Today you're selling streams, not physical product, and they're doing a piss-poor job of it. There are two issues in today's music business: attention and friction. The Stones have the attention element down pretty well, but they're flummoxed by friction, how are they going to get people to actually listen to "Foreign Tongues"? Now the hype used to be a set-up for sales. And with physical product as an overweighted part of the chart equation, maybe the Stones can eke out a number one, before the album crashes into the troposphere. But that's a circle jerk. You get press attention, but that press doesn't generate many streams, just ask Paul McCartney. But as good a job as McCartney did promoting "The Boys of Dungeon Lane," the Stones' press campaign is of a scorched-earth variety we haven't seen for a classic rock act since the days of Tom Petty's last studio album, and maybe Steely Dan's comeback 25 years ago. You remember that comeback, wherein Donald revealed the story of "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and... That was a quarter century ago. The Dan wen ton late night TV. You were exposed to the music. Today? I mean an interview in the "New York Times" is key if you want to sell tickets, but streams? I don't think it has much of an effect. Now let me be clear, unlike a lot of old acts, the Stones are all over TikTok. However, most of the clips are interview segments. I searched earlier and found there was a live gig in London a few nights back where the Stones played... Oldies. Is this a good way to sell new music? I can't see how. Once again, it's about streams, not sales. And the dirty little secret is the Stones sold poorly anyway. They were in your face, but albums might have gone platinum, diamond records were for others. Richard Branson signed the Stones to a rich deal at Virgin so he could sell the company, the buyers not aware of how poor their sales actually were. So, I wouldn't expect sales to be great this time around. In an era where sales mean so much less. The first thing they needed was a single. Now let me be clear, I'm not forcing you to have one, but if you want your attention campaign to ignite you must have a track that is a one listen smash. So far, I haven't heard one on "Foreign Tongues." Which is fine, but sans said hit, how are you going to get the masses involved? You're not! It's not only the Stones, everybody faces this question, even some of the younger stars, how are you going to get people to actually listen to the music? By using online platforms to expose them to it. The Stones clips shouldn't be conversations with Zane Lowe or the "Times," they should be one or more members sitting in the studio explaining how they wrote this song, how they came up with it, how they built it. Then people would be forced to listen to the new music, assuming they cared, and many do. Talking about music, isn't that like dancing about architecture? Now if there is a single, a one listen smash, every clip should focus on that one track. I mean come on, you expect the audience to immediately grasp an entire album? I don't care who you are, that's a heavy lift. Bash me over the head with the track again and again, you're your own radio station today. The biggest mistake the Stones made was not going on Rick Beato's show. Beato is not subject to the algorithm, his fans are dedicated. They tune in just for him. And Beato specializes in the music itself, how it was created. That's the kind of information that needs to be spread if you want people to actually stream a song. Go DEEPER! Otherwise, it's all a wank. I mean this could be the last time, so the fact that the Stones seem to be revealing that which they held back previously... I mean how do you hype the next album? After you've shot your wad? And one thing is for sure, we know the hype campaign is not working. Morgan Wallen or Taylor Swift drop a new album and it dominates the Spotify Top 50 immediately. But the Stones are nowhere to be found on that chart, whether it be the U.S. or the U.K. Now if the Stones really care about this new music... They'll promote it for longer than this week. Want to promote it? Create mania. Starting live. Show up and open for acts. For Olivia Rodrigo. For Morgan Wallen (after all, country is the new rock and roll). Play only the new album, and if you think that will bore people, play only four songs. Once again, you should be hyping the new stuff. Such that when people shoot YouTube videos, that's what people will see and that's what they'll hear! As far as social media... The oldsters are on Facebook and Instagram, the youngsters are on TikTok. Focus accordingly. But in truth, it's youngsters who keep a band alive. How do you reach them? WITH A HISTORY LESSON! Who knows more about the blues? The Stones should have clips tracing their new material to the Delta blues, or whatever roots they've got. Thread the needle, don't exist in a vacuum. And you must focus on the MUSIC! All the interviews online, they're talking about Mick's personality, whether we know the real him. About his physical condition and dancing. What has that got to do with the music? Once again, it might sell tickets, but they're not going on the road. Now tomorrow, the media genuflecting to the Stones, up the band's ass, will be on to something else. That's the way the news business works. Once again, you've got to promote yourself. And the Stones should do this by appearing to be outsiders. And stunting. Stunts? It's so easy. Forget the inane press party in London, the Stones should have worked up two numbers for the Sphere. Either appeared on a dark night or during the afternoon. After all, it's the STONES! And the new music would be helped by the visuals. Right now the Stones look like aged grandpas with their edges shorn off deigning to talk to us plebes for a week until they go back to their mansions. Rock, especially the Stones, is supposed to be rough and savage, to the gut, it's something you feel more than talk about. Where is it in this hype campaign, where is something new? An AI video? Not a bad idea, but it's not really pushing the envelope to blow our minds. And it doesn't require repeat viewings. For that, the music must hook you immediately! I mean if the Stones don't care about whether anybody listens to their new music, fine. But that's not the way they're approaching it, this isn't a stealth operation like the U2 EPs. And speaking of U2, the new track "Street of Dreams" starts off quietly, but if you stick with it it revs up and becomes hooky, in a way "Beautiful Day" did back in the day. I might sound like a heretic, but they should just chop off the first thirty seconds of "Street of Dreams," especially in an era where most people only give new material a few seconds anyway. I won't say "Street of Dreams" breaks new ground, but after that first half a minute when the music plays out you'll find yourself nodding your head, a fan will be satiated, will want to hear the track again. Bono is a student of the business. He knew he needed something hooky and easy, just like he did with the aforementioned comeback single, "Beautiful Day." So far I haven't heard an equivalent track on "Foreign Tongues." Then again, I haven't listened to the whole thing. How are the Stones gonna get me to listen to the whole thing? Not by blabbing about their past career ad infinitum to talking heads, but by actually playing the new music and dissecting it. I mean this is a band that was built on riffs. Couldn't they have gone back into the studio and just written one that closed people? Wasn't there anybody involved who could tell them they just didn't have that one track, and if they wanted more than attention, if they wanted people to actually listen more than once, they needed it? Focus on the music first. The story is irrelevant unless it relates to the music itself. You're selling repeat listens and longevity, that's the streaming game. Focus there first. The Stones seem to have it reversed, they want attention on the band itself for a week and then... 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