Speaking of crowdsourcing…

Someone forwarded me these tweets from Josh Groban:

"I really don’t feel that charity performances should be subject to reviews in the same light as other performances…."

"people give their time, energy and voices, for free and with little to no rehearsal and critics should put away the snot-o-meter."

"just a thought. night!"

http://twitter.com/joshgroban

Felice disagreed with Josh, after all those in attendance were paying a fortune for this show, many $1,250 a ticket, they expected a quality performance and were entitled to it.

But what struck me was Josh’s thin skin.  I don’t know if he was reacting to my tweet from MusiCares or another’s, there were many tweeting away on their hand-held devices, but he seemed to be shocked that we were biting back, that we were judging him, rendering an opinion, questioning his intentions.

That’s the sea change in the world of celebrity.  Unless you want to function alone, in the privacy of your own bathroom, in the dark, expect people to be aware of what you’re doing and judge it.  You see, to quote Bob Dylan, a surfer would "rather get you down in the hole that he’s in", and he’s now got the ability to make this happen.

You’re no better than the hoi polloi, you put your pants on the same way.  And your fame and riches are dependent upon the public, which gets a say as to your affairs.

But the mainstream media hasn’t caught on to this.  The mainstream media is in cahoots with the stars playing the old game, negotiating for access, fearful of saying something negative for fear access will be denied in the future.  Meanwhile, in cyberspace, it’s a free for all.

Oh, people have had opinions forever, it’s just that they could not be aggregated, there was not a parallel story to the mainstream spin.  But now there is.

For example:

Subject: Re: Grammys

Bob,

I agree, she has become a laughing stock overnight. The discussions on my facebook page alone prove that this will haunt her career forever.

Ross White
Sadson Music

The discussions on his Facebook page?  I don’t see those quoted in the "New York Times", I don’t see them being pored over on the CBS News.  It’s almost like they don’t exist.  But they do.  And people trust these musings much more than those of the vapid talking heads.

Subject: Re: Grammys

Bob,

I haven’t watched the Grammys in years, but my 8 and 11 yr old daughters saw that it was on, so we viewed the show for about 2 hours. I was wondering how Taylor would sound after having heard her on SNL, and judging by the look on Stevie Nicks’ face, I thought she wanted to give Ms. Swift a swift kick in the pants to get her on-key.

I did a Google search on "Grammy’s 2010 Winners," and found that I wasn’t alone. The Washington Post posted a sampling of Twitter comments about her performance.

@Borowitz Report Satan Chooses Taylor Swift Performance as Ringtone

@questlove dear kanye im sorry

@Borowitz Report: God Hoping Taylor Swift Does Not Thank Him

@jfdulac Wifey, listening to Taylor on the #Grammys: "She couldn’t even get into the chamber choir at my high school singing like that."

@Borowitz Report T-Pain Hired to Autotune Taylor Swift at 2011

@idolator How suitable: that guy from #americanidol introduces @taylorswift13, who — we have to say — sounds a little pitchy, dawg.

@harvilla taylor swift’s career singing on live television should’ve gotten an "in memorium" nod

@Kiarri Last year the big battle was between Rihanna & C Brown. This year the fight was between Taylor Swift & pitch.

@jjjrrr Dear Taylor Swift, the music store called, you left your pitch on the counter with your lip gloss

@jeffstearns Taylor Swift? More like Francis Scott Off-Key, am I right?

@feliciapollack Taylor Swift can’t sing. She sounds like she’s playing "Rock Band" in her basement.

@JenRBoyd Oh boy. Taylor Swift’s pitch is flatter than a pancake tonight. Bless her heart

@ianfrancisbush I am starting a disaster relief fund to get Taylor Swift a chromatic tuner.

Laura Faeth

I know, I know, I’ve got to give the "Washington Post" credit for picking up on this story, and I do, if they continue to get hipper, great, but for the public this is everyday information.  Yes, as oldsters decry Twitter as a waste of time, a place where those with no life delineate what they ate for breakfast, these same supposed peons are ripping their clients a new asshole.

So you can sit in your marketing meeting, calculate how you’re going to placate radio, but there’s a shitstorm blowing somewhere you’re not even paying attention.

But speaking of radio…

From: Lance Bakemeyer
Subject: Re: Grammys

I predict you will be right on every count regard Ms. Swift

They played 10 seconds of her duet with S Nicks on the local talk radio station in Denver this morning.  Even the talk radio DJ’s knew she was out of tune and said so.  I’m sure that they never heard of Auto-tune.  They seemed dumb-founded that it could sound so bad.

It’s amazing how quickly the music biz is changing – you are right on all counts about the public finding what they want and ignoring the mainstream tripe.

Morning shows are seen as evanescent fodder, the rantings and ravings of the irrelevant.  Well, tell that to Howard Stern’s audience…  Didn’t he get a couple of candidates get elected, didn’t Christie Todd Whitman name a rest stop after him?

The point is, Ms. Swift’s abominable performance on the Grammys may not be a big story in the mainstream, but on the Net it’s a conflagration, and how often have we seen the Net ultimately influence the mainstream story, like with the U.S. Attorneys fiasco…

Everything’s grist for the mill in the mainstream, said and then forgotten.  But stories brew online, tenacious bloggers stay on them until they get traction.  If you don’t think Taylor’s poor vocals last night on the Grammys will end up haunting her, you don’t have an Internet connection.