Selling Out to the Big Man, Attention Artists, and New Music..
Posted May 1, 2008 — in Music News
Starbucks Slowing Down: Starbucks walked away from the recorded music biz because the caffein pusher has to many other fishes to fry. Starbucks CORE business is coffee, not music. It’s challenging to put any thought into music when earnings have sunk 21% in the second quarter. The company even plans to cut on planned U.S. Store Openings.
Will YouTube Make Money? CEO of Google wants to make money off of YouTube, but he just has to figure out how. “I don’t think we’ve quite figured out the perfect solution of how to make money, and we’re working on that says Chief Executive Eric Schmidt’. Of course the only solution seems to be advertising. Schmidt said YouTube planned to introduce new products aimed at generating advertising revenue.
Who’s The Sellout? As for his entry into the music business… You’re just jealous. He’s passionate about acts, he’s got an audience, he’s a tastemaker (Lefsetz on Perez Hilton)
The amazing critic Bob Lefsetz just wrote these even more amazing words about the Gossip Gangstar! (Perez Hilton)
Don’t let anyone fool you. This love letter relationship is just about press and attention.
The one (Lefsetz) who tells you never to sell out to the BIG MAN, sells himself out to Perez Hilton. I think many critics and artists are frightened of the queen of gossip and want to assure themselves a hunky-dory relationship exists in an effort to escape possible negative press. The easy road is to join popular culture. The artistic road to change is pain and suffering. Building a career is about saying NO, not saying YES. I understand Perez Hilton has become a marketing bullet point because of his popular blog. I also understand the motto “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em “, just don’t educate me about CHANGE and SELLING OUT.
New Music: Check out the indie band SeaBird. Our favorite tracks are Stronger and Let Me Go On. Singer Aaron Morgan says this about his record, “There is a redemptive quality present in this record, even in the darker moments. We hope this record will be an oasis for those who were left thirsty by years of heartache.”
Attention Artists: We feel your pain and certainly understand how it must feel for not being paid for your creation. You’re told everyday that you should be giving away music for free and never should expect a real payday. The good news is that online media giants like Yahoo, RealNetworks and AOL could pay up to $100 million in royalties owed to thousands of songwriters and publishers, after a federal judge established a formula for determining the payments. Of course these companies are tying to buck the system but let’s hope the federal judge upholds his formula for potential license fees on songs played by the three online services from July 1, 2002 through December 31, 2009, the trade group said.
Concert Attendance Slips: Could it because of the credit card crunch? Is everyone in debt up to their ears? We think so…
Eh….Sorry KOAR — Lefsetz is right.
Perez IS passionate about acts…
Perez DOES have an audience…
And like it or not, he IS a tastemaker.
(trust me, it makes me gag to think about, but it’s all true)
Comment by vaffanculo — May 1, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Eh….Sorry Vaffanulo
You missed the whole point of KOAR..
It isn’t about Perez having an audience or not being a tastemaker..
Its about a man who claims he is all about artist integrity and going against the grain, giving props to Perez and trashing Mariah Carey and music biz presidents…
Top 40 radio is a tastemaker too, in fact top 40 is such a tastemaker its the only medium that can potentially sell 10 million records.
Lefsetz trashes artists who write songs for radio. Trashes record executives because they can make moves and he cant. He compares the sales of Mariah Carey to the days of Babe Ruth. He even gives props to Darwin for being a voice a change. Giving props to Perez while trashing others is not change. Its called TRYING to be HIP.
Lefsetz is becoming the one who he hates.
Comment by rich — May 1, 2008 @ 11:41 am
Rescue from SeaBird is one of the stronger songs I’ve heard in quite some time. Really good writing and delivery.
Comment by Tim — May 1, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Could it be that you missed Bob’s point, rich?
Perez is a self-made man. He’s not some kiss ass, he’s not some exec’s nephew, flying around, wasting their expense account checking out the newest overhyped emo act. Perez, ironically, IS culture. He’s in touch. His picks are coming from WITHIN the target audience. They actually reflect who he is & who he hangs out with & the parties that he goes to. This is what tastemaking USE TO BE LIKE. People who signed rock & roll bands actually knew what the fuck rock & roll actually was. Before it was about speculation & spectacle. Before the powers that be removed themselves from the everyman.
You have these old people telling Miley Cirus to take her clothes off. And they’re telling the Format that their record should be “more high octane.” They’re dressing up these wannabe losers in stupid clothes & having them dye their hair stupid colors. And they’re all high & mighty, thinking they know what’s up. Thinking they’re on the cusp of, or better yet that they’re creating pop culture. But to anyone with a clue, it’s absolutely ridiculous & pathetic. And so along comes Perez Hilton, one of us, for better or for worse, & it resonates.
I’m not all that familiar with Perez’ taste, but I know his SXSW party had Meiko, Eric Hutchinson, & Robyn performing, who are all better than anyone koar has posted in recent memory. I love the Robyn record, in fact, & have been listening to it since ‘05. I also know there was a video interview with Perez on Jenny Owen Youngs’ myspace, & she’s pretty damn good, too.
And I’m as against the hollywood-leaching culture as anyone I’ve ever met, but you can’t deny that Perez Hilton has his finger on the pulse of a certain demographic, whereas his competition, in terms of tastemaking, DO NOT. I’d be far more willing to listen to some club track recommended by some guy who parties in the club than some bullshit pop song recommended by some jackass in New York who says “All of the kids will love this! I’m sure of it!”
Bob Lefsetz has been championing modern country music for the last year… if you think he’s trying to be hip, you not only don’t get Lefsetz, you just generally don’t get it.
Comment by Jon Cole — May 1, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Lefsetz just proves that he’s more concerned about his own image than music with this move. He’s no different than every other American Idiot- he wants to be popular, he wants to be FAMOUS. He will brown-nose with Perezzzz because he knows that Perez has one up on him. It’s like a freakin’ high school popularity contest. Don’t fool yourselves.
Comment by John — May 1, 2008 @ 7:08 pm
Perez loves music and is in a position to help out acts he believes in. He could do a lot more for some great artists than the lousy ones major labels or KoAR are picking these days.
Comment by A2daC — May 2, 2008 @ 12:33 am
well, time will tell won’t it? Let’s see in a year from now how many acts Perez has broken- I’ll bet you it will be none. I’m sure the owners of Starbucks love music too, how did that work out for them? All the evil “major labels” that everyone is so quick to blame are responsible for just about every CD in your collection so let’s not go there- oh lemme guess, you only listen to “indie” right?
Comment by John — May 2, 2008 @ 7:24 am
Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions. There are A&R guys that I absolutely love. And there are some really awesome, really genuine people in the industry who are cool & in touch & aren’t douchebags. And every once in a while the majors put out a really great record. MGMT is a great example. But these are the exception.
So yeah, as it turns out, most of what I listen to IS indie bands or 60’s/70’s stuff or releases that acts recorded on their own & then sold to a major. Honestly I don’t think the majors have a very great track record lately, so I’m not sure your condescension is warranted.
The thing about Perez is that if he tells me he’s into some act, I might not necessarily believe in the act, but I believe that he’s into them. I believe that he rides around in his car & listens to Robyn or Jenny Owen Youngs. Sometimes Dean posts stuff & I’m like “There’s no way actually ride around in your car & listen to this…”
Comment by Jon Cole — May 2, 2008 @ 8:03 am
jon—- the reason you believe that Perez is into his artists because you are a gullible person. I’m sure Perez is passionate about some posts just like KOAR is passionate about some artists.
Jon instead of just reciting what lefsetz says - listen to this gem perez his posted http://perezhilton.com/2008-05-02-in-celebration-of
-mariahs-wedding
It’s an instant classic says Perez..
If you believe Perez is snapping his fingers while driving in his car to this cheeze cake then Scientologists would have you sold in a second!
Comment by rich — May 2, 2008 @ 8:42 am
Perez, ironically, IS culture. He’s in touch. His picks are coming from WITHIN the target audience.
Huh? Perez is in touch? why? because he posts porn, gossip, incest and animal abuse stories?
Maybe you mean, he is in touch with the lowest common denominator. I heard selling crack is a good business too. I don’t think Perez is a genius anymore than I think DC MADAM is a genius business woman. DC MADAM is a self made business woman who sold 16 year old females to horny businessmen.
Perez just feeds the pigs and I don’t certainly want that job. DC MADAM stopped feeding the pigs by taking her own life!!!
Comment by liz — May 2, 2008 @ 9:00 am
No one ever said Perez is a genius. Only that he’s believable. Only that he’s an everyman, who actually enjoys the music he promotes, as opposed to just believing that the music will make him a bunch of money or make him look good to the higher ups.
Rich - Are you really that dense? Truly & genuinely? That you can’t tell sarcasm, a ridiculously novelty track, from a genuine pick? You’re out of touch.
liz - You would probably be very surprised who you know that visits perezhilton.com on a regular basis. And you’re obviously not familiar with the content of the site. Porn, gossip, incest, & animal abuse stories… that sounds more like foxnews.com or cnn.com to me. Who do you think covered Anna Nicole Smith more… Perez or the news networks?
And I don’t want to be Perez’ defender, I don’t visit the site & I have no interest in celebrity gossip. But I do understand why it resonates. And I think it’s a big mistake for the industry to miss taking some notes here.
Comment by Jon Cole — May 2, 2008 @ 9:11 am