“When Anti-Asian Parody Targeted BTS, the Boy Band’s Fan Army Mobilized”: https://nyti.ms/2OKoZe3

What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where a boy band singing in a foreign language has more credibility than all the American acts in the hit parade? One in which a foreign power realizes you build fan bases from the bottom, not the top, and you superserve those who care and not those who do not.

It’s like today’s hit music is a missile site. All these wankers shooting off every damn day to get us to pay attention, to the point where their names turn us off. We’re never gonna listen to their music, we don’t care, we no longer live in the monoculture of eighties MTV, but these acts and their purveyors believe we still do. I’m not sure all publicity is good publicity, unless you’re an airhead Kardashian ripping off the brain dead. Music must represent something, say something, to stick.

Like BTS’s.

HUH? You mean those dancing fool Koreans?

ABSOLUTELY!

This is about culture, the culture of the act itself. All the members of BTS have personalities, they have rough edges, they express themselves, to the point that fans feel they know them and become attached to them. We all need something to believe in, and what we believe in most is humanity, that which touches our souls. But in America today it’s constantly tribal warfare, a zero-sum game, I hate what you like and vice versa, and you must like what I like or you’re a worthless piece of shit. And we see this argument not only minute by minute online, but second by second!

But the most powerful army in the music world operates in stealth mode. You remember stealth, when the U.S. wanted to hide its jets so that they could go unnoticed until they bombed the landscape, made a big impact, they designed stealth aircraft, that’s a much better strategy than constant carpet bombing, the music model of the last few decades, make me puke. Come on, there are acts that we hate in principle, because of overexposure, even though we’ve never heard a lick of their music.

Now a fan base can become one of the aforementioned warring tribes. What they do is spam and insult everyone who speaks ill of their master, it’s scorched earth, and also laughable, because these fans are operating in a knee-jerk fashion, there’s no thinking at all, that’s one of the big problems in America today, the lack of thinking, analysis, we don’t teach it in school and most people believe they can function and win without it, but it’s nearly impossible.

So, the BTS team, i.e. Bit Hit Entertainment, now called HYBE, takes a classic construction and reformulates it for the present. Why does vision always come from outside? He may have been a crook, but Lou Pearlman was absolutely brilliant, he built the biggest bands in the land, in the world!, outside the traditional system, he saw a hole when no one else did. Then we had One Direction. The band didn’t win the “X Factor,” proving that winning is secondary, a false triumph, that it’s the talent, the songs, the je ne sais quoi that puts something over the top. Unlike ‘N Sync and the Backstreet Boys, One Direction didn’t dance, but that’s one of the reasons it succeeded, the members were perceived to be three-dimensional, to the point where Harry Styles is still a giant today. And One Direction wasn’t built on radio, but online, there were almost no hits, but they sold out stadiums. So BTS comes up with an act that grows online, that does not depend on radio, whose members evidence rich identities while dancing…AND THEY BECOME GIGANTIC!

Think about that, Big Hit/HYBE is making an act for today.

And unlike all the American labels signing the prepubescent and trying to have them hit on their first vapid track, Big Hit/HYBE plays the long game, there is no credibility unless you play the long game, you make fans one by one, they spread the word, if everybody knows about it no one talks about it, fans want to own the group, and in today’s world it can be huge but appear small, because it’s not constantly self-promoting in the media. You trust another fan, you don’t trust the media, not only in music.

And since the BTS Army is operating online, which major news outlets still don’t understand, it’s a stealth operation. It’s off the radar until there’s a surgical strike, like the demand for tickets for that Trump rally back in Oklahoma. Everybody, I mean EVERYBODY, thought that many Trumpers wanted to brave possible Covid-19 infection to hear the Donald’s words, a secondary stage was even constructed outside the arena for overflow. But it was far from a full house, and big media didn’t realize what had happened until after the speech was over, when the BTS Army told them.

This isn’t an I hate you, no I hate YOU Twitter war, this is a campaign more akin to the sixties than the twenty first century. Remember when part of being a revolutionary was having a sense of humor? Not only Abbie Hoffman, but the “National Lampoon”…you had to question authority, make fun of it, and only the hip people got the joke. Once everybody can get the joke, it loses its power.

So, needless to say, BTS is Korean. And when a Chilean TV program made racist, anti-Asian comments, their army swarmed in. Yes, all the fans are linked, unlike in the pre-internet days, a campaign can be organized and executed nearly instantaneously. Old people have to call, and you wonder why young people never talk on the phone…WHO WANTS TO WASTE THAT MUCH TIME!

For far too long rappers’ beef has been with each other, come on, they’re shooting each other and…those in power just don’t care, they truly don’t. But if said rappers focused their ire on those in power…whoa, just you wait.

The truth is you can organize online and your ranks can be instantly visible, illustrating the power they truly have. Forget polls that get it wrong. Powerful people in the straight world are all about holding on to power, they look backward, not forward. But the youth have no allegiance to the past, no assets to protect, especially in an on demand world where so much is virtual, and they can strike power’s vulnerable hot spots and make a difference.

Come on… Elected officials first and foremost must be elected. And to run a campaign, they use data. This is what is happening in Michigan right now, Covid-19 is raging, but Governor Whitmer is afraid to lock down because of the vocal backlash she received from right wingers the last time. But if there were a bigger, more organized army…

This is one of AOC’s points, and dismiss the message at your peril, you advertise online now, that’s how you reach people:

“A ‘Super PAC’ Says Spending By Democrats Was Unwise”: https://nyti.ms/3dfDtvV

Old thinking is you make it obvious, you dumb it down so anybody can understand it…and anybody can ignore it. You don’t cry in plain sight, you don’t bitch to the powers-that-be, you organize your fans for a surgical strike…your fans are so dedicated to the cause that they can form their own agenda, off the radar, that ends up surprising people, demonstrating how those who have been disregarded previously are huge in number, and as a result wield power and change hearts and minds.

We are living in the 2020s, and the music business and mainstream media are still operating in the 1980s, complaining ad infinitum that someone is moving their cheese. It’s time these enterprises decamped to today.

No one has universal mindshare. Everything happens online. Look at Trump, he lost his Twitter power and now most people don’t even get the message. It’s the personal tools online that have power, the one to many. If you’re not singular, if you don’t own your own identity, if you don’t think for yourself, you’ve got no army, at best you’ve just got a bunch of blind followers, and others shrug when they deign to wield their “power.” But it’s different when the fan base represents a thinking enterprise, that cannot be dismissed out of hand. It’s the difference between AM and FM…but both mean little today, it all happens online, did you read the latest research? Read it: https://bit.ly/3a4gTEH It’s the antidote to all the self-serving press radio puts out that it’s still king.

We need more BTS armies. We need more acts that generate this passion. And you may laugh at BTS, but the past always comes back, but with a twist!

Maybe there is hope. Maybe music still does have power.

But it’s got to be done completely different from today.

Money is secondary to power, and if you have power there’s plenty of money. But in greedy America, no one seems to realize this, but it’s still the truth. The BTS army has power, and unlike the army of most nations, it can turn on a dime, take action without endless debate. This is the future, whether you want to go there or not.

Joel Selvin has a new book, “Hollywood Eden,” which investigates the genesis of the Southern California sound. Stunningly, after all this time, Selvin has excavated stories about Jan Berry and Nancy Sinatra and others in the early to mid-sixties that have never been told before. Tune in to hear some and more!

Tune in today, April 13th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

Phone #: 844-6-VOLUME, 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz or @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: siriusxm.us/HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: siriusxm.us/LefsetzLive

The more this story morphs, the more I think of the scene in Woody Allen’s Love and Death when his character needs to travel to Minsk.  When his carriage is leaving, the village idiot hitches a ride.  When they get to Minsk, there’s a big banner “Welcome Village Idiots”.  Those already there are wearing dunce caps and dancing in the town square.

This is a perfect metaphor for the preposterous kerfuffle on Taylor and the sale of Big Machine’s masters (yes, people, she never owned them).

As one of your oldest readers, I feel the onus of reminding your readers that the consolidation of the record business from hundreds of labels to two and a half majors means that HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of artist masters have been sold to third parties.  Can any of your readers (or Taylor Swift fans) name one artist who complained that selling their CREATIVE work caused them a hysterical and public nervous breakdown?

I haven’t seen one comment mention that screenwriters have to transfer ownership of their creative work in perpetuity to movie studios, including sequels, remakes, merchandising, AND the rights to all the characters in the script.

Remember that Taylor had three ways to get back her masters: 1. resigning with Big Machine, 2.  buying Big Machine and 3.  exercising her termination rights under copyright law.

The narrative by Taylor has been disingenuous, malicious, and at odds with industry practice since the late 1800’s.

I am reminded of the schmuck with earlaps, Donald Trump, who lost the election and simply created a false narrative that it had been stolen from him.

Of course, Trump’s lies are a lot more consequential than Taylor’s but hers still trouble me.  Hey, Tay, the underdog role doesn’t fit well and, oh, by the way, your new record company is now 20% owned by a hedge fund but you haven’t mentioned that.

Lance Grode

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Hi Bob – Long time listener, first time caller. I have enjoyed your newsletter for several years and have often resisted the urge to reply. For context – I am a 45 yr old white male who is not a long-time Taylor fan. I do however appreciate that she is extremely talented. Like many others, Folklore touched me and I thought the songwriting was deeply compelling. It was absolutely the right album at the right time for me.

The amount of negativity that your original post has generated is truly sad. Of all the terrible things in the world today, this is what we have time to rail against? Despite the massive talent of those who replied, much of the rhetoric came off as extremely tone deaf. I get this may be Marketing, but she could certainly be using influence and time in much worse ways. Maybe this is what Taylor has been fighting against all along?

Feel free to ignore. I am just a “nobody” who thinks it’s disturbing how much our society continues to be threatened by a young woman with power…

Tim Hussey

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I just listened to the new Taylor Swift recording with my 16 year old daughter who is a big fan. I think the new versions sound great and they are not exactly the same as the originals. You can hear the confidence of a more mature artist who is much more comfortable with herself and is making these recordings with joy. I applaud her efforts to take control of her material and as an early skeptic of her music I have come to appreciate what she does and how much she has grown. That’s what being an artist is, the freedom to grow, change, and express your unique vision of the world. I believe we should celebrate any artist having more control on how their music is presented.

Joe Fletcher

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Wow, Bob. I can not believe that all these old white guys feel authorized to express their opinions, which nobody cares about but other old white guys, about a young artist who has proved her exceptional talent again and again and has the balls go to up against Scooter and the other robber barons who expected her to give up after they gleefully fucked her over.  Any man who had his music stolen by an arrogant dick at a record company would come out guns blazing—why do men disparage a female artist for trying to get hers? And what have any of these guys ever done that was even close to comparable to Taylor’s achievements? Not a thing, guaranteed.
Honestly, I’m not a Taylor fan, but the comments in this column made me so mad that now I’m going to buy the rerelease.

Bonnie Hayes

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A few mentioned catching lightening in a bottle with the originals and it’s so true.  The re-recordings are done in spite and not for artistry. Imagine if Springsteen had re-recorded the first 3 LPs after settling with Mike Appel. Would never had been the same…especially on Born To Run. I believe Max Weinberg said he still can’t match Ernest Boom Carter’s drums on the title track.  And what did El Jefe do at his RRHOF induction? He invited Appel to the soirée since he knows without Appel’s guerilla management he would not be where he is now.

T-Swiz’s deal seems to be about ownership and licensing with her fans a lower priority. Yeah she will says it’s all about her fans but it’s all about the wallet. I fear now we will have her songs shoved down our throats in commercials and films. Lastly i do hope the producers and original studio musicians get their due cut on this. They made that original so-called lightening in a bottle.

Brian Helgesen
Philly PA

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I’ve read through the many comments about TS’s re-records and feel compelled to say how disappointing it is that the business of music has become more important than the music itself. It degrades us.

There’s always a deal to be made and there is no “standard deal”. We are in the information age. No reason exists why TS couldn’t have participated in the capital liquidation of her BM master recordings and/or been granted an administrative right over their ongoing use.

This binary all or nothing, I either own or don’t own my masters bullshit, belies the enormous hard work of many people whose participation matters in creation of any real success and reiterates the historical lack of vision by industry executives.  This entire shit show is about juvenile egos and their continued focus which diminishes our entire industry.

-Tony Gottlieb

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re-interpretations are the norm in classical and jazz. Are the ‘original’ versions of pop songs inherently better because of a listener’s emotional attachment to them?

Taylor notwithstanding, maybe an artist has something further to contribute a few years down the line. Consider Kate Bush re-recording ‘Wuthering Heights’

And if you don’t like it, fine. Don’t listen!

sofu_gan

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I have no dog in this fight, but out of sheer curiosity I listened and compared. Yuk. Just yuk. The re-recordings remind me of those science fiction movies, where a human is cloned but has no soul inside them….and in just the same way as Frankenstein’s monster, it’s actually kind of grotesque, in terms of artistry. I understand why she’s doing it, but come on.. it’s totally nuts as far as the fans are concerned. The fans don’t benefit, they lose, because Taylor is now about to go about recording and selling a huge body of music with no soul, because as you rightly point out Bob: ‘you cannot capture lightning twice’. And now on YouTube there are lyric versions entitled ‘Taylor’s Version’, but the real truth is that these aren’t purely ‘Taylor’s versions’…they’re actually a Xerox of ‘Taylor AND Nathan’s’ version (her co-producer on the originals). So if this is all about ‘intellectual property’, I sure hope Nathan Chapman is being looked after, and receiving producer royalties, because the original ‘lightning in a bottle’ that was captured and made her a global and rich mega star, is actually half Nathan’s. And if I were him, I would be really saddened by this, because the two of them really did capture some magic and record it. I can’t respect Taylor for doing this, because the art should always come before the money… which she already has plenty of. Ok, so she’s pissed off at a record company… WHO ISN’T?!?!

Simon Hosford.

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Might be time to issue a retraction or apologize.  It doesn’t even matter if she’s worth 400 million. The money has nothing to do with it although it means most of the world disagrees with you. Listen to Fearless (Taylor’s version) and then rethink everything you thought you knew. She was young. And raw. I’m a singer and when you can’t hear yourself on stage it makes for what you heard at the grammys. But now is 31. And clearly been working on her voice since your words took hold of her. As a fan of hers I might even give you credit for changing her. But whatever you think of her voice she is a talented soprano with a low range that most sopranos do not have. And a talent for writing that even you wish you had. So no, you aren’t an asshole. Mean.. maybe or just honest. 16 year old Taylor doesn’t exist anymore. That Taylor is dead. This one is a woman with a voice…maybe one that deserves you giving her another listen.

Steve Brown

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I completely agree with Thomas Flood’s statement that this is a canny business maneuver and not particularly about the art. Taylor will own new versions of her earlier works that will “compete“ with the previous versions for commercial use, streams, etc. devaluing the earlier catalog. I suspect that fact was considered by Scooter and it may have motivated him to move the catalog quickly to a private equity owner. Taylor Swift is first and foremost an astute businessperson.

Bob Cavalieri

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It’s about licensing and owning your own material.

It’s good business.

Ron Stone

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The letters reminded me of Richard Hell’s multiple efforts to revise his second album, Destiny Street. Unhappy with the original engineering (as well as his drug-impaired musical contributions), and with the masters thought to be lost, he used a cassette of the rhythm tracks and re-recorded everything else for Destiny Street Repaired. The results might not satisfy those who internalized the original, but given the market in which the album operates, it was clearly an artist revising for art’s sake, rather than for cash. Many years later, three of the four multitrack master reels were found, and Hell remixed them into Destiny Street Remixed, and released the results alongside the original and the Repaired edition as Destiny Street Complete, along with added demos. The package is interestingly satisfying as an artist’s aural essay of his early work and later maturity.

hyperbolium

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I’m not familiar with any of Taylor Swift’s output, so I googled up this youtube comparison of Love Story

2008 and 2021.

Immediate impression.

I only had to listen to a few seconds, the 2021 intro switching to 2008 – it was a switch from nothing-special-par-for-the-course-2021-sonic clarity to an instance groove, feel and atmosphere.

The creatively honest course of action would be to write a Love Story 2 reflecting her current “maturity”.

Overly focusing on separation and clarity of instruments/vocals as most reviewers tend to do, is a red herring. In fact most reviews I’ve read are strong on the surrounding non-musical narrative and weak on actually listening to what’s in front of them – but as Lee Abrams and others know know all to well,  it’s targeted narratives that sell.

antgimel

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Taylor has expended how much energy, lost time and needless struggle over her battles with Big Red Machine, resorting to (attempted and ultimately failed) cannibalism.  A word that truly irks me but it applies.

Anyone remember the 70s?  The acts would put out 3 studio LPs, tour and build a fan base – and clean up with a live LP.  There was little cannibalism and instead the fans had two versions of one song, that was like 1+ 1 = 3, multiplied by the tracks put on the live LP

Because when you tired of one version, you flipped back to the other.

I don’t have all night to list all the records that come to my mind but let’s just say Kiss Alive and Frampton Comes Alive and Live Silver Bullet and Cheap Trick in Budokan and One More From the Road, while immensely sparking catalog sales, independently served as the amongst the respective biggest albums, fan favorites, in the repertoire.

True true true, that was when owning records was the only means of on demand and we had nothing but time, to marinate in catalogues and go back and pick up early studio albums after the live LP blew new breath on them, and nowadays another LP is pinched for space in our day, but the point is still applicable – rather than try to cleave listeners from a studio track by trying to take that track in a studio, bust out the best live version you have and run with it.

You don’t do this, why? It’s not about the music or the fans. Oh, my, it’s your ego.  You just can’t let it go.  Believe me – you’re doing so will get across more becoming.

Dennis Pelowski

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She’s doesn’t care what we think and it’s working!

She in person is one of the nicest people we’ve met and last minute she’s asked Echosmith to be her musical surprise and it sometimes was only 2-3 hours before a stadium show and we never sent our rider yet everything on our rider was there plus a bottle of finest champagne and a hand written letter.

She’s brilliant and kind and writing her own story!

We get one life so do what you want!

Jeffery David

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I like the new Fearless, and even better… I LOVE THAT WE ARE ALL TALKING ABOUT IT.  It feels more current, more fresh, more NOW.  And we are talking about it!

Lizzz Kritzer

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Her generation and fans respect her fight and independence to stand up to the “Rank & File”.

This is bigger than the music. She is leading and does not care what the Old Farts in the industry say.

Duff Rice

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So interesting to hear what Philip Paul Adam Steve Colin Anders Matt Don Bob Andrew Rick Rich etc etc etc all had to say about one of the premier living female musicians!

Paula Franceschi

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Hi Bob – through 80 percent of this and really have no issue with it.  I actually would have not  pulled it up on Deezer ( yes – you should discuss the other streaming services) if you had not mentioned it.  Not a bad soundtrack to Saturday night in Canada….

Thanks,

John Hayes

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In a 2004 interview with the New York Times, Stephen Hawking was asked what his IQ was.

He said: “I have no idea. People who boast about their IQ are losers.”

Jim Carroll

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I’m sure you’ve noticed a correlation between the stupidity of the comments and the grammatical tragedies. Ok, the tempo’s are the same, with all do respect.

By the way, my IQ was measured at 168 and I’m stupid as fuck.

Eric Bazilian

“More than 100 corporate executives hold call to discuss halting donations and investments to fight controversial voting bills”: https://wapo.st/3wRNWFw

“Will Smith’s production pulls out of Georgia, citing the state’s voting law.”: https://nyti.ms/3wOJmYG

And Live Nation and AEG? Spotify? And even the Grammy organization?

For far too long the corporations, the entities behind the acts, have chosen to remain faceless and out of the fray, letting the acts make the moves and take the heat. But no act today has the power of a corporation, especially economically. Solidarity yields results. But the enterprise with the most mindshare, that is rooted in the Black experience, stays silent. Why?

Yes, music affects hearts and minds more than any other entertainment enterprise. It’s directly from the act to the public without interference. Well, this century the heavy hand of the label is too often involved, interfering in the artistic enterprise, talking about the cost of marketing and… If it’s about business, why can’t these same companies look outward and aid the public at large?

Yes, a look at the chart tells you that hip-hop, a Black-originated and dominated musical format, rules. Yet, once again, the white-run companies refuse to stand up for these musicians and what they represent as they rake in the dough. They’ll take their money, they just won’t stand behind their causes, they won’t defend them. The perspective is the acts are independent contractors. But is that really the case when the label owns the recording? Yes, the labels treat the performers like slaves on a plantation, but when push comes to shove they say the musicians don’t work for them. How exactly do you explain this? And I’d say the labels should provide health care, which they should, but really the government should provide health care for all.

Oh, the right doesn’t agree with that. But isn’t music inherently about taking a stand? I mean Coke is inert, not music. But Coke is taking a stand, and it’s based in Atlanta!

And Atlanta is an epicenter of hip-hop music.

Now Stacey Abrams is against boycotts, saying it hurts the people who live there, who it is trying to save, but every situation and every state is different, and it turns out the only thing these legislators promulgating these heinous voting laws seem to understand is economics and publicity. And the music industry spends and generates dollars, and has light years more publicity value than the corporations trying to move the needle on voting rights.

At least the music industry titans could get together and ponder this, like the “straight” companies above.

An act goes on a stadium tour, any tour, they can’t play every market. How about a list of markets to go unplayed because of voter right legislation?

How about no festivals in these states? Or pulling the festivals and placing them in a new location? Come on, this is not forever, couldn’t SXSW and ACL announce they’re leaving Austin for a year?

And record companies could say they’re not footing the bill for any studio time in these states, never mind not investing in infrastructure.

The rank and file will howl! And this gets to legislators, they’re operating under the illusion that the public is behind them, when oftentimes it is not.

Spotify, where the rubber meets the road, the retail point, could have a promo/info splash on their home page EVERY DAY! It doesn’t have to be music free. Maybe it can be passed from the three major labels to the indies on a rotating basis, but the content has to address the anti-voter legislation. The wheels of the Fortune 500 move slowly, as does the impact, whereas music can turn on a dime and start impacting people next week! Also, this will demonstrate the power and economic impact of music, delivering the respect it never gets.

Let’s start with ads in every major newspaper, at least the ones that still exist and have an audience. Wherein not only the companies but also the stars who agree put their names down in ink, stating their position. And TV too.

Then conversation about pulling live gigs. This will get more coverage than anything Coca-Cola does. And time is of the essence, this isn’t forever.

Sure, people knew who Tommy Mottola was, but that was the nineties, today’s execs are happily faceless, and that is good, but they’re also hiding behind their titles as they make millions, and when we’re fighting for the soul of our country that is unconscionable.

And music when done right has an edge, so no bland publicity. And if music has an edge, why can’t the political position?

And if someone comes around to our viewpoint, that we want to make it easier to vote, not harder, WE MUST EMBRACE THEM! This is what is wrong with the Morgan Wallen situation, cancel culture, if someone realizes the error of their ways we should not ostracize them forever, we must include them and then use them as poster people for our position. Come on, if we told Morgan Wallen we’d reinstate all his canceled gigs, his position on radio playlists, he’d do ANYTHING! Even if we promised nothing he’d do anything. But no, he must pay forever as the music industry sits self-satisfied accomplishing little.

It is time. And it must be led by the corporations, not the individuals. Individuals have less power than ever before, especially in a music world where the goal is to sell out to a brand. If the goal is to get involved with the corporation, why not put the corporation first? And the corporations the acts want to attach themselves to first are record labels and touring enterprises… Not to mention agencies, the multi-headed behemoths WME, CAA and UTA are not just talent brokers anymore, they’ve taken private equity money, they can have impact too. No UFC in states impinging on voting rights…you get the picture.

It’s your responsibility, not someone else’s. How about being on the right side of history, doing what is right for both your business and your country. Come on, music has the best spokespeople in the world, how about pulling them into the conversation as opposed to lying steadfast in the weeds?

This is very doable, very quickly. With impact.