The Emmy Nominations
It’s a race to quality, driven by technology, why haven’t we had a concomitant race in music?
Music is far ahead of television technologically, the disruption has already happened and you can get the history of recorded music at a number of outlets, i.e. Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Deezer…
But the music being purveyed is absolutely dreadful. It hasn’t been this bad since before the Beatles. And now we know what it was like before the Fab Four…music was just another industry, necessary, but not exciting. Why is this?
If you study the Emmy nominations, you’ll be confronted by one thing…the networks were almost completely cut out. That’s right, despite crowing to advertising agencies that they’re the best place to reach the largest audience, however small, the shows on the networks garner little attention and are not respected. They’re middle of the road and not edgy. They’re ignored in the cultural conversation. Some people might actually watch them, but no one talks about them.
But they talk about “Game of Thrones,” the biggest cultural event of the year.
Sure, a lot of people watched “Game of Thrones,” but everybody was talking about it! And they were not talking about the penumbra, but the essence, the show itself. When people talk about today’s music, it’s mostly about the feuds and the money.
And the money is what it comes down to.
You see the various TV outlets are fighting for eyeballs. They’re playing a game of musical chairs. How many services will you ultimately pay for?
Now we had this excitement in music back at the turn of the century, they called it Napster, when not only could you acquire all those hits for free, but a ton of stuff that was never commercially available.
Needless to say, the majors and the antique artists tried to tamp down file-trading to preserve the past, fearing the future.
And one thing was for sure, money was drying up in recorded music.
That’s what is driving the television revolution, money. Netflix is spending billions on shows, running in the red so it can win in the end, at least hopefully. AT&T purchased Time Warner and it’s injecting cash to play too. Hell, Richard Plepler, HBO’s guru, departed because the new owner wanted more production!
And the producers?
They’re living in a fantasyland. There’s cash for almost every project, especially if you’re a star. That script in your drawer, your passion project, you can find a sponsor for that now.
But in recorded music, the cash went the other way, half the revenue was lost, and therefore investment is low and so are the offerings. The majors sign less and invest less, and they’re not searching for quality, but cash, right away.
But the live business is burgeoning, that’s where all the investment in music is today. We have a slew of festivals, actually too many, this replicates the TV streaming wars. The customer is eager. He or she who comes up with something different can tour forever, whereas the hit dependent…are hit dependent.
So it’s not a complete loss.
But we’ve still got that quality issue in music.
Jimmy Fallon has great ratings, is constantly discussed in the media, but he got no nominations, whereas competitors like Trevor Noah, Samantha Bee, John Oliver and James Corden did. Even Jimmy Kimmel got one, never mind the ratings leader Stephen Colbert. Turns out safe is sorry. Today people want edgy, limit-testing, but we don’t see that in popular music.
And if you’re new and different and good, you gain attention. Almost no one talks to me about Amazon shows, but they do about “Mrs. Maisel,” which is a juggernaut. It’s unique, and not even that great, but when it resonates…like the episodes in the Catskills, you feel all warm inside, you can’t get this anywhere else.
And “Ozark” was nominated. I could watch “Ozark” every day, even if it slipped a bit this season. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney are so good, they’re a marvel to look at, as well as Julia Garner who plays Ruth.
And “Killing Eve” and “Fleabag,” actually another Amazon show, are constantly talked about, and have traction, when was the last time you found yourself discussing a record?
And I still can’t figure out the end of “Russian Doll,” but I’m watching it.
So where is our golden age of music?
In the last century.
We’re shooting low.
And it’s all about the Benjamins. You hear about sponsorships, tie-ins, proving that acts gravitate to the cash.
And those without money can’t stop bitching they don’t have it.
Maybe a TV show about the industry would be better than the music, the haves versus the have-nots. And the heroes? They would be those going their own way, according to their own mind, not playing by the rules.
This is how every great triumphed in the music world. It wasn’t just songs, but arrangements thereof, instrumentation, the sound… From the Beatles to Dylan to Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin to Yes to Culture Club to…
To what?
P.S. Julia Garner is a bigger breakout star than anybody in music. Because she radiates talent. Remember talent?
