It’s on Netflix.

If you’re playing the home game, and you’re paying attention, you know that today the Maggie Gyllenhaal film “The Lost Daughter” goes live on Netflix. A New Year’s gift, it’s a marketing mistake. In today’s fast-flowing world you want the product available simultaneous with the hype. The “Lost Daughter” hype took place weeks ago, when the movie opened in theatres. Now, the stories in America are completely different. You shoot someone in the morning and it doesn’t even make the nightly news, which no one watches anyway, how come movie marketers can’t adjust?

Have you read any of the music Top Ten lists? THEY’RE ALL DIFFERENT RECORDS! Used to be there was some consensus, now there’s none. And I won’t bother to debate what albums are good or bad, but I will tell you if you wanted to be informed, dive deep, discover new material, good luck. Check ’em out, there seems to be some consistency in listing Jazmine Sullivan, but other than that… And this isn’t about the critics, who like to amplify their pet favorites, but the landscape. It’s incomprehensible. If we can’t even agree on a Top Ten, then what are the odds there really is a Top Ten? This is how scattered and abstruse the music world has become, and there’s not a single purveyor who will mention it, for fear their project won’t be featured. The “Billboard” Top Ten is manipulated, in media everywhere, not an accurate reflection of what is being played (Purchases? Do you know anybody who’s bought an album recently? And don’t talk to me about vinyl, it’s a feel-good story, and creating analog records from digital sources makes no sense anyway.), and if you’re looking for John Lennon’s truth in music, good luck.

I found “7 Prisoners” via the “Washington Post,” in an article entitled “The movies that wowed Post critics in 2021 – and where to watch them”: https://wapo.st/3qEgTmf

Remember when everybody was freaking out twenty years ago that music and movies and news would be free online, that no one would pay anything for anything? Isn’t that a laugh. More and more outlets are creeping behind a paywall. We live in a two-tiered society, those who know and those who don’t. Furthermore, those who don’t think they do. My recommendation is you at least sign up for Apple News+, at ten bucks a month. But after subscribing for a while, if you’re a periodicals junkie, you’ll realize how awful the writing is in most of these publications. Even worse are the clickbait headlines employed. But you’ve got to start somewhere, get on the information train or be left behind.

So “7 Prisoners”…

You don’t know where it’s going.

And it starts out slowly, and doesn’t really speed up, but then, like the prisoners, you realize what is happening.

And then the story unfolds.

This is a Brazilian movie. That means subtitles. But the message is universal. Life is hard, people will take advantage of you and if you’re not looking out for yourself, you’re falling behind.

This always depresses me. In our educational system they teach you to obey, get in line, pay fealty to the teacher, all qualities that will leave you left behind in real life. Especially college. It’s like an alternative universe. You get good grades…exactly why? Have you noticed that all the people who didn’t fit in, who weren’t the teacher’s pet, are the ones who blew up the world and made beaucoup bucks? Turns out you win if you color outside the lines. If you behave you’re a sucker. You’re being taken advantage of right this very second, unaware of it. And to win you’ve got to bend the rules, employ obfuscation and abandon relationships and in many cases morality.

“7 Prisoners” is not a huge commitment, it’s only 94 minutes long, but I highly recommend it. This is how the world works.

That was phenomenal. I’ve got tears in my eyes.

It’s only about relationships. Only. We can’t live alone, we can’t function alone, and we never know what’s going through anybody else’s mind. How’s that for life?

You grow up waiting to get out of school and then you do and no one cares about you, you’re on your own. Then there’s Martin, who dropped out and now his life is one of low-paying retail jobs. He’s cute and fun but he’s an overgrown mama’s boy. He’s hard to love. Some people are born to be abandoned.

Then there’s Patrik, who works as a schoolteacher. You can’t have that job anymore, because the kids are entitled and the parents are nuts. When I was growing up the worst thing that could happen was to have the school send a note home to your parents. Forget what the school might do to you, your parents would come down much harder than that. Not only would they yell, they’d hit you. Were all baby boomers hit? I think so. And then they’d remind you of your failure, your faux pas, constantly. Today if you screw up your parents say it’s the school’s fault, the teachers have to apologize. And I’m not saying that teachers can never be wrong, it’s just that who would want to be a teacher? Kind of like politicians. I don’t want anybody representing me who is so squeaky clean they’ve never tried marijuana, never questioned the existence of God, never gotten drunk and puked. Otherwise, how can they understand me, and how can I relate?

And Lisa builds up her design business to the point where she’s so focused she’s got no mental time for anybody else. She’s driven because she’s fulfilling her dream, and she’s bringing home the bacon to boot.

And then there’s Katja, Patrik’s first wife. Cold and distant, she can’t even be nice to her aged mother. She finally lets Henrik into her life. She’s standoffish, entitled, and he’s only nice and she keeps pushing him away and putting him down, calling him a wimp. But she ultimately pushes so hard that he reacts. I see this paradigm all the time and I don’t understand it. A wily woman or man who can’t seem to understand others’ feelings, likes to control everything, and then a partner who appears to be a doormat. Most people have a type, even if it’s not good for them, they repeat their behavior endlessly, marrying the same person with the same flaws and expecting a different result.

And can you be relaxed in a relationship or do you always have to be on guard? Because just when you relax, that’s when things go south. And in relationships you never know when things will go south.

And you get older and you learn lessons you wish you knew earlier. Like if someone leaves someone for you, they’ll probably leave you too. Commitment is the number one criterion of a great relationship, but that’s what’s lacking in today’s society. Those who are committed succeed. Not blindly committed, but taking in data, making adjustments, keeping their eyes on the goal. Otherwise, you have to start all over.

And the pain…

The hurt, it lasts forever. The male shrink can’t get over his wife’s old boyfriend. Hates having to hear him on the radio. Touch the third rail at your peril. If you step out, if you cheat, no matter what your partner says, if they take you back they’re always gun-shy, they always think you can do it again.

And your new infatuation…you really don’t know much about them. If you have years invested in a relationship/marriage, don’t pooh-pooh that, it’s hard to stay together that long, a fling looks good, but will it last? Most times not.

So what we’ve got here is a Swedish series, about blended families. I found it in the comments section of a “New York Times” article about the best foreign TV. I’m always looking for something great, that titillates me, makes me want to watch it. Sure, some of the hyped shows can be great, but the truth is people are lazy, they won’t do the research, they don’t want to risk, never mind read subtitles, but it’s those who plumb the edges who ultimately succeed, because the more worldly you are, the more you’ve seen and done, the more well-rounded you are, you’ve got perspective, and perspective is everything.

It comes down to problem-solving. Too many people are impulsive. Then again, there are those so busy trying to get it right that they don’t act. I’ve worked on this problem with the OCD shrink. Better to make a decision, it’s the only way forward. And the truth is you will make mistakes, you’ve just got to accept that. But if you do your research, take a bit of time, most times you’ll make the right choice. And the truth is so many choices are irrelevant, just decide and move on.

But not in relationships. Not in permanent relationships. Ones that last years. Who you pick determines how your life works out. Martin is a screw-up. He can’t dot an i or cross a t. Do you know what it’s like being involved with someone like that? Unfortunately I do. You can blast them all you want, but it makes no difference, they’re missing a chip, a point of education, that they can never get, most times they don’t want to get it, and their self-hatred is worse than your criticism.

Wow. I wish this was an American show so we could talk about it. They used to make shows like this in the U.S., most notably Zwick and Herskovitz of “thirtysomething” fame. But despite the issues, there’s no heaviness in “Bonus Family.” These are just regular people, and it’s not life or death, except when it is.

I’m telling you right now, your life won’t turn out the way you planned it. I don’t care what college you went to, what professional degree you’ve earned, how much money you’ve got. You could get sick and die. You could give it your all and fail. You could be dedicated but your partner might see it another way. It takes two to tango, but unlike Patrik and Lisa, most don’t persevere, they don’t want to go to couples therapy. Hell, in America men think they can work out their own problems, ain’t that a joke. And most people don’t want insight, they don’t want to go kicking around in the dark and learn things. But even more think they’re okay, nothing is wrong, but then bad things keep happening to them. Can they accept blame? Usually not.

I’ll be honest, it took me a minute to get into the new “Bonus Family. Katja was played by a different actress, and it had been too long a time since the last season. But as the eight episodes wore on, I started to realize it was going to end and then what, I’d be left hanging.

But it was better than that. The obvious happened, but that was not the end like it would be in an American show. There was an aftermath, there’s always an aftermath. It feels good to quit your job, but then what? Or break up with your significant other. And your friends give you bad advice, they tell you what you want to hear and…

This is one of the most honest and real shows I’ve seen on television. You couldn’t make it as a movie, you couldn’t squeeze it all in.

And in Sweden the health care is free and it snows and life is pretty advanced. But most Americans wouldn’t know all that, because they’ve never been anywhere. Sweden is Scandinavian socialism, right? Well then how can Spotify come from Sweden? And Max Martin too, who is referenced in this show.

I’m caught off guard, it’s going to be hard to watch anything else, just like it’s hard to eat after a breakup, hard to go back to work, hard to function.

Watch all the superheroes you want. Live in the land of fantasy. It can be cool, but it’s not real life. Most people can’t handle real life, even though they’re living it. You’ve got to keep your eyes wide open, you’ve got to learn, but most people don’t want to.

And most people won’t want to watch “Bonus Family.”

But “Bonus Family” is real life, that’s why it’s so great.

A solid A.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80141270

We’re in the post-internet era,

What do I mean by that? The innovation, the bubble, is over. As for cryptocurrency, it took so long to mature that the governments are now involved, regulating or talking about doing that, whereas the goal of crypto was to obviate the need for banks and governments.

Let’s see. You were on AOL. You got a high-speed connection. You got a smartphone. You’re on social media. There was tumultuous change and now it’s over, not that you’ll hear this from Silicon Valley. Expect minor steps, not great leaps forward, techies were sideshows in the seventies and early eighties and they’re going back to that role. I mean why should we be listening to Marc Andreessen, who told Zuckerberg to stand up to the criticism of Facebook. It’s a family, it circles the wagons, and you’re not a member. In other words, these tech billionaires are the enemy. And if Elon Musk doesn’t stop acting like an evil buffoon, he’s going to wreck Tesla. I mean who wants to be associated with a company run by a guy like that?

And then there’s Belarus. Where the president installed his girlfriend in the government. Only reminded me of America, where Trump pardoned Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, it’s gotten so bad we just shrug our shoulders. And we wonder how Germany got away with the Holocaust…it was in the news, but the average person just didn’t care. As for governments…

The U.S. can’t even manage Covid, what are the odds it’s got a lock on anything else?

That’s what Covid has taught us. If there’s anybody home, they’re not in control. Hell, the CDC shortens quarantine days because of pressure from business. And they ask doubters to respect the science?

Yes, no one is in control, no one has that much power, and those who had power and control in the past don’t want to admit this, never mind see it publicized.

TikTok had more traffic than Google. Think about that, once upon a time Google was a panacea. Now no one goes beyond the first page of results. As for TikTok…you know it’s time-stamped. Social networks are cool and then they’re not, they’re fads. When it’s still new, when the buzz is still occurring, everybody wants to make videos for TikTok. But once they realize views are low, considering the amount of effort involved, they’re gonna stop. Happens each and every time.

But my point is these people on TikTok are today’s stars. Certainly not actors, who can no longer open a movie, and certainly not musicians.

The record industry. Quick, who runs the companies? And if you know that, and even insiders in the music industry don’t, you can’t name the VPs. Because they’re irrelevant, they’re worker bees, that paradigm of the all powerful record company, changing the culture, is kaput. All of its controlled tools faded away. First, record stores. Then TV. Then terrestrial radio.

Those were the good old days, the days of record stores, BECAUSE IT WAS A CONTROLLED UNIVERSE! Not only was distribution a huge hurdle, floorspace was limited, which meant most legacy acts were not stocked whatsoever, or had just a greatest hits package, today was unthinkable, when 66% of streams are catalog. I mean just try competing against Led Zeppelin and the Beatles. As for those inured to the 808… God, you’re using a forty year old fake drum/clap sound and trying to pawn it as hip? Who do you expect to believe this?

And then you’ve got the oldsters, still fighting the old wars. Streaming, payments. These topics are already dead, and soon those bitching about them will be too. The classic rock acts can’t get arrested with new material and SiriusXM bumped Sixties on 6 to channel 73. After all, if you remember the sixties exactly how old are you?

While we were focused on Trump, and then Covid, the whole world changed. It became further decentralized, and not only in politics. There is no such thing as universal reach anymore, every act/band is a cottage industry. You try to grow your audience…AND THAT’S IT!

There is nowhere to cross over to. Terrestrial radio is a backwater riddled with commercials that is only listened to by the aged and the cheap. These are people who don’t even have a streaming music subscription. You should just forget them. They’re not active consumers, and now it’s all about the activity. They’ve got to listen, they’ve got to buy tickets and merch, otherwise the economics don’t work.

As for TV… SNL and “CBS Sunday Morning” move the needle a little, but the rest of the late night programs are worthless for spreading music. Hell, look at the ratings, not only are there too many talk shows, there are too many shows period! And the thought of watching them in real time… If anything good happens, we’ll hear about it the next day and watch it online. That’s the game late night TV is playing. As for having your own TV show… Ratings are bad and so is the pay. All those old goals you were building towards…they’ve been lopped off, they mean almost nothing.

As for TikTok…it’s about creativity, it’s not static. Music can contain these elements, but it has not changed with the times. Recorded music is static. Want to satiate your fans? Constantly release alternative recordings/mixes/new tracks. Don’t spend so much time getting it exactly right, the idea is paramount, as it always is in pop culture. Don’t bother comping the vocals, no one cares.

So everybody on TikTok is a star. There are fewer barriers to entry than there are in traditional entertainment. You make it on your identity and charisma, the penumbra is irrelevant. That’s how it is today, you’re selling YOURSELF!

And everybody on TikTok thinks they’re equal to the recording stars, the politicos, the so-called rich and famous. They know they’ve been excluded from that game, but without their purchasing power the old game doesn’t exist, but they still get no respect.

So no matter who you are online, a saint, you’re gonna have haters.

And then there are those gaming the system, trying to get ahead. Hell, they can’t even eradicate spam, what are the odds they’re gonna get rid of the scamsters? Your “bank” texted you for your password recently? As for less spam in your inbox, that’s at the price of the good stuff being weeded out. You hear all this talk about the power of newsletters, but everybody with a newsletter knows it’s almost impossible to reach the public. Gmail puts your missives in spam and…god forbid you use profanity, then you’re toast, nothing will get through.

As for Substack… Ever check the numbers? They’re anemic!

As for building an audience…that’s the hardest part. A household name sports outlet went deep on podcasting, but they were lucky if the podcasts hit four digits. That’s right…A THOUSAND LISTENERS!

As for the people you think are stars… You don’t have to hear Billie Eilish if you don’t want to, never mind Adele. You’re not exposed the way you used to be, never mind AM radio in the sixties or MTV in the eighties. There is no center anymore!

That’s what Covid has taught us. Today, the “New York Times” printed a chart showing that most Covid infections per capita are in red states, where vaccination rates are lower. It’s not rocket science, but the truth can no longer compete with fiction. Then there’s that woman who went to an antivax rally and boasted she had Covid and her husband was in the hospital for it, but it was harmless. You can’t make this stuff up, or maybe this story was fake, despite the footage, how do you know? I mean those people with incredible editing skills on TikTok are CHILDREN!

And the biggest star to die is John Madden. Bigger than the passing of Harry Reid. And you know why…BECAUSE HE WAS HONEST! He didn’t censor himself, he went deeper into the game, we crave authenticity and knowledge, but this is what the old media barons say we can’t handle as they manipulate us. Duplicity is rampant in America.

So, despite being able to find likeminded people online, don’t get the impression that your club is known outside its borders. Just because Phish sells out arenas, don’t get the impression there are millions of diehard Phish fans, hell, there may only be 20,000, going to each and every gig! But at least Phish engenders this belief, most new acts do not, and then they wonder why they’re not rich.

First and foremost, you can’t get rich making music. Hell, it’s hard to get rich at all. Used to be you could start at the bottom and then ring the bell at the top, now you’re playing the lottery, there are too many barriers to upward mobility.

And it’s only going to get murkier.

This is the new reality. An overload of input that no one can make sense of. We want order, which is why people vote for authoritarians, but the truth is there can’t be, there’s just too much stuff in the pipeline. You’ve got your life, your career, and that’s it. There’s almost no context. You’re on your own. And you can feel as good about yourself being a star online as you can plying the boards as a traditional entertainer. Never forget, most musical stars make the music themselves and it’s a hit online before the label signs them. The label is a MARKETING ENTERPRISE!

As for live… There’s nobody everybody wants to see. Let’s see, you go on a nationwide stadium tour. Fifty dates at 50,000, even though no one can do that. That means you played to 2,500,000 people, in a country of 340 million. Not too good. And Garth Brooks has proven this. To keep prices low he plays as many gigs as are needed to satiate demand. And then he has to move on, there’s no one else left who wants to see him!

And Garth was built under the old model.

Today’s stars are laughable compared to those of yore, flavors of the moment like Dua Lipa. Next year it will be someone else, but the point is you can’t reach everybody if you’re just selling entertainment, you’ve got to sell more, excellence and gravitas, and then you still can’t reach everybody!

The Tower of Babel is here. Right now. It’s arrived. There’s plenty of money to be made serving a relatively small audience, but if you think you can reach everybody, you’re out of touch and dreaming. And it’s not going to get better, only worse. Hits are gonna shrink. Because everybody has their own taste and limited time. Choices are seemingly endless. And if it’s not on demand, at a low price, it’s a nonstarter.

But you won’t hear this from the purveyors.

You won’t even hear it from the government. Elected officials are afraid of offending…exactly who? No one really knows. Is this a center right or center left or progressive country? How big is the right? Polls are more inaccurate than ever before. Everybody’s planning their actions on false data.

The past keeps sliding by. The year 2000 was TWO DECADES AGO! If you’re in college today not only do you not remember 9/11, you don’t remember the meltdown of 2008! Yes, everything changed while you weren’t looking. And it’s going to continue to change. Unless you live in China, where you can only play videogames for so long, they persecute religious minorities to extinction and they can build infrastructure in nearly a minute. It’s the iron fist of Xi. Which many people want in America. They want someone to make sense out of the chaos. And when someone comes along and says they will, watch out. Because people are sick of the mealy-mouthed and always prone to the deceptions of snake oil salesman. 

We are not going backward, this is where we are, forget the past, it’s nearly irrelevant, everything’s up for grabs in today’s society, it’s utter chaos, and unless you accept this you’re doomed.

Shooter Jennings is not only Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings’s son, he’s an artist and producer in his own right. Along with Dave Cobb, Shooter produced the last two Brandi Carlile albums and has a magic touch, helping formulate the songs as well as the sound. A nice, voluble guy, you’ll fall in love with Shooter and want him to produce your record!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shooter-jennings/id1316200737?i=1000546494214

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/e21991e7-7fe5-4e25-b0a3-346a9cca8cb3/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-shooter-jennings

https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast