There comes a good time in everyone's professional life when an exit can be made with dignity but Clive has missed that boat, in my opinion. Remaining effective in a position such as his one needs an open mind. Claiming to have one's finger on the pulse of music buyers should never be confused with having said finger stuck in one's own antiquated ass. If Clive would breathe in deeply he'd realize that what he is smelling isn't money.
Let's talk about the music buyers, or should I say music lovers? Clive has lost that Lovin' Feelin'. The man has become more about control and his tactic is Control by Abuse: abuse of payola, abuse by catering to Clear Channel, and abuse of his bread and butter meaning the artists. I am a music buyer and a music lover although my choices have become very limited because of the likes of Clive Davis and what radio and the music awards have become (PAYOLA DRIVEN), thereby only exposing me, the public, to the music of the highest bidders who vie for 15 slots on CC's play list (via illegal payola). Payola sucks!
RCA and other labels wonder why they are taking drastic financial hits... and not for the good of their investors. Well....duhhhhhhh! What do you get when you add up payola, monopoly, mediocrity, and antiques? The loudest bunch of horseshit, ever, guaranteed to make your ears bleed and you hear it over and over and over by the same 15 artists. As a direct result the music award shows are giving the awards to the same artists and because so few others are heard on the radio they (the 15) are nominated for their genre and outside their genre where it makes no sense whatsoever.
A DJ left a post on an American Idol forum in answer to fans requesting play for Idol artists and here is what's happening in commercial radioland, not that we didn't already know it.
"It's not so much that they hate street team activity, it's more that we can NOT act on it for the most part. You will find a station here and there that is independent where they make their own playlists, but for the most part radio is automated and preprogrammed and the jocks have absolutely NO SAY in what gets played (no pay the big guy, no play for the artist). We answer request lines because it keeps people tuned to the station, we tell the person we'll play the song even if we don't have it because it keeps you tuned in for longer than you might tune in normally. Stations want you to hear the commercials, not the songs."
Next I want to bring you this from someone who used to work for CC:
"Clear Channel is also very big on out-of-market voice tracking. This means that the DJ you hear on your station (s) may or may not even be local, but a jock from a larger market such as Denver that pre-records his show for playback at a certain time. They are faxed information about the city so they sound like they live there."
So that's the name of that tune! Get PISSED!
What is all this leading to in my diatribe about Clive Davis? As a friend and Equalizer put it, he just had a little Texas Spit-Fire kick him in the nuts (okay, so she didn't put it that way). Those shriveled danglies had to be sore already after Clay put his size 13s to them last year. Granted, Clive was going to win both the battles but he'll retire with a couple of well deserved battle scars and a crimped dick. Kelly and Clay know their audiences and what they want. We'll take anything Clay has to offer but we know he wanted to go outside the box Clive is trying to put him in and I'm sure Kelly was confident about what she was doing when she toed CLive's groin.
Why are labels losing money? Because moguls like Clive can't get out of their boxes or away from their own egos.
WHY would Clive Davis even care WHAT the artists record when he can BUY airplay for someone farting the National Anthem and have it go multiplatinum?
Labels are also losing money because of the way the artists are being bent to one person's egotistical will. Where it used to be a battle of the wills between the boss and the artist, now other outlets are being used to smear innocent kids in order to beat them into submission. Nasty, nasty man using nasty, nasty gay gossips and gay hitmen and Clive made sure Clay was surrounded by them. Can't wait to see who Kelly draws as a hitman or hitwoman.
Lest we forget, I direct you back in time to this excellent blog article:
http://chexxyspearls.blogspot.com/2006/10/clive-davis-hitman-or-screwup.html
*Final Comment:
Clive, YOU ARE TOO TRANSPARENT. RETIRE, you bastard!
Technorati tags: UNICEF
24 comments:
Oh Sweet Jesus!
You sure can turn a phase. I can't stop laughing long enough to give a serious answer.
Together, Clay and Kelly are a formidable pair.
s/b phrase - not phase - oops!
OhCrap! Great blog! One of the best you've ever written, girl, and hits right at the crotch (heart) of the matter.
It won't be long now...I can feel it coming. Clay is going to bust out and soar like an eagle, on the wings of a snow white dove, and those doves won't be crying this time and we won't be lonely no more.
We're right at the 4 year anniversary of Clay's contract. During that time, he's released 3 albums, all debuting in the top 5, one of only 4 artists to ever accomplish such a feat: triple platinum, platinum, and gold. In addition, his singles, although limited releases, have debuted in the top 5, as well.
With a gold mine like Clay, one can only imagine what Clive was thinking. And the idiots at AI should equally be tooting their own horn for discovering him. But that might point out that they made a mistake.
It's not that Clay is better than the others, but he's certainly equal with them in talent and money-making capabilities. Their loss...
What we saw pigzle do to Clay last year and what he is doing to Kelly this year it seems obvious who one of his hit "men" is. Especially in light of how he's pimping Leona and Carrie.
Well, let it be known far and wide that not all Clay fans hate on Kelly.
Good luck, Kelly with your new CD, inspite of Clive's brilliance...uh, something like that.
Just seeing the crap spewed now about Kelly should make it abundantly clear who is responsible for the crap spewed about Clay last year. Kelly got farther than Clay did in her fight for her album because she had "Breakaway" to stand on, but it looks like Clive isn't going to let that stand in his way for total control.
Can you even try to make sense? In one paragraph you are ranting about accusing him (and the record company) of payola (which is illegal)
Yet then in another paragraph you rant about why do his comments even matter if he can put out a record of someone "farting the national anthem and it go multi-platinum".
So which position are you taking? Is he engaging in payola and can buy them airplay (so he doesn't have to care what his artists produce)?
Or is he not, in which case his commentary and interest in what they are producing is very warranted since he has to protect his business and (since he is not paying for it) make sure that he can push artists under him and get them airplay?
You know, it really does help if you are going to try and make a point, that you try and make sense.
Anon at 12:30, what's the matter with you? Did you never take reading comprehension, you moron? Connect the dots if it's that difficult for you.
Payola may be illegal but Clive/RCA and all the other record companies do it.
Anon at 12:30, you really need help on your reading skills. The point was well made. Try re-reading it and slowly.
I am confused since I do not follow Kelly, what is happening? What are they doing to her?
Thanks
Maggi
Scrapped her album. Anybody know what's happening with her tour? Is that also scrapped? Clive sure knows what he's doing...(NOT) He's an old fart. What the heck does he know about music these days? That's like asking my grandpa if he likes KC's music. G'pa isn't the one buying the music.
Maggi, there were a couple of blurbs about Clive not being too happy with Kelly wanting to write and produce her own music for her new CD and he was a bit harsh in a meeting where CDs were being reviewed. There are a couple of these blurbs of a tabloid nature that probably elaborated the severity of Clive's criticism but, nevertheless, he comes off looking like an old controlling goat.
Of course, Perez Hilton had to get in on the act and spread his disease which makes a few of us think that it's another hit on an Idol artist. Time will tell, but he still needs to go. There are a lot of music listeners who are tired of the racketeering.
2:57, I wasn't going to say scrapped or tanked the album because that came from a souce in the UK who may know jackshit. Like I said, time will tell.
It's no secret that Clive doesn't think very much of Kelly's songwriting abilities. He's said so in the past. Even reiterated it recently when he said that it's a mistake for singers to think they have to write their own music. He was referring to Kelly.
Was Kelly's new video up at YouTube? Because I can't find it now. The link at PH doesn't work either. But there could be other reasons why it's been taken down.
Scrapped her album????? Are you serious???? Sounds too familiar!!! Is Clive gonna mandate "covers" for her now, too???? Is she still scheduled for Kimmel next Friday? If so, that should be a good sign.
At Equalizer's I'd like to think we try to right the wrongs and it doesn't matter who's been wronged. Two wrongs don't make a right because any wrong will never be right.
We can't right the wrongs per se; all we can do is bitch about the injustices and the lies used for improper gain when it's at an innocent person's expense.
Whether Kelly writes great songs or not can't be determined by Clive only. He's looking out for the bottom line with a pool of writers used constantly then the same song gets filtered to several artists in order to save money. Clay wrote a good deal of the lyrics to Lonely No More and the lyrics to Lover All Alone, both songs far superior to the crap we've been fed in recent years.
Sorry I don't have a link:
From the UK Time Out:
Tony Bennett is not a fan of "American Idol" — and the legendary crooner says he has had angry words with Simon Cowell about it.
The "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" singer told the U.K. edition of Time Out that his appearance on the show left him disgusted by how the show’s hopefuls are put through a wringer — and then left out to dry.
"I had it out with Simon (Cowell) when I met him and suggested that he should open up tiny clubs across the countries so the kids could break in and learn properly," Bennett told the mag. "He said, 'Oh I haven’t got time for that, I’m too busy making money!'"
Sorry...I just gotta say it. Some old guys DO have class!!! LOL!
I forget which article it was but recently Clive said the ONLY idol that wrote their own songs was Daughtry. The minute he said that I knew he was lying.
anonymous at 12:30PM:
Payola is alive and well in the record and radio industries. Payment is not made directly to radio stations but through a middleman and doesn't always come in cash - it has taken on other forms such as trips, computers, tickets to awards shows, etc. Record labels promote (ie. "pay") top stations to play their artists. If you don't pay, you don't get played. It's a fact of life.
Labels will sometimes pay to have an artist trashed in order to keep that artist in line. This is usually done via gossip blogs, which is then picked up by the radio stations who read them and reported as fact on the airwaves, when it is really the record label applying the screws to its artist to see things the label's way.
Don't delude yourself into thinking it's about artistry, because it has nothing to do with artistry at all. It's strictly commercialism and what fits current radio trends.
Payola is killing radio.
".......Labels will sometimes pay to have an artist trashed in order to keep that artist in line. This is usually done via gossip blogs, which is then picked up by the radio stations who read them and reported as fact on the airwaves, when it is really the record label applying the screws to its artist to see things the label's way......"
Sound like what has happened to anyone we know?
Clay, we love you kiddo. And we'll be supporting you no matter what.
Kelly, girl.........good luck!
There seems to be a lot of Kelly support all of a sudden on this site.
I'm sorry but I just can't muster up any support for her myself. After what her crazy fans have done and are still doing to Clay I don't feel sorry for her at all. In fact if truth be told I wouldn't mind seeing her get some of the trash that Clay has been getting for 4 years now.
Kelly's video is back up online.
I'm wondering if this little riff with Clive is PR propaganda to create buzz for the album.
I'm wondering if this little riff with Clive is PR propaganda to create buzz for the album.
-----------------------
My thoughts exactly
Post a Comment