Huh?<\/p>\n
Who cares!<\/p>\n
Just like our country, NARAS is run by an ineffectual President beholden to old, monied interests who refuses to lead and leaves the public out in the cold, completely absent from the equation.<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, the Grammys became relevant because the mainstream merged with the hip during the MTV era and Mike Greene seized this moment to ramp up membership, create a hubbub and finally give the appearance that the Grammys mattered.\u00c2\u00a0 And his caretaker replacement has been coasting on Greene’s coattails for years as the franchise declines, just like Al Teller coasted on the house Irving Azoff built at MCA until the hits dried up.<\/p>\n
We no longer live in the eighties.\u00c2\u00a0 Once again, we’ve got a mainstream and an alternative market.\u00c2\u00a0 One declining, the other ever more vibrant.\u00c2\u00a0 What does NARAS do?\u00c2\u00a0 Come out with Grammy nominations in 109 categories, defying anyone to make sense of them, meanwhile flaunting mainstream hits that are less mainstream than ever before.\u00c2\u00a0 End result?\u00c2\u00a0 A sideshow.\u00c2\u00a0 With the major labels having abdicated their power, isn’t it time for NARAS to finally lead?<\/p>\n
If you look at the "Record Of The Year" nominees, unless you’re truly a fan of one of these five acts, you’re flummoxed.\u00c2\u00a0 B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars is a brand new act, and the public has been trained to believe these beat-infused Top Forty tracks are made by performers who are here today and gone tomorrow.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a big hit right now, so what?\u00c2\u00a0 Eminem has the biggest album of the year, but mixing him with Rihanna may yield a radio hit but it results in a public turnoff.\u00c2\u00a0 This is lowest common denominator shit, where a credible act buys insurance.\u00c2\u00a0 If Rihanna had so many fans, her tour wouldn’t have stiffed.\u00c2\u00a0 If Cee-Lo’s track has been released as "Forget You", instead of "F*** You", it wouldn’t have even been nominated.\u00c2\u00a0 "Empire State Of Mind" is a legitimate hit and a legitimate contender.\u00c2\u00a0 One can say the same thing about Lady Antebellum’s "Need You Now", except for the fact that this act is America instead of Crosby, Stills & Nash. They’re good, they’re serviceable, are they great?\u00c2\u00a0 NO!<\/p>\n
And where are the top touring acts?\u00c2\u00a0 I know, I know, it’s a recorded music clusterfuck, but give the CMA Awards credit, at least they honor an "Entertainer Of The Year".\u00c2\u00a0 I’d complain if Bon Jovi won it, but isn’t the race between Bon Jovi and the Eagles and the Dave Matthews Band, the acts people truly want to see and are fans of?\u00c2\u00a0 Acts with staying power?<\/p>\n
As for Album of the Year…\u00c2\u00a0 Once again, if you’re not a fan of one of these acts, you just don’t give a shit.\u00c2\u00a0 Used to be people paid attention to this category, went out and bought what won.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s not gonna happen here.\u00c2\u00a0 There’ll be a slight sales bump, and that’s it. Evidencing the fact that there’s no\u00c2\u00a0 universal hit act out there that everybody truly cares about.\u00c2\u00a0 Give Eminem props for staying power. But Arcade Fire…\u00c2\u00a0 I’m thinking they were nominated in the back room.\u00c2\u00a0 I love their marketing, I love that they haven’t sold out to a major label, but play this album for someone who’s not already a fan, and there are not that many believers, and they’ll scream for you to TAKE IT OFF!\u00c2\u00a0 "The Fame Monster" was a huge hit.\u00c2\u00a0 But you either care about GaGa or you don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 Used to be we begrudgingly said those with success had talent, even if we didn’t like them.\u00c2\u00a0 Give GaGa the marketing award.\u00c2\u00a0 The odds of this album surviving the ages are about as good as those of Lauryn Hill’s Grammy winning opus.\u00c2\u00a0 Has ANYONE listened to "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill" recently?\u00c2\u00a0 And Katy Perry is just a joke.\u00c2\u00a0 Do they nominate Rob Schneider for an Oscar?<\/p>\n
And the "Song Of The Year" nominees are shoulder-shruggers too.<\/p>\n
Oh, stop complaining.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m just pointing out the elephant in the room.\u00c2\u00a0 That you might be getting paid, you might be a music fan, but too many people are not.\u00c2\u00a0 FarmVille and Angry Birds are more exciting than music.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially this music.\u00c2\u00a0 Made for a market more than artistic expression.\u00c2\u00a0 And the public knows it.<\/p>\n
There’s maybe ten relevant categories here.\u00c2\u00a0 The rest are all strokes for lifetime musicians who need an award to feel good about themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean if you can’t get nominated for a Grammy, you don’t make music.<\/p>\n
And just like Clayton Christensen laid out the blueprint for saving a dying enterprise, by establishing its wholly-owned competitor across the street, the Grammys should be split in two.\u00c2\u00a0 One whored out telecast with fewer than ten awards where everybody begs for performance time and the public watches and laughs and another super-credible version that airs simultaneously on cable and the web and has social media components that’s about burnishing the brand of music.<\/p>\n
Yup, there I said it, the dreaded "B" word, "brand".\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what all these acts are.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you want to sleep with your computer?\u00c2\u00a0 Make love to your car?\u00c2\u00a0 Then why in hell do you think we’d get excited about these acts!\u00c2\u00a0 And the whole category is deflated.\u00c2\u00a0 Music is where those dying to be famous go to try and get rich.\u00c2\u00a0 You know, those without education or talent, just a desire to be noticed.\u00c2\u00a0 Angelina of "The Jersey Shore" is working a single <\/p>\n
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