TAXICAB CONFESSIONS

He lied to the government to get free health care and then his wife had an affair.

People in New York are different. Everybody in Los Angeles is trying to be famous, or luxuriating in the outdoor lifestyle. In NYC, they’re either on the track to get rich or they’re getting by. Life is harder here. Which is why your story is so important, it’s all you’ve got.

I always talk to the drivers. I guess I feel guilty. I’ve got a problem with the master/servant thing, I assuage my guilt by conversing. And sometimes you hear the most amazing stories, like tonight.

Life isn’t like TV. Everybody isn’t beautiful and everything isn’t wrapped up neatly in a bow at the end of an hour. Life is messy. Quandaries appear more often than solutions. Did she step out because you ignored her or was it a character flaw? You beat yourself up inside. And even though TV lore says to kick her out and smile smugly, it rarely goes down that way. You want the family, you want compassion…

But not always with her.

That’s New York. Sure, there are bankers ruining the world, but everybody else is just in it together, trying to get along.

BANKERS

I had lunch with two.

They’re always thinking…

Which is so different from the wannabe famous folk. Who are just me, me, me all the time. Was it right for Tim Cook to declare a dividend? Is a tech dollar the same as a bank dollar? When I go to lunch with music people, all they do is sell me. It’s an endless tsunami of hype, I expect them to whip out their Square at the end of the meal and charge me.

This was a welcome respite.

They may make a lot of money. But oftentimes, these bankers are the best and the brightest. Which can make them intriguing.

Then again, there are good people working at the major labels…

Ha!

Q PRIME

I’m gonna tell you a secret. You wanna get ahead in this business?

Don’t talk business. Leave music out.

My conversation with Cliff Burnstein was about travel, to places where they had no Internet. And foreign flicks. And politics. You think everybody’s a buyer, and if you just sell well enough, you’ll get a deal.

Wrong.

First and foremost people want to know you’re trustworthy, a well-rounded person. That’s what you learn at a liberal arts college. Not that you need to go to college at all. But if you’re on a singular mission to get rich, there’s a good chance you won’t be.

Q PRIME II

Cliff did say that I contradicted myself. That I send missives how to use social media and then sent an e-mail saying music was paramount and the rest was irrelevant.

I told him he wasn’t privy to my e-mail. Where I’m inundated with people who can market themselves incredibly whose music sucks.

The oldsters should be hip to social media.

And the wannabes…should focus more on the music.

INTERNET WEEK

It’s all about tech.

And I had to tell them tech was subservient to music.

Everybody wants to be in entertainment, they’re not lining up to be garbage men. It’s hard to get into the music business and it’s almost impossible to stay in.

And the business is run by kings.

And they’re not Lucian Grainge and they’re not Irving Azoff.

We call these people artists.

The artists control this business. Wanna have power, wanna last? Write a hit song. It’s ever so much harder than coming up with a great business idea. Sure, you’d make a great manager, sure you’d like to help. But can you find a hit act? That’s how you get ahead in this business.

And, for the record, the acts fuck you.

SOUND CONTROL AWARDS

Steve Stoute gave one to Scooter Braun. Both men were extremely eloquent. I rag on Justin Bieber all the time, but I’ve got to give Scooter credit for managing him.

Scooter said you start small. That just before he broke big with Bieber, he thought he was an idiot, that he’d lost his way.

That’s the world of music, that’s being an entrepreneur.

This business is all about wildcatters. Crazy people who wouldn’t fit in anywhere else. If you’re a worker bee, find another career. If you got kicked out of school, if you’ve got rough edges, if you’ve got a personality that can articulate your vision…you’ve got a chance.

Cliff Burnstein could be mistaken for a homeless person. But he’s one of the foremost thinkers in our business. He’s got his sixties values intact, it’s what’s inside that counts. He couldn’t work for the man, the security guard wouldn’t let him inside!

And Scooter Braun looks like someone just out of college. Big companies don’t give the reins to people like this. But Scooter grabbed the reins and rode his horse all the way to the bank.

And one thing that Scooter said that was so interesting… The authorized Bieber music is just a small piece of the puzzle. It’s fan-generated content that’s driving Bieber’s success. He’s owned by his audience, which keeps spreading the word.

The business has had it wrong for so long. You’ve go to empower these fans, not hold them back/restrict them/sue them.

As for Scooter’s deal with Universal… I’m disappointed in him. What did we say way back when, you’re either part of the problem or part of the solution? If you think you can change a major label from the inside, you’re dreaming. All the innovation in the twenty first century has come from outside pressure. As for Scooter’s tech bona fides… You’re better off with one of the nerds in attendance than him.

Scooter’s great with the artists.

The nerds are great with code, good with tech vision. Hell, Scooter doesn’t have time to ride the pony of tech innovation. In a world where Google and Facebook are challenged by mobile, what are the odds that Scooter has the answers?

Then again, neither does Lucian.

This business is always the same. Outside forces come out of nowhere to change it. And as the baby boomers age, and the millennials grow up, the torch is being passed. It will be their business soon. And it will look completely different. Fans will not be adversaries, acts will trust their handlers, deals will be fairer.

Because that’s the world the millennials grew up in.