If white lives truly matter, why is Morgan Wallen still a pariah and Kanye West gets a pass?

Maybe you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about. Maybe you not only are oblivious to Kanye’s “White Lives Matter” clothing, but his anti-Semitic remarks, wherein he said he was going to go to “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.” Instagram and Twitter cracked down on Kanye right away. The music business…CRICKETS!

Let’s see, WME wants nothing to do with Morgan Wallen, he’s put on “suspension” by his label, he’s taken off radio and… Non-country music fans still hate him, even though they’ve got no idea what really happened here.

Yes. Morgan Wallen used the “n-word.” As a term of endearment to his buddies. While drunk. He was too ignorant to know that no white person can utter the n-word, ever. Because he was brought up in nowheresville Tennessee and home-schooled for many of his years. Never mind he learned the terminology by embracing Black culture.

And when he left home, Wallen was surrounded by like-minded people. Do you know how many people have never met a Jew? Or have no regular contact with Black people? That’s what the government should do, put EVERYBODY on a bus and schlepp them around the country so they can see how the other side not only lives, but thinks. But everybody on each side of the political spectrum knows better without knowing anything at all. And then there are the bogeypeople that become the focus of attention when they represent just a few. God, right wing bloviators would have you believe that every Democratic family has a trans child who wants to come into your bathroom and… You share a bathroom at home, why not at school?

And on the other side, forgetting the MAGA-insane, there are plenty of right wingers who don’t approve of Trump. Will they vote for a Democrat? Absolutely not. But my point is most people are reasonable, but we end up hearing again and again about the fringe, to the point where we’re gridlocked, not only politically, but socially, and nothing can be done.

Can I forgive Kanye West for his anti-Semitic comments? Of course I can, BECAUSE HE’S MENTALLY ILL! 

I’m not saying I’m giving him an instant pass. But if he ultimately realizes the mistakes he’s made, I’m not going to hold it against him forever. Have you ever met Kanye West? Most celebrities have two faces, the public and the private. But Kanye is that guy all the time. And no one can cut him loose. And if you manage to, he goes on a retribution spree.

Which the media loves. BECAUSE IT SELLS ADS!

Kanye is a public figure, making news 24/7.

Kind of like Elon Musk. Like this guy can solve the problems in Ukraine, like he knows more about the situation than Zelensky, like Ukraine should just accept that Crimea is now part of Russia, even though Russia stole it after the 2014 Olympics. There are people who can’t get over what the state did to them a hundred years ago, but Ukrainians should just get over it. And how the hell would Elon even know? It’s a full-time job keeping up on the world situation, and this guy already has two jobs, and he’s angling for a third. The veneration of the rich makes me insane.

So, does Elon think that Kanye belongs on Twitter, that West should be able to spew his endless hate ad infinitum? Elon keeps telling us there is no line. But the fact that the line shifts, and is not always discernible, does not mean you eliminate it completely. What next, you gonna allow the Proud Boys to organize on Twitter too? They have the right?

Twitter is a private business. And unlike the opaque music business, it’s afraid of faux pas. Whereas outrage inspires streams and sells tickets. The Tommy Mottola days are over, no one knows who runs these companies, they’re faceless. So the execs count their millions as their acts self-destruct.

Kanye is addicted to the attention. Do you know how hard it is to get attention in today’s society? NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE! You can build it, but that does not mean ANYBODY will come! Household names are not. Pick up a trade magazine, tell me how many of the acts you recognize. Used to be a pro knew all the records, now that’s impossible. And the spotlight is not only on musicians and movie stars, but influencers, billionaires, techies, politicos…

And Kanye can’t handle it that he’s out of the news. So he keeps ginning up stories. And we let him. Because that’s how sick our society is. If you’re homeless it’s your fault, pick yourself up by your bootstraps. And if you’re mentally ill, don’t make me pay for your treatment. Lower my taxes and stand on your own. And if you die in the process…just one less mouth to feed. And if you’re Black… Yup, talk to white people. They don’t even flinch when a rapper gets shot. And there’s no national movement to stop it. I mean it’s a scourge upon society. But it seems the shooting of rappers has only increased. And usually the perps are caught and go up the river forever. They didn’t think it through before they pulled the trigger. Too many people don’t think through what they’re doing. Or they’re not exposed to the truth/reality.

I’ve met Morgan Wallen. Talk to him, he’s a soft guy with a brain who does not scream racism. He was an idiot, he used the n-word, but now he’s canceled for all time? Oh, don’t tell me he can play shows…I’m speaking to the knee-jerk liberals.

And it’s not only them. In today’s world you have an opinion and you stick to it, even if it’s wrong. Learning, the essence of life, is anathema. It’s like being told 5 + 3 = 9 and never admitting it doesn’t.

The way you deal with Kanye is to limit his opportunities. No major label signs him. No TV station gives him airtime. Spotify removes him from playlists. Not to make Kanye pay an economic price, but to force him to get into treatment. He’s like an addict, they either hit bottom or die. At some point families stop supporting addicts because they know from experience it doesn’t address the problem. When are we going to stop supporting Kanye?

So his meds take away his edge. Ever read “An Unquiet Mind,” the definitive statement on bipolar disorder? You know what the end result without medication usually is? DEATH, SUICIDE! But we keep enabling Kanye.

As for the toothless Grammy organization telling us about all the good they do with Musicares…where is their CEO testifying, telling Kanye they’re ready to help him? Oh, that’s right, Harvey Mason, Jr. is a musician. It’s a club, no one can squeal on anybody else, otherwise you’re excommunicated.

Everybody’s lips are sealed as this guy self-destructs right in front of our eyes.

Come on, if Kanye supports Biden it’s not a story. But if he supports Trump and goes on Tucker Carlson’s show, it’s a train-wreck everybody is interested in.

Just say no.

Not to drugs, they are what Kanye needs.

So Morgan Wallen is ignorant and Kanye West is mentally ill and we put each in a box and keep them there. Nothing can change, our opinions are fixed.

No, that’s not the way to live your life.

As for the pretext that all Jews are rich and powerful… The numbers don’t prove this. And don’t get me started on the Palestinians… The Palestinian love is out of control. Don’t you get it? The Israelis, who are pretty crazy themselves, would like a solution, an accommodation, but the goal of the Palestinians is to ELIMINATE ISRAEL! And there are endless terrorist events. Imagine if that happened in New York. People from New Jersey started shelling Manhattan. Don’t you think you’d be wary of New Jerseyites crossing the bridge to the island?

And then you have Roger Waters…

This guy has been anti-Semitic from day one. Furthermore, he is smart and aware. But everybody gives him a pass until he goes completely off the rails. The Jews are a fine target, but when he says the war is the Ukrainians’ fault…that’s just too much, and his gigs in Poland are canceled.

Give these people enough rope and they hang themselves, they cancel themselves, you don’t have to even do it for them. The key is to judge their behavior thereafter, if they see the error of their ways and fly straight. Do we see any evidence of Morgan Wallen using the n-word again? No. And you can never ever forgive him for his transgression? If you’re not willing to forgive, why should anybody bother to change their ways?

And there’s a long history of Blacks being anti-Semitic. Didn’t used to be this way, the two minority groups were aligned, but starting in the sixties Blacks started blaming Jews for their problems. Last I checked, we’ve never had a Jewish president. It’s a trope that’s gone on for centuries. The problem is the Jews. Wasn’t that Hitler’s take? Then we’ve got people who deny the Holocaust even happened.

In a world without a center the most important thing is to take a stand, don’t avoid going on the record. And you educate yourself, inform yourself so you know what is going on, so you can add to the discussion as opposed to taking away from it. Now if Morgan Wallen had ever seen a textbook with the history of slavery and the story of Black oppression, maybe he might have known better than to use the n-word. But now there’s agitation to reduce information, to keep our kids in the dark.

Didn’t they always say sunlight is the best disinfectant? What is everybody afraid of?

And what is the music industry afraid of with Kanye. He’s just a very small slice of the pie. Do you think the rest of the Black entertainment community is going to stand up for him? No, wasn’t that Diddy’s point, that Kanye needs to cool it?

People listen to Kanye.

And they listen to Morgan Wallen too.

We cannot let their transgressions pass by without remarking upon them, trying to counter their bad behavior. That’s our responsibility as a society.

And also to forgive.

I’m ready to forgive Kanye. When he provides a mea culpa. But it’s only gonna happen when he realizes we’ve stopped enabling him.

But the music and media industries refuse to do this. He’s just too profitable.

Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3fMsca5

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10cc – 10cc – Rubber Bullets

AC/DC – BACK IN BLACK – “Shoot to Thrill”

Al Kooper – I STAND ALONE – “Hey, Western Union Man”

Alice Cooper – KILLER – “Under My Wheels”

Aerosmith – GET YOUR WINGS – “Lord of the Thighs”

Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill – “Hand in My Pocket”

Amanda Marshall – AMANDA MARSHALL “Dark Horse”

The Band – STAGE FRIGHT – “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”

Beach Boys – SUMMER DAYS (AND SUMMER NIGHTS!!) – “Girl Don’t Tell Me”

The Beatles – BEATLES FOR SALE – “Every Little Thing”

Bob Dylan – BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME – “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

Bonnie Raitt – GIVE IT UP – “Too Long at the Fair” or 

Bonnie Raitt – LUCK OF THE DRAW – “One Part Be My Lover”

Boston – BOSTON – “Foreplay/Long Time”

Carole King – TAPESTRY – “So Far Away”

Cheap Trick – IN COLOR – “So Good to See You”

Stephen Stills -MANASSAS – “The Treasure”

Dave Mason – ALONE TOGETHER – “Shouldn’t Have Took More Than You Gave”

Dido  -LIFE FOR RENT – “Sand In My Shoes”

Doobie Brothers – WHAT WERE ONCE VICES ARE NOW HABITS – “Another Park, Another Sunday”

The Doors – THE DOORS – “The End”

Elton John – DON’T SHOOT ME I’M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER – “Teacher I Need You”

Elvis Costello – MY AIM IS TRUE – “Alison”

Emitt Rhodes – EMITT RHODES – “With My Face on the Floor”

Fountains of Wayne – WELCOME INTERSTATE MANAGERS – “Peace and Love”

Gabe Dixon – LIVE AT WORLD CAFE – “Five More Hours”

Glen Burtnik – PALOOKAVILLE – “The Liar’s Club”

Hoku – HOKU – “Another Dumb Blonde”

Ian Matthews – WALKING A CHANGING LINE – “Shadows Break”

J.D. Souther – BLACK ROSE – “Your Turn Now”

Jackson Browne – LATE FOR THE SKY – “The Late Show”

James Gang – YER’ ALBUM – “Take A Look Around”

James Taylor – ONE MAN DOG – “Dance”

Jethro Tull – BENEFIT – “To Cry You a Song”

Karla Bonoff – KARLA BONOFF – “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me”

Kraftwerk – COMPUTER WORLD – “Computer Love”

Laura Nyro – NEW YORK TENDABERRY – “Captain For Dark Mornings”

Lee Michaels – BARREL – “Day of Change”

Little Feat – DIXIE CHICKEN – “Fool Yourself”

Loggins & Messina – SITTIN’ IN – “Same Old Wine”

Marc Cohn – MARC COHN – “True Companion”

Paul McCartney – McCARTNEY – “That Would Be Something”

Michael Hedges – WATCHING THE WORLD GO BY – “Woman of the World”

Todd Rundgren – THE BALLAD OF TODD RUNDGREN – “A Long Time, a Long Way to Go”

Ozzy Osbourne – NO MORE TEARS – “I Don’t Want to Change the World”

Pete Townshend – EMPTY GLASS – “A Little Is Enough”

Randy Newman – SAIL AWAY – “Sail Away”

Rod Stewart – GASOLINE ALLEY – “Gasoline Alley”

Rolling Stones – BEGGARS BANQUET – “Parachute Woman”

 

Roxette – JOYRIDE – “Watercolours in the Rain”

Ry Cooder – INTO THE PURPLE VALLEY – “Money Honey”

The Silencers – A LETTER FROM ST. PAUL- “A Letter from St. Paul

Simon & Garfunkel – BOOKENDS – “America”

Split Enz – TRUE COLOURS – “Poor Boy”

Steve Miller Band – BRAVE NEW WORLD – “Seasons”

Steve Winwood – BACK IN THE HIGH LIFE – “My Love’s Leavin'”

Sting – TEN SUMMONER’S TALES – “Fields of Gold”

Supertramp – CRIME OF THE CENTURY – “Crime of the Century”

Traffic – TRAFFIC – “40,000 Headmen”

The Tubes – THE TUBES – “Mondo Bondage”

Wendy Waldman – LOVE HAS GOT ME – “Lee’s Traveling Song”

Podcast: https://on.ft.com/3V8F5LY

Transcript: https://on.ft.com/3VbVTBD

You took a 30% haircut on your money.

Let’s say you sold your catalog. What did you do with the cash?

First you paid taxes, and commissions to your team: your manager, lawyer… So, the figure you read in the news, that’s not the net, far from it.

And then you’ve got to invest the money. Keep it in cash and you’re losing money. There’s not a single cash investment that’s keeping up with inflation. Sure, you could invest it in real estate, which has inherent value, but you can’t do that overnight, it requires research, kicking the tires. No, what most people do is put the money in the market. Sure, if they’ve got a good financial advisor, investments are hedged, it’s not all in stocks, there are bonds and so much else. But if you’ve been reading the financial news…the market is bad, overall. We’ve seen an uptick very recently, but the experts at the WSJ believe the market is behind reality, and has further to fall. Which makes sense, the market doesn’t always perform rationally, and people don’t want to believe their stocks are cratering, so false hope keeps the market at an unreal level, until…

And then there are those who bought the dip. The WSJ did an exhaustive study on this. Most of their assets are now underwater. It was different back in March 2020, when the market crashed and Michael Rapino and others bought stock in their companies to give the impression of solidity. The market crashed and soon went back up. No one expects that to happen today.

So, you got all that money from the publishing company, and now not only have you lost a significant amount of it, on paper at least, but you’ve also given up that yearly income your songs and/or recordings and/or royalty streams were generating, which is why the publishing company paid such a high multiple to begin with!

Which is going down. Hipgnosis drove the number sky high, supposedly 22x for Neil Young. You don’t see that number anymore, nowhere close.

22x. That means 22 times yearly earnings. Positively insane for old acts whose material is aging daily. Especially in a world where catalog means 18 months old. Then again, classic tunes have ascended somewhat, I point you to Spotify’s deep dive:

“Spotify for Artists: Catalog”: https://bit.ly/3yoTHgA

Artists tend to be terrible business people. It’s like that old Wimpy story, they’ll take 7x when they’ve got miles to go in their lives. Yup, they sell their songs or royalty streams and in some cases the money is recouped by the company in fewer than five years. Meanwhile, you’re done.

So, Neil Young sells out to the friendly Merck and…

“Old Man” is used in an NFL commercial. Sung by Beck, but…does Neil Young really want his classic number associated with a football game featuring aged quarterbacks? No, and he bit back online, which is all he can do, because he sold his songs:

“Neil Young Registers a Quiet Protest Against Beck’s ‘Old Man’ NFL Commercial”: https://bit.ly/3VezsvV

So you got a chunk of change and gave up your rights and you lost money on what was paid you. Sound like a good deal?

And then there’s when you sold. Bob Dylan was too early, he could have gotten more if he held out. As for Springsteen… What kind of bizarre world do we live in where Diane Warren refuses to sell her songs and the Boss makes a deal? Doesn’t artistic integrity stand for anything anymore? Don’t you want to control your assets? Think of how much money and time you put in creating them.

And as much as Springsteen got, history has always told us that these deals are underpriced, because those involved can’t see the future. Usually, the artist is influenced by the manager, who wants their commission. Colonel Tom Parker sold all of Elvis’s recording assets to RCA. Talk about a bad deal… That’s the gift that keeps on giving, to RCA, not Lisa Marie. And Peter Grant sold Led Zeppelin assets to Atlantic, thank god the CD came out and the company needed unforeseen rights and Led Zeppelin could cut a new deal. You see there’s always a way to make more money on music. That’s Merck’s pitch. And he’s right, but once you get involved with the money people…

It all comes down to money, and you don’t beat the banks or the professional investors.

No one foresaw huge inflation and concomitantly high interest rates. Investors want to get paid. And now song returns are below interest rates. And you don’t screw the banks. So Blackstone could end up owning all your songs, and if you think they care how they’re used, you’ve never met a banker. It’s all about return, baby.

So maybe you got a huge multiple. Maybe you’re doing estate planning. But most of these acts’ deaths are not imminent, especially not Springsteen’s. Dylan could live another fifteen or twenty years, think of how much more money he could make.

No one cares about your songs other than you. Get that straight. And those with percentage participations don’t like to sit at home and make no money. If there’s an opportunity, they at least want to kick the tires. And then you see the giant number and…

As publisher Randall Wixen says, show me one person who didn’t regret selling their catalog. I’ve never found one. It’s just that these new deals are…new. Then again, many of these acts must have seller’s remorse, after that market haircut. But it’s too late now, baby. They were getting those big checks every year, while they continued to own the assets which were growing in value, now they’re out of the game.

Listen to this podcast. Insiders know all this. But there are very few insiders.

Tune in tomorrow, Saturday October 8th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz