I admittedly only saw the teaser clips for this on instagram, and I genuinely hope people loved it. I hate to admit that in my personal experience these last few months, I feel the gap between the normal album push (actual live shows, Tiny Desk, KCRW, etc.) versus what everyone has had to resort to now...it's just such a big gap. And of course I don't blame any artist for doing anything they can to get ears on their album. More power to them. I guess I'm just starting to really feel that gap.
It's just weird how it makes me loath some aspects of the industry even more. This whole mess spotlights the fact that the artist being out there, doing the legwork with a team of underappreciated people (band, audio engineers, lighting directors, venue stage hands, etc.) is the lifeblood.
Florida broke the record today for highest number of recorded cases in a day, and every time I read a headline like that I wonder how far we are from having these artists getting back to doing the things they were born to do.
The comedian observation has to do with comedians choosing other content for jokes because it doesn't make for quality material. It has absolutely nothing to do with virtue signaling or whether or not the message behind it would be substantial.
I think we're all in agreement that "there are some bigger problems here."
And if you believe education is the answer, than it should be available to everyone. It's not. And changing that is not a priority of the current administration. So those of us who've had the PRIVILEGE of an education should feel responsible to change that trend.
And guess where we do that?
Polls.
Why don't we take what we can get instead of even questioning intention at this point? When Ann Coulter criticized trump last week, the left came in with the typical "oh no you don't get to say that now..." bullshit. If we want change, we must welcome every ally. If you think the pandemic response, riots in Minneapolis, and calls to violence on twitter are going to guarantee a change in this administration...November 2020 could feel a lot like 2016 for all of us.
If Taylor Swift's statement causes even one single teenager in some bumblefuck midwest town to question the racist rhetoric they were raised on and potentially break the chain...that's a W. Take that fucking W.
I'm so glad someone said this. Not a fan of their music, but I was baffled by the Louis the Child thing considering Erykah Badu took the same stance in an interview last year. She says, "I don't hate," to which the interviewer does the "what about Hitler" thing and she doubles down. She's slightly more nuanced & poetic in her approach than Louis the Child, but the sentiment is exactly the same. And with this Bryan Adams thing...he's a vegan. I'm not vegan and I hate the idea of selling rare, endangered animal meat. I don't agree with the majority of meat production practices in AMERICA. Where Adams went wrong is villianizing the wet market for the particular offense of causing COVID-19, but honestly...wading thru the misinformation and the bickering between the political left & right at this point is a full time fucking job.
I feel like a lot of people are doing the same thing and everyone's just calling it by a different name. Have you noticed recently when an artist releases a 2nd single off their upcoming record, the previous single is lumped in with that release on Spotify, sort of like a 2 or 3 song EP (ex. Phoebe Bridgers most recent single). This is so when the new single ends, Spotify doesn't hit play on something that sounds like Phoebe Bridgers and instead you hear the other single. I remember talking to an industry friend who was explaining that this was becoming the new norm and he's like "It's called WATERFALLING. Pretty crazy right?" And I was like...so...uhh no. That's called an EP. It's all the same shit just with different names. If anything, it seems Hayley is doing the same thing everyone else is doing, just actually calling it an EP, which is in turn, annoying everyone. Another thing to note is that all the ISRC codes that match each song enable you to delete the prior release on your page so that just the LP is left. For example, I remember Vampire Weekend releasing a ton of singles for FOTB, and when the LP dropped, for a brief time there was two FOTB releases on their page...one with 6 or 7 singles from the record (ahem...an EP!) and then the full LP. You can delete the old releases and still keep your play counts. Okay my head hurts.
"Everyone streams"
Right, and those streams equate to very meager payouts. Touring, publishing, and merch are the main revenue streams. Most deals are now structured in a way that the label receives a cut of that to compensate for the fact that physical sales are not what they once were and streaming does not pay the bills. As far as the endless roll outs, I do understand the frustration there as it bothers me too, but I understand why it's that way. On a smaller artist's level, they're all just trying to appease algorithms. I have friends who have 50k+ fans on social media accounts and they can't reach their own fans unless they post DAILY. Because of fucking algorithms, their posts won't reach their audience. And as for major label artists, it's a simple tenant of advertising. We all pop onto this website to read/post/etc. If Haim can stretch out their release over the course of 5 singles, the hope is that even if we say "nah I'm good" on 1, 2, and 3, by the fourth one that drops and features some artist we like, we'll click. It's simple. Everyone's just competing for a slice of our attention span.
Haim and Gaga are major label artists. Their recordings are owned by major labels. I'm sure they have some sort of a say in the matter, but if you think any of these artists are quarantined in their homes posted up on the couch saying to themselves, "Man, should I just throw this on soundcloud? Like...my fans deserve it," you're nuts.
I know John Legend isn't the hippest and most innovative creator around, but the record he did with Blake is about as interesting as it gets as far as mainstream pop records are concerned. The production/mix is unbelievable, and it's the same cast of players (pino, chris dave, etc.) who he's been bringing to all the other projects he's at the helm of (ex. perfume genius)
"I'm at a low point in my life and acting like a bitch online seemed like a good idea"
In the same way that I empathize with any artist/musician affected by this mess, I empathize with you. Though I don't know you, it's unbelievably rare to see anyone be truly vulnerable in an online forum. You're a legend for that and I hope things turn around for you, mate.
That fan compiled vid of the NIN downward spiral tour is SO good too. If i remember correctly, they were able to get the board mix audio somehow? I have it on a drive somewhere and remember being floored by all of that coming together the way it did.
I was planning on seeing an Australian artist whom I adore a few days after Coachella at a small venue in LA. When you see 6 dates in the pacific north west leading up to Coachella and then 6 dates following Coachella, that means that artist booked a few weeks of tour around Coachella. If they're playing small 400-500 person clubs, that means they're using the opportunity (and payment) from Coachella to justify doing a small run in those places. That means those dates are to justify the considerable amount of money they're spending to fly band+crew from Australia to California. When you remove the Coachella dates, you are now in the red. Yes, sports organizations will be fine. Yes, films will be fine, but as a frequent commenter on this page I'm kind of stunned that you don't understand the razor thin financial margins that bands operate on. You don't need to be in the industry to do some simple math and remind yourself that all the revenue streams that used to subsidize touring revenue (album sales, publishing, etc.) have been depleted as a result of the seismic shifts in the internet age. Even larger bands are faced with a "tour or die" mentality. Wake up, man.
Fun story. My parents came out to visit me in LA and I ran out of things to do with them so I took them to the Venice Canals to walk around. For those who don't know, you're pretty much walking through peoples' backyards when walking the canals. I heard this guy on his cell phone sounding sort of frantic. He was pacing around his yard in a sort of anxiety filled rant. As I got closer, I heard him say "I just want my life and work to be separate from everything with the Chili Peppers." I looked up and locked eyes with Frusciante, just after he uttered those words. He looked really distraught. A few days later he released an electronic album on soundcloud and I remember (foolishly) reading the comments and them all being your typical "GET BACK WITH RHCP !" and generally dismissive. I felt a lot of empathy for him. I'm glad he's reconnected with his friends and hope he still continues his personal creative journey he has been on in the last 10 years.
Totally. Because on your first day of music career school they hand you that infamous contract that clearly states everything you could possibly encounter or have to deal with if by some fluke you happen to become the largest pop star in the world before you're old enough to buy cigarettes. Accept it or leave it, kid.
I still find it so strange that we hold musicians and bands (the majority of whom have to struggle to get paid) to this standard, whereas we're completely fine with professional athletes (who make INSANE money) endorsing everything from papa john's to companies that use sweat shops. It's bizarre.
You know what's really strange to me? If there's to be a conversation about "still enjoying the art" or anything of that nature...in the case of all offenders, why isn't there ever any action taken to change the legacy once the dust has settled? Wouldn't it be fairly simple for whoever is in charge of XXX's estate to donate to a domestic violence program? When Louis CK came back to comedy clubs, it wasn't cause he needed money. Why not do something that changes your legacy instead of saying "I think everyone's over it..."
The way I see it is no one needs to weigh in on the parameters, rules, or behaviors within anyone else's relationship. And no one needs to apologize to the public for not upholding whatever norm they're holding him to.
If he stepped outside of the bounds of his relationship, he can apologize to his partner...and literally no one needs to hear about it.
You're applying rational thought to a scenario that defies all rationality. There are still people devoting their time to standing outside of courtrooms of R Kelly hearings in support of him. Mull over that.
This is ridiculous and so is the other copyright claim. Push whatever you think of Lizzo aside (uber eats delivery drama and whatever else) as I'm not even a fan, but this is a complete joke. As for the other copyright claim...
The chorus and melody are not the same. ONE LINE and it's phrasing are the same, and if Lizzo wrote that shit, she can put it in as many songs as she want. The only argument you can bring to the table is that the production or the session inspired the line. In that scenario, it's up to the artist/writer to honor that and to what extent. I recently heard through a friend that a mutual producer friend was offered a credit on FOTB (not monetary, just a symbolic credit) as he was involved in something that was later mutated into something that ended up the album. It's basically saying "hey, you were in the room for the very beginning of an idea that was ultimately trashed, but maybe could be traced to this thing that it eventually inspired." It's a courtesy thing and it usually doesn't involve money.
This is such a pathetic reach on everyone's part. I don't care for the records but every single suit that I've seen like this ultimately gets decided by non musicians and that's pathetic. It's a trend that we should not perpetuate. If the line is hers, and it's inspired by a meme, there's no wrong doing. Anyone with a little musical knowledge could sit down at a piano, isolate those two melodies from the different songs and hear the clear difference.
It's very strange to me to see the difference in response within this community to the news of David Berman's passing versus James Blake speaking about depression. And yes, I know that they lived very different lives with very different struggles...but isn't that the entire point of Blake's statement?
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