This is going all over Twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/med...AAxXD7.jpg

Yeah, you can say that someone made this all up. But it just sounds too correct to be true. Billboard has been accused of, for years, accepting certain payments to give artists awards or have songs chart higher than they should.

[Edited 12/3/15 19:26pm]

Years ago I heard that some record labels would pay record stores and radio stations to report that certain songs and records were selling/played more than they were or sold less than they really did. Also that the labels would buy a lot of their own records to spike the charts.

That might explain MJ's 5 No.1s from Bad. Because aside from Man in the Mirror and The Way You Make Me Feel, the other three songs didn't sound like No.1 material...especially Dirty Diana.

MichaelJackson5 said:

That might explain MJ's 5 No.1s from Bad. Because aside from Man in the Mirror and The Way You Make Me Feel, the other three songs didn't sound like No.1 material...especially Dirty Diana.

>

I'll give you "Man In The Mirror" but to me "Dirty Diana" was the first single from that project that seemed to have that "energy" to it.

THis has been going on since the 1950's, nothing to see here.

LittleBLUECorvette said:

THis has been going on since the 1950's, nothing to see here.

Payola existed before the 1950s. It's just when rock n roll became popular, the powers that be didn't like that so had the hearings in court to try to shut it down

was this prompted by the recent Missy Elliot cover story and award? Sounds like it..."recent woman of the year who hasn't had a hit in years..." Hmmmm. Not surprised, with capitalism in America its dog eat dog.

I don't get why this prompted thoughts about MJ's Bad album right away. MJ is in a different categoy (not that that absolves him from the possibility bud dude had a "few" fans...worldwide). #1's that don't SEEM/SOUND like they deserve it happen ALL the time, withOUT payola, so I'm not opening THAT can of speculation just because payola has been a thing since forever, then anything WE don't like we become suspicious of

datdude said:

was this prompted by the recent Missy Elliot cover story and award? Sounds like it..."recent woman of the year who hasn't had a hit in years..." Hmmmm. Not surprised, with capitalism in America its dog eat dog.

Missy? You think Missy is that shady? Hell no.

No.

Billboard's Woman Of The Year is Lady Gaga.

I like a lot of Gaga's stuff but this wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

About time.

I think its pretty much common knowledge that the Billboard Charts have always been pretty much skewed towards any artist who was highly favored at their label.

Resignation letter with that tone using the company letter head (that has no address on it) seems fake.

Cinny said:

Resignation letter with that tone using the company letter head (that has no address on it) seems fake.

when i resigned from IBM uit was on IBM letterhead..

[Edited 12/4/15 14:22pm]

In most instances -unless its in the "heat" of the moment - its customary to resign from your employer using their letter head. That being said...

The isn't anything new....

The structure, the businesss model of music business has been and still is corrupt. If I had the time I'd explain why the music biz finds itself in the shape they are now. Apple, digital age, file sharing (which still continues, by the way) didn't kill the music per say... the corrupt and rotten system record companies built collapsed upon itself.

Oh well...

Okay, resignation letter tips noted! [img:$uid]http://prince.org/i/icon5.gif[/img:$uid] This forum is always informative!!!
[img:$uid]http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/know.gif[/img:$uid]

Whoever wrote this was definitely about Lady Gaga's Woman of 2015. We already knew she bought some of her Billboard chart positions.

datdude said:

was this prompted by the recent Missy Elliot cover story and award? Sounds like it..."recent woman of the year who hasn't had a hit in years..." Hmmmm. Not surprised, with capitalism in America its dog eat dog.

I don't get why this prompted thoughts about MJ's Bad album right away. MJ is in a different categoy (not that that absolves him from the possibility bud dude had a "few" fans...worldwide). #1's that don't SEEM/SOUND like they deserve it happen ALL the time, withOUT payola, so I'm not opening THAT can of speculation just because payola has been a thing since forever, then anything WE don't like we become suspicious of

He is a MJ hater. This has nothing to do with MJ.

Militant said:

datdude said:

was this prompted by the recent Missy Elliot cover story and award? Sounds like it..."recent woman of the year who hasn't had a hit in years..." Hmmmm. Not surprised, with capitalism in America its dog eat dog.

Missy? You think Missy is that shady? Hell no.

No.

Billboard's Woman Of The Year is Lady Gaga.

I like a lot of Gaga's stuff but this wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

Gaga isn't the only artist to do this though.

I also believe Billboard is not the only organization that accepts payments from other artists.

I was watching a Jose Feliciano concert on youtube recently and he said if you don't pay the radio station won't play your songs.

mjscarousal said:

mjscarousal said:

TD3 said:

In most instances -unless its in the "heat" of the moment - its customary to resign from your employer using their letter head.

Not only is it customary, but unless the resignation is written on your new employer's letterhead, it doesn't actually officially count. It's an official business document--do it right.

Otherwise, you still work there. You just don't finish projects or get paid. And you probably don't get any other benefits.

Seriously, it's the law.

EddieC said:

TD3 said:

In most instances-unless its in the "heat" of the moment - its customary to resign from your employer using their letter head.

Not only is it customary, but unless the resignation is written on your new employer's letterhead, it doesn't actually officially count. It's an official business document--do it right.

Otherwise, you still work there. You just don't finish projects or get paid. And you probably don't get any other benefits.

Seriously, it's the law.

You can write a resignation letter on anything. Its proper etiquette to type a formal resignation letter on company letterhead. Its proper etiquette to give your employer seventy-two hours or two weeks notice of your intent to resign. You can resign from a job at anytime, and without proper notice. You are neither legally bound nor can you be punished for being unprofessional. The operative work here is, legally.

That being said...

If you plan to use a former employer as a reference and/or list them in your resume work history, its in a person's best interest to leave minus the acrimony

Laws for monetary compensation upon issuing a letter of resignation from a job, depends on your employment contract and State labor laws.

MotownSubdivision said:

mjscarousal said:

Gaga isn't the only artist to do this though.

I also believe Billboard is not the only organization that accepts payments from other artists.

Still interesting/ disappointing that Gaga would do this. She never struck me as an artist who would manufacture her popularity. She looked like she was slowly building a comeback but then out of nowhere she's named Billboard's Woman of the Year inexplicably and it all seemed a bit forced. Did they actually give an explanation for this?

Your right, she doesn't. She should just stay in her little lane. Not sure why she is pressed in being a pop star. There was no explanation given but I believe alot more pop stars do this than perceived.

wasnt lady gaga like the biggest pop star in the world for a hot minute with hundreds of millions of social media followers? everything about her seemed manufactured to me.she took madonna's shock formula and put it on steroids.

MichaelJackson5 said:

That might explain MJ's 5 No.1s from Bad. Because aside from Man in the Mirror and The Way You Make Me Feel, the other three songs didn't sound like No.1 material...especially Dirty Diana.

Please explain.

duccichucka said:

MichaelJackson5 said:

That might explain MJ's 5 No.1s from Bad. Because aside from Man in the Mirror and The Way You Make Me Feel, the other three songs didn't sound like No.1 material...especially Dirty Diana.

Please explain.

I Just Can't Stop Loving You:

MJ starts off Bad, like Thriller, with a simple duet. But there is no deep meaning behind the song like The Girl is Mine which clearly addresses social issues such as miscegenation. IJCSLY could have been a song released by Klymaxx, Atlantic Starr or other run of the mill acts of the time. MJ's voice doesn't have much contrast to Siedah Garret's either. Had Whitney accepted to sing on this duet, it would have been much stronger with Houston and Jackson showcasing their vocal talents. Siedah Garret doesn't have a distinct enough voice to make this any more than a schmaltzy 80s duet that was average at best. At some points it's difficult to know if MJ or Siedah is singing the line.

Bad:

This song was clearly written for bigger things like a duet with Prince or a rapping interlude from LL Cool J. Since MJ couldn't land either, the chorus is and overused so much that it leaves the listener feeling empty because the song doesn't sound complete. MJ tries to recreate Beat It but falls far short of the classic. It lacks the innovation, powerful lyrics and developed song structure that Beat It had in spades. The term, Bad, has been around since the mid 1970s so this week attempt to sound street-tough is flat.

Dirty Diana:

A song with the weakest lyrics on the Bad album. MJ tries to make this a heavy metal power house about groupies but it can't over come the simple uninspired, lazy writing such as this:

She Said I Have To Go Home
'Cause I'm Real Tired You See
But I Hate Sleepin' Alone
Why Don't You Come With
Me
I Said My Baby's At Home
She's Probably Worried
Tonight

I Didn't Call On The Phone To
Say That I'm Alright

Diana Walked Up To Me,
She Said I'm All Yours
Tonight
At That I Ran To The Phone
Sayin' Baby I'm Alright
I Said But Unlock The Door,
Because I Forgot The Key,
She Said He's Not Coming
Back

Great guitar riffs from Stevie Stevens though. Give in to Me was a much better heavy metal song with more sophisticated writing. In additon, MJ had already written Billie Jean which was a more believable premise as a song.

Prince even said the album was titled Bad because there wasn't enough room to call it "Pathetic" and for an album that was 5 years in the making, it didn't live up to the hype or anticipation.

A good pop album but Bad will never be in the same league as Thriller or Off The Wall which were great albums. It's also overproduced with too many of MJ's trademark hees hees and hoo hoos.

NorthC said:

^I can only say that I completely agree with that. There was a lot of hype building up to the album's release and of course all the songs were hits, but it wasn't really the groundbreaking album that Thriller was. Which is of course a difficult album to follow up, just like Purple Rain. The difference was that Prince didn't try to recreate the success of PR, because you never will. And all the crazy stories about plastic surgery and sleeping in an oxygen tank didn't help either. In the years leading up to Bad's release, this was the only way Jackson made the headlines and five years is enough to change his image from "great artist" to "batshit crazy". [Edited 12/8/15 5:54am]

And the worst part is that while he was trying to create Thriller 2.0 musically, he no longer looked anything like the man on the Thriller album. He would never shake off the Wacko Jacko image he created for himself.

NorthC said:

^I can only say that I completely agree with that. There was a lot of hype building up to the album's release and of course all the songs were hits, but it wasn't really the groundbreaking album that Thriller was.

What aside from the VIDEO's was ground breaking about Thriller?

Just so that I'm clear, I'm NOT talking about the video side of Thriller.

What musically was ground breaking about it?

MichaelJackson5 said:

duccichucka said:

Please explain.

I Just Can't Stop Loving You:

MJ starts off Bad, like Thriller, with a simple duet. But there is no deep meaning behind the song like The Girl is Mine which clearly addresses social issues such as miscegenation. IJCSLY could have been a song released by Klymaxx, Atlantic Starr or other run of the mill acts of the time. MJ's voice doesn't have much contrast to Siedah Garret's either. Had Whitney accepted to sing on this duet, it would have been much stronger with Houston and Jackson showcasing their vocal talents. Siedah Garret doesn't have a distinct enough voice to make this any more than a schmaltzy 80s duet that was average at best. At some points it's difficult to know if MJ or Siedah is singing the line.

Bad:

This song was clearly written for bigger things like a duet with Prince or a rapping interlude from LL Cool J. Since MJ couldn't land either, the chorus is and overused so much that it leaves the listener feeling empty because the song doesn't sound complete. MJ tries to recreate Beat It but falls far short of the classic. It lacks the innovation, powerful lyrics and developed song structure that Beat It had in spades. The term, Bad, has been around since the mid 1970s so this week attempt to sound street-tough is flat.

Dirty Diana:

A song with the weakest lyrics on the Bad album. MJ tries to make this a heavy metal power house about groupies but it can't over come the simple uninspired, lazy writing such as this:

She Said I Have To Go Home
'Cause I'm Real Tired You See
But I Hate Sleepin' Alone
Why Don't You Come With
Me
I Said My Baby's At Home
She's Probably Worried
Tonight

I Didn't Call On The Phone To
Say That I'm Alright

Diana Walked Up To Me,
She Said I'm All Yours
Tonight
At That I Ran To The Phone
Sayin' Baby I'm Alright
I Said But Unlock The Door,
Because I Forgot The Key,
She Said He's Not Coming
Back

Great guitar riffs from Stevie Stevens though. Give in to Me was a much better heavy metal song with more sophisticated writing. In additon, MJ had already written Billie Jean which was a more believable premise as a song.

Prince even said the album was titled Bad because there wasn't enough room to call it "Pathetic" and for an album that was 5 years in the making, it didn't live up to the hype or anticipation.

A good pop album but Bad will never be in the same league as Thriller or Off The Wall which were great albums. It's also overproduced with too many of MJ's trademark hees hees and hoo hoos.

These are not reasons why a song shouldn't have been number one. These are merely
reasons why you don't like a song.