For as long as there have been people with talent to share, there have been people waiting impatiently to exploit it. P.T. Barnum was the first to realize that a) you could make people pay a nickel to see a woman who couldn’t afford a Lady Bic razor on her face and b) you could pay the woman herself a penny if she would just stop shaving her beard off. Barnum was shameless in using any perceived talent (sword swallowing, knife throwing, anvil lifting) or any physical infirmity to sell tickets. He became massively rich and his ‘performers’ became slaves to the grind. Some were smart enough to negotiate riches in partnership with Barnum, others were just glad to have a few square meals a week and a place to sleep every night. It beat the alternatives.
Archive for Don Henley
JAIMIE VERNON – THE WAGONS ARE CIRCLING…THE DRAIN
Posted in Opinion with tags 19 Entertainment, 1972, Adam Lambert, American Idol, ASCAP, BMI, Bob Segarini, Canadian Music, Carrie Underwood, class action lawsuit, DBAWIS, desert island, Don Henley, Don't Believe a Word I Say, Fantasia, Flo & Eddie, Happy Together, I Won't Back Down, independent artist, Irving Azoff, Jaimie Vernon, Jeff Lynne, Kelly Clarkson, lawyers, Musicians, performing rights, Phillip Phillips, Sam Smith, Simon Cowell, Sirius XM, SOCAN, songwriters, Stay With Me, The Eagles, The Turtles, Tom Petty on January 31, 2015 by segarini WARNING: This blog features the oral history of wallpaper drying and pertains to music that’s less than a decade old. Reading it might very well put you in a coma and cause your family to call emergency services.
It’s been a very interesting week in the music business as the wintery cobwebs get dusted away and we start seeing the industry awaken from its post-2014 slumber. There’s something amiss in Muzoid Land and it appears to be the long tail of sins of the past coming back to eat itself.