Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Friday Music: History, motherfuckers

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  • Robyn Gallagher,

    Does anyone remember last year when Sweetman slagged off Autozamm and so they wrote a diss track called "The Review", including a video featuring a sweaty lookalike music reviewer? No one won.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Okay, and bringing it back ... an acoustic mash-up of 'Royals' and 'Wrecking Ball':

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall,

    Russell, I see Simon Grigg has more or less answered your question for me. I've got no qualms about her having a crack at the big time, success, etc - good luck to her.

    But she should enjoy it while she can, if it lasts, I'll be surprised. You don't need me to tell you the long list of people that've had initial massive fame and success in the music biz only to burn out after only a few years.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Russell Brown,

    And management who aren’t also her record company.

    Yup. These fabulous 360 Deals are not all that...

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    if it lasts

    She has a shot I reckon but, more or less, it comes down to what’s happening that we’re not seeing. Industry stuff. Politics. Who benefits. That sort of thing.

    ETA: and how she deals with all the above both on an emotional and a business level. It’s monumentally tough.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    I’ve got no qualms about her having a crack at the big time, success, etc – good luck to her.

    Indeed. But why wouldn't she have a crack at success?

    But she should enjoy it while she can, if it lasts, I’ll be surprised.

    And if it doesn't, she goes to university. She doesn't seem to be short of options.

    You don’t need me to tell you the long list of people that’ve had initial massive fame and success in the music biz only to burn out after only a few years.

    And then there are the ones who've had perfectly satisfactory careers, surely?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    ETA: and how she deals with all the above both on an emotional and a business level. It’s monumentally tough.

    And clearly she needs to be protected from that. But I think the people around her know that. It’s not quite the same situation as Pauly’s, surely.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Russell Brown,

    It’s not quite the same situation as Pauly’s, surely.

    Yes and no. You’re still leaping into an industry which operates at an almost alien level to ours. We may think we are players and know how it works but we don’t. The learning curve is fucking steep and you have to learn really bloody fast.

    another ETA: the upside of course is that when Pauly went out there was no prior experience. Now we have some, and Adam Holt has some 20 years of international experience (he was heavily involved in OMC too of course). We've learned stuff.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Grant McDougall, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Maybe, but there's far less that have survived being thrown in the deep end at 16 and gone on to prosper than those thrown in the deep end at, say, 21, 22, 23, or who's success has been gradual rather than quick.

    Dunedin • Since Dec 2006 • 760 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    Maybe, but there’s far less that have survived being thrown in the deep end at 16 and gone on to prosper than those thrown in the deep end at, say, 21, 22, 23, or who’s success has been gradual rather than quick.

    You are right of course, the burn-out rate is massive, but at least she had a shot and more power to her for leaping at it, and to her parents for letting her (keeping a sensible hand on the tiller too it seems). If she survives emotionally then at the very least she'll have had a phenomenal experience and hopefully will find herself financially sorted for the rest of her life. She's not signed a publishing deal yet I understand and, assuming her management have kept that away from a 360 Deal, that alone will set her up.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Scott A, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Except it's a discussion from which Sweetman is missing. He hasn't attempted any real justification of what he wrote, let alone thought the better of some of the nastier parts.

    As a point of interest, Russell - why should he? He wrote his opinion, for what it was or wasn't worth in that review - why should he now need to come into the debate its kicked up amongst a certain corner of the internet?

    The wilds of Kingston, We… • Since May 2009 • 133 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Scott A,

    As a point of interest, Russell – why should he?

    He doesn’t have to. But the justification being offered for what he wrote was that it fostered discussion: a discussion he doesn’t bother to join. And I don’t mean here. He’s had people calling him out on his own blog and doesn’t seem inclined or able to defend what he wrote. And if he can’t defend it, perhaps he should find the grace to apologise.

    He’s a great bomb-thrower, but not much else in this case.

    As I’ve said to other people, I wrote something about it because I felt that someone had to. What he said was not only nasty and offensive, it was also mostly fundamentally untrue.

    If I’d wanted to make a pissing contest out of it, I’d have led with it in the blog, but I deliberately didn’t. I’m actually trying not to do that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Attachment

    In the Public Notices section, page C10 of the Weekend Herald today.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Simon Grigg,

    another ETA: the upside of course is that when Pauly went out there was no prior experience. Now we have some, and Adam Holt has some 20 years of international experience (he was heavily involved in OMC too of course). We’ve learned stuff.

    I don't know much about Hayley Westenra, but that should have been a good learning experience. I remember her just after she broke, at the Music Awards with her school friends, all them them laughing and taking pictures of each other. She seemed really young.

    It's interesting that outside NZ, she's very much seen as an alt-pop artist. Pitchfork, NME and Pretty Much Amazing are all touting the new single today.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to Russell Brown,

    but that should have been a good learning experience

    There was Savage too of course but that perhaps should be an example of what can go wrong.

    The thing is, if she hadn't had a crack at it, she'd regret it for the rest of her (you only live once) life thinking about what might have been.

    To the naysayers: wouldn't you?

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • "chris", in reply to Simon Grigg,

    To the naysayers: wouldn’t you?

    I imagine your answers would vary, based on things like how much people value their privacy etc…

    I have a dream that my fall, little children, will one day live in a nation where it will not be judged by the colour of its leaves, but by the content of its adiposity.

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __,

    Since none of us can see the future, I'd rather stick with what's happening now. Lorde's having a big success, and hurrah for that. Team makes me feel like dancing. Excuse me...

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • "chris", in reply to Lilith __,

    Yeah, trippy intro on that track.

    location, location, locat… • Since Dec 2010 • 250 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Grant McDougall,

    While her music isn’t my cup of tea, I think that at 16 she’s been thrown in the deep end far too early. Popular music history is awash with people that were successful in their mid-teens and chewed up, spat out by the music biz only a year or two later, only to fade into obscurity and irrelevance.

    With all due respect, try catching Twenty Feet From Stardom if it ever ends up getting a general release. The media-industrial complex that is pop culture isn't particularly gentle or kind to 99% of people, regardless of age. FFS, Darlene Love's voice blazes from some of the greatest tracks ever committed to vinyl, but it still didn't save her from ending up cleaning houses to pay the rent.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg, in reply to "chris",

    I imagine your answers would vary, based on things like how much people value their privacy etc…

    Yep, but if you are an aspiring musician trying to get your music heard and then somebody says 'lookee, here's the whole world and they want to know', it's not a tough decision surely. Plus you really only have one chance. You, or somebody you trust, just has to ensure that the parameters that guide the path that decision leads you down are in place.

    That she's had the drive and desire to get this far to me indicates that she's unlikely to be satisfied by a quiet life just making music for her friends. And that even if this is just a flash in the USA she has quite a future.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • BlairMacca,

    I actually agree with what Sweetman is trying to say, but again he lets himself down with cheap shots. However that doesn't mean we should engage in a fight to the bottom.

    I have heard a few Lorde songs, and she is OKAY, but nothing special, I really fail to see the excitement and hype. But good on her, being a Kiwi and climbing the US charts no mean feat.

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 208 posts Report Reply

  • BlairMacca, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Does anyone remember last year when Sweetman slagged off Autozamm and so they wrote a diss track called ”The Review”, including a video featuring a sweaty lookalike music reviewer? No one won.

    I actually think Sweetman won that one. It made him look smart and above the line in comparison

    Wellington • Since Apr 2007 • 208 posts Report Reply

  • Geoff Lealand, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Yes, it was bloody interesting--especially in documenting how the dirty was done to singers like Darlene, with Phil Spector lurking like a ghoul in the background.

    Screen & Media Studies, U… • Since Oct 2007 • 2562 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to BlairMacca,

    that doesn't mean we should engage in a fight to the bottom

    We need to find the cultural maturity to grasp the difference between being a dick and challenging dickishness.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to BlairMacca,

    she is OKAY, but nothing special

    all those global music industry experts and buyers of tunes must be wrong, eh

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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