Mayer Hawthorne.

Did he kill someone?  Did someone kill him?  Then why is he featured in both today’s "New York Times" and "Los Angeles Times"?  HE MUST BE PROMOTING A NEW ALBUM!

Once upon a time I tolerated Mayer Hawthorne.  Now I hate him.  And his handlers and the media complicit in this charade.

Used to be we were isolated.  We had to read the local newspaper, it was the only way to get information.  Now we’ve got a plethora of information sources at our fingertips via the Web/new technology.  But the media industry, the entertainment companies and the hypesters they employ, still believe we live in a pre-digital era, where information was scarce.

These perpetrators will say they’re only trying to reach people.  That’s the conundrum.  In an era where people know more than ever before, they care ever less about what you’re selling.  Not only have they become immune to hype, they ignore it.  They don’t trust marketers.  They wait for the imprimatur of a friend before they dip their own toes in the water, because their time is at a premium.

So how do you reach these people?  Double down?  Create the Keith Richards publicity where everybody in old media covers the story for a week and then it’s scotched, with the book reaching number one and then forgotten?  We know this paradigm in the music world.  Skid Row had a number one album.  Where is Sebastian Bach today?

It’s about longevity.  And longevity comes from quality and trust.  Your product needs to sell itself.  It’s got to be that good.  Then those that acquire it will tell everybody else about it.  That’s the success of Lexus.  It’s even the success of Apple.  Sure, the company advertises now, but is that truly necessary?  People believe in the brand, they tune in to watch product demonstrations by Steve Jobs, affairs that were once for journalists only.  But everybody’s a journalist today.  Creating his own paper. Information is at our fingertips.  Why should we trust the intermediaries?  What is their agenda?  Exactly why did the "Times" of both coasts do stories on Mr. Hawthorne?  It wasn’t news.  Do they want to maintain a relationship with the publicist for a real get, or do they want free concert tickets or..?  And if you really want to know about Mr. Hawthorne, why in hell would you go to the daily newspaper when there are authorities online who live the story.  Old wave reporters investigate a story, online writers live it, each and every day.

If you want to date a woman do you call her each and every day?  Bombard her with text messages?  Not only does this not work, you’ll be arrested as a stalker.  Today, everyone selling in the entertainment business is stalking the audience, and it’s positively creepy.  The way you get a date with your crush is to be so attractive, so desirable that when you finally put the offer out, she can’t help but accept.  When you put your concert tickets on sale, fans clamor, because they believe in you.

And concert tickets are the measure of career success.  That’s a commitment of money and time, going to a show.  Buying a track doesn’t mean much.  Do you remember the last candy bar you bought?

But if you buy what I’m saying the game is much harder.  There are no tricks.  You’ve got to be good, success is slower.  But this is not only where we’re heading, it’s to a great degree where we already are.  You just don’t want to believe it.

I’ve never had a reader e-mail me about Mayer Hawthorne.  I’ve only read about him in the mainstream press, which I don’t trust to get it right on anything truly important to me, why should I trust them on this?