{"id":266,"date":"2005-12-22T22:25:22","date_gmt":"2005-12-23T05:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2005\/12\/22\/year-to-date-sales\/"},"modified":"2005-12-22T22:25:22","modified_gmt":"2005-12-23T05:25:22","slug":"year-to-date-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2005\/12\/22\/year-to-date-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Year To Date Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

198.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

"Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993"
Rolling Stones
Virgin
321,265 copies<\/p>\n

Whew, has anybody even HEARD of this record?\u00c2\u00a0 Remember when you used to know every album, every HITS album (yes, the very first one was "High Tide And Green Grass", I played "Last Time" a ZILLION times!)\u00c2\u00a0 Now they repackage this shit again and again and again.\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind the Who, you’d be stunned how many ZEPPELIN compilations there are.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d say this is not a bad number for a year.\u00c2\u00a0 But, they can’t LIVE on this, that’s why they’re on the road.\u00c2\u00a0 As for their NEW album, "A Bigger Bang", that sold 390,741.\u00c2\u00a0 Supposedly the best album in twenty five years.\u00c2\u00a0 Guess that didn’t mean much.<\/p>\n

\n

196.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Greatest Hits"
Journey
Columbia
328,542 copies<\/p>\n

Don’t stop, believin’!<\/p>\n

If only the major labels held on to that feeling.\u00c2\u00a0 Everything they’re purveying now ain’t gonna sell TWO copies fifteen to twenty years from today, never mind almost half a million.<\/p>\n

I won’t say Journey sucks, but they WERE responsible for Nirvana.\u00c2\u00a0 People who LOVED meaningful music REBELLED against this stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, there are millions of people all over this land who LOVE this music.<\/p>\n

Personally, I like "Lights".\u00c2\u00a0 And "Wheel In The Sky".\u00c2\u00a0 So sue me.<\/p>\n

If this band ever toured again with Steve Perry, they wouldn’t only sell out arenas, they might be able to do STADIUMS!<\/p>\n

\n

178.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Plans"
Death Cab For Cutie
Atlantic
351,698 copies<\/p>\n

Wow, I thought they’d be closer to a MILLION!\u00c2\u00a0 What with all that hype\/press.\u00c2\u00a0 What with their shift to a major label.<\/p>\n

And here we have the fallacy in action.\u00c2\u00a0 Death Cab shifts to a major.\u00c2\u00a0 Which supposedly can do so much better than an indie.<\/p>\n

BUT, Victory, a complete indie, distributing through RED, sold 476,052 copies of Hawthorne Heights’ "Silence In Black and White" (# 126).\u00c2\u00a0 Granted, it’s not the same kind of music.\u00c2\u00a0 But it appears that the passion of Tony Brummel and his team mean more than the imprimatur of the major label.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe that’s all you get, an imprimatur, a facade, behind which there’s…nothing.<\/p>\n

\n

173.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"All That I Am"
Santana
Arista
360,964 copies<\/p>\n

What if you took a legendary rocker and sold him like this week’s guest on "Oprah".\u00c2\u00a0 After a few years, would anybody CARE?<\/p>\n

Oh, sure, Carlos wouldn’t have sold this number with a new record by the OLD Santana band, but was it worth the hit to his credibility?<\/p>\n

Okay, you don’t buy that.\u00c2\u00a0 You think he’s doing bigger road business.<\/p>\n

Well, let’s turn the table.\u00c2\u00a0 After all that investment by Clive Davis, after all that micromanaging, they couldn’t even go GOLD??<\/p>\n

That oldster with stunting paradigm is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 The only place anybody cares is "The Today Show".\u00c2\u00a0 There IS no mainstream.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s all niche.<\/p>\n

\n

162.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Definitive Collection"
Stevie Wonder
Motown<\/p>\n

380,988 copies<\/p>\n

Okay.\u00c2\u00a0 Should Sylvia Rhone lose her job?<\/p>\n

This is a greatest hits album.\u00c2\u00a0 Stevie Wonder’s NEW release, "A Time To Love", didn’t even make the Top 200.<\/p>\n

Stevie Wonder sold on HITS!\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t make a Stevie Wonder track a hit today.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no FORMAT FOR IT!<\/p>\n

Stevie ain’t gonna go on Top Forty.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless, maybe, he works with 50 Cent.\u00c2\u00a0 And, no hot adult format sells tonnage.\u00c2\u00a0 Either the new album should have been delivered for under $100,000, or Stevie should be on an indie label.\u00c2\u00a0 What’s UP with these major labels?\u00c2\u00a0 They think they can still sell tonnage of heritage acts?\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, they can sell tonnage of GREATEST HITS ALBUMS, but to sell a quantity of new records, you’ve got to have airplay.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s no airplay, other than a bit of niche.\u00c2\u00a0 Admit it majors.\u00c2\u00a0 Let all the old acts LEAVE!<\/p>\n

\n

154.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Greatest Hits"
Bob Seger
Capitol
397,353 copies<\/p>\n

I heard "Horizontal Bop" on XM today.\u00c2\u00a0 It was positively AWFUL!<\/p>\n

Bob Seger cut some good tracks in his day.\u00c2\u00a0 "Beautiful Loser", "Turn The Page", and "Night Moves", of course.\u00c2\u00a0 But he was ALWAYS a secondary artist.\u00c2\u00a0 He hasn’t cut anything in EONS!\u00c2\u00a0 He doesn’t tour.\u00c2\u00a0 He has NO profile.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet he still sells almost half a million records a year.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t call it a comeback.\u00c2\u00a0 Say that nobody gives a shit about today’s music.\u00c2\u00a0 It ain’t got the same soul, they all want old time rock and roll.<\/p>\n

\n

152.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Dark Side Of The Moon"
Pink Floyd<\/p>\n

Capitol<\/p>\n

402,954 copies<\/p>\n

Let us never forget the abortion that was MTV’s coverage of Live 8.\u00c2\u00a0 Thirty plus years later, Pink Floyd sells and sells.\u00c2\u00a0 But no, people want to hear the inane ravings of talking heads they won’t remember the NAMES of in five minutes.\u00c2\u00a0 And, we won’t remember Maroon 5 either.\u00c2\u00a0 One of the new bands MTV DID cover.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they’re kiss-asses playing the game, cutting poppy SONGS that can be utilized to sell ads\/products.\u00c2\u00a0 Clive Davis has it all wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 It ain’t about songs, it ain’t about verse, chorus, verse.\u00c2\u00a0 Make no mistake, it’s about MUSIC, about BELIEF!\u00c2\u00a0 The reason we still care about the old stuff is it was REVOLUTIONARY!\u00c2\u00a0 It BROKE the mold.\u00c2\u00a0 Indies are still breaking the mold today.\u00c2\u00a0 The majors are preciously guarding the mold, fearful if it’s broken they’ll have no roadmap.<\/p>\n

\n

146.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Stop All The World Now"
Howie Day
Epic
408,845<\/p>\n

Am I HALLUCINATING?\u00c2\u00a0 I thought this was a stiff signing.\u00c2\u00a0 This guy sold more than DEATH CAB?\u00c2\u00a0 Never mind Gavin McGraw (378,893), Amerie (373,578) and Twista (341,571)?<\/p>\n

There was no hit here, right?<\/p>\n

And FUCK, this record came out over TWO YEARS AGO!<\/p>\n

SOMEBODY’S doing something RIGHT HERE!<\/p>\n

\n

144.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Retaliation"
Dane Cook
Comedy Central
413,313 copies<\/p>\n

The power of television.<\/p>\n

This guy just ain’t that funny.<\/p>\n

He’s about as relevant as Glenn Super.\u00c2\u00a0 Who was FUNNIER!\u00c2\u00a0 (Oops, just found out that Glenn Super died.\u00c2\u00a0 Of prostate cancer.\u00c2\u00a0 I feel bad for him.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t like to see somebody cut down before his time.\u00c2\u00a0 But I never got the memo that this dude who opened a million rock shows back when passed away, because we’d already FORGOTTEN HIM!)<\/p>\n

\n

141.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Hopes and Fears"
Keane
Interscope
430,235<\/p>\n

Who’d a thunk?<\/p>\n

Sure, they were on SNL, but they weren’t good.<\/p>\n

Bottom line, this act resonates with fans.\u00c2\u00a0 AND, nobody does a better job than Interscope.<\/p>\n

\n

139.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Frances The Mute"
Mars Volta
Universal
433,241 copies<\/p>\n

You don’t need a hit to sell a lot of records.<\/p>\n

This band’s music verges on unlistenable.\u00c2\u00a0 But, the energy at the show is PALPABLE!\u00c2\u00a0 I’d trade ANY Clive Davis band for the Mars Volta.<\/p>\n

\n

118.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Wildflower"
Sheryl Crow
A&M
513,253 copies<\/p>\n

Shit, even a STIFF Sheryl Crow album goes gold?<\/p>\n

Then again, she played Thanksgiving at Texas Stadium.\u00c2\u00a0 And for the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Plaza.\u00c2\u00a0 It must be tough to be Sheryl.\u00c2\u00a0 You can never relax.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re always worried you’re going to be irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 You feel you must stay in the public eye.<\/p>\n

Is this a quality life?<\/p>\n

I don’t think so.<\/p>\n

\n

100.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Chapter V"
Staind
Atlantic Group
577,632 copies<\/p>\n

You can enter the chart at number one, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the marathon.<\/p>\n

Bottom line…<\/p>\n

Great ballads, shitty rockers, untogether live, WHO CARES??<\/p>\n

\n

79,<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Never Gone"
Backstreet Boys
Jive
672,610 copies<\/p>\n

I guess they never were.<\/p>\n

True, it’s a far cry from their heyday.\u00c2\u00a0 But they outsold Alicia Keys’ overhyped "Unplugged" album (495,007).<\/p>\n

\n

78.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Getting Away With Murder"
Papa Roach
Geffen
672,669 copies<\/p>\n

Shit, THEY ARE!\u00c2\u00a0 This band SUCKS!<\/p>\n

But they can still sell records.\u00c2\u00a0 This album came out in the summer of 2004.<\/p>\n

Universal is in a completely different LEAGUE from the other three major label groups.<\/p>\n

\n

69.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Mind, Body & Soul"
Joss Stone
Virgin
710,307 copies<\/p>\n

Depends how you spin it.<\/p>\n

Not a bad total.\u00c2\u00a0 But with the Gap ad and all the appearances and all the press she only sold THIS?<\/p>\n

The material sucked.<\/p>\n

She doesn’t write.<\/p>\n

Sings well.\u00c2\u00a0 Is sexy.<\/p>\n

But that’s not enough.\u00c2\u00a0 Nobody BELIEVES in her.<\/p>\n

The next record’s gonna be tough.<\/p>\n

\n

65.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Guero"
Beck
Interscope
730,727 copies<\/p>\n

Turns out going back to work with the Dust Brothers was a good move.<\/p>\n

Still, not as major an artist as the machine would have you believe.<\/p>\n

59.
<\/strong>
"How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
U2
Interscope
765,907 copies<\/p>\n

Just put out retread music.<\/p>\n

Sure, this album came out in 2004.\u00c2\u00a0 But in late NOVEMBER!<\/p>\n

Despite the iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite the tour.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite Bono being "Time"’s "Man Of The Year", NOBODY cares other than hard core fans.\u00c2\u00a0 SHIT, the band was outsold by NINE INCH NAILS (#56, 794,053), whose album didn’t come out till May and who had no hit single and a FRACTION of the hype.<\/p>\n

That’s what it is with U2, hype.<\/p>\n

Oh, best touring rock band extant.<\/p>\n

I’ll let the Gen X’ers line up to buy the expensive merch.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not looking to go to the show to relive my youth, I’m not dead yet.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, when I see one of the oldsters I call it what it is…NOSTALGIA!<\/p>\n

\n

50.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Greatest Hits"
Guns N’ Roses
Geffen
866,883 copies<\/p>\n

"Paradise City" was the last great extended rock track.\u00c2\u00a0 The bookend to "Stairway To Heaven" and "Free Bird".\u00c2\u00a0 With just as much excitement and energy.<\/p>\n

GN’R played like they meant it.\u00c2\u00a0 And lived that way too.<\/p>\n

Axl might now be a joke, but one of the great things about music is it’s fixed forever.\u00c2\u00a0 "Appetite For Destruction" is one of the great debuts of all time.\u00c2\u00a0 You only had to hear it once to get hooked.\u00c2\u00a0 THAT was rock and roll, and it didn’t start in the sixties, or the seventies, but in the late eighties.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s hope.\u00c2\u00a0 If people would just stop worrying about MAKING IT and start playing from their HEART!<\/p>\n

\n

39.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"It’s Time"
Michael Buble
Reprise
1,036,947 copies<\/p>\n

In an era when everybody’s consolidating, when bigger is better, lone man Bruce Allen shows us how it’s really done.<\/p>\n

What do BTO and Bryan Adams and Michael Buble have in common?\u00c2\u00a0 NOTHING!!\u00c2\u00a0 (Never mind Martina McBride!)<\/p>\n

Michael Buble is the right man for the right time.\u00c2\u00a0 A singer for people not paying attention, with oatmeal inside instead of bones.\u00c2\u00a0 But give Bruce credit for recognizing the need in the market and delivering it.<\/p>\n

Not that it’s Bruce only.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve got to give Whalley and Diarmuid and the rest of the Warner team credit.\u00c2\u00a0 An INCREDIBLE story.<\/p>\n

\n

29.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Seventeen Days"
Three Doors Down
Universal
1,160,725 copies<\/p>\n

And rock is dead.\u00c2\u00a0 BULLSHIT!<\/p>\n

This is a third rate act.<\/p>\n

But there’s a market of beer-swilling blue collar workers salivating for this sound.<\/p>\n

You can either play to the press or the customer.<\/p>\n

AND, unlike the hip-hop acts, people want to see Three Doors Down LIVE!<\/p>\n

\n

22.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Demon Days"
Gorillaz
Virgin
1,276,799<\/p>\n

And we had to listen ad infinitum to EMI telling us how this band (along with Coldplay, of course) saved their bottom line.<\/p>\n

If 1.2 million can make or break your year, either you’ve got a much smaller business than you’re letting on, or you’re cooking the books.<\/p>\n

\n

21.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Stand Up"
Dave Matthews Band
RCA
1,292,256<\/p>\n

I thought this album verged on unlistenable.\u00c2\u00a0 For a DMB album, anyway.<\/p>\n

Listen to "Before These Crowded Streets".\u00c2\u00a0 "The Dreaming Tree" is superb, it touches you.\u00c2\u00a0 This album is a departure from that sound, a move towards the center that would have been rejected if the DMB didn’t have such HARD CORE FANS!<\/p>\n

It’s not about the show, it’s about the MUSIC!<\/p>\n

The DMB ain’t about watching, it’s about PARTICIPATING, BEING THERE!<\/p>\n

It’s the biggest live act on the road in the U.S. other than the dinosaurs.\u00c2\u00a0 Go see them, you’ll become a believer.<\/p>\n

And those who already believe support the band.\u00c2\u00a0 By buying substandard stuff like "Stand Up".<\/p>\n

\n

11.<\/strong><\/p>\n

"Hot Fuss"
Killers
Island
1,918,959<\/p>\n

Trendy if you ask me.\u00c2\u00a0 But I don’t begrudge them their sales.<\/p>\n

There’s a huge jump between 20 and 11.\u00c2\u00a0 20 is Toby Keith at 1,306,901.<\/p>\n

Bottom line.\u00c2\u00a0 We’re seeing the division of the marketplace as we sit here.\u00c2\u00a0 Between the big timers and the niche.\u00c2\u00a0 The number of big timers is shrinking.\u00c2\u00a0 The money is in the niche, in the long tail.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE, in this stretch from 11-20 is Jack Johnson, at #13, with 1,617,363.\u00c2\u00a0 Jack’s the DEFINITION of a minor artist.\u00c2\u00a0 But this surfing, movie-making good timer has caught the soul of his audience.\u00c2\u00a0 THIS is what the business is about (just ask Jimmy Buffett.)<\/p>\n

\n

10-1<\/strong><\/p>\n

All the acts you’d think are there.<\/p>\n

Maybe you’d be surprised by Rascal Flatts, but up from there it’s Kanye, the Game, Gwen, Coldplay, Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Green Day, Mariah and 50 Cent.<\/p>\n

Gwen’s not for the ages.\u00c2\u00a0 Incredible save by Interscope of a stiff album.\u00c2\u00a0 But I doubt they can do it again.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s the end of an era.<\/p>\n

The Black Eyed Peas are a novelty act.<\/p>\n

Kelly Clarkson is fuckable.\u00c2\u00a0 The girl next door.\u00c2\u00a0 With the TRUE song of the year (screw Mariah Carey).<\/p>\n

The Game ain’t forever.\u00c2\u00a0 I wouldn’t put my IRA in Kanye.<\/p>\n

So that leaves us with Coldplay, Green Day and 50 Cent (who cares about Rascal Flatts, even if they last they’re an irrelevant sideshow.)<\/p>\n

50 Cent already died trying.\u00c2\u00a0 With his movie.\u00c2\u00a0 Kids all over America went to see shitty Elvis Presley movies.\u00c2\u00a0 I guess Fitty’s fan base just ain’t as rabid as the business, or Jimmy Iovine, thinks it is.<\/p>\n

Coldplay?<\/p>\n

I just wish they were better.\u00c2\u00a0 And Chris Martin didn’t marry Gwyneth.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s so smug.\u00c2\u00a0 It undercuts the band’s credibility.<\/p>\n

For a band that takes itself so seriously (and DON’T tell me about their sense of humor, that’s nonexistent in the music) they completely lack edge.\u00c2\u00a0 God, Randy Newman’s "Sail Away" has more edge than "X&Y".\u00c2\u00a0 If this is the great white hope, if Coldplay is the savior of rock and roll, count me out.<\/p>\n

Which leaves us with Green Day.<\/p>\n

Rascal Flatts sold 2,048,003 albums.\u00c2\u00a0 At number ten.<\/p>\n

50 Cent sold 4,767,844 at number one.\u00c2\u00a0 Mariah did over four too, but nobody else even did three.<\/p>\n

But Green Day ALMOST did.\u00c2\u00a0 They racked up 2,970,559 sales this year.\u00c2\u00a0 Of an album that came out LAST year.<\/p>\n

U2 doesn’t deserve the accolades, Green Day does.<\/p>\n

Green Day is old itself.\u00c2\u00a0 But Green Day didn’t remake "Dookie", they did something new, and different.<\/p>\n

I’d be interested in Bono trying to save the world if only his music were a little better.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh, U2 did some great shit in the past.\u00c2\u00a0 The DISTANT past.<\/p>\n

Don’t tell me to cut the Irish band a break.\u00c2\u00a0 I believe in absolutes.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t believe in cutting art a break.\u00c2\u00a0 If you lower the standards you get the kind of tripe being sold by the majors today.<\/p>\n

U2 needed to be the biggest band in the world.<\/p>\n

Trent Reznor was interested in satiating himself, then his fans.\u00c2\u00a0 He put out his material for remix in GarageBand.\u00c2\u00a0 He was an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 The U2 boys have now become entertainers.\u00c2\u00a0 Frank Sinatra with more lights.<\/p>\n

But Green Day.\u00c2\u00a0 They sold their message with their MUSIC!<\/p>\n

And that’s why America loves them.\u00c2\u00a0 The WORLD loves them.<\/p>\n

And the hooks.<\/p>\n

Billie Joe is scrumptious. You could eat him with one big bite.<\/p>\n

Tre Cool is who the guys in Blink-182 want to be.<\/p>\n

And, Mike Dirnt is Bill Wyman.\u00c2\u00a0 The guy lucky enough to be in a band with two extreme extroverts, the one you wonder what goes on inside of.<\/p>\n

THIS is a rock band.\u00c2\u00a0 Where you know every member.\u00c2\u00a0 Where you have your favorite.\u00c2\u00a0 Where you BELIEVE!<\/p>\n

It ain’t very far from the roots.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s three chords and a beat.<\/p>\n

They should just cancel the Grammys and air a Green Day concert.<\/p>\n

Sure, a lot of the usual viewers would HATE it, but that’s the way it used to be.\u00c2\u00a0 Music used to provoke a reaction.\u00c2\u00a0 Before Rod Stewart started singing standards and service charges cost more than a ticket used to.<\/p>\n

Music will survive.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if the major labels go out of business.\u00c2\u00a0 Even if P2P is unstopped and never monetized.\u00c2\u00a0 Because music is something made from the heart.\u00c2\u00a0 Not a financial exercise, but INSPIRATION!<\/p>\n

There’s very little inspiration in the sausages being sold by the mainstream purveyors today.\u00c2\u00a0 If you think these acts are stars you probably believe Paris Hilton has talent.<\/p>\n

EVERYBODY knows that Paris Hilton has no talent.\u00c2\u00a0 They pay attention in the same way you slow down to see a car wreck on the opposite side of the freeway.<\/p>\n

That’s too much of today’s music.\u00c2\u00a0 Momentary spectacle.<\/p>\n

Whereas we used to like to camp out.\u00c2\u00a0 Attach ourselves to the band.\u00c2\u00a0 Not miss an album or a tour.\u00c2\u00a0 For YEARS!\u00c2\u00a0 We NEEDED to be there.<\/p>\n

There’s more excitement in Google than there is in most of today’s best selling records.<\/p>\n

Then again, although it’s the work of some of the world’s greatest minds, Google ain’t music.<\/p>\n

When done right, music touches your soul.<\/p>\n

It hasn’t been done right for a very long time.<\/p>\n

But it’s about to be done right again.<\/p>\n

It’s only just beginning.\u00c2\u00a0 The craphouse of the twenty first century is about to collapse under its own weight.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll be hearing about new bands again.\u00c2\u00a0 Not via terrestrial radio, or MTV, but via your friends.\u00c2\u00a0 The musicians are taking back the music from the executives and the people are taking back the spreading of the word from the media.<\/p>\n

It’s a very exciting time.\u00c2\u00a0 Five years from now, most of the new acts on this chart will be history.<\/p>\n

But Pink Floyd will surive.\u00c2\u00a0 And AC\/DC.\u00c2\u00a0 And Queen.\u00c2\u00a0 Because, like the Apple Pan, they’re quality forever (http:\/\/www.ahamburgertoday.com\/archives\/2005\/08\/apple_pan_quali.php<\/a>).\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about the booths, the atmosphere.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about being the cheapest.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s about being the best at a fair price.\u00c2\u00a0 Delivering quality for EVERYBODY!<\/p>\n

Music should be cheaper.\u00c2\u00a0 Ticket prices should be cheaper.<\/p>\n

They will be.\u00c2\u00a0 Because they have to be.<\/p>\n

Today’s system is collapsing under its own weight.<\/p>\n

The dark ages are not upon us.\u00c2\u00a0 No, it’s a dream.\u00c2\u00a0 A return of power to the people, who MAKE the acts successful.<\/p>\n

It’s a bottom up business.\u00c2\u00a0 Think about what the fan wants, not what the exec wants, what the media outlet wants, what the bank wants.\u00c2\u00a0 If you deliver what the fan wants, he’ll give you ALL his money.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

198. "Jump Back: The Best of the Rolling Stones 1971-1993"Rolling StonesVirgin321,265 copies Whew, has anybody even HEARD of this record?\u00c2\u00a0 Remember when you used to know every album, every HITS album (yes, the very first one was "High Tide And Green Grass", I played "Last Time" a ZILLION times!)\u00c2\u00a0 Now they repackage this shit again […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-4i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}