Name the three biggest tracks of last summer. It’s easy, like taking candy, from a baby!
We’ve got “Get Lucky.”
And “Blurred Lines.”
And “Royals.”
What do the first two have in common? They’re fading away, they’re not radiating. No one has mentioned Daft Punk since the Grammys and Robin Thicke has become a public joke.
But not Lorde.
The two biggest phenomena of the past five years are both women, and both refused to play the game, refused to turn up the marketing to ten and yell from the rooftops…I’M HERE, PAY ATTENTION, BUY MY STUFF!
That’s right, Adele refused to play arenas, she didn’t do any endorsements. And despite being a teenager, Lorde knows the game better than the old men who believe they run this business. That in order to get into the hearts of the young, you’ve got to both have their values and be a leader.
The young are not famous. Stop reciting the litany of YouTube stars and branding by prepubescents. No, the truth is most young people are in school, playing sports, living their lives not much different than it ever was. If you believe they believe selling out is the way to go, your child has been offered a million dollar deal with Pepsi. But that never happens, that only happens to the rich and famous.
Give Steve Jobs credit. He hewed to his own beliefs. But everybody else is compromising, cutting corners, trying to play the game so they can get rich.
Come on, for all the ink Wierd Al has gotten, he’s already last month’s news, no one’s talking about him and his tracks don’t populate the Spotify Top Lists. And that’s what it’s about, staying power.
And it turns out despite all the hogwash about men dominating the charts, it really comes down to women. Because Lorde and Adele spoke from their hearts and left money on the table.
The NFL has never left money on the table. It squeezes everybody in the chain, believing it’s forever, whereas most people can’t even name the last two Super Bowl winners and attendance is flagging and the press is bad and…
But the sport gets a pass, because we need something to believe in.
Once upon a time we believed in music.
Who owns the best performance in Super Bowl history? Prince! Who didn’t sell tickets simultaneously. He’s toured to big numbers ever since on that one performance, but most acts are all about the short term, where am I going this summer, as opposed to where I’ll be five years from now.
If you think no act will pay the NFL for that exposure, you’ve never been exposed to the wannabes. If Ashley Madison is willing to sponsor a football stadium, believe you me someone without the cachet of Coldplay and Katy Perry will pony up, because that’s America, where everything’s for sale and it goes to the highest bidder.
Or does it?
Everything’s a promotional exercise. Who can top who. From Jay Z to Beyonce to Weird Al to Taylor Swift. They’re all Internet savvy, they all will sell their souls to the highest corporate bidder, and other than Ms. Swift, whose new effort hangs in the balance, their music has faded away.
It wasn’t always like this.
But the truth is the good old days were back when the business was being developed. No one knew the rules, they were being codified. Sid Bernstein ripped off the Beatles so Peter Grant demanded 90/10 deals and after Bill Graham ripped off CSNY, Michael Cohl created a new paradigm where the artists got tons of dough, they just couldn’t ask Cohl how he got the money back.
It was the wild west.
But it’s the wild west no more.
Except in the music itself. That’s what we’re all looking for, the elixir that tickles our brain cells, something we have not heard before, that we hunger for and tweet about. Because we want to share greatness.
Sharing built Lorde.
No one’s sharing the new Tom Petty other than the media he manipulated.
So, call the doctor, I think we’re headed for a crash.
But you know what the doctor says in that famous Eagles song, he’s coming, but you got to pay him cash.
And sure, the Eagles wanted to get paid. But they own the best-selling album in history because of the music.
That’s right, Adele refused to play arenas, she didn’t do any endorsements. And despite being a teenager, Lorde knows the game better than the old men who believe they run this business. That in order to get into the hearts of the young, you’ve got to both have their values and be a leader.
I actually listen to some of his stuff His new album has about 3-4 songs I use and Fire is okay although I like his other songs more. Anyways that newburycomics actually had signed copies by him although they took down their main list from the site though so I'm not sure why. If you have the link it seems you can buy the item, but otherwise you can't access the albums they had listed anymore
Yeah, "Fire" isn't as good but it's still pretty great. I think some of the lyrics are really cheesy and I can tell he's trying to keep up with other pop artists on songs like this, but regardless, I love him and I love his music and he seems like a really great person. Really? That's surprising. Do you remember how cheap or expensive signed copies of his albums were? I might buy some, and I might get some for my aunt too because she loves him.
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Originally posted by EdwardB
I would love that XFactor thing!!!
I'm getting really annoyed with her though....She could at least say "Hi" on twitter or something...
That GIF made me laugh!
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Originally posted by Haribo
Don't You Remember is such an amazing song.
YAS! Stan for that flawless tearjerker!
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Originally posted by DDForAdele
If this is real (which I doubt) I don't think she will take a deal of having a week dedicated to her. It's seems pointless. If she wants to perform on the X Factor, then she will.
Well, I can see her turning down a deal like that but it wouldn't be smart. It's more promotion for her and typically they don't dedicate weeks of talent competitions like that to just anyone. People like Michael Jackson and The Beatles get a week dedicate to them on talent competitions. That just proves Adele is already legendary after only two albums.
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Originally posted by rbautz
They could make a best of British Soul,like Amy, Duffy, Adele and George Michael.
OMG! I would TOTALLY be here for this! Brilliant!
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Originally posted by DDForAdele
Do you think there will be a performance? I'm not even expecting her to show up.
I think he was just kidding. I highly doubt she'll even be there, although the least she could do is show up and tell her fans she's still alive... And confirm details about her new album.
Bit late on this topic, but I give a wholehearted no to X Factor. It's actually smarter of her not to appear there, she doesn't need to start this era on a sinking ship of a talent show. If she wants to premiere new music on UK TV, she should go directly to Jools. More respected, more representative of her career origins (see the Daydreamer performance there in '07), and consistently good.
The album was at regular price so if you want I can ask them why they took their list down I still have the link to albums I bought and when I click on it, it brings me to the regular page to buy it so I don't see why they would take down their big list.
The album was at regular price so if you want I can ask them why they took their list down I still have the link to albums I bought and when I click on it, it brings me to the regular page to buy it so I don't see why they would take down their big list.
If you want to, that'd be great, but you don't have to! I'm in no rush to buy them and it's really no big deal. Thanks, Ichi!
His new album has about 3-4 songs I use and Fire is okay although I like his other songs more. Anyways that newburycomics actually had signed copies by him although they took down their main list from the site though so I'm not sure why. If you have the link it seems you can buy the item, but otherwise you can't access the albums they had listed anymore
