Credibility: the quality of being trusted and believed in<\/p>\n
New Oxford American Dictionary (via Apple OS X Tiger)<\/p>\n
Oprah<\/strong><\/p>\n She features it on her show, people buy it.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only James Blunt, but that inane "Secret" book.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe because she struggles with her weight, or she swore off tabloid issues long before everybody else, or maybe because some truth slips in now and again, which she doesn’t apologize for, Oprah could be the most trusted public figure in America.<\/p>\n Tom Hanks<\/strong><\/p>\n Still credible, but fading.<\/p>\n Eddie Vedder<\/strong><\/p>\n I still remember that expose in "Rolling Stone", wherein they revealed him to be the star of his high school’s plays, one of the most popular kids on campus, undercutting his image as a pathetic loner.\u00c2\u00a0 But that didn’t seem to stick.\u00c2\u00a0 Pearl Jam took on TicketMaster, they don’t play the game, people still believe in the band, and their frontman.<\/p>\n Rick Rubin<\/strong><\/p>\n Work with a has-been, it will do wonders for you.\u00c2\u00a0 It looked like Russell Simmons emerged from the Def Jam breakup with most of the credibility, but by working with has-beens like Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond, Rick Rubin showed he was a fan of music, not just money, and people respect him.\u00c2\u00a0 They also respect his track record, and the fact that he’s not an endless hype machine.<\/p>\n Timbaland<\/strong><\/p>\n Because he makes all the music.\u00c2\u00a0 But if he does any more boastful press, and makes his own record, he’s gonna lose people’s trust.<\/p>\n Jimmy Iovine<\/strong><\/p>\n Despite Clive Davis getting most of the press, the hoi polloi respect Jimmy.\u00c2\u00a0 Because Jimmy never wears a suit, and is always seen as supporting the artist.<\/p>\n Google<\/strong><\/p>\n Simple interface, you get the right answer immediately…what’s not to love?<\/p>\n Steve Jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n Mostly because he creates insanely great products, but also because he seems to do whatever the fuck he wants, and that’s the ESSENCE of credibility, marching to the beat of your own drummer.<\/p>\n Vinyl<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s retro, it’s old school, and it sounds better.<\/p>\n The Club<\/strong><\/p>\n Not the one you dance in, but the one you hear live music in.\u00c2\u00a0 People want to be close, they want to FEEL the tunes.<\/p>\n Guitars<\/strong><\/p>\n You can complain about drum machines, and bad synth programming, but no one ever bitches that there’s guitar.<\/p>\n Writing Your Own Material<\/strong><\/p>\n You don’t need to do this to sell records, but you do need to do it to have credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 And credibility leads to longevity.<\/p>\n Hip-Hop<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s become a cartoon.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is sad, because it used to be the true voice of the street.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, the same thing happened to rock and roll.<\/p>\n Craig Ferguson<\/strong><\/p>\n Yup, the doofus who ran Drew Carey’s department store.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a buzz on this guy far eclipsing that on Conan.\u00c2\u00a0 People think he’s funny, and at the core, honest.\u00c2\u00a0 His refusal to beat up on a down and out Britney Spears cemented his position as one of us in the minds of his audience.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s about owning an audience, and making fans feel like you could all hang together and have a drink, even if you don’t want to.<\/p>\n The Sopranos<\/strong><\/p>\n Ratings are irrelevant.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not about numbers, but acknowledgement.\u00c2\u00a0 The press says it’s the best TV drama ever.\u00c2\u00a0 The word has spread to the point where the public believes it.\u00c2\u00a0 Then again, who wouldn’t resonate with the honest depiction of family life against a Mob background.<\/p>\n iTunes<\/strong><\/p>\n Not the store, the software.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s say they wipe the DRM from the tracks…\u00c2\u00a0 People will STILL buy from the iTunes Music Store, because no other jukebox software performs as well, never mind synchs with the iPod.<\/p>\n Ian MacKaye<\/strong><\/p>\n Either you know him or you don’t.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s just the point.\u00c2\u00a0 He never jammed his name and music down your throat.<\/p>\n SoundScan<\/strong><\/p>\n The numbers are extrapolated, but they’re seen as dead accurate not only by the business, but the public.<\/p>\n George Michael<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, the pot busts, never mind the sexual peccadilloes, have done wonders for his image.\u00c2\u00a0 If he’d only make some good music, the public would welcome him back with open arms.<\/p>\n Wikipedia<\/strong><\/p>\n Now accepted as the gold standard, even though it’s not always accurate.<\/p>\n Mini<\/strong><\/p>\n Is it the car, or the way it’s sold?\u00c2\u00a0 It’s built like shit, but fun to drive.\u00c2\u00a0 And when you buy one, you’re now a member of the club.\u00c2\u00a0 They say TV advertising is king.\u00c2\u00a0 Bah, humbug.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s more innovation in the selling of Minis than ANYTHING on Top Forty radio.<\/p>\n Ceine Dion<\/strong><\/p>\n Seems incredible, I know.\u00c2\u00a0 But even the most dyed-in-the-wool rockers who’ve seen her Vegas show have testified.\u00c2\u00a0 She did it her way.\u00c2\u00a0 She got off the road, she sees her kid every day, that’s positively rock and roll.<\/p>\n Tool<\/strong><\/p>\n They’re playing to the core, fuck everybody else.<\/p>\n Starbucks<\/strong><\/p>\n Sure, get a bunch of Paul McCartney CDs in the stores and a few will move based on impulse, but not because people believe the disc has got the Starbucks imprimatur, and that it’s good.\u00c2\u00a0 Starbucks sold too much crap under its name.\u00c2\u00a0 You might get positioning, but there’s no positive endorsement.<\/p>\n Scottt Weiland<\/strong><\/p>\n Do enough drugs, and people stop paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 The DeLeo brothers have more credibility than Scott.\u00c2\u00a0 And while I’m at it, Velvet Revolver has no credibility, and neither does Audioslave (maybe that’s why they broke up!)\u00c2\u00a0 No credibility and you get no longevity.<\/p>\n Justin Timberlake<\/strong><\/p>\n Even Janet Jackson has more credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 At least she didn’t lie and apologize for the Super Bowl boobie fracas.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, Justin never had much cred when he was a boy band star, but now he’s a guy who’s constantly playing the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, people might like his music, but they don’t believe in HIM!<\/p>\n RIAA<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, people hate the organization for suing its customers.\u00c2\u00a0 But it’s got no credibility because it doesn’t own up to how you get music today.\u00c2\u00a0 Trying to sue people back to the nineties is not a way to get them to see your point and believe in you.<\/p>\n Yahoo<\/strong><\/p>\n Is it a directory, a search engine, a..?<\/p>\n Lose your focus, lose your momentum on the Web, and you can never regain it.<\/p>\n Dell<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s a box.\u00c2\u00a0 Hardware in an era when software triumphs.<\/p>\n Jay-Z<\/strong><\/p>\n I know, I know, it’s a badge of honor for underclass blacks to sell out.\u00c2\u00a0 But at what point is it too much?\u00c2\u00a0 Jay-Z seems to have crossed that threshold.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s one of the reasons his new album stiffed.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe if he’d gone on Oprah…<\/p>\n TicketMaster<\/strong><\/p>\n You know how people were so mad about the price of CDs that they didn’t care about stealing music?\u00c2\u00a0 There’s even MORE hatred of TicketMaster.\u00c2\u00a0 If there were any other way to get tickets, the public would stick it to TM.\u00c2\u00a0 TM needs some image rehabilitation.<\/p>\n The CD<\/strong><\/p>\n Only seen as a means to rip, in an era where you can download.<\/p>\n Headset Mics<\/strong><\/p>\n Even Garth Brooks, the progenitor, couldn’t pull it off.<\/p>\n The Rolling Stones<\/strong><\/p>\n Perception is it’s only about the money.\u00c2\u00a0 And if people didn’t think Keith could die any minute, that this really COULD be the last tour, they wouldn’t go.<\/p>\n Heroin<\/strong><\/p>\n Once Artie Lange picks up the habit, you know it’s passe.\u00c2\u00a0 Road musicians is one thing, but COMEDIANS?<\/p>\n Mel Karmazin<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, the Street is rooting for him, but no one believes he’s trustworthy, they’ve just made money on him before and hope to do so again.<\/p>\n Q, BlackJack and the Rest of the Me-Too Smart Phones<\/strong><\/p>\n Smart phones are Treos or BlackBerries.\u00c2\u00a0 And maybe iPhones. MTV & Rolling Stone<\/strong><\/p>\n Two passe brands running on fumes.\u00c2\u00a0 They will never be able to compete online, because no one BELIEVES in them!<\/p>\n American Idol<\/strong><\/p>\n But it’s not SUPPOSED to be credible.\u00c2\u00a0 People watch it because it’s a vapid train-wreck, with one honest conductor, Simon Cowell.<\/p>\n Paris Hilton<\/strong><\/p>\n But she’s not selling credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 She’s an accident on the side of the freeway.\u00c2\u00a0 One staged by immigrants perpetuating insurance fraud.\u00c2\u00a0 Yes, she knows EXACTLY what she’s doing, and she’s laughing all the way to the bank.<\/p>\n The Next Big Thing From England<\/strong><\/p>\n That’s a different marketplace.\u00c2\u00a0 Where there’s national radio and a hunger for the new and different.\u00c2\u00a0 Here, nobody’s paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 And when the hype begins, we laugh.\u00c2\u00a0 Get the feeling that Amy Winehouse is the new Arctic Monkeys?<\/p>\n SNL<\/strong><\/p>\n At least the news used to be funny.\u00c2\u00a0 Now with Tina Fey gone, even THAT’S bad.<\/p>\n Howard Stringer<\/strong><\/p>\n How many jobs has it taken for his geniality to be revealed as a cover-up?\u00c2\u00a0 Sony lost its credibility when it entered the film business, and Sir Howard has not been able to bring the luster back.<\/p>\n Lexus<\/strong><\/p>\n Best built car in the world, with no cachet.<\/p>\n Madonna<\/strong><\/p>\n She used to want to press our buttons, now she just wants to stay famous.\u00c2\u00a0 Creepy.<\/p>\n Top Forty Radio<\/strong><\/p>\n Not since the heyday of Cousin Brucie has Top Forty had credibility.\u00c2\u00a0 The jive deejays, the tight playlists, they don’t fit with today’s times.\u00c2\u00a0 If only they had a dash of Oprah…<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Credibility: the quality of being trusted and believed in New Oxford American Dictionary (via Apple OS X Tiger) CREDIBLE Oprah She features it on her show, people buy it.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only James Blunt, but that inane "Secret" book.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe because she struggles with her weight, or she swore off tabloid issues long before everybody else, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","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":[2,8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business","category-technology","category-the-media"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-bV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739","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=739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}NOT CREDIBLE<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
BlackBerries do e-mail best.\u00c2\u00a0 Treos are the best PDAs.\u00c2\u00a0 iPhones are in a league by themselves.\u00c2\u00a0 Why buy a lame competitor when you can purchase the real thing?<\/p>\n