So I have a rival; a Pepsi to my Coke, a Burger King to my McDonalds, a Gimbles to my Macys, a Warner to my CBS. I decided to be CBS because I’ve always been intrigued Walter Yetnikoff’s infamous vendetta for no real reason against Warner Music, whose high point was definitely the political style campaign buttons emblazoned with the slogan “Fuck the Bunny.” My rivals insignia is a coffee filter so stay tuned for my equally vitriolic button.
Talent Filter, a new anonymous A&R Blog, is getting a lot of love in the Music industry Blogosphere over the past two weeks. First a mention in Coolfer and now an interview in Hypebot. First let me say that this blog is good, whoever writes it is clearly on top of everything and must have an RSS feed of every blog on their MP3 capable Treo or a Hogan’s Heroes style bug in the major label conference rooms. There is a ton of inside information, it is updated frequently, it has a real focus, and it is well written. This alone puts it ahead of 90% percent of the music blogs out there. I wouldn’t want a nemesis that was incompetent. That wouldn’t be any fun.
But, I have several problems with TALENTFilter after reading the Hypebot interview,
First:
"...This is my only real outlet to express my opinions honestly without having to sugarcoat things in fear of pissing someone off..."Who are they really going to piss off 95% of what is on the blog is positive. Who in their right mind is going to be upset about praise for an unknown artist. The artist and team should be happy about anything they can put in a media kit, the referrer should be happy that their site or station is getting a mention as a purveyor of top talent. The only people I can think might have a problem with it is the writers friends who may feel they are being used for their inside knowledge to further the career of TALENTFilter. I have a link to my blog on the bottom of all my emails, and will proudly stand up for my opinions.
And when asked about her background (I’m not sure what is the gender of this person. It is never specified if it is a guy or girl and I’m not going to be sexist and automatically assume it is a guy) she replies:
"...worked for a pretty successful artist discovery firm for a while and witnessed first-hand the plain stupidity of a lot of the younger A&R execs at the majors, who spend more time trying to woo the latest trendy Williamsburg / Silverlake band, as opposed to searching out acts that will appeal to the mainstream..."
This bothers me for several reasons. There is no mainstream in America anymore. It is a niche world. You don’t have to look at CD sales to see that, but it can be surmised by TV ratings, book sales, just about anything that is an entertainment property. I would argue the opposite is true. It is by only appealing to the mainstream that led the major labels to their current state. I think most younger A&R execs (and I would like to know what the filter considers younger and for that matter an exec) are idealistic and trying to change that. I know I personally strived to find bands that were both musically interesting and profitable. Profitable is different then Why can’t we have both?
Also the rip on Williamsburg and Silverlake is weak. The fact was that there were bands out of those areas th
at did well, and more importantly were good. It stands to reason that the music business would want to continue to mine that area for talent. Was an A&R “exec” lambasted for pursuing Seattle bands in the 90’s or Laurel Canyon bands in the late 60’s early 70’s. The answer is no. This is just a potshot that uses trendy neighborhoods in much the same way the writer abhors, as a back up to mock credibility merely by their mention. If liking a band is lazy merely because of their location, then disliking them is an equally deplorable offense.And so I have my rival, Shes west coast, I'm east coast, Biggie to her Tupac. I'm a rambler and she is succinct. And so the the war begins. Some people may say there is room for both of us and point to Macys and Gimbles, but in reality Gimbles is dead. TALENTfilter is Gimbles.
5 comments:
CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
Hello sir!
Randomly came across your blog and noticed your posting about our little TALENTfilter blog -- thanks so much for the props! After perusing your other postings, we're excited that someone with just as much passion and insight is helping to report on industry goings-on...
Hoping to take this opportunity to answer some questions you'd pondered and respond to some comments made in your piece...
"...Who are they really going to piss off 95% of what is on the blog is positive.”
One of the reasons we're keeping the blog as anonymous as possible is because on occasion we'll make mention of artists with whom we've got relationships (be it directly with the band, their manager, attorney, label rep, etc.). If we do decide to write something critical, we'd rather not have them come back at us upset. It's great that you stand by your opinions so strongly, but to be quite frank, we're out of work and needing to play as nice as possible with as many industry friends as we've got. If we can write freely on the blog, well it’s just the little release that we need!
“There is no mainstream in America anymore.”
We beg to differ, sir. Look at the Top 10 Albums sales on the iTunes chart and there aren’t many big surprises there. Without getting too heavily into a discussion about the state of terrestrial radio, there’s a reason that Nickelback is getting so much airplay – there’s a demand in the market for it.
”Also the rip on Williamsburg and Silverlake is weak. The fact was that there were bands out of those areas that did well, and more importantly were good.”
“Did well” and “were good” is subjective. If you’re an A&R rep for a major label, your job is to find and develop artists that will ‘sell units’ to ‘the masses’. Sad but true. Go spend a week in Tulsa, OK. Listen to radio. Meet with the local programmers and ask them what researches and gets requests. Walk through the record stores. Go to the concert venues and check out some of the local talent. Hell, hang out outside of a high school and ask the kids about the music they like. THEN tell me that mining Williamsburg and Silverlake is a smart thing for someone at Epic or Capitol to be doing. If you work for Dim Mak – fine. Go for it. But if you’re job is to satiate a demand from the larger piece of the music-buying pie, best to look elsewhere. Tulsa is a good start.
The TALENTfilter blog isn’t going to be able to fix the ‘record industry.’ It’s a blog with a coffee filter as its logo, after all. We DO have a few ideas about how to fix things up, but you’ll have to put us on retainer for that information. What we CAN do is help out the folks at the major labels who are hiding under their desks, hoping it’s not their last day in the office. We think we’re less like Macy’s or Gimbels and a bit more like Nordstorm – quality over quantity, with a no-questions-asked return policy.
Signing Power, stop on over to our store some time – it smells nice, our reps are polite and we think you'll be able to pick up some fancy duds that'll last for a while!
Burn.
I'm seriously considering eliminating anonymous comments as I would love to exactly know who these people are that blind and signing in makes that happen. I let Talent Filter, who is one girl not a team, make her response unchallenged since it was pleasant and I thought anyone with half a brain could see its flaws.
The fact is that Talent Filter has already linked to my posts and I link to her, so we respect eachother despite disagreeing on a number of issues.
So here is my response to my courageous commenter who says "Burn".
1) I want to know how anyone who is out of work has access to mediaguide, and all her other toys. I don't believe it. Everything in the blog is positive. Its a good marketing tool to be anonymous and clearly the goal is to turn it into a business. That is entirely her right and if she does more power to her, but lets be honest about it.
2)There is no mainstream in America at least in music. There are things that sell more than others like Nickelback, but society is so fragmented right now that there is nothing that is absolutely pervasive at least in media. Top market share is different then becoming part of the cultural fabric.
3) Talent Filter says it. Music is subjective. I can name a million average Nickelback clones that are beloved in their home market that won't sell one unit outside of Tulsa. Is this really helping the A&R execs who are supposedly cowering under their desks?
I would expect spirited debate from Team Talent Filter on this, but not really I imagine that "they" are working to discover new artists and analyze the industry and realize that it is probably best to agree to disagree.
"...Talent Filter, who is one girl not a team..."
...proof?
"I want to know how anyone who is out of work has access to mediaguide, and all her other toys.
...relationships?
Kiss and make up, y'all :)
"We think we’re less like Macy’s or Gimbels and a bit more like Nordstorm – quality over quantity, with a no-questions-asked return policy."
Not for us black folk!
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