Some notes I scribbled down during last night's VMA telecast...
1. The VMAs have become pretentious as hell. Over the past 15 years it's become more and more like watching a fashion industry party (actually at this point I think they're probably more fun). It was a lot more fun when the artists treated the VMAs like just another night at the Rainbow: fights over girlfriends, couples bickering in public, artists challenging each other to fights, people being overserved...Good times! :-D
2. Kudos to Madonna for her gutsy speech about Michael Jackson...especially her honest words about the fact that people in the industry turned their backs on him (including, she said, herself) when he was at his lowest.
3. The overall energy of this year's VMA's was very weird. The pacing of the show seemed off too.
4. Lady Gaga in her seat (in uncomfortable looking costume #1) looked like she was suffering for her art.
5. Taylor Swift, you have true class! Shame on the person who tried to ruin Taylor Swift's moment--and especially for his insensitivity in doing so right before she was about to perform.
6. The visuals of Taylor Swift's performance were cool, creatively done, and difficult to coordinate on a live show.
6. On Lady Gaga's performance: Tries. Too. Hard. Fantastic voice, but...
7. Green Day: Loved 'em. No fluff, no muss, and a really good performance. Great energy, tight band.
8. (On Beyonce's performance:) Is anyone else irritated by choreography that makes the artist stop lip syncing for half the song while the backing track continues to sing? Looks awkward. Let's make a decision, people: lip sync and sell it all the way, or nothing.
9. Muse: Good song, but it went on so long I zoned out and started making a mental list of suggestions to send to @james_a_michael 's Record Club . Unfortunately this will not be one of them.
10. On Pink's performance: Either her singing or aerial work could have been cool, but I think they detracted from each other. When you have Pink's fantastic voice and stage presence, that's all you need. But points for doing something really different, live. Pink is one of my favorite current artists.
11. Beyonce: Double class act for giving up her stage time to Taylor Swift. Moment of the night; not a dry eye in my livingroom.
12. Jay-Z: I wasn't into his song (although I've liked some of his other stuff), but I loved what he was wearing. He looked fantastic! Whomever designed that, Kudos!
13. Regarding the trailer for the Michael Jackson film: Blatant promotion done much too soon. Made me a little sick to my stomach.
Overall impressions on the morning after: When the host is the most rock and roll thing about what used to be a fun and irreverent show, something's terribly wrong. Although the MTV VMAs worked for several years, it's become a litany of artist performances trying to match their videos while trying to upstage each other, resulting in one big, blah blur. All that production money for each performance, and the result is that in the end no one shines. I think what the MTV Video Music Awards needs is a different producer, and a fast-paced show runner to move things along while letting the right moments breathe and shine. (What would Pierre Cossette do? RIP, Mr. Cossette.) It also needs artists who don't take themselves so seriously. It's supposed to be FUN!
Disclosure of Endorsements/Recommendations/Financial Compensation or Business Relationships per FTC Blog Disclosure Regulations in effect December 1, 2009: In the 90's I worked for a concert promotion company that presented Green Day shows. Additionally, in the 90's I worked for a major talent agency who represented Madonna and Jay-Z. Since that time I've received no financial compensation or free product in direct connection with the above-mentioned artists. MusicBizadvice.com' (and by extension, this blog) sells products, including music, as an Amazon Associate.
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Love Letters from the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) 2008
To Paramore: That was cool. (Real singing and all! Pay attention, kids...)
To Pink: Performance of the night. (And again, with real singing!)
To anonymous artist: If you can't sing along on pitch to your own voice on your backing track...[Editor shakes head sadly.]
To Russell Brand: It was pathetic that you had to apologize for the running joke about purity promise rings...(Although we can't help noticing the irony of a Brit coming 'cross the pond to get persecuted by the religious...Guess everything comes full circle, even if it takes a few hundred years!)
To Jordin Sparks: Learn to take a joke. Calling people who have sex before marriage "slut"s was uncalled for. ( Wasn't there something in the book about judgment as well? Great Christian attitude there, Jord(!)) But most of all, shouldn't the AMERICAN Idol remember that Americans have many varied beliefs?
To Kid Rock: You sounded great!
To Pink: Performance of the night. (And again, with real singing!)
To anonymous artist: If you can't sing along on pitch to your own voice on your backing track...[Editor shakes head sadly.]
To Russell Brand: It was pathetic that you had to apologize for the running joke about purity promise rings...(Although we can't help noticing the irony of a Brit coming 'cross the pond to get persecuted by the religious...Guess everything comes full circle, even if it takes a few hundred years!)
To Jordin Sparks: Learn to take a joke. Calling people who have sex before marriage "slut"s was uncalled for. ( Wasn't there something in the book about judgment as well? Great Christian attitude there, Jord(!)) But most of all, shouldn't the AMERICAN Idol remember that Americans have many varied beliefs?
To Kid Rock: You sounded great!
Monday, March 10, 2008
New Section Over at MusicBizAdvice.com
Hi Everyone,
When I'm coaching someone in live performance, and in articles I write over at the main MusicBizAdvice.com site, I often refer to specific artists, songs, or performances as an example to get the point across...
...And since the beginning of MusicBizAdvice.com 10 years ago, we've wanted to implement video examples into the site by including video of artist's specific performances. Until recently, performance royalties and bandwidth expense made it impractical.
Therefore, we give you The MBADC Performance Coach. You'll find it in the left-hand menu over at MusicBizAdvice.com.
When you click on it, you'll find links to video clips, along with what you can learn from each performance, and what to look for that made us cite it as an example. (Where applicable, you'll also find a link to the MusicBizAdvice.com article in which we've cited it as an example.)
Each clip, and each artist, has something you can learn...whether or not the artist is in your musical genre, or whether or not you even like that particular artist. It's all about learning from the best, and expanding your creativity.
More links to video are coming weekly, as we find them. In most cases have specific performances in mind, so it sometimes takes a little while to track it down and find the best version.
In fact, as soon as I post this I'm off to continue the search for a clip of this one band that...well, I'll leave that for you to see later.
Make something great happen today,
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
When I'm coaching someone in live performance, and in articles I write over at the main MusicBizAdvice.com site, I often refer to specific artists, songs, or performances as an example to get the point across...
...And since the beginning of MusicBizAdvice.com 10 years ago, we've wanted to implement video examples into the site by including video of artist's specific performances. Until recently, performance royalties and bandwidth expense made it impractical.
Therefore, we give you The MBADC Performance Coach. You'll find it in the left-hand menu over at MusicBizAdvice.com.
When you click on it, you'll find links to video clips, along with what you can learn from each performance, and what to look for that made us cite it as an example. (Where applicable, you'll also find a link to the MusicBizAdvice.com article in which we've cited it as an example.)
Each clip, and each artist, has something you can learn...whether or not the artist is in your musical genre, or whether or not you even like that particular artist. It's all about learning from the best, and expanding your creativity.
More links to video are coming weekly, as we find them. In most cases have specific performances in mind, so it sometimes takes a little while to track it down and find the best version.
In fact, as soon as I post this I'm off to continue the search for a clip of this one band that...well, I'll leave that for you to see later.
Make something great happen today,
Randi Reed
Founder / Editor in Chief, MusicBizAdvice.com
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Required Viewing for Aspiring Musicians, Managers, and Agents (TV Review: There and Back: Ashley Parker Angel)
There and Back: Ashley Parker Angel should be Required Viewing for anyone who wants to be in the music industry. Even if this thing was 100% scripted, it would still be a pretty accurate portrayal of what happens to an artist after the success, money, and lifestyle go away.
It wasn't that many years ago that Ashley Parker Angel was a member of the boy band O-Town and had a hit single. All that's gone now--former O-Town bandmate Jacob works construction--and the series chronicles what life is like for a musician post-success. Ashley seems like a nice guy (maybe at times a little too nice for his own good) who signed a bad deal that screwed him out of his recording advance, and I can't help feeling for him. The fact that he's clearly a more talented singer and songwriter than O-Town allowed him to show makes me like him even more (so reserve your boy-band perceptions 'til after you've seen the show).
Watching the scene with the meeting with the producers who (allegedly!) screwed him over made my blood boil, because just by looking at them, it was fairly obvious where his advance probably went. (Allegedly!) Hearing them spew their manipulative BS about not wanting lawyers to get in the way of the music had me yelling, "Don't fall for it Ashley!" at the TV. If the scene was real (MTV got a lot of flack last year for allegedly scripting its "reality" moments on other shows) the presence of MTV cameras and manager Larry Rudolph certainly got him out of the situation. And if it was scripted, it was very well done; I've heard those words hundreds of times myself from artists who were ripped off and told the same thing.
Meanwhile, there's life on the home front. On the show Ashley's pregnant girlfriend is about to pop with their first child, the hormones are getting to her, they live with her mom because Ashley can't afford a home of their own, and the resulting pressure of it all is getting to Ash. Meanwhile, he's trying to write an album that financially and career wise, he knows really needs to be a hit.
If you watch the show and think Ashley Parker Angel has it bad on the show--and he does--consider this: at least he has a top level manager, a deal with MTV, and people are taking meetings with him. Most artists in his situation don't, so using the show as a tool to learn where things went wrong businesswise to prevent it from happening to you or your clients is key, along with the knowledge that there's probably not going to be an MTV deal to help out. Kudos to Ashley for his bravery in being an object business lesson for fellow musicians.
Score: ****1/2 out of 5 stars.
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed
It wasn't that many years ago that Ashley Parker Angel was a member of the boy band O-Town and had a hit single. All that's gone now--former O-Town bandmate Jacob works construction--and the series chronicles what life is like for a musician post-success. Ashley seems like a nice guy (maybe at times a little too nice for his own good) who signed a bad deal that screwed him out of his recording advance, and I can't help feeling for him. The fact that he's clearly a more talented singer and songwriter than O-Town allowed him to show makes me like him even more (so reserve your boy-band perceptions 'til after you've seen the show).
Watching the scene with the meeting with the producers who (allegedly!) screwed him over made my blood boil, because just by looking at them, it was fairly obvious where his advance probably went. (Allegedly!) Hearing them spew their manipulative BS about not wanting lawyers to get in the way of the music had me yelling, "Don't fall for it Ashley!" at the TV. If the scene was real (MTV got a lot of flack last year for allegedly scripting its "reality" moments on other shows) the presence of MTV cameras and manager Larry Rudolph certainly got him out of the situation. And if it was scripted, it was very well done; I've heard those words hundreds of times myself from artists who were ripped off and told the same thing.
Meanwhile, there's life on the home front. On the show Ashley's pregnant girlfriend is about to pop with their first child, the hormones are getting to her, they live with her mom because Ashley can't afford a home of their own, and the resulting pressure of it all is getting to Ash. Meanwhile, he's trying to write an album that financially and career wise, he knows really needs to be a hit.
If you watch the show and think Ashley Parker Angel has it bad on the show--and he does--consider this: at least he has a top level manager, a deal with MTV, and people are taking meetings with him. Most artists in his situation don't, so using the show as a tool to learn where things went wrong businesswise to prevent it from happening to you or your clients is key, along with the knowledge that there's probably not going to be an MTV deal to help out. Kudos to Ashley for his bravery in being an object business lesson for fellow musicians.
Score: ****1/2 out of 5 stars.
Edited 1:28PM January 24 b/c my Grammar check program truly sucks.
Copyright 2006 Randi Reed
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