MickyDolenz said:

Scorp said:

MickyDolenz said:

As usual, the music snobs don't like the music that is commercially more successful with the masses. I listened to Top 40 and used to read Billboard every week and followed how much records sold. That's how I know what the general public likes, and it's not free jazz or something. It's like they used to say on American Bandstand "It has a good beat and I can dance to it". A few years ago, Lil Wayne passed up Elvis Presley's record of having the most songs charting on the Hot 100. Eminem and Nelly had sold over 20 million albums at one point. I stopped keeping up with that, so it may be more now. So that tells me that lots of people liked Lil Wayne, Eminem, & Nelly. You can also look at Youtube views to see the popularity of an act, since records don't sell as much nowadays other than Adele & Taylor Swift. Like Psy's Gangnam Style getting over 2 billion views. Going by Billboards new rules, platinum is equal to 1.5 billion views. Gangnam Style doesn't really count, since those are worldwide views and not just USA, which is what the RIAA use to issue their gold & platinum certifications.

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If you look at the acts nominated and performing on the Billboard Awards like Fifth Harmony & Justin Beiber, then how exactly does The Revolution or Shiela E performing fit? It'll be like the Geto Boys, Sex Pistols, & KMFDM performing at a Renaissance Faire or Pat Boone at a X-Clan concert. To them, Britney Spears is the big legend since she got more performing time than the other acts. Britney fits more with the other acts on the show than people who worked with Prince.

And this is the very reason why black musical expression born from authenticuty is finished because that presence is no longer needed This illustrates how the pop ascension has exploited, undermined, and phased out the contribution of artists who deserve the recognition, the worst thing thats ever happened I have nothing against nobody, but I reject the systenatic approach that exclude the participation of people who deserves to be mentioned If things were done right, then more people within the public would have more knowledge of the Sheila E's of the world [Edited 5/23/16 9:55am]

I'm with you....I intend to stay a damn "music snob".

I love what Andre said. Scripgirl posted his message on another thread...


From Andre:

Andre Cymone
2 hrs ·

First of all I love Madonna... Her, Prince, Michael Jackson, Sade, David Sylvian and myself, all were born in the same year,
I think that was a very good year...

That being said I think the industry's response to THE PEOPLE, and THE FANS wanting to see maybe some musicians and artists who either worked directly with Prince and or who he may have inspired would have been appropriate.... They should listen to the people, the people have a lot to do with why artists do what they do.

This hard line attitude is what's wrong with the music business and it's why the industry crumbled and people don't want to pay for the music they're puttin out there anymore. They use the same 3 or 4 artists and "The Disney artist Crew" for everything, that's pathetic. They got it fixed so artists can't make any money unless they play the game and If they don't play the game they get to watch everybody get paid but the artist. It's "How to ruin a great business 101"....silly.

People, you need to stand up, If you want to support artists then get their music directly from them otherwise you're just lining the pockets of those business people making those bad business decision as opposed to creative artistic ones... Music is suffering and things need to change before it's too late.

Fans and artists CAN exist outside of their bubble, that's a fact and in the end it most certainly will be their loss...but It is sad and correct me if I'm wrong, and all due respect to Madonna but I think Prince refused to perform or do interviews unless the line up of artists or journalists were gender balanced and color balanced... Next time Reach out... There are some serious musicians and artists out here making powerful music, trust me.... It would have made his tribute the talk of the industry, in a good way....

If they or whoever, actually stopped and maybe got a little creative and instead of doing business as usual, thought about who Prince really was and what he stood for, they may have come up with some really cool options including Madonna.

I knew who Prince was and I think I might know a little about what HE may have wanted to see in a tribute.... Just sayin... I don't care about myself, it ain't about me, I've been working outside the system for years. It's about someone I knew very well and loved to death and I would have loved to see them get this right.
I know they think they're all powerful and omnipotent and think they have all the answers because it's their game and they have money but the art of music and those who are truly gifted are bigger than money and their platform. It's just unfortunate that their platform is the window to a world, I just think it would be sad to see my friends tribute and memory keep getting misrepresented so it just comes and goes like so many of those other tributes. I think he deserves something as special as he was.

He gave his all to his fans and he raised the bar high, it's unfortunate that the industry has no clue how to raise the bar, they've done a fabulous job lowering it.
No disrespect to Madonna, I'm a big fan, I think she's a great artist and a great choice but there should have been more....

phunkdaddy said:

Scorp said:

The labels are just giving the people what it wants. When they stop making money with it, then they'll go to something else. If the general public didn't still enjoy hip hop, then it would have died quickly like glam metal, disco, new wave, grunge, light rock, psychedelic rock, New Jack Swing, and other styles of music that were really popular for a period. The younger generations don't really know a world where rap hasn't existed. It's their rock n roll. Rap has changed though. You can't say the rap style popular now (trap) is the same as the rap of the past. It doesn't sound like Kurtis Blow, Fat Boys, Run DMC, NWA, Beastie Boys, PM Dawn, etc. Now adult contemporary hasn't really changed much in 40 years or more. Feelings by Morris Albert & You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone could be released today without remixing it and they could become a hit with that audience. It's pretty much what Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and maybe Adele does.

Thats the point, there isn't going to ve anything, Rap is the newest art form that originated in the 70s, 40 years ago The music buyer today as a whole are being conditioned what to like, if thats the only thing being promoted to a person year after, then that person is going to conclude thats all their is to lusten to And there you have it. Youngsters are gonna sing or be influenced by what they hear on the radio like we were in the 70's to early 80's. It's up to them to decide whether they like. The suits shouldn't decide for them what should be played on radio. I would have probably never liked The Human League Don't You Want Me right away if I never heard it on black radio first.

phunkdaddy said:

The suits shouldn't decide for them what should be played on radio.

That's the entire purpose of the promotional department at a record company and Top 40 radio. To promote a record to sell. That's why there is payola. The DJ gets paid to play a record. Those records that became hits decades ago was because the suits picked what was played. That's not generally the case with a college radio station as they run from pledges. They don't have to sell advertising time to McDonald's.

blackdawn said:

The real question for me is If Prince knew he was going to die and had the chance to pick his own roster of artist to honor him, who would he pick? I’m not saying he wouldn’t pick Madonna or Stevie, Im just curious who else would be in HIS list. My guess would be people like Judith Hill, Janelle Monae, ect.

How soon people forget that HE PICKED who should perform for his BET LIFETIME AWARD - JANELLE, ALICIA KEYS, PATTI & Esperanza Spalding.

getxxxx said:

violectrica said:

Graycap23 said:

Who?

4 non blondes singer. What's up. (mistakenly called "what's going on" because of the chorus- much to the dismay of karaoke singers who didn't expect Marvin Gaye on their screen, ha) She also Co wrote a lot of p!nks second album (just like a pill, etc) which took her away from the R&B path she was headed to on her freshman effort. That's all I know. I don't know if she's done anything newer than that.

I think she was the woman that P!nk talked about in one of her documentaries. She said that Linda betrayed her by working with Christina Aguilera which Pink obviously doesn't like.

getxxxx said:

blackdawn said:

The real question for me is If Prince knew he was going to die and had the chance to pick his own roster of artist to honor him, who would he pick? I’m not saying he wouldn’t pick Madonna or Stevie, Im just curious who else would be in HIS list. My guess would be people like Judith Hill, Janelle Monae, ect.

How soon people forget that HE PICKED who should perform for his BET LIFETIME AWARD - JANELLE, ALICIA KEYS, PATTI & Esperanza Spalding.

And Trey Songz???

kingcheetah said:

The last really 'relevant' thing that Linda Perry did (according to her definition of 'relevant') was co-write 'Beautiful' with Christina Aguilera on her 'Stripped' album. She also did co-write with P!nk on a few albums but RELEVANTLY speaking the single 'Beautiful' was more largely popular and widely praised by music critics and music listeners than her stuff with P!nk. Linda basically just called herself irrelevant. Everybody seems to want to define that word differently. Just like the words 'perfect' and 'normal' they are all based on personal opinion. Personally, I think Chaka Khan is extremely relevant because she's one of the original vocalists divas. Beyonce has praised her as have many other current top charting female artists who are deemed 'relevant'. I think many are actually confusing the word 'relevant' with 'popular'. Of course Chaka isn't 'popular' nowadays because she's not releasing any new albums...neither is Linda Perry. If people seriously think that these young kids are legit just tuning in to the Billboards to see a Madonna Prince tribute than the jokes on them because they aren't. The kids are tuning in to see Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Rihanna, Drake, Joe Jonas, Demi Lavato etc and hoping that Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez are going to be dancing to the performances. They don't know who the Go-Gos are anymore than they would know who Sheila E is but for some reason the Go-Gos got onto the Billboards. How did they manage that being 'irrelevant' to the current popular music buying generation? Tributes should be about the iconic artist that passed on not the person performing their songs and last I checked Prince was a huge advocate for real music by real musicians and embracing new talent that is musically gifted. That was a big part of his legacy and Billboard shit on it when they gave Madonna the whole tribute which she turned into a funeral after raping the hell out of NC2U. I would hope that those young music listeners didn't take from that performance that Prince was boring because that's what I got from it. Madonna dropped the ball with that tribute and since she asked if she could do it I blame her just as much as I blame Billboard.