Do you feel manipulated?

Excuse me for writing about Taylor Swift’s “1989,” but it’s all the press is talking about this week, and that saddens me. The way both traditional and so called new media outlets are reporting this nonstory as if it matters. Then again, we live in the land of Ebolamania, but at least the virus has some news value, there’s some actual reporting going on, the “1989” hype smells just like that, hype, as for infecting those who do not care, I doubt it.

The two biggest music stories of the last twelve months were the launches of Beyonce and Weird Al’s new albums. The former sprung upon us with no warning, the latter nearly the same, with a viral component of daily videos to excite us. Of course I’m leaving out the U2 story, because of the instant backlash. And what was that backlash based upon? Jamming unwanted things down people’s throats. This “1989” hype is not much different. We are not forced to listen to the music but we are exposed to constant faux advertising while Ms. Swift bitches about our criticism. Credit Kim Kardashian, she doesn’t complain when we do, she knows blowback goes with the territory, it’s the business she’s in. But that begs the question, is Ms. Swift in the fame game or the music game? Is the media in the action game, tied in with musicians the same way the players are tied in with corporations, or are they in the reaction game, responding to real news?

Used to be music lasted. That was its defining feature, the way everybody knew it and remembered it. Today most albums come and go in a week. And I do expect “1989” to last longer, come on, Taylor Swift is the biggest act in the land, but will anything on this record infect society as much as “Royals”?

So what we’ve learned here is the Internet has a way of amplifying the story but not the music. And when the story trumps the music we’re lost. We’re kind of like Hollywood, where they hype movies that we don’t care about, to the point where we know what they are and stop going and then do our best to tune out the din.

But that’s the society we live in. One of yelling louder and louder. One in which the biggest act is a corporation, Apple, which drops its products to eager anticipation with no warning and they are then embraced over time. Apple makes hits. And isn’t it interesting there are so few of them. Apple is all about the singles, in music we’re all about the albums, we overload our audience and then complain that no one is paying attention.

Is anybody paying attention?

It’s cool, disruptive and completely unexpected.

Taylor Swift’s new album?

No, APPLE PAY!

And you wonder why musicians get no respect.

That’s right, while Taylor Swift is busy cozying up to corporations, making sure her message gets out, Apple is competing with corporations and its users are up in arms complaining that CVS and Rite-Aid are out of line.

Huh?

Oh, you’re not following this story? Are you really interested in whether Taylor Swift sells a million copies in a week? Have we come to this, in a nation that no longer watches the World Series, is every publication known to man gonna track whether the tree-topping songstress sells albums to 1/300th of the population? If this was a TV show, it’d be canceled.

We didn’t think we needed Apple Pay. Hell, the Cupertino company had been castigated for being behind the curve on NFC (near field communication, for the uninitiated), and then suddenly not only do they include it, they launch this totally secure payment system that’s easy to use, that brings tomorrow here today. Kind of like listening to “Purple Haze” back in ’67!

That’s one thing you do nearly every day, buy stuff. And cash is on its way out, the CD may expire first, but they’re both history. Meanwhile, when even Target can’t keep its data secure, everybody’s privacy anxious. But worthwhile stealable data is never transmitted in Apple Pay, so it’s the perfect solution.

Only CVS and Rite-Aid don’t like it. They took it, now they’ve banned it. Because they want to use their own much less secure QR code based system to exclude not only Apple, but the credit card companies. Does this sound like Pressplay to you? It does to me. Or how about the telcos, which disabled features on mobile phones before Apple came in and revolutionized the market, putting the power into the hands of the handset manufacturers.

Apple Pay is a revolution.

“1989” is a retread.

It’s not like Apple Pay has gotten no ink. But it was lost in the shuffle of the hype for the new iPhones, and the backlash against U2. It’s not sexy, it didn’t date anybody and write a song about it.

And that’s how seemingly everything great starts, off the radar, warmly embraced by early adopters, who beat the drum so loud that the rest of us pay attention.

Expect CVS and Rite-Aid to do a 180.

A million people have already put Apple Pay on their phones, so it looks like Tim Cook is a bigger rock star than Taylor Swift, he reached that number in less than a week.

And Apple’s the anti-Swift. That’s right, Taylor wants to keep you in the past, forcing you to buy a CD or files when both those formats are tanking. You think things were bad in the physical market? Downloads are off by double digits. But can you find Taylor Swift’s album on Spotify? Of course not! Meanwhile, you’ve got to go to Target to get the special edition with extras. That’s like Apple insisting you drive to Best Buy to get a phone that works with Apple Pay. Do you think Best Buy wouldn’t pay tonnage to have this exclusive feature? But that’s not how Apple rolls.

This Apple Pay story is fascinating. It’s easy to use with no glitches and nonparticipating retailers have been caught flat-footed. Users are already agitating to screw CVS and Rite-Aid, telling you how to use the most expensive credit card at their stores so the companies will lose money.

Why Some Stores Won’t Take Apple Pay, and How to Punish Them

CVS and Rite-Aid will cave. Apple Pay’s kind of like rock and roll. You can’t deny its power. The people want it, it takes over. And users smile all the while as those stuck in the past get lost there.

And sure, you’ve got to have an iPhone 6 to use Apple Pay. But we used to incentivize people in the music business too, don’t you remember? To buy CDs? But now everybody’s decrying the future, believing streaming will bankrupt them when it’s their savior, and who wants to associate with a bunch of crybabies anyway.

The “1989” songs I’ve heard are catchy. But there’s nothing groundbreaking there. And the way the press is fawning over it makes me puke. Is that how far we’ve come? When our leading recording artist makes retro music with hired hands in an effort to stay sales relevant and everybody in the media laps it up?

Well, not everybody:

“Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’: A pivot into pop, a misstep into conformity”

SINGABILITY/CATCHABILITY

You want to create an earworm, something that gets into someone’s head that they can’t get out. Doesn’t matter if it’s stupid, it’s just got to be addictive.

DANCEABILITY

If it can’t be played at the club, if it doesn’t induce booty-shaking, you’re on the wrong track.

MAKE IT SHORT

So people repeat it endlessly.

CORPORATE PARTNERS

Sell your soul to high heaven. Tie up with anybody who’ll have you. It’s the only way to break through the clutter.

BUY INSURANCE

Work with the hitmakers du jour, they know what’s going on.

BE ON A MAJOR LABEL

You’ve got to have juice, they’re the only ones who have relationships, they spend money.

TOUR FAST AND FURIOUSLY

Appear live constantly, even if for free at first, your goal is to hit the arena before twelve months are gone.

LOOK GOOD AND DATE FABULOUSLY

People follow the gossip columns more than they do the record charts, it’s the best publicity you can get. You want to be on TMZ, trust me.

WHORE YOURSELF OUT TO iHEART RADIO

Do everything iHeart Radio will let you. Appear at their festivals. Terrestrial still rules, you want a presence. Even better, sign a deal with a label that’s got an iHeart Radio deal.

CAVEAT

All of the above refers to TODAY! Not necessarily tomorrow. Read “Outliers,” sure Gladwell talks about the 10,000 hour rule, but just as much he emphasizes timing. Right now we’re living in a pop world. To deny it is akin to denying the sun will come up. If you’re not making pop music, you’re gonna struggle. And no one wants to struggle.

Ain’t that the truth. If you can write songs, if you can sing, if you can create hooks, if you can play live and grow an audience…be happy anybody cares and know that the winds of change are blowing and what you’re doing could end up the next big thing. The major labels were caught flat-footed, they were not in EDM, it burgeoned without them and the traditional concert promoters involved. Then again, electronic music/raves had been going on for decades before the paradigm blew up in America. You’re just outside the system waiting to happen. But know that you never might.

Can you touch our souls? Can you take us on a journey? Can you make us want to become a fan of your music as opposed to your brand? Do you have something pithy to say about the human condition? Then chances are you’re creating art. And art, unlike pop, is forever. But art has a harder time breaking through, the stars must align, you have to get lucky.

Don’t look back to the way it used to be. That’s a fool’s errand. Everything was built upon foundations that no longer exist. The advent and breakthrough of FM radio. MTV. The CD.

The Internet has changed everything. Made everything available inherently increasing competition. That’s right, you’re competing against every recording ever made, from Sinatra to the Beatles to Michael Jackson. People can only listen to one track at one time and unless yours is as good you will never go mega.

Assuming you want to go mega.

Do you dream big?

Then you’ve got two roads, you can play the game or you cannot.

The reason we love classic rock and those acts can still tour prodigiously today is because they did not play the game, they marched to the beat of their own drummer, literally, the best of them made music that did not sound like anybody else’s.

But no one knew that country would merge with rock and as a result the Eagles would own the biggest selling album of all time.

No one knew America would be open to a British Invasion.

No one knew Woodstock would happen and Joni Mitchell would write a song about it.

No one knew the Vietnam war would cause a schism in society and artists would take a side.

No one knew a cable TV music channel would usurp the power of radio and then push sales to previously unheard of levels.

No one knew college students would create P2P programs that would turn the model upside down, never mind have millions of users.

No one knew the Internet was coming, or that broadband would allow you to download music quickly, never mind stream it.

That’s right, no one knows the future.

But one thing we do know is it does not look identical to today. And when it comes, it ushers in the new and wipes out the old.

This pop era won’t last forever.

Then again, the Internet itself is still fluid. It looks like Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon are winners, but Microsoft is by the side of the road, with BlackBerry and a bunch of roadkill.

Are you up to starving? Are you up to going your own way? Do you have incredible talent? Do you have something intriguing to say?

If not, you’d better make pop.

Oh my God, this is my song
I’ve been listening to the radio all night long

I couldn’t believe it was really him.

I know I rail against albums, I know I decry the state of modern music, but the truth is I know every lick on Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” and I’ve been looking forward to his appearance at the Hollywood Bowl since May, playing the tracks over and over again on my phone. I felt like an adolescent, paying my dues in regular life living for the event that’s going to change my life. Maybe that’s what the gig really is, a cementing of our bond with the artist, proving that we truly are attached.

Now as a result of the infamous L.A. traffic I missed most of Cole Swindell’s opening set, which irked me, but when Lee Brice took the stage I told myself…I could do that.

Not really. But in an era where we’re overloaded with slick productions no one can humanly re-create Brice and his band were on stage with no hard drive help singing songs whose meaning I could understand and relate to, it might not have been edgy but the experience was one I was familiar with, you see it began with the Beatles. Sure, we loved their music, we adored them, but they also inspired us to pick up instruments and play, practice and form bands, we needed to not only get closer to the magic but create some ourselves.

And that’s what they’re doing in Nashville, capturing magic and distributing it to those who care, and if that population is not enough you’re Taylor Swift, desirous of being the biggest and reaching everybody when the truth is we’re all human, and now that Taylor has achieved her goal she can no longer live her life, date in private, make mistakes, and that’s what we all want to do.

For a fabulous town I did not see a single celebrity at last night’s gig. But I did see 18,000 people who knew every word, who had their hands in the air singing along at the top of their lungs. They were communing with the music, they were making it their own, and there’s few such enjoyable moments in life.

THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT

Might sit down on my diamond plate tailgate
Put in my country ride hip-hop mixtape
Little Conway, a little T-Pain, might just make it rain

And there you have it right there, the conundrum of today mixed in with some derision. Yes, that’s the complaint about Luke, the lyrics, that it’s all about trucks and scantily-clad babes, and some of it is, but the production is so damn good, the changes so infectious that you can’t help but get caught up in the groove and sing along.

Not to yesterday’s country music, there’s no western in these songs. They’re a curious hybrid of rock and country and rap. Hell, we heard “Timber” and other hits of the day between acts. That’s right, all the genres are intertwining, and if you’re a purist who hates rap and country you’re gonna be left out, sorry.

KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE

It’s the sound of the guitar, something Tom Petty specialized in, back when he knew great tracks were not only about sound and attitude, but changes too. And “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye” has them.

I discovered this high in the mountains, hiking listening to every Luke Bryan track extant, it immediately jumped out, which is what we’re all looking for, something that embraces us with eight arms that won’t let go that we think is only our own when the truth is it’s everybody’s.

ROLLER COASTER

She’s like a song playin’ over and over
In my mind, where I still hold her
I had the chance and I should’ve told her

Should you? Let them know how you feel?

It’s easy when you’re married, when you’re committed, but before that, when you can’t get them out of your mind, when you can’t sleep because you’re fantasizing and wondering whether they feel the same way you do… Can you reach out and be honest? Or are you too inhibited?

We don’t live in an honest society.

But that’s what we want so much.

And until we figure it out we want a track to ride shotgun and empower us to be our best selves.

“Roller Coaster” went to number one. Maybe because Luke Bryan is the biggest act in country music. But the truth is we’ve all got our summer memories, romances that were unanticipated, that we thought were flings but ultimately realized were not.

THIS IS HOW WE ROLL

The mixtape’s got a little Hank, little Drake
A little something bumping, thump, thumping on the wheel ride

And you wonder why Florida Georgia Line’s album entered last week’s chart at number one… That’s right, those guys you despise captured the cultural zeitgeist better than any other act this year.

The truth is everybody’s multicultural, Drake’s a half black Jewish rapper who rules his domain and you don’t have to be an inner city denizen to adore his music.

Yeah, we’re proud to be young
We stick to our guns
We love who we love and we wanna have fun
Yeah, we cuss on them Mondays
And pray on them Sundays
Pass it around and we dream of that one day

That’s Luke’s part on the original, he sang it along with cowriter Cole Swindell last night. And you might abhor the gun and religion references, but the truth is on some level life never changes, we reach adolescence, we imbibe, we test limits and then we go back to doing what’s expected of us.

Same as it ever was.

DRINK A BEER

When I got the news today
I didn’t know what to say
So I just hung up the phone

We’ve all gotten that call. Sometimes just a voice mail pregnant with bad news. Our hearts are at loose ends, we don’t know where to turn.

I took a walk to clear my head
This is where the walking led
Can’t believe you’re really gone
Don’t feel like going home

This is the song that made me a Luke Bryan fan. Because I’m a sentimental wuss, I remember all that once happened and never will again, and the people who are no longer here to experience it.

The ones cut down too young by cancer.

The ones flummoxed who took their own lives.

The ones who lost their lives through no fault of their own, unlucky in life.

There’s a resignation in the vocal, an ability to keep putting one foot in front of the other, but in a haze.

COUNTRY GIRL (SHAKE IT FOR ME)

So what we’ve got here is a bunch of not so young men singing songs whose words we understand and relate to atop tracks with hooks so sharp you cannot emerge unscathed.

And not everybody is aware. But those who are need to go to the show the way you need to buy a new iPhone. They need to put on their jeans and boots, maybe sneakers, trucker caps and cowboy hats, and drink and dance and have fun.

And if you follow the news you know that’s tough, life is depressing. But you scratch up some dough and even if you’re way in the back you feel included, it’s a big tent. Some may be Republicans, some may be Democrats, but at the country show it doesn’t matter.

And since the politically correct police are absent the big screen features booty-shaking and flirting and all the stuff those with legislative power are trying to exorcise from everyday life. Sure, bad things happen, but life is for the living, for the playing, and you never feel as alive as you do at a country show, where the humanity is in evidence, people performing who grew up in Fresno and other godforsaken backwaters and practiced so hard that they got roles in the country music circus, where how you look is secondary to how you can play.

PLAY IT AGAIN AGAIN

Sittin’ ’round waitin’ for it to come on and here it is

That’s right, I waited the entire summer and now it’s gone.

I’m not exactly sure what I experienced. Luke jumped up and down, pranced on stage, but to him it was just another night, he didn’t strut, didn’t demand adulation, he was just doing his job, singing songs we all knew by heart. Usually they beat their chest and keep telling us how much better they are than us, can you hear me Kanye?

And the truth is some of us are smarter than others, but genius is an overrated construct. We’re all brilliant, all geniuses in our own way and the road to excellence is paved with desire and hard work and when you break through we all want some of what you’ve got.

Especially when you can repeat the trick, too often today you’re a one hit wonder, you own the scene for a summer, then you disappear, can you hear me Robin Thicke?

And then there’s Luke Bryan. Who has a smidge of charisma but is not trading solely on it, who looks like someone who was your frat brother in Georgia, the one who played all the parties and drove to Nashville to make it. And we all know people like this, most come back with their tail between their legs, but a few break through. And most use their newfound fame to join the parade of the fabulous, to live behind gates and go to parties the rest of us are never invited to. But these country guys, they don’t seem to change, they seem to still be the same people, thrilled that they’re traveling this great country of ours in a plethora of buses picking Les Pauls to the adulation of a throng of thrilled fans.

It’s a communal rite.

And it may not be forever, little is.

But it feels so damn good today.

And she said, play it again, play it again
And I said, play it again, play it again, play it again

Luke Bryan – Spotify playlist