“Capitol Drops “Virtual Rapper” FN Meka After Backlash Over Stereotypes – The record company apologized to ‘the Black community’ for insensitivity in promoting an AI-backed artist that critics said was ‘appropriative’ and included ‘slurs infused in lyrics.'”: https://nyti.ms/3QUBLli

I can’t tell you how many times people e-mailed me this story, about this “virtual rapper.” Talk about making news… This story was EVERYWHERE!

Kinda stuns me that Capitol did no due diligence, was unaware of what they were signing, but that’s not what stuck out in this article, that was THERE WAS NO ADVANCE!

In other words, there was no there there. Capitol made no commitment, laid down no dollars, had no investment. Maybe there was a recording budget, but it sounds like this operation was self-contained, and Capitol’s only obligation was to distribute and promote.

And we all know distribution cost is de minimis. Just ask all those nobodies posting their music to streaming services each and every day. And it’s not like Capitol was going to do a run of physical product, at least not until the act actually had traction.

IN OTHER WORDS THIS WAS A PRESS STORY! And if you read the above article you wonder if the act was what was claimed. The impression was this was a robot act, created by machines. But it turns out there was a human voice and…

This has been the music business’s concern for decades. More on the creative side than the business side. The business side would LOVE virtual/robot acts, because robots don’t talk back, they don’t get hooked on drugs, they don’t call you in the middle of the night… But creators are afraid of being usurped, disrupted, by machines. But the dirty little truth today is that in a mechanized, digitized society what people are looking for most is humanity. Want to succeed with the public? Don’t comp the vocals, leave the mistakes in. It’s not only your music, it’s YOU! The more you excise your personality, the less the audience can identify with you. And to have a long career it’s got to be about you, not only the music.

I won’t say the live business is honest. But instead of reciting the b.s., like changing capacity figures to say a show was nearly sold out when in truth it was a disaster, I will say it all comes down to the money. No concert promoter would promote a deal like this. Because everybody knows you do the show and you get paid. And if you’re nobody, you start at the bottom. You build it from the ground up. There are no turntable hits live, there are no press stars, live is where the rubber meets the road. And sure, grosses can be manipulated to look good, but good luck trying to get a big guarantee next time around, promoters have long memories, they can lose a fortune on you, especially with Live Nation being a public company and acts not wanting to give money back.

So the entire recording industry lost with this story. Capitol lost credibility, but it infects other labels. If you’re not paying an advance, what are you really committing to? This signing is more like a trial balloon, let’s put out the story and see what happens, if it gets traction.

So what other record company stories are b.s? What is the label’s commitment?

It used to be different, acts trumpeted the advance. Oftentimes misunderstood by the public, a twelve million dollar deal might be for five years and five records and the label could drop you after one, after you got only a couple of million, but at least the label paid something.

Getting a record deal was the Holy Grail, you’d made it. Now acts are weary of the major labels, if for no other reason than they don’t want to give that much up, especially when so much of the revenue comes directly from digital and there are no big gatekeepers.

This all started back in the nineties, when Mo Ostin left Warner Bros. The new regime would sign acts for one record, whereas Mo believed in careers. And oftentimes they only lasted one record. Investment, artist development, OUT THE WINDOW! Today’s labels specialize in blowing things up, from big to bigger, not starting from scratch, and when they say they’re starting from scratch…we get bogus stories like this.

And you wonder why the record business has a bad reputation…