“Jason Aldean, Decrying ‘Cancel Culture,’ Has a No. 2 Hit – ‘Try That in a Small Town’ went from overlooked to almost topping the charts after a week of controversy.”: https://tinyurl.com/d9pptvfw

What a crock of shit.

Who knew the crooked music charts would impact the political scene.

That’s right, the music charts are manipulated and phony, made to serve the labels, not the public. They’re inaccurate and should never be trusted. There are many ways to game the charts.

Leading me back to what I wrote last week. Which is find some way you can win, can say you’re #1, have done something dramatic, there must be some category in which you qualify. How about iTunes sales? About as relevant as vinyl. Then again, they tell us who is #1 in vinyl too! In a world where little is released on vinyl, you can’t get pressing time, and big stars load up product and drop it in a week so they can go #1 and hype it ad infinitum, just like Jason Aldean and his supporters re “Try That in a Small Town.”

Do you remember 2003? That’s when the iTunes Store launched. Twenty years ago. When you still rushed out to buy an iPod, a device that Apple has completely stopped making. Because music is an on demand item, you don’t need to own anything, it’s all at your fingertips, when you want it!

So why buy?

Almost nobody does. It makes no sense. Why buy a compromised file when you can listen in full fidelity on Apple Music and other platforms, in many cases in better than CD quality.

But wait, if you can still sell CDs… You go to the top of the chart!

You see sales are unjustly weighted on the charts. It would be like singles being worth more than home runs when it comes to baseball. It’d be like sales of the VCR in a DVR world… And DVRs have been eclipsed by on demand!

How far can I take this…

It’s like the sale of cassette decks. Or Walkmen. Dated products that have little to no use in today’s world. Let’s say the sale of one cassette is worth a million streams. No, let’s be realistic… Let’s start with the truth. One sale is worth 1,500 streams in the Luminate, chart-making world. Think about that, one sale at the iTunes Store is worth 1,500 listens on a streaming platform. I’ll bet my life that no one will listen to the iTunes file of “Try That in a Small Town” 1500 times. Man, I doubt anybody will listen five hundred times. How many will listen even ten times. HOW MANY WILL LISTEN AT ALL!

The purchase of iTunes files is evidence of support, of solidarity, it’s got nothing to do with listening to the song. Because not that many people are listening to the song. How do I know? I checked the Spotify Top 50 and “Try That in a Small Town” is not in it! Nowhere to be found.

And don’t tell me it’s a country thing. Luke Combs’s version of “Fast Car” is number 7. It got 6,324,853 streams yesterday. “Try That in a Small Town” got 11.6 million streams last week, on all platforms! Sure, Spotify punches above its weight, but it is not all of the market. I’m not saying 11.6 million streams in a week is nothing, but it’s not a whole hell of a lot. It won’t put much gas in either the plane or the bus. But somehow, in the topsy-turvy world called the music business, “Try That in a Small Town” charts higher than “Fast Car.”

Morgan Wallen’s “Wasted on You” is #16, with 4,825,150 streams on Spotify yesterday. But in bizarroland, it doesn’t hold a candle to “Try That in a Small Town.

Never mind all the non-country hits in the Spotify Top 50, they can’t compete with “Try That in a Small Town,” no way, Jason Aldean is #2!

And if this hogwash is printed in the “New York Times,” you’ve got to believe that it’s being repeated by other news outlets, especially on the right wing. Jason Aldean won! But he didn’t. But if you say that you’re a naysayer, someone who can’t handle the truth.

This is not so different from Donald Trump saying he won the election. Well, he was leading in certain states before the mail-in vote was counted. Well, that means you win, right?

Of course not. But you can’t convince many of his supporters otherwise. And you can’t convince Aldean supporters otherwise.

I mean at least level the playing field. Tell us how many paid streams a song gets, create the chart from that. But it can’t be done, because the labels find that nearly impossible to manipulate!

This is how it works. A has-been star wants a number one album. So the label cooks up some vinyl, pushes iTunes Store sales, games the crooked system so they can get something to publicize. And the following week the album is nowhere to be found, because in truth no one is listening to it. I mean it is music, it’s about listens, isn’t it?

OF COURSE NOT!

Wow, I could go on and on. You’ve got the artists who don’t understand the difference between an on demand stream and a radio stream. Not complicated, but when you get a low royalty check someone must be at fault, it can’t be you. But radio pays so much less! And there’s radio on Spotify. You put in the name of an act and a bunch of tracks are spewed out and the pay rate is different, because the listener has no control.

I won’t even go into who owns the publishing or how many writers there are, if the complainer even owns any of the publishing.

And if the people involved can’t understand it, what are the odds that people uninvolved can understand it? Almost nonexistent!

But it feels good to say. Those right wing red people from the rural states are showing the nasty blue people something. You can’t keep a heinous view down. We are incredibly strong. Hell, we learned our skills while we were enslaved!

That’s another right wing trope. Uttered by a candidate for President.

So in truth, the Jason Aldean kerfuffle is minor in the scheme of things. But falsehood, obfuscation, manipulation goes to the bedrock of our system. Everybody’s got their own facts, everybody’s #1 somewhere.

No wonder we can’t come together and move ahead. We’re not even starting from the same line, we don’t even believe the same things.

And if you think this screed will change the charts…

The people who pay Luminate like it this way. We can’t even get rid of the carried-interest rule, what are the odds we can have an honest music chart?

I hate when this happens. Because if the news will print tripe like this, what will they print about something more important?

Scary.

Would this have happened if she wasn’t in the public eye?

At this writing the cause of death has not been revealed, but I am not optimistic it was natural causes.

They don’t make stars like Sinéad O’Connor anymore. There’s nowhere to project a unique talent to everybody simultaneously, to deliver to the public a unique voice that blows them away. That was the power of MTV. And FM rock before that. And, of course, AM radio before that.

You only had to see the video once. You know, the Prince song, “Nothing Compares 2 U.” He’s gone now too. Which is hard to fathom, since he said he was fine, talked about rumors of his supposed imminent death just before he did die. And Sinéad and Prince were similar in that they came up in an era where they wanted you to do it their way, as opposed to the way the artist wanted to do it, their way.

So this was a different era, one of a plethora of record labels. Chrysalis was now a standalone company, after being an imprint whose records were distributed by others. It started just before the turn of the decade, from the seventies to the eighties, with Blondie. And then Pat Benatar and Huey Lewis. Somehow, Chrysalis could make stick what previous companies had been unable to break through.

So by time we hit 1990, MTV ruled the world. It had been around for nine years, was now established all over the world, and radio, which still mattered, was in lockstep with the music video channel. Such that “Nothing Compares 2 U” was instantly everywhere.

And this was not Chumbawamba. There was not only one good track and a plethora of dreck on “I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got.” It was deep and sparing throughout, just like the hit. It stuck with you. It was personal. Not done by committee. And it was a huge hit.

And then Sinéad ripped up the picture of the Pope on SNL and it was all over. That’s America, don’t fight with God. And those who don’t care are afraid of those who stand up to God.

Then again, most Americans didn’t grow up in Ireland, still haven’t been to Ireland, don’t comprehend Ireland. There’s a long history of literature exposing the Irish condition, but America doesn’t read, it’s got to be delivered easy, via moving pictures. Hopefully like “Ted Lasso,” upbeat. We don’t want to be reminded of the underbelly, but Sinéad was all underbelly.

O’Connor never had another hit. And we can argue whether her material deserved presence at the top of the pops or not, but one thing is for sure, she was silently blackballed. Because she was dangerous, because she was uncontrollable. And this is what record labels and radio abhor. They don’t care how talented you are, if you’re a loose cannon, if you don’t play it their way, they want nothing to do with you. You’re trouble.

And Sinéad O’Connor was perceived as trouble.

Now the funny thing is O’Connor continued to have some success overseas after her stock crumbled in the U.S., but eventually that faded away too. Sinéad was a has-been. Seen by many as a one hit wonder. Even though she was never about the hits, meaning her work delivered, she was an artist, who had something to say, who was in pain.

And suddenly that pain was everywhere.

Radio and records might not want to touch you, but the press loves famous people who act irrationally, who make crazy statements, who behave wildly. They’ve got to fill the pages. And that’s where O’Connor started to appear.

There were marriages and babies, a religious conversion, an institutionalization, Oprah and Dr. Phil. O’Connor was self-destructing in front of our very eyes. And the weird thing is these people don’t get help, they’re seen as entertainment. Until they die.

So… Would all of this have happened to Sinéad O’Connor if she hadn’t had a hit record and become recognizable around the world?

Well, O’Connor came out and said she was bipolar. And if this is true, and unmedicated, bad behavior, weird behavior, is part of the diagnosis.

Then again, fame is a drug that once experienced is hard to give up. Knowing that everything you say will be fodder for the news, distributed around the globe.

Then again, there are mentally ill people living desperate lives around the globe who go unnoticed, because they are not famous.

Was Sinéad O’Connor destined for this path, or was the world complicit?

Now the bipolar are some of our greatest artists. Today everyone is seen as a possible musical star. How do you look? We can put you together with a team, we can build a monolith. But you used to need something extra, we called that talent, and it had nothing to do with self-promotion, but raw musical creation. Our artists had insight, they were beacons. Sinéad was constantly pushing the envelope, warning others of the ills of the music industry, but her statements fell on deaf ears. Seen any real repercussions of #MeToo in the music business? No. It’s an independent contractor enterprise run by men. Of course there are women, but oftentimes they have the values of men. Criticize me all you want, but this is frequently true, because you have to have that killer instinct to survive.

The machine needs music. It thrives when there are artists. And artists are not about breaking records, but breaking hearts and minds, getting us to question ourselves and the world. Artists are not concerned with what the prepubescent think, not that they’ll turn away their business, artists are speaking to those who’ve grown up, who’ve experienced, and it’s not only their fans but society at large. Don’t forget, they attacked John Lennon for saying the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Back in an era when “Time” asked if religion was dead.

Actually, religion is dying in America. But politically it’s more powerful than ever. Sinéad O’Connor was standing up to the ills of religion, but this message went unheeded, never mind being from a girl.

But unlike so many of those with success in the past, Sinéad O’Connor won’t be forgotten, because she had it, what most people don’t possess, and she delivered it.

And what she delivered…

Of course there was “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

But on that same album, there’s “The Last Day of Our Acquaintance.” And “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” And “Black Boys on Mopeds.” And “I Am Stretched on Your Grave.”

I was at the Lilith Fair at the Rose Bowl, outside the Bowl, watching Special K and Billie Myers, and then I heard this sound floating over the stands, I had to run inside to listen.

“I am stretched on your grave

And I’ll lie here forever”

That voice! Pure and powerful. Natural. Not aided by studio trickery.

And then there was that moment on Letterman. Sinéad singing “You Made Me the Thief of Your Heart.” It’s disappeared from YouTube, because of some rights issue, but not only did it slay me the first time through, I kept it on VHS tape, so I could watch it again and again.

Sinéad was possessed by the music. She felt the music. She was the music. It was transcendent. It’s one thing to take the stage, it’s another to lift the entire auditorium.

The song was from the film “In the Name of the Father.” If they even make those films anymore, they go nearly unseen. This is not what Universal, the film’s distributor, or the rest of the majors put out these days. They want cartoons, not truth. Because most people can’t handle the truth. And the truth is life is now so hard that people don’t want to be reminded of the fact that there is no upside, that they’re stuck. Which is why people believe in falsehoods, conspiracy theories, because the truth is just too scary.

But Sinéad O’Connor was all about the truth. Directly from her heart to ours. She looked us in the eye and delivered. Like the rock stars of yore. She might not have died at 27, but she shares the lineage of those who do. She just wasn’t made for these times.

“Oh, you lost

Oh, you lost all

You lost all

You lost all”

Spotify playlist: https://tinyurl.com/484muvrf

____________

“Alcohol” – The Kinks

“Have a Drink On Me” – AC/DC

“Cold Gin” – Kiss

“Elderberry Wine” – Elton John

“Margaritaville” – Jimmy Buffett

“One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” – George Thorogood & the Destroyers

“I Drink Alone” – George Thorogood

“Red Red Wine” – Neil Diamond

“Whiskey Rock-A- Roller” – Lynyrd Skynyrd

“Gin and Juice” – Snoop Dogg

“Tequila” – The Champs

“Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) ” – The Doors

“Bottle of Wine” – The Fireballs

“Nighttrain” – Guns N’ Roses

“Roadhouse Blues” – The Doors

“Same Old Wine” – Loggins & Messina

“Hey Nineteen” – Steely Dan

“That Smell” – Lynyrd Skynyrd

“Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba

“Send Me No Wine” – Moody Blues

“Why Don’t We Get Drunk” – Jimmy Buffett

“Spill the Wine” – Eric Burdon & War

“Beer In Mexico” – Kenny Chesney

“Closing Time” – Semisonic

“John Barleycorn” – Traffic

“Tennessee Whiskey” –  Chris Stapleton

“However Much I Booze” – The Who

“Tequila Sunrise” – Eagles

“Mas Tequil” – Sammy Hagar

“Sweeet Cherry Wine” – Tommy James

“Cold One” – Eric Church

“Cigarettes and Alcohol” – Oasis

“Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” – Rupert Holmes

“Whiskey Glasses” – Morgan Wallen

“You and Tequila” – Kenny Chesney & Grace Potter

“Take Your Whiskey Home” – Van Halen

“Drunk On a Plane” – Dierks Bentley

“Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) ” – Elton John

“Piano Man” – Billy Joel

“Whisky Train” – Procol Harum

“You’re Not Drinking Enough” – Don Henley

“Days of Wine and Roses” – Andy Williams

“Drinking Song” – Loudon Wainwright

“Barbie” is pop. “Oppenheimer” is rock and roll.

Sure, “Barbie’s gross exceeded that of “Oppenheimer,” $162 million to $82.4 million, but “Oppenheimer” will have longer legs in the public consciousness, because when you go deep, that’s when people resonate.

Now if you weren’t aware of “Barbie,” you were living disconnected in Ted Kaczynski’s old shack in Montana. The story was everywhere. This is the carpet bomb publicity that’s been employed to almost no effect throughout the 21st century. You can’t reach everybody and they don’t care anyway. And I was getting overwhelmed with the “Barbie” hype until I saw the movie was directed by Greta Gerwig, from a script she wrote with her significant other Noah Baumbach. I have respect for both of them.

Greta Gerwig was the queen of mumblecore, a film movement from a few decades back that only film aficionados are aware of. You might go to the movies today, but are you aware of their history, can you place those films in context? Probably not, you’re a fan of what is called “popcorn movies,” high concept blockbusters that are entertainment as opposed to art. But I caught the bug as a result of the buzz and checked out some of that genre’s flicks and Greta Gerwig was phenomenal in them, as an actress. And then she did “Frances Ha” with Baumbach. It was a financial blockbuster. Well, no, it grossed a grand total of $11.3 million, on a budget of $3 million. But if you saw it, you’ll never forget it. Oh, it’s not that good, it’s subtle, but so is your life.

And Baumbach did “The Squid and the Whale” and while everybody is going to USC to become a director, Noah graduated from liberal arts enclave Vassar. That’s right, avoid the liberal arts, they’ll kill your earnings potential. And that’s statistically untrue, in the long run liberal arts majors can and frequently do make more, because they’re more nimble, but one thing is for sure, your horizons will be widened, you’ll have something to say if you get a liberal arts education.

And then Gerwig became a director herself, with the indie success “Lady Bird,” and then the general public became aware of her with her mainstream success “Little Women.”

In other words, Gerwig had a track record. She’d paid her dues, developed her so-called “craft.” Had experience. Furthermore, the audience was aware of her as a high quality filmmaker who delivered, there was eager anticipation for “Barbie.” Then again, the main driver was that title, because it’s hard to start from square one like with “Oppenheimer.”

Christopher Nolan has a similar career arc to that of Gerwig. He too started off in indies, although not quite so far down the food chain as mumblecore. Nolan made his bones with “Memento”…talk about innovative. And sealed the deal with “Insomnia,” wherein Al Pacino and others wander in Alaska during the midnight sun…Pacino’s inability to sleep is palpable. And then Nolan dove completely into the mainstream with Batman movies.

Now stars might not mean much anymore in the movie business, but writers and directors still do, and just like with Gerwig, but even more, the general public is aware of Nolan, and waits in anticipation of his next release.

And although Nolan did make three “Batman” movies, both he and Gerwig do not repeat themselves, every film is a new adventure.

Contrast this with the music business, where the goal is to blow up someone young with no experience, someone the public has never heard of. Experience works against you in the big time music business, because if you’ve got it you’re too old to play the game, they don’t even want you. However, you can kill on the road. That’s the story of the twenty first century, the older people on the road playing music that sounds not a whit like what is ensconced in the Spotify Top 50, never mind played on terrestrial radio.

So… If the movie was called “Barbie” and Gerwig and Baumbach were not involved it would have been an uphill climb, been seen as a dash for cash. But the imprimatur of those two along with good word of mouth and ultimately great reviews put gasoline in the engine and there was great success.

But that’s “Barbie,” what about “Oppenheimer”?

The “Oppenheimer” buzz didn’t reach me until a couple of weeks before release. And the story was primarily about it opening on the same day as “Barbie.” In addition, “Oppenheimer” is not sexy and light, it’s anything but “Barbie.” I mean really, a three hour epic about the advent of nuclear weapons?

But the public hungers for deep and serious. This is what the mainstream gets so wrong. All we hear is about the younger generations’ short attention spans, meanwhile they’ll burn through a Netflix series in a day. The younger generations reject crap.

But crap is what they’re fed all day long.

So the theatrical movie business is on the decline, it certainly took a hit during the pandemic, and no matter what anybody says, it will never fully recover. Theatrical is for event movies. It takes too much time and too much money to attend, it had better be worth it, and most stuff is not. The old boomer days of going to a flick on a whim are history, furthermore you’ve got A+ entertainment in 4k at your fingertips at home. However…

Turns out if you deliver what people hunger for, high quality fare, they’re interested, they’ll show up. But the studios started focusing on dumbed-down product that can play around the world. Meanwhile, Hollywood movies are now tanking in China. Time to get back to the garden. But the opportunity cost and the number of dollars are such… Well, it’s worse than that, the people running the studios don’t even remember the good old days, the last time film burgeoned, in the seventies. They’ve got no point of reference. As for indies… That market is dead. You can make it, but it won’t be distributed and no one will see it. Even worse, the streamers no longer want to pick it up.

Which means the public is looking for fare that is available to all, that is unifying, that is seen as something we can all relate to.

And the lessons for the music business are…

Legion.

Where is the unique product proffered by the major labels? Nonexistent. They just shift the same old stuff, new stuff just like the old stuff, written by committee and remixed ad infinitum, with the human element shaved off. Such when something truthful shows up, it dominates. This is the story of Chris Stapleton.

But how many Chris Stapletons are there? I don’t see another on the country charts. As for the wannabe Americanans… Chris is 45 and has paid his dues. He can write, sing and play, all at a high level, whereas his imitators cannot. I mean if you haven’t got a palatable voice, you’d better be one of the best lyricists of all time.

But all we get in rock is the Foo Fighters, who were retrograde to begin with. The Foos are comic book movies. Seen one, you’ve seen them all. Where is the innovation?

People want something new and different that challenges them. And one hit record can lift the entire business, never mind inspire others to follow in the creator’s path.

But we haven’t got that hit anymore. Nothing that everybody in America is talking about, that they want to check out. What we promote is niche, no matter what the media says. Drake? Taylor Swift? They’re doing incredible business, but you can ignore them and feel just fine about it, it’s not like the music of either is inescapable, like the Beatles with “Sgt. Pepper.”

Yes, “Sgt. Pepper” was a great leap forward, and never forget there were no singles. And it was embraced by the public.

But “Oppenheimer” is more like the White Album. Longer and darker. Leaving you with more questions than answers. If it’s all there on the screen or in the grooves, if you can stop and forget about it, it’s not going to last.

We’ve got so many complaining that they’ve got the goods. But they haven’t paid their dues like Greta Gerwig and Chris Nolan, never mind not being as talented. They believe they’re entitled. TikTok is their market, where you live and die on your creativity, where it’s all inherently niche. But as far as something more mainstream…

Mainstream doesn’t necessarily mean compromised. Look at “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Mainstream means most people are aware and care. The music business lost this formula decades ago. It’s not even looking to recapture the essence. It’s like everybody at the labels is brain dead and compromised, which is why you no longer know their names. The legends took risks, affected the culture at large, the newbies are playing a role.

So ultimately “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are good for America. They have created rallying points. You can say you went to see a Tom Cruise movie, but there’s nothing to talk about when it’s over. He did his own stunts? See if that gets you into Harvard. It won’t. It comes down to what you’ve got between the ears.

It’s all about pushing the envelope. But that’s too hard for most people. They want a safety net, a guaranteed return. But it’s always the outside that breaks rules and sets trends, always. I mean what can you learn from a new “Avengers” movie, or “Mission Impossible”? It’s like the latest pop confection. There is a market for it, but the rest of the public shrugs its shoulders, if it’s aware and cares whatsoever.

And this does not only apply to art. Tech is all about breaking boundaries. When did everyone in America decide to play it safe?

In politics we keep hearing about what we can’t do, when we used to hear about what we could do. And we hear from politicians that their hands are tied, that certain people won’t go for it. But that doesn’t mean you should stop, but push harder.

The opportunity for the lone warrior is always there. One person can make a difference. And it’s not about money, but message. If people are only talking about the gross, you’ve missed the point. Quick, tell me what the biggest selling Bob Dylan record was! Hell, he never reached the sales pinnacle of even the nineties has-beens, he’s never had a diamond record.

Money changes everything.

But what people don’t realize is if you listen to your inner tuning fork and go your own way there’s plenty of money to be made. But even more cultural impact. Bill Gates made more money than Steve Jobs, does that make him Jobs’s equal? No.

Refocus.

And you’ve got to do it yourself because the overlords don’t want you to, they want business as usual, they want predictable. Unfortunately, this is not what the public wants, and the public always wins in the end.