All the King’s Horses, Part II

I always assume that folks read my blog. GoogleAnalytics tells me there’re thousands of people that check it out each month. But on Friday, I experienced an unheard of traffic spike as a result of a post talking about Ian Rogers’ managerial quest with the Get Busy Committee. Traffic was 350% higher just on Friday. Not too shabby. Thanks to anyone who read, commented, or Tweeted on the post…

But what was even more interesting was the ensuing discussions and debates that popped up — culminating with a phoner between me and Ian. To be honest, I’ve nothing against Ian Rogers, Topspin, and the Get Busy Committee. What was troubling to me, and the point of the post, was the fact that perception has truly equalled reality. Specifically, a low number of friends and followers on the various social media platforms, coupled with semi-silence from Ian, led me to think that Get Busy Committee wasn’t doing as well as they should’ve been with their assembled team of industry pros. And Ian’s subsequent silence was a way of distancing himself from their lack of success and confirming it.

The conversation with Ian touched on that concept along with a few others. It wasn’t an argument or debate, and there was genuine listening by both of us. To clarify completely, GBC is doing well, and the “radio silence” from Ian is simply an issue of scheduling. He’s a busy guy. Which, in its own way, is the lesson to be learned.

But after watching the Grammy Awards last night, I kept coming back to our conversation. My point was simply that what people think often matters more than what actually is. For example, while watching Taylor Swift sing “Rhiannon,” she was hideously out of tune. Listen to Taylor sing the phrase “all your life…” and cringe appropriately. Pink was lip-synching, while she sprayed water from her butt and did a Cirque de Soliel impersonation, and no one really cared about new Bon Jovi music. Given the option to choose what they should sing, the public wants the old hits. Not surprising. And as an aside, it was great to see and hear Roberta Flack, but wow … layoff the Botox. Ahem, where was I? Oh yeah.

So as Ian and I discussed the state of the industry, its cast of characters, and what kind of artists should be using Topspin (or Nimbit … or Bandcamp … or Audiolife … ), it all became re-enforced by what I saw on the tv last night: style over substance, instant over earned, easy over challenging.

I watched Beyonce on “60 Minutes” before the Grammys. She was bright, engaging, and extremely interesting. But at the Grammys, her music was uninspired and appealed to that lowest common denominator of the public who wants to see, not hear, and rarely bothers to listen.

To that end, and to bring this ramble to a conclusive close, Ian’s on the right track. While he knows his strengths, he’s smart enough to also know his limitations. Taylor Swift does not. I have more faith in the success of Topspin and Nimbit to showcase talent than I do in just about anyone else.