New York City, just like I pictured it!

Does anybody catch “Innervisions” references anymore? You know, “Living For The City”? That’s from the break.

Anyway, the people watching is incredible. The older I get the more I realize that’s what it’s all about, interacting, having conversations, and I spent the afternoon at Q Prime, and I had a fascinating conversation with Cliff Burnstein, considered one of the smartest people in the business, about Spotify.

You’ve got to be on it.

Didn’t used to be this way. Cliff didn’t believe you needed to be on Rhapsody or Rdio or Deezer, but Spotify has traction. What, are there one and a half million premium subscribers?

And these are the active new music consumers. And if you’ve got new music and they can’t hear it it’s just like it doesn’t exist.

Everything in life is about timing. You don’t want to be too early, and you don’t want to be too late. And if you don’t have your music on Spotify now, you’re too late, you’re working against yourself.

Oh, stop it with the echo chamber of musicians decrying payments, the truth is Spotify pays 69+% of all revenues to rights holders. How could you want a better deal, this is what Apple pays at iTunes!

As for streaming, did you see the Viacom survey on streaming, claiming it’s the new normal? You may not like the move to access, but most certainly the fans do:

Consumer Insights: The Music Experience in 2014

So the point is you have to engage with active consumers. And the most active consumers are streaming on Spotify, because they want access to all new music instantly. They’re the tastemakers who spread the word. If you don’t infect them, you’re leaving money on the table. You may exclaim you’re number one on the antiquated SoundScan chart but the truth is sales are anemic and there’s no indication anybody listened to the album, never mind spread the word about it.

But Spotify subscribers do both.

And no, I’m not getting paid by the Swedish streaming service. But if you don’t think the history of recorded music all in one place for one low monthly price is the greatest thing to happen in the history of recorded music then you liked going to the record store salivating over albums you could not afford and were never going to hear.

Now, with everything available, you have to make it easy for people to access it. Ever wonder why Amazon promotes 1 Click? Ever wonder why Steve Jobs promoted ease of use? If you think life should be hard you’re probably searching for 78s at garage sales. The truth is with so much information at our fingertips, that which is not will get buried.

Furthermore, wouldn’t you rather get paid every time your music gets played? Speak with an old musician, it’s ASCAP and BMI that keep them alive, only superstars get record royalties. That’s how it is in streaming, you get paid for plays forever!

As for the low payouts today… First, check your deal, there’s a good chance your label is making beaucoup bucks on your recording, you’ve got a bad split. Second, know that in the digital sphere everything is about scale. The bigger it is, the better it pays. Will people be bitching about Spotify payments five years from now? No, the same Luddites keeping their music off the service will be ecstatic that they’re getting paid so much.

So don’t hold back. Put your music on Spotify day and date of release. Otherwise, you’re just hurting yourself.

Listen to Cliff Burnstein.

We all live so close to that line
And so far from satisfaction

“Song For Sharon”
Joni Mitchell

He was one of us. A baby boomer who seemed not to fly above the fray, but to be part of it. A man so gifted we wondered where he got it from, with a demeanor that had you feeling if you ran into him you’d easily enter conversation, you’d soon be old friends.

I don’t know what happened here. I don’t know Robin Williams. All I do know is when one of us takes himself out of the lineup, removes himself from the game, we’re all left with more questions than answers.

Being human is rough. But when it’s over all there is is silence. And as bad as it gets, it always gets better, if you can ride out the bad patches. I guess Robin Williams no longer could.

We venerate our stars. The younger ones keep telling us how much better they are than us. We believe riches and fame will solve all our problems. And when they don’t, you have to wonder what the game is about.

Maybe you’re well-adjusted. You’ve got a home and a family and a job and you smile as you drink pina coladas on the porch. But most people who rise above, especially in the entertainment field, are flawed. They need the applause to fill a deep hole inside that can never be topped off. The high of a hit only lasts so long. And the machine demands you continue to play. What did Shep Gordon so famously say, if he does his job as a manager right it’ll probably kill you?

Because in entertainment you’re never maintaining. You’re either going up or going down. And when you get to the top, there’s only one direction.

And Robin Williams held it together better than most, he had quite a long ride. And the truth is he radiated joy, and warmth, he’s the person you’d want to call when you’re down and out, but now he’s gone.

So we can’t understand that. It makes us question our own existence. And if Robin Williams can take his own life, what is the meaning of life. Sure, he dabbled in drugs, like so many his age. Sure, he was imperfect. But he tried and succeeded and it still wasn’t enough.

Mork was a phenomenon.

And Robin switched to films when the jump from the small screen to the large was almost impossible.

Meanwhile, he kept his comedy career. Maybe that’s the explanation, comics are so often tortured, the greatest, like Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor, never make it to old age.

But Robin was different, because he let us inside.

But he was so manic, we did wonder what it would be like to live in that body.

And he had a lot of hits, but my favorite was always “Dead Poets Society,” because it’s about inspiration, convincing young people to be all they can be. Not who others want them to be, but what they feel inside.

And we look up to people who do it their own way, who cast off the shackles of family expectations and listen to their heart and follow their own path.

And even the youngest amongst us know it’s hard to make it, never mind sustain.

Which is why we had respect for Robin. He stayed in the game.

So I feel out of sorts. I feel the loss. Even though I never knew him and he never knew me.

And since Robin was a comedian as well as an actor, we felt we knew his true identity, there was no filter.

And unlike so many, Robin did not demand the solo spotlight, despite being the biggest star, he was just one of the troops on “Comic Relief.”

I guess that’s what we need right now. For Robin Williams to do some dark comedy. Because it’s never too soon. And Robin knew how to do it with humility and humanity.

So, so long Robin. Your flame has been snuffed, your story has been written, you’re going to fade in the rearview mirror like the rest of us. But we would have far preferred it if you’d carried on, even if you had no more hits, if you’d showed up and entertained us now and again, if we heard that you had a good family life and some laughs.

And so long the twentieth century, where if you made it on TV and in movies, you made it everywhere. Everybody knows Robin Williams, most people don’t know most of today’s stars.

But hello to a culture that focuses on winners, on trappings as opposed to identities. Yup, we’re heading even further in the wrong direction, everybody’s honing their brand, polishing off the rough edges for consumption when the truth is all our identities are rough, especially those of our beloved stars.

And we loved Robin Williams.

My mother sneaks into the movies.

I’m here for a wedding. Actually, I already went. Saw Lloyd Blankfein, was dying to talk to him, but you know backstage rules, unless you’re introduced they never treat you right, so I didn’t.

Before that I stopped at the Varvatos store. That’s the power of Howard Stern, John dresses the King Of All Media, so I know who he is, and when I had time to kill before the ceremony I walked over to his emporium where I found this book about the influence of rock in fashion, actually, that’s the title of the book, you should check it out, I’d say to even buy it, it’s here:

John Varvatos: Rock in Fashion

Broken down into sections you can truly see how fashion and rock went hand in hand. I always think about the sixties and seventies being about taking the stage in your street clothes, but in retrospect, there was a scarf here, a hat there… If you’re trying to make it, or just interested in the game, buy this book, great coffee table conversation. To tell you the truth, I thought Varvatos’s fascination with rock was phony, but now I’m reconsidering.

So I flew on American, historically one of the worst airlines extant. But after its merger with US Airways and now the L.A. to NYC war, they’ve upgraded the planes, and seemingly the help too. The story is now the aircraft are two-thirds business and one third coach. And in business, it’s lie-flat seats, which was really good, because my tush still hurts, I’m still sitting on a donut. And while I was lying down, I saw a woman waiting for the bathroom and noticed she had a nice rear end. When she turned around, I realized it was that actress Carla Gugino, you know, from “Entourage.” She was flying with her boyfriend. How do I know? I Googled!

And the east coast is so green! And humid. You eat outside and everybody drives in a convertible and it almost makes you want to move back.

And the conversation! Not about what you wear but college date rape and Israel and…it’s funny how it’s one big country yet we’re all so different. But when they started talking about college, I was glad I lived in L.A. I don’t want to recall my SAT scores. And I’m old enough to know that where you go is only a start.

So it’s weird to see my mother and all her friends aging. Some have all their marbles, some don’t, and some are no longer here.

And what they want to talk about is real estate and their estates. It’s the great American conversation, what the value of your place is. My mother is unhappy that the value of her condo has gone down so far, there are too many vacancies in the building, and she’s wary about the empty units selling, since taxes are so high.

But her life is pretty good. She’s addicted to Netflix on her iPad. She’s going through documentaries now, she watched three while I was at the wedding.

And the Gray Panthers go to the movies, like the zombies did in “Dawn Of The Dead,” it’s what they know! And my mom is pointing out the multiplex and that’s when she tells us she doesn’t pay. She’s got it all worked out in her head, since she’s on a walker she goes in a separate entrance, if she ever gets caught she’s gonna say she thought her friend bought the ticket!

P.S. The food has been spectacular. Had to have fried clams, but what surprised me was the quality of the oysters, which are supposedly the same everywhere because of air freight. That would be untrue. These were spectacular! And, of course, I went to Carvel, which you can get in Westwood, but it brings me back to my youth. And today we went to Pepe’s Pizza. The white clam is one of America’s delicacies, with a thin crust and a nearly-burnt end, this would take over America if they spread it west.

If you can’t buy it, if you can’t see it, if you can’t experience it…

It doesn’t matter how good it is.

That’s what the authors are truly railing against in the Amazon/Hachette war, that their books have been relegated to second-class citizens.

There’s a fiction being spread that content is king. That’s a complete fallacy, distribution is king. Sure, successful content creators may gain fame, but usually the money lands with the distributor. That’s how the majors became majors, because of distribution. Their pipeline not only made sure their product was in stores and featured, but that they got paid!

So the world is controlled by the faceless while the people out front get screwed. Oh, the company makes you famous, if you play ball. If you don’t, you’re George Michael, your hits dry up and whatever publicity you get is about anything but the music.

Apple is certainly a manufacturer and a software creator, but it’s also a distributor, the company decides what gets into the App Store. And also controls iTunes Store real estate.

Facebook decides what you get to see on your page. That’s right, you don’t have much control. Maybe if you paid, but there’s much more money in being a distributor of advertising than charging users who’ve become inured not to pay.

And now we’ve got Amazon, the consumer’s “friend,” tightening its grip upon distribution. That’s the issue. Once you control the final sale, you get to decide what is purveyed and at what price.

As Bob Dylan would say, we’re just pawns in their game.

Wal-Mart devoured Main Street.

Napster devoured record stores. Just because you can buy a vinyl record at your local emporium, that does not make YouTube and Spotify’s power any less. Yup, while you’re celebrating the old format, overpaying for the privilege, the digital distributors aren’t even paying attention.

So don’t believe everything you read. And question not only authority, but preconceptions.

Distribution has always been king. From the Gold Rush, wherein merchants who sold to miners oftentimes got richer than the diggers, to today, when he who controls the pipes wins.

Ever wonder why your cable bill is so high, why those companies roll in dough, why Comcast eats and devours everything in its path?

That’s the power of DISTRIBUTION!