Howard’s the new buzz.

Used to be you did Stern last, Gaga was smart enough to do Stern first.

Yes, yesterday, the day her new album was released, Lady Gaga appeared on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show to talk and play, and the Internet and mainstream media are abuzz about it.

Howard may be unavailable to most listeners. But that just adds fuel to the cult. My inbox was dinging with reflections on her appearance yesterday. And now mainstream media is distributing the highlights and dissecting the details, like Gaga’s feud with Perez Hilton.

That was what was stunning about the interview, Gaga’s honesty.

In a world where fake stars and has-beens will never say a negative word (are you listening to me Jon Bon Jovi?), Gaga talked Madonna and bisexuality and her father and if you don’t think this was riveting radio, you probably don’t like Gaga to begin with. Then again, she was great even if you’re not a fan.

Because Stern understands great radio.

In an era where late night television hosts are afraid to speak the truth for fear of being locked out on guests (Jimmy Kimmel had to get nice, he’s gone on record about this), Stern’s taking the opposite tack, digging deep. And those who appear on his show gain traction with his listeners, a group larger than almost any other audience.

Yes, you can target people, but can you reach them?

Stern’s been doing it for decades. His way. It’s only now, approaching sixty, that the mainstream has caught on.

A mainstream whittled away by cutbacks dominated by good-looking people worried about ratings and salaries.

Credit “America’s Got Talent.” A worthless show that demonstrated to the mainstream Howard Stern was not an ogre, but actually nice. Suddenly, the PR people have deemed him acceptable.

And he may do one more AGT season, to cement his place in the firmament, but the tide has turned. Howard Stern is the go-to place to promote your product. Because no only do his fans listen, they buy.

“Dope” may have been a disaster on the YouTube Awards, but it was a triumph on Stern. On the Wrap-Up Show callers were testifying how they were closed.

That’s how you convert people. By doing your act.

But in most circumstances you’re hamstrung by time limitations, competing with others for publicity, whereas Stern tends to have only one A-lister a day, and yesterday Gaga got ninety minutes, including a bathroom break…stars aren’t supposed to pee, are they?

I will say that all mystery behind Stefani Germanotta was stripped away. And unlike so many of today’s stars she’s got some, credit the outfits and the artifice. But we do live in an era of honesty, so she is playing the modern game.

So this is the new paradigm.

You hype your product the day it comes out on Howard Stern’s radio show, where you demonstrate you’ve got real talent by playing live.

It’s your first best choice.

I’m telling you now.

Los Angeles Times: “Lady Gaga-Perez Hilton feud rages on in latest Howard Stern chat”

You track the impact of a story by seeing how many news sources went on it in Google News. Search on “Stern Gaga” in Google and hit the News tab. Everybody from the “New York Daily News” to Fox to E! to US! to MTV is spreading the word.

Howard Stern Show : Lady Gaga Full Interview + Live Performance

McGuinness could never break another hit act.

That’s the mark of a great manager, the ability to do it more than once.

One of the best managers most people have never heard of? Gary Borman. He built Faith Hill, Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban, and knows it’s who’s onstage who counts, not the genius behind the curtain. That’s the downfall of the music business, the belief that suits count more than artists. Blame Clive Davis. Blame Tommy Mottola, who eclipsed him. Today if you’re not famous you don’t count. Only that’s untrue. If you need a public victory lap to rationalize your life don’t become a manager, a thankless job to begin with, although sometimes financially lucrative.

Credit Paul McGuinness with building U2.

But now’s a good time to get out. Because the band is at a crossroads. It took all the money out of the market with a multi-year stadium trek, and without a hit single, it will probably never be able to tour at this scale again.

Hits.

That’s what U2 is dependent upon. If it wants to keep the mantle of the world’s greatest rock and roll band, which it sole from the Stones decades ago, even if Mick Jagger doesn’t know.

But rock is dead. At least on Top Forty radio, where hits are made.

What’s a poor boy to do?

Become a VC, like Bono did with Roger McNamee and Elevation.

Or try and save the world, which Bono is also doing.

But if he wants to stay a relevant musician, that’s a much harder goal to achieve.

But he’s got Guy Oseary in his corner!

To believe Guy Oseary is a great manager is to think Cliff Burnstein can front a band and Irving Azoff can play in the NBA. What Guy does best is get into the head of Madonna and make her believe he’s indispensable, which he’s not, Madge has had a series of managers since she broke through, even the aforementioned Mr. Burnstein, who helped her stay relevant with “Ray Of Light.”

But Madonna’s relevant no more. Pains her, but athletes retire. And in music, the game changes. It’s less about age than fads and desire and other elements elder people just can’t keep up with, who oftentimes look bad trying to keep up with. It’s like seeing your mom in skinny jeans, even worse, guys with toupees. If you’re not willing to admit your age, you’re gonna have a hard time in popular culture.

And so often music is youth culture.

And you can tour to your core, but as you age that core cannot fill stadiums, not usually.

What we’re seeing here is a generational transition. And I’m worried that U2 is playing with the B team.

If you know McGuinness, he’s a force of nature. Someone who’s all what he’s promoting 24/7. It’s not easy to find someone like that, who lives and dies for you. He’s essentially Colonel Parker, but with a fairer deal and a worldwide viewpoint.

In other words, no one’s gonna care as much.

So U2 has lost its rudder.

And although Arthur Fogel is brilliant at what he does, one of the absolute best, U2’s problem is not touring financials so much as creative issues.

They need Cliff Burnstein. Or the equivalent. Someone with vision who will argue with them. Because they’re in a crisis.

As for Madonna… She’s so over the hill she doesn’t realize it. She’s chasing what once was, poorly. She’d be better off admitting she’s done and establishing a residency in Vegas. But the moment she ceases to believe she’s relevant is the moment Madonna dies inside. That’s her hunger, to always be on top. It’s a fascinating movie to see her descend. Arguing with Lady Gaga?

So it’s sad. To see our heroes lose their individuality, just like the concert promoters before them.

The best label in the world is XL. Because it’s fiercely independent. Martin Mills doesn’t ask his boss before he goes on the record, there are no public shareholders, Richard Russell’s only goal is to make great music, that’s not repetitive.

Unlike U2, which is hiring producers du jour in a desperate effort to have a hit.

And the only person who seems to be able to deliver those hits these days is Mr. Russell. Who makes you think about where his productions are coming from. Even Rick Rubin has lost the thread, his hit ratio is way down.

Music has always operated best when unrestricted. When those involved were free to reinvent the wheel at their leisure, to test limits, be offensive and charm us all at the same time.

Tying up with Live Nation is no different from selling out to Google or Microsoft. Where you’ll get paid, but you’ll lose control, happens every day, the founders get frustrated and leave, and their products often go into decline.

But music is not a product. When done right it’s not evanescent. It pricks our hearts and stimulates our brains and makes us believe life is worth living.

Bono once had that power.

He’s sacrificed it.

So goodbye eighties rock. And goodbye eighties pop too.

We’re in a new era, where the most stimulating productions emanate from bedrooms, get traction on YouTube and are shared virally by the general public.

There’s business and there’s music.

Business ain’t bad.

But music’s in sad shape. Because everybody’s looking to sell out.

But true artists just want to get in. By doing it their own way. Leading generations away from the powers-that-be to the promised land.

Gene Simmons may be all about money, but great artists are not. They’re about music first.

Bono’s lost the plot. Madonna too.

I’m stuck in the middle with you.

Live by the hit, die by the hit.

Phil Solem told me people had no idea how much work it took to have a hit record.

With a long history of less than successful projects between them, Phil Solem and Danny Wilde reunited in the latter’s garage on the wrong side of the hill to have fun and cut demos.

Everybody wanted what ultimately became known as the Rembrandts.

But the duo signed with Derek Shulman at Atco, because he was the only person who didn’t want to change them, didn’t want them to start over with cowriters and be something else. Furthermore, Derek said he liked the demos just the way they were, and wanted to release them that way, which he did, and suddenly, Phil and Danny had success.

Years of hard work paid off. Their old audience embraced them, new people respected their amalgamation of harmonies and changes, a newfound iteration of power pop, and they sold records and played live. Sure, “Just The Way It Is, Baby,” garnered some chart success, but it never went to number one, the fans owned the band, they were growing via grass roots virality, they had credibility and a career.

And then came “Friends.”

Oh, there was another album in between, without hits, but the band’s audience sustained them, to the point where their visibility caused the nascent sitcom’s producers to ask them to write and record the show’s theme song.

No.

It would ruin the band.

Eventually yes. As long as their name wasn’t involved.

They helped write the song, received a pittance of the credit, because when you’re talking big business, there are a lot of interests who need to profit, ever heard of Morris Levy?

And lo and behold, the show took off. And a radio station looped the theme song. And eventually the Rembrandts were outed. Everybody knew, it was them.

And the new head of their record company gave them an option. Either strip the track into the new album or be dropped. They chose the former, this was during the era when indie was a license to starve.

And therein began a year-long juggernaut. Flying all over the world to wake up early and stay up late answering questions like…”Who’s your favorite Friend?”

Huh? We’re musicians! We’ve got nothing to do with the show!

And attendance burgeoned at their gigs. 5,000 people would show up. Wanting to hear “I’ll Be There For You,” knowing nothing else about the act.

Which decided to play the hit first.

That’s what the Rembrandts did. Gave the people what they wanted. Opened the show with the theme from “Friends” and shortly thereafter the audience streamed for the exit. By time they were done, there were only a handful of people left. The hard core Rembrandts fans, who proceeded to abandon them in the wake of this mainstream success.

And now the band’s a footnote. Can play an oldies gig here and there for so little money it’s oftentimes better to stay home.

So beware of having your wishes granted. You think you want a hit, but maybe that’s not so.

Maybe you want credibility and a career, maybe you have to say no.

That’s Lady Gaga’s problem. She had some gigantic hits. And if she doesn’t in the future, her career is going to contract to a size so tiny she might be embarrassed to go on the road, playing little venues to a small audience.

Do you want to be a star or a musician?

Sometimes they’re the same, oftentimes they’re not.

P.S. Please watch this video, wherein Charlie Hunter delineates what it is to be a musician, he nails it:

The Business of Music | Charlie Hunter Clinic

Once upon a time recording was profitable.

And then MTV came along and with the advent of the new carrier medium known as the CD, revenues soared. Artists bitched that they were receiving half their royalties as the labels invested in this new format, but that got nowhere, the CD made not only the companies rich, but those who ran them. That was the switch. The Beatles, et al, stole power from the labels, but in the eighties, the labels took it back, because there was just too much money involved. And the more money, the more risk.

But recording revenues have shrunk. Streaming could bring them back. That’s the dirty little secret artists are too ignorant to understand. That if everybody’s paying, the overall pot grows.

But the problem with artists is they don’t see the big picture.

The label is making you famous.

Once upon a time the label not only made you famous, you made a lot of money on recordings if you hit. The evisceration of this model is not the fault of either the labels or Spotify. Those who think Spotify is ruining royalty payments believe 8-tracks and cassettes should have never replaced LPs. Change happens.

And the latest change is that without the money and power of the label behind you, you probably will go unnoticed.

So maybe, despite having such a low royalty payment, that’s what you’ve earned.

I know this is heretical. But the point is no one is preventing you from going it alone. Now, more than any time in modern recording history, you can do it for yourself. You can record cheaply, distribute and get paid. But the truth is most of the people complaining about their indie Spotify payments are known only for this. They’re niche artists at best.

And no one who’s a newly-minted household name is complaining.

In other words, you give to get.

You give your rights to the label in order to get a chance at fame and riches.

And this has nothing to do with Spotify, and nothing to do with the fact that the major labels have an interest in the company, along with Merlin indies.

There’s a high entry price. Just like you can make your own movie and make all the money, but you’d rather be in a blockbuster where you get a huge upfront payment and a profit participation that doesn’t pay out.

So if the acts want any change at all, the target is their labels.

As for indie labels, excepting giants like XL, most are worse than the majors. If they don’t go bankrupt, their accounting is horrifying. That’s why the majors exist to begin with.

So famously disunited artists are not joining up to establish minimum payments, like athletes. They’re not lobbying for free agency. They’re not improving their lot, just bitching.

If only every artist like Def Leppard, and they’re not the only one with this right, refused to let their label put their catalog on digital services.

If only a case was litigated wherein streaming was seen as a license and fifty percent went to the artist.

Instead, Spotify is the punching bag. Just like Ticketmaster is in the concert sphere. Ignorant people are attacking the wrong target.

Then again, the label seems to be the only one investing in you. Managers are not coughing up serious dough, certainly not agents. It’s kind of like taking VC money. He who puts down the cash takes the lion’s share of the money, especially if the business/act has no traction.

Yes, sell out theatres on your own and you’ll get a better deal.

It’s called leverage.

Build your own and stop complaining.