What kind of crazy, fucked-up world do we live in where Michelle Obama gets the biggest ovation at the Grammys?

One in which Beto O’Rourke holds a counter-rally to the President in his hometown of El Paso and makes you believe, despite lacking charisma and a stage-ready voice.

That’s the power of identity, that’s the power of truth.

The same attributes that made Bob Dylan an international icon.

You see people hunger for truth, they hunger for someone to believe in, and the moribund music industry has forgotten this as it continues to bitch about the internet revolution and lost revenues while turning down no cash.

The world is full of misinformation. I’ve got a guy who e-mails me every day from the right wing perspective. He said the Obamas were disbarred. HUH? I’d never heard that, so I go to Snopes, I Google, and it turns out they went inactive. I WENT INACTIVE! I can practice law tomorrow, all I’ve got to do is contact the State Bar, but I went inactive because I didn’t want to keep up with the b.s. continuing education courses, just like the Obamas. If I go active, I’ve got to get the “education,” and since I’m not now practicing law and have no desire to…

Just like the Obamas.

There are experts testifying to this fact all over the web.

But the right wing websites… They continue to perpetrate the myth, even when confronted with the truth, that’s right, the Obamas turned in their law licenses before they were gonna lose them, BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE!

But it doesn’t matter.

That’s the world we live in, not only do we argue about facts, people just make them up.

And if you think there are two sides…

They’re not the ones you think they are.

It’s not corporations versus bleeding heart liberals…

It’s the left behind racists versus millennials worried about their future.

And on one hand we’ve got Trump lying, every time he opens his mouth, just pick up a paper that’s not the WSJ or stop watching Fox News, and on the other…

A group of people who have been incited by Trump, who’ve been awoken by him, and are now standing up for a different opinion.

It’s kinda like 1964 and the British Invasion. We were completely asleep, and then we found a new way of looking at things.

It’s not like the MTV revolution, which was about establishing a monoculture and monetizing, it’s about ideas and culture and…

All the things music used to represent.

I want to believe, and you do too.

But the acts refuse to take a side, refuse to lead, until it’s way too late.

No one leads the charge.

What’s worse is they don’t do it in their music.

Now this is where the faux leaders come out to protest they’ve got the hit, just like porn stars run for office. They want the attention, but they don’t have the goods.

Meanwhile, I tune in “Hannity” and it’s like a Nazi rally, USA!, USA! I wouldn’t want to be there, you don’t want to be a victim of the mob.

Not that the left is perfect, Ilhan Omar’s tweets evidence anti-Semitism that she apologized for, and this is not the first time, but at least Democrats did not rally around her racism, like Trump did in Charlottesville. It’s the ones who remain silent we have to worry about. You’ve got to take a stand, we need sunlight, but we live in a world where the President won’t agree to release the Mueller report. What, is this a game show? “Deal Or No Deal”? I’ve paid my taxes, I’m entitled to that report, unlike the fat cat corporations who got all their foreign money back and still don’t pay the rate that I do.

And that’s the story of today too, the lack of influence of corporations.

Sure, they align with Trump. But traditional Republicans want nothing to do with the man. And the truth is the rank and file who voted for Trump don’t want the corporations and their values.

Did you read Krugman’s article on Howard Schultz? Mr. Starbucks can’t win because almost no one is a financial conservative and a social liberal, they make up only 4% of the electorate, the truly rich who want us to believe they know, but they don’t.

Check it out:

“The Empty Quarters of U.S. Politics-Two missing species: libertarian voters and populist racist politicians.”

Don’t tell me you can’t because it’s in the “New York Times.” Isn’t that the first rule of engagement, KNOW THY ENEMY?

It’s a war of information, and most of it is free online. And if you can’t afford that which is behind a paywall, the joke is on you.

Americans are cheap, their priorities are screwed up, reinforced by politicians, what did Bush say after 9/11, SHOP?

You’re the one with the power, that’s the story of Trump, individuals count, and the seemingly impossible can happen.

But the counter-reaction to Trump is vicious. And what does he keep complaining about? He doesn’t get a fair shake in the media. Kinda like Ted Bundy complaining about the same thing, or R Kelly. Just because you think they’re out to get you, that doesn’t mean they’re not. But the truth is the major press is bending over backwards to be fair, but Trump is such a wackadoodle.

But this is not about the press, this is about you.

Never forget, most of the press missed Trump.

But unless you’re one of the 4% who are rich and economically conservative and socially liberal, things aren’t adding up for you these days. You feel powerless in the din.

But don’t.

We thought the tech companies were leaders, but they’re just mercenaries, with no soul.

But walking the earth these days are people like Beto and Bernie. You listen to them and they make sense, they inspire you.

There’s something happening here.

What it is ain’t exactly clear.

But after the shuttering of Pandora’s Box and the Sunset Strip riots the youth took over.

Now musicians are scalping their own tickets at the arena, pissed they’re not getting paid enough.

Wake up and realize we’re living in exciting times. We’re fighting for not only the soul of our country, but the meaning of life. Should he or she with the most toys win in the end? Is this a false concept? What is important, health care or keeping out immigrants?

You get to decide.

And people are fighting for your attention.

Some of them are inspiring, some of them are worth listening to.

They’re standing up and making a difference.

WHERE ARE YOU?

That’s right, we’re gonna start at “Good Times Bad Times” and slowly work our way through the catalog.

But unlike last week, this is an INTERACTIVE show. I want to hear your take, your history, your experience. What you think of the work, where you were when you heard it and what it means to you.

Tune in tomorrow, Tuesday February 12th, to Volume 106, 7 PM East, 4 PM West.

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

Twitter: @lefsetz @siriusxmvolume/#lefsetzlive

Hear the episode live on SiriusXM VOLUME: HearLefsetzLive

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app: LefsetzLive

“It felt like, the kind of film it is, the best way to maximize eyeballs. It’s got a better shot at finding all the people who will like it. Otherwise, it’s a slow-rolling platform release, which are expensive and you’re bound by where the big art house theaters are. You can’t just go anywhere. I just felt I’d rather have it drop and have everybody be able to see it.”

Steven Soderbergh on why he sold “High Flying Bird” to Netflix

You should watch this movie. Soon, so you can be part of the discussion.

The old paradigm Soderbergh is referencing above gets you a spot in the conversation of insiders, none of whom pay, but if you want to be part of the cultural zeitgeist, you’ve got to go where the eyeballs are, Netflix.

This is what the movie and publishing businesses don’t understand, the second time around there’s a lot less interest, because there’s too much product, you only get one chance to make an impression, and you need to capitalize on it when you do. Paperback books? Who are those for? Who can remember the novel came out a year previously and they should read it now for a discount? That’d be like dropping the price of new product a year later on Spotify, but it don’t happen that way at all. You release and try to get the buzz going, to throw off not only cash, but cultural impact.

I’m a fan of Steven Soderbergh. Because he shoots high in a world where filmmakers continue to shoot low. Actors too. Liam Neeson and Nicolas Cage as action heroes? That’s like having Van Morrison sing nursery rhymes. In a world where everybody shoots to get paid, we glom on to those who focus on the game first.

That’s right, is the NBA a game or a business? Or a business on top of a business, as Bill Duke says in this movie.

The African-Americans know what they have, but are treated like “boys” by the owners, slaves. That’s right, there’s so much casual racism that goes unacknowledged, but it’s pointed out here.

And everybody but the owners is black. Not only the players, but the business people, including the attorney who reps the players. Only the head of the agency is white. These are savvy people trying to get ahead, as smart as the owners, but using their wiles to succeed.

That’s what this film is about, succeeding.

But you don’t know where it’s going until the very end.

The truth is life is a game, and the winners don’t want to tell you the rules, no way, because then you might figure out how to succeed, how to displace them, and they don’t want to be displaced.

They don’t want you to start a new league.

Or as Andre Holland/Ray says in the pic:

“You think these fools, these rich white dudes gon’ let the sexiest sport fall by the wayside? I mean football is fun, but it don’t sell sneakers. You can’t even see the players half the time. Baseball…is a whole lot of tradition, but in order to move merch and inspire rap lyrics, they need your services.”

BINGO!

The NBA runs on Twitter. There’s even a Twitter feud in this flick. The players are unfettered, they’re the stars. The owners may control the cash, but they and their commissioner give the players leeway, knowing that they are the draw, not them. This is what the NFL has wrong with Kaepernick. The league thinks they’re on the right side, but they seem to have missed out on the 2018 midterms and AOC. Of course, the example is right there for all to see, but the NFL owners think they can keep the players slaves.

Meanwhile, oldsters take the side of the owners and their children are all addicted to hip-hop and the NBA. The future, it’s all about the future.

Which also includes women. Ray’s assistant is thinking for herself.

And speaking of assistants…

“Okay, look, Sam…you were a really great assistant, okay? But please stop whining because I didn’t pay you special attention. Now I know, I know, there are people who buy their personal assistants gifts and whatnot, but it’s really because they hate their assistants. But they need ’em so they buy ’em things.”

It’s a jungle out there, and if you can’t do the job and have self-respect…

Yes, you can be in a dead end gig and live by the HR handbook, but those leading the charge need to depend upon you, know you have their back, can be satisfied with an occasional thank you, as you get the opportunity to follow them and make your own career. Like Zazie Beets as Sam in this movie.

That’s why we have art, to hear the truth. Business is duplicitous, self-help books tell you secrets that won’t get you anywhere, if you could be Ray Dalio by reading his tome there’d be more than one of him, but in art, you can see through the b.s. to what’s really going on.

And that’s what draws you to it.

You’re gonna watch “High Flying Bird” and think it’s a bit confusing and hard to get into and then it’s gonna suddenly end and you’re gonna say WOW, and start talking to everybody about it. And if they haven’t seen it already, they can pull it up right away on Netflix, they don’t have to go to a theatre, they don’t have to pay a stiff fee.

This is what music’s ascension was based on, truth. Now the goal is to be sponsored, be in an ad, when the reality is advertisers want nothing to do with the truth, their whole business model is based on puffery and sleight of hand to get you to buy.

And the means of production are in the hands of the proletariat. Steven Soderbergh shot “High Flying Bird” on an iPhone.

But he’s got talent.

I’m always interested in seeing a master at work.

And so are you.

High Flying Bird | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix

 

Because they’re mass in a niche world.

The irony is they’re on CBS, the aged “Tiffany Network” that appeals to alta kachers. Supplying adolescent programming to adults is like asking them to ride hoverboards or get tattoos. At best, the Grammy telecast is a train-wreck drive-by for the almost retired to discuss around the water cooler the following day. As for youngsters…

They won’t watch. This is not opinion, this is fact. In a world of cord-cutters addicted to on demand streaming services.

Ironically, the Grammy Awards are as niche as possible, with their infinite categories. But those unheralded award winners have been banished from the telecast, so we can focus on the Big Five which no longer have meaning. The only people who are aware of the music of the nominees of all eight challengers is…nobody, certainly not the audience. You’d have to be a fan of the Grammys themselves, and no one is, not even the organization, which is a fan of the check from CBS.

As for CBS…you’ve got to give Les Moonves credit, he built a streaming app with original content long before Disney. He was thinking forward, like HBO, but isn’t that the problem with so many prescient leaders, like Anthony Weiner. Then again, I’d heard of Weiner because he appeared on Bill Maher’s show on the aforementioned HBO. If he was ever on network, I never saw it, because I don’t watch network.

So CBS has a model of declining ratings wherein they sell advertising to corporations willing to reach the largest possible audience, however small. But in an era of direct, targeted marketing, this is positively old school. You know where the best place to advertise it? Amazon! Because that’s where people go to buy!

The only thing going for the Grammy telecast is the weather. Hopefully in the middle of winter, viewers will be stuck at home with nothing else to do.

Of course this is a failed paradigm too, because the target audience, the youth advertisers want to reach, are living in a world of on demand entertainment at their fingertips. They’d rather post to and peruse Instagram than sit there like a couch potato being fed pabulum that they don’t care about.

Music was and still is the canary in a coal mine, where disruption happens first and we figure it out first. But instead of pushing the envelope, the old wankers at the Grammys just keep repeating the old formula expecting the old result.

But what made the modern Grammys matter was the “Grammy Bounce,” first evidenced by Bonnie Raitt nearly thirty years ago. You win and suddenly you’re a national superstar. Your record sales immediately take off, your road business improves, the media acknowledges your greatness and…

This doesn’t happen anymore, hasn’t in years. The only people unaware of the music of these acts are not only the last to know, but the last to care, and small in size. Active listeners are already aware. Sales are dead, streaming increases are de minimis, and the acts don’t need the telecast, they can reach their audience online without being told what to do by the Grammys. True artists resist pressure. And isn’t that what being a rock star is all about?

Certainly in the sixties and seventies.

We lived in a monoculture in the eighties and nineties, as a result of MTV. And Mike Greene elevated the telecast by being a rock star himself, no one could tell him what to do. But like Black Sabbath or the Wu Tang Clan, the labels and everybody surrounding the acts loved the eyeballs and cash that came with him.

“The Innovator’s Dilemma” says you disrupt yourself before someone else does. The Grammys should be on demand online. Or at least teasers. Categories should be broken, nominees should be lessened, there should be a fan vote, even the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame does, and the CMAs have “Entertainer of the Year”!

Instead we get medleys and mashups with laugh value at most. Furthermore, students don’t have the home theatres to get the most out of the sound anyway, they’re married to earbuds and computer speakers.

Meanwhile, unlike the Oscars, the Grammys have hip product that people are actually interested in. But they’re wrapping it up in an antique show, not knowing that great content gets buried in bad distribution.

That’s right, distribution is king. And a network telecast at an appointed time is a dying paradigm no different from “Must See TV.” That was the nineties, but the last I checked it was the twenty first century.

So the biggest acts won’t appear and the mainstream media keeps publishing puff pieces as if anybody cares.

As for winners… We learned long ago, with the MTV Movie Awards, that they no longer matter, especially to an audience grown up where everybody got a trophy.

It’s about the show.

And this is the same damn one as ever with lower wattage stars, believing if you throw disparate elements together people have got to watch.

But it didn’t work for the Olympics, those ratings tanked. As they have for every awards show. Hell, they’re having trouble getting hosts for future Winter Olympics. And in case you aren’t paying attention, even action sports have faded, they were creatures of the nineties, just like snowboarding, whose numbers are dwindling.

The new keeps on coming as the old circles the drain. And in entertainment, the two don’t meet. Except maybe on television.

It’s no different from having to endure Thanksgiving or Christmas with the extended family watching what Grandpa wants with no clicker.

But who’d want that?

P.S. It doesn’t matter what tonight’s telecast does, sinking ratings are the trend. And those who survive notice the trends and adjust, as opposed to terrestrial radio, which keeps telling us how powerful it is in the era of streaming. But terrestrial radio has no choice, the Grammys don’t have to drive over the cliff, but they’re choosing to do so.

P.P.S. The Grammy telecast is like SNL, only oldsters watch. Old media trumpets skits like they matter, and youngsters know if anything happens they can catch it online the following day, but the show is too long in the tooth and not edgy enough for them in an era where you can tune into narrowcasted entertainment that appeals directly to you.