Chris Zarou told me he was planning something special.

Taylor Swift is no longer number one. All that hype, that blast making us pay attention, has been eclipsed by a record that’s been in the marketplace since May, given a jolt of jet fuel at the VMAs.

You see we are in the second decade of the twenty first century. Virality on its own doesn’t happen, you need a push. Being great is not good enough, sad to say, there’s just too much clutter in the marketplace.

But you do need to be great.

Now Logic has paid his dues for years.

But nothing blew him up big before this.

That’s one thing you have to know, what you believe will be your one big break usually isn’t.

Only in this case it is.

Which is why it’s key to do multiple things, so you can get lucky.

Hell, the VMAs haven’t mattered since the 2000s went into double digits. A marketing exercise. And then this guy from Maryland cuts through the salesmanship with sincerity, and goes straight to the top of the chart.

And the only chart that matters is Spotify’s, BECAUSE IT’S INSTANT!

That’s where hits live or die. Sales are an interesting metric, but you never know if someone is truly listening. You could sell a bunch of product and find out no one wants to see you. But when people stream your song endlessly, you know there’s passion, there’s demand.

So the song is about suicide. But it’s not a cheap shot, like so much in this world, pulling on heartstrings for dough. “1-800-273-8255” is sincere.

And it’s slowly climbing the radio charts.

Illustrating how messed up radio is. Controlled and slow-moving. What kind of bizarre world do we live in where the most immediate medium is last? Wanna know what’s happening six months ago? Tune in terrestrial radio. The songs have already peaked amongst the cognoscenti, by time it’s on radio all you’ve got is the looky-loos, the casual observers, and that’s not where the money is. And terrestrial is so much about money that it’s lost touch with its customers. Imagine if the charts were fluid and immediate. If hits were gone within two months, six weeks, if they played what people were listening to, then it would still be doomed, but have a fighting chance.

But radio was eclipsed by MTV.

And now the public is in charge. Has been since 1999, and Napster.

And what have we learned?

The music industry always has to catch up with the public, otherwise it’s doomed. Like the movie industry bitching about RottenTomatoes. Let me see, get rid of that site and kids are not gonna text each other at the first screening, saying what’s a hit and a dud? We live in an era of data.

And that’s where Logic’s song is winning.

It’s not about the immediate splash, but continuity, staying power.

Which is why you don’t frontload, you wait for your moment.

As I said, this song came out in May. But it wasn’t a hit until the VMAs.

And that TV slot was not accidental. It was completely planned. That’s what a manager does, that’s the power of a label, you can’t underestimate either, we’ve been hearing for far too long that the majors are history, hogwash!

We live in an era of marketing, it’s the only way to cut through the clutter.

But we get jaded, we don’t want to see the same old movie, literally, with sequels and reboots, we want to see something new. And when we do, we embrace it and tell everybody about it.

This is important, this shows you how the world now works.

That the old farts are in the rearview mirror. Bitching about the tech breakthroughs and the new sound.

No, “1-800-273-8255” is fully listenable, almost subtle in an era where most believe you have to beat people over the head.

When you stand for something, when you have a universal message, oftentimes by making it so personal, you triumph.

No one made Logic do this.

And we’re totally ready for it.

The VMA performance that pushed the track over the top:

The track on Spotify with 1,452,609 daily plays and a cume of 197,336,911:

Everybody – 1-800-273-8255

YouTube, Official Audio:

Logic – 1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara & Khalid (Official Audio)

YouTube video:

Logic – 1-800-273-8255 ft. Alessia Cara, Khalid

The Mighty

Apple should have made this.

Oh, that’s right, they once did, they called it the iPOD SHUFFLE!

Price and convenience, those are the keys today, along with usability.

Next week Apple is going to announce new phones, they’re going to be close to a thousand bucks. That’s why I buy AppleCare, I don’t want to think about breaking my device, repairing the screen, I pay a hundred bucks for peace of mind. Because my iPhone 7 is the most important asset I own, the one I use most, and I don’t want to lay out a grand if I destroy it.

But $89?

That’s a good price point. Like carrying a Walkman instead of your stereo. Something portable that you don’t have to worry about.

This is why Apple Music is doomed to being a second-class citizen. Jimmy Iovine is so busy saving the music business that he hasn’t realized the business has been saved without him, because free Spotify streamers upgrade to premium users at a high rate.

And the Mighty only works with Premium.

You see you can incentivize people to upgrade. Just like Spotify is killing music on YouTube. It’s not CONVENIENT!

Furthermore, the Mighty illustrates an issue that many potential users can’t get through their head. You don’t need a signal to hear your music, you don’t have to incur data charges, if your device has juice, you’re good to go.

And the Mighty bridges the headphone gap for Luddites. In that it illustrates that if you want portability, you want your headphones to be Bluetooth. Because a wire is a pain in the ass. Kudos to Apple for getting rid of the headphone jack, the company doesn’t do everything wrong, but in this case the public needs to be educated, I know so many people who didn’t upgrade to a 7 because of the headphone issue, not knowing there’s a dongle, that you can use your wired headphones, not knowing they’re going to go Bluetooth, it’s just a matter of when.

And having said all this, YOU MUST BUY AN iPHONE!

Because that’s what everybody else has.

And I’m not talking about being a sheep here, I’m talking about features, first and foremost I’m talking about iMESSAGE!

It synchs with your computer, as do phone calls (assuming you’re on a Mac). So when I’m in front of my laptop or desktop, I get my texts. But not if someone’s on a Samsung or a competing device. I may not see your text for hours. Happened to me this week. Someone was offering me a gig, and I didn’t see it, not until I picked up my handset, hours later.

SMS/text uses the traditional cell network.

iMessage is sent via data. So, it works via the cell network, but also via wifi.

The music business runs on Apple. Samsung gave everybody free phones but most switched back. Because you don’t want to be out of the loop. It’s kind of like cars, the exterior may be shiny and cool, but it’s the inside that counts.

So a Mighty is a gift. An ultimately disposable item.

And it burnishes Spotify’s image.

And demonstrates that hardware is not completely dead.

And innovation comes from the outside.

Apple, your move…

Is there room for Sam Smith in a hip-hop dominated world?

OF COURSE THERE IS!

Streaming won, but the early adopters were young rappers, and presently most other genres are excluded from the top lists.

But that’s about to change.

And if we’re waiting for the oldsters to move the needle, we’re gonna die first. That’s what happens as you age, you go from an early adopter to a non-adopter, you believe the present is just fine, the future is overwhelming, so you stay just where you are.

In the land of files and CDs.

But the world has moved on. Streaming is the key revenue generator. No one can sell 10 million albums anymore, as Sam Smith did three years ago, it’s impossible. For Taylor Swift to have CDs delivered via UPS is like going to your landline to make a phone call. You still can, but why would you?

And Taylor Swift is a good example.

She’s chasing trends.

Sam Smith is staying in his own uninhabited lane.

Swift used to be different. She sang of her travails with melody and a fiddle, country-lite, and coming from left field she smoked Nashville.

But that was not enough for her.

And whenever you chase more, try to be the biggest and the baddest, you fail, because your goal is not only specious, but hollow, and you endure backlash. Who cares about records? Fastest, longest, biggest. Wasn’t it supposed to be about music?

Smith’s new LP is about music, I heard it today.

Oh, let’s be frank, Steve Barnett was working me. I got that right up front.

But the truth is someone’s got to be working you, or else you fail. That’s the era we now live in, one of clutter, it’s hard to break through and get your story heard. So you need a team to get the message across.

Barnett’s been brainstorming since February. He’s got a master plan, a coated piece of paper, it’s all laid out, from tomorrow, when the single drops, to album release date in November to radio shows to…

It’s a lot of work. A LOT OF WORK!

But that’s what it takes to be successful today.

Niall Horan was a secondary player in the One Direction saga. The spotlight shone elsewhere. But rather than rest on his laurels, his history, Niall has traveled around the world, twice, and is now going again, pounding the flesh, shaking hands. And it’s working. His single is moving. That’s right, it’s a lot of work, damn hard work, and I won’t say making the music is the easy part, but the slog thereafter taxes your body and your brain in a different way, they wear you out, whereas creativity is about catching lightning in a bottle.

And most people can’t do it twice.

Smith went from clubs to the Garden in twelve months. You know what that does to you? That’s why Ed Sheeran resigned from social media, traveled the world, he was trying to reconnect with who he truly was, for the inspiration. Otherwise, you’re in a bubble, you’ve got nothing to say because you know nothing. Everybody’s telling you you’re great, you’ve gone from couchsurfing to the Four Seasons, money is suddenly not an issue, and you’ve got no perspective, no creativity.

Tom Scholz couldn’t follow up Boston’s debut, he lobbied for more time, which he needed, but the suits didn’t want to give it to him, they wanted the billing.

Alanis Morissette couldn’t follow up “Jagged Little Pill.” Oh, she did that great song for a movie, “Uninvited,” but I’ve stopped listening to her new music, and she’s pretty much stopped making it, putting out various iterations of her monster hit.

Even the vaunted Carole King. Nothing she did was as big as “Tapestry.” Give her credit though, when things looked bad, she changed direction, did what she wanted, trends be damned, and emerged with the smash known as “Jazzman.”

And today? The hits take a long time to make and they’re just singles and seemingly everybody’s a one hit wonder.

And those who gain traction all work with the same suspects, so the music sounds the same, so when you’re saying there’s nothing new under the sun…

You’re right.

But you’re gonna like the Sam Smith album. It’s kind of like “Avalon,” not quite that good but my point is you can put it on and let it play, it can accompany you on a Sunday afternoon, over a candlelit dinner, remember when hit music did this? It’s been a long time. Today’s successes are assaults. Machine-produced projects lacking soul. There are some great lyrics in the rap records, but I couldn’t imagine pulling those songs up to make love. Well, once in a while, but that’s it.

You see we’ve gotten far from the garden. And it’s all because of Spotify. Spotify not only changed the music business, it changed the music! Because innovative young people adopted the service and oldsters, worrying about cash, did not, and then we woke up half a decade later and the oldsters were irrelevant and most of what was on Spotify was trash. Oh, everything’s on Spotify, you’ve just got to know where to find it.

But what people stream most…

Is not what you want to hear.

Adele is already old school. “25” came out and was dependent upon physical, housewives, it was all set up for a tour, there were no memorable tracks, it was a marketing exercise.

But you can’t repeat that exercise today, that era is gone.

You can’t stay off of streaming services and you can’t depend upon radio…

Young people don’t listen. There, I said it. They hate the commercials, they hate being dictated to, they hate the delay between release and terrestrial spin. They’ve adopted the new paradigm. But where does this leave Sam Smith?

Used to be you could frontload physical, make sure you debut at number one and work radio.

Now you’ve got to make an impact on Spotify.

And Sam will, just you wait until tomorrow.

And the single is excellent. To tell you the truth, although the video is dark and direct, I liked it more without visuals. Because first and foremost music is supposed to penetrate your ears! And when done right, it’s a personal experience, just you and the creator.

And the quality is high. There are no clinkers. Only one track didn’t reach me the first time through.

And Sam sings exquisitely. And there are strings and backup singers and the whole thing breathes. You want to play it again. And again.

But there’s one track…

It’s not the single.

It’s not the follow-up.

But it’s the killer.

It’s called “Him.”

You don’t choose to be gay, you’re born that way. Can you accept yourself, can others accept you, can you stop hiding and embrace your identity, love HIM?

The track is slow, it builds, it’s heartfelt.

BUT IT’S THE ESSENCE OF MUSIC!

That’s what we’ve lost in the Max Martin era. You can break it down mathematically, strategically place hooks, but none of that stuff touches your soul.

“Him” touches your soul.

I started to smile. I was entranced. THIS is real music. When someone digs deep down inside and speaks their truth. It’s not about a perfect chorus, a perfect beat, but humanity on wax, blood on the saddle, sacrificing a bit of your identity so we all can wake up and see the truth.

Like I said, it’s a new era. Sam Smith’s new album will live or die on streaming services.

Radio is just the cherry on top.

But will there be a sundae?

Well, maybe a secret one. Not the one you Instagram, not the one you Facebook about.

Everybody’s boasting, everybody’s public.

But when you’re home alone, with more questions than answers…

When it’s just the two of you, and no one else matters…

When you want to feel like you’re not the only living boy in New York…

What do you need?

MUSIC!

And that’s where Sam Smith’s new album shines.

That’s when it delivers.

Not when you’re having a party. Not when you’re showing off.

But when you want to feel connected.

I know, I know, we live in a singles world.

But if you can deliver an assemblage of tracks that demand listening, you’ve broken the paradigm, you’ve delivered.

That’s what Sam Smith has done here.

Dear Bob, you are totally on the money.This album is a classic.I have emailed Sam to call the album “Him”. It’s like Norah Jones’s first album. A friend for life.
An oasis in a sea of massed produced shit.
Love and peace.Elton xx

Sent from my iPad

I’m pissed off.

I know this is the fourth missive today, I know that’s too much, I know some people are gonna unsubscribe without even getting this far, sick and tired of having their inbox overloaded, but hell…

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO STUPID!

My inbox is filling up with people saying they hate Rachel Maddow, what she stands for, she’s a tool of the left, but…

THAT WASN’T MY POINT!

Didn’t you read the title of the article, “The Rachel Maddow Paradigm”?

But NO!!!

You’ve got your knee-jerk reaction, got to talk about the libtards, some asshole even called her a “cow.”

That’s how you win friends and influence people. Why don’t you say that in a group of women, see how that works for you.

And another called her an “imbecile.”

My article had nothing to do with her viewpoint, but her EXECUTION!

But this just proves the point that the best and the brightest are not in the music business. Maybe they should have studied harder in high school, so they could have gotten into a good college, so they could have learned how to wrestle with the topics.

And the truth is you don’t have to go to school to learn any of this. But the people who run this world know this stuff and you don’t. They know what’s important and you don’t.

And now I’ve pissed off more of you, who didn’t fit the peg in my board. DON’T TAKE IT SO SERIOUSLY! I’M JUST A GUY WITH A KEYBOARD! As James Taylor once sang, “you could follow me and lose your mind.” I’m only here to spark thought, to stimulate you, assuming you want to think, but too many of you would rather I just give you what you want, reminisce about the old days, talk about vinyl and concerts at the Fillmore and make you feel good, kinda like the “New York Times,” which prints anti-technology articles on a regular basis. Why? Because their aged readers are overloaded and want to remember when.

But Rachel Maddow is not living in the when, that was my point, I thought it was very clear, but I’m gonna state it again.

1. FREQUENCY!

To succeed today you’ve got to be in the marketplace all the time, with new product, new ideas. You’re not gonna play at a ten level at all times, but there’s so much information that you get lost if you don’t continue to play.

2. REACTION

If there is none, pivot or give up. Rachel gained adherents, business people who promoted her and fans who watched and spread the word. This isn’t about Rachel, per se, once again, but the PARADIGM!

3. SMART SELLS

She radiates intelligence. She assumes you’re smart. She’s trying to teach you things and we all want to learn. Maybe you don’t agree with her agenda, that’s just fine, but being smart plays in all walks of life.

4. MAKE THE AUDIENCE #1

Not like Taylor Swift, who’s making her acolytes her tools.

5. BE WARY OF SELF-PROMOTION

It backfires, best to lead with your work.

6. TRADITIONAL CRITERIA ARE IRRELEVANT

You can be gay and still be successful. All the things they said were prerequisites are not.

BUT I’M STILL GONNA GET HATE MAIL!

And I do my best to ignore it, but sometimes it gets to me. You can’t answer these people, because even if you prove your point they change the subject and say you’re still wrong. It’s about them, it’s always about them.

And why are you e-mailing me your hatred on a regular basis? It’s always the same people. What made you so angry and insecure? And if you care about it that much why don’t you start your own newsletter.

But you won’t. That takes effort, and perseverance.

Which was exactly my point.

People would rather be haters than players.

And too many are so busy being defensive they can’t even fathom the truth. Hell, I listen to Fox News on a regular basis, I read the “Wall Street Journal,” I want to see where others are coming from, I’m open to the possibility I can be wrong.

But self-evaluation is out the window.

And god forbid you change your opinion.

And then there are the holier-than-thou jerks that say I keep contradicting myself. No, these subjects are thorny, and I can’t write down every exception, every line of thought.

And then there are the idiots who e-mail me I left stuff out. I’d never send a damn missive if I listed every song Steely Dan ever recorded, but I can’t make you happy, or is it you just need to be self-satisfied and superior.

Not that many people didn’t e-mail me agreeing with my point.

But if my audience can’t read, can’t wrestle with the issues, what hope do we have for America?

Not much.

Which is why we’re in the situation we’re in.

Enough.