We’re watching a new English series, well an old English series, but I’m going to hold back the name, because if mention it I’ll hear from enthusiastic viewers about the plot, and this will depress me.

So I was standing in the bathroom, this is where I do some of my best thinking. If you want to be creative, don’t sit in front of the computer, don’t try to work at all, take a shower, go out for a hike, you’ll be surprised when your synapses will fire with a great idea. Like the article entitled “The Death of Radio?,” that idea came to me when I was in a rush to get my act together to go to lunch with Felice. I asked her if we could delay, because oftentimes the idea leaves as fast as it comes, but she didn’t want to and I wrote after lunch and it wasn’t as good as it would have been, but it worked nonetheless.

So in this case I’d been contemplating what to watch on the flat screen next. Having burned through almost all of the legendary series, we started to dive into movies, but…

I’ve got a list on my phone. Two, in fact. One for series and one for movies. And there are a ton of great movies I haven’t seen, not going to the theatre anymore, because I just can’t calm down and relax on demand, never mind the Covid break. But I didn’t want to. Emotionally. And as you get older you learn to trust your gut. It’ll fail you occasionally, but very rarely. My gut told me not to get married, if only I’d listened to it.

And that’s when it hit me, I can’t get invested in a movie. It’s ninety minutes, sometimes even a few hours, then it’s done. Might be an emotional roller coaster, might dazzle me, but then it’s over. But I want to be all-in, I want a relationship, I want to dive in deep and marinate, I want a long experience.

I’m not talking a week to week drip. When you binge a series it’s in your mind all day, that you’re going to watch an episode that night. Actually, multiple episodes, how many will you be able to fit in? And no one else is watching at the same time, so you can’t discuss amongst your friends, it’s private, like we used to own our records. You remember, that’s what separated you from the casual fan. You loved certain acts that never had a hit, that most people had never heard of, that you could turn people on to. Even better, sometimes they later broke through to superstardom and you could say you were there first, you knew which previous albums to buy, you basked in your knowledge and status. That’s what it’s like watching a great series, especially at a time different from its release. Even well-distributed series, ones that had been bandied about previously, like “The Americans.” I mean how good could this FX show be? Very good, excellent. And the funny thing is it got better as it went along, and the finale was satisfying. But watching years after it aired on cable, I felt like I owned it, I talk about it all the time.

But it’s rare that an American series hits that note. Right now we’re watching a legal series, of which there have been tons in the U.S. But this BBC show is just a bit more real. Just when you think it’s “L.A. Law,” it surprises you. Oh, and the English don’t assume you’re dumb, they don’t offer bottom of the barrel fare, the English respect you, think you come to the series with a modicum of knowledge. They don’t slow down so you can understand, they don’t explicate, they’re movies, but much, much longer. Used to be movies were highbrow and demanded respect, even American ones, but that’s gone, too often it’s lowest common denominator, entertainment, and that’s not what I’m looking for, I don’t want to leave the theatre and forget about it, I want to keep thinking about it. But with a series, there’s so much more to think about!

We live in a Tower of Babel era. Everybody has different interests, everybody is into different stuff. And online is a cesspool of self-anointed experts who will insult you if you express a contrary view, especially an unpopular one. So you feel so lonely. It’s like we’re all in a different race, not even playing the same game.

So we look to invest.

And it doesn’t only apply to art. People invest in politicians, many are even invested in Apple. It gives them an identity, something to believe in. However, because of sunk costs, it’s difficult to get someone to change their opinion, abandon their investment, they’ve spent so much money, time and effort demonstrating it, they’re just going to throw that overboard?

But I’m talking about art.

And let me be clear, this is different from fandom. Although aligned. Fandom can be more blind, based on less information, it’s a status, that you oftentimes display. Investment is private. It’s a one to one relationship. It’s about the bond, as opposed to the external. You don’t need to boast, you don’t need to buy and wear merch, it’s something that transpires in your head, it’s not brain dead attachment, there’s thought put into it, the investment may not be able to be taken to the bank, but it’s more valuable than currency.

So how do you get someone to invest?

Well, you need a lot of product. Aka the series. And in music, you’ve got to have a lot of it. If you make one album and tour, even if that album is a gargantuan hit, investment can be involved, but it can be thrown over more easily. No, investment is about careers. And unlike in the old days, you can’t wait two, three or five years to release new music. Because the audience is too hungry, it will move on and invest in something else. Now if you’re a classic rock act, any act that made its bones in the last century, in the pre-internet era, when there was scarcity, it can be different, but if you’re starting today…

What are you providing that people can invest in.

And it’s not only music, it’s your identity, your personality. When you post hype on social media that works against you, you’re not respecting the audience, which already knows everything about you, you’re not playing to the invested, but everybody else, and that’s contrary to the whole investment paradigm. It’s a core that grows outward, the attachment frequently goes unspoken. There’s magic. And if you sell too hard the magic evaporates.

And you can’t sell out and you can’t rave about the money you’re making. That’s for blind fandom, which will accept anything you do. But to create investment, fans must truly believe they’re number one. Forget lip service, it’s something you can feel. It’s credibility and so much more. This is about the long term, moving mountains, making a difference, not a momentary flash in the pan.

But most artists don’t want to do this, they want it to go faster. But if you go faster you lose investment, and therefore you lose an audience that will keep you alive over decades.

Give me something to hold on to, not something I can see in the financial pages, but something human. Which is why you should post online. To demonstrate your identity, to nurture the bond. And the bond is always fantasy, you’re filling a hole in people’s hearts. So it’s not about being friends with your audience, it’s not about revealing absolutely everything, there must remain blanks, so people can fill in the gaps, create a whole world in their head. It’s like they say, you don’t want to meet your heroes. And I’ve met many, and I must say the mantra almost always applies.

Now there are tons of people watching movies, going to the theatre to view superhero flicks. Then again, there are those invested in food and housing shows on TV. They’re invested in the hosts, there are endless episodes, there is something to hold on to. I know, it’s a conundrum, because this tends to be cheap reality programming, but there’s a lot of it, so people can invest in it.

And then there’s “Suits.” The story of the summer. It’s not like the series got any better, it’s just that people can binge it all on their own schedule, they can own it.

This is the future of entertainment today, investment, substantial, for the long haul. It’s not something that delivers headlines, but how many read those headlines anyway? Too often press is there just to satiate the creator. The only way to grow is via word of mouth. Which means you need to get one person invested so they can turn someone else on. Believe me, this is different from fandom. If you’re moronically telling me how good something is, I ignore you. Like too many who tell me what to watch. They thought it was great, I need to see it. And then I research and find it’s mediocre or terrible. And then I wonder about the person suggesting I invest hours of my time. Do they even know the landscape? Are they watching or investing? Same deal with people who tell me about great movies. There are certainly some great ones, but they’re rare. But these people are employing old school values, casting themselves as the cineastes of yore. Above the rest of us. But the script has flipped, series are the great entertainment of our era. “The Sopranos” was better than any contemporaneous movie, and people quote it all the time, I mean watcha gonna do…

Yes, people were invested and still are invested in “The Sopranos.” And “House of Cards.” “The Sopranos” broke premium cable wide, “House of Cards” broke streaming wide. Just one show.

Just like in music. Despite the charts, acts are not really competing with one another, each one is unique, with its own audience. One creative act can bypass the entire commercial system and go straight to people’s hearts. But they’ve got to have something special, that je ne sais quoi, and almost nothing does. Which is why despite there being endless series on offer, very few are worth watching.

But while I’m at it, people were invested in HBO. Now they’re invested in Netflix. They’ve got a relationship with the outlet they do not have with Disney or Paramount… Those streaming outlets lack breadth, lack soul, they’re Wall Street first, not audience first. How can you be invested in Max when Zaslav cuts product for tax savings, for the bottom line? Those shows with fewer viewers are the ones people invest in, that keep them subscribing, disrespect these people at your peril.

I’d like to say that incoming provides with me a lot of great tips, but I’d be lying if I said so. It’s kind of like A&R people, talk to them, they’ve never found a great unsolicited demo, never happens. The people sending them think they’re great, but they’ve got no idea how the game works, they don’t understand the landscape, never mind having no perspective on their work. It’s one thing to compete, quite another to transcend.

I’m looking for transcendence, so I can invest.

And I’m not the only one.

Harvey Lisberg was the manager of Herman’s Hermits, 10cc and more. Harvey tells a good story, you’ll enjoy this.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/harvey-lisberg/id1316200737?i=1000626310712

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/0c3615b1-2c6f-49e5-aa62-6d6f65cc4e2e/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-harvey-lisberg

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast/episode/harvey-lisberg-306914027

https://tinyurl.com/3arxyraj

This is why we can’t have octogenarians, never mind nonagenarians, running the country.

But oh yeah, you can’t say that. It’s elder abuse. Why is it everybody in America feels entitled to play at a professional level in every endeavor they choose for their entire life? If you’re five foot two, you can’t play in the NBA. And if you’re fifty you can’t win the sprint. But you should be able to govern for the rest of your life?

Come on, been driving with any of these people? That’s the hardest thing to do with the aged, take away their license. And you’d be surprised how many baby boomers don’t like to drive at night, because of the decline of their vision. But no, we need to let the nearly dead run the country!

I want you to name the eighty year old tech experts. I’m waiting. Even the seventy year olds. You know, pushing the envelope, pegging the needle. I’m sure we can shake the bushes and come up with a few, but most aged people are not that tech-savvy, never mind being in the business and changing the world. But I can’t say that either, people hate to be labeled! Just because you have an iPhone that does not make you a power user. Quick, do you know when you turn on Do Not Disturb on your Mac it silences your iPhone too? You’d be stunned how much power these devices have, and the younger generations that grew up with them are more familiar, it’s more instinctive. Furthermore, they didn’t grow up in the era where the first iteration always sucked. Now you expect your brand new product to work right out of the box, whereas you used to turn it on and pray.

Meaning I hate when the government gets into tech. Because the elected officials don’t understand it. But if they were younger… Tech drives the world, and all we’re told by our oldsters is to get off our devices. But now even cars are computers.

Athletes retire, but not elected officials. Like they have a special sauce running through their veins. If you know any ninety year olds, you don’t want them running the country. Sure, there are exceptions, but they’re rare, assuming people even live that long. That’s another thing, everybody expects to live to a hundred. Hate to burst your bubble, the odds are low, better start living like every day is your last, or at least every year.

This is kind of like 1/6, we see it with our very eyes and we’re told it’s not true. Yes, 1/6 was a beautiful picnic according to Donald Trump and his acolytes, you’d think they were eating pizza and playing cornhole. If someone froze like McConnell, you’d immediately take them off the field. You don’t want them working, you don’t want them screwing up. But McConnell freezes and we’re told that he’s fine. But even worse, now he’s frozen twice!

There’s nothing to see here. Right…

And let’s not make it a right or left thing, Republican or Democrat, Dianne Feinstein has to go too. When she praised Lindsey Graham for his handling of the Barrett hearings, it showed me she’d already lost her marbles, and that was years ago at this point. But no, she stays.

They’re making a mockery of the institution. The Supreme Court is a joke. And now Congress too. And it’s not only McConnell, but the Freedom Caucus, which they should call the Fredo Caucus. I don’t care who elected these people, most Americans can see they’re nincompoops. If this is who they’re electing, leave me out.

Which brings us to the big kahuna, the big show, the presidential election…

Both Biden and Trump shouldn’t run. Period. They’re not familiar with modern society. Sure, Biden may know how the wheels turn, and Trump was president for four years, but if I want to know which way the wind blows I wouldn’t call either of them.

We’re continually writing off our youth. There’s no climate change, but it’s the youngsters who are going to pay the price. Ditto on the debt. We keep pushing everything down the line to people who get no representation. I mean why vote, you’re ignored anyway. That’s what many youngsters think, they’ve tuned out.

They have referees in sport. And they even have a concussion protocol in the NFL. But nothing like this exists in government. Where is the ombudsman who takes you out of the game and retires your jersey?

Oh, don’t tell me that Biden beat Trump once. Don’t even tell me he’s done a good job. Someone younger and in touch needs to be in charge. And I don’t want to contemplate Biden dying and Kamala replacing him. She turned me off during the 2020 debates and nothing she’s done since has demonstrated that she’s credibly in touch with and on the side of me and the rest of the people. Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist. But the reality is if you’re voting for Biden you’re considering the VP more than ever in history.

As for Trump… One thing is for sure, he’s not getting smarter. Not reading books, informing himself. He’s not auditing classes at the university, not attending symposia on crime, he’s just blowing smoke. I want someone young, with experience with today’s issues.

But I am not heard. That’s what it’s like being a citizen of the U.S. these days. You’re not heard. You make no difference. They implore you to vote every few years, otherwise they ignore you. It’s a big club and you’re not in it and they don’t have your best interests at heart. It’s all bloviation, triangulation. The climate deniers on the Republican debate stage… Hell, if Trump was in office and a hurricane did damage in California you know he’d be tight with the purse strings. And we can have open carry and deny Black history and we should be surprised when someone who drinks the kool-aid kills three people in Jacksonville?

Where’s the common sense. And some of the left wing stuff is crap. Trigger warning? Your whole life needs a warning, get with the program, buck up and survive.

I mean this stuff is obvious to the vast majority, but not in government, not at all. What a crazy country. We saw 1/6 on television, on television!, but we’re told not to believe our eyes. I mean come on.

And let’s be clear. Nothing I write here will make any difference. Won’t change any minds. I just want you to know that you are not alone, that there are people who feel like you. As for hope? You’re on your own with that.

All you have to know is “Rich Men North of Richmond” went to number one on the streaming chart. Which is a bit complicated, because there’s on demand streaming and radio-style streaming, and YouTube and… But if you make it to number one, one thing is for sure, people are listening!

It’s all about consumption.

Can we forget about the good old days? You know, with fat label contracts and prodigious CD sales? They’re never coming back, ever.

And we can forget about sales all together. The iTunes Store is de minimis, a fraction of what it once was. Twenty years have passed since its inception. To talk about iTunes consumption today is like talking about 78 consumption after the introduction of the 45. It’s over. As for physical sales… That’s souvenirs, that’s not about listening. Travis Scott? He’s number one this week because of a cheap vinyl offer. In other words, his residence atop the chart is manipulated. Unlike Morgan Wallen, who is #2, based on consumption, not sales. Ignore sales. They’re a metric the labels use to manipulate the chart. But streaming?

You only get paid when people listen. The pre-internet generation hates this. They’d rather sell you the album, get their bucks and forget you. But this is incredibly shortsighted. What you want to do is create something so infectious that it will continue to be consumed, and you will get paid handsomely.

Now in the pre-internet era, the way you sold was via radio, and then music videos on MTV. People saw the product and then went out and bought it. In other words, radio and MTV were promotional tools. Radio’s business is advertising. Stations don’t care about the music, they’d air anything if enough people listened that they could sell advertising. It was a marriage of convenience. But that marriage is on the rocks.

Yesterday you used radio exposure to sell product. Today, when it works, you are selling streams. Sure, there’s publishing money on airplay in the U.S., but the record company doesn’t get paid a penny. And the majors no longer own all the publishing, or have admin deals on the hits at a very low rate. So the labels need to focus on streaming to make money, to pay their bills.

Now online radio pays both the record company and the publisher. As does satellite radio, which is selling subscriptions, not ads. But the real money for the labels is in direct consumption. People choosing to listen to a certain track, streaming it. That’s it. To think otherwise is to deny the present.

However, the major labels are lost in this new era, and keep on pouring money into radio. Just like advertisers overpay for spots on network TV. Listenership and viewership are way down, but radio and TV are the best way to reach mass, however tiny.

But we’ve noticed for over a decade that terrestrial radio is moribund, it goes on records after they’ve become established hits online. But never have we had a track like “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which went to number one and stayed there based solely on streams, with radio not even playing the track. “Rich Men North of Richmond” is nowhere to be found on the Mediabase Country chart. And it’s not on the Top Forty chart either.

Sure, maybe both of these formats will ultimately go on the Oliver Anthony track. But I must ask, who are these passive terrestrial radio listeners who need to hear it on the radio to then consume? And as I stated above, it is all about consumption. Terrestrial radio pays no recording royalties. None. So why is radio still the labels’ number one focus?

And so far, Oliver Anthony has refused to make a deal.

Chance the Rapper made it without a deal, but that’s hip-hop, with a long history of free mixtapes. But country? A supposedly controlled market, all beholden to radio?

Maybe we’re entering the second revolutionary age. The first started with the internet and Napster. The second starts with the death of traditional exposure outlets. It’s not only radio, but television. A late night appearance? Means nothing. SNL and CBS “Sunday Morning” can move the needle, but no other show has this power.

So, the labels find the talent online, after it established success with a fanbase. And then the major label exploits said music…exactly how?

I’m not saying the major labels are going out of business, no way, they control almost all of recorded music history, it’s in their vaults. But new music?

Which is why we have so many successful genres of music today. Used to be if it wasn’t on radio it was marginal. Then on MTV. Now you don’t even need a label to sell tickets. And there’s more money in tickets than recordings anyway. Tickets are expensive and shows bond your audience to you. Live is efficient in a way that radio never was.

But how do you get found online?

Well, if you’re trying to work it, your only hope is to have a profile in the genre in which you participate. The other players and the audience must be aware of you. Starting from absolute scratch is nearly impossible. As is worldwide domination. The majors still control Top Forty, but it means less than it ever has in its history. The majors fight for slots in the Spotify Top 50, but some of those acts are one hit wonders. Furthermore, as detailed by “Billboard,” the majors can’t even break a new act anymore. Acts come from the bottom up, not the top down. The bottom up is the internet, top down is manipulation, the aforesaid radio and TV and…if this were working, we’d have new breakout stars, but we don’t.

As for dead tree publicity…it works for acts for the aged, it’s irrelevant when it comes to youngsters, who are active consumers. Everything that moves the needle is online. Which is a great miasma of information.

Then again, “Rich Men of North Richmond” breaks the paradigm, it is unique. Because it was grown by the public and agitated politicians, who pushed the number. Yes, politicians and their news outlet penumbra have more power than terrestrial radio, traditional TV, anything.

Turns out organic is desirable. And if you’re organic, you have a chance of being embraced by people who will promote you.

“Rich Men North of Richmond” is not “Try That in a Small Town.” Jason Aldean came from Macon, and he didn’t even write the song. And the controversy superseded the track. Which shot up and then fell online, which is the only place where you can make any money. Aldean is #10 on this week’s Mediabase Country chart, but “Try That in a Small Town” is #32 on the “Billboard” streaming chart. All that terrestrial radio airplay? The label ain’t making a dime. The publisher is. And maybe Aldean’s image is being burnished. But when it comes down to money, Oliver Anthony trumps Aldean, period. Because Anthony’s consumption figures are much higher.

Mania might get you noticed, but it’s the music that sustains you. Which is why Morgan Wallen continues to dominate the charts, with no stunts employed. Wallen can be loved by everybody, it’s conventional song structure, with verses and choruses, the basic building blocks. Which are rarely the key elements in the Spotify Top 50, and if they’re present the tracks are rarely believable, barely credible.

Something is happening here.

Don’t forget, although distributed by a major, Big Loud, Wallen’s label, is an independent. Next time will the independent do it themselves?

Do you sell your soul to the company man?

That’s what we’ve been told to do for decades. To take the money. Forget the audience perception. Sell your songs, better to have the cash than the control.

Maybe that’s all wrong.

Maybe radio is no longer all powerful.

Maybe Oliver Anthony is a harbinger of what’s to come.

But maybe not.

But one thing is for sure, terrestrial radio is circling the drain when it comes to breaking acts. It’s never meant less. Maybe you want it to be part of your marketing campaign, but if you’re making it number one, you’re missing the target.