From: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org (harbinger-digest) To: harbinger-digest@smoe.org Subject: harbinger-digest V5 #94 Reply-To: harbinger@smoe.org Sender: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-harbinger-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk harbinger-digest Thursday, June 1 2000 Volume 05 : Number 094 HARBINGER DIGEST To post, mail harbinger@smoe.org To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger-digest To get list info file, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: info harbinger-digest Today's Subjects: ---------------- (harbinger) Keep THIS FIRE burning [steven.stewart@nokia.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2000 09:09:54 +0300 From: steven.stewart@nokia.com Subject: (harbinger) Keep THIS FIRE burning uh...sorry for the bad subject heading. I've actually enjoyed reading the threads of the past two days. Not because people are disagreeing, but because we are talking and communicating. Bravo. Steve (Honoku)... Although I may not have intending what you interpreted from my post...you have a good point and I'm guilty. I graduated in marketing & communications and now work setting up eProcesses for Nokia. I have also dived into marketing not only my own music but music of friends on the internet...my business world revolves around the opportunities gained and missed by correct and incorrect marketing. In my too harsh slam of her choice of periodicals which I judged by title alone, at least the interview asked really pertinent questions. As an artists, I bet she was thrilled with his take on the interview because it gave her a chance to explain what has happened, what is happening, and what she is feeling, thinking, and doing now. So I actually think the article was a good choice after reading it. But I have to say I appreciated Kenn's comments and feel we often have similar points of views. Paula has made some VERY commercial choices along with her "artistic" choices. "Charmed" was a perfect example of doing yet another teen-themed TV show for the exposure when she has just been crying her eyes out about her DAWSON'S CREEK connection. I can't see anyone justifying that CHARMED was based on artistic merit. And why make a big deal of showing her armpit hair at the Grammys and making sure EW didn't airbrush it out, and then talk about how much she enjoys shaving her legs preshow in her interview on her paulacole.com website? (OK. she has a right to change her mind, but that is just an example that reeks of "oops..." and a high powered spin.) I also think that no matter how wonderful an artists' vision is, unless they are self supporting, they usually need a little good PR/Marketing advice so they don't self destruct. Trisha Yearwood is an excellent example of a fine musician who is also an EXTREMELY shrewd businesswoman. I personally don't see anything wrong with seeing marketing as a necessary evil. Your ART doesn't change because you do a cheesey TV show or if you do a high power full gloss magazine spread. But your image and public perception do change. Have a song associated with a hit movie with other cool artists (City of Angels) and it makes you seem higher class. Have a song(ME) ignored on a bomb (The Other Sister) and both the song and artist are ignored. The main thing is to be HIGHLY involved in what you do. EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL manage the content of their own web site. So does Courtney Love. They want to make sure their eyes and ears are hearing what their fans say as well as monitoring the content. Have you all noticed how schitzophrenic THE BRIDGE is? TONS of info, then nothing. It's been two months since any content was added. Where are the pix from the road? Why is there only 1 journal entry from the road? Why no emailings when concerts are added? So Steve...I agree that I overstep my bounds when I said she should take the traditional marketing steps if her goal is to be an artist. But since she has bitched so loudly and publically about the screwup of her ex manager and her dismay and the lack of enthusiasm and sales for the project, then she says that she knew it would be a hard album to take...she can't have it both ways. She either needs a brilliant marketer to have gotten that album in the hands of America, or she needs to be content that she made the album she wanted and let it go at that. Lastly, I am a little underwhelmed by her aligning herself with great black artists who mixed politics, love, and God. AMEN doesn't have anything close to Marley's WAR, Gaye's WHAT'S GOING ON?, Aretha's RESPECT, Prince's SIGN O THE TIMES, etc. That is the conflict. If she is creating art for the sake of art, fine. But if her goal is to make message songs that last...that become part of the public consciousness and may make a positive change...she has failed miserably. If THAT was her goal, then she had to make some marketing and PR sacrifices to get those songs in the public ears and to study what made those classics classic and what makes other Message songs forgettable and even laughable. I think it is WONDERFUL and ADMIRABLE that she wants to use her fame for a platform. But I think she needs to really know what she wants to say. I'll repeat myself yet again at the risk of sounding like a broken record. BE SOMEBODY talks about current events and politics with people being punished for selfless acts, but the final message in the chorus is selfish. "I" want to be somebody. What to you take away from that song after listening to it that connects you to other people? GOD IS WATCHING talks about the black american brothers in prison, but what's the point? OK. God is watching me play my ghetto wars and is waiting for me to get along. So what? Is there punishment for my bad actions? Is there a reward for my good actions? Is there a moral or inner drive that makes me want to make the world a better place? Does this song do anything to make me think or want to be a better person? LA TONYA. Sure, people live like this, but cliche after cliche after cliche does not involve me. Look at the lyrics to first person story songs like Ordinary, Bethlehem, N Eyes, Me...all of them tell a cliched situation or story in such a breathtakingly unique way that you HAVE to listen to them. LaTonya doesn't. I really love the line "but my faith's unshaken in God" after all of her trials, but the storytelling leading up to that hasn't involved me enough to appreciate the payoff. The problem is compounded by poor marketing, bad release of the album, late videos, unguided single releases, gutless decisions about not releasing the remixes, Lilith backlash, pithair phobia, not the newest thing, change in the music environment, and song burnout...BUT... the main problem for me lies in an artist creating a challenging work that is difficult for mass consumption, then having that artist be mad that it isn't flying off the racks with a complete lack of personal responsibility. Rant rant rant. I think I need a big bottle of Valium. I thought I was over getting passionate about this subject. I guess it is because Paula is my favorite artist. I want her around for a long long time. She continues to surprise me. I want remixes and singles and bsides and movie soundtracks and live shows. And the longer she is stuck in this mudslide that has buried AMEN, the harder it is going to be to get something new from her. steven from Helsinki - ------------------------------ To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe harbinger Btw, if you are an AOL subscriber the above instruction will work for your EVERY time. Digest, further unsub and problems FAQ at: http://www.netaxs.com/~jgreshes/lists/harbinger.html ------------------------------ End of harbinger-digest V5 #94 ******************************