You can’t get a big head, because it will be taken away from you in a second. A lot of artists don’t understand that. They think if they get a record, they’ll be here forever. We have seen people that stopped being hungry, who have no career right now. We have worked, worked, worked, worked, worked. | | | | Destiny's Child in Sydney, Australia, May 1, 2002.
(Bob King/Redferns/Getty Images) | | | | | | “You can’t get a big head, because it will be taken away from you in a second. A lot of artists don’t understand that. They think if they get a record, they’ll be here forever. We have seen people that stopped being hungry, who have no career right now. We have worked, worked, worked, worked, worked.”
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| | rantnrave:// You're a promoter or ticketing exec or agent setting ticket prices for a major tour. Do you seek the price most likely to stifle speculative ticket scalpers or do you go for the number that won't price out a mom and her kids? The price that leaves the scalper no room to ask for more, or the price that leaves mom with enough money to buy sodas and beer? Pick one. Is there a bipartisan middleground or is this the concert industry's irreconcilable difference? On the final day of the POLLSTAR LIVE conference last week in Los Angeles, I listened to JUSTIN BURLEIGH, TICKETMASTER's chief product officer, decry scalpers who speculate on someone else's precious tickets and pocket the difference, same as if they were speculating on gold. "We want more of that to go to the artist," he said. Translation: We should charge more. It's a widely held point of view in the ticket business, and it's fair, and it's hard to argue with. But a day earlier, I had listened to PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY's MARTY DIAMOND talk just as passionately about the need for a price point that works for the fan as much as it works for the artist. A price point where beer remains affordable and a t-shirt doesn't become a luxury item. "I still ask myself," he said, "what is it gonna cost a mom and four kids to go out?" Technology goal for 2019, or maybe 2020 or 2021: Solve this... Here's CHERIE HU on music tech goals, and actual possibilities, for 2019... Elsewhere at Pollstar, one of the few conferences where you might find yourself having lunch with the Brazilian guy who choreographs drone shows for a single song at METALLICA shows: The cutting edge in punk-rock touring is mixing and matching bands and genres, SOUNDCLOUD rappers with rock bands, indie-rock with pop-punk, etc. In a world where kids skip freely from JIMMY EAT WORLD to DRAKE on streaming sites, why shouldn't live shows feel the same?, asked EVANGELIA LIVANOS of SYNERGY ARTIST MANAGEMENT. The trick is to maintain the feeling of punk cooperation and community, said WARPED TOUR's KEVIN LYMAN. "Ninety percent of the things we did on Warped Tour," he said, "were outside of booking bands." Problem A with selling tickets six to eight months in advance: Marty Diamond recalled buying ONE DIRECTION tix for his kids, but by the time the show rolled around the kids were like "that's a nonstarter, dad." Kids move on much faster than they used to, he said. Problem B: If you want to accept blockchain as currency, Burleigh warned, you may find your take looks a hell of a lot different on concert day than it did when you originally sold all your tickets, thanks to blockchain pricing volatility. DAVE GROHL on why it's too late for FOO FIGHTERS to ever break up: "Imagine your grandparents getting a divorce. I'm sure it happens, but why?"... And one leftover nugget from the UPFRONT SUMMIT, a tech investor gathering a couple weeks earlier: DUFF MCKAGAN sharing an early lesson in controlling your own publishing. When GUNS N' ROSES were coming up, before they had hits, they were offered $10,000 for the publishing to one song (by a guy at a DENNY's, which is an excellent THAT THING YOU DO touch). But McKagan and his bandmates had studied DONALD PASSMAN's ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS (as all musicians should, no matter how long their hair, no matter how good their riffs). That was a lot of money. But "we figured if it's worth 10,000 bucks to him, then it must be worth something to us." Welcome to the jungle... Financial scheming behind the expected sale of a big piece of UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP... BRIAN ENO on EUROVISION and Israel... RIP HARRY HIRSCH. | | | - Matty Karas, curator |
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| Ten million people tuned in to Marshmello’s concert in Fortnite’s Pleasant Park, and it shows that music’s next act is virtual. | | |
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| I thought now would be a good time to examine where the music-tech sector might be headed this year—through the prism of Techstars Music, Abbey Road Red and similar startup programs. Below are five trends and what they reveal about the way tech founders and investors understand the music industry—and, in turn, how artists and music companies could respond. | | |
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| His two albums as bandleader — 2015’s "The Epic" and 2018’s "Heaven and Earth" — have brought spiritual, improvisational music out of collector’s crates, and onto mainstream festival stages. We talked about the Los Angeles community and the evolution of their work, and the music Kamasi’s music occupies in the world now. | | |
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| The musician has been accused of dangling career opportunities while pursuing female artists for sex, then turning domineering and vengeful. He denies the claims. | | |
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| Smollett's story didn't ring true to me, but the idea that he was lying was almost too awful to contemplate. | | |
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| Twenty-one years since the release of Mezzanine, Massive Attack are taking it on tour - with added films. The band and their visuals director, Adam Curtis, tell us why. | | |
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| Few, besides music and film nerds, knew the name Ludwig Göransson until last Sunday (Feb. 9), when the Swedish producer began trending after the Grammys. Göransson took home three awards, his first. | | |
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| A new book details the saga of private equity company Terra Firma acquiring EMI in August 2007 for £4.2bn. This extract details the battle over Radiohead’s seventh album. | | |
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| The rapper's move reflects an industry shift where young talents are foregoing traditional label deals in favor of broader independence, following trend-setters like Chance the Rapper and Frank Ocean. | | |
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| Did Jim Morrison expose himself in Miami? After the Doors played Dinner key on March 1, 1969, the criminal justice system went to work. The Lizard King was arrested and put on trial for indecent exposure. | | |
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| Before 1919, the music was considered more novelty than art. Then a military band changed everything. | | |
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| The plastic and packaging that comes with CDs and vinyl makes them seem worse for the environment, but the popularity of music streaming services may be polluting in other ways. | | |
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| Jayda G studied whales before becoming a globetrotting DJ and music producer. Now, she's running a series of talks with young scientists to marry her two passions. | | |
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| Mandy Moore has already gone through several career phases in her young life, from teenage pop star to animated voice artist to dramatic actress. But her latest phase, as matriarch Rebecca Pearson on "This Is Us," came after a long period in which she put her career on hold and lost her sense of self. | | |
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| Oscar-nominated for "If Beale Street Could Talk," Nicholas Britell digs into his exciting career | | |
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| Longtime activist Van Jones has a new role: bringing rappers and business tycoons together to fix the parole and probation systems. | | |
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| Give the drummer some! On this day in 2017, the world lost one of its most influential drummers. | | |
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| With a new lineup and album, whole new you, Jim Heath and rockabilly punk cohorts are stretching boundaries but still kicking a**. | | |
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| Jason King explores the best and worst of Beyoncé’s movie roles -- and how they help us better understand her path to global superstardom. | | |
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| The ‘Take Me to Church’ singer on Seamus Heaney and why he got a tattoo of the poet’s last words. | | |
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