Gil Scott-Heron RIP

I remember reading the profile on Gil Scott-Heron in the New Yorker about a year ago and thinking it's amazing he's still alive.  Sadly he passed away on Friday.  Read the obit from the Alec Wilkinson author of that profile.

Adele's Jerk Ex-Boyfriend Feels Entitled To Royalties

As Techdirt points out, this is a few weeks old, but still worth mentioning. In this litigious society we live in, it seems that exes are taking it a little too far.  As if a breakup isn't bad enough, the person who caused the heartache tries to sue you for ownership of the songs you wrote because of the breakup.

Adele's ex is claiming he "inspired" the songs and therefore should get partial ownership. Isn't he embarrassed to make such a claim?  Isn't he embarrassed that he caused such pain?  Guess not.  He wants a cut of the royalties.

Adele's response to him: Well, you made my life hell, so I lived it and now I deserve it.

Gaga For A Dollar

Lady Gaga's album Born This Way is available on Amazon for a $.99 download today.  The only way to secure the download is to load it on to the Amazon cloud.  From there you can download to your computer.  Let's assume that this was the biggest way possible for Amazon to get consumers involved in their cloud service. It does one up Google for the day. 

Follow this link to get the offer. It's not that easy to find.

Wendy Corsi Staub on Writing, Optioning And The Importance Of A Dog

Inspiration comes in many places.  Realizing that Grand Central Station no longer had baggage lockers, author Wendy Corsi Staub thought about where she could stash a bag while she went about her business in the city.  As she walked through the terminal, she passed the sign for the Lost and Found, which got her thinking about the process of turning something in to the Lost and Found and then trying to retrieve it.  Wendy now had the opening of Live To Tell, the first in a trilogy of thrillers. 

Wendy was the guest author at book club last night. She is a prolific writer having authored books in different genres:  thriller/mystery, chic-lit, young adult as well as ghost writing biographies. 

Authors have so many different writing processes.  John Irving always knows the ending of his book before he starts writing. Wendy explained her method. “I edit during the writing process.  The story is ever evolving and I'm constantly rereading, rewriting, cutting and pasting, adding and deleting.  When I reach the end of the manuscript, it's DONE.  I wish I could be one of those authors who writes a complete first draft, then goes back and does a second draft and then a third, but that's just not comfortable for me. I edit as I go and the first draft is my final draft, then it goes straight to my husband for a read. I tweak for typos and continuity per his feedback and then it lands on my editor’s desk.”   She said that when you first get published, you have to turn in outlines. She’s not big on outlines. Her editor, Lucia Macro (book club member) said it’s rare that any of her authors work with outlines; in fact she could only think of one who plotted a whole book before writing it.  Wendy submits story summaries and a first chapter.

Surprisingly Lucia told us that authors do have the final say on their content. (Not always the case for musicians working with a record label.) The editor and author share the same vision for the book, but it’s the editor’s job to make sure the author is not taking it in a very wrong direction. Wendy was once an editor and she believes in working with her editor.  As with most musicians, I’m assuming most writers are precious with their art.  Editors are there to make the art more sellable and readable.  Artists don’t always see it that way.  Aren’t two heads better than one?  Wendy thinks so. 

Live to tell is set in New York City and it’s suburbs.  Lauren Walsh is recently divorced from Nick, the on again/off again dad.  She’s in what she thought was her dream house, a sprawling suburban Victorian in need of upgrades.  Is she a little woe-is-me?  Probably, but she had the rug pulled out from under her. Her husband leaves her for an older woman, gets an apartment in a doorman building in White Plains and takes the kids whenever he gets around to it.  She’s got the responsibility and he has the girlfriend. 

Her youngest daughter Sadie loses Fred, her beloved stuffed animal.  It’s more than a toy.  It was a gift from Nick and it’s one piece of her dad she can hold on to.  Nick reluctantly goes to the Lost and Found in Grand Central to claim what he thinks is Fred.  It’s not Fred and it’s filled with more than just stuffing. 

As with any good thriller, Live To Tell engaged me.  It’s hard to write about the story without giving it away.  To coin a phrase, the plot thickens, the kids are involved and a ruthless politician needs to get his way.  There seems to be no shortage of inspiration from stories in the news regarding politicians and their sordid lives.  Wendy mentioned that when she was writing this book, the Eliot Spitzer scandal was in full swing. 

Live to Tell would be a perfect cable TV movie, actually it would perfectly play out as a mini-series.   I asked Wendy if she was approached about optioning her work for film or TV and she said there has been interest. A lot of times she’s told what I have heard too many times as a manager and it’s ridiculous, “You need to have a strong male lead.  We can’t have just a female lead.”  I’ve worked with many female musicians and used to hear from radio stations,  “Even though we love the record, we can’t add it this week as we already have two female musicians on our play list”.  Why is the entertainment industry still so female-phobic?  A look at today’s iTunes chart shows who is leading the pack.  Six of the Top 10 downloads are from female artists (I’m including Black Eyed Peas).  At number one is Adele and Lady Gaga has two slots. Get over it Hollywood. We love our female leads. 

The characters are very believable, the story is cohesive and I was cheering for the good guys. I can’t think of a better summary for a mini-series. 

Apparently you can judge a book by its cover.  Lucia told us that the book cover is really important, especially in the thriller and chic-lit world.  People do buy a book based on its cover.  Buyers at stores pay a lot of attention to book covers.  A few authors have told me that if a book cover is approved and it isn’t a true representation of the story, it is easier for the author to amend his/her story to include something from the artwork rather than change the cover.  Art influencing art? 

Since many of us in book club are dog lovers, we had to ask about Chauncey, the Walsh’s pet.  I won’t say what happens to Chauncey, but I will say that once Wendy had a dog killed in one of her books. She got so much negative mail that she would never go down that path again. 

Wendy Corsi Staub’s most recent book is Scared To Death, the follow up to Live To Tell.

Fascinating piece on Grand Central's Lost and Found and other secrets.  

Oh my god. Who let me out of the house?

This exclaimed Rosanne Cash after finding some publicity photos of herself at age 20, 21.  At the time she was promoting her first record which initially came out in Germany.  Read full tweet.

I think we've all had that moment.   I look back on photos from 6th, 7th, 8th grade where my hair was all over the place or pulled back in a pony tail. It looks awful. I once asked my mother why she didn't insist on cutting my hair.  Her response, "I had to pick my fights."  

Here is the cover of Rosanne's first record.  She looks pretty amazing.  She's giving Linda Ronstadt a run for her money.

Record Labels Settle with LimeWire, What Does That Mean For The Artists?

According to the NY Times,  the major record labels won a $105 million settlement against the file-sharing network LimeWire.  The article asks the age old question: What will the artists see?  As most lawyers, managers or artists will tell you, they will see nothing.  Legal fees have to be paid first and I'm sure those are hefty, but what the labels keep and what gets to the artists are two different amounts.  I'd love to hear from any musician who saw money from a record label after his/her label successfully sued a company in a case where money should have gone to the artist. 

John Carter: A Great Music Man

 Carter, as everyone seemed to call him, was one of those rare A&R guys whom really knew his stuff. Talk about putting in your hours.  He was about as well rounded in the music biz as one could be.

• He was a musician
• He wrote songs (Incense and Peppermints)
• Worked as a promotion man for Atlantic Records in the 70’s in San Francisco
• Was an A&R man, first at Capitol Records
• Produced records, first being Sammy Hagar who he signed to Capitol
• Signed Tina Turner and produced Private Dancer
• Managed artists

I’m sure all of the above made him the perfect A&R guy.  He knew what songs to pick for the artist and he knew when a song needed help.

On co-writing songs with artists he produced, “I really harassed and harassed people to improve their songwriting over the course of a project...and maybe in the eleventh hour, I finally said, "That's it. I can't stand it anymore. Here's a lyric. What do you think?" So really, it was usually as a last resort—not a first choice.”  (Read more of this interview on Taxi’s website)

Carter passed away from cancer. I never had the pleasure of working with him, but people I know did, and loved him. 

For a personal account, read Bob Lefsetz column.

Musicians: Make The Effort For Yourselves

The life of a musician can be solitary.  If you're in a band, you can collaborate with band members, you're on the road with them, but when it comes to the end of the day, it's you.  Seth Godin's Self Directed Effort is the Best Kind, got me thinking about the musicians that have a career and those who don't.

Seth asks if you need a boss, trainer, etc to stand over you to make you go the extra mile.  Do you need incentives to reach your goals?  Can you attain your goals by yourself? Are you motivated and regimented enough? 

Seth writes:
Effort's ephemeral, hard to measure and incredibly difficult to deliver on a regular basis. So we hire a trainer or a coach or a boss and give up our freedom and our upside for someone to whip us into shape. Obviously, you give up part of what you create to the trainer/coach/boss in exchange for their oversight.

Do we need the taskmaster? 

I've been a freelancer for quite a few years now and sometimes it would be nice to have a taskmaster telling me what to do.  It is easy to look at the check list and keep moving items around that you don't necessarily want to deal with.  But what about the satisfaction of crossing those items/tasks off your list?  Doing it yourself.  That's a great feeling. 

Do musicians have lists?  Being a musician these days means more than just making music.  Each day a musician needs to send out emails, update twitter/blog, make a new video, write a song, prepare for a tour, get to the next venue, etc.  I could argue that this is where a manager comes into play, but the manager can't force a musician to do something. She/he can suggest things and point out what will help  a career and propose great deals, but ultimately it's up to the musician to make it happen for herself.  

The successful musician does not give in to leaving it up to others or the taskmaster to make it happen. Where is the satisfaction in that?  If the musician believes in what she is doing, then she must  ultimately be the one to carry out her plan/ideals.  She is the one who has to go the extra mile, not because someone is monitoring her, but because she believes. 

Surrender To The Mariachi

American Idol Sells Records

The April 27th episode of American Idol featured the songs of Carole King.  Billboard reports that on the heels of that show, her records "Live at the Troubadour" and the iconic "Tapestry" have both re-entered the Top 200:  "Troubadour"  at No. 170, up 106% and her No. 1 1971 effort "Tapestry" No. 178, up 135%.  There are still people out there who do not own Tapestry?

 Great songs endure. 

BMG & Universal Want In On Warner Music AND EMI

According to Bloomberg, BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Group might make a joint bid for Warner Music AND EMI.  There are two other groups in the bidding.  Both Live Nation and another group led by Sean Parker have backed out of the race.

Albums are for fans, singles are for newbies

Albums are for fans, singles are for newbies.

Don't make an album expecting to reach a new audience.  If you want to reach a new audience, focus on the single.
-Bob Lefetz

Bob is so spot on.  Consumers stopped buying music because they were sick of getting one or two good songs on an album and the rest were mediocre.  They still had to plop down $12-$15.  When you anaylize the cost, they paid about $7 per song, if there were two good songs on the CD. 

When I was growing up, all we really had were singles.  I did buy, or my parents bought for me Meet the Beatles and the rest of the Beatles albums through Help. I owned all the Monkees albums.  It probably wasn't until the 1970's when I started buying albums on a regular basis. Up to that point it was all singles.  When I bought Build Me Up Buttercup, do you think I was wondering if the Foundations had a whole album of songs like that?  No.  I had three Bobby Sherman singles, but no albums, same for the Supremes. 

I remember the lyrics to all those songs to this day, even if I haven't heard the song in years.  Music sticks with you whether it's a song or a whole album full of them.  Put out music when you make it.  Don't save it for an album.  There are only a few amazing concept albums that are meant to be listened to as a whole.  Keep your fan base active.  There should be no downtime when it comes to enlightening your fans.  No one is waiting three years for your next album. 

Read Bob's full post here. 

Mavis, A Tribute to Ellie and Bettye

Lincoln Center Out Of Doors just announced their summer lineup and it's chock a block with morsels for your ears.  The women come on strong.  Lesley Gore, La La Brooks, background singer extraordinaire Ula Hedwig and Toni Wine are just  a portion of the females performing on July 30th, which includes a tribute to Ellie Greenwich.

Mavis Staples takes you to The Damrosch Park Bandshell the following day.  Did you see the profile of her on CBS Sunday Morning this week?  Laurie Anderson brings along some friends on August 10th.  Closing out the summer on August 14th is Steve Cropper and friends Tribute To The “5” Royales.  Joining them will be powerhouse Bettye Lavette.

Phoebe Snow RIP

Just listening to the Wrap Up Show on Howard 100 and was sad to learn that Phoebe Snow passed away.  According to ABC News, she died from complications of a brain hemorrhage she suffered in January 2010.  As her manager Sue Cameron put so well, "The loss of this unique and untouchable voice is incalculable."  Gary Dell'Abate said he loved having her on the show. She always came on reluctantly, but loved the feedback she received.  She was a devoted mom to her daughter, who was brain damaged and died at age 31. 

Don't Believe Anything You've Heard About This Band

PR gets one over on journalists. Ann Powers demystifies the "band" Delicate Steve. It's actually one guy, Steve Marion who records instrumental music. He's on the Luaka Bop's label.

It's hard enough to get any press attention for your band. It's that much harder to convince someone to write about instrumentals.  Steve's label thought it would be a great idea to get Chuck Klosterman to write the bio. Chuck is a music writer and has written several books which  include one about visiting musician death sites.  He was given free reign to write whatever he wanted. He didn't even have to listen to the music.  The idea paid off.

Publicists have told me that nobody really reads past the first few lines of a press release.  Well the headline of Delicate Steve's is a winner.  THE CRITICS UNILATERALLY CONCUR: DELICATE STEVE IS A BAND WHO CREATES MUSIC.  This basically tells you that Delicate Steve perform and more than likely write their own music.  Ann pondered this.

My favorite line of the bio:  "Delicate Steve was signed to the label before anyone at Luaka Bop heard even a moment of their music – all he needed to experience was a random conversation about what they hoped to achieve as a musical five-piece." The "he" they are referring to is a real person, but not an A and R guy as mentioned.  I wonder if Chuck was thinking The Rutles when he wrote this.  The Rutles was filled with so many brilliant stories.  There were strict security measure taken for The Rutles first play at Che Stadium:

As a security precaution the Rutles arrived by helicopter a day early. This enabled them to be safely out of the place before the audience came in. It was a brilliant public relations coup. The kids were screaming so hard that thousands never noticed the difference. Promoter Syd Bottle described it as the most exciting twenty minutes of his life.


Delicate Steve - "Wondervisions" Video (Feat. Nat Baldwin) from stereogum on Vimeo.

Sammy's Alien Abduction

In my last post, I reviewed Sammy Hagar's book.  I did not mention his encounter with aliens, which seems to be the part of the book getting the most attention.  I would be remiss if I didn't post the recreation of that scene as shown on Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Rockstar & Entrepreneur Does It Get Any Better?

Being a rock star is a dream so few people achieve.  Being a successful entrepreneur is probably an even bigger dream now.  Being both, well does it get any better? Sammy Hagar appreciates what he has. 

He has such passion for music and life, which is what makes reading his book Red My Uncensored Life In Rock so much fun. 

He grew up in California.  His grandparents were migrant farm workers. His mother, a first generation American (Italian parents), married his father when she was 15 years old.  His father “could beat up anyone.”  Sammy is the baby of his family.  The mother, with kids in tow, would flee the father more than once.  His father was an abusive alcoholic.  When his dad was sober for nine months, it was the happiest time of Sammy’s childhood. 

As with a lot of musicians, when he heard the Beatles, his career path was decided.  Sammy saw the Rolling Stones in 1964 in San Bernardino.  He and a friend (who taught him to play guitar) snuck in the venue right behind the band. He was at the band's first US show.  His mother told him if he learned how to play Never On Sunday, she would buy him a guitar. Not wanting this opportunity to pass, he learned the song and got his guitar. 

Great lesson for aspiring musicians:  If you want something bad enough you’ll get it.

“I got a record deal because I went to bed writing songs.  I woke up in the morning writing songs.  I spent every second of my waking hours trying to write songs.”  He’s a great songwriter. He’s writing the lyrics to I Can’t Drive 55 as the cop is giving him a speeding ticket. 

He never stopped touring.  After he left Montrose and embarked on a solo career, he opened for bands like Boston.  On nights off he would play smaller venues.  He was on the road constantly.  He befriended promoters such as Bill Graham and Louis Messina.  He was selling out arenas, but Capitol Records couldn’t get him past the 350,000 records sold mark.  When he signed with Geffen Records, the hits followed. 

The cliché story is the one where the musician becomes popular, has success and then it goes to his/her head.  He/she becomes complacent.   Sammy does a 180. “Success really motivated me.  When I was hungry I lacked confidence.  I was faking it.  It took fame and fortune for me to become myself.” 

No matter how famous he was, his mother reminded him that he needed something to fall back on.  He took this to heart and the entrepreneur took over. He co-founded the second largest fire sprinkler company in the US. He owned a bike shop.  He funded a travel agency.  It didn’t make him a lot of money, but he had no travel costs on the road.  I worked for such a company that was co-owned by John Telfer who was managing Joe Jackson at the time.  He funded it for the same reason. 

One of Sammy’s financial disasters was a clothing company.  He turned his “red” branding into a line of clothing.  They didn’t meet deadlines and it went under. 

His best-known ventures are the Cabo Wabo Cantinas and Cabo Wabo Tequila.  The history of both is worth the read.  A few years ago he sold 80 percent of his Cabo Wabo tequila business to Gruppo Campari for $80 million. 

Oh, there is also a band called Van Halen.  If you want rock star tales, there are plenty of them in this section. Sammy as it seems is  always looking for something to stimulate him.  He took a pay cut to join Van Halen.   The band’s best songs came during the Sammy years. Why Can’t This Be Love and Right Now are the standouts. 

It was not easy reading about the decline of Eddie Van Halen.  Sammy doesn’t paint a rosy picture.  Although he appears to have loved working with him, Eddie’s misery was too much to deal with.  After Sammy was pushed out of the band, you’ll wonder why he ever wanted to try a second time.

This book is inspiring for someone who wants to be a musician and/or entrepreneur.   If you’re willing to put in the hours and are passionate about your craft/project, it can be done.  Stay positive and grasp life.

Coachella Live Streaming On YouTube

The music starts here at 4pm PST. 

Here's the schedule, which is subject to change:

Tonight, April 15th
Channel 1
4:10PM • The Drums
4:55PM • Cee Lo Green
5:45PM • Moving Units
6:30PM • Ozomatli
7:25PM • Interpol
8:35PM • Ms. Lauryn Hill
9:55PM • Kings of Leon
11:15PM • The Black Keys
12:05AM • Gayngs
Channel 2
4:00PM • !!!
4:50PM • Warpaint
5:35PM • Cold Cave
6:25PM • YACHT
7:10PM • Cold War Kids
8:00PM • Titus Andronicus
9:00PM • The Pains Of Being Pure ...
10:00PM • Tame Impala
10:55PM • Monarchy
12:00AM • Flogging Molly
Channel 3
4:30PM • The Morning Benders
5:45PM • Ariel Pink's Haunted Gra...
7:25PM • Interpol - surveillance
8:20PM • Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
12:00AM • Scala & Kolacny Bros.

Saturday April 16th
Channel 1
4:00PM • Freelance Whales
4:50PM • Erykah Badu
6:05PM • Broken Social Scene
6:55PM • Here We Go Magic
7:40PM • Gogol Bordello
8:30PM • Mumford & Sons
9:25PM • The Swell Season
10:20PM • Bright Eyes
Channel 2
4:30PM • Two Door Cinema Club
5:20PM • Cage The Elephant
6:10PM • The Foals
7:00PM • The New Pornographers
7:55PM • The Kills
9:05PM • Big Audio Dynamite
10:05PM • Elbow
11:00PM • Raphael Saadiq
11:55PM • Scissor Sisters
Channel 3
4:00PM • Black Joe Lewis & the Ho...
5:45PM • Jenny and Johnny
6:35PM • Yelle
7:30PM • Brandt Brauer Frick
8:30PM • ENCORE PERFORMANCES
10:25PM • Empire Of The Sun
11:30PM • ENCORE PERFORMANCES

Sunday April 17th:
Channel 1
4:00PM • Wiz Khalifa
5:00PM • Nas & Damian Marley
6:10PM • Death from Above 1979
7:25PM • The National
8:30PM • Ratatat
8:55PM • The Strokes
Channel 2
4:00PM • Jack's Mannequin
4:50PM • Jimmy Eat World
5:55PM • Fistful of Mercy
7:25PM • Duran Duran
8:35PM • Chromeo
9:45PM • PJ Harvey
11:05PM • She Wants Revenge
Channel 3
4:00PM • Angus & Julia Stone
4:45PM • HEALTH
5:35PM • MEN
6:05PM • Best Coast
6:55PM • Foster the People
7:40PM • Ellie Goulding
8:30PM • ENCORE PERFORMANCES

It's Friday

It's Friday!  The Rebecca Black video Friday has hit the 100 million YouTube views mark in one month.  This is faster than Justin Bieber's Baby achieved the same milestone.  He took 2 months and 8 days.  Earlier in the week we heard that  Glee will cover Friday in their prom episode.  Hey, it's Friday!

Does Buying A Music Company Make Financial Sense?

Bids are coming in for the Warner Music Group.  The sale includes the publishing arm, which is profitable.  The other half is the record label and we all know record labels do not make a sound financial investment or could they?  It all depends on the price you pay for it.

The NY Times is reporting that bids are around $3 billion.  Richard Greenfield, an analyst at the financial services company BTIG is quoted in the article as saying,  “Warner hasn’t traded to a $3 billion valuation since 2007 and as far as I can tell, the music environment is getting worse and worse, not better. So assuming the price talk is real, why is somebody willing to pay that much?”

That money doesn't make sense.  If the stakes were lower, it would not be that crazy to turn the assets into gold.  I've been trying to get a music project off the ground, which in simple terms would be a music database.  If someone or company was willing to put the Warner assets (and they are extensive and credible) to good public use, I'm sure they would see financial rewards.   People would love access to the archives as well as good new music.  Warner had a reputation for being the artist friendly label.  They cared about their acts. 

Whoever buys this company should not hire the men who've been running the business for too long now.  Hire those who believe in the integrity of the music, who have passion, not just big eyes for a way too big paycheck.  The business has lost it's sparkle and I believe it can regain it.   It all depends on the price paid and the people running it.