Idolator
We try to minimize our coverage of self-styled industry pundit Bob Lefsetz around here, in part because we don't know enough about Aspen's slopes to keep up with all of his ski-related metaphors, but this was too good not to share: Earlier this week, Lefsetz sent out a spittle-flecked rant titled "Reasons Not To Sign With The Major Labels". Last night, he e-mailed his list one of the responses inspired by his screed—a sorta-juicy, bitching-about-the-biz blind item that made us more than a bit curious:
My sister is signed with a major label and check out what they told her last week. They said, "We hope you're piling on the makeup and getting dressed up for these radio interviews we're sending you on. We're not hearing good reports. From now on, we're going to select your clothes for you." This is someone who has had two #1's and been nominated for three Grammy's. [sic]She also said the same thing as you. They aren't paying her a dime and she's never recouped. Because radio is so dead, touring's slow for her as well. She's working her ass off for nothing and the label doesn't have a clue about the Internet or how to sell digital music. My friend works for her management company and he's supposed to be rebuilding her website. He said the label can't even tell him who owns it so he can get in to change the DNS.Unsurprising—but really, makeup tips for radio interviews? Have these executives ever seen the people behind some of these microphones? Anyway, your guess is as good as ours, so have at it:
Reasons Not To Sign With The Major Labels [The Lefsetz Letter]
Comments
Why do chicks have to look hot for a radio interviews?
Could be KC- Idol brand keeps almost all those winners' money.
@musicquizking: So the DJs will talk about how hot they look.
I'm voting for Michelle Branch...she has an album out this week (so she'd be promoting) and there's no way, even with the Idol machine taking a lot of KC's money, that she hasn't recouped. Besides, hasn't KC won a grammy?
Thank you for your attempts to minimize Bob Lefsetz coverage. I subscribed to his email list at one point a few years ago and the only thing I learned from the experience is that he must have a Ph.D. in name dropping.
Reading him tell how great his life is, and reading about the sniveling high-ups in music that kiss his ass so they hope he prints something nice about them, all gets to be a little much. But occasionally, like the article above, you get an interesting tidbit.
Can I self-proclaim myself an industry pundit?
Earlier this week, Lefsetz sent out a spittle-flecked rant titled "Reasons Not To Sign With The Major Labels"
You could have posted that any week since Idolator started and nobody would have batted any eye.
According to Wikipedia:
Michelle Branch: won at least one grammy, no #1 Hot 100 single
Kelly Clarkson: won two grammys, nominated for one, one #1 Hot 100 single
P!nk: won two grammys, nominated for four, only one #1 Hot 100 single
Corinne Bailey Rae: nominated for three Grammy Awards, no #1 Hot 100 single
@dickdogfood: Kelly Clarkson has one Hot 100 #1, one Pop #1. I didn't know whether or not the letter writer was only referring to Hot 100 chart position (in part because movement on that chart has been completely glacial over the past few years)
Kelly Clarkson. Because she's all make up.
And her route to fame was rather unorthodox at the time she was introduced. The "Idol" platform that spawned her -- which was still finessing its formula in America -- was a giant endeavor that would have been wrought with overhead, development and promotional costs. Then tack on what J Records likely had to pay Idol to release her, as well as the cost of the subsequent efforts to re-develop her image, commission and purchase the right material from some of the most costly songwriters in the game to fit the re-branding...when you break it down, it's entirely plausible that she may have never recouped, or -- given the strategically engineered nature of her career up to this point -- might be the last person in the equation to see any money.
Maybe there's more to her oft-declared need to break away (full pun intended) and write her own material and all that than the mere notion of "artistic integrity" and shit...just sayin'.
it's Kelly, she has a brother + got slammed for the way she looked at the KIIS Wango Tango show
I vote none of the above, but I'm going to think on it. Kelly has at least one Grammy, right? So I'd think he'd have mentioned a win over just a nomination. Hmmm... Pink is touring with Timberlake, isn't she? How many grammys does Stefani have?
Oh, and Kelly's on RCA, not J. Michelle hasn't had any No. 1s, except the Santana collabo, and she is a Grammy winner for that.
another thing to lead me to think it's Kelly , they mention touring being slow ... the Kelly Clarkson tour went on sale last week so that would be a fresh subject (lots of tickets appear to remain, i was able to pull up 8 tickets for 3 cities)
of course Kelly is charged as much as $88 face value which probably hurts
KC-she often has embarrassing (i.e. normal looking) pictures of her on the gossip blogs..hence all the comments about wanting to control her makeup and outfits. Plus, she has Clive Davis breathing down her neck over the new record, like it alone must save BMG/Sony/Whatevah... being part of American Idol I'm sure stuck her deep inside the dying merry-go-round of record company A&R/radio promotion/selling cds business model....
Avril Lavigne? I'm not sure, but I think she's been nominated for Grammies but has never won one. And she did have at least one #1 hit ("Complicated" and was "Sk8er Boi" or "I'm With You" the other?). Her latest album was released last month.
Also, she has a younger sister.
tour support is a thing of the past? jeez, that's a bummer.
in a previous life, i used to specialize at gaming the tour budgets to extract the most $ from the label. you know, the old, "we really need 20k, so we'll ask for 40k and then haggle from there ("yeah, i suppose you're right, a $10 per diem is too high; the drinks are free, they get a food buyout, the chicks throw themselves at the band, so really, how much money can you spend in the Motel 6 vending machine, let's call it $8 and...what do you mean we can't budget for a hotel each night?")
good times, man, good times...
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