What would it take to get you to pay for content?

I was planning on making a phone call during my drive to Santa Monica.  But the radio was tuned to Howard Stern and I wanted to find out who had this voice, who had this accent.

It turned out to be Mike Ditka.

Don’t we hate Mike Ditka?  You know, the martinet, the coach?  If there’s a single successful musician who played on the football team, I want to know about it.  Musicians are not team players.

And neither is Howard Stern.

But the funny thing about getting older is we realize we’re all in it together.  Bullying decreases, acceptance emerges, and we wonder what makes the other guy tick.

Not that you’ll find out on television.

Once upon a time "The Tonight Show" was ninety minutes and Johnny Carson even interviewed authors.

Now everybody in late night is doing Letterman’s show, a comedy extravaganza, where the guests are all pre-screened to tell bite-sized stories that will make the audience chuckle and then go to sleep.

There’s no substance, no honesty, no truth, because as Jack Nicholson so famously said in that movie, YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

But you can.  That’s the dirty little secret.  The audience is hungry for the truth.  And as difficult as it is to get on TV, it’s almost impossible to get it in mainstream music.

Which is why the alternative scene, the indie scene, is growing so much.  It’s based on honesty, truth, ability, MUSIC!

Now as much as I hate when Howard self-hypes, lobbying for a new contract, it’s nothing compared to the musicians.  Who are shills for dollars.  That’s all we hear in every interview, whether print, audio or video…GIVE ME MONEY!

And who wouldn’t be turned off by that.

Tell me again why I should pay you?  Because you’ve got a BMW payment?  Because you want to buy a second house?  Because you want to party in Vegas?

And sure, there are idiots who think they can live this same lifestyle, get up close and personal with the famous faces in clubs in Hollywood and Sin City, but most people are more realistic, they dismiss the "artists", they might buy the track, but they no more believe in these acts than we did in Ed McMahon, or Andy Richter.

Howard asked Ditka about violence.  Open the paper and you’re constantly confronted with another football player who’s been paralyzed.

I expected Ditka to pooh-pooh the injuries, to say football is fine.  That’s what I love about big time entertainment, the denial.  Everyone should listen to their music on CDs and watch the World Series after midnight….  Huh?

But being an insider, a master of the game, Ditka said it was the helmet’s fault.  That the helmet is so good, it’s become a weapon.  That there are fewer injuries in rugby than there are in football, and rugby players don’t wear helmets at all.  Remove the face guard and let’s see people hit like that.

Mmm…  Never thought of that.

And then Howard asked the coach if he ever cried.

After getting fired.  Twice.  It’s tough to lose a gig.

Have you ever lost your job?  It’s your identity!  Your phone stops ringing.  Everybody moves on but you.  It’s depressing.

But there’s no depression on television unless you’re watching drug addicts, everybody in music is a winner, who can identify?

And I’m driving down the freeway and I’m wondering…  If Howard left the satellite, could I do without him?

And lo and behold, I realized I couldn’t.  That I’d gotten hooked.

Sure, I could live without the obligatory questions on broads, then again, I am interested in the answers.  But I realized Howard’s become such a good interviewer, he elicits such juicy truth from his guests, that I couldn’t live without him.

Can you live without Taio Cruz? Or the Far East Movement?  Or Maroon 5?

And you wonder why revenues are decreasing in the music business.

In order to be successful, you’ve got to either sell a commodity, like food or shoes, or you’ve got to be necessary, an integral part of people’s lives.  They’ve got to be unable to live without you.

And this has got nothing to do with your paycheck.  And everything to do with how skilled a musician you are, what you say in your lyrics, how your tunes connect.

Infectious is not only Top Forty beats.  A moody number can infiltrate a listener’s mind just as much.  You might be attracted to someone’s looks, but who they are is what keeps you sticking around.

We’ve lost the plot.  We’re making entertainment for people who don’t exist.  And everybody believes they deserve to be famous.  Even if they can’t sing or haven’t practiced their instrument.  The focus is on fame, not achievement.

Ditka played on two championship teams before he ultimately coached the Bears to a Super Bowl victory and became a legend.  But now people want to become a legend first.  What makes them believe this is possible? Other than the handlers who blow smoke up their rear ends?

Don’t listen to those people.  Now it’s a connection directly between you and your audience.  And don’t go away for three years concocting new product…  Keep delivering it, like Howard, hook us every day.  We want more. Play to your core, don’t try to close those who don’t care.  If you’re truly good, word of mouth will grow your audience.  But the days of the casual audience are done.  There are just too many entertainment options.  You want a tribe.  And if you grow one, it’ll give you all of its money.  Hell, Howard Stern gets paid $100 million a year, he built Sirius radio…he’s richer and more powerful than almost any musical act.  Think about that…