So you can't understand it. You think it's awful drivel.

You're entitled to your opinion, but can you step back, put on your business hat and see why it's a hit?

NO!

It's trash and that's all there is to say about it.

Now in truth I got much more positive feedback than negative feedback about "Move." But it is this definitive opinion that something that is popular, that is embraced by the masses can't be good that is contributing to the division in our world, both culturally and politically. I mean if you can't understand the viewpoint of the other side, irrelevant of whether you agree with it...

The younger generation looks at music differently. They either like it and listen to it or they don't like it and don't listen to it. It's a binary world. They don't feel a need to excoriate those who like something different.

This oldster thinking is a relic of the twentieth century, when we lived in a smaller, much more comprehensible world, when there were guys in leather jackets and black jeans who'd never been laid telling us what was good and bad. Now no one listens to those people. Criticism in general has faltered, because no one is trustworthy and you really want to listen to the opinion of someone who knows your tastes, as opposed to someone who laughs at it.

If you can't understand why "Move" is such a successful track...

That means you don't understand the music business. Which is fine, but I've got so many writers telling me that "Move" sucks and THEIR track is much better!

Well, the barrier to entry is essentially zero, why doesn't your cut have 500+ million streams on Spotify?

Oh, that's right, the game is RIGGED!

We hear excuses like this across society. If you're not winning, the game is stacked against you. And in some cases it is, but in most the purveyors are not that talented, their complaints have more substance than their music, and they spend the majority of their time complaining as opposed to making music.

There are still Democrats who can't understand why Trump won. They believe everybody who voted for Trump is a tool. Now some of them are, but a lot of them are not. A lot of them felt bamboozled by the Democratic Party which kept telling us Biden was capable and then foisted the undesirable Harris upon us. Hell, even Amy Klobuchar went on record this morning that there should have been a Democratic primary.

BUT NO!

It's orthodoxy. If you voted for Trump you hate women and the rule of law and should be ignored. When in truth the border was overrun and economics were not good.

Now don't argue with the points, because that's not my point. The question is can you UNDERSTAND what the other side is thinking, can you weigh it and separate the wheat from the chaff?

No, everybody who voted for Trump is a loser who should not be given the time of day!

And the funny thing is so many people who voted for Trump know that you feel this way about them and this is one of the reasons they voted for Trump!

Why do you so definitively have to hate on "Move"? In truth, no one cares about your opinion, listen or don't, it's your prerogative. The old school gatekeepers are gone, the public is the gatekeeper today, the game is wide open.

And unlike in politics, the choice is not binary. It's not either or. You can listen to this and that. And if you like more than one thing it increases overall consumption of music, and...

This is what we're seeing across the board. Acts that can sell out stadiums that are not universally liked. The press doesn't acknowledge this, it would have you believe today's big musical acts are icons, when they have less impact overall than all the superstars of the recorded music era and...

If you're making a big deal about what you hate...

I'm just trying to edify you here. A song you may not have known has more streams than the songs the press is telling you are hits. Why is this? How did this happen? When you just say "Move" sucks you're completely missing the point.

But that's the modern day world, where everybody gets a voice on the internet, and everybody is frustrated that someone has more of a footprint/impact/money than they do.

That's the main complaint... Someone else is successful and you're not.

Maybe you've got something, a spark, a talent, but understanding the landscape might help you turn it into a success.

However, all we hear is social media is bad, Spotify doesn't pay enough and while we're at it, ticket prices are too high! When social media breaks records, Spotify is the #1 payer in music and ticket prices are only high because people are willing to pay them.

Sure, you can stay home, but more interesting is trying to determine what is going on, why is this selling and this is not.

If you want to be successful in any endeavor today, you must hook the audience. After you've made it you can explore and test limits, but a hit is what allows you to do this. Sans hit, no one wants your drivel.

And a hit is just something that people can't get enough of. Oftentimes it can't be quantified. Hell, do you see Alice in Chains' "Rooster" in all kinds of all-time charts? No, but if you've ever listened to it, it's got this magic...

I get it. You're frustrated. You think you know better. But the only way you can succeed in today's world is to jump in, become part of the morass as opposed to sitting on the sidelines.

"Rolling Stone" is irrelevant. Even Pitchfork means little. All the old arbiters have been torn down. And this makes the scene incomprehensible, you don't know what to listen to or watch, but it allows everything to have a chance, to begin from the same starting line.

You think you know better. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret. NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU THINK!

And the sooner you accept this, the more successful you will be.

Sure, some people care what some people have to say, but you have to EARN your attention, and it happens slower than it did in the pre-internet era, but it happens.

It's a lot of work. And there is great stuff out there. We're all looking for it. I can understand why the Kendrick Lamar/Drake bitchfest was successful, but that does not mean I want to listen to the tracks. Hell, even Questlove said it was the end of hip-hop.

But the truth is people want something to believe in, something to defend, something to live for. Will they live for you?

Possibly, but you've got to catch fire first. That's the primary skill of the social media influencers, their train-wreck value. But they gain your attention in very innovative ways.

You think if you shout loud enough everybody will listen. But we live in the age of cacophony, not everybody has an audience, most people's voices are ignored. How do you get people's attention?

That's job #1.

And the best way to do this is to understand the game. Why certain things are successful and certain things are not.

But people would rather say the baseball player with fifty home runs a season sucks. Do you think that opinion is gaining any traction?

Maybe on talk radio, which specializes in conflict, but...

If anyone gains traction and maintains it today, ask yourself why.

It'll help you.


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