200. Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

Sales this week: 3,847
Percentage change: -25%
Weeks on chart: 15
Cume: 154,183

And who says SNL sells records…

If this is the future, too many people don’t believe in it. Turns out too many people singing the praises of this band are being ignored by those who’ve had enough of white boys without soul staring at their shoes–see Sasha Frere-Jones’ article in the "New Yorker" for edification:

A Paler Shade of White
How indie rock lost its soul.

Nothing against the band, but alternative peaked in the nineties. Doubt me? Just check R.E.M.’s sales below.

200. will i. am "Songs About Girls"

Sales this week: 3,847
Percentage change: -22%
Weeks on chart: 4
Cume: 36,879

Positively scary.

I guess people only want to hear Black Eyed Peas songs WHEN they’re from girls. It’s Fergie’s act boys.

And isn’t this the guy who’s still being trumpeted all over the press as being a genius who’s going to save the business? I’ve never met him, but the press makes me hate him. That’s what overexposure will do to you. And all this overexposure still couldn’t move any product.

176. PJ Harvey "White Chalk"

Sales this week: 4,093
Percentage change: -40%
Weeks on chart: 3
Cume: 24,330

Astounding how few copies these press darlings sell.

I guess no one reads the press. Except me. They said this was a detour from "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea". Did you listen to that album? Positively fantastic. So passionate. I wanted to hear more. But when I heard this was the old PJ, I was no longer interested.

173. Billy Ray Cyrus "Home At Last"

Sales this week: 4,154
Percentage change: -15%
Weeks on chart: 11
Cume: 110,564

Yup, on the couch, living off his daughter’s royalties.

A fourth rate country act. But you’ve got to give him credit for pimping his daughter to Disney.

167. Frankie Valli "Romancing The 60’s"

Sales this week: 4,282
Percentage change: 0
Weeks on chart: 2
Cume: 12,495

Does the target audience even know this record is out?

Frankie hasn’t been this hot in decades, what with "Jersey Boys" and his role on the "Sopranos". THIS album should have been on Hear Music/Starbucks. Howard Schultz should have taken a ton of the upside and hyped it. That’s Starbucks’ niche, making us aware of those we weren’t paying attention to, not hyping people already in the public eye. Then again, unless Frankie Valli dies, how many albums can they sell?

138. Rilo Kiley "Under The Black Light"

Sales this week: 5,390
Percentage change: -26%
Weeks on chart: 9
Cume: 82,854

The myth of the benefit of a major label. They should have stayed indie. A major can only get you on TV and on terrestrial radio, and if you don’t make that kind of music, friendly to those outlets, you’re giving up too much for too little in return.

133. Lifehouse "Who We Are"

Sales this week: 5,442
Percentage change: -4%
Weeks on chart: 18
Cume: 218,201

You’re a one hit wonder, that’s who you are!

The Raspberries followed up "Go All The Way" with other pop radio fodder. Lifehouse has followed up "Hanging By A Moment" with…

122. White Stripes "Icky Thump"

Sales this week: 5,962
Percentage change: -3%
Weeks on chart: 18
Cume: 622,127

Has Warner Brothers really done a better job for the band than V2?

Sure, they’re not on the road. But does all that roadwork sell tonnage anymore? The days of road bands and radio in cahoots, moving product like carney barkers, are done. Most markets don’t have a station that will even play the White Stripes, no matter how good the record.

Once again, what’s the advantage of being with the powerhouse? Should White Stripes have gone the Radiohead route? They were deal-free too! Their fans are dedicated, they would have supported the act. And all of the money would have gone to Jack and Meg!

118. Fall Out Boy "Infinity On High"

Sales this week: 6,223
Percentage change: +3%
Weeks on chart: 37
Cume: 1,102,319

This isn’t the story. The story is the HORRENDOUS ticket counts. An absolute disaster on the road. Overtouring, playing in venues too large at too high a price. Pete Wentz a genius? Maybe he should hang up his bass and go to college and LEARN something!

103. Band Of Horses "Cease To Begin"

Sales this week: 7,131
Percentage change: -65%
Weeks on chart: 2
Cume: 27,854

A sleeper. A very good band with legs. Watch them build as the months go by. Check them out at:

Band Of Horses

100. Mark Knopfler "Kill To Get Crimson"

Sales this week: 7,360
Percentage change: -21%
Weeks on chart: 5
Cume: 67,225

How many more records would this have sold if it was marketed as Dire Straits. And, once again, does the target audience even know this is out? Another record that should be released by Starbucks… Hell, Starbucks should ONLY stock records on their label. Build their brand. Gain people’s trust. If it’s on our label, it’s GOOD! Instead, their stores are laden with too much product and there’s no trust.

96. Vanessa Carlton "Heroes & Thieves"

Sales this week: 8,116
Percentage change: -55%
Weeks on chart: 2
Cume: 26,345

And her one hit wasn’t as good as Lifehouse’s.
Hope she’s got a backup plan.

81. Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts"

Sales this week: 9,772
Percentage change: +5%
Weeks on chart: 101
Cume: 5,970,184

The only act on the chart that has sold more records is Nickelback, which has moved 6,096,430 albums in 107 weeks and is ensconced at number 18. Country and rock… Fads come and go, but these heartland favorites remain, still selling to this day.

Add together Carrie’s TV fame and the best material and production money can buy, and you’ve got this sales number.

She may only be skin deep to you, but the records are good. You want to hate them, but you can’t.

72. R.E.M. "R.E.M. Live"

Sales this week: 11,516
Debut
Cume: 11,659

Sometimes you’re smart to take the money. This band has never done anything great since. And their now fortysomething fans no longer give a shit. They’ve seen the act enough. They’re playing with their children.

48. James Blunt "All The Lost Souls"

Sales this week: 16,038
Percentage change: -19%
Weeks on chart: 5
Cume: 208,214

Live by the single, die by the single. Unless Atlantic can pop one, he’s done.

40. Maroon 5 "It Won’t Be Soon Before Long"

Sales this week: 17,852
Percentage change: -6%
Weeks on chart: 22
Cume: 1,345,313

Buzz-less.

I’m thinking they would have sold more records with Clive. This is the kind of shit he knows how to sell. Jimmy needs something more credible or totally fabricated.

38. Jennifer Lopez "Brave"

Sales this week: 18,218
Percentage change: -65%
Weeks on chart: 2
Cume: 70,923

Even ALTER BRIDGE is higher on the chart.

I’d say it’s brave that she even put this package out. I’m surprised there’s even a disc inside. Because the few people buying this want the brand, not the music.

Do you remember Jenny before she had to tell us she was from the block, when she was an actress starting out, with Clooney, in "Out Of Sight"? She was really good. Playing a gritty character role. She’s sucked ever since she went diva.

And where was the concomitant record industry investment in Napster? Oh yeah, that’s right, Thomas Middelhoff, head of Bertelsmann, invested in the service, saw it as the industry’s future, and his record company brethren SUED HIM FOR AIDING AND ABETTING COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!

Where is the investment in Limewire? Where is the investment in anywhere the public HAS SHOWN AN INTEREST IN GOING!

Stop living in the field of dreams, believing if you build it they will come, didn’t work with PressPlay. Turns out the record industry’s got no clue what people want. Just like Microsoft doesn’t understand social networking. So they went where the FOOD WAS! Remember that old Sam Kinison routine? You shouldn’t send FOOD to Africans, but SUITCASES! So they can go where the food is!

I’m all for sending suitcases to the major labels. Loading them up with printouts from the Web. URLs they should check out. So they can move into the future. Because, like Africa, their old territory is dried out. It’s not going to rain in the physical disc domain ever again. Conditions are going to get worse. Rather than trying to fix the old system, EMBRACE THE NEW!

Microsoft followed Netscape into Web-browsing. AOL into Net portals. Hell, they even ripped off Apple (with a tiny little license) and embraced the GUI. Give the Redmond outfit credit. If they can’t invent anything there, at least they’ve got the ability to copy and steal.

Why can’t the record companies copy and steal file-trading? Better yet, as the windows close, as Microsoft realizes building its own social networking site is futile, why can’t the labels LICENSE THEIR MUSIC TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!

Oh, they can’t get over Apple screwing them. How? Eliminate the DRM and the iTunes Store has to compete with everybody else. Like Amazon.

Better yet, change the business model, authorize file-trading, and let Apple try to play CATCH-UP!

Microsoft is scared. It doesn’t want to be left behind. So frightened that its employees are constantly assessing the landscape, seeing where they can use their cash position to make a move, to insure their future dominance.

It may not be in productivity suites. Turns out word processing can be done online, FOR FREE! Microsoft is not suing Google for stealing their idea, they’re trying to OUTMANEUVER GOOGLE!

Microsoft, worth a hell of a lot more than the labels, does not have a guaranteed future. Why can’t the labels import some of this same thinking, that if you’re stagnant, if you try to protect the past, you’re doomed not only to mediocrity, but EXTINCTION!

And I don’t give a shit if the labels go under. But their refusal to license new business models is making EVERYBODY’S music free. It’s helping to keep music from the fans, if for no other reason than too many are scared to trade, even though they aren’t buying CDs.

I’m not sure if Facebook is the last stop, I’m not sure people want to be networked to the degree Mark Zuckerberg thinks they do. But the Net train has left the station, there’s constant evolution, and the record labels haven’t even packed their bags. You wonder why they’re so far behind?

Let’s be clear.  These are the BEST of times for music and musicians.  The stranglehold of big radio and big labels has been broken.  AND THEY DON’T LIKE IT!

The majors’ power comes from a monopoly on physical distribution.  But physical distribution’s days are history.  And anybody can purvey their wares alongside that of the majors’ online.  Furthermore, you don’t even have to employ the majors’ business model.  You can give the music away for FREE!  You NEVER have to charge for it.  You never have to play live.  You don’t have to play by any of the majors’ rules AT ALL!

But don’t you want to get on the radio?

The people making the music, who are rejecting the majors’ game, DON’T LISTEN TO TERRESTRIAL RADIO!  Why would they want their music alongside Britney’s and that of the other posers?  It would be DEVALUED!  They don’t listen to the radio and neither do their FANS!

But what about TV?  You want to be on TV, don’t you?

No.  TV shortens acts’ careers.  Sure, major labels can still find people who want instant fame.  But more acts see that Pearl Jam is the only band broken on MTV that still has its bona fides and a career intact, and they won’t go on the boob tube.

Our money.  You want our money.

Some do.  But that cash comes at a price.  And that price IS EVER GROWING!  You don’t only don’t want to pay royalties, you want a piece of touring, merch, all 360 degrees of revenue.  And when it’s all said and done, YOU still own the record, even though sales paid for it.  This is a business proposition?  Maybe acts will take it when there’s no other game in town.  But those days are through.

The majors’ game is based on control.  And a narrow sphere of availability.  Neither of which is in existence anymore.

So, we’re living in an era of chaos.  Not only is the future incomprehensible, SO IS THE PRESENT!  But it won’t last forever.  But those making change are not those who WERE in power.  Because they’re not willing to take chances, not willing to INNOVATE! 

(Read Seth Godin for edification: Radiohead and the mediocre middle)

The majors made music free, not the public.  Napster offered to pay.  So many people offered to pay.  Even Verizon.  But the labels wouldn’t take the money.  They wanted to protect Best Buy and Wal-Mart, who have got NO LOYALTY TO THEM!  (Meanwhile, they continually fucked the indie retailers in the ass.)  They wanted the CD economic model.  In an era where people buy iPods capable of holding thousands of tracks, computer hard drives have the capability of holding TENS OF THOUSANDS OF TRACKS!  To deny this reality is to try and get everybody to do their word processing on IBM Selectrics!

The future is here.  The only ones not embracing it are the old wave players.

Songwriters…  Don’t bitch at the public stealing your wares, scream at the labels who wouldn’t embrace new business models.  Who turned down every innovation the Silicon Valleyites came up with.

Oh sure, it wasn’t this simple.  Napster wanted to make money too.  But it was clear the labels had to do SOMETHING…but what did they do?  NOTHING!

They killed Napster.  They killed Kazaa.  Today they killed Oink.  Did ANY of these efforts increase legitimate sales?  NO!  A failed strategy, wouldn’t you say?

So what do the labels do?  As delineated above, ask YOU, the MUSICIAN, for a bigger piece of the pie.  FOR WHAT?

The majors are out of touch.  Music is no longer about videos, but the live experience.  That’s why concert tickets cost so much.  You’d think labels would invest in touring acts.  But they’re too hard to break.  Can’t anyone give the labels a break?

WHATEVER you do, don’t give the labels a break.  They just want to put a drag on the future, control you, milk more money before the inevitable decline occurs.  Then again, the decline has been going on for almost a DECADE and now it’s getting worse and they’re doing NOTHING!  Oh, they’re suing Usenet.  Usenet was more popular back in 2000.  Hadn’t they heard of it then?  Why didn’t they sue it THEN?  Could it be that those plotting strategy are too busy going to lunch and playing golf to be net-savvy?

Yes, the future is controlled by those familiar with keyboards and mice, not radio payoffs.  If you make the music, align yourself with new, honest businessmen.  With transparent accounting.  Who love your MUSIC!  Fans…keep acquiring the music the way you want to consume it.  That’s the ONLY WAY change will happen.  The labels don’t want to lead, they follow at best.  A buck a track is bullshit.  Ten bucks a month from EVERYBODY is a better business model.  But the labels will only allow this if they’ve got CONTROL, if it’s a RENTAL MODEL!

There IS NO CONTROL!  Face it!  The genie can’t be put back in the bottle.  Deal with reality old farts.

The field is wide open for young entrepreneurs.  Who’ll control the filter, what to listen to, as radio continues to falter, and will control sales, when music is paid for once again.

Revolutions don’t happen without revolt.  The public has been revolting since 2000.  And those in power have continued to sit in Versailles.  The beheading has begun.  CD sales will sink even further after Christmas.  Did you see Apple’s numbers?  Once you get an iPod, you don’t WANT a CD!

What do the majors say to this?  Apple is the ENEMY!

Apple is not the enemy.  People love their iPods more than they love your labels.  Because iPods enrich their lives.  That hasn’t been the label’s mantra for decades.  It’s about theft, about rip-off.  The public’s moved on.  Time to chase people, play by their rules, because they’re NEVER COMING BACK TO YOU!

There’s this song on the new Little Big Town album that’s a cross between "Crystal" and "Landslide". I discovered it how you find all great songs. When I wasn’t looking for it.

I was reading newspapers and magazines way past midnight on Felice’s dining room table. She was asleep. I haven’t gone to bed at the same time as my significant other since law school…and that relationship didn’t work out. I need that extra time, to cool down, to be alone, to catch up, to get my bearings in this world. And I get my bearings by reading.

I was catching up in the "Wall Street Journal" on pumpkin boating. Yup, growing giant orange globes, hollowing them out and even putting motors on the back, crossing icy waters, in this case far up north in Canada. And this song playing on my Nano matched the late night vibe perfectly, I had to play it again.

Used to be the music got me through my loneliness. Oh, I haven’t flown solo my whole life. Maybe I just don’t trust people to be there for me. That’s why I like contained environments so much. Like summer camp. Where people can get to know me over a period of time, the real me. And can’t abandon me.

Do you worry you might just say one thing, act one way and the rest of the world might disappear? I do. It inhibits me. I like to be my fully-realized self. I like to crack jokes. As well as be compassionate. And it’s these moments when I’m my real self that I triumph. But as one grows older those cohesive moments begin to evaporate. Or maybe it’s that I’m just not a joiner. As for working for the company… Not only do you lose your job, the whole company disappears. And too many mass gatherings are based on compromise. I’m not long on compromise. I don’t want everybody to be happy, I’ve got no problem with everybody being happy, but I pray at the altar of excellence. Too often making sure no feathers are ruffled results in a less than gratifying product, or experience. So I live in my own little world, in search of greatness. Not always finding it, not always creating it.

And I don’t know if it’s this Internet era or my age, but I can no longer make sense of the world. There used to be a list, a Top Forty, a structure. Now everything’s chaotic. I can’t take it all in. I end up rejecting so much. Because I don’t have enough time to get into it and understand it. And too often what’s being sold to me is constructed by those same build by committee folks, and I’m disappointed, and I swear off their wares for good. But I’m still hungry.

This leaves me in silence too often. The cacophony is deafening. I need a respite. But I’m desirous of fulfillment. And when I get a lead, when I find something, I DEVOUR IT! I want EVERY track that band has ever done. I only want to listen to them until I can listen no more. I don’t think the album has a future, but dedication to acts does. You have to get someone to buy into your culture. Once they’re hooked, they’ll buy everything you’ve got.

Not that it’s about money. It’s about the FEELING!

When I first inserted the new Little Big Town album in my CD player, I didn’t get it. The first track wasn’t a killer. Remember that old vinyl rule? That the first track on each side had to slay you? Maybe the rule doesn’t apply in the CD world, where you can program whatever you want. But I think you should worry less about pacing than quality. Just stack all your best tracks at the top. Sure, a song might flow better slotted at 8, but is anybody going to GET THERE?

The next song was the single, which isn’t burning up the chart, but I really like, "I’m With The Band".

The track after that, "That’s Where I’ll Be", blew my mind. It was what everybody buying the new Eagles album is going to expect. Something from "Greatest Hits Vol. I", not "II".

And really, the best song on the album comes next, "Evangeline". But I caught that on random, sitting in front of my PowerBook in my Nashville hotel room.

I always listen on random. Which, I know, undercuts my track listing argument above, but I’ve got to be able to contradict myself. I’m human, I’m not a robot. And I almost never listen to CDs. It’s just that I wanted to EXPERIENCE Little Big Town’s album "A Place To Land".

And the more I played the tracks, the more I liked the album. I came to realize the opener, "Fine Line", was a winner. My favorite kept switching. The album was unfolding. This is the experience you love, that you always e-mail me about. But it requires that you love the act, that you give their record a chance and that it’s good.

And "A Place To Land" IS good. The same way "Rumours" was good after the first Fleetwood Mac Buckingham/Nicks album. Even though the first one was better. Because something can only be new once, it can only be fresh once, you can only be surprised once. Then you’re along for the ride.

"A Place To Land" is not a surprise. It’s a step, it represents growth. The band has arrived, now where do they go? They’re established, it’s less about making an impression and more about making a fully-realized statement.

I was bitten by "Over My Head" first, on that Fleetwood Mac album of yore. And I love it. But not as much as I love "Crystal". Because I always trust my first initial feeling. "Crystal" is made for me. Listening alone, lost in an apartment in the avenues of Salt Lake. With thousands of dollars worth of ski equipment, but not a dollar in my pocket. Emotions, feelings, but no direction. I had to listen to "Crystal" and the rest of the songs on that album over and over to tide me over until I could see that I had to apply to law school, to get out.

And I wanted to drop out of law school. But love got me sidetracked, kept me from going back to Utah. Not that I knew what I was doing. I just listened to the records and I was able to move forward.

"To Know Love" has got good lyrics, but it’s the sound that hooked me. What do you do when you have more questions than answers? What do you do when life is as scrambled as a Brillo pad?

What I do is read. Try to get a grip. Knowledge is power.

But it’s also fulfillment.

Now I can take my music everywhere I go. I never travel without it. My Nano held my classics, and the tracks newly added to my iTunes library. It was my mezuzah. My baseball glove. My old Lange Banshees. It was something I could count on. It’s something I do count on.

It’s beautiful, but it’s what’s inside that counts. And what’s inside is treasure.

You won’t be able to buy this album until November. It might not be your kind of music. The odds of "To Know Love" being spun on the radio are almost nonexistent. But "To Know Love" counts.

So, when you get the opportunity. If you’re sometimes lonely like me. If you’re putting up a brave face, but conflicted within. Play it.

Don’t play it if you like those comeback Fleetwood Mac albums, like "Tango In The Night", you know, with "Little Lies".

Don’t play it if you have to fall in love with the player.

Play it if you want someone to drape a blanket over your shoulders, let you know that it’s going to be hard, but it’s going to be all right.