“Alpha: Eddie Gallagher and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs”: https://amzn.to/3D03pIY

Every American should read this book.

The best book about combat I’ve ever read is “Black Hawk Down,” the Mogadishu story. They made a movie of it, which ain’t bad, but isn’t in the league of the book. The movie solely depicts action, whereas the book also depicts thought, what was going through the minds of the soldiers engaged in battle. The chaos, the fear, you felt like you were right there.

The depiction of battle in “Alpha” is not quite as good, but that does not mean it’s not fascinating, and riveting.

“Black Hawk Down” was constant action. Whereas “Alpha” is about SEALs in Iraq in the battle for Mosul and there are many battles, much action. And ultimately, most Americans don’t care. Yes, Iraq has been written off. The entire Middle East. That was what we did back at the turn of the century. It didn’t work out so well, so we’ve forgotten it. People died, their families will never be the same, but at least it didn’t happen to me, or you.

And that was what Vietnam was all about, it could definitely happen to me or you, and therefore there was pushback. Was this a cause worth dying for? Many people didn’t think so. Draft cards were burned, men moved to Canada, there were national protests. I’m thinking we may not see this kind of movement, this kind of change, until it’s a life and death matter for half the public again. One could argue the issue of abortion rights affects all women, but it’s somewhat murky, not black and white, you can still get the procedure done in some states, there are different rules everywhere, and we’re not quite sure all the pro-choice people are excited and united.

That’s the modern world. No one has a handle on what is going on.

Have you been following the news? It’s all about the horse race, what is happening in election battles. Every day it’s a new story, a new spin. A month ago abortion was the key issue, today they say it’s the economy. A month ago the Democrats were on the rise, today outlets are saying the Republicans are on the cusp of victory, at least in the House. I don’t believe a single word of it. I know what the issues are, but I do not know what the temperature of the country truly is, for that I’m waiting for the election results. And, of course, there are the issues of the right to vote and the counting of votes…but we’re gonna have to wait until Election Day to see what goes on there.

What happened in America in the sixties and seventies is exactly what is happening in Russia right now. As long as someone else is fighting the war, you’re not too upset. But if they want YOU to go… You leave the country and… Do you really want to be a pawn in Putin’s game? The same way men felt they were pawns in Johnson and Nixon’s game? Will Putin pay a price, we’re just not sure. Changings of the guard happen overnight, like the failure of Lehman Brothers. Oh, there’s a long run-up, but most people are not paying attention, and then a tipping point is reached and…

The “Washington Post” just published a story:

“Leaders of democracies increasingly echo Putin in authoritarian tilt – From Italy to Brazil to the United States, political leaders increasingly are echoing Russian President Vladimir Putin and one another by embracing far-right authoritarianism”: https://wapo.st/3geDlkn

Want to be truly frightened? Read it, that’s a free link. If you can make it to the end I applaud you, it’s just too disillusioning, too disheartening.

And that’s the essence of “Alpha.”

WHAT?

Man, if you lived through the sixties it’s hard to fathom all this veneration of the military, never mind law enforcement. They were the enemy. But most Americans alive today were not conscious in that era, they know little about Vietnam. We have a level of nationalism previously unknown in my lifetime. And once you get a gang going…

Yes, talk to people in other countries, America is seen as a bully, a gang.

So what you’ve got here is the Navy SEALs, the most lionized members of the military. Used to be pilots, but that’s been superseded, especially since the SEALs killed Bin Laden.

You see it’s damn hard to become a SEAL. Almost no one can pass the test. Read about it, you wouldn’t even want to try. And the belief is those who make it through, who get their Trident pin, are the best and the brightest.

IS THIS TRUE? Just because someone is physically fit, does that make them intelligent, never mind a choir boy?

So the book starts off with training. A SEAL platoon before it ships overseas. And what every SEAL wants is action. That’s what they’re trained for, they don’t want to be sent to some peace time territory. It’s the opposite of the regular citizen. They don’t only want to shoot, but kill. And…

There is very little supervision. The SEALs are the rock stars of the military. They don’t have to wear uniforms. They make up their own game plans. They change course on the fly. Essentially, they’re beholden to no one.

As long as…

As long as what?

As long as nobody speaks. It’s a cult. Of loyalty. And loyalty is more important than truth.

That’s America today. Not only in politics, but business. Pay fealty to the king and keep your mouth shut. Laws are broken? What difference does it make if no one talks. And if you’re ultimately found out, you hire attorneys far superior to the ones employed by the government and you skate, or end up with a slap on the wrist.

So they get to Mosul and…

The head of the platoon, Eddie Gallagher, starts breaking the rules from day one.

This is the first half of the book. The combat. One thing is for sure, reading it you have no desire to be there.

So, are the SEALs self-motivated purveyors of excellence, or bad actor renegades?

I’ll let you decide.

But in this particular case, two courts decided. Military and public opinion. The rule of law and Fox News.

I followed the Eddie Gallagher story, but I couldn’t remember how it played out. There’s so much to keep in your brain these days.

But if you want to know how the game works today, read how Eddie’s wife raised money via the internet and President Trump was worried about his image and…

It all comes down to doing the right thing.

That’s what they tell you, from kindergarten if not before. Do the right thing. Tell the truth. Be a man. Or a woman.

And then you get out in the world and that does not apply, whatsoever.

Be a whistleblower at your peril. Stick your neck out and watch all your friends, even the supportive ones disappear.

And the bad actor, whether it be a person or a corporation, has relationships, and data on you, after all no one is perfect, and if you stand up for the truth you could lose your gig, be haunted for the rest of your life.

Not wanting to tell the truth goes up the military ranks. No one wants the trouble. Everybody just wants the problem to be pushed under the rug, to go away. The enemy is the whistleblower, not the bad actor.

“Alpha” is one of the rare books where the courtroom drama is even better than the action that precedes it.

As for the action that precedes it, I’m gonna let you know right now, you’re gonna be a bit confused. You see there are so many names. Of soldiers, of groups, of weapons. Reading on a Kindle I could search and remind myself what each was, but having said that, you could probably read the book without remembering and it wouldn’t make a difference, you get the feel and know who the relevant players are as you get to the courtroom drama.

So I’d say the first half of the book is very interesting.

But about halfway through, it becomes RIVETING! You can’t put it down. Yesterday I spent the afternoon finishing it. Sitting in a chair for four hours straight. I didn’t even get up for lunch. I didn’t want to break the spell. And sure, I wanted to know what happened, but “Alpha” is more than that. The moral issues, the practical issues, the political issues, the humanity and lack thereof, all these questions are swirling around your brain and even after you close the book they’re still with you.

Is it hopeless?

Well, if everybody in America read “Alpha” maybe it wouldn’t be.

Because “Alpha” is America. There’s a hierarchy of power and you report to your superior. Of course there are exceptions, the artists, the super-rich, then again Bob Dylan said we all have to serve somebody.

And if you stick your neck out, you’re gonna get blind-sided. And they don’t prepare you for this, they don’t want you to know they’d rather make an example of you, make you think doing the right thing is morally superior and truth wins in the end and then you get your head lopped off.

The book ends on a positive note.

And then you read the “Times” stories about Hell Week and you wonder if it’s cultural, and nothing can change. You can be positive, but is it really a negative world?

Read “Alpha” and come to your own conclusion. It will make you think, but it’s anything but boring.

It’ll shake you up.

Tune in tomorrow, Saturday October 15th, to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz

The problem with Netflix isn’t the price, but the content!

Man do they have it wrong.

In a world with a plethora of streaming options, one is ready to cancel any at a whim if there is not programming they want to see. Don’t tell me about dripping out product… No way I’m subscribing to Apple TV+ for multiple months to see “Bad Sisters,” I’m just waiting until it’s over to partake.

Or not. When the buzz is done, do I need to see it?

The “Squid Game” mania… Talked to anybody who’s watched the series recently? I certainly haven’t, it’s old news. Sure, some series survive, I’m aware of all those stories about the “Friends” reruns, but “Friends” was created in a completely different era. Today’s productions have a very short shelf life. You watch them and move on. All you’re doing by dripping out the episodes is leaving people on the sidelines, who won’t even bother to subscribe. As for lowering the price, how does NOTHING sound. Ad-supported for free sounds good to me. Make the damn commercials so onerous that only the truly cheap will take this option. Michael Eisner said 10% of the public will never pay, never ever. A lower price ain’t gonna work, never.

As for the lower price…

It’s not like we live in a vacuum, with no data. The freemium model has existed for years. You give away a hobbled version and people get so addicted they’re willing to pay for the real thing. This is Spotify’s model. 45% of people who use Spotify’s free tier ultimately convert to the paid tier: https://on.wsj.com/3MzKaZU People have the money if you have a desirable product. And if you don’t, there’s no lowering of the price that can entice me.

Does Apple have two tiers of prices? OF COURSE NOT! Apple leaves the low-priced goods to the rest of the companies, and ain’t it interesting that Apple is the only company that consistently makes money on handsets.

Turns out all those other people, those on Android, don’t want to pay for goods. Yes, Apple has a smaller market share, but almost all of the income from apps. I mean first and foremost, you go for the people who PAY!

Netflix was seen as a premium product. Now the brand has taken a hit. Having a Netflix account was a badge of honor. And maybe it’s less strong since competitors have entered the marketplace, but everybody knows Netflix has the most new product, and it’s all about new product, because new product ultimately becomes old product, and money can be reaped forever, especially with the Netflix model, where they buy out all the rights.

Did people think “Mayberry” was gonna run forever? Ron Howard will be long in the grave and people will be watching the small town shenanigans. Does every series have legs? Absolutely not, but you’ve got to make many to find out. This is the flaw in the Zaslav model. Once you start cutting production, you’re cutting yourself off at the knees. You need a lot of product, because even the best idea on paper might be a turd in the final result. And you never know what will catch on with the public. People will be watching “Stranger Things” for decades. Did anybody anticipate that? NO!

So, you pay attention to the seers on Wall Street and you’re cooked. Look at Amazon. Everybody bitched about its bottom line, but Bezos wouldn’t cut back, he wouldn’t yield. And then came Prime and then came AWS (Amazon Web Services). Neither was in the original plan. In cost-cutting mode you never take the chance, but if you’re willing to spend, new opportunities develop and come to fruition. Once you cut spending to improve your numbers…death. Especially in new model, tech companies.

Netflix shouldn’t cut back production to save money, it should stay the course, because only with hit product will people pay every month.

As for paying, many many people are watching without paying. They’re hooked on the product, but instead of hoovering up that money, Netflix is trolling for those who haven’t opened their wallets, who can live without the service, HOW DUMB IS THAT?

Everybody believes they’re getting away with something when they share passwords. It’s kinda like Napster. Users knew it was free, but there was no modern alternative. Also, staying with Napster, users saw it as a protest against the outdated business model, of $15 for a CD with one good track. If you’re not pissed about the streaming world, you’re not a user. I used to pay one price for everything on cable, it was expensive, but it was my choice. Now I feel like I’m being pecked to death by ducks. I can only watch one show at one time, but I’ve got to subscribe to all these services? I’m not canceling because they’re too expensive, I can afford it, it’s just an insult. Sell me all the services, Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Apple+, Discovery+…never mind Sundance Now an BritBox and Topic…for one price, just name it, I don’t care. If I’m paying for the complete cable package it’s not like I’m pissed that I’m watching one channel at a time.

What’s gonna happen if Netflix cuts off password-sharers. They’re gonna disconnect? THEY’RE NOT PAYING TO BEGIN WITH! People pony up for what they want, and these people already want it. Who do you want to try and convince to pay, those already in your store or the random person on the street? Those inside the store, those sharing passwords, are already interested!

So I’m sitting at home, thinking whether I want to pay $6.99 for Netflix with ads. I’m not paying to begin with. It’s a hurdle I don’t want to jump.

But there are plenty of free services out there: Freevee, Roku… Most of it is junk, but you’ve got to pay for the good stuff. Rolex doesn’t sell a model with a Timex inside.

I just don’t know who the people are who are going to pay for something they aren’t already. I’m not paying for Paramount+, I’m not paying for Discovery+. because they’re complete rip-offs, also-rans. You want me to pay to watch one good show when the rest is recycled dreck? I can live without that program. I want you to go out of business, or merge, or license your product to one of the big kahunas.

That’s what these services don’t understand, WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT ANY OF THEM! Streaming services are not the most important purchases in our lives, they’ve got to earn our money. It’s a yes/no proposition, it’s black and white, it’s not a matter of price. Look, a movie costs fifteen to twenty bucks but I’m going to haggle over paying fifteen bucks for a service with tons of product for a MONTH? No, it’s just a matter of if I’m interested in what’s being purveyed.

You can’t be all things to all people. That’s a bad business model. It doesn’t work for anybody. You’re inherently dumbing-down the product. Want to make more money Netflix…RAISE THE PRICE! You’ve got to give me something for it, maybe one theatrical release a month, free, immediately, but my wallet is open for the desirable, most people’s is. Are we really arguing over a handful of bucks, do they really think that’s why people are not subscribing to Netflix?

And the cable companies make you subscribe for a year, but Netflix is month-to-month. SiriusXM offers year-long discount products. Better to commit the person for a year at a lower price then try to get them pay month by month, it’s one decision instead of twelve. And if you commit for a year, odds are you’re going to watch, get hooked, you’ve made the deal. Do you buy a product, use it once and then discard it? No, if it’s expensive enough you try to make it work, you Google instructions, it’s going to take a lot for you to put it in a corner to collect dust. You’re INVESTED!

So now streaming TV is just like network. That’s the model. Netflix was a NEW model, but now it’s undercut itself, gone backwards.

This reminds me of the early 2000s in the music business. We’d have all these focus groups with teenagers asking them about the value of music, what it was worth. And almost every one said $10-$15 for a CD was fair. But the dirty little secret was when we asked how many people bought CDs at this price? NONE! They were opining about something they weren’t involved in, and they were telling the questioners what they wanted to hear as they continued to download music from Napster. We could never convince these kids to buy CDs again, we had to come up with a new model. It’s not like if the CD was five bucks they’d buy it, THEY DIDN’T WANT IT AT ANY PRICE!

Just like the people not subscribing to Netflix.

Everybody knew there would come a time when Netflix would run out of potential subscribers. Everybody convinced themselves that we weren’t there yet, that we were living in an unending go-go era, but once you have one smartphone, HOW MANY MORE DO YOU NEED?

You saturate the marketplace and if you want more money you extend the brand, like Spotify, or merge with another company. Patagonia doesn’t do this, but it was privately owned. It wasn’t about the short term insanity of the stock price. And Patagonia’s value, financially and in esteem, has only gone UP! And when they limited sales, saying they wouldn’t sell their vests for corporate retreats, owners of Patagonia products felt even better about their purchases, and went out and bought more, Patagonia was something to BELIEVE IN! And still is.

I used to believe in Netflix.

Now I just see a bunch of businessmen bending in the wind to placate the financial community which has its head up its rear end. It was the bleeding edge product that kept me testifying. But they got rid of the person responsible for that. It would be like HBO firing its development staff and hiring ABC’s. MAKES NO SENSE!

We live in a soulless world where brands are kings, even more than people. Ask me who I believe in most. It certainly ain’t anybody in the Spotify Top 50, I believe in Apple more than them. Apple makes the finest products and doesn’t enter every field. I can feel good about owning Apple products. And Apple is the most valuable company in the world! And their products are more expensive than everybody else’s!

So there are Apple-haters. No problem, it just makes my belief in Apple stronger, especially since most of the haters are having a knee-jerk reaction. Sure, you can customize Android more, but how many people actually want to do that? But even worse, most of the phones can’t be upgraded, Android has the greatest market share, with everybody on a different operating system. Which yields a worse user experience. Apple just pushes the update to everybody.

Does Apple make mistakes? OF COURSE!

But at least Tim Cook has balls. When asked why he didn’t make iMessage RCS compatible, that is work with Android, so the person’s mom could see videos better, he said “Buy your mom an iPhone.” He didn’t weasel, he owned it. And I want to tell you, when I see a green bubble I judge the person. They didn’t get the message? You’re still using an Android? Don’t complain, it’s useless, this is how we iPhone users feel, ALL OF US!

Meanwhile, Reid Hastings and Ted Sarandos are afraid of both the Street and the public. Let’s make it more palatable, let’s play by your rules. Didn’t you win by BREAKING those rules?

This is a product few are interested in. But Netflix felt pressured by Wall Street…

Never a good motivation.

Now Netflix is another bottom line TV company when it used to be so much more. Viewers were in bed with Netflix. I don’t want them under the covers ANYMORE!

“Too Many Songs, Not Enough Hits: Pop Music Is Struggling to Create New Stars – Execs say that a deluge of new music — and the difficulty of influencing TikTok’s algorithm — has made building an audience harder than ever for new acts.”: https://bit.ly/3CCHSEz

You know it’s the truth when the mainstream press locks on to the story.

In every walk of life, the boomer-owned institutions profess the inaccurate claim that we live in one homogenous society upon which they exert control. But we live in an era of chaos. And today it’s nearly impossible to gain traction, which really means an audience. You can get noticed, but for a day. Yesterday’s meme is sophomoric today, if you employ it you look bad. Culture moves incredibly quickly, and almost nothing sticks. But the powers-that-be keep telling us they can make it stick, when they cannot.

Want an example? Beyonce’s new album. It was hosannas all around. Queen Bey has come down from her throne with her miraculous creations which all the “tastemakers” have frothed at the mouth over. This is what we’ve been waiting for, a glorified superstar firing on all cylinders.

Check the Spotify Top 50, there’s not a SINGLE Beyonce song! Not one!

Now in the old paradigm they would have sold millions of albums immediately, based on the mania, but today that paradigm is dead. Today it’s all about streaming longevity, and there is none with Beyonce.

As for the “Billboard” album chart, ignore it completely, It doesn’t reflect reality. Streams are king and on that chart physical and files mean more, but even worse, acts release vinyl to bump their numbers and everywhere you see they’re number one, but not in the eyes (and ears) of the public.

And then there’s that fiction that terrestrial radio still counts. That was the majors’ domain, they controlled it.

“‘A No. 1 radio song doesn’t mean fuck anymore,’ laments one longtime A&R executive.”

Whew, when the labels are saying it you know it must be true. This is their ace in the hole. The head of promotion made more money than everybody at the label other than the president. But now he or she has no effectiveness.

Let’s start with the statistics, tracks, where the chart is much more reliable:

“‘It’s a bigger and more level playing field, and everything is getting lost,’ says Chris Anokute, who co-manages Muni Long. ‘Everyone’s an artist, but almost nobody’s breaking.”

“There are many ways to judge — and argue over — what ‘breaking’ means today; label executives tend to use streaming numbers as a barometer, while most managers prefer to look at ticket sales. But the number of new acts vaulting into the top 10 of the Hot 100 has declined precipitously in the last few years. From 2001 to 2004, over 30 first-timers cracked the top 10 annually. In 2019, however, only 15 first-timers reached the top 10, and 2021 had the lowest number of new entrants this millennium: just 13.”

You can’t reach the top of the heap unless you’ve already established a beachhead, and as we’ve seen with Beyonce above, that’s no guarantee.

Acts like Coldplay and Dave Matthews Band benefit from breaking in the last era wherein music television meant something, they were all over MTV and especially VH1. That avenue is now dead. You can post a video to YouTube for free, but that doesn’t mean you’ll gain a mass of eyeballs, odds are no one will see it other than you and your friends!

And even acts like the Weeknd. He broke when insider buzz still mattered and there were fewer acts out there and streaming was not yet established. If Abel comes out today, he’s got much less mass, no matter how good the records are. Furthermore, that which is made for the mainstream, with the usual suspects following the established formulas, tends not to succeed, the public is looking for something new.

Like Zach Bryan. Who has got the #6 song in the U.S. Spotify Top 50.

This guy was unheard of, with no traction, and he sounds more like a singer-songwriter of the seventies than the dreck played on country radio. The public is looking for authenticity, Bryan delivers it. And quality songs, that are recognizable as songs.

The Morgan Wallen kerfuffle has superseded the music itself in the conversation. But if you listen to Wallen’s double album it’s fantastic, a step above. You can pooh-pooh its success, but that just means you’re turned off by a southern accent and biased against those in the south and…

“Dangerous” is #3 this week and I’ll quote from the “New York Times”: 

“‘Dangerous,’ released at the beginning of 2021, has now spent 90 weeks in the Top 10, matching ‘South Pacific’ — the soundtrack to a 1958 film whose songs go back to a 1949 Broadway production. In the 66-year history of the Billboard 200, the magazine’s flagship album chart, only five other releases have logged more weeks in the Top 10, all soundtracks and cast albums from the 1950s and ’60s.”

And Bad Bunny is the biggest act in the world and he’s Latin and Sam Smith might have a number one track right now with Kim Petras, but Sam also broke before the chaos became extreme.

Music is a business. People like to think of it as art, but that’s not how the major labels see it. They look for an edge, just like the people spamming you with e-mails and texts. They employ leverage, trade on their size and catalogs, but in today’s world, everything they bring to the table isn’t working:

“‘The market’s dry as fuck,’ declares a veteran major-label A&R executive who requested anonymity to speak candidly. ‘There’s less and less shit working. The front-line label business, signing new artists, is in trouble.’ ‘I can honestly say right now that nobody — nobody — knows what’s going on,’ another longtime major-label A&R says.”

As for the fiction that streaming playlists are everything:

“‘Now, just because you’re in a top 10 slot on a big Spotify playlist, it doesn’t mean your audience is growing,’ one manager says.

As for the old formula:

“Taken together, all these factors mean that seizing — and then holding — the attention of the music-loving masses is that much more challenging. ‘It used to be that you released an album, got Rolling Stone to review it, got on tour, got on late-night TV, and that was how you broke,’ says one senior executive at a major label. Even if luck was a factor, the path was clear. ‘It was four or five things. Now you need four or five things a week, or at least a month, or else your streams don’t go up.'”

As for the power of TikTok: 

“The rise of TikTok has complicated matters, too. The platform has become a hit-maker — helping Em Beihold’s ‘Numb Little Bug’ and Nicky Youre’s ‘Sunroof’ climb the charts, for example — but it’s an unpredictable marketing tool, less susceptible to manipulation and less responsive to star power than other platforms. Engineering a viral moment is akin to walking into a corner store and emerging with a winning lottery ticket. ‘There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to what breaks there,’ says Justin Lehmann, who manages Aminé and Khai Dreams, among others. ‘And without breaking there, it’s difficult to say what else can cause a big moment to happen for anybody.'”

The lunatics have taken over the asylum. It’s a free-for-all. The supposed gatekeepers, the keepers of the flame, the manipulators, have been stopped dead in their tracks. You can do the same old thing, but you’re not going to get the old result, chances are you’re going to get almost nothing.

So the playing field is being leveled.

And the dream is dying.

You remember the dream, where you start out humble and end up world famous, known by everybody, and rich? Nearly impossible today. You can shoot someone, but you’ll only be famous for a day. Come on, we shrug our shoulders at school shootings now. And if you fight to be in the public eye all the time, it backfires. Elon Musk’s image has taken a huge hit. And the more Kanye and Trump talk, the crazier they look. So if you think you can just spam your way to a career by posting 24/7, buying followers…you can end up with statistics but no career, maybe not even any traction at all. And sure, today’s youth don’t mind you pitching yourself, but that’s if you’re a nobody, an influencer. But it’s different if you’re not a member of the rank and file, if you think you’re better than those on TikTok or other platforms, those are owned by the users, not you, the more you press, the worse you look. And then there’s desperation… No one wants to be close to the desperate.

So…

Today’s paradigm is you’re not a star. If you want to create myth and mystique, if you want to hold back your identity, if you want to do all the crap that worked from the fifties to yesterday, you’re screwed. Your only option is to get into the pit, reveal your warts and predilections, and say you’re no better than anybody else, but this is what you do, create music.

And in order for it to grow, you’ll need the public to adopt it. And you cannot push it, it doesn’t work. Believe me, the labels are in bed with TikTok, TikTok pushes priorities to big time users, but even if they make a video with the song…it does not mean it will be picked up by others and will become a phenomenon. First it must have that je ne sais quoi. AND, the creator/influencer has to add their own spin, so the concoction becomes MORE than just your song. This is anathema to the oldsters who were so afraid that their work tapes would become available on Napster. God, you’re dying to have your work tapes released, you’re dying for ANYBODY TO LISTEN TO THEM!

That’s the hardest challenge.

So we’ve got dinosaurs and…

Everybody else.

Everybody else must adjust their outlook.

Let’s start with the festivals. Coachella is bigger than any act, Coachella has the power, as do Lollapalooza, ACL and Outside Lands. Didn’t used to be this way. But after the festival books a headliner or three, which is harder than ever to do, the slots are precious. It’s the only way to expose yourself to a mass audience live. And the traditional ladder has lost its bottom rungs. The club scene is minimal and sure, arena business is good, but getting from here to there?

And the acts keep complaining, looking for culprits, pointing the finger at streaming services. But the truth is, if you’re not making much from Spotify, YOU’RE NOT BEING LISTENED TO MUCH! And no one mentions that Spotify killed piracy and turned recorded music revenues around. No, there must be a return to the past, where almost no one got a deal, you lived off the advance and there was much less, MUCH LESS, competition.

Do I think it’s going to formalize, turn around?

No.

The internet has the power to reach everybody, nearly instantly. But we’ve found out that there’s so much stuff that it’s hard to reach anybody. Adele had her big moment when CDs still counted. The albums after that, despite the hoopla, did nowhere near as well. And the younger audience…doesn’t care about her, not much anyway.

And in truth most people cut off huge swaths of media. They haven’t heard or seen or read it and it does not bother them at all. They’ve found what appeals to them and that’s enough. And it’s always visceral and human. That’s the essence of TikTok, which the same boomers living in the past refuse to explore. TikTok is where the PEOPLE are, where the INNOVATION is. And Netflix doesn’t have to worry about HBO Max or Disney+, it has to worry about TikTok, that’s where all the viewing hours of the young are spent.

Music was the canary in the coal mine for digital disruption. And for a long time, the powers-that-be thought they could kill Napster, et al, through sheer will. And then the legal system. Nothing worked until the iTunes store and Spotify. You have to deliver it the way the public wants it. And if you want to enrapture the public, you’ve got to GET AHEAD OF IT!

Yes, now is the worst time for me-too, to be playing it safe. Now is the time to experiment, to be different, to be great, because innovation always sparks a reaction. Then again, the old model of hipsters gravitating to the outside act and then it becoming mainstream is gone too, once again, there’s just too much in the channel.

And no one cares.

You think you’re better than me? I don’t care about this, I don’t know that, I came late to the product… WE’RE ALL LATE! Assuming we see any need to go outside our own little satisfying purview. And they’re not making more time. I want to choose wisely, I don’t want to waste twelve hours on a mediocre series.

As for music, listening to the whole album… You’re lucky if you get people to listen to ONE SONG! Stop the blowback, that’s just how precious people’s time is. If you want our attention you must deserve it. And you do it through being truly great and special, and that’s no guarantee of stardom, it’s just the start of traction, which could die out.

Is it depressing?

Absolutely. But that does not mean it’s not reality.

The professionals are throwing up their hands, they don’t know how to manipulate the market, crack it.

The acts are complaining that they can’t be rich and famous like they used to be.

But the public? It’s overfed and overwhelmed, so it chooses its experiences wisely, wasting time is taboo.

You make your own schedule. Just like you choose your own wallpaper on your laptop and smartphone.

And you can’t trust pollsters, you can’t trust anybody telling you the way it is, THEY DON’T KNOW! You only know for yourself.

Becoming a brand? There needs to be a foundation. People were so focused on becoming a corporation that they ignored the underlying product. They don’t want to put that much effort in, they don’t want to be poor, they want it to be fast and easy…

Steve Lacy may have made it to number one, but:

“Lacy’s career began seven years ago, with The Internet, and his first solo album in 2019 had already earned him a Grammy Award nomination.”

He’s been around for years! That’s how long it takes. You want to succeed now or go to graduate school? Short circuit the whole process, just go to graduate school. Your ten year old sings and you believe they have talent and deserve a spot on the hit parade? Then they must drop out of school, work hard for ten years and probably still won’t hit. Better to at least get an education, which will ultimately pay dividends, which a failed career will not.

But the silver lining is the world has been flattened, and the monoliths of old are in the same boat as the pipsqueak in their basement.

And everybody can play. Put their songs online. Market the hell of out themselves, NEARLY FOR FREE!

The new world is definitely not like the old world.

It’s a longer road than ever to the top if you wanna rock ‘n roll.

But the audience still desires music. There’s still a marketplace. It just does not resemble the pyramid of old.