Here’s to Performers with talent.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I went to the Del McCoury concert new years eve.  I was struck by how appreciative all the performers were.  Ronnie Bowman must have thanked the audience 10 times for coming out to see them.  All the performers seemed genuinely humble, and glad to be there.  There wasn’t a hint of snobbery or “I’m a big star” syndrome.  They talked with the audience and even took requests that people were yelling out.  

Now your average Jay-Z, Nas, Beyonce, etc. flavor of the moment fan will no doubt laugh at my comments.  Is Del McCoury a huge star? No, but he’s had a career in music since 1963.   Beyonce is already on the back side of her career.  Does anyone seriously think Hanna Montanna/Miley or 50 Cent or Jay-Z will still be around in the year 2051?  Because that’s how long they’ll have to keep it up to rival McCoury.   Considering which list you look at Justin Timberlake or Miley Cyrus are the only “pop” stars on the list of top 10 grossing concerts this year.  The rest are mostly legacy acts (Genesis 40+ years, the Police 30+ years), etc or country acts like Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw/Faith Hill.   How many 50 year old singers do you hear on the radio?  None on the top 40, you hear them on country radio.  

Record companies, do you know how to save your sinking ship?  Sign people who can actually sing or play an instrument.  Well enough that they don’t need back-up dancers.  People who can entertain a crowd with their music, not their antics.  Performers who understand who’s paying their bills.  Performers who treat fans with respect, not act like they’re too good.  Rap may sell records (and it’s not doing much of that anymore), but it doesn’t sell out arenas.  It’s about performing for people, not making records, didn’t the Grateful Dead prove that?  If those were the kinds of performers you were signing, fans would keep coming back, not tossing them away for each flavor of the moment.  Oh yeah, and stop screwing your artists, that way they’d stop deserting you and making records without you.  You won’t listen though, you’d rather sue your customers instead of giving them what they want. So, good luck with that.

Related posts:

1. Del McCoury at the Ryman, Nashville Tennessee I went to the big new years bash at the...
2. Public Domain, Walt Disney, Sticking it to the Man, and Thomas Jefferson. What can so many unrelated things have possibly have to...
3. Is rap in ‘07, swing in ‘45? For the first time in twelve years rap has failed...
4. Kelly Clarkson caves… I mean, apologizes. For what I don’t know. For wanting to release the...
5. My take on copyrights. My take on copyrights? I write music and I’d like...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.