My first instinct is people go to see bands.\u00c2\u00a0 And this tour will succeed or fail based on the talent lineup.<\/p>\n
Then I thought of today’s article in the L.A. "Times" about Perez, and his reach in the twentysomething demo, and I said to myself, AT LEAST EVERYBODY WILL KNOW ABOUT IT!<\/p>\n
Ever find out a band you like played your city last night?<\/p>\n
Happens all the time.\u00c2\u00a0 I go to a show and get e-mail saying REALLY?\u00c2\u00a0 If only I’d known, I’d have gone.<\/p>\n
I think Perez is out of his depth here, I think he’s spreading himself too thin, but that’s what happens when you’ve got success, you feel superior, unbeatable, that you know and everybody else doesn’t.<\/p>\n
Until you fail and the world passes you by, and pisses on you in the process.<\/p>\n
If concerts were so easy to book and tour, we’d have more promoters, not fewer.\u00c2\u00a0 And if sponsors made a difference, you’d be able to sell tickets without announcing who was playing.<\/p>\n
But that’s the WARPED Tour, with over a decade on the road.<\/p>\n
I don’t think it’s wrong that Perez is doing this, but just because the mainstream media seems to have caught on to the guy, needing someone to trumpet, that does not mean everything he touches will turn to gold.<\/p>\n
Just wait until one of the acts on his label fizzles.<\/p>\n
Oh, he’ll get a jump up, because he’ll trumpet them to high heaven on his blog, but tastemakers will be out to get him, and the Top Forty acts Perez champions can’t make it on their own, they need radio and the media to play along, and too many of these players hate Perez and want to see him fail.<\/p>\n
Give Perez credit…\u00c2\u00a0 He built it all, by himself.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s the model of a new band.\u00c2\u00a0 But, if you’re creating a band, you’ve got to worry about your credibility, you’ve got to be wary of overexposure, you’ve got to be able to say no as well as yes.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise, you’re an overnight sensation with no fans.\u00c2\u00a0 And fans are everything.<\/p>\n
Perez sells gossip.\u00c2\u00a0 He thinks he’s got fans, but very few people love the man, they just want the dirt.\u00c2\u00a0 As long as he’s selling dirt, he’s okay.\u00c2\u00a0 But now that he’s extending the brand (another Website?), I’m worried he’s heading for a breakdown.\u00c2\u00a0 If Google can only fund one truly profitable business, what are the odds that Perez can create multiple ones?<\/p>\n
But this tireless self-promoter presently has the public’s ear.\u00c2\u00a0 And therefore, the public, his public, knows about this tour.<\/p>\n
If he goes along, if he brings GaGa, if he has a retinue full of the stars he lampoons on his site come and do meet and greets, he’ll break the bank.\u00c2\u00a0 But if it’s just Perez, introducing some up and coming acts, there will be few takers, enough to fill clubs, maybe small halls, but the lack of buzz will kill the endeavor.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re at Perez’s level, you’ve got to go big, or don’t go at all.<\/p>\n
Is he an entrepreneur or a personality?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s almost impossible to be both, especially when he’s spread so thin.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s already more than a full time job keeping up with his blog, which fuels all his endeavors.<\/p>\n
But pay attention.\u00c2\u00a0 Perez may be headed for a fall, but he’s one step ahead of you.\u00c2\u00a0 He don’t need no record company, no Rupert Murdoch, he didn’t need corporate cash to get started.\u00c2\u00a0 And once he made a splash, all these corporations have been eager to throw money at him.<\/p>\n
Create a site featuring your music, stop whining that life is hard and no one will pay you.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re truly great, or innovative, or dangerous, you’ll leave a mark.<\/p>\n
For how long, I don’t know.<\/p>\n
But Perez has already gotten a longer ride than most of the acts he writes about.\u00c2\u00a0 He knows it’s about fresh info not only every day, but multiple times a day.\u00c2\u00a0 No one cares about Eminem, he dropped an album months ago, did a stunt with "Bruno" and it was over.<\/p>\n
What if Em had put out one single a week?\u00c2\u00a0 What if he’d created weekly buzz? Then we might be talking about him.<\/p>\n
And it’s not only Em…\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no buzz on U2, hell, there’s no buzz on Coldplay.\u00c2\u00a0 Years ago, the radio and "Rolling Stone" would keep the buzz alive.\u00c2\u00a0 But people have tuned radio out, and the blogosphere is where you get your music information today.<\/p>\n
It’s a fast moving world.<\/p>\n
Hell, it’s a mixed-up, muddled up, shook up world.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you want to know what’s going on, don’t go to lunch with your buds, don’t get together with the usual suspects, go online.\u00c2\u00a0 Fire up your browser and see what’s happening.\u00c2\u00a0 And know that he who has eyeballs has power.<\/p>\n
Funny that no label has a site with any traction.\u00c2\u00a0 They just don’t get it.\u00c2\u00a0 But that’s good, RIGHT?<\/p>\n
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