The problem is the major labels have all the leverage, as a result of their catalogs. They wield these in negotiations with each and every distributor, and the indies have little power. This is not like tech, where yesterday’s wares are useless, in music, the hits of the past continue to generate revenue at almost no cost, especially in these days of digital distribution. Furthermore, copyright terms have been extended on a regular basis, to make sure Disney characters don’t fall into the public domain, got to keep the Mouse House happy.

We saw the power of these catalogs with the negotiation of streaming remuneration. Bottom line, the publishers, and therefore the songwriters, got screwed. The labels cared first and foremost about recordings, and if their publishing arms got less…it all added up to the same at the end of the day, it was just a matter of how the pot was divided before being reunited.

But we no longer live in the past. There are only three major label groups, where there used to be six. And new labels are not popping up on a regular basis like they did in the past. Without a catalog, you can’t make it.

But even worse, majors are signing fewer acts in fewer genres, hurting not only musicians, but the culture at large.

So…

The bottom line is some of the greatest acts in history are now independent, they don’t have record deals. If they make an album, they might license it to a major, but they are not under the pressure of a regular deal, with delivery timetables.

But it’s not only the classic rockers, but Lorde… She finished her Universal deal and is now completely unfettered, and happy to be so.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, you see…

You may have read the Lorde announcement, but like an iceberg, what really counts is what’s beneath the surface, not seen by the naked eye.

Yes, over the last year, while indie clubs have been going out of business in the U.K., when it’s harder than ever to break a new act, the titans of the past have quietly banded together with the young ‘uns to serve independent artists.

It’s a who’s-who… First and foremost, Paul McCartney. That’s why he did those underplays at the Fonda, he was in Hollywood sealing the deal.

Look at it like Tidal. But much better organized.

We’ve got McCartney, Elton John, Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, Chance the Rapper and Lorde on the board. They’re going to change the rules of the music business.

First and foremost, if you’re a member of the Alliance, you agree to use an indie act as your opener. Whether it’s in a theatre or a stadium. Indies need exposure, and the Alliance is going to deliver it. And we all know that everything starts on the road these days.

In addition, Scott Greenstein has agreed to give the Indie Alliance a permanent channel on SiriusXM. Where established acts will give their imprimatur to indies. Introducing them to the public. And when critical mass is hit, there will be a tour, just like with Little Steven’s Underground Garage.

And, Spotify has already agreed to put an indie act on its homepage for at least a week a month. The three majors get the other three, righting the balance for the first time in a long time.

Also, there will be an Indie Alliance playlist in every genre.

As for Apple, Amazon and Deezer… They have not put pen to paper yet, but where Spotify goes, the rest follow. As for Tidal…since it was offloaded on to Mr. Square, Jack Dorsey, we’ve barely heard a peep.

But who is going to run this operation, organize it and make the trains run on time?

Well, Doug Morris is coming out of retirement. Along with Jeff Ayeroff. Morris never wanted to go and Ayeroff has a creative mind absent from today’s record world, which will allow the Indie Alliance to triumph.

Let’s be clear, this is not a record company. And it’s more than a lobbying organization. It’s a trade union plus. Whose goal is a fair wage for musicians, but even more, fair marketing and exposure.

And there is an agenda…

Rock has been excised from the frontlines, there will be a concerted effort to bring it back. Melodious stuff, with hooks and changes… Tom Scholz has agreed to mentor acts, the Boston sound continuing to resonate in the culture.

And producers too… The Commander, Mike Chapman, still has his chops. None of the old guys can get gigs, but they’re’ dying to work. So they’re agreeing to mentor indies for free. Consider it a spec deal. They’ve got upside, but there are no cash down payments.

And Live Nation, always looking to burnish its image, will provide Omar for hands-on advice. And Monday will be indie night at all the amphitheatres. It’s a hard night anyway, usually dark. And if Live Nation can sell beer and parking, they’re always up for making a deal.

Jimmy Iovine wanted a competition, to see which acts would be pushed, but the success of Beats is overshadowed by his record of failure in innovation…Jimmy & Ted’s Farm Club anyone? And having recently dissed streaming outlets, saying they’re in their death throes…Spotify said if Jimmy’s in, they’re out. So Jimmy’s on the sidelines.

The Indie Alliance is not a minor league. It’s about promoting acts that can sell out arenas if they just get exposure, if people could just see them and hear them.

The goal is to be noticed by Doug and Jeff, or members of the board, to the point where they think you can be bigger. Kind of like a record company of yore. Everybody can’t get a deal, everybody can’t play, but there are those deserving who need a little push.

Of course there will be lobbying for better terms.

No cuts of merch until the act sells in excess of 5,000 tickets. These acts need every penny to survive.

Elon Musk offered a slew of Tesla driverless trucks for equipment, and some Model 3s for club level acts, but no one wanted to work with him, his karma is too bad.

Not that other companies can’t invest, come along. Rumor has it some cannabis companies are about to ink deals to support indie musicians, since they’re all running on dope anyway.

And indie values will be promoted. If you want to sell out, be a brand, go with a major. Talk about bringing the value of music back…it’s more than money. You can take sponsorship money, but if you’re doing brand extensions…perfume, clothing and whiskey…you cannot be promoted by the Indie Alliance.

It’s music first. Truly.

That does not mean you can’t be flamboyant, wear outfits, have a theatrical act, but the music is paramount. The mission of the Indie Alliance is not only to help the independent musician, but music itself. After all, the majors and the acts they promote are doing a good job of killing it.

There’s no lip service involved. If you’re an established act, a member, you must let an indie open your show, you must help the indies, otherwise you’re out.

As for Jim Dolan’s guarantee of an indie residency at the Sphere…

He says he’ll do it once the acts are established, when they can sell enough tickets, since the Sphere holds nearly 20,000 people. You can be number one on Spotify, and most people don’t know. But if you play the Sphere, everybody knows! So Dolan’s offer is blue chip.

It has gone too far, we’ve got too many cartoon acts, dancing fools mini-corporations, who have dragged down the value of music, made it a sideshow, irrelevant of the number of dollars involved. We need to get back to where we once belonged. That’s one of the main reasons the classic acts are involved, because they remember when. Whereas kids today have grown up with vapidity.

Also, this will burnish the image of aged acts, being involved with young ‘uns, maybe cowriting with them.

The Indie Alliance is open to all genres, however Nashville is not happy, it doesn’t want to give up its stranglehold on country music. And hip-hop already has a thriving independent scene, but a lot of those acts could be bigger.

This is great. Two thumbs up. Kudos!

I didn’t respond because I’m pretty sure someone as fabulous as you will be with us a long time. Keep me posted – I went on Kalshi and placed a bet on your condition – 90% are betting it’s an infection.

Thanks,

Gary Hunter

______________________________________

I was the only one of four kids who didn’t pursue some sort of medical or scientific field.  My dad was a forensic pathologist, Mom an RN.  My brother recently retired from being an ER doc.  He was discouraged by American medicine and lived in New Zealand for 15 years where he saw patients in the ER.  Those folks are way more hearty than we are.  Anyway, this was his response:

Bob was probably treated with cephazolin IV (which is essentially IV keflex) and oral cephalexin (generic keflex).

In his age group and general history (lots I don’t know, like is he on anticoagulants? aspirin?), the most likely diagnosis is simply a ruptured vessel in the prostatic plexus. They become tangled and tortuous and under more pressure in old men. (Like me.) Most spontaneous nosebleeds are in the same population due to drier and thinner mucosa: blood vessels too thin out and become weaker. Renal or bladder stones (and bladder stones won’t show up) are the #2 cause. Infection is #3. Anything else is a distant #4. The CT is the appropriate test, along with various blood items and a urine culture. If the patient is not obstructed, there is no way in hell any urologist will give a damn and none anywhere will consult at night on almost any issue. I doubt a urologist came in even when I asked once per year in my career. (Testicular torsion, torn urethra with obstruction, really bad obstruction from clots or an infected stone in a diabetic or some such: that’s about it.)

450 mls of urine with 30 mls of blood looks like 100% blood. Only once or twice did I see significant blood loss from a urinary source and that was over days. Scary for sure.

Patient should have been set up for a follow up visit with a urologist in coming days and they would have likely scheduled cystography.  The shaking can easily come from the stress of pushing out an obstructing clot (also being faint, nauseated, dizzy). Rigors should certainly have been considered and infection carefully evaluated, though. Having no urinary obstruction is very important. I would have used a different Antibiotic these days, though cephazolin is not unreasonable.  And I would have called the guy or had someone call him the next day to make sure he was feeling Ok and we were getting follow-up organized as planned.

Sounds more reasonable now, doesn’t it?  Letting people know why things are done and where they are heading, as well as fail-safes are appropriate management.

Page

OK, hope that helps & that you’re doing well!

Galen Hudson

I want to thank everybody for their e-mails and texts of concern, I really appreciate it. I am now back in Los Angeles and will get on the case re getting a scope when business resumes tomorrow, Monday morning.

Until then…

Let me say that other than lack of sleep due to anxiety, I’m fine. Truly.

As for symptoms, unfortunately at 9 PM last evening they resumed. I.e. blood in the urine. Why it happened at that exact time three nights in a row, I’ve got no idea.

It tapered off before I went to sleep, and all night when I got up to go to the bathroom I had no problem. And then first thing this morning, voila, it happened again.

To say the least, I was disheartened when the problem returned, but since my initial pee this morning, everything’s been clear.

My latest theory is…

It happens when I expel a clot. Then the river of blood continues for hours until it stops. Seemingly when the clot is gone and the backup has been released over a number of urination episodes…the problem evaporates. What is causing the clots, I have no idea.

So, I’m going to return to business as usual. When I get a further diagnosis, I will let you know.

Thanks.

I was pissing blood.

No, that’s not entirely accurate…I was EXPLODING blood!

I was lying on the couch reading David Pogue’s Apple book, minding my own business, when I realized I finally had to get up to pee. The urgency has disappeared since Skip prescribed the cocktail, of Avodart and Flomax. Being old and having an enlarged prostate is no picnic. They tell you to start taking medication when you can no longer sit through a movie. Then again, men never admit they’ve got a problem, at least not to each other. They say they’re fine, while being no longer able to hear their family…they don’t need no stinkin’ hearing aids!

So I stride in front of the commode…and nothing comes out.

This is kind of weird, I mean the drugs can give you a delayed start, but I feel like I have to go and nothing is coming out.

Okay…

And then it’s like someone ignited a missile, blast-off is imminent. I feel the pressure in my penis and then…FIREWORKS! Not only in the bowl, but all over the toilet, all over the rim, all over the floor.

And it’s very red and very bloody.

So I methodically start to clean the premises, and that’s when I notice a clot. I haven’t seen a clot like this since I had surgery to remove a kidney stone twenty five years ago. What exactly is going on?

I’ve had a bunch of kidney stones. But they’re preceded by ungodly flank pain. I was feeling nothing, I got no advance warning sign. Was this a result of masturbation? Mama told me not to come…

And then there’s another major event, just after I’ve cleaned up the environment.

And then I hang my dick around waiting for more and when it’s finally all said and done I go back to the couch and consult Dr. Google.

I’m not an alarmist. I’m not looking to find out I’m dying of cancer. I know how to read between the lines. Sure, I look at the AI result, but also the Mayo and Cleveland clinics and others and they all said…

No big deal. If I wasn’t in pain, had no burning sensation, which I did not possess.

Okay…

Maybe it was a passing thing.

But NO!

An hour later I have the same experience. But with anticipation, I’m better at directing the spurt. And the hours keep passing and it keeps happening and…

I ain’t gonna go to the emergency room, Google didn’t tell me to do so.

Then again, no one lives forever, and when they say there will be blood, they didn’t expect this much!

Finally, I decide to try and sleep. I can’t, and I get up to pee a couple of times and still have blood, but I figure I’m gonna be okay.

But THEN!

All of  a sudden I have this incredible pain in my legs. In the muscles. And I don’t want to get up and put on Traumeel S, I’m in twilight and I’m too cold for that.

But then the pain becomes too much. I get up and put on the miracle anti-inflammatory, and it WORKS! Voila!

Well, then I start to shiver. And it ain’t that cold. But I am freezing. Once again, I don’t want to get up, leave the covers behind, find clothing, but I do!

I put on sweatpants, and not only a shirt but a fleece over it. And just as I’m about to get back into bed, I realized I’d better don socks too.

But I’m still cold, and good luck falling asleep, I end up looking at my phone, keeping it right by me in the bed, to help me in my moment of need.

And then, after a couple of hours of near sleep, I get up to pee…

AND IT’S CLEAR! The crisis is history! And I’m so damn hot, I remove all my clothing, everything is groovy.

The calamity is behind me.

And I don’t feel a hundred percent during the day yesterday, but I didn’t get that much sleep.

But the crisis is behind me.

But Felice is bugging me to go to the ER… Why? Dr. Google said it was unnecessary, and the crisis is in the rearview mirror, I’m peeing regular urine…

So she calms down. Actually, she’s a couple of thousand miles away, but that’s another story.

So now it’s last night, the next night. And I’m in the exact same position, lying on the couch reading the Pogue book. And I get the urge to pee at the identical time, 9 PM, so I go to the bathroom and once again…

Nothing comes out, and then…It’s like I’m fighting a war, spraying bullets at the enemy. It’s endless.

And let me tell you, this ain’t no pink urine, this is crimson red, this is the real thing, blood.

Okay, now this is too much. This was unexpected.

So I go back to Dr. Google and parsing the information, I realize I should go to the emergency room.

Now I’ve got to tell you, growing up in my house it was illegal to be ill. Couldn’t happen. You had to go to school unless your symptoms were palpable and excessive. As for going to the doctor…WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN’ DOCTOR!

Yup, that was my mother’s philosophy. And it bit her in the ass in the end. She had a visible infection, but she kept telling everybody surrounding here she was just fine. But ultimately she went into the hospital and never came out. It was treatable, if she’d been on it weeks before, when it first manifested itself, but she figured she could will it away, that bacteria was no match for Muggs Lefsetz. Hell, she truly thought that if she kept dragging my dad around, remained upbeat, stayed in denial, he wouldn’t die of cancer, but he did!

So I’ve got a long history of not going to the doctor until it’s too late. Lost a body part in the process. I’ve improved, but…

Who the hell wants to go to the ER? At ten o’clock at night?

But I’ve got no idea what is going on, so… I take a shower, get dressed, go over there, and I’m told they’re too busy, to wait on the couch.

But then the nurse comes out and says he doesn’t like the way I look, and he’s going to give me a room right away.

Now THAT’S good!

And they hook me up with the blood pressure monitor and the oxygen sensor. And they take blood and…

They need a urine sample.

REALLY? You want a blood sample?

And I’ll be honest, I’m afraid I’m going to pee and my urine will be clear. It’s like taking your car to the repair shop, the problem doesn’t manifest itself when you’re there.

So at first the new nurse wants me to pee in bed. And gives me one of those giant plastic bottles, if you’ve been in the hospital you know what I’m talking about.

But then she thinks better of that. Says I should go to the bathroom and use one of the little cups in there.

OH NO! I need the big bottle, she’s got no idea what she’s up against here. I need room, for the volume I’m going to emit.

So, I go to the bathroom, I’ve got my dick in the bottle…and nothing comes out.

And then, the gunpowder ignites and a clot comes flying out and the bottle starts filling up… It’s a deep red, almost brown. THERE! You think I was lying?

Of course they didn’t think that. But I’ve got my mother’s voice in the back of my head, that I don’t deserve medical treatment.

So I lie there, but then the doctor comes in. Discusses the possibilities. But first, he wants to take some pictures.

So not long thereafter, by ER standards, a guy comes in alone, he’s going to drive me to the theatre. This is the highlight of being in the hospital, the trip through the halls on the bed. Usually there are two people to get you started, to align and get the bed rolling properly, but this guy was doing it all by himself.

Ultimately we got to the CT room. Yup, they gave me the contrast, you know, the one that makes you feel hot. They took a slew of pictures, then the tech wheeled me back to my room and said the doctor would be with me in thirty or forty minutes.

Well, almost two hours later…

He’s got no answers. Could be a kidney stone, but if it was, he’d see it traveling down from the kidney, and nothing was there. And I didn’t have pain. But I know my kidneys are riddled with stones… You get this old and you know your complete medical history. Like the guy starts spewing stats, saying he’s got nothing to compare them  to, my hemoglobin and creatinine, but I’ve got those numbers stored in my brain, I don’t even have to look them up.

Now, of course it could be bladder cancer. The wall of my bladder was a bit thick. And it’s hard to diagnose, so therefore he wants me to have it checked out and… Anything can happen. I know a couple of people who’ve had bladder cancer.

And he can dial the urologist on call and get an opinion, but it might take a while for the doctor to get back to him, and it’s doubtful the physician will render a definitive opinion over the line so…

I can be transferred to another hospital where there’s a urologist in the building…

You know modern medicine, unless you’re literally dying, they won’t give you a definitive opinion. They give you the facts and you have to decide. So, in my case, I ask a plethora of questions, trying to reveal nuance, and then I get the guy to admit that really, I don’t need to have a camera stuck up my penis immediately. But there is the issue, what if I can’t pee?

That’s what he’s most worried about. Because if you can’t pee, you need a catheter.

And that’s when I realize he’s going to discharge me, send me home while I’m still spewing blood. REALLY?

But he says that my counts are pretty good, and that you’ve got a lot of blood in your body. And if I’m not dizzy, which I am not… He says if I get dizzy and pass out to come back. REALLY? I mean I could pass out and DIE! But he says if I pass out, I will wake up, so…

What exactly is going on here?

Well, it could be an infection, so he’s going to prescribe an antibiotic. And I ask him which one and first he says Keflex, which I’ve had before, and I’m thinking for a minute that my opinion seems to matter, since I know a little he thinks I have expertise, and then he asks me if I want the first dose intravenously right now. OF COURSE! That’s what he thought I’d say. I mean after all, I’m THERE!

And the nurse starts preparing the injection and then I think about the shivering…so I have her call the doctor back and I ask him, wouldn’t this be evidence of an infection?

But he won’t go on record.

As for the drug? It’s not Keflex, it’s something completely different, and the pills I’m going to retrieve the following day, which is now today, will be something yet again and…

Now I’m gonna go home?

And then he emphasizes, if I can’t pee…

So they give me a printout, I go to the bathroom and leave my mark once again, the red devil, and then I walk out of the place.

And when I get home, my pee is clear. No trace of blood at all.

Huh.

And it’s been clear now ever since, but I was just lying on said couch reading the Pogue book and I must say, I was afraid to go to the bathroom. Then again, it’s not nine o’clock yet!

So what have we learned…

My initial instincts were right, to ride the tiger, to let it all play out, or hang out.

Then again, you never really know. I mean when you get old enough, the thought creeps into your brain that this could be the END! Or the beginning of the end.

I’m thinking it was an infection. I’ll get the scope re bladder cancer, but the odds of that being the case are very low, even the doc said so…

But it’s all kind of mysterious.

So I live another day. Just hoping I’m not going to explode again.

I still don’t have a definitive answer, then again, your body tells you if you need treatment. But oftentimes when it gets to that point, it’s too late.

So, I just don’t know.