I’m a fan.

I found out about it via old media, straight media, the "New York Times".

But it was the "Magazine", proving that long-form media is not dead.

On ‘Radiolab,’ the Sound of Science

Anyway, even though I make them, I’m not a podcast guy. I’d rather listen in real time. Be up to the minute as opposed to off on the sidelines.

But now I’m absolutely hooked.

And I’m not writing this to hook you, although maybe my excitement/passion will cause you to check it out, but to reveal the process, I feel like I’m in high school, following my passion because I have no choice, I now want to listen to each and every Radiolab podcast. That’s my goal. And when they run out I’m gonna be as disappointed as I was coming home from summer camp, how come the good things always end?

I won’t say I hate science, but I didn’t do well in it in school and always avoided it. So it’s kind of odd that I’m hooked by a science podcast.

But it’s more than that.

And when there’s no one grading, you can go at your own speed, follow your interest. I’ve become addicted to the Tuesday "New York Times" Science section too. I guess when it gets practical, how things work, I’m fascinated. There’s that word. I don’t use it often enough. But when I find something I like, when I find something that makes my eyes bug out, I know no limit to the amount of time I’ll spend pursuing it.

I liked Radiolab from the outset. But I wasn’t hooked, I wouldn’t quite say I was a fan. There was one brilliant episode about a brain-damaged long distance runner, but I could live without the podcast, it didn’t call to me.

The next few I listened to were interesting, one I talked about in my real life, but this week I’ve hit a run of superlative episodes, which were not only interesting in their own right, they applied to my own life. Like this one, about lying:

People Who Lie

This podcast not only made my hair stand on end, it had me screaming, even though there was no one around to hear me.

You see Jude started dating Hope.

But Hope did not turn out to be who she said she was. Or maybe it’s that her story kept changing.

The end result, Jude can’t trust anyone new. He’s not made a single friend since his relationship with Hope.

I’ve lived this.

I’ve had a relationship that blew my trust that has made it so I still doubt the connection, the commitment, the truth. It’s nothing intellectual, it’s a feeling, a distance I keep, a reluctance to share certain things, to get close, to rely on people…because you just can’t trust anybody, at any given moment they’re going to do what’s expedient, not concerned about you, that bond you thought you had, you don’t.

Oh, don’t tell me to just get over it.

I can’t.

I thought it was just about getting older, having a series of relationships instead of marrying your first sweetheart.

Now I know it’s about this relationship with this one person.

Like Jude, I’m glad I made it to the other side. But I’m not back completely.

But the reason I’m telling you all this isn’t to reveal my personal story, which I must admit I’m dying to do, but to say this is exactly like it is with a band, a musical act. They create and create until suddenly it flies on someone’s radar screen. Then that person checks it out. Sometimes you fall in love immediately. But oftentimes the quicker the attraction, the sooner the abandonment. It’s the stuff that sneaks up on us that we stick with, that we love.

I didn’t know I was gonna be a Radiolab fanatic. It’s like loving a band, needing to go back and listen to everything they’ve ever done, surf the Web to fill in the history, starting with the band’s site and then on to Wikipedia and then random Googling, you just can’t get enough.

And it works best when there is a body of work. You can see the development, you can relish the feeling of abundance, of so much thrilling material to devour.

Since a body of work is required, a creator has to be at it for years to build this up. Oftentimes playing to few or no one, laboring in obscurity. But when something is great, it gains traction, usually slowly.

I’d go to a live Radiolab show, like the one they did in Minnesota, about "War Of The Worlds".

I need to dig deeper.

Because it fulfills me.

Listen to the above-referenced clip, it’ll wow you.

And if it doesn’t?

I guess you’re going to have to get your tips from someone else!

Howard Bloom: Success in Music Industry

Watch this clip.

I barely know Howard Bloom. But there was an era when not only was he a kingpin in music publicity, he towered over his competition, he was an artist in the field.

No one works in a vacuum. Just like in the clip Bloom says you’ve got to have a team, his words inspired me to write the missive "Artists". But they were in a different form, in a video that I was fearful too many would ignore, so I used his statements as a jumping off point.

But now the clip has been reedited.

And to iterate my point, watch it.

The second time through I wondered why I’d been so fascinated, what grabbed me. Because what Bloom was saying wasn’t brand new.

Then I realized it was his passion.

And it had nothing to do with money and everything to do with art. You wanted people to hear Prince because he was so good, not because you wanted to get rich. You worked an artist for years because you believed in his message, not because you were playing a game.

Few speak the truth. But you don’t doubt Bloom’s authenticity here. He’s speaking from the heart. Can you hear him?

Those outside the game have an advantage. When you’re co-opted, you lose it. You can see what others cannot. You can employ this to your benefit.

Everyone knows network news is about titillation, in both story and appearance, there are no ugly news anchors, it’s entertainment, not news. If you want news, you go online.

Everybody knows that Top Forty music is cotton candy. You know what records touched you, why should you play the game to give people what they want when you don’t want it yourself?

Read this Tom Friedman piece on lying:

The Whole Truth and Nothing But

New media allows people access to the truth.

But no one in old media believes in veracity. And no one in politics does either. I’ve about given up on Obama, can’t he speak from the heart, can’t he nudge the debate by stating what everybody knows? That most Americans prefer the right to have an abortion, believe the rich should be paying more taxes and Social Security and Medicare should be guaranteed? Survey after survey confirms the foregoing. But Obama plays to a theoretical audience he hopes will reelect him that doesn’t even exist.

As for the Republicans… If they had their way the rich would be richer and you wouldn’t be able to depend on the government for anything. This isn’t what most people want either.

As for someone speaking the truth for the majority, someone leading, that’s nowhere to be seen in politics and nowhere to be seen in old school music.

So don’t complain that you’re being left out, that the odds are against you, use the new tools to have a presence on the landscape, so people can find you.

They’re drawn to the truth. They hate spam. They hate phoniness. They hate being marketed to.

But they love good music. That’s made from the heart. And presented with passion. That says something.

You remember the art chick in high school. She looked different, didn’t really care if you noticed her, didn’t seem to play by the rules, wasn’t on a direct path to riches, but you never forgot her, never stopped watching her.

The art chicks were yesterday’s rock stars.

They will be tomorrow’s too.

And we never really called them "art boys" or "art dudes" or anything like that, but there was a breed of male outsiders who garnered this same attention. There was a swagger, there was a cool. They were the ones who were quarterback of the football team and one day up and quit, and didn’t profess a hatred of the coach, just claimed they didn’t want to play anymore.

These people are the art leaders.

As a result of crass commercialism, primarily MTV and now the Silicon Valley rush to riches, our vision of art has been skewed. Money comes first. It’s readily available to he who succeeds, and there are short cuts to ubiquity. But most people employing these short cuts are not art.

The art chick and the outside guy never wake up and are CEO of the corporation, you don’t open the alumni magazine and see the traditional markers of life, if they even went to your school, or went to school at all. Artists are driven by a different beat. That’s why your favorite bands break up, it no longer felt right. Can you imagine the CEO of a Fortune 500 company waking up one day and stating that it’s no longer fun and dissolving the organization? But the Beatles did this.

So there are two camps.

One camp is peopled by aggressive individuals who want in. This is the reality television crowd. How can I make myself into a character, push ahead of so many others and get screen time? Remember the art kids in high school? They never grubbed for grades, they never fought to get ahead, they questioned this herd mentality/behavior, they hung back.

So we have a world where the aggressive, normal people and the desperate poor will do anything to make it, get plastic surgery, change their soul and their sound to fit the desires of the man, of the system.

Ain’t that what "American Idol", "The Voice" and "X Factor" are? Do it my way, I’m an expert. The judge/advisor is no different from the principal, and if you think the art kids listened to the principal, you were home-schooled and have no clue.

And these principals, in most cases they’re angry they never got to be art kids, they never got to express themselves, so they tell you how to do it. Labels are not peopled by successful musicians, but fans, who are angry that they can’t get laid every night, can’t live the musician lifestyle. In most cases, they won’t take the risk. They want to get their job via their education, their MBA, whereas successful artists have struggled, to find out who they are and to make it.

We revere our artists.

But don’t confuse commercialism with artistry. Most people are just passing through. Their stardom is brief, they’re puppets whose strings are pulled. When their moment is through, they get desultory day jobs or go back to college and move up the corporate ladder. An artist can’t do this. He can go to college to prepare himself to be an artist, but not a doctor, lawyer or manager. And he continues to create irrelevant of success, it’s in him.

But don’t equate true belief in oneself and outsider status as either a predictor or guarantee of success. How many of the art kids end up becoming Andy Warhol? Just because you practiced your guitar for hours a day or wrote poetry just as long that doesn’t mean you’ll make it. You have to have something to say. Which is insightful, different and necessary. You must never compromise. You must be willing to struggle forward despite the odds. You must be willing to change.

Before the MTV/CD era, when so much money flowed, artists were king. Labels signed them and never messed with them. They didn’t say what could come out, didn’t foist cowriters upon them, because the label didn’t know. The label trusted the artists.

No one trusts the artists anymore.

Except the fans.

Fans want artists. You always wanted to be friends with the art kids, you just didn’t know how to bridge the gap, you just weren’t cool enough.

But today you can know the art kids through their work. They’re honest and soulful in a way all people are but most are too fearful to reveal.

The artist embodies his material. He is what he says. He’s free. He marches to the beat of his own drummer. He makes it not through marketing, but the music itself.

With the crumbling of old institutions, the time of the artist has returned. With less money in music, only the artists persevere, because they’re not in it for the money.

There’s a reason why Joni Mitchell is an icon and Vanilla Ice is a joke. A reason why people love the album. It used to be a statement.

Now you can have ten tracks but it’s a commercial event.

And those people calling themselves artists are not.

You know if you’re an artist.

You sacrificed, you don’t have health insurance, you’re playing without a net.

We’re dying for a few good artists.

As for the rest of you, get out of the way.

199. Owl City "All Things Bright And Beautiful"

Sales this week: 2,133
Percentage change: +15
Weeks on: 12
Cume: 96,770

Remember that hit a couple of years back. It was… The name eludes me…

Of course it was "Fireflies".

Just because you have a hit once, that does not mean you’ve got a career. I’ll argue the slower the development, the longer lasting the career.

If only this guy had cut another hit single. Then again, if you’re trying for them, it’s so hard to get one, unless you work with the usual suspects in "Turbo Pop", that’s what they’re calling today’s Top Forty music, great moniker, don’t you think?

In order to keep on, you must have fans.

Based on this number, all sales were front-loaded. There was expectation. But then when it went unfulfilled, when the helium drained from the balloon, everybody moved on. It’s much harder to make it again once you’ve hit and deflated.

I’ve got no problem with this sales number. If this artist is happy, I am too.

But if you think he and his label didn’t expect a ton more sales, you’re dreaming.

197. Avril Lavigne "Goodbye Lullaby"

Sales this week: 2,150
Percentage change: +8
Weeks on: 26
Cume: 270,005

Was she just a teen queen or was she killed by overexposure?

If you play the hit game, you die when you have no hits. That’s what happened to Avril.

Where does she go from here?

She could do a Britney, subjugating her identity to the sound of today, in order to have hits to sustain the juggernaut, but Britney’s tour is a disappointment.

If you think Justin Bieber is different, you’re being paid by him.

186. Tedeschi Trucks Band "Revelator"

Sales this week: 2,221
Percentage change: -32
Weeks on: 14
Cume: 91,526

This is why you’re on Spotify, this is why you give your music away for free. This is a cult act. A not so small cult, but a cult nonetheless. They’ve got hard core fans, who support them, but outside the tribe most people are clueless, they’ve got no idea who they are. So the key is to make sure your music is available, just in case someone is inspired to listen to it.

Yes, Tedeschi Trucks is more of a live act, you hope people go to the gig, that’s where they’re converted. But you want to make the barrier to entry as low as possible. You don’t want to worry about getting paid today, but being paid tomorrow.

185. Ry Cooder "Pull Up Some Dust & Sit Down"

Sales this week: 2,245
Percentage change: -45
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 6,427

He burned us out. Too many eh concept albums.

The Web is built for Ry. He needs to do all his experimenting and playing online. Have a site where he gives guitar lessons and features roots artists, he needs to do an event on StageIt.

Ry’s trying to sell by employing straight media. There’s a disconnect between him and his audience. He needs to regain the trust of his audience.

And I’m a big fan, I can sing every note of "Into The Purple Valley".

But even I didn’t check this out.

In the old days I might have bought it and played it because I did, but in an era of overflowing music, I’ve got too much that demands my attention, you can only listen to one record at one time.

184. Fitz And The Tantrums "Pickin’ Up The Pieces"

Sales this week: 2,247
Percentage change: +19
Weeks on: 1
Cume: 87,534

This is the problem with having mainstream music on an indie label. They’re fighting one by one whereas you’re best off selling this from the top down.

Fitz And The Tantrums need to be playing Monday Night Football, getting into the public consciousness. Their music is too close to the center for hipsters, yet it’s being sold as hipster music.

In a different era, this would be on Top Forty, but it’s not Turbo Pop.

This is music you dance to and have a good time with.

Fitz And The Tantrums should have played the Kardashian wedding, been on that TV show. Everybody loves this music, they’ve just got to hear it.

171. Eddie Vedder "Ukulele Songs"

Sales this week: 2,339
Percentage change: -5
Weeks on: 15
Cume: 187,268

Despite the plethora of hype, Eddie Vedder is niche.

I’d posit that the album would have sold just as many if there were no media campaign.

If you’re niche, you need to know your fans’ e-mail addresses, social media is key. You’ve got to be able to make them aware of your new music and gigs. They’ll buy it, they’ve just got to know about it.

Vedder/Pearl Jam fans are active. They found this. Are your fans this engaged?

127. Civil Wars "Barton Hollow"

Sales this week: 3,269
Percentage change: -10
Weeks on: 32
Cume: 174,830

I liked the sound more than the material, but you’ve got to credit the team that broke this.

Imagine if the songs were better, this could be ubiquitous, that’s what Mumford & Sons taught us.

Turns out that what people want isn’t only the radio niches, not only Turbo Pop, people want music that penetrates their senses slowly, like a medication patch, not only that which is an assault.

We’re ready for you if you’re good.

Marketing is less important than quality.

117. Jeff Bridges

Sales this week: 3,573
Percentage change: -32
Weeks on: 4
Cume: 28,768

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

104. Ronnie Dunn

Sales this week: 3,773
Percentage change: -10
Weeks on: 14
Cume: 138,750

Never underestimate the power of brand names.

You think everybody knows you, but you’re almost starting over when you begin a solo career.

101. Kid Rock "Born Free"

Sales this week: 3,847
Percentage change: +3
Weeks on: 43
Cume: 997,234

Is he gonna go on iTunes now that his hero, Bob Seger, has taken the plunge?

This is a great cume, but this album’s still one hit away from ubiquity, his concert ticket sales have suffered.

You can’t take yourself out of the game and expect to be on everybody’s mind.

Howard Stern is better than ever, but now that he’s on satellite, he’s an outsider on the verge of irrelevancy, he used to define the debate, now he’s barely in it.

Think of all that free advertising you get on iTunes. People see your name on the chart, you’ve got a presence, don’t deny yourself this, especially in an era where track sales are fading and streaming is taking over.

Yes, MOG and Rdio are going to free models. They’re tying in with Facebook. The juggernaut has begun. Blow out tracks at a cheaper price, while people still want them, if you refuse to license to streaming services, you’re only hurting yourself.

Streaming is about eradicating piracy, which it does, something lawsuits never achieved.

Don’t focus on measly payouts, think about everybody paying, think about the future, think about making the new system work to your advantage.

This is like the vide game publishers decrying the iPhone/iPad. The games are free! Or cheap! And they’re not that good!

We can argue about it all day long, but they’re what the people want. The action is at Zynga, not Electronic Arts.

Did you want P2P trading to last forever?

The sun is setting on piracy, it’s not worth it, ten percent of the people will always steal, but the rest would rather stream.

Don’t use your old mind-set to try and triumph in the future.

75. Train "Save Me San Francisco"

Sales this week: 5,335
Percentage change: -4
Weeks on: 98
Cume: 876,891

The power of a hit. That’s what moves album sales by everybody but the most credible acts.

The difference is Train’s got a few now. "Meet Virginia", "Drops Of Jupiter", "Calling All Angels", "Hey, Soul Sister" and "Marry Me".

This means the band will be able to work forever.

But they’ve got very few hard core fans, the tracks trump the identity of the band.

Best piece of gossip I ever heard about Train? Pat Monahan was suggested as a replacement for Robert Plant in Led Zeppelin. The idea was dismissed out of hand, but it’s a brilliant one, one Jimmy Page should still act on.

Pat Monahan can sing those Zeppelin tunes, he’s got the pipes, he does them in the Train show. And he can write.

It’s a natural.

Think outside of the box if you want to get ahead.

And if Pat Monahan ever did tour with Page, then Train would be seen as credible and embraced by a whole new audience.

"Ramble On"

"Going To California"

56. Glen Campbell "Ghost On The Canvas"

Sales this week: 7,384
Percentage change: -48
Weeks on: 2
Cume: 21,774

There’s amazing buzz on this album on the inside, it’s GOOD!

Check out "Ghost On The Canvas"

The hype was done all wrong. It focused on the unfortunate Alzheimer’s instead of the music.

Marketers think it’s still the old days, about getting the story to the press, making people aware. But where are they gonna hear this music? We all know about Jeff Bridges’s album, but where are we gonna be exposed to the actual music?

That’s the advantage of Spotify.

But know you must lead with the music first.

43. Lindsey Buckingham "Seeds We Sow"

Sales this week: 8,857
Debut

Lindsey says he’s open to an outside producer for Fleetwood Mac.

He needs an outside producer for his solo albums.

The material is just not…I’d say it’s not good enough, let’s just say it’s far from mainstream. And his voice has lost something.

But he’s an incredible guitar player.

So do an instrumental album.

Separate the wheat from the chaff. We learned this lesson with Ryan Adams. He released so much mediocre material, he’s almost starting over.

This is not a failure because it’s indie, it’s a failure because of the music.