It must be nice to be rich.

Got that e-mail from a bunch of people re my Groupon rant.

What is wrong with America that everybody boasts about being poor?

I know, not everybody. Certainly not the rappers. And the Republicans. And you can’t get a peep out of the truly rich, they’re smart enough to shut the fuck up.

But the middle class… It’s a race to the bottom.

When I went to college 45% of the students went to prep school. Many were scions of household names. But in addition to wearing their jeans and threadbare sweaters they never had a buck in their pockets, they couldn’t afford a pizza, and if you convinced them to come along, you had to pay for them.

It doesn’t make you better than someone if you’ve got less money. It just makes you poorer.

Now don’t confuse the above with a diatribe on income inequality. What I’m talking about here is perception, not reality. If you’re truly poor, if you’re homeless, if you can’t afford health insurance, I truly feel sorry for you, you’ve got my compassion, we need to lift those on the bottom up.

But the ones bitching most are not this financially-challenged. They’re just holier-than thou. They like to count everybody else’s money and sit in judgment, explaining that the reason they’re not where you are, where they want to be, is because they just can’t afford it.

Meanwhile, they lease a brand new car.

And they live in a generous apartment or a house with a yard.

We all choose to spend our money in our own ways.

Furthermore, it’s been documented that some of the poorest people are the most generous, they donate a larger proportion of their income to charity and they demand no plaque in return, they just believe it’s the right thing to do.

I’m gonna let you in on a little secret… If you keep complaining how you haven’t got it, how you can’t afford it, how it must be nice to be a winner, you’re gonna remain a loser. People are going to dismiss your ass and ignore you. Because no one likes a whiner, no one likes a complainer. You just need to justify how the system screwed you and you’re down there while the winners are up here.

What’s the punch line of that old joke? BUY A TICKET?

If you want to win, you’ve got to play.

And if you never play, you’re never going to win.

Stop denying yourself and stop apologizing for the fact that you make choices that might be different from someone else’s.

If I don’t use a coupon, that does not make me rich.

Then again, I AM!

You don’t want to look cheap.

It’s one thing if it’s a straight transaction for a physical object, no service being involved other than ringing up the cash register. But if I’m at a restaurant, I’m not gonna use a coupon.

First and foremost, when do you whip it out?

You’re afraid if you wait until the last minute you’re gonna get a finger-wagging and a no. After all, the restaurant doesn’t want to give you a deal, they’re probably losing money on you, hoping that you’ll come back.

But I’m never gonna come back. In an era where food is sexier than music and restaurants are plentiful, why would I go to a substandard place? Why wouldn’t I spend a bit more, or a little less at a hole in the wall featured on Triple-D, to get something truly great…there’s nothing worse than a mediocre meal.

And it’s always mediocre if they’re offering a coupon. Because otherwise, there’d be a line outside the door. Go to some of those Triple-D places, you can’t get near them.

So you’ve got someone running a failing business who figures if they just cut the price you’ll be interested. This is like lame musical artists believing if they undercut superstars on CD prices, people will flock to them. Some things aren’t about the money. We want quality. And I especially want quality when the cash outlay is low, like with toilet paper and chocolate chip cookies, why not get the best?

And if it’s expensive, I want the best. Kind of like concert tickets. Speak with a promoter, the tickets up front go first, that’s what the rabid fans want. Coupon-users would think that it’s the cheap seats that go first, but they’re usually the last to go. Hell, Live Nation wants to drive the price of these distant ducats down even further, because no one wants to sit there. As for Goldstar… If the show were that hot there wouldn’t be any extra seats to sell at a discount. I’d gladly sit in the way back for a Zeppelin reunion, and people are thrilled just to be in the building with Gaga, but you expect me to lay down my hard-earned cash to see a mediocre act? I don’t even want to go, I don’t want to waste my time.

But I guess the same people using Goldstar are the same ones using Groupon at restaurants. They’re all about the deal, they’re losing out on life. If you’re counting pennies, you’re missing out on the big money. Kind of like music. If you want to charge people per track and sell fifty instead of letting thousands hear it for free and build a business, you’re shortsighted. Then again, no one wants what sucks.

So back to the eating establishment. Since they’re losing money, they’ve got to do their best to claw some of it back. They make you eat an entree instead of ordering something cheaper. They’re upselling you food at a discount that you don’t even want. It’s like desiring a pizza and being forced to order the steak to get the deal.

And then there’s the alcohol… It’s not like they’re throwing in Dom Perignon. If you don’t know the difference, you probably think Deadmau5 sounds like Madonna.

Meanwhile, it’s not like it’s self-serve. Your waitress/waiter sizes you up as soon as you proffer the coupon. These are people who are going to screw me. They’re going to tip on the amount of the bill, not on the amount it would be before the discount. And sure, you might be smart enough not to do this, but you’ve got legions of people before you ruining your reputation. Furthermore, I’ve never seen a heavy tipper use a coupon.

And what kind of message does this send to your friends and prospective significant others? I’m so tight, so worried about my coins that I’ve got to go to a restaurant I wouldn’t go to otherwise and eat food I don’t want that’s mediocre just to feel like I’ve beaten the system?

Rich people and bankers are beating the system. They’re just throwing you coupons so you won’t realize they’re writing off their multi-thousand dollar meals with rare wines at places with unlisted phone numbers that you can’t get into while you’re self-satisfiedly eating crap.

Sure, everybody likes a deal. But if it’s at the expense of my reputation, if it causes me to consume what I want no part of, I’m out.

He called out Madonna.

Now I realize rappers have been criticizing each other since the advent of the art form, but ever since the MTV era mainstream artists have remained mute. It’s like they all belong to a social club in school, watching each other’s backs as they abuse the nerds.

So it’s a new era when Joel Zimmerman publicly criticizes Madonna for utilizing a cheap shot, a drug reference, to ingratiate herself with the Ultra audience.

But this is not about Madonna.

Madonna is chasing her audience.

Deadmau5 is leading his.

The biggest story in music last week never made the newspapers. It bounced around online amongst those who are electronic music fans. And it is this echo chamber that counts. A press release, an appearance on "Entertainment Tonight"…it’s like a tree dropping in the forest. There might be a native close enough to hear it, but there’s no resonance. The sound waves dissipate instantaneously. It’s just part of the cultural tsunami manufactured by baby boomers running old media (into the ground!) But online, you can truly have your message ring through virtual neighborhoods, you can truly have an impact, if you play.

Sure, you’ve got to have a website. People think Facebook can substitute for your own domain, but that’s like believing MySpace was enough. You’ve got to own your own domicile, it’s the essence of freedom.

But that’s not enough. You have to tweet, you can utilize Facebook, you’ve got to get into the agora and speak. And what fascinated me was Deadmau5/Zimmerman’s Tumblr post on "The Veldt".

Clicking through you end up at a pirated version of the Ray Bradbury story. Which may anger the esteemed author but people only replicate that which they deem worthy. How do you know your art is worthless? When you Google it and learn it’s nowhere to be found, except where you placed it.

I am not a big sci-fi fan, I’ve never read this short story, but what stuns me most is not that Zimmerman is a fan of Bradbury, but that he READS!

Do you think Rihanna reads?

I realize Madonna is a devotee of Kabbalah, but do we hear her mentioning consumption of novels, not new best sellers, and pontificating how much they impact her?

Of course not. Because if you’re selling, you’ve got no time to consume.

That’s right. Everybody’s so busy trying to get us to pay attention, they’ve got no time for influences.

Deadmau5 is not about cool, but about identity. That’s the difference with the younger generation, something that eludes the baby boomer string-pullers.

Anyway, Deadmau5 is inspired and writes music and tweets that he knows not what he is going to do for lyrics and a random follower composed some which Deadmau5 at first ignored, but then hounded by his fans listened to and was blown away by and got the author and his manager on the phone to work out the details and voila, a song was born.

This is not how it is done in the old world:

Everything the old wave music industry tells you is the truth is wrong. The Internet liberates artists, sure, it might rip them off financially a bit, but when one door closes, you go through the open ones to find new opportunities.

It doesn’t matter whether you like Deadmau5’s music. The creative paradigm he’s employing is the one of the future. Not the one where Madonna hires producers du jour, gets plastic surgery and boasts about herself just to make money.

The new generation embraces its quirks. It’s okay to be a nerd. It’s what’s inside that counts. The fact that the mainstream media isn’t paying attention, just doesn’t get it, makes it no less real.

P.S. Unlike the ancient, Deadmau5 created the track live. The fans were ringside watching the creative process. This is a 180 from the bands a decade ago who claimed Napster was negligent in allowing their unfinished work to be exposed. Once again, Deadmau5 is using the tools to his advantage instead of being a Luddite resistance to change.

Why are artists so damn ignorant?

THE HARLAN COBEN RULE

"Mr. Coben says he just wants what any writer wants – more readers.

‘The most annoying and full-of-crap thing a writer says is, I write only for myself, I don’t care if anyone reads it,’ Mr. Coben says. ‘A writer without a reader doesn’t exist.’"

Harlan Coben Floods the Zone

Harlan Coben has sold 50 million books. He sells 4.5 million a year. If he was a musician, he’d start attacking his audience immediately. And thereafter rail against his publisher and Amazon and anybody who keeps him from feeding his family.

But first and foremost, Mr. Coben is an artist. And the main goal of an artist is to have more people experience his art. If this is not your goal, please give up immediately. You’re just a money-grubber cocking up the works.

Prior to the Internet, only a limited number of musicians could get their music heard. And only by a limited number of people. Now all musicians can get their music heard by everybody. The downside of this? Those who won under the old rules find it harder to succeed under the new. Not if you’re exceptional, like Adele, but if you make music that does not reach ubiquity. Used to be radio and television jammed songs down people’s throats. Now, it’s hard to get everybody to pay attention.

Change always creates new winners and losers. If someone is complaining loudly, it’s usually because he used to win or desired to win under the old rules.

As for Mr. Coben… See the movie of his book "Tell No One". Sure, it’s got French subtitles, but it’s as good, if not better, than every movie nominated for an Oscar last year.

THE TIMING RULE

Beating up on Sean Parker is worthless. If you believe he and Shawn Fanning are responsible for destroying the music business, you know nothing about invention.

Study the history of invention and you find out "it was in the air". In other words, if one person didn’t invent the breakthrough technology, another person would. Which is why there are always disputes over who is responsible for inventing radio and other technologies.

In other words, if Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker had lost Internet access, we’d still have had Napster. The underlying technologies were "in the air".

I’ll give you an example you can understand… Didn’t MySpace precede Facebook? And didn’t Friendster precede MySpace? Social networking was in the air.

Read Malcolm Gladwell’s article:

"In The Air – Who says big ideas are rare?"

PIRACY

That’s Spotify’s main target.
The music industry played Whac-A-Mole, poorly, with every wannabe file-trading outlet. Did you see the recent report that the Pirate Bay wants to use drones?

The Inspirational Maniacs Of The Pirate Bay

Even the head of Vevo said combating piracy was an unwinnable war.

"’Piracy is a bit like the war on drugs, it’s an unwinnable war in my opinion. But that’s not necessarily the opinion of the industry, but I think the solution is to provide access to entertainment to as many people as possible, through a variety of different models- including the free models.’"

Rio Caraeff

Vevo CEO: The war on piracy is like the war on drugs…’unwinnable’

You’re victorious via business solutions. Spotify payments are low for the free service. When people pay, payments go up. You can’t get Spotify for free on your mobile handset. And all data says that’s where we’re going. To complain that Spotify is free in its lo-fi ad-supported version on computers is to bitch that you’re getting ripped off in the world of tube television. Can you even buy one anymore? How come musicians are blind to the future?

LABELS

The fact that labels take the lion’s share of royalties is not Sean Parker’s fault, it’s the artists’ fault. Now you no longer have to sign with a label, if you do so and get ripped off/ have low royalty rates, you only have yourself to blame. If you’re a legacy artist, I feel sorry for you.

RAMPING

How many people said Apple was worthless in the nineteen nineties? How many people said Apple would soon be out of the computer business, even after the launch of the iPod? How many people said the iPod would fail because it was too expensive?

Now Apple is the world’s most valuable company.

You start small and build big with great products.

This is the way it used to be in the music business.

BACK TO TIMING

The only difference between Rhapsody and Spotify is the latter offers a free version. And as a result of being free, user adoption has grown. It’s kind of like dealing dope, people don’t know what they’re missing until they experience it.

Furthermore, Spotify has better functionality than previous streaming offerings. The songs begin sooner and you can fast-forward/reverse just like with ownership.

STREAMING

People bought videotapes then rented them then rented DVDs then bought DVDs and then rented DVDs and now stream movies. To the point where Netflix now wants to get rid of its disc-based offerings. Don’t tell me the public knows what it wants. If you believe the AAC files of the iTunes Store will be the format of choice a dozen years from now you’re probably going to the Apple Store and stockpiling the computers that will be needed to play them.

But isn’t it interesting that Apple is moving to a cloud-based system, where ownership is registered and the songs are streamed to devices…

CONCLUSION 1

Beating up on Sean Parker is like beating up on Lou Pearlman for inventing the boy band paradigm. There were boy bands before Pearlman and now after. He just seized the moment.

Sure, Parker has gotten rich, but if you think it’s all about money, maybe you shouldn’t be a musician.

Musicians are so damn stupid. They want someone else to pay for their production, they want to make full-length albums and they want to get hit singles on the radio. This is akin to shaking down fat cats to invest in cartridges for ancient Nintendo gaming systems.

The paradigm keeps shifting. Why do artists refuse to play along?

Furthermore, why is it always the uber-rich who complain? Black Keys sells out Madison Square Garden and then bitches that they aren’t making even MORE money!

As for Metallica’s stand… All these years later we can see their hearts were in the right place, but their heads were clouded in ignorance. Files are not conventional physical property, they can be reproduced at almost no cost at will. It’s not like stealing a couch.

In other words, if you’re ignorant, become informed OR STFU!

CONCLUSION 2

If musicians had their way, they’d kill Spotify and make everybody buy CDs. Give the power back to the dreaded major labels and keep newcomers out.

Maybe that’s why so much mainstream music today is so bad. There’s no innovation, just endless repetition of the old formula, trying to milk a dying cow.

The Black Keys make innovative music. As a result they’ve been successful. But just because Patrick Carney knows how to make music, that does not mean he knows anything about technology or money.

The problem is not Sean Parker. As if he were Al Gore and invented the Internet. Mr. Parker has seized tools to try and change the paradigm. The fact that he’s been smart enough to see the future and capitalize upon it is anathema only in the music business where we want to depend on a byzantine system where most of the money goes to intermediaries and the artist is screwed.

We now have more transparency. Artists can do it for themselves.

Technology begat this.

And if you abhor this, please turn in not only your computer, but your iPhone and iPad.

As for Mr. Carney saying Apple will ultimately create a better service…a decade ago wasn’t Apple the enemy?