World domination used to be extremely hard.\u00c2\u00a0 Music didn’t drive the culture and every territory played a different kind of music. Ubiquity occurred now and again, but it wasn’t until the Beatles that one sound dominated, that everywhere you went you heard the same records.\u00c2\u00a0 The Beatles gained that attention and then delivered upon it.\u00c2\u00a0 Then everybody realized you had to listen to music if you wanted to know which way the wind blew.\u00c2\u00a0 And MTV was a final victory lap, we were all fascinated by videos until it imploded.<\/p>\n
Now what?<\/p>\n
It’s like we’ve got an endless game of Home Run Derby.\u00c2\u00a0 Played in ever smaller stadiums.\u00c2\u00a0 First on network, then cable and now the Internet.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, we’ve got plenty of people swinging for the fences and few in the stands paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 Where does this leave the creator?<\/p>\n
Creators like to be heard.\u00c2\u00a0 More than they like to be paid.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t listen to Gene Simmons, he’s got enough money to retire.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, he insists on being on TV, in commercials so we won’t forget about him.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, he hasn’t done anything worth our attention in eons.\u00c2\u00a0 Kiss toured to the point "Rock and Roll All Nite" broke through, got a victory lap with "Beth" and then the rest of us tuned out upon hearing the crap thereafter.\u00c2\u00a0 In other words, Gene Simmons squandered his moment.\u00c2\u00a0 When everybody was finally paying attention, Kiss came up short, failed to deliver.<\/p>\n
So how do you get everybody to pay attention?<\/p>\n
Took the death of Jerry Garcia and Napster to cement the Grateful Dead in the consciousness of the public.\u00c2\u00a0 Oh yeah, that was the band that let the audience tape, that made all the money on its live show, that’s the paradigm of the future.\u00c2\u00a0 Before that?\u00c2\u00a0 Many people though the San Francisco group created music befitting its name, heavy metal.\u00c2\u00a0 It would shock them to know "Uncle John’s Band" was by the Dead.\u00c2\u00a0 And, when very few people were watching, the Dead created their masterpiece, "American Beauty", when they finally got a chance on the world stage they delivered…"Touch Of Grey"?<\/p>\n
Give Jay-Z credit.\u00c2\u00a0 He delivered "Empire State Of Mind", an anthem, at the Video Music Awards, one of the few times many are watching.\u00c2\u00a0 The track caught fire.\u00c2\u00a0 Jay-Z didn’t choke, he delivered.<\/p>\n
But Jay-Z had over a decade in the business, he had chops that newbies don’t.<\/p>\n
Used to be you started.\u00c2\u00a0 And then you had your moment.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, you’re lucky if you can even start.\u00c2\u00a0 And that might be the biggest moment you ever get.\u00c2\u00a0 Your initial hit.\u00c2\u00a0 Give that "Rico Suave" guy credit, he disappeared when the going was good.<\/p>\n
So on one hand, we’ve got the Beatles delivering "Sgt. Pepper", the Eagles delivering "Hotel California", and today’s evanescent bands.\u00c2\u00a0 Who?<\/p>\n
And this makes it tough if you’re an artist.\u00c2\u00a0 You might never get enough traction in order to seize your one big moment.\u00c2\u00a0 Because it’s hard to get people to pay attention.<\/p>\n
And I don’t have the answer.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know if you keep playing in your backwater, like Wilco, waiting for the rest of the world to come to you, or tell yourself your tiny audience matters or…<\/p>\n
Everybody wants to work with Timbaland, Dr. Dre or Rick Rubin.\u00c2\u00a0 They want a shot at the big time.\u00c2\u00a0 But what compromises are involved?\u00c2\u00a0 And if you work with Rubin, who famously tries to make the band’s record, and the album stiffs, then what?<\/p>\n
Everybody in my generation knows the line: "Are you with me so far?"\u00c2\u00a0 Right smack dab in the middle of "Life In The Fast Lane", we heard it so many times that it’s in our DNA.\u00c2\u00a0 But the Eagles also seized the moment.\u00c2\u00a0 They were coming off the biggest album in their career, they knew everybody was paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 And when "Hotel California" met and\/or exceeded expectations, it became a cultural milestone.<\/p>\n
So where does this leave us?<\/p>\n
In a cultural quandary.<\/p>\n
Maybe a musical revolution, a sound so new comes along and wipes the slate clean.\u00c2\u00a0 Disco killed corporate rock.\u00c2\u00a0 And rap triumphed over hair bands.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe music becomes vital once again.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, do you get the urgency of the English New Wave when you see those bands shilling at SXSW?\u00c2\u00a0 No.\u00c2\u00a0 You don’t believe them.\u00c2\u00a0 They seem somehow inauthentic.\u00c2\u00a0 With their stylized sound and carefully chosen outfits.\u00c2\u00a0 It seems fake.\u00c2\u00a0 And therefore, few care.\u00c2\u00a0 But we cared about Johnny Rotten, he truly seemed to be freaking people out.\u00c2\u00a0 And hell, Sid Vicious died.\u00c2\u00a0 And the band broke up.\u00c2\u00a0 No one breaks up after their hit debut anymore, they don’t want to forgo that cash!<\/p>\n
Maybe we’re in the dark ages and music will never recapture the zeitgeist.\u00c2\u00a0 And at best you’re a journeyman.\u00c2\u00a0 Sorry.<\/p>\n
Then there’s Lady GaGa.\u00c2\u00a0 But too much of her success is not about the music.\u00c2\u00a0 There are the outfits, and the videos.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s not like the music means much.\u00c2\u00a0 But, she’s got our attention, what does she deliver now?\u00c2\u00a0 Hell, that’s what was great about Madonna, she didn’t repeat herself, and for this we paid her in the one thing she loved, attention, we wanted to see what she did next.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe we’re interested in what GaGa does next.\u00c2\u00a0 Or are we more interested in what Steve Jobs introduces next?<\/p>\n
Society needs cohesion.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what iPad mania is about.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about sales, hell, they only moved a few hundred thousand.\u00c2\u00a0 But the product, like a great band, was new.\u00c2\u00a0 And exciting.\u00c2\u00a0 And the media believed everybody was interested.\u00c2\u00a0 And the story’s been playing out endlessly, everyone’s got an opinion, whether it’s thumbs up or thumbs down.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, the iPod and iPhone paved the way.<\/p>\n
Music used to be a rallying point.\u00c2\u00a0 Can it be so again?<\/p>\n
This is about more than hits.\u00c2\u00a0 More than gate receipts.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a cultural question.\u00c2\u00a0 Have we somehow squandered music’s power to lead the public?\u00c2\u00a0 Have we become so much about money that we’ve sacrificed the essence?\u00c2\u00a0 Or are we living in a cultural Middle Ages and it’s hard for anything to break through?<\/p>\n
So, when you sit down to create, when you type, when you rev up Pro Tools and start recording, and you lack motivation, I get it. You’re working for very few people beyond yourself, very few care, very few may ever care.\u00c2\u00a0 And, like I said, what inspires people to create great work is when they’ve got eyeballs, attention.\u00c2\u00a0 Not everyone delivers when the spotlight is upon them, but when there’s no spotlight in evidence, it’s bad for all of us.<\/p>\n
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