LABELS

Are doing quite well. The majority of their income comes from subscription services, and subscriptions keep going up. Sure, there has been some churn as a result of Covid-19 financial issues, but it is relatively small. So, if you’re being paid by the streaming service, expect this to maintain.

As for the distribution of monies…

Deezer plans to split subscription income based on what the subscriber listens to. I am sure if this raises the income for less popular artists it will become de rigueur in the industry. However, a few years back economist Will Page ran the numbers and said it would make no difference. So, it hangs in the balance, we will find out. However, if you are less popular on streaming services, do not expect a huge bump in royalties employing the Deezer method. You don’t have as many fans as you think you do, streaming only your music to boot.

ARTISTS

Recordings are not the main driver of your income unless you are a superstar. If you’re Drake, or the Weeknd, you’re making tons of dough. If you’re not, forget about it.

As for the stories of tiny streaming payments… These have died down, but they are riddled with inaccuracies.

One, was it streaming radio or on demand? Streaming radio pays less. And to complicate things even further, Spotify has a streaming radio service.

Second, how much of the song does the complainer own? Do they own a concomitant percentage of the publishing? And what period does the statement cover, does it represent the peak of the song’s use?

Sure, there is stuff that falls through the cracks. Sure, there are occasional mistakes. But that is not the dominant reality. The dominant reality is if you record a hit, there’s tons of money generated. If you own the track, you’re doing exceptionally well. You’re going to receive in the neighborhood of 60-70% of income. If you’ve got a deal with a label…is it 50/50 or points or… The label is a business, it has to get paid, it recoups costs, don’t complain about a bad deal with a label, you made it. If you’re a streaming star, you can beat up the label, get a big advance, a huge percentage and maybe own your work to boot, at least after a period of time. If you don’t… It’s a game of leverage, and leverage is based on income/streams.

Labels want a percentage of touring. If you’re only touring, if your records make almost nothing, don’t make a deal where you’re sacrificing a percentage of your touring money with the hope/belief the label will make you a star. Unless you’re a hip-hop or pop act, the label cannot make you a star, and the hip-hop/pop acts don’t start on the road. If you’re a road act you’re in a different business, the long term fan business, hook the fan and then milk them for all they’ve got…and they’ll be glad to give it to you! Meet and greets, front row seats, merch, vinyl, they’ll buy it all. But don’t complain when your audience doesn’t grow. If it doesn’t, you’re probably not that good or your time has passed. Acts tend to be hot for a relatively brief period of time. Sure, there are exceptions, but there are exceptions to ALL rules.

PROMOTION

Nothing generates revenue like radio airplay. But radio airplay comes after streaming airplay. You’ve got to prove it’s a hit before radio will play it. So, if you’re banking on radio airplay and you don’t record a hit, good luck.

Yes, there are genres like Adult Alternative and Alternative that have charts, that can gain you some notice, but don’t expect to cross over to the big time, you’re fighting it out in the trenches. Do the Tiny Desk Concert, try, but don’t expect big rewards.

Don’t expect big rewards from any of the old school publicity methods. Late night TV appearances are almost meaningless, unless it’s SNL. Print? The only people who read it are old, so if you’re appealing to them…

It’s about social media.

And being able to reach your audience.

You want their e-mail addresses. I know, I know, that’s old school. Even better is their phone number, especially in an era where people no longer change them. You might change your physical address, but not your phone number! You want to be able to reach your fans, directly, to cut through the clutter and get right to them. You cannot do this without the foregoing information. This is what you want. It’s positively grass roots unless you’re the biggest of superstars, and those usually fade at some point too. You’re building your army and you want to know who the soldiers are. Your army will conquer landscape, will generate new fans better than anything.

PLAYLISTS

Overrated.

Most people listening to playlists are doing so passively. But if someone does save a track, if the streaming service does see a spike, they’ll graduate you, to more playlists. However, if you don’t, you’ll get dropped. Choose your opportunities, if you say everything is good when it is not, you’ll lose credibility.

The labels own the playlists. As in they have the relationships to work them. If the track doesn’t get a response, it will get dropped, but the label can get you on the playlist to begin with. But, the labels are only interested in what streams prodigiously, i.e. hip-hop and pop. So, if you don’t make this…

SOCIAL MEDIA

Choose your platform, be active. Right now it’s Instagram. It won’t always be Instagram, because social media platforms are fads. Kinda like TikTok. Never forget, TikTok is about the audience, not the musician. If TikTok embraces your track, great! But the paradigm is so burned, only the superstars like Drake can push a track down TikTok’s throat. The music business is always looking for the easy way, and then it burns it out.

As for other platforms…

Snapchat is for young.

Facebook is for old.

Twitter is for thinkers.

But most important is your content. It’s gotta be generated by you. It’s got to be personal and informative. Hype is ignored. And never forget, it’s hard to get someone to look, but it’s even harder to get them to come back after they’ve signed off.

TRUE ARTISTS

Pay attention to none of the above, they do what they want, they fly on inspiration. But there are very few of them around anymore. That innovation is in TV at best. Where Netflix gives you the money and stays out of the way, throws it up against the wall and sees if it sticks.

If you are a true artist, DO NOT COMPLAIN YOU’RE DOING POORLY ECONOMICALLY. If you want to do well economically, reach down deep and create excellence, maybe you’ll be recognized, but maybe not. But pure artists generate believers, i.e. a team that helps them. For every mercenary in the business there’s always someone motivated primarily by the music, they’ll work for free because they believe. Actually, the mercenaries far outnumber the believers, they do call it the music BUSINESS, but there are believers out there.

CONCERT PROMOTION

Everybody but Live Nation and AEG will go bankrupt.

Of course that’s an overstatement. But not by much. We live in a country where no one is saving for a rainy day, everyone is taking money out of the operation, and in live music the margins are thin anyway.

As for Live Nation…the investment by the Saudis has a bad look, but stunningly there hasn’t been a big backlash. Rapino is employing the BeeGees paradigm, he’s stayin’ alive. He’s walking a tightrope, but if anybody survives he and Live Nation will.

As for AEG, it’s a private company. Phil Anschutz has the money to survive, so the company will, it’s just that simple.

As for reopening…it’s all about LIABILITY!

Yup, attendees can say whatever they want, they can go to the show willy-nilly, but if they get sick there, god forbid they die, even if they get sick somewhere else and blame it on the concert promotion company…there’s gonna be a lawsuit and potentially a big payout. And there will be no affordable insurance for this, and it will get trumpeted in the press and will hurt the industry at large.

As for social distancing, the economics don’t work. You can’t go on the road selling one sixth of the tickets, not even one half! Just like on the internet, you can find acts to play, they just won’t draw any fans.

As for testing…

The dirty little secret is there is no definitive testing today, not testing you can trust over the long haul. The attendee might have been tested and cleared two weeks ago, but what happened since? As for temperature checks…you can be a carrier and be asymptomatic.

I doubt concerts will start up and people will get sick and some will die and the business will continue to ramp up. Actually, we’re getting a dry run in the public at large, with states opening up for business with an expectation of the doubling of deaths by June 1st, never mind the now stronger version of the virus and the fall flu season. We’ll have to figure out how to balance life and death in the public at large. But good luck suing the government if it opens the state for business too early, but you’ll have a lot of luck suing the concert promoter. As for long disclaimers agreed to by ticket buyers, saying they can’t sue, those are never a hundred percent effective. They have these in skiing, but skiers still sue. However, ski resorts are the beneficiaries of state legislation limiting their liability, but I would not expect concert promoters to get this, at least not in the near term, when they need it. Ski areas only got it after years of lawsuits, after staggering increases in insurance rates, after tons of lobbying.

TALENT AGENCIES

They stopped being in the business of representing talent. As soon as CAA took corporate money, it changed the business model. The talent agencies are trying to become the new movie studios, but even bigger. They’re focusing on being buyers, owning and staging events. The ten percent gotten from representing talent is de minimis, and it does not scale, at best you can get a bigger payday for the act, but then the act wants a lower commission. And if you’re making an overall deal with the concert promoter, do you really need the agent? This is the time for a new talent agency. Just like CAA started years ago. Renegades focusing just on representing talent, acts will flock to them. But, so many agents are staying with the big outfits for the fat salary and the payout. But most of them are older and the business is ultimately run by the younger. So now, agents are getting laid off and fired. But talent will work again. Who will represent musicians?

DATA

This is the new music business. You get it from streaming services like Spotify and elsewhere. It can be very helpful. If you’re not deep in the data, using it and understanding it, you’d better have someone on your team who does, or get out of the way, you’re history.

THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Doesn’t remember Napster. Did not grow up in an era of credibility. Did not discover acts solely by radio. Is familiar with the digital tools and has the time and the desire to utilize them.

And is willing to post the music for free, they’re not burdened by legacy perspectives.

Are interested in building multifaceted brands. Some just want to sell out to the highest bidder, some want to utilize their fame to build an empire of assets, digital and physical, they want to change the world.

Speaking of which, the young are focused on the climate crisis and giving back, at least the audience. You must have a charity component to your work, but don’t make it a percentage of proceeds, no one believes that anymore. You’ve got to ask for donations, better yet, donate your own money. Superior to all is to dedicate your TIME! That’s the most valuable commodity. If fans see you getting your hands dirty, they’ll be drawn to you.

And take a stand. The more edges you’ve got, the more people you’ll snag. Bland works for a while, but then it fades. The legends all have edges.

GOING FORWARD

It’s about the music. Now is the time to make and release it. Now it’s about recordings. Sure, do the livestream thingy, maybe even charge for shows, I think that’s a good idea, play every night from home and charge through the roof for a few people. It’s not the same, but it’s something.

Yes, live business is impacted by Covid-19, probably more than any other business in America. But never forget, the live business was burgeoning before the virus and will burgeon after it, because you can’t get that hit anywhere else, the music is the special sauce that creates joy and brings people together. We’re at peak festival, actually on the downward slope, but festivals are here to stay. As for virtual concerts… Travis Scott on Fortnite is about Travis Scott, not Fortnite, he just went where the audience is. The audience is in all kinds of new places, and yes, many of them are virtual. And sure, we’ll have virtual acts, but humanity drives the music business. All that hogwash about machines creating the music…there’ll be some of that, but a machine can’t sit on stage playing an acoustic song, and machines can only create based on what you give them. Music built its rep on pushing the envelope. The business still is, but not the music. Pushing the envelope is hard. The road less taken always is. But that’s where the rewards are. For both the act and the audience.

It’s astounding. Truly.

It reminds me of seeing “Hamilton,” before the hype, during previews, just before opening night. I’m sitting there thinking…can this sustain, can this really be this good throughout?

YES!

But there’s a difference, “Hamilton” is warm, Seinfeld is cool.

As in you’d like to hang with Seinfeld to experience his brain, but you don’t think you could be friends. As much as he reveals his truth, he’s still surrounded by a force field that you won’t be able to penetrate.

So it’s about the jokes. The marvel of this special is there’s not one extra word, no wasted time. Normally you go see a comedian and there’s a long setup. There are asides, not elements of the jokes, connecting the comedian with the audience outside the programming. But there’s none of that here. Jerry comes out to a fanfare and then he hits them over the fence again and again and again.

This is not the pre-“Seinfeld” Jerry.

You used to see him on Carson, other places on television. He was never calm and quiet, but he only exhorted for emphasis. Here he’s playing to the very last row, on the verge of shouting. But that’s what makes the difference between a live show and one concocted in the studio. If you were there, you would have gotten it.

That’s the initial routine, about being there, organizing the trip, the tickets.

Jerry is the antidote to Covid-19. We’re taking everything so seriously, it’s life and death, you versus me, it’s a battle with everything on the line. But instead of focusing big, Seinfeld focuses small. As he always has. On the little things in life. And it’s definitely about life. The absurdities of it. You’ll watch and marvel, because you will have experienced what he’s talking about again and again and again.

This is not Chris Rock, smiling, laughing at his own jokes. Chris is leading up to the big punchline, you’re with him all the way, on the ride, he’s your bud. But Seinfeld starts at the same line but is always ahead of you, you don’t relax, sink into your chair, at best you’re holding on, as he takes you through a wild tour of New York City as well as your domicile.

Yes, Seinfeld is the Carlin of our day.

But with shorter jokes and many more punchlines. And, once again, without the same warmth.

Jerry got beaten up for saying he was on the spectrum. You can never get it right in today’s world, you’re always offending someone. What they want you to do is shut up, so they and their perspective can triumph. Then again, without you violating their rules they’ve got little to live for.

Now it’s been well-documented that Seinfeld did a long run at the Beacon. The pitch was the theatre was just down the street from his home, he could go to it like a job.

And that’s very different from going on the road. It’s more akin to Broadway. But in this case, it’s only Jerry. I wonder how long it takes him to come down after the show.

He doesn’t need to hang around, talk with the promoter, take pictures with insiders. It’s the same venue every night, he could literally walk right off the stage into a cab, or maybe an Uber…Jerry nails that too, tying it in with the iPhone.

It’s masterful, how Jerry analyzes each and every element of our humdrum lives. He even nails the husband/wife situation, hearkening back to Alan King and the comedians of yore.

You see Jerry is singular. This is what he does. And no one does it anywhere near as well as he does. If you want it, he’s got it.

This is from the era where it was about unique identity, before the millennial generation dictated that you had to saw off your rough edges and fit in. Jerry’s a boomer through and through, he wants to shine, he wants the accolades.

Watching this you can see the difference between Jerry and Larry David. Yes, Larry constructed the byzantine plot lines of the TV show, but Larry could never do what Jerry does in standup. Hell, Larry’s too lazy!

You’ve got to have the drive, and the talent.

I knew this special was launching today. But I only watched it this afternoon because of the interview in today’s “Times”:

Jerry Seinfeld Is Making Peace With Nothing: He’s ‘Post-Show Business’

It reminds me of the one Jerry did with Howard Stern, one of the best ever on the program. Because Jerry was honest and he truly didn’t care what anybody thought about his viewpoint. This is so rare. This is part of why Jerry believes he’s on the spectrum. And if you know people on the spectrum, they find it hard to make friends. They’re loyal to the ones they’ve got, but making new ones…the problem is they say the wrong thing, they don’t know how to navigate personal interactions, when to stay silent, when to lie.

Jerry is learning this in his marriage, he tells us all about this, switching from singledom to a couple. But there’s a good reason for him to hang in there with his wife, because he wants the eggs the relationship delivers, as well as the children. You know Jerry wouldn’t take this from just anybody.

So this explains the coolness I referenced above. You can marvel, but you just can’t penetrate.

So in the “Times” article, Jerry says he doesn’t have OCD, he just loves routine. He can’t be what you label him as. Once again, those on the spectrum love routine, it keeps them centered. But my point is Jerry is not confessing to flaws, that’s part of his identity, that’s part of what keeps him separate.

He talks about needing his kids to explain new online fads like TikTok to him, but once he’s got it, he never returns. That’s how I feel! I want to know about it, but I don’t want to waste time on it.

Everybody’s trying to gain attention online during the stay at home pandemic era, Jerry says no, he thrives on the live vibe.

But what really struck me is Jerry said:

“I’m really just into the pure art of it now. Just the bit, the audience and the moment. I’m more interested in that than ever, and I’m less interested in everything else.”

After all, he’s 65. That’s a point he makes in the special. He’s been there, done that, he’s got no need to see or experience it again.

And sure, Jerry’s got all the money, as David Letterman would say. But the truth is many 65 year old have enough to live comfortably (this is where the politically correct police crack down on me, just like they do on Jerry re autism…of course there are poor people, can we even talk about the upper middle class or is that a completely taboo subject?) But they’re in their sunset years. They paid their dues, they just want to relax. But Jerry is still in search of the zeitgeist. He’s more focused than ever. And watching this special you can see that.

And you should watch this special. I don’t know how many jokes will become part of the vernacular, that you’ll quote to your buddies, but I will say you’ll see yourself more in Jerry’s comedy special than you will in any one I’ve seen in decades. He’s you. You can afford the ticket. You’ve lived long enough to contemplate how you want to spend your time. But you feel so alone.

Watch Jerry Seinfeld and you won’t be.

Live Lounge Allstars – Times Like These

Why does a charity single have to be a dirge?

I saw Rapino’s tweet about this yesterday. And Michael rarely does tweet, so I paid attention, but when I saw it concerned the Foo Fighters I tuned out. In the early seventies, the Foo Fighters would have been seen as being on the same level as Grand Funk Railroad…overhyped, serviceable band embraced by the heartland but despised on the coasts ultimately releases a couple of good tracks and then disappears. Yes, I’ll admit to liking “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” and of course Grand Funk truly achieved greatness with the Todd Rundgren-produced “We’re an American Band,” but Little Eva did the definitive version of “Loco-motion” and the rest was dreck, their double live LP was one of the worst ever, if you saw it in someone’s collection, you judged them negatively.

Same deal with the Foos. “Learn to Fly” was excellent, both the song and the video. But I stopped paying attention long ago.

All to the point that I did not know that “Times Like These” was a Foo Fighters song! But after listening to the charity single I went on Spotify and found out it had 86 million listens, which puts it at #10 in Foo plays on the service. No wonder I don’t know it.

So I played the original. It was fast! That kinda shocked me. I figured it too was a dirge, but NO! And the groove and the changes were there, but the Live Lounge Allstars version is so much better.

WHO?

Les Garland e-mailed me about the video. And I trust Les, anything he recommends I’m gonna check out, so I watched it and…

Found it a slow dirge, like I said above. But as it was playing in the background, as I’d already formulated an opinion on it, that it was lame drivel, IT GOT GOOD!

Once again, it’s the changes that got me. And they were good, so that’s why I looked up who wrote them and was stunned to find out it was a cover of the Foos tune.

But it gets even worse… WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

Thank god, I scrolled down and the first comment was by one David Little. I’ll reproduce it here:

Hailee Steinfeld – 0:02
Dua Lipa – 0:21
Anne-Marie – 0:37
Ellie Goulding, Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters) – 0:43
Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) – 0:50
Ellie Goulding – 0:53
Biff Clyro – 0:54
Jess Glynne – 0:57
Sam Fender, James Johnston (Biffy Clyro) – 1:02
Simon Neil – 1:07
Mabel – 1:09
Dan Smith (Bastille) – 1:14
YUNGBLUD, Dan Smith, Luke Hemmings (5 Seconds of Summer) – 1:19 Simon Neil – 1:25
James Johnston – 1:29
Ben Thatcher (Royal Blood) – 1:32
Rita Ora – 1:34
Mike Kerr (Royal Blood) – 1:44
Simon Neil – 1:49
Dermot Kennedy – 1:50
Taylor Hawkins, Ellie Goulding, James Johnston – 1:56
Sigrid – 1:58
Ellie Goulding – 2:02
Sigrid, Rag‘n’Bone Man, Grace Carter, Dan Smith, Ellie Goulding, Woody (Chris Wood, Bastille) – 2:03
Ellie Goulding, Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters) – 2:09
Dua Lipa, Dave Grohl, Grace Carter, Ben Johnston (Biffy Clyro) –
2:14 Rag’n’Bone Man – 2:21
Zara Larsson, YUNGBLUD – 2:26
AJ Tracey – 2:29
Sean Paul – 2:45 Celeste – 3:01
Paloma Faith – 3:07
Dan Smith, Luke Hemmings – 3:17
YUNGBLUD – 3:23
Rita Ora – 3:30
Paloma Faith – 3:32
Everyone – 3:33
Chris Martin (Coldplay) – 4:02

To tell you the truth, I knew the majority of the names, but I couldn’t pick most of these people out of a lineup. And I felt so old and out of it until…I realized this is now the human condition, we’re all out of it, and if these performers were as famous as the media and their handlers think they are there’d be no need for this listing, never mind the 272 replies thanking David Little for delineating the performances.

So, the song does start like an irrelevant dirge, but then it gets hypnotic, you want to hear it again, and when was the last time you wanted to hear a charity single more than once, if even that much?

Now I recognized Dua Lipa. Quite possibly the hottest woman on the charts today. You get her, and everybody else falls in line, she deserves to be the first singer, and she nails it.

But I had no idea who the follow-up was, Anne-Marie, who had a rich powerful voice that reached me.

And Ellie Goulding, I recognized her, she was more than serviceable.

But who was this red-haired nymph Jess Glynne with the color in her voice? Actually, she’s never had a hit in the U.S., so I’m not gonna feel bad about being clueless.

I’ve been e-mailed multiple times about Sam Fender, good to see him sing, he’s got pipes.

But who was this woman Mabel? I hated that she appeared with her dog, that’s such standard-issue celebrity behavior, but she too could sing. Should I have known her? In the U.S. last year her album went all the way up to #198! She had a single that went to #66!! Whoo-ee!

Now to tell you the truth, most of the performances were interesting, but singling out a few more that truly struck me, besides Anne-Marie and Jess Glynne…

James Johnston was the rock singer Dave Grohl wished he could be.

And Mike Kerr of Royal Blood represented the rockers well.

And I always love seeing Rag’n’Bone Man, who added bottom with his rich voice.

The rap break was superfluous, but Sean Paul totally delivered!

And Celeste was really good, but Paloma Faith killed it. She’s got those deep pipes of women who front rock bands who steal boys’ hearts.

And when everybody threw in… It was not bogus like “We are the World,” but rich and satisfying.

Forget the obligatory Chris Martin ending. He’s the bridge between old and new, along with the Foos, but they were included because it was their song.

Now it comes down to songs, and this is one that’s almost twenty years old. Without songs, it doesn’t matter how much vocal talent you have.

But watching the performances in this video you get excited, it’s the younger generation’s time, and these performers have talent. Some have had great songs, others are still waiting for them.

So I’m stunned that the YouTube video only has 5+ million views, especially since it’s been out since April 23rd. That’s how slow things move today, you make a charity record that includes the singing of the hottest stars of today and still…nearly crickets.

One thing about Bob Geldof, he was a great promoter. Today, if you do it, they may not come. You need people to know about it and to be incentivized.

After watching this video I’m incentivized to check out further music of those who impressed me in it.

It’d be interesting to see what response a hip-hop charity video in the U.S. would have.

Then again, in the U.K. a broader swath of musical genres is exposed.

If you’re a rocker, if you like songs that touch you and set your mind free, if you’re wowed by talent, you’ll be surprised this reaches you.

Or maybe you’re one of those people still living in the last century, believing that you know all and your tired tiny genre is the only one that deserves attention and you have to denigrate everything else, but the joke is on you, because if this video hasn’t spread, what are the odds your music will, NIL!

And music is best when it’s universal. When it reaches a large audience. I don’t mean dumbed-down for everybody, but special enough that it will rise above and will generate a mass following, a group of people who believe they’re part of a club, who feel united in their faith in the music and those who perform it.

That’s what unites us. The music.

But when you shoot low, when you hype that which has no substance, you’re evidence of internet culture.

And when you get stuck in your tribe, you’re evidence of political culture.

But when you nod your head and smile, feel that there’s hope for you and the world, that’s MUSIC!

Show playlist:

Nicky Hopkins-Spotify
Nicky Hopkins-Pandora

Now, SiriusXM streaming is FREE through May 31st.

Listen today, 4 PM Pacific, 7 PM East, on Volume 106 at:

Nicky Hopkins-siriusxm.us

Listen to previous shows on demand:

Nicky Hopkins-player.siriusxm.com