Updates soon...

With the release of the Carter III, i feel its my duty as a hip-hop head to comment on it... and i will. soon. I just kinda gotta listen to it first to let it sink in. In the meantime, this is more than worth your time...

I can just picture Jerry Colliano, whether he is sitting at his desk, or walking around, quietly observing what is going on around hi, chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

His approach to his blog, Inside Music Media, is definitely Yoda-like. He makes curious observations that always apply to the situation at hand, without always overtly stating them. In his post, The Magic is the Music, Jerry begins by making innocent observations about young people:

Shorts.

Young people in shorts, being threatened by ushers to turn off their cell phones (“you’ve got two seconds to turn it off”). Most people dressed for this Broadway show like schleppers. But, then again, times have changed.

Right off the bat, Jerry lets the audience know that he is old because he cannot fathom this phenomenon. Some of his audience is probably older as well and can relate to his feelings, but he also wants to establish himself as different from his younger counterparts, so that he can show how/why his views may be different from theirs later on down the road.

For the most part, his overall tone is one of acceptance of youth culture, which is both a reflection of his own personality and a reflection of how he believes the music industry should interact with the youth of today.

But he doesn’t blast the industry for their backward approach like many of the other blogs that permeate the blogosphere about the music industry (see my post about the Lefsetz Letters). Rather, because he has nothing to lose by the music industry’s failings, he simply diagnosis their problems, and lets them decide if they want to deal with it appropriately. In his post Radio, Records & TV in the Next 10 Years, Jerry talks about the similarities between the various entertainment industries, noting what has been successful and what has not.

Restructuring the labels to concentrate on the music, the artists, the live venues, the branding, the merch – now that’s the magic that the labels have long ago lost.

Jerry uses some of the jargon of the music industry (merch) to establish himself as an insider of sorts. The word does not feel forced at all, but instead, merely gives him respectability points to a certain extent.

In terms of Jerry's own voice, there are no insults, no laments, no furious thrashing of his keyboard to release his emotions.

Kind of like a professor with tenure. You should listen to him, but if you don’t, he doesn’t care. He’s getting paid anyways.

And like a professor, he teaches with examples, using facts rather than opinion to state his case, convincing the reader to understand his point of view rather than shoving it in their face. Here he is focusing on Generation Y's interactions with another faction of the entertainment industry:

Why increasingly they are watching TV on their laptops – parents, I’m sure you can testify to this one. ABC runs Lost – forces them to watch a pre-roll commercial as payment for the rerun of what they gladly missed on cable TV. They get around it by using the time to check their email.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs knows this is true which is one reason why he is introducing what will be a long line of even lighter and brighter laptops that will eventually make the next generation’s TV ultra portable.

Jerry doesn’t come out and say that the entertainment industry is losing the battle to kids in generation Y it doesn’t understand. He doesn’t have to. The facts speak for themselves. And in detaching himself, he actually makes his argument more valid.

And in the few instances he does state his opinion about the business, he’s straight to the point.

the magic is the music.

And that’s it.

Twice now in the same post he has referred to 'magic' as the key to the music industry. The word itself is meant to evoke images of things that go beyond the business world, things that are indescribable and special. In other words, no matter how you dress, package and market it, the music is the most fundamental part of success. And the industry has to have that point driven into their collective heads. End of story.

The language of both posts is brief and almost mundane, making it easy to understand, but more importantly, it makes the solution seem so simple. He does not need to be a smart guy with a great vocabulary to figure this all out. He merely needs to assess the situation realistically and with an open mind, without the pretentiousness of the people who he is trying to help in his own way.

The Lefsetz Letters

In my illustrious musical life, I have had many influences and people I would like to thank. When it comes to the internet and the anarchy it has caused, however, the voice of Bob Lefestz stands out among others.

Author of the Lefsetz Letters, Bob has been writing for about 20 years (according to his site) about the music industry, originally as a newsletter, and now as a wanna-be blog. Lefsetz is so prominent in the music industry that his blog is the 10278th most popular blog on technorati.com. Not only does he have many fans who are common folk like myself, but his voice also carries to the top of the biz. He garners the attention of some of the biggest artists, executives and producers in music, even sometimes posting their emails, both negative and positive, that he receives from them, like this one from rapper/country artist/ex Pamela Anderson-er Kid Rock:

I was reading your article saying that country music fans r some of the best fans in the world. I said to myself…."Shit, I’ve known that for ten years" !!!!!!

Kid Rock

Now, Kid Rock may not be the biggest or most talented name in the music biz, but he does read the Lefsetz Letters, and even takes the time to respond. So he might know a leetle more than me, and be just a tad bit more respected.

Part of the reason people love Lefsetz is his candid approach to a variety of topics. He doesn't shy away from throwing anyone, from the biggest stars to the infallible gods who are often given a pass (ahem, Clive Davis and Simon Cowell), under the bus. But his true strength comes in his ability to take industry news and personalize it. Recently, Paul McGuiness, manager of the super group U2, insisted that the US government force ISP's to charge its users a monthly fee if they want to download mp3's from their server. Bob replies:

I’m crying foul. I’d love it if the ISPs offered legal music. I’d pay ten bucks a month for all I can eat and keep. I already pay Time Warner $165 a month, ten dollars more is fine. But, they don’t tell me how much TV I can watch, they don’t shut my Internet down, they don’t insult me, they stay out of my way.

If only the label stayed out of my way. If only the acts they purveyed didn’t stop beating me over the head in the media, telling me how great they are. If only the "hippies" in Silicon Valley Mr. McGuinness rails about were (not) in control of music. Then maybe we’d live in a better universe. I always loved that hippie music better than this pop crap anyway, didn’t you?

Bob is putting himself in the shoes of the average music fan, the people who hate the music industry for punishing us for their own short term thinking. His biting sarcasm really makes the reader take his point of view, understanding just how backwards his thinking can be.

Despite the great commentary and ability to poignantly poke holes in arguments, his blog is not really a blog at all. While he does post often, his blog is read only, so only comments he selects are published for others to see. This kind of, ya know, goes against the whole concept that web 2.0 is supposed to be an aggregative discussion place. His desire to keep the riff raff off his page is kind of a throwback, meaning that Bob sees his opinion as intrinsically more valuable than others, simply because we can always see his opinion, but only the reactions of others if he chooses to divulge them. Beyond that, the man doesn't have a blog roll, or much information about himself. It's just Bob's thoughts; and they are valuable in their own right. But the "riff-raff" might have some compelling thoughts to contribute.

Bob's blog is kind of an inspiration to me because I like how he discusses issues in the music industry using his own experiences as starting points. I am definitely going to try and do this as much as I can in my own writing, because the personal experiences fans have with music is what makes it wonderful escapism and inspiration.

But I can't write like he does. Simply put, I know my limitations. I know that I have not been around as long as Bob, I know I do not understand the past, present and future of the industry like Bob does, and finally, I simply want to be open to more discussion. Despite his intellectual superiority, he doesn't use the beauty of blogs as well as he could, closing off his thoughts from those of his peers. Everyone has something to say, and I want to hear about it, not simply tell people my point of view.

To check out more of his ranting and ravings, check out these articles that piqued my interest
Hall & Oates at the Troubadour
this one is an unlikely personal ode to the great pop duo Daryl Hall and John Oates of the 80's, showcasing his blunt and entertaining personal opinions about what kind of music is effective.
Next Up:
The MySpace Deal
This piece is about how the music industry is behind the ball on record deals, and is definitely more of a professional blog, with analytical analysis and statistics to back up Lefsetzs' arguments. That being said, it still has his narration, making it more interesting.

Finally, this post was simply unfathomable to me because I have never seen another person Lefsetz's age get my generation like he does here...
Liberty City

Enjoy, he knows whats up.