Money is not the only way to do this.

We admire our rich people, but we love our artists.

You get to choose, which path are you on?

Some cross over, Steven Spielberg is a good example. He’s rich, influential and admirable, he may not always reach the artistic heavens, but his work touches people.

But Spielberg broke through in 1975, in a completely different era. Gerald Ford was still President, inflation had not run away with the economy, Ronald Reagan had not legitimized greed, no one ever talked about billionaires, there weren’t any.

But then Michael Milken made $550 million in one year.

But they got him, indicted him and he even got cancer.

But Milken was just the first. And those who followed knew if they spread the money around, not only gave it to the politicians, but flew them around on their plane, took them on vacation (did you see that Scalia was in Texas on a free trip for someone who’d gotten a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court?), lawmakers bent to their will.

And now we accept this.

We decry the influence of the Kochs.

The right wing excoriates George Soros.

But nobody wants to fight them that hard because one day they too might be rich, and when they achieve this they want the same privileges, the same largesse, the same influence, the same lifestyle.

This is the carrot in front of their eyes, this is the American Dream.

But the lack of a ladder, never mind the influence of money in politics, has the younger generation following Bernie Sanders, who unlike Hillary Clinton never took that Wall Street money. Do you think they paid Hillary because they wanted to hear what she had to say? No, they paid for influence.

Because money trumps everything.

Or does it?

We’ll have to see what inroads Bernie makes.

But one thing we know forever more is that art trumps money every day of the week. Money buys power, but not as much as art.

Assuming you exercise it.

We need a reset. Artists are not in competition with the Kardashians, that family may be famous, but it is not creating art, not in the conventional sense.

But in a society run by money, he or she who has it wins. So artists are comparing themselves with the rich, which they shouldn’t do, because they’re playing a different game, there’s just not enough money in entertainment.

Unless you run the NFL. But does anybody expect Roger Goodell to have a legacy? One people admire? Of course not, he’s the lackey of billionaires.

Is this your goal?

Kurt Cobain wouldn’t take a limo, he said it wasn’t punk.

And Kurt Cobain will last longer in people’s memory than the tech billionaires, hell, Steve Jobs, number one, is already in the rearview mirror.

We’ll all be forgotten one day.

But while you’re here, what is your goal?

There’s nothing wrong with accumulating wealth. If that’s your path, set to it.

But if you consider yourself an artist…

An artist does not do what’s expedient, but what he feels. And we all feel something, none of us are automatons, didn’t you laugh when Rupert Murdoch got engaged to Jerry Hall? He’s just looking for some eye candy, he’s thinking with the little head, not so different from the guy on the street. Encapsulate what people feel in your art and you can own the world. Don’t expect execs to laud this, but the listeners and viewers will, that’s what they’re hungry for.

And artists speak truth to power, they say what’s right, they blow the whistle on foul play and inequity. It’s hard to speak the truth when you’re begging the corporation for a sponsorship. But that’s putting money in front of art.

And youngsters have only grown up in this era, where music is about money. Films too. And let’s be clear, both record labels and movie studios will purvey anything if it sells.

But we’ve been unlocked from our chains. We can now do it ourselves, we can gain control, but we rarely exercise this power.

We are not in a golden age of music. Primarily because the motivation is suspect. Stuff sounds good, but it’s got the nutritional value of a candy bar.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Your greatest asset is your mind. Your influences and education, wrapped up in your thoughts, laid down as your art. They want to sell teenagers, because they’re moldable, they’re satiated with toys, adults are more difficult.

And you can rail against the financial system, but ultimately artists are in control. Not only of their art, but their business. Artists could make sure fans got seats, by going to paperless, by charging what the tickets are truly worth, no one bitches that they can’t get a ticket to the Stones now that they flex-price. But no one else does, because they’re afraid of being labeled the rip-off they are. There’s no honesty, everyone’s fake, everyone’s hiding behind a facade.

And then Bernie Sanders comes along and blows up the building, demonstrating money isn’t everything, and if you appeal to the many as opposed to the few, you can raise just as much cash and owe little in fealty.

That’s the story of the century. How the American Dream was decimated and someone who was not wishy-washy, who always stood for the same principles, stole the hearts and minds of the younger generation.

And the rich people don’t like it.

And the political parties don’t like it.

And the media doesn’t like it.

At first they wouldn’t cover Bernie and they keep saying his proposals are unrealistic.

But Bernie is giving people hope.

Like you used to get when you put on a record or sat in a darkened theatre.

You can be in the hope business, you can be in the connection business, you can even make enough of a living along the way to pay your bills.

You’ve just got to decide this is your path.

How could this show be this bad? Are Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger really this out of touch? As for Terence Winter, he was involved with the “Sopranos,” I guess that proves that David Chase was the genius there.

I lived through 1973. Although there were no cell phones, there was plenty of boredom, the world was not hoppin’ and poppin’ 24/7. Sure, the Dolls played the Mercer Arts Center, but there was no mania in the streets, certainly not kids running to the venue like they are in the beginning of this production so lame you sit there with your jaw dropped open.

It’s 2016. We’ve come full circle. Truth, justice and the American Way have returned. We want veracity, credibility and honesty. Bernie Sanders, a septuagenarian, has locked up the youth vote by speaking the truth and these counterculture heroes, Marty and Mick, have cooked up this dreck?

First and foremost, it was miscast. We never believe Bobby Cannavale as a record exec. He rings false. And casting is everything. It even supersedes script.

Which in this case is so busy being faithful to what was that it ends up being disloyal to life. Nobody acts this way. Except for maybe Ray Romano, who nails the promo exec.

Yes, there are moments. Even insights. But there’s so much scenery chewing and plot points played as real that never could be that you wince.

As for the wall to wall rock and roll soundtrack… We learned decades ago that this does not make a hit movie, why would someone believe it would succeed on TV?

And, trying to pepper the story with endless references to the era, illustrating how faithful the show is, they talk about lyme disease in Greenwich years before it was a factor. And I’d let that slide if this show had any heart, any truth, instead of trying to get us all excited as an accurate portrayal of what once was.

The reason the “Sopranos” succeeded, was because they threw out the Mafia cookbook. You know, the one with too many “dems” and “dose” wherein tough guys shot each other. Tony was just another suburban denizen…with an edge. The juxtaposition with crime and normalcy was infectious. Tony could take his daughter on a college tour and still strangle an old member of the Mob along the way.

You know what they say in Hollywood, “What have you done for me lately?” And despite being legends, Scorsese and Jagger haven’t done much, the people greenlighting this fiasco were mesmerized by their fame. As for musical TV shows, “Empire” is over the top, that was an artistic choice that succeeded, here they’re playing for accuracy and coming nowhere near it.

As for having youngsters play oldsters… Although the Peter Grant character does a good job of threatening the label people, he’s too short and not paunchy enough and not imposing enough, he acts scary, he just ISN’T scary. And Robert Plant looks like a poof. A weakling who couldn’t get David Bowie in bed.

This is not the way it was.

There was dope and drink, there was crime, but music drove the culture, the acts were gods, and despite ripping the artists off, the execs were enthralled and threatened by them.

I don’t know if that era can come back, too much light shines today. We’re moving towards transparency, however reluctant the oldsters might be. You just can’t do anything illicit anymore. The groupie at the Edgewater Inn would sell mudshark pictures to TMZ.

Then again, we’ve got acts for the modern age. All flash and no substance. Any rough edges have either been rubbed off or exaggerated to generate press. Kanye’s antics resemble the manipulations of Bob Marcucci more than Brian Epstein, it’s about idolmakers. And the press is little better than “16” magazine. Kanye spews a litany of untruths, the writers repeat them, few hear the album and it’s lauded as genius. Huh? As for Taylor Swift reacting to Yeezy at the Grammy Awards, that resembles something out of “Mean Girls” more than modern society. Are you that thin-skinned?

So don’t waste your time.

I’m just mad I had to listen to a year’s worth of hype on such a lame effort.

But that’s today, where they throw it against the wall, promote the hell out of it, and if it doesn’t stick, they just sell something else the very next day.

No wonder every kid believes he’s a star. They’ve got more gravitas than these two-dimensional “brands” with no soul that’ll do anything for the money.

I always thought Scorsese was overrated. He’s bad with arc, but he used to get the feel right.

But here he’s lost his touch.

As for Mick Jagger…

Stick to music!

1. You can’t make it alone. No one is complete, everyone needs help and guidance.

2. Be the best you you can be, that’s your only hope, don’t try to be someone else, it’s your uniqueness that’s your calling card. Your goal is to be yourself and then to glom on to someone who can complement your greatness and beam you into the stratosphere…assuming that’s where you want to go, that’s not the only goal, happiness is key, sometimes a little is enough.

3. Don’t sand off your rough edges, learn how to get along, but don’t aspire to be a namby-pamby wuss without opinions. We gravitate to those with edges, who express what we feel but cannot say.

4. Getting it right is worth a lot. Most people don’t try that hard. Others try to do it just like everybody else. Your goal is to fulfill your vision and get it right for yourself. When you do, others will resonate.

5. Introverts need extroverts, opposites attract, look for someone to fill the holes you cannot. (This is an analogue of #1, but it bears repeating in a society where everybody’s trying to be someone they are not.)

6. Leave the house. Even if you’re not sure you want to go. Online is a facsimile of life. You can only truly be alive when you interact with other people. You never know what will happen, assuming you are playing.

7. Everybody hates failure and loss. The key is to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Once you do this you’ll find out the good results outweigh the bad, and then you will be empowered to take new risks.

8. Everybody is lonely too. If you’re honest and forthright you might be able to make a connection. Be vulnerable, people are attracted to that.

9. For every person who doesn’t remember meeting you, who doesn’t say hi, there are many who remember every word you said and are eager to interact with you again.

10. Those who talk longest are unaware they’re wasting your time. Learn how to extract yourself gracefully from these one-sided conversations.

11. If something is great, no length is too long. If something is bad, any length is too long.

12. Be in the mix. (This is an analogue of #6. Not only do you need to go, you need to interact. If you’re waiting for people to engage with you you’re missing out.)

13. You have unknown fans. Stay the course, they’ll ultimately surface and support you.

14. Some people refuse to deliver bad news, so they have others do it for them. Be sure to know where the bad news is coming from.

15. Just because someone’s cute and a good conversationalist, that does not mean they’ll be a good mate. You’re looking for someone with perseverance, who will also call you on your b.s. One of the greatest predictors of commitment is credit rating.

“Credit Scores and Committed Relationships”

16. Some people need to put you down to feel good about themselves. Ignore them.

17. Some people are full of pipe dreams, they tell a good story but nothing ever comes to fruition. Ignore them.

18. Deciding who to follow is one of the big games/choices of life. The people you associate with will determine your future.

19. Many famous people you hate you will like when you finally meet them, but not all. Don’t equate image with reality.

20. One day you’ll wake up and realize those people you saw every day…you never see them anymore.

21. Life is about exhilaration. We’re in constant search of it and we adhere and attach to those who provide it. We don’t want you to play to us, we want you to follow your own muse and shine so brightly that we can bask in your beacon.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Labels were searching for talent, they felt if you were good enough, even if nothing like anything else, they could find a market for you.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

They just want something they can sell, hopefully just like everything else that is successful.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

They built it.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

They want you to build it, their role is just to blow it up.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

You had to be true to yourself.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

You’re true to the buck, you follow it wherever it may go.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

The story was the music.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

The story is the story, who you are, what you stand for, who you’re dating, what tech companies you’ve invested in. The hardest thing to do is to get someone to click to hear your music. The audience is immune to hype. But people are constantly grazing for information, if you’re part of the discussion continually people will eventually click to find out what your music is all about. But you only get one chance. No one’s got any time. They want to know enough to form an opinion, but they don’t want to spend hours listening to your tunes to find out they don’t like you that much.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

It was about the music. Sure, money was important, but only the most successful acts got rich and prior to Tommy Mottola the exec was secondary to the performer.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

It’s about the money. And secondarily the fame. No one is interested unless you can generate bucks, right away. If you don’t have this ability, don’t bother to sell yourself, no one cares. Especially promoters. Used to be the labels subsidized club dates, building your career. But that went out with Napster…if you think the promoter wants to lose money, why don’t you light a match to a wad of bills, see how it feels.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Let you find your way.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Wants you fully formed, it wants no experimentation, no finding of your way on their dime. They’re only interested once you’ve proven the concept, data is everything, how many followers, how many streams, they want no one wet behind the ears,

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Believed in artist development. CREATIVE artist development. A business story, wherein you gain more fans and traction is CAREER development, don’t confuse the two.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

The acts come and go, the execs remain, they want to milk what you’ve got now as opposed to worrying about where you’re gonna be in the future.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

They wanted to sign no one who didn’t write.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

They want you to write with others. There’s too much money at risk to promote secondary songs. Furthermore, competition is fierce, with everything at everybody’s fingertips, the entire history of recorded music, you’ve got to be just as good as the classics, the bar is ever higher. If you think you’re good enough, you probably don’t know what great is. Furthermore, as much as you hate the pros, it’s their business to pick hits. The internet was supposed to unearth tons of unsigned talent that was gonna decimate the majors… It didn’t happen. Turned out the labels were good at flushing out talent and there’s only so much greatness to go around.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

You could say no.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Everybody says yes all the time, otherwise their investors, their team, will have a fit. We live in a desperate decade, no one’s got any self-respect, everybody’s chasing the dollar and fearful there won’t be a seat at the table for them. Furthermore, there’s a backlash to this, fans trumpeting marginal talent to make themselves feel better. Don’t fall for it. If you’re not mass, you’re not relevant. It’s all about mindshare, and the audience has limited space. Respect this. Earn people’s attention. And know that everything is slower these days. Records take nearly a year to top the chart.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

The money was in recordings.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

The money is in touring and the penumbra…merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, privates… Like Donna Summer once sang, you work hard for the money. People are using Facebook as Mark Zuckerberg sleeps, but unless you’re out working chances are the big money ain’t comin’ in. This will change, there will be more money from recordings as streaming subscriptions/revenue increases. And it will. Don’t prematurely shut down free, it will just drive piracy. The key is to addict people first and then make them pay for convenience.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Radio reached everybody.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Radio is an overhyped medium that does not satiate the consumer. No one wants to wait an eternity to hear their favorite track when it’s just a click away online. Which is why personality and story are key to the new radio, and no commercials. Sirius XM has got no ads, and Apple Music has story, but the previous has little story and the latter is laden with amateurs. The big winner? Howard Stern, who realizes story is everything and makes you feel included. Stars get more publicity than ever before, but they’re smaller in reach than ever before. Adele goes mass because she can sing and employs good songs you can sing along with. But nobody follows her lead, everybody wants to be Kendrick Lamar or a pop diva working with Max Martin. Want to go nuclear? Write hummable songs with good changes that people can sing along with, and deliver them with a great voice. Sounds easy, but it’s hard to do, and it’s not hip. But that’s today’s music world, everybody wants it simple and hip, and that’s not a formula for entrancing the world.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

TV sold records and built careers.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

TV is irrelevant unless it has a mass audience, and none of the traditional shows do. Which is why everybody fights for the mass audience events. They do the Super Bowl to sell tons of tickets and the Grammys so the audience can finally put a face to the name. Admit it, you didn’t know what some of the stars looked like until you saw them on TV last night.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Upward mobility.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

The hit acts may be young, but it’s still the same old white baby boomers running the companies. And they don’t want anybody encroaching upon their turf. But like Scalia, they’re gonna pass, no one is forever.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Run by rock.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Run by pop, country and hip-hop. You can get your piercings and tattoos, run up the Active Rock chart, but the truth is the audience is laughing if it cares at all, you’re just one step away from a Civil War reenactor. Why don’t you break out your BlackBerry. Even better, why don’t you break out you 8-track tape! (And don’t buy the comeback of vinyl and cassette hype. We’re nostalgic for the past because the present moves too fast, but the truth is we don’t really want to go there. We may be addicted to and distracted by our mobile devices, but we don’t want to go back to the era of loneliness. It’d be like refusing to have an answering machine, back when we still talked on the phone… If someone says they’re gonna call you, that they’ve been on the phone all day, they’re an oldster destined for extinction. Millennials don’t want to waste that much time. In the era of plenitude as opposed to scarcity it’s all about deciding what you DON’T want to do, because you just don’t have enough time.)

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Got no respect and didn’t care. Warner Music was the engine that built the Warner cable system. Music was an outside business whose stars were more powerful than any politician or industrialist.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Is constantly fighting for success and is full of brand extensions, looking for a way to make more bucks. If you’re not willing to leave some money on the table, you’re never gonna bond with your audience, which is struggling.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Teed it up and the press said what it wanted.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Controls the media, only gives limited access. And the doofus writers are sycophants, burnishing the images of the famous, as if fame and wealth made you and your music worthwhile.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

You spoke with your music.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

You feud in the media. When Taylor Swift disses Kanye West in her acceptance speech you know the end is near. When you’re that self-referential, you’ve missed the plot. Kanye just wants publicity. How do you fight that? BY IGNORING HIM! But no one can seemingly ignore him.

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Your handlers promoted you.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

You promote yourself, no one better than Kanye. Veracity is irrelevant, it’s all train-wreck all the time, we follow music like wrestling, everybody’s a cartoon character fighting for our attention and we know the game is fixed, just like America, we may bump asses to your tunes but the only people who believe in you are the uneducated nitwits with no future. How did we abdicate all our power? How did we lose our self-respect?

OLD MUSIC BUSINESS

Was a haven of self-promoting and self-dealing crooks.

NEW MUSIC BUSINESS

Is easing towards transparency, and the oldsters don’t like this. But the truth is anybody with success doesn’t like this either, the money is in touring and the acts don’t want the public knowing it can’t get a ticket because of Amex and Citi sponsorships and self-dealing. Ever notice how the stars don’t bitch? Because they’re getting paid. When someone like David Lowery complains look at his stature, how much money he’s making. Melissa Ferrick too. Has and never-beens can’t get attention with their music, so they sue. And if you pay attention to what they have to say you’ll get caught up in their backwater.

BOTTOM LINE

We’re never going back to the past. The good old days had advantages, but there was tons of inconvenience that today’s audience will not tolerate. To play in the present you must know it’s all about attention, garnering it and maintaining it. Financial rewards come after. Isn’t that the YouTube paradigm? They won’t build your audience, but if you’ve got one, you can make money. And when you’re building your audience know that unless it’s an ongoing relationship, it’s not worth much. You must continually feed people and you can’t burn anybody. But that does not mean you cannot have an edge, never forget, edges hook people and not everyone is gonna like you, if you’re not pissing off someone, you’re not doing it right. And know that today the only people who truly care about you are those who can’t help you. Everybody pledging undying fealty is lying. Society has changed, it’s coarser, people can’t pay their bills. They’re with you for now, but for the future..? The label just needs somebody, not necessarily you.

And we’re looking for heroes. A hero is not someone who is rich, although they may be. A hero is someone who does what is right, not what is expedient, even if nobody’s watching. You hook us with your music, but it’s your identity that keeps us attached. And in music we’ve got to believe it’s you, not the work of a handler. So if someone else is writing the material… You’re no different from Olivia Newton-John. And if that’s what you want to be, someone famous but with no center… We want the genuine article. We’re just promoting imitators because pickings are slim and everyone’s a slave to the money. “Uptown Funk” is catchy but meaningless. Neil Young can still sell tickets because he sells truth and soul, he does it his way.

Do it your way. Reinvent the wheel. Don’t be sour grapes. Don’t complain. If you’re great and you’re an original we’ve got unlimited time for you.

But few fit this paradigm.