Someone who listens will have more friends than any world-beater. People are complicated and flawed. Don't berate them for opening up, embrace them.
2. Don't do all the talking.
That doesn't mean in one or another conversation you can't dominate, but if you can't ask how the other person is doing, if you can't interact in a way that evidences you're listening, you may think you're winning but you're not. Life is about giving. If you're always taking, it's going to get very lonely.
3. Business books are b.s.
Because even if the advice is good, it's not particularized to you. I'm not saying you can't gain insight, but the people you're reading about don't resemble you, and too often the writers are doing it to make money and burnish their careers as opposed to genuinely trying to help you. Sure, it's great to identify with what a writer says, but don't overinvest, you've got to find your own path.
4. You can't tell people what to do.
They've got to find out for themselves. When you're listening to them it's about being heard, as stated above, it's not about you dropping pearls of wisdom that they can follow. Furthermore, if you do manage to help them out once, they're still gonna be flummoxed soon. Life is about experience. It's a long ride we've all got to take. You've got to find your own way. It's great if you can find a mentor, but I've never encountered one. But the main point is people don't really want advice, no matter how much they say they do. Tell them the truth and you'll be in trouble, they'll start explaining why you're wrong. It's human nature.
5. Don't evidence weakness.
I know this sounds contradictory, but my main point is don't always be the person who got the raw deal, who the world is against. Life is tough for everybody. Sure, complain. But be joyful sometimes too. Otherwise, everybody's gonna run from you.
6. Life is not always up. If you haven't experienced downs, you haven't taken any risk or you're so rich you've never engaged. Life is about losses, even more than victories. Lick your wounds, but then lift yourself back up, however slowly, get back in the game, learn from what happened, but do your best not to be burdened by it.
7. Everybody's got an interior life. When they reveal it to you, you bond. Most people don't feel safe enough to tell you their truth. But when they do, its a magic moment for both of you, the teller feels exhilarated and alive, finally able to relax in his skin, and the listener starts to tingle, stunned that the teller trusts him that much.
8. It's not what you own, but who you are. But you don't realize this until you're close to sixty. The young kids have little wisdom and all the strength and synapses. The old people have all the wisdom, but failing bodies. So you've got young people doing stupid things, not realizing how long life truly is, and you've got old people driving around in the sports cars they can finally afford. It would be better if the young people had wisdom and Ferraris, that they could truly enjoy, when they're truly meaningful, and the oldsters could drive Priuses and Fusions yet have no aches and pains.
9. No one remembers history. They're doomed to repeat it. It's the way of the world, the same way people repeat the same relationship until they finally wake up and realize their choices are bad, what they think they want is actually no good for them.
10. Trustworthiness is more important than excitement.
11. We want people we can count on. Who will take us to the hospital. Who will go out of their way to help us just because they're our friend. We all know these special people, who live to serve, despite being neither rich nor famous, they're our society's secret savers. If you don't have one of these people in your life, someone not related to you, start looking, now. And once again, you get them by giving more than taking.
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My mother broke her hip, she's in rehab, she wants to get out, but imprisoned she needs someone to listen to her story, I'm providing that service.
That's what we all want. Someone we don't have to be our best self with. Someone we can reveal our inadequacies and frustrations to. Someone who will patiently listen and won't give us unwanted advice. We usually don't want any advice, we just want to be heard. A great listener possesses the key to friendship. Someone who listens will have more friends than any world-beater. People are complicated and flawed. Don't berate them for opening up, embrace them.
2. Don't do all the talking.
That doesn't mean in one or another conversation you can't dominate, but if you can't ask how the other person is doing, if you can't interact in a way that evidences you're listening, you may think you're winning but you're not. Life is about giving. If you're always taking, it's going to get very lonely.
3. Business books are b.s.
Because even if the advice is good, it's not particularized to you. I'm not saying you can't gain insight, but the people you're reading about don't resemble you, and too often the writers are doing it to make money and burnish their careers as opposed to genuinely trying to help you. Sure, it's great to identify with what a writer says, but don't overinvest, you've got to find your own path.
4. You can't tell people what to do.
They've got to find out for themselves. When you're listening to them it's about being heard, as stated above, it's not about you dropping pearls of wisdom that they can follow. Furthermore, if you do manage to help them out once, they're still gonna be flummoxed soon. Life is about experience. It's a long ride we've all got to take. You've got to find your own way. It's great if you can find a mentor, but I've never encountered one. But the main point is people don't really want advice, no matter how much they say they do. Tell them the truth and you'll be in trouble, they'll start explaining why you're wrong. It's human nature.
5. Don't evidence weakness.
I know this sounds contradictory, but my main point is don't always be the person who got the raw deal, who the world is against. Life is tough for everybody. Sure, complain. But be joyful sometimes too. Otherwise, everybody's gonna run from you.
6. Life is not always up. If you haven't experienced downs, you haven't taken any risk or you're so rich you've never engaged. Life is about losses, even more than victories. Lick your wounds, but then lift yourself back up, however slowly, get back in the game, learn from what happened, but do your best not to be burdened by it.
7. Everybody's got an interior life. When they reveal it to you, you bond. Most people don't feel safe enough to tell you their truth. But when they do, its a magic moment for both of you, the teller feels exhilarated and alive, finally able to relax in his skin, and the listener starts to tingle, stunned that the teller trusts him that much.
8. It's not what you own, but who you are. But you don't realize this until you're close to sixty. The young kids have little wisdom and all the strength and synapses. The old people have all the wisdom, but failing bodies. So you've got young people doing stupid things, not realizing how long life truly is, and you've got old people driving around in the sports cars they can finally afford. It would be better if the young people had wisdom and Ferraris, that they could truly enjoy, when they're truly meaningful, and the oldsters could drive Priuses and Fusions yet have no aches and pains.
9. No one remembers history. They're doomed to repeat it. It's the way of the world, the same way people repeat the same relationship until they finally wake up and realize their choices are bad, what they think they want is actually no good for them.
10. Trustworthiness is more important than excitement.
11. We want people we can count on. Who will take us to the hospital. Who will go out of their way to help us just because they're our friend. We all know these special people, who live to serve, despite being neither rich nor famous, they're our society's secret savers. If you don't have one of these people in your life, someone not related to you, start looking, now. And once again, you get them by giving more than taking.
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Desperation
Write a hit single.
After all that hype, stories in every mainstream publication known to man and an appearance on the Emmys, Elton John sold a paltry 48,000 albums this week. And you know it's less than 20,000 next week and then it's over.
What happened?
Elton failed to write a hit song. Too many elders believe if they just ramp up the publicity machine, people will buy. But that only worked when media was scarce, and today even babies are overloaded.
Contrast this with Cher, who did do "Today" and "Letterman," but was the beneficiary of a hit single, "Woman's World," which hit number one on the Dance Club/Play songs chart in August. Hell, I didn't even know she had an album coming out, and that's the way it should be, only the fans care.
And you don't reach the fans via carpet-bombing.
And McCartney just answered a bunch of questions on Twitter. You know you're done when you employ a paradigm every hipster used two years ago. What next, an AOL real time chat?
Don't swoop down and try to get our attention when you've got something to sell, be in our face every day if you want to play the viral marketing game. Miley Cyrus posted video of herself twerking on YouTube long before the VMAs. It got the fan base energized, she showed she was an artist, not an entertainer.
Huh?
Yup, today's artists are creating all day long. And not in the same way they used to. Madonna wasn't all about the music and neither is Miley. And if you want to make it about the music, make good stuff!
I love Elton. But despite the sound being exquisite, I couldn't find one decent track on the whole damn album, and I actually listened to it. Certainly no "Take Me To The Pilot" or "Sixty Years On." Would I love to write about Elton? Of course! But now I can only say something negative.
Hey Elton! Go where the people are! Go on Twitter and post pics of your kids, talk about your frustrations, tell us what you're listening to!
Or don't do anything like that and release undeniable music, that's how the Weeknd broke.
It's creepy, all these oldsters with their faces lifted and hair dyed, trying to appear young while the audience either ignores them or makes fun of them. Baseball players don't come out of retirement to hit home runs and pitch no-hitters, why should it be any different in music?
If only McCartney put out a track every month. And supported it with an online presence. Maybe, one of them would hit.
Or if he's truly that desperate, why not work with Dr. Luke. Or provide backups on a Cyrus record or drop into hits like the rapper du jour.
Anathema you say!
But if you don't think Elton and McCartney are dying to sell their new records, you don't know them.
And it's very tough. Because their audience is ancient and hard to motivate. But if you do it the same damn way, why expect a different result?
Elton broke because of the undeniable "Your Song." Half a listen was good enough. Write another one ninety percent as good, get Jeffrey Katzenberg to feature it in a new DreamWorks animated production and whore it out as a theme song for Burger King thereafter.
Stop with the albums no one cares about. There's not even any money in it anymore.
Play the YouTube awards. Sit in with your brethren.
Don't appear desperate, but HUNGRY!
Isn't that the main appeal of Miley Cyrus, how much she WANTS IT?
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After all that hype, stories in every mainstream publication known to man and an appearance on the Emmys, Elton John sold a paltry 48,000 albums this week. And you know it's less than 20,000 next week and then it's over.
What happened?
Elton failed to write a hit song. Too many elders believe if they just ramp up the publicity machine, people will buy. But that only worked when media was scarce, and today even babies are overloaded.
Contrast this with Cher, who did do "Today" and "Letterman," but was the beneficiary of a hit single, "Woman's World," which hit number one on the Dance Club/Play songs chart in August. Hell, I didn't even know she had an album coming out, and that's the way it should be, only the fans care.
And you don't reach the fans via carpet-bombing.
And McCartney just answered a bunch of questions on Twitter. You know you're done when you employ a paradigm every hipster used two years ago. What next, an AOL real time chat?
Don't swoop down and try to get our attention when you've got something to sell, be in our face every day if you want to play the viral marketing game. Miley Cyrus posted video of herself twerking on YouTube long before the VMAs. It got the fan base energized, she showed she was an artist, not an entertainer.
Huh?
Yup, today's artists are creating all day long. And not in the same way they used to. Madonna wasn't all about the music and neither is Miley. And if you want to make it about the music, make good stuff!
I love Elton. But despite the sound being exquisite, I couldn't find one decent track on the whole damn album, and I actually listened to it. Certainly no "Take Me To The Pilot" or "Sixty Years On." Would I love to write about Elton? Of course! But now I can only say something negative.
Hey Elton! Go where the people are! Go on Twitter and post pics of your kids, talk about your frustrations, tell us what you're listening to!
Or don't do anything like that and release undeniable music, that's how the Weeknd broke.
It's creepy, all these oldsters with their faces lifted and hair dyed, trying to appear young while the audience either ignores them or makes fun of them. Baseball players don't come out of retirement to hit home runs and pitch no-hitters, why should it be any different in music?
If only McCartney put out a track every month. And supported it with an online presence. Maybe, one of them would hit.
Or if he's truly that desperate, why not work with Dr. Luke. Or provide backups on a Cyrus record or drop into hits like the rapper du jour.
Anathema you say!
But if you don't think Elton and McCartney are dying to sell their new records, you don't know them.
And it's very tough. Because their audience is ancient and hard to motivate. But if you do it the same damn way, why expect a different result?
Elton broke because of the undeniable "Your Song." Half a listen was good enough. Write another one ninety percent as good, get Jeffrey Katzenberg to feature it in a new DreamWorks animated production and whore it out as a theme song for Burger King thereafter.
Stop with the albums no one cares about. There's not even any money in it anymore.
Play the YouTube awards. Sit in with your brethren.
Don't appear desperate, but HUNGRY!
Isn't that the main appeal of Miley Cyrus, how much she WANTS IT?
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The Michael Jackson Verdict
It's irrelevant, he's dead.
Oh, I could divine a lot of lessons from the conclusion, as to the liability of concert promoters and the greediness of heirs, but what we truly learned about the Michael Jackson trial is that which is not on television doesn't really matter.
It's the national sport. Forgetting how poor you are and watching the shenanigans of the screw-ups in court. Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware would have become cultural icons, with longevity exceeding that of Kim Kardashian and the already faded Paris Hilton, if only...this trial were on television.
In a world where the movies are fake, our best entertainment comes from reality. The studios believe by adding more explosions and special effects they're winning. But this is untrue, because it's story that counts, heroes and villains. A great story can be shot in black and white. But instead the studios focus on the penumbra, because that's all they know.
Come on, we don't really care about whether the Jacksons get the money or not, and we already know Conrad Murray is guilty, we were most interested in the dirty laundry, the behind-the-scenes machinations, but only being able to read about them, filtered through the words of bored-to-death reporters unwilling to give us anything but the facts, not knowing it's how you tell the story that's most important, we shrug our shoulders and move on.
I mean come on, the verdict is AEG is guilty but it's not? They hired the doctor but he's not competent? If this makes sense to you, you pray to the god of nonsense. Because Conrad Murray appears anything but competent, isn't that why he's in jail? And AEG doesn't hire doctors for every gig, they did it at Jackson's insistence, somebody he wanted...huh?
Proving once again, you never want to go to a jury. Because juries are nuts, completely unpredictable.
Obviously they didn't want to hold AEG monetarily liable. How they got there has us scratching our heads, but that's the essence of juries, they vote from their hearts, logic goes out the window.
So now we move on, to the next faux spectacle. Especially in a world where we can't handle the real thing, i.e. a bunch of lunatic Congressmen who believe after losing they can win, then again, they've got nothing to lose after redistricting, those areas are never going blue, they're safe in their convictions, irrelevant of what Democrats believe.
That's the world we live in. Run by corporations which control the government, the people are completely powerless. Living by their wits, they don't like to see anyone get ahead undeservingly. I mean after hearing for decades that Michael Jackson was deprived of his childhood, are we really gonna compensate the family? As for the kids, how much money do you need, they're already rolling in dough from the estate. And if money bought you love, Paris wouldn't have attempted suicide and been placed in a mental hospital.
Still, we're fascinated by the lives of others. It's the only true entertainment we've got. Evaluating others' choices, seeing how they behave when pressured. But in this case, we were deprived of all that, the only thing we truly care about.
So, so long Kevin Boyle. Without TV you never became as famous as Johnnie Cochran or Christopher Darden, most people still have no idea who you are.
And so long Marvin Putnam, tool of billionaire Philip Anschutz. Sure, you won, but we still don't love you, we hate those on the side of money, even when they're right. Our sense of fairness would not allow the Jacksons to get paid, but that doesn't mean we've got any sympathy for you.
So long Paul Gongaware! May your memory no longer fail you!
So long Randy Phillips! Your name may occasionally appear in the press again, but at best you're a footnote.
And so long Phil Anschutz, the only man with enough money to fight instead of settle. Of course you had insurance, but who can afford coverage like this other than someone like you? May you never get a football team and be subject to even more press, since anyone this rich and this private has something to hide.
And so long Michael Jackson.
This is the end. Your legacy will live on. Your records and your dancing. Your weirdness will fade into the background, just like that of your fellow deceased drug addict, Elvis Presley. If John Branca were smart, he'd turn Neverland into a west coast Graceland, that's where the real money is.
And so long to newspapers. Which did such a lousy job of telling this story that it had no traction. As for TV, it's all talking heads and no news. So, without actual footage to comment on, reports had no sass, no gravitas, no pull on the public, and fell flat.
And hello to a world that veers from one crisis to another, with very few lasting, but those that do being scripted as reality TV, where we all go for refuge from our dreary lives.
This crisis is done. Next!
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Oh, I could divine a lot of lessons from the conclusion, as to the liability of concert promoters and the greediness of heirs, but what we truly learned about the Michael Jackson trial is that which is not on television doesn't really matter.
It's the national sport. Forgetting how poor you are and watching the shenanigans of the screw-ups in court. Randy Phillips and Paul Gongaware would have become cultural icons, with longevity exceeding that of Kim Kardashian and the already faded Paris Hilton, if only...this trial were on television.
In a world where the movies are fake, our best entertainment comes from reality. The studios believe by adding more explosions and special effects they're winning. But this is untrue, because it's story that counts, heroes and villains. A great story can be shot in black and white. But instead the studios focus on the penumbra, because that's all they know.
Come on, we don't really care about whether the Jacksons get the money or not, and we already know Conrad Murray is guilty, we were most interested in the dirty laundry, the behind-the-scenes machinations, but only being able to read about them, filtered through the words of bored-to-death reporters unwilling to give us anything but the facts, not knowing it's how you tell the story that's most important, we shrug our shoulders and move on.
I mean come on, the verdict is AEG is guilty but it's not? They hired the doctor but he's not competent? If this makes sense to you, you pray to the god of nonsense. Because Conrad Murray appears anything but competent, isn't that why he's in jail? And AEG doesn't hire doctors for every gig, they did it at Jackson's insistence, somebody he wanted...huh?
Proving once again, you never want to go to a jury. Because juries are nuts, completely unpredictable.
Obviously they didn't want to hold AEG monetarily liable. How they got there has us scratching our heads, but that's the essence of juries, they vote from their hearts, logic goes out the window.
So now we move on, to the next faux spectacle. Especially in a world where we can't handle the real thing, i.e. a bunch of lunatic Congressmen who believe after losing they can win, then again, they've got nothing to lose after redistricting, those areas are never going blue, they're safe in their convictions, irrelevant of what Democrats believe.
That's the world we live in. Run by corporations which control the government, the people are completely powerless. Living by their wits, they don't like to see anyone get ahead undeservingly. I mean after hearing for decades that Michael Jackson was deprived of his childhood, are we really gonna compensate the family? As for the kids, how much money do you need, they're already rolling in dough from the estate. And if money bought you love, Paris wouldn't have attempted suicide and been placed in a mental hospital.
Still, we're fascinated by the lives of others. It's the only true entertainment we've got. Evaluating others' choices, seeing how they behave when pressured. But in this case, we were deprived of all that, the only thing we truly care about.
So, so long Kevin Boyle. Without TV you never became as famous as Johnnie Cochran or Christopher Darden, most people still have no idea who you are.
And so long Marvin Putnam, tool of billionaire Philip Anschutz. Sure, you won, but we still don't love you, we hate those on the side of money, even when they're right. Our sense of fairness would not allow the Jacksons to get paid, but that doesn't mean we've got any sympathy for you.
So long Paul Gongaware! May your memory no longer fail you!
So long Randy Phillips! Your name may occasionally appear in the press again, but at best you're a footnote.
And so long Phil Anschutz, the only man with enough money to fight instead of settle. Of course you had insurance, but who can afford coverage like this other than someone like you? May you never get a football team and be subject to even more press, since anyone this rich and this private has something to hide.
And so long Michael Jackson.
This is the end. Your legacy will live on. Your records and your dancing. Your weirdness will fade into the background, just like that of your fellow deceased drug addict, Elvis Presley. If John Branca were smart, he'd turn Neverland into a west coast Graceland, that's where the real money is.
And so long to newspapers. Which did such a lousy job of telling this story that it had no traction. As for TV, it's all talking heads and no news. So, without actual footage to comment on, reports had no sass, no gravitas, no pull on the public, and fell flat.
And hello to a world that veers from one crisis to another, with very few lasting, but those that do being scripted as reality TV, where we all go for refuge from our dreary lives.
This crisis is done. Next!
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Tuesday, 1 October 2013
The Blockbuster Syndrome
"Electronic Arts, the publisher of the Madden football series and other sports favorites, sold 67 different titles in stores in the fiscal year ending March 2009. In its last fiscal year, it sold 13."
http://nyti.ms/18ieFKF
I read.
You can sit on the phone all day, go to lunch, but that's a very inefficient way to gain knowledge.
In other words, are you reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, about David & Goliath? It came out today, I got it at midnight, oh how I love the Internet and wireless delivery.
What are the hidden defects of those in power, those you want to topple? Usually it's that they're so insulated that they cannot see the landscape. Some college kids put a dent in the recorded music industry that the labels will never recover from. And right now while people are dying at EDM shows, Las Vegas is burgeoning, where they make more money from deejays than they do at the slots.
Didn't know that? You've got to read last week's "New Yorker" story by Josh Eels "How Electronic Dance Music Conquered Las Vegas": http://nyr.kr/1dpprRm Unfortunately, most of it's behind a paywall, making it near-irrelevant. Protect your business model and turf at your peril. Here the "New Yorker" writes the best, most definitive article about the EDM scene in Vegas and most people don't read it, what have they accomplished, reaching those who are not interested?
And yesterday, on the front page of the business section of the "New York Times" there was this story "Shrinking List of Video Games Is Dominated by Blockbusters," linked to above.
You should read it, because exactly the same thing is happening in music. People only want the best music, the stuff that everyone's talking about. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Pooh-pooh Max Martin and Dr. Luke all you want, but if you can't admit they're talented, you don't know there are 88 keys on a piano. They're playing a game. Of making records that Top Forty will play. Complain all you want that Miley Cyrus has little talent, but can you, at home, make a record as good as "Wrecking Ball"?
NEVER!
And Top Forty is the only format that builds mainstream careers.
So, you've got to be a triple threat, a great writer, player and singer, and you've got to be able to produce too, otherwise you won't make it. Oh, you can hire a producer, but how much do you think an A-lister costs? Only the labels can afford them. The same labels with not only deep coffers, but relationships.
Believe me, Electronic Arts would like to have more hits, it's just that people weren't buying their other titles. Take-Two, which makes GTA, otherwise known as "Grand Theft Auto," makes essentially nothing else. Rather than being a producer, they're more like a band, putting out an album every couple of years, which they slave over, that they spend double digit millions not only producing but marketing (to make a billion dollars in three days!)
That's how hard it is to cut through the noise. And it's those with headway who continue to succeed.
I'm not the only one saying this. Anita Elberse, a business professor at Harvard, is releasing a book entitled "Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment" on October 15th. How did I discover it? By reading!
But my main point is while you were at home plotting your assault on the Internet, growing virally from nothing to something, the entire game changed. The public became wary of wasting time, not only foraging for new entertainment, but finding out in most cases what they discovered wasn't worth the effort. So people have retreated, they've come back from the wilderness and have set their eyes on what everybody else is paying attention to.
That does not mean there are not niches. That does not mean you can't create a profitable business using the Internet and social networking to reach those who care. But in most cases they're the only ones who care. That's the story of Kickstarter. You raise money to make an album for the very few who care. You get paid, but your audience doesn't become any larger. Sure, the media has picked up on how Amanda Palmer has made herself a success, but the audience for her music has not grown significantly, she's not become a blockbuster, what are the odds that you will?
Very low.
Look at the movie grosses. Every week there's one winner, assuming it wasn't produced for too much cash, and a ton of losers. What's the result? Studios are making fewer flicks, pouring more money into those they green-light. They've all closed their art house divisions, because they just weren't profitable enough, and a bad use of capital, the returns were meager.
So no, the label is not interested in your niche product, if it can't get on Top Forty radio, forget about it.
And if you're going it alone, you'll probably stay close to alone.
Do I wish it were different?
OF COURSE!
But it's not.
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http://nyti.ms/18ieFKF
I read.
You can sit on the phone all day, go to lunch, but that's a very inefficient way to gain knowledge.
In other words, are you reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, about David & Goliath? It came out today, I got it at midnight, oh how I love the Internet and wireless delivery.
What are the hidden defects of those in power, those you want to topple? Usually it's that they're so insulated that they cannot see the landscape. Some college kids put a dent in the recorded music industry that the labels will never recover from. And right now while people are dying at EDM shows, Las Vegas is burgeoning, where they make more money from deejays than they do at the slots.
Didn't know that? You've got to read last week's "New Yorker" story by Josh Eels "How Electronic Dance Music Conquered Las Vegas": http://nyr.kr/1dpprRm Unfortunately, most of it's behind a paywall, making it near-irrelevant. Protect your business model and turf at your peril. Here the "New Yorker" writes the best, most definitive article about the EDM scene in Vegas and most people don't read it, what have they accomplished, reaching those who are not interested?
And yesterday, on the front page of the business section of the "New York Times" there was this story "Shrinking List of Video Games Is Dominated by Blockbusters," linked to above.
You should read it, because exactly the same thing is happening in music. People only want the best music, the stuff that everyone's talking about. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Pooh-pooh Max Martin and Dr. Luke all you want, but if you can't admit they're talented, you don't know there are 88 keys on a piano. They're playing a game. Of making records that Top Forty will play. Complain all you want that Miley Cyrus has little talent, but can you, at home, make a record as good as "Wrecking Ball"?
NEVER!
And Top Forty is the only format that builds mainstream careers.
So, you've got to be a triple threat, a great writer, player and singer, and you've got to be able to produce too, otherwise you won't make it. Oh, you can hire a producer, but how much do you think an A-lister costs? Only the labels can afford them. The same labels with not only deep coffers, but relationships.
Believe me, Electronic Arts would like to have more hits, it's just that people weren't buying their other titles. Take-Two, which makes GTA, otherwise known as "Grand Theft Auto," makes essentially nothing else. Rather than being a producer, they're more like a band, putting out an album every couple of years, which they slave over, that they spend double digit millions not only producing but marketing (to make a billion dollars in three days!)
That's how hard it is to cut through the noise. And it's those with headway who continue to succeed.
I'm not the only one saying this. Anita Elberse, a business professor at Harvard, is releasing a book entitled "Blockbusters: Hit-making, Risk-taking, and the Big Business of Entertainment" on October 15th. How did I discover it? By reading!
But my main point is while you were at home plotting your assault on the Internet, growing virally from nothing to something, the entire game changed. The public became wary of wasting time, not only foraging for new entertainment, but finding out in most cases what they discovered wasn't worth the effort. So people have retreated, they've come back from the wilderness and have set their eyes on what everybody else is paying attention to.
That does not mean there are not niches. That does not mean you can't create a profitable business using the Internet and social networking to reach those who care. But in most cases they're the only ones who care. That's the story of Kickstarter. You raise money to make an album for the very few who care. You get paid, but your audience doesn't become any larger. Sure, the media has picked up on how Amanda Palmer has made herself a success, but the audience for her music has not grown significantly, she's not become a blockbuster, what are the odds that you will?
Very low.
Look at the movie grosses. Every week there's one winner, assuming it wasn't produced for too much cash, and a ton of losers. What's the result? Studios are making fewer flicks, pouring more money into those they green-light. They've all closed their art house divisions, because they just weren't profitable enough, and a bad use of capital, the returns were meager.
So no, the label is not interested in your niche product, if it can't get on Top Forty radio, forget about it.
And if you're going it alone, you'll probably stay close to alone.
Do I wish it were different?
OF COURSE!
But it's not.
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Monday, 30 September 2013
Sales vs. YouTube
SoundScan #1:
Jack Johnson "From Here To Now"
Sales: 117,260
Debut
Entered the chart at number one! Got ink in every major newspaper!
But the single, "I Got You," has 1,157,909 plays on YouTube.
Not bad...in 2011. But in 2013, when Miley Cyrus has 173,715,141 views of "Wrecking Ball," I ask you...who is the biggest artist?
Oh, Johnson has 17,808,873 views of "Upside Down," from four years ago. And "If I Had Eyes" has 10,478,296 views in four years too. Proving Johnson is far from nowhere. But he's not in the league of Miley Cyrus, who is suddenly bigger than all the MTV acts of yore, because her music can be played on demand. And that's a good thing.
As for Johnson's fans wanting the album as opposed to streaming... Good point, he appeals to an older demo. But the trend is towards streaming, and YouTube is king.
SoundScan #5
Avicii "True"
Sales: 49,936
Debut
No one cares! Lefsetz was blowing smoke about a niche!
Well, what do you have to say about the 85,483,163 YouTube views, huh? Avicii's track is humongous, but SoundScan album sales don't reflect this.
SoundScan #9
The Weeknd "Kissland"
Sales this week: 26,212
Percentage drop: -73
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 121,832
He hasn't made it yet, he hasn't penetrated the public consciousness.
How do we know?
YOUTUBE VIEWS!
The single only has 502,929.
"Belong To The World," released on July 16, 2013 (and suddenly it's the YouTube release date that's important, not the album release date), has 1,906,034 plays. Weeknd has a long way to go. Or not.
SoundScan #12
Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines"
Sales this week: 19,096
Percentage drop: -10
Weeks on: 8
Cume: 488,915
Yes, in the old days Thicke's album would already be double platinum. Extrapolating one can say that music ain't what it used to be, that it doesn't penetrate the public consciousness as deeply. But that would be wrong.
"Blurred Lines" has 21,874,554 views.
Bupkes you say!
But that's the unrated version, with boobies. The censored take? A whopping 185,658,025 views. "Blurred Lines" has captured the public's imagination as deeply as any track of the sixties.
As for single sales... "Blurred Lines" has moved 5,801,150 units, nothing to sneeze at, divided by ten even a greater sum than the album total, proving once again it's all about the single.
And speaking of singles... Lorde's "Royals" has sold 1,560,917 in 15 weeks. But it's got 18,881,081 YouTube views. It appears that you know a track has truly become ubiquitous and penetrated public consciousness when it goes north of 50 million views on YouTube. In other words, Lorde has a way to go...or not.
As for Katy Perry, she's already a star. She's sold 2,403,154 singles in 6 weeks. But she's got 98,799,681 views of the "Roar" video on YouTube. Which is why Katy can sell out arenas and Lorde cannot. YouTube is the new arbiter of overall fanbase, not sales.
Oh, and while we're on single sales, Mile Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" has moved 1,184,629 in 5 weeks.
And back to Katy Perry... "Dark Horse," featuring Juicy J, sold 194,360 tracks this week. But with only an audio clip, there are only 594,466 views. Proving that if you're going to bother put it out, launch it with the official video. YouTube means more than not only sales, but radio, especially if you're an established act, predicate your plan upon YouTube.
SoundScan # 22
Jay-Z "Magna Carta...Holy Grail"
Sales this week: 15,308
Percentage drop: -11
Weeks on: 11
Cume: 989,624
Pretty impressive, right? Jay made a deal with Samsung, he's the king!
Well, no. Despite all the hoopla, the album just hasn't penetrated deeply. The official "Holy Grail" video only has 11,400,945 plays.
So what are you more interested in, music or money?
Jay got paid, but it didn't move the needle on his musical career.
SoundScan #33
Justin Timberlake "The 20/20 Experience"
Sales this week: 11,564
Percentage drop: -2
Weeks on: 27
Cume: 2,279,591
"Suit & Tie" wasn't a stiff, but it was far from the record of the year. It had 54,918,931 YouTube views. Solid, but not superstar.
Now "Mirrors" had 113,104,859 views, it was a much bigger record. But not in the league of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." So, what we've learned is first and foremost Justin Timberlake is a celebrity, an entertainer, and that there are acts that are more successful musically.
He's certainly not as big as Avicii.
Huh?
But I thought "Wake Me Up" only had 85,503,475 YouTube views.
Yes, that's true!
But that's the "Official Video," the "Lyric Video" has another 109,047,940 views! And Pete Tong's "Radio 1 Premiere" has another 9,892,532! Proving that if it's in the grooves, images are irrelevant, people are truly that hungry to hear their favorite tracks.
As for albums not on the chart... One Direction's "Midnight Memories" isn't even coming out until November 23rd, but the single "Best Song Ever" is still in the YouTube Top Ten, with 126,725,279 views. As for sales, it's sold 879,832 in 9 weeks... Proving it's about the YouTube views. But you might say that YouTube doesn't pay that much! I'd point you to One Direction's merch numbers, breaking house records in every building they play, there's more than one way to make a dollar and if you're focusing on album sales, you're missing the point.
P.S. SoundScan sales are U.S. only and YouTube is worldwide. Proving once again that techies are smarter than entertainment czars. There are no borders anymore, other than artificial ones, tear them down (and yes, some of these albums have larger sales counts when you figure in the whole wide world...then again, Spotify dominates in Sweden!)
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Jack Johnson "From Here To Now"
Sales: 117,260
Debut
Entered the chart at number one! Got ink in every major newspaper!
But the single, "I Got You," has 1,157,909 plays on YouTube.
Not bad...in 2011. But in 2013, when Miley Cyrus has 173,715,141 views of "Wrecking Ball," I ask you...who is the biggest artist?
Oh, Johnson has 17,808,873 views of "Upside Down," from four years ago. And "If I Had Eyes" has 10,478,296 views in four years too. Proving Johnson is far from nowhere. But he's not in the league of Miley Cyrus, who is suddenly bigger than all the MTV acts of yore, because her music can be played on demand. And that's a good thing.
As for Johnson's fans wanting the album as opposed to streaming... Good point, he appeals to an older demo. But the trend is towards streaming, and YouTube is king.
SoundScan #5
Avicii "True"
Sales: 49,936
Debut
No one cares! Lefsetz was blowing smoke about a niche!
Well, what do you have to say about the 85,483,163 YouTube views, huh? Avicii's track is humongous, but SoundScan album sales don't reflect this.
SoundScan #9
The Weeknd "Kissland"
Sales this week: 26,212
Percentage drop: -73
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 121,832
He hasn't made it yet, he hasn't penetrated the public consciousness.
How do we know?
YOUTUBE VIEWS!
The single only has 502,929.
"Belong To The World," released on July 16, 2013 (and suddenly it's the YouTube release date that's important, not the album release date), has 1,906,034 plays. Weeknd has a long way to go. Or not.
SoundScan #12
Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines"
Sales this week: 19,096
Percentage drop: -10
Weeks on: 8
Cume: 488,915
Yes, in the old days Thicke's album would already be double platinum. Extrapolating one can say that music ain't what it used to be, that it doesn't penetrate the public consciousness as deeply. But that would be wrong.
"Blurred Lines" has 21,874,554 views.
Bupkes you say!
But that's the unrated version, with boobies. The censored take? A whopping 185,658,025 views. "Blurred Lines" has captured the public's imagination as deeply as any track of the sixties.
As for single sales... "Blurred Lines" has moved 5,801,150 units, nothing to sneeze at, divided by ten even a greater sum than the album total, proving once again it's all about the single.
And speaking of singles... Lorde's "Royals" has sold 1,560,917 in 15 weeks. But it's got 18,881,081 YouTube views. It appears that you know a track has truly become ubiquitous and penetrated public consciousness when it goes north of 50 million views on YouTube. In other words, Lorde has a way to go...or not.
As for Katy Perry, she's already a star. She's sold 2,403,154 singles in 6 weeks. But she's got 98,799,681 views of the "Roar" video on YouTube. Which is why Katy can sell out arenas and Lorde cannot. YouTube is the new arbiter of overall fanbase, not sales.
Oh, and while we're on single sales, Mile Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" has moved 1,184,629 in 5 weeks.
And back to Katy Perry... "Dark Horse," featuring Juicy J, sold 194,360 tracks this week. But with only an audio clip, there are only 594,466 views. Proving that if you're going to bother put it out, launch it with the official video. YouTube means more than not only sales, but radio, especially if you're an established act, predicate your plan upon YouTube.
SoundScan # 22
Jay-Z "Magna Carta...Holy Grail"
Sales this week: 15,308
Percentage drop: -11
Weeks on: 11
Cume: 989,624
Pretty impressive, right? Jay made a deal with Samsung, he's the king!
Well, no. Despite all the hoopla, the album just hasn't penetrated deeply. The official "Holy Grail" video only has 11,400,945 plays.
So what are you more interested in, music or money?
Jay got paid, but it didn't move the needle on his musical career.
SoundScan #33
Justin Timberlake "The 20/20 Experience"
Sales this week: 11,564
Percentage drop: -2
Weeks on: 27
Cume: 2,279,591
"Suit & Tie" wasn't a stiff, but it was far from the record of the year. It had 54,918,931 YouTube views. Solid, but not superstar.
Now "Mirrors" had 113,104,859 views, it was a much bigger record. But not in the league of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines." So, what we've learned is first and foremost Justin Timberlake is a celebrity, an entertainer, and that there are acts that are more successful musically.
He's certainly not as big as Avicii.
Huh?
But I thought "Wake Me Up" only had 85,503,475 YouTube views.
Yes, that's true!
But that's the "Official Video," the "Lyric Video" has another 109,047,940 views! And Pete Tong's "Radio 1 Premiere" has another 9,892,532! Proving that if it's in the grooves, images are irrelevant, people are truly that hungry to hear their favorite tracks.
As for albums not on the chart... One Direction's "Midnight Memories" isn't even coming out until November 23rd, but the single "Best Song Ever" is still in the YouTube Top Ten, with 126,725,279 views. As for sales, it's sold 879,832 in 9 weeks... Proving it's about the YouTube views. But you might say that YouTube doesn't pay that much! I'd point you to One Direction's merch numbers, breaking house records in every building they play, there's more than one way to make a dollar and if you're focusing on album sales, you're missing the point.
P.S. SoundScan sales are U.S. only and YouTube is worldwide. Proving once again that techies are smarter than entertainment czars. There are no borders anymore, other than artificial ones, tear them down (and yes, some of these albums have larger sales counts when you figure in the whole wide world...then again, Spotify dominates in Sweden!)
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Grit
The number one complaint I get about Amanda Palmer's success is her music sucks.
I'll tell you one thing, it's not mainstream, it's never going to be embraced by everybody, but Ms. Palmer has created a lucrative niche that others desire to inhabit, so they watch her TED talk believing they'll learn how.
But that's the wrong clip to play.
Amanda's video has 1,629,436 views. But it's Angela Lee Duckworth's, with only 167,378 plays, which will reveal the secret to Amanda's success. It's grit.
It's late Sunday night and I'm reading the "Wall Street Journal" and I come across this:
"6. Grit trumps talent
In recent years, University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Angela Duckworth has studied spelling bee champs, Ivy League undergrads and cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. - all together, over 2,800 subjects. In all of them, she found that grit - defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals - is the best predictor of success. In fact, grit is usually unrelated or even negatively correlated with talent.
Prof. Duckworth, who started her career as a public school math teacher and just won a 2013 MacArthur 'genius grant,' developed a 'Grit Scale' that asks people to rate themselves on a dozen statements, like 'I finish whatever I begin' and 'I become interested in new pursuits every few months.' When she applied the scale to incoming West Point cadets, she found that those who scored higher were less likely to drop out of the school's notoriously brutal summer boot camp known as 'Beast Barracks.' West Point's own measure - an index that includes SAT scores, class rank, leadership and physical aptitude - wasn't able to predict retention."
http://on.wsj.com/1dOvT4F
When I was a sophomore at Middlebury College, I joined the ski team. Coached by legendary Nordic skier John Bower, in September we had to work out three times a week, October four times and November five. In December we hit the snow.
To say the conditioning was tough would be an understatement. We had to run up the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, even worse, we then had to run halfway down and run back up again. And although the altitude in the east doesn't measure up to that of the west, the vertical rise exceeds 1,000 feet, and you had to make it up in under twenty minutes, hopefully in the neighborhood of fifteen. And if you didn't want to puke when it was done, you weren't human.
But that was a cakewalk compared to the bleachers.
This is what you had to do. Hop up the football bleachers on both legs, walk down, hop up on your right leg, walk down and then hop up on your left leg and walk down.
That was one rep.
We started with four reps.
And when I was done, I called my mother, I wasn't only ready to quit, I'd already decided, this was way too rough, especially since the Middlebury squad featured Olympians, and I was far from their league.
But my mother bad-vibed me. And nothing cuts at you like disapproval from a parent.
So I thought about it for two days and went back to the gym.
By time the snow was falling, we were up to sixteen reps, seemingly undoable, but I did it.
Kind of like this newsletter. I don't care if you think I'm the best writer or the worst, but one thing you'll notice about me is I never give up. Oh, over the years people have entered my territory. But each and every one has given up. Most outright, others took jobs at the corporation. So I'm the last person standing. And as a result, I'm king of the hill.
Oh, you might be able to beat me. But you'll have to start today and go for twenty seven years...yup, that's how long I've been writing "The Lefsetz Letter," it used to cost money and be mailed via the US Postal Service, some remember, I certainly do, along with being so broke I had less than twenty dollars in my bank account and lived off Michelina's frozen dinners, which I bought in bulk when they went on sale for ninety nine cents.
And what have you learned as a result of this?
I've got grit.
Other than that, I'm not sure what lessons you can learn from me. But that's what every successful person has, grit.
So I'm reading the WSJ and I'm also thinking how my mother told me for decades I was lazy, to the point I came to believe it, especially since I was financially-challenged. But then I came to realize no one worked harder, if I was interested in something there was no time limit.
And I jumped up from the table and started googling. And instantly found Ms. Duckworth's grit exam.
Here it is:
http://bit.ly/nzbVlv
Oh, you can finagle the answers, you can lie, but you'll only be lying to yourself. Kind of like all those Ivy League grads who believe they'll be happy in finance, since it pays so well. But Ms. Duckworth gave up her job at McKinsey, to teach school, and inspired by that experience she got a graduate degree in psychology and formulated her theory of grit.
Amanda Palmer graduated from college, a damn good one, Wesleyan. And then she was a living statue. Imagine telling your parents, that they spent 250k and you've decided to become a street performer, a veritable beggar.
But if you want to take an alternative route, you've got to possess grit.
As for all her tweeting and kickstarting and social networking...yes, you can glean some good ideas from listening to Amanda's TED talk, but that's not what made her successful. No, those are just the end results. Amanda Palmer is successful because of her identity, her grit.
And there are so many other qualities that go into the stew. Like human interaction, and the willingness to fail. The grittiest person will not make it if they don't take risks, if they don't put it all on the line and occasionally experience defeat.
Do I think everything I write is great?
Absolutely not.
I never write anything terrible, because I've been doing it so long, I've developed skills. But rather than try to edit myself and only send the best stuff, I send everything I write, because I never know what will resonate with my audience.
But it pains me to send something mediocre, and to get criticized, or even worse, get no response whatsoever. But rather than lament hitting send, I realize that tomorrow's a new day, I can write again, I can try to ring the bell once more.
"Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit": http://bit.ly/10u63dN
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I'll tell you one thing, it's not mainstream, it's never going to be embraced by everybody, but Ms. Palmer has created a lucrative niche that others desire to inhabit, so they watch her TED talk believing they'll learn how.
But that's the wrong clip to play.
Amanda's video has 1,629,436 views. But it's Angela Lee Duckworth's, with only 167,378 plays, which will reveal the secret to Amanda's success. It's grit.
It's late Sunday night and I'm reading the "Wall Street Journal" and I come across this:
"6. Grit trumps talent
In recent years, University of Pennsylvania psychology professor Angela Duckworth has studied spelling bee champs, Ivy League undergrads and cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. - all together, over 2,800 subjects. In all of them, she found that grit - defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals - is the best predictor of success. In fact, grit is usually unrelated or even negatively correlated with talent.
Prof. Duckworth, who started her career as a public school math teacher and just won a 2013 MacArthur 'genius grant,' developed a 'Grit Scale' that asks people to rate themselves on a dozen statements, like 'I finish whatever I begin' and 'I become interested in new pursuits every few months.' When she applied the scale to incoming West Point cadets, she found that those who scored higher were less likely to drop out of the school's notoriously brutal summer boot camp known as 'Beast Barracks.' West Point's own measure - an index that includes SAT scores, class rank, leadership and physical aptitude - wasn't able to predict retention."
http://on.wsj.com/1dOvT4F
When I was a sophomore at Middlebury College, I joined the ski team. Coached by legendary Nordic skier John Bower, in September we had to work out three times a week, October four times and November five. In December we hit the snow.
To say the conditioning was tough would be an understatement. We had to run up the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, even worse, we then had to run halfway down and run back up again. And although the altitude in the east doesn't measure up to that of the west, the vertical rise exceeds 1,000 feet, and you had to make it up in under twenty minutes, hopefully in the neighborhood of fifteen. And if you didn't want to puke when it was done, you weren't human.
But that was a cakewalk compared to the bleachers.
This is what you had to do. Hop up the football bleachers on both legs, walk down, hop up on your right leg, walk down and then hop up on your left leg and walk down.
That was one rep.
We started with four reps.
And when I was done, I called my mother, I wasn't only ready to quit, I'd already decided, this was way too rough, especially since the Middlebury squad featured Olympians, and I was far from their league.
But my mother bad-vibed me. And nothing cuts at you like disapproval from a parent.
So I thought about it for two days and went back to the gym.
By time the snow was falling, we were up to sixteen reps, seemingly undoable, but I did it.
Kind of like this newsletter. I don't care if you think I'm the best writer or the worst, but one thing you'll notice about me is I never give up. Oh, over the years people have entered my territory. But each and every one has given up. Most outright, others took jobs at the corporation. So I'm the last person standing. And as a result, I'm king of the hill.
Oh, you might be able to beat me. But you'll have to start today and go for twenty seven years...yup, that's how long I've been writing "The Lefsetz Letter," it used to cost money and be mailed via the US Postal Service, some remember, I certainly do, along with being so broke I had less than twenty dollars in my bank account and lived off Michelina's frozen dinners, which I bought in bulk when they went on sale for ninety nine cents.
And what have you learned as a result of this?
I've got grit.
Other than that, I'm not sure what lessons you can learn from me. But that's what every successful person has, grit.
So I'm reading the WSJ and I'm also thinking how my mother told me for decades I was lazy, to the point I came to believe it, especially since I was financially-challenged. But then I came to realize no one worked harder, if I was interested in something there was no time limit.
And I jumped up from the table and started googling. And instantly found Ms. Duckworth's grit exam.
Here it is:
http://bit.ly/nzbVlv
Oh, you can finagle the answers, you can lie, but you'll only be lying to yourself. Kind of like all those Ivy League grads who believe they'll be happy in finance, since it pays so well. But Ms. Duckworth gave up her job at McKinsey, to teach school, and inspired by that experience she got a graduate degree in psychology and formulated her theory of grit.
Amanda Palmer graduated from college, a damn good one, Wesleyan. And then she was a living statue. Imagine telling your parents, that they spent 250k and you've decided to become a street performer, a veritable beggar.
But if you want to take an alternative route, you've got to possess grit.
As for all her tweeting and kickstarting and social networking...yes, you can glean some good ideas from listening to Amanda's TED talk, but that's not what made her successful. No, those are just the end results. Amanda Palmer is successful because of her identity, her grit.
And there are so many other qualities that go into the stew. Like human interaction, and the willingness to fail. The grittiest person will not make it if they don't take risks, if they don't put it all on the line and occasionally experience defeat.
Do I think everything I write is great?
Absolutely not.
I never write anything terrible, because I've been doing it so long, I've developed skills. But rather than try to edit myself and only send the best stuff, I send everything I write, because I never know what will resonate with my audience.
But it pains me to send something mediocre, and to get criticized, or even worse, get no response whatsoever. But rather than lament hitting send, I realize that tomorrow's a new day, I can write again, I can try to ring the bell once more.
"Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit": http://bit.ly/10u63dN
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Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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Sunday, 29 September 2013
Hype
It's having a resurgence.
The Internet was supposed to change everything, just like 9/11, but almost twenty years past its Summer of Love, 1995, when everybody bought a computer and signed up for AOL to play, it's the same as it ever was.
In other words, I might get hassled at the airport, but I've got no fear going to the mall. Sure, there are terrorists in the Middle East, but other than the government spying on me, I'm not thinking about it.
And in the early part of the twenty first century it was all about letting your freak flag fly, embracing your differences, finding your niche. Now it's about selling out to the corporation so it can make you a star, because only these giant entities have the money and power to get your message heard by many.
Apple's greatest flaw?
Not advertising the Genius Bar.
If they had, Martha Stewart never would have ranted on Twitter that she was waiting for the company to pick up her broken iPad. She was ignorant. We're all ignorant now. Oh, you might know there's a Genius Bar, but I was at dinner last week with big time music educators and they were clueless as to Dr. Luke. And people still believe you can't use a Verizon iPhone overseas. As for the odds of getting rich in America... The American Dream lives larger in Europe than the U.S., and this lack of factual knowledge is exactly how the fat cats like it. Believe in the myth, the truth is irrelevant.
Laura Wasser... Do you know who that is?
You do if you read today's "New York Times" and this month's "Vanity Fair." She's a celebrity divorce lawyer who just wrote a book. What are the odds she's good with prose? Much lower than those of an Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate publishing his first novel. But if that novel gets reviewed at all, it sits amongst a zillion other undifferentiated tomes, and is therefore ignored.
We revere brand names. The old dying media institutions? Those who've survived, who haven't thrown in the towel, have turned the corner, they're our new filters, even though many haven't embraced it.
"The New Yorker," "The New York Times"...they should worry about their credibility. It's less how much they review than what they review. Just by reviewing something it looks important. And since we're all scrounging for information, if you mess up and choose badly, we ignore you in the future.
"The Los Angeles Times" is cutting back. It already lost the plot, the intelligentsia have canceled their subscriptions. Yes, those who will survive have doubled down.
Oh, you're losing the plot.
But that's just the point, we're living in a game of inside baseball, where the most powerful people on earth are publicists, who can get your story ink. Especially online, where there's little editorial vetting, where it's news only, where titillation triumphs.
We've been waiting for new online monoliths to curate and declare what's attention-worthy. So far, they haven't appeared, they may never appear, because there just doesn't seem to be enough money in it. iTunes Radio has already put a dent into Pandora, I believe it's better, but it doesn't matter, it's done by APPLE!
Yes, we're all overloaded, we're on input fatigue. We want someone to make sense of it. There are way too many musical acts to pay attention to, it's easier to watch Miley Cyrus on the VMAs and have an opinion, to read what she has to say in "Rolling Stone," even though it's the ravings of a wet behind the ears twenty year old no different from any generation before.
But if we don't pay attention to her, who do we gravitate to? The favorites of people who love music but have no idea how to recommend it? It's not what YOU like, but what I do. Which is why I'm gravitating to the radio or the magazine, to anyone with critical mass, since even if I hate it, at least I'm part of the social fabric.
Yes, we're at a turning point. The Internet has devolved into cacophony. We're looking to the edifices for direction. Some of them are new media, many of them are old. The ones who will survive are not those looking for short term profits, but those that realize it's a war of attrition, but one or two will come out the other side and be much more powerful.
Meanwhile, our social networks are failing. We're losing trust in the rantings and ravings of blowhards online, even our friends. We want commonality, we want arbitration, we want to be told what to pay attention to.
So the rich get richer and the poor bitch and eventually give up.
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The Internet was supposed to change everything, just like 9/11, but almost twenty years past its Summer of Love, 1995, when everybody bought a computer and signed up for AOL to play, it's the same as it ever was.
In other words, I might get hassled at the airport, but I've got no fear going to the mall. Sure, there are terrorists in the Middle East, but other than the government spying on me, I'm not thinking about it.
And in the early part of the twenty first century it was all about letting your freak flag fly, embracing your differences, finding your niche. Now it's about selling out to the corporation so it can make you a star, because only these giant entities have the money and power to get your message heard by many.
Apple's greatest flaw?
Not advertising the Genius Bar.
If they had, Martha Stewart never would have ranted on Twitter that she was waiting for the company to pick up her broken iPad. She was ignorant. We're all ignorant now. Oh, you might know there's a Genius Bar, but I was at dinner last week with big time music educators and they were clueless as to Dr. Luke. And people still believe you can't use a Verizon iPhone overseas. As for the odds of getting rich in America... The American Dream lives larger in Europe than the U.S., and this lack of factual knowledge is exactly how the fat cats like it. Believe in the myth, the truth is irrelevant.
Laura Wasser... Do you know who that is?
You do if you read today's "New York Times" and this month's "Vanity Fair." She's a celebrity divorce lawyer who just wrote a book. What are the odds she's good with prose? Much lower than those of an Iowa Writers' Workshop graduate publishing his first novel. But if that novel gets reviewed at all, it sits amongst a zillion other undifferentiated tomes, and is therefore ignored.
We revere brand names. The old dying media institutions? Those who've survived, who haven't thrown in the towel, have turned the corner, they're our new filters, even though many haven't embraced it.
"The New Yorker," "The New York Times"...they should worry about their credibility. It's less how much they review than what they review. Just by reviewing something it looks important. And since we're all scrounging for information, if you mess up and choose badly, we ignore you in the future.
"The Los Angeles Times" is cutting back. It already lost the plot, the intelligentsia have canceled their subscriptions. Yes, those who will survive have doubled down.
Oh, you're losing the plot.
But that's just the point, we're living in a game of inside baseball, where the most powerful people on earth are publicists, who can get your story ink. Especially online, where there's little editorial vetting, where it's news only, where titillation triumphs.
We've been waiting for new online monoliths to curate and declare what's attention-worthy. So far, they haven't appeared, they may never appear, because there just doesn't seem to be enough money in it. iTunes Radio has already put a dent into Pandora, I believe it's better, but it doesn't matter, it's done by APPLE!
Yes, we're all overloaded, we're on input fatigue. We want someone to make sense of it. There are way too many musical acts to pay attention to, it's easier to watch Miley Cyrus on the VMAs and have an opinion, to read what she has to say in "Rolling Stone," even though it's the ravings of a wet behind the ears twenty year old no different from any generation before.
But if we don't pay attention to her, who do we gravitate to? The favorites of people who love music but have no idea how to recommend it? It's not what YOU like, but what I do. Which is why I'm gravitating to the radio or the magazine, to anyone with critical mass, since even if I hate it, at least I'm part of the social fabric.
Yes, we're at a turning point. The Internet has devolved into cacophony. We're looking to the edifices for direction. Some of them are new media, many of them are old. The ones who will survive are not those looking for short term profits, but those that realize it's a war of attrition, but one or two will come out the other side and be much more powerful.
Meanwhile, our social networks are failing. We're losing trust in the rantings and ravings of blowhards online, even our friends. We want commonality, we want arbitration, we want to be told what to pay attention to.
So the rich get richer and the poor bitch and eventually give up.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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