Declare victory and stay home. With an 82% drop in its second week, from 305,280 to 45,536, “Artpop” is so stiff, you could iron a shirt on it. And everybody knows. And nobody wants to go to a show no one else is attending. Heat.  That’s what gets people to go, when their friends are […]

PRACTICE Your ability to play exceeds social networking. Your chops are more important than your social skills. Frequently the best musicians are near mute, they speak through their music, which brings adoring fans to them. First learn how to play. Everything else comes next. WRITE You can make it with other people’s songs, but it’s […]

It was a show. It was entertaining. You got your money’s worth. I oftentimes don’t want to go anymore. Because it’s an endurance test. Unless you know the songs by heart, it can be positively brutal as you sit there, too often stand there, as the act plays its music at a deafening volume one […]

1. They can’t make any money on it. It’s show business, not show art. The bottom line is the bottom line. Major labels don’t care if you’re the new Mozart Beatles, if they can’t make any money on you they’re not interested, now more than ever, where recordings render less cash than ever. 2. Radio […]