#BMG gets a cut for now | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomvarious · 11 months

Text

Today's compilation:

Totally Hits 2 2000 Pop / Alternative Rock / Teen Pop / R&B / Adult Contemporary

Man, they weren't ever gonna find a way to eclipse the goodness of Now That's What I Call Music!, but the conglomerate that made up Sony, BMG, Warner, Elektra, and Atlantic came damn near close with this second dispatch from their competitive Totally Hits series here. Leans a bit too heavy on the soft, anodyne, slow, and schmaltzy adult contemporary-type of pop ballads at times, but the rest of it still sure makes for a top-notch nostalgia rush 😊.

youtube

So, for some headlining, certified instant classic, turn-of-the-millennium hits here, we've got songs like Santana and The Product G&B's "Maria, Maria," Christina Aguilera's huge debut smash, "Genie in a Bottle," and the cringe-inducing swing revivalist one-hit wonder pop of Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5." But after that, the choices seem to get less and less obvious, and that's where this comp seems to truly shine. Songs like Filter's radio-friendly "Take a Picture," which marked a gaping departure from their super heavy and aggro debut hit from four years prior, "Hey Man Nice Shot," are included, as well as Moby's terrific "Natural Blues," a song that didn't even manage to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but helped to get him back in the good graces of serious music critics after having been vociferously written off for his previous and widely panned punk album, Animal Rights.

And we also have Madonna's "Beautiful Stranger" here too, a song that never actually ended up appearing on any of her studio albums, but was instead the lead cut from the soundtrack for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. With this great tune, we see Madonna and veteran UK producer William Orbit picking up from where they left off on her 1997 album, Ray of Light—often considered by many to be her magnum opus—to deliver a rich pop song that was both simultaneously futuristic and 60s retrodelic as well. And other songs that had been turned in for that soundtrack, like Lenny Kravitz' cover of The Guess Who's "American Woman," while decent, did not come anywhere close to achieving the same type of vibe that "Beautiful Stranger" did, and so it was a no-brainer as the song of choice to represent the film.

So, another really great trip down late 90s/early 2000s memory lane here. Totally Hits would run out of steam and end up bowing out from the contemporary hits compilation game some years later, but specifically with this album, they were certainly proving themselves as a more than worthy adversary to top dog Now That's What I Call Music! Their collective catalog and roster never had the same firepower as that of the combination of Capitol, EMI, Universal, and Virgin, but what they managed to amass here was still plenty good pop music anyway.

Highlights:

Santana feat. The Product G&B - "Maria, Maria" Christina Aguilera - "Genie in a Bottle" Third Eye Blind - "Never Let You Go" Sugar Ray - "Falls Apart" Lou Bega - "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" Madonna - "Beautiful Stranger" Whitney Houston - "My Love is Your Love (Jonathan Peters' Radio Mix)" Filter - "Take a Picture" Missy Elliott - "Hot Boyz" Moby - "Natural Blues" Donell Jones - "U Know What's Up" R.E.M. - "The Great Beyond" Sarah McLachlan - "I Will Remember You"

6 notes · View notes

lovekylie · 1 year

Text

Kylie Minogue to release 'euphoric' album Tension via BMG in September

https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/kylie-minogue-to-release-euphoric-album-tension-via-bmg-in-september/087875

Kylie Minogue has confirmed details of her new studio album, Tension, which will be released on September 22.

The album continues her successful relationship with BMG, who helped Kylie Minogue secure No.1 peaks in the UK with her two previous studio albums, Golden (2018) and Disco (2020), as well as the collection Step Back In Time (2019).

According to the Official Charts Company, Golden has UK sales of 166,699 and Disco is on 176,116. BMG managed to grow global streaming on Disco compared to their first release with Minogue.

According to the announcement, Tension is a record of “euphoric, empowered dance floor bangers and sultry pop cuts”, which should delight her fanbase.

Padam Padam, which opens the album, will be the first single to be released from the record.

Kylie Mingoue said: “I started this album with an open mind and a blank page. Unlike my last two albums there wasn’t a ‘theme’, it was about finding the heart or the fun or the fantasy of that moment and always trying to service the song. I wanted to celebrate each song’s individuality and to dive into that freedom. I would say it’s a blend of personal reflection, club abandon and melancholic high.”

Minogue has worked with a number of producers on the album with seven of the tracks being produced and co-written with her long-time collaborators, Biff Stannard and Duck Blackwell.

Discussing the recording process, Kylie Minogue said: "I loved being back in the studio with my collaborators but was also able to benefit from remote recording, which we have all got used to – my mobile studio never left my side for a year and a half! The album is a mix of songs I have written and songs which really spoke to me. Making this album helped me navigate challenging times and celebrate the now. I hope it accompanies listeners on their own journeys and becomes part of their story.”

Tension tracklisting:

Padam Padam

Hold On To Now

Things We Do For Love

Tension

One More Time

You Still Get Me High

Hands

Green Light

Vegas High

10 Out Of 10

Story

#kylie minogue #tension

13 notes · View notes

ghost-of-you · 2 years

Text

Okay I'm gonna share some thoughts but under the cut 'cause this one is just crazy.

Okay so, the chance of a 5sos5 documentary became real the second they posted this one video back in March 2021 after they left modest, and I always had many thoughts about that because of how this document could've been delivered to us, because they pay Ryan to record and edit their stuff but they don't have a contract (at least not to my knowledge) with someone who could publish this in like a movie format (think Ms Americana or that Shawn Mendes one on netflix cause i don't think they would do a physical dvd like they did with the first 5sos doc) but I was thinking about something along the lines of the Shawn Mendes one, that you have the movie following him on tour and you have separate thing with a concert. My first theory involved just any show from the tmh tour, but then they announced the feeling of falling upwards, and naturally the idea of a documentary with the journey of making 5sos5 ending with a show they put on to showcase 5sos5 makes a lot of sense, but nothing about using the ono show was mentioned since it happened so honestly it may not be the plan since it was livestreamed, so I went back to just a tmh concert. Using one of the Sydney shows at the Opera House makes a lot of sense if they want to use the video footage too, 'cause it's a beautiful venue, it's their hometown, ending a 5sos5 documentary back where it all started it would be poetic even, but then they released the part one on youtube. With no warning, no explanations, no promises of more besides the fact that it's titled part one. But also you can't just have a concert and drop it as a live album with little to no time to work on it. I mean, you can but it's not ideal, and the show is happening this weekend and like it or not the time for a "making of 5sos5" documentary to be relevant for marketing purposes is running out, 'cause the industry is moving really fast and.

Then I thought they were gonna drop part 2 of the doc on the bands anniversary, but that didn't happen, so now we're back to no man's land, because since part one was played for fans on the ono stream, and that was "leaked" (you know we screenrecorded it and it's out there), they could've just decided to put that out there while still planning on releasing a full length doc in another format just because it was already out. But I'm also back to guessing they are using a tmh date, that is no longer random, because BMG is taking down videos from the Paris show for copyright content the same way some videos from myt London (aka the mytt album concert) get taken down periodically. And why would they take down fan recordings of one specific date if there were no plans about using the recordings from that date? But that circles back to the question of how would that be released. Because I don't think they would just put a full concert on youtube but at the same time I wouldn't put it past them to just like, upload it in parts.

But there's also the chance that this documentary ends up like the myt tour diaries, gathering dust in some hard drive, because the time past and the moment is gone and they just moved on. So like, I need them to give us more information.

#this is just a very long ''i wish i would stop feeling like im dealing with toddlers'' as in ''please use your words''#i just have thoughts #i'm rambling #like really #this is rambling #sorry any grammar mistakes i don't feel like reading it back kakaaokaapkaoa

9 notes · View notes

berlinini · 1 year

Note

Makes you wonder? (About FitF vs AotV promo)

Makes you wonder why there’s money to throw around for aotv and not for fitf. Louis produced the film with 78 productions and maybe knew he was going to get a good return on investment with cinema ticket sales and veeps ticket sales. Albums don’t make a lot of money nowadays but the promo budget should come from the label. The label takes a cut from the album earnings. So is it that bmg doesn’t have a proper budget for promotion? They seemed to have paid a lot of people to work on their extraordinary “campaign” and apparently have budget to fly employees left right and center and yet out of pocket promotional advertisement for fitf… nada. So??

Makes you wonder what the fuck is going on for Louis’ musical projects. His main project, as a singer. Which is he. That’s what he does. Or is he now a film producer and festival curator? Oh and fashion designer. Stuff that his fans are supposed to buy into. His very solid and wide and ever expending fanbase. So yeah, bmg can suck it.

#answered ask #anon #as the saying goes #put your money where your mouth is

2 notes · View notes

c-40 · 2 years

Text

A-T-3 082 Craig Peyton - Be Thankful For What You Got (Instrumental)

The fourth instalment of my whizz over reissue labels

Compilations are only references. If there is a track, band, musician, producer I fall for on a compilation I will seek out the original records. Some compilations I've really loved I've tracked down everything off them

This brings us to bootlegs. To fill the need to find certain tracks on different formats (they don't always have to be hard to find) like that album on vinyl by that artist, or that 12" for the dub on the b side that isn't on the compilation there are many bootlegs in circulation

When talking about bootlegs we can bring up edits. Edits are rarely officially licensed. There are good and bad edits, a lot of the time it's the way to get your hands nearer to a rare or unusual cut. Edits can act like compilations as they might introduce you to new genres or new music and artists within a genre. Major labels have reissued records based on the popularity of an unofficial edit

If bootlegs and edits are fulfilling need in the market the marketing has been done and you hold or have the nouse and ability to acquire the licence you can put out an official reissue. Compilations on smaller labels aimed at unearthing forgotten tracks or bringing scarce and collectable records to a wider audience can lead to reissues by the larger licence holding company

I've mentioned most of these companies before, Rhino/now part of Warners Music Group, Rykodisc/Warners, Legacy/Sony, Chronicles/UMG, ACE, Cherry Red Group. Best Records seems to have bought up its rival Italo disco labels and Unidisc have done well buying 70s/80s disco/soul labels. There are many Limited companies established to acquire and exploit the broad spectrum of music rights, buying the various rights and assets of a number of labels to license out those rights, comprising of artists, compositions, and thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of recordings, worldwide. This could be Phoenix Music International LTD, Demon Music Group/BBC, or BMG Rights Management/Bertelsmann Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, companies that as well as licence out, trade the rights and assets to the catalogues of former record companies

Ownership of the rights to music isn't just useful for reissues it can also be licensed to streaming platforms, video games, movies and tv. The software giant Epic that began with video games and is now in virtual production buying Bandcamp was interesting

Simply Vinyl launched in 1997. The label was set up to reissue classic albums (for it's first two years these were all white rock albums) on 180g virgin vinyl with thick card sleeves. The following year Simply Vinyl launched S12 which Mastercuts creator Ian was involved in, this was as they put it: The Simply Vinyl "Classic Collectors" range of 12" singles on 125g virgin vinyl

Nowadays labels with release vinyl reissues under one of their labels, like Rhino reissuing The Meters catalogue on vinyl record in 2001 (after years of unofficial pressings.) With vinyl record sales doing better and the popularity of Record Shop Day since 2007 coloured vinyl reissues and novelties have become mainstream. With record plants shutting down mere years before the vinyl record buying renassence the major labels repressing new copies of million seller albums began clogging up the schedules of the remaining pressing plants, and delaying putting new music on record shop shelves

It's worth watching the usual suspects for looking at new trends in reissues, in 2018 Brian Eno's catalogue began getting half speed master pressings on the UMG's Virgin/EMI label (now just EMI.) In 2016 Pink Floyd Records was launched to handle reissues of the band. With various acquisitions UMG own the rights to distributing Pink Floyd's music in Europe but Sony have the rights to the rest of the world. You can see how this happens. Rhino was given the rights to reissue Capitol's back catalogue (owned by EMI) Atlantic bought Rhino out in 1992. UMG now own Capitol and EMI and Warners own Atlantic and Rhino

Craig Peyton - Be Thankful For What You Got (Instrumental) is so good. It's a cover of William DeVaugn's classic. Craig Peyton has a rich music history (now including music videos, film, and tv) but it's the label Profile I want to look at here. Steve Plotnicki who was a co-founder of Profile decided to sell the company in 1997. Tommy Boy and Arista went into a bidding battle over Profile Records until Arista backed by its parent BMG won out. Profile is now one of BMG's many labels

This track was reissued in 2015 on Peyton Records, which means they made a deal with BMG or they found a loophole, like Peyton got the publishing rights back and this is a different mix, who knows but the 2015 reissue isn't the Eric Matthew mix. The sleeve notes say: Craig Peyton's own reference mixes for his cover of William Devaughan's "Be Thankful For What You Got" that were released on Profile Records in 1983. Fully licensed and mastered from his original tapes.

youtube

#1983 #craig peyton #eric matthew #electro #cover version #connecticut #usa #80s music #Youtube

0 notes

polarisgaming · 2 years

Text

Chicken hunter: license to grill

This list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items.23:00:00 How to get a 'hunting license' that allows you to pass the hunter exam and hunt with a gun or trapīy Wisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesĪmong wild animals such as harmful birds and beasts that damage crops and exotic species that destroy the ecosystem, 'hunting birds and beasts' are designated as hunting targets. The franchise was published by AK tronic GmbH. Its assets, including the Moorhuhn series, were bought by a successor company, Phenomedia publishing GmbH, which continued to develop Moorhuhn games. Phenomedia AG underwent insolvency proceedings. In 2009, they were sentenced by a German court to 46 and 36 months' imprisonment, respectively, for securities fraud and other infractions. Chairman of the Vorstand Markus Scheer and CFO ( Finanzvorstand) Björn Denhard, who confessed to the falsifications, were fired. In 2002, the stock value rapidly collapsed after it became known that the company's leaders were under investigation for falsifying balance sheets. It went public in late 1999 at the height of the dot-com bubble and attained a market value of up to one billion Euro. The developer of these games was Bochum-based company Phenomedia AG, who had acquired Art Department Werbeagentur GmbH (creator of the original game). Moorhuhn VR is a Moorhuhn X variation for mobile devices, in which players can look around in 360 degrees. For these systems, Moorhuhn Deluxe was released on Microsoft Store and Steam, as a remake of Moorhuhn X. In modern operating systems most early Moorhuhn games are now unplayable, with the exception of the first game, the second game and the Director's Cut. Moorhuhn Pirates is a classic shooter again. Moorhuhn: Approaching is an arcade side-scrolling shooter with 17 levels. In the Moorhuhn Invasion, the player shoots at alien chickens that have invaded Earth. Moorhuhn Remake celebrated original the Moorhuhn's fifth anniversary, featuring enhanced graphics and new music. Moorhuhn Wanted takes place in a wild west setting, and chicken can shoot the player. Moorhuhn X from 2003 takes place in the countryside again, the surroundings are generated in 3D and the chickens perform animated motion sequences instead of simply flying around. Moorhuhn: Winter-Edition is a remake of the second game, set in winter. In the sequel Moorhuhn 2, the player also has 90 seconds to shoot down chickens to gain as many points as possible, but other animals can be hit as well. It also caused Germany's authoritative Duden dictionary to include the word "Moorhuhnjagd". The game's success spawned a great deal of merchandise, a comic book series, an animated TV series, several motion picture scripts (although no movie was ever made) and a BMG-produced single ( Gimme more Huhn by comedian Wigald Boning). It became wildly popular in German-speaking Europe, to the point of being denounced in the media as a threat to the bottom line of businesses, on account of the number of hours wasted by employees playing the game. From the beginning of 1999, the game was officially made available for download by Art Department. The publisher's initial irritation at this subsided after the game received favorable mentions in popular media and demand for it grew. It was since then illicitly copied, and became widely available for download on private websites. The game was originally not intended for distribution, but was made available in autumn 1998 to play on laptops in bars by promoters dressed up as hunters. The game was originally known as KippenSchieten and won third place at the Bizarre 98 programmer's meeting. willow ptarmigans) as possible in 90 seconds. Imitating the Glorious Twelfth, the game's objective was to shoot down in the Scottish Highlands, through a point-and-click interface, as many cartoonish "swamp chickens" ( German: Moorhühner literally "moorhens", i.e. The original Moorhuhn game (now distributed as Die Original Moorhuhn Jagd) was developed by the Hamburg-based Art Department advertising agency and the Dutch Witan studios as an advertisement for Johnnie Walker whisky in 1998. The objective of the first Moorhuhn game was to shoot down as many willow ptarmigans as possible

#Chicken hunter: license to grill

0 notes

1ddiscourseoftheday · 3 years

Text

Mon 10 May ‘21

LOUIS NEWS-- label and tour!! First, Louis has announced (or, well, Simon Jones PR has anyway, no word from Louis direct and yes, SJPR is still in the picture) that Louis is “partnering with BMG to release his second album globally”, an interestingly specific/ limited reveal. Fans are eyeing the wording and questioning whether he actually signed with them as a label (which they are) or just for publishing rights or distribution (which they also do, unlike most other labels)- the mention only of a ‘partnership’ supports the possibility that it’s something other than his new label, but it isn’t definitive and the simplest explanation of the press release is that BMG will be his label for LT2, as well as distributor and publishing company. The fact that they are small (relatively speaking; not one of the “Big Four” record labels but they’re hardly tiny) and somewhat new as a label does not to me seem like a reason why Louis wouldn’t have chosen them, as some are suggesting; there’s something to be said for being the big focus of a label rather than just another act, and Louis already chose that route once before when he signed with Arista (who are umbrella-ed by Sony but themselves not one of the big four) just after their relaunch, making him their biggest act by far. Also vague: “global” in this context doesn’t necessarily mean BMG has replaced Arista (his U.S. only label), it just for sure means UK plus the ‘international’ market, ie most of the rest of the world. It could mean U.S. too! Or not. We have reason to believe Louis was still with Arista as recently as a few months ago, and no evidence to suggest otherwise. The official press release says “recording is already underway” on LT2, and quotes Louis as saying: “I’m very excited to start the next part of my journey with BMG”. BMG- a new company founded after splitting from older label SonyBMG in 2008- claim to be “a new kind of music company” who are “not just a music publisher or a label” (they instead combine both of those things) in which “service to artists and writers is key,” and as part of that combine label services with holding publishing rights for their clients, often handled by separate companies and an area where songwriters tend to get screwed. BMG’s press also mentions their involvement with new technology a lot, and they represent Kings of Leon who have been at the forefront of the music industry use of NFTs (including releasing their next album as an NFT on a special NFT label despite being BMG artists). BMG’s twitter following more than doubled [edit: tripled now] in the hours after the announcement, and they followed Louis and tweeted to welcome him aboard from three different twitter accounts, including the U.S. one.

Slightly more commentary from Louis about the updated tour dates though mostly still press release style-- “Let's try this one last time!” he said, “All shows on my world tour will be moving back to 2022 and I’m excited to announce the first wave of new dates. I can't wait to see you all soon, it's going to be special!” and what should be the final dates for tour dropped, all in Spring ‘22- including a London show at Wembley, holy shit! Not every rescheduled date has been announced but those that are mostly have one thing in common-- much bigger venues than they were originally booked into. At at least one show so far fans will have to buy tickets again which sucks, but they are offering a pre-sale for previous ticket holders so at least those buyers only have to fight each other and not all the fans that joined the scrum in the time since the tour sold out. “After all this time and years of waiting this tour is going to be incredible, I can't wait!” said Louis and he’s not wrong!

And that’s all for serious news, over in Harry land things are...a lot sillier. A “bardcore” version of Watermelon Sugar was added to Harry’s official Spotify, LOL, and it is even more ridiculous to listen to than it is to imagine! I don’t picture it topping the charts anytime soon but it’s certainly an entertaining twist I was NOT expecting over the quiet weekend. The idea of Harry and friends deciding that needed to be legitimized on the official 36 million follower page is PRICELESS, and I would love to see Harry in a Gucci doublet and hose (or a nice laced bodice), but sadly it seems that the addition of the 2020 cover song to Harry’s account is a fuck up on Spotify’s end, as acknowledged by the Bard himself (no not Harry or Shakespeare, the person who did the weird cover- they do lots of covers in this style, it’s like a whole Thing. Medieval style covers of hits.) Meantime OUR bard was seen on the My Policeman set in a t-shirt reading “don’t ruin my fantasy”. New merch? I’ve never seen something more perfect for harries, they should consider it! This shirt though is from a designer with a focus on gender neutrality who donates to queer youth charities. And Kid Harpoon said, about WS (modern version) “at first, and I get this quite a lot with his lyrics, I thought, that’s kind of weird. Then you’re like, man, it’s brilliant. I remember thinking that with this. Harry’s so good at lyrics, he’s really growing into his own thing.”

Meanwhile Niall reposted (to insta AND facebook) the same outfit of the day video post he posted and deleted yesterday but left it up this time. It is clearly NOT today’s outift- damn Niall is my whole life a lie?! What can we trust in this treacherous world?? NOT YOU I GUESS. He also popped up on twitter to claim “no idea what you’re talking about” wrt him and Anne Marie teasing their collab without offering any actual clues about WHEN-- mhmm, like I said...

#louis tomlinson #harry styles #niall horan #Arista is a Sony label and Simon Jones is a Simon Cowell associate who was PR for 1D and has been for Louis since he went solo #and who sucks a whole lot. That said I know very well that the reason people are so obsessed with Louis cutting all ties with his old labels #etc #is that they believe all stunts will immediately be canceled on that day and I have to say… I don’t really think so #and arista being somewhat tied to sony isn't actually particularly meaningful #still distance from the old teams is always nice to see and at this point Louis has very few threads left tying him to them #10 may 21 #bmg #bardcore #lttour #louis label #arista #anne marie #it's very early to post but I don't wanna have to rewrite this whole damn thing in an hour lol #even if we get more clarity later there are parts of the NOW discourse I want to address which there won't be space to do if more info #comes to light #I had to do RESEARCH this better get good notes and correct some misinformation going around #besides now I can focus on other things like FUCKING HELL I have to buy tickets for LA Again??? BOOOOOOOO #I ALREDAY DID THIS #AND IT SUCKED #AND i HAD GOOD TICKETS #arrgh #I don't usually do this but you know what? PLEASE REBLOG THIS #I just saw someone say that louis definitely signed a distro only deal and that syco was going to profit off it #i... don't even know where to beg #begin #syco literally no longer exists fro starters...

285 notes · View notes

kiwikiwiandkiwi · 3 years

Text

I have this… thing where every now and then I decide to go through all of my posts only to add new tags or “retag” old posts. So this post is definitely under construction. I like to collect evidence, references, moments and I like to keep everything organized, even if it is just for me. But if you’re reading this, enjoy!

masterposts; timelines; for beginners;

since the beginning; hl moments; hl timeline; things that keep me up at night; all the reasons ever needed; if it isn’t real then explain me this; they never broke up; still the one;

rainbow bears; theories; communicating; coded clothing; queer coding; big gay war; coincidences; same patterns; parallels; being loud; he’s gay; pride; at the same time; lyrics; lyrics analysis; lyrics change; 369; 28; rings; freddieismyqueen; sign language; nautical theme; this shade of blue; things named louis; x factor; papillon; belfast; leeds; wellington; jamaica; brazil; lairport;

1D; 1dhq; hiatus; zayn leaving; 1d leaks; image control; narrative x reality; pap walks; pr relationships; media training; industry; management; closeting; privacy; contracts; photo ban; simon cowell; syco; sony; music industry; BMG; rumors; receipts; public houses; outings; everyone knows; denials; debunked;

LARRY: fetus larry; body language; harry loves louis; louis loves harry; pick someone supportive; jealous louis; jealous harry; biggest larrie; husbands af; husbands on tour; blue and green; same everything; always there; next to you; pronouns; innuendo; get a room; the fond; the hug; sharing clothes; matching; tattoos; always touching; whispering; serenading; mirroring; 1d x larry; larry and larries; AIMH; friends and family; in laws; same circle; the B stage; vip box; living situation; blue bandana; umbro shirt; the H shirt;

THROUGH THE YEARS: larry 2010; larry 2011; larry 2012; larry 2013; larry 2014; larry 2015; larry 2016; larry 2017; larry 2018; larry 2019; larry 2020; larry 2021; larry 2022; larry 2023;

HARRY: harry fashion; harry and rainbows; flamboyant harry; harry’s image; harry’s closet; harry’s sexuality; harry and gender; harry and men; harry and women; womanizer harry; about harry; everyone loves harry; harry styles tm; harry’s rings; harry photoshoots; hs interview; twitter harry; instagram harry; songwriter harry; harry and fans; harry’s team; actor harry; hs1; behind the album; live on tour; hs1 leak; hs2; fine line; eroda; fine line promo; love on tour; hs3; harry’s house; you are home; harry’s house promo; hs3 leak; love on tour 2022; love on tour 2023; hs merch; hshq; pleasing;

LOUIS: louis fashion; louis and rainbows; flamboyant louis; louis and gender; louis’ image; louis’ closet; louis’ sexuality; louis and men; louis and women; about louis; everyone loves louis; judge louis; louis photoshoots; lt interview; am i the boss? i was always the boss; twitter louis; instagram louis; lthq tiktok; songwriter louis; louis and fans; louis’ team; louis leaks; lt1; walls; walls promo; walls mural; director’s cut; lt world tour; lt2; faith in the future: lt2 leak; lt2 anagrams; faith in the future promo; faith in the future listening party; faith in the future tour; lt merch; lthq, 28 official programme; live from london; the away from home festival; the away from home festival 2022;

BABYGATE: babygate masterposts; babygate timeline; before babygate; louis x babygate; harry x babygate; party boy louis; louis and kids; freddie reign; clark family; DNA test; real parenthood; briana jungwirth; babygate x media; tamara bell; fake pregnancy; photoshopped; boobiegate;

STUNTS: holivia; hamille; hendall; townes; haige; haylor; haroline; elounor; douis;

By year (you can find tags for every year):

2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023

you can also search for a month ex: tagged/jan21

(not all months of every year can be found yet, i’m still working on it)

#my tags page keeps unlinking all of my links #i'm tired of having to keep linking everything all the time #so i decided to make a post for my tags #it's better on mobile anyway #feel more than free to ignore this #my tags #tags

581 notes · View notes

mychampagne-mybubbles · 3 years

Text

Did Louis point to the sign?

Today I heard again the term “damage control” referring to Elk appearing “from the sudden” after Louis allegedly pointed out at that larry sign my eyes rolling in “oh yeah Simon I was in the band”. I know most people have grown into how this works business-wise, and even those that understand or have became close to fitting in what all these public behaviors mean, we all appreciate when Louis or Harry give us a little hint that speaks our larry language. There might be an intention, as there is one in every other PUBLIC act, right? What I really enjoy about these is that they remind us of the REAL DEAL, that there is still a greater cause going on BTS.

My rational-dreamer mind is here for the big achievements, as the base of my Larry universe; we have witnessed some over the lasts months. With all the blurry mess that we get and the noise around it, I find relevant to remember some of the situations that happened recently:

When you sink but you are not the Titanic: S*mon being kicked off of SONY, SYCO through the back door and cut off from every other business attachment such as Triple String & X-Factor Thank goodness he has now decided to get engaged and focus on this family. Adding also having two random accidents when biking and a robbery in this house when dealing with a trial, make me wonder... maybe this is not his lucky year.

Louis becoming Tripple String's director, switching to BMG, I expect to see more of an impact of this in the future Do I have faith in the future? yeah, maybe I trust this man too much but I do. Breaking records with his Fafhf & announcing his own management company to come. In addition to finally deliver the tour he deserves!

Zayn got dumped by his management in 2020 as fallout from a fight with mother in law & dropped from record label RCA (Sony’s) as a result of his drug abuse consequences in 2021. If the decoration is taken out, breaking connections with his team until the moment.

In 2021 Liam was dropped from management because they were concerned about his excessive partying, however, the man is putting digital performances up and has managed to have an agenda under control (Private shows in Bahamas, LA, etc in 2022… so new management deal?). If you can fill me with knowledge, please do so!

Not to name everything going on with Harry. So many things and rumors around him lately that a separate long post would be needed to try to obtain a fair outcome, but the most obvious one is the strong turn his career took towards Hollywood in 2020.

Updated 26.04.2022: Because of HH’s release Harry publishes an exclusive article in BH&G. He says the following

Confirming the existence of strict consequences to specific acts that would put them at their responsible's mercy, until the point of annulling them and walking into quedtionsble conditions. Despite H’s speech being super studied the allegation are there for the 1st time, while being under the same label as in the 1D days.

Niall has been always "OK", he really is that guy, right? The comfort corner inside this mess, so maybe I am missing drastic changes. His last tour was affected by the pandemic, but opposed to Harry until this day he hasn’t retake it but he is working on future projects. By April 2022 he has started to hint on his next album and showing up publicly a lot, release coming. In the meanwhile (since hiatus) he has been attached to Modest Golf a lot A LOT.

Despite all the distractions, this is the bigger picture. This is how I understand their fight is going and where I recognize change. Despite I appreciate and have fun with every other interaction that brings joy to the Larries, Trust me, feed me as many as you can! this is the REAL DEAL.

#the real deal #one direction #what they fight for #harry styles #louis tomlinson #liam payne #niall horan #management #cbcareer #cbhcareer #louispro #REAL DEAL #simon cowell #champagne post #for the larries #music industry

119 notes · View notes

lwt28brave · 3 years

Text

LT2 masterpost

If it was up to me, we would get an autumn or winter EP. Since it’s not up to me at all, here, enjoy this post with everything we know so far of LT2, which is to say, not much at all. Everything here is hypothetical. I’ll be updating every time I see something relevant. A little disclaimer that while this is a masterpost (kinda), it could be read as discourse (duh, it’s also a theory), AND it’s also by me, and you shouldn’t expect me to be serious at this point.

Due to me restraining myself, there’s no reference to any of the times he’s mentioned his guitar skills and him improving but I hope you know I cried every single time.

I’m also linking my old pinned here. It was written before AFHF and around the free merch thing that didn’t lead to much, but I still think I made some good points.

Possible tracks:

Copy of a Copy of a Copy

Change

Faith in the future??

369??

Possible names:

369

Faith in the future

When is the album coming out?

Your guess is as good as mine

Friday 28th of January 2022. Almost two years after Walls. It’s a Friday. It’s a 28th. What else can I say?

Here you can find @want-to-be-loved timelines for every month.

Here you can find @berlinini’s timeline of what Louis has been up to this year (2021).

The rest is under the cut. And here you can find a PDF version where Tumblr can't tell me how many pictures I can add.

2020

He said back on May 2th 2020 he wasn’t writing anything new yet.

(x)(x)(x)

Interestingly enough, he’s said many times after that that the album’s not ready cause he has no new experiences to drawn from. I won’t call him out because he does it himself.

May 4th. He liked a tweet from DMA’s Johnny Took saying they had to go write together again. Louis has been credited as an influence for them and (kind of) participated in their previous record, so I’m assuming he meant for their music and not his, but you never know.

Nothing(literally nothing??? how did we survive) until 11th of July. We all know what happened that day. We all celebrated it. Nonetheless, that’s not what I’m talking about here.

(x) So, by the beginning of July 2020 he was working on concepts and ideas for the new album. That was fifteen months ago. I know perfection takes time but…

Brief summary of important things that happened from then until the next mention of new music:

Louis left Syco!!!! 10 days later he rescheduled the tour for the first time. He followed Matt Vines on Twitter, probably so we could publicly shame him into doing something. Also, the 10thanniversary. He followed more people I wish he hadn’t.

Then more nothing until September. Not even a single tweet. The first merch drop was on the 28th of August but he just RT’ed the tweet. He first mentioned Free my Meal on the 25th of September. Then on October 1st Walls hit #1 on a lot of countries and Louis was incredibly happy and excited about it ^^

And then, that same day, October 1st, 2020, he dropped this bomb:

(x)

He also said it was too soon to be sharing new lyrics with us (x)

And, obviously, this tweet which is actually what made me start this whole post. I would hope you know mate.

(x)

He also told us he was cooking "banger after banger" and that he was incorporating more social themes into his music (x)(x) (I believe any social issue is a political issue but that’s not the point rn).

COPY OF A COPY OF A COPY?!?!

These next paragraphs are brought to you by my mind not remembering things and me not having any links. I’m assuming COACOAC came from those writing sessions that supposedly happened in October. Or in LA but I have no idea if he actually was in LA at any point other than a Daily Mail article putting him there on December which would have been too late, but I do remember that someone said he was in the studio in LA last autumn???? A rumor. Maybe. IDK. Did I mention already all of this is very hypothetical?? Well, this is it. I can’t even remember if this was October or November or what. So, take this with a grain of salt.

I’m also… taking the liberty to assume, if you must, that Copy wasn’t meant to be a Walls reject because it sounds more mature and darker and it has a vastly different tone that Walls songs. I know he’s said that song probably isn’t getting into the album, but I want to have faith (in the future) that I’m getting a studio version. (But also, Louis, if you’re reading this, first of all GET OUT OF MY BLOG second of all, please don’t ever feel pressured again to add a song to the album because we have already heard it before. It’s your art and it should always be under your own terms).

So yeah, I believe that Copy is either one of those four songs (then imagine the other three??!!) or was written around the 1st of October date.

---End of the Intermission---

Then not much important (other than sharing more about Marcus Rashford fight against food poverty and the 2nd merch drop) until he announced the livestream on the 24th of November. (x)

It wasn’t until a few days before the livestream date we even thought again about new music (jk, I know we’re always thinking about new Louis’ music). So, December 9th/10th, 2020. Nine months ago. We got our first taste of new music!

He made sure we knew Copy of a Copy of a Copy isn't a cover! (x) (x)

(x)

Ok, so that’s it for 2020. (I feel like I’m missing something from September 17th because tweet was deleted but maybe he was still talking about cucumbers. We might never know. Unless I understand how Tumblr tags work). Expected, cause Walls was released in 2020. We needed to let it sit for a while.

2021

Another Summary: Louis third tweet of the year was telling the UK government off. So was the fifth. What a good beginning. On the 26th of January, he said he prefers pancakes over waffles. I hope he meant pancakes other than his own. More importantly, he tweeted the infamous “you lot read into things too much”. Don’t get me started, Tomlinson. Don’t. Then the 31st came around and Walls was one. He tweeted this. How wise. And Project Defenceless happened!!

15th of February!! Who cares about Valentine Day when the next day we got this? ♥

(x)

So…AN EP?? AN EP?? PLEASE RELEASE AN EP.

“I’m sure I will have something out this year but unlikely that will be the album”. Unlikely but not impossible. Also. A single would be good. This is the second time he mentions releasing something in 2021 and he sounds surer about it than the first time around.

He also said that he isn’t sure we will get a studio version of Copy. And that the best bridges from Walls to LT2 are Walls, OTB, KMM and Copy. Can’t wait!

Then we jump to March 6th when he announced he was going to create his own management company. “Sometimes action is needed first to encourage the motivation and belief”. As we can tell he was already manifesting some stuff which will lead us to the numerology stuff/Tesla… kidding. Or not. We might never know.

On the 22nd of March he answered some questions:

He told us music was still his main focus ♥ mwha. (x) I included this tweet to guilt-trip him into giving us music in case he’s reading this even after I told him to leave. ILY.

(x) I’d love to get a visual EP this autumn. Just saying. It sounds like a lovely concept.

(x)

…next (I will get into it, I promise. I’m just mad).

On the 25th he left for Mexico until April 10th. You could assume it was just for the documentary where we got ten seconds of footage or admit the obvious: LT2 its a Mexican baby!!

On the 26th (so, not so far apart from that first 369) we got the first Faith in the Future mention: (x)

Back then we were innocent people who had no idea what was coming upon us. We still have no idea because what the fuck does he mean with these. Please explain. I have one braincell and I don’t use it enough for this. I’m linking some theories.

On the 30th of March he confirmed he was already working on the documentary. So AFHF was already on the works. Will it take this long for us to get the Veeps numbers? We also got this tweet: "Got a decent chorus idea down" (x).

Same person that got the “something out this year” exclusive. If you know something share with the class. Also. Is this Change? I feel like this could be Change but I also assume he wrote Change after hanging out with his friends or being in Doncaster. But who knows.

(x) And the second mention to 369.

(x) 15th of April. The second "Faith in the future".

On the 19th of April he announced that he had something BIG for us later on the year which turned out to be the Away From Home Festival ♥♥ (x) I love him so much.

Then on the 28th he announced the 369 merch drop (which it’s probably the Walls drop? Except that the TOU and KMM ones were “drop 1 and drop 2” and this was drop 369 which, again, makes no sense) but we still don’t know what 369 means.

Into May’ 21 we go.

He rescheduled tour again. And dropped another bomb (x).

He announced he has signed with BMG as an independent artist by RTing this tweet on May 10th. The article also says that he’s already working on writing and recording LT2. The timing… we don’t know. What this deal involves… we don’t know either. Bear with me here because I have a lot to say about this.

I think the deal is only a distribution one, but that BMG are interested in Louis and what he (us) could bring to the table. They were either present at the festival or watching it, but officially they had no involvement at all with it (everything is credited either to Louis own company, 78 Productions, or Charlie Lightening’s company). That’s the case for both giveaways too; the vinyl one and the tickets for the festival.

I think it would be an unbelievably bad move not to test the waters with BMG now or soon-ish. At least a single, to see how it performs. Due to the circumstances, it’s obvious there’re certain limitations on place but I want to see how they push it, whether the radio play exist this time around and if the song is playlisted and promoted and all that… I would also love to know, since it says he signed with BMG UK, but it also states it’s a global deal, how things are going to go on the US and other countries.

Yes, yes. I know those are all questions and no answers. But I know the same as you, sadly. If any of you know more than you’re letting on… again, share with the class.

Where was I? Yes, on the 25th of May Louis had a great day writing (x). Since the first time he had mentioned he was officially writing to this date there’s almost eight months. And I believe he was writing before October’ 20.

He followed Robert Harvey that day and, on the 28th of May (why is it always the 28th???) he was spotted at the studio for the first time.

June was an interesting month for the fandom ♥. Lots of LHL content which I will love and cherish for the rest of times. On June 4th, June 9th, and June 10th he was spotted at the studio, but I believe he was there more days.

(x)

This was posted on June 6th and captioned Studio. Charlie also shared it with “Mega tunes being put down, can’t wait for this @louist91 #louistomlinson #LT2” as the caption. This gives me 2019 (Elton-Joint) vibes. I like it. Feels like we’re getting closer to something.

He added the Milano date on the 9th too which I’m mentioning because I’m going alone. Anyone wanna go with me please? I’m nice and I never eat anything before a concert so you can have my food. On other news. It didn’t come home.

During July he was at the studio at least three days too. Probably more. Feels like more with all the fan pictures we got. Or was that June? Anyway, July 1st and 9th we got some videos from Robert Harvey and wearesuperhi, which is who Louis has been working with the most, that we know of. I don’t know for sure they’re from that day. And on July 5th we got an article and lots of pictures of Louis looking really good outside the studio.

On the 12th of July the first fans started getting the free, 369 bucket hat and print. We still don’t know what the purpose was other than to thanks fans. Maybe that was it. I want answers and I still think it relates to a future project (see theories above), but it could also just be a bridge with the Walls breaking.

He didn’t tweet about anything interesting for a while, mostly because he lost his phone (he either throwed it in the air or smashed it who knows). Then on the 29th of July he announced the festival!

I’m glossing over it because there’s already been a lot of talk about it (rightfully) and while it was a wonderful thing, it doesn’t have much to do with LT2.

Let’s talk Change!

On August 3rd he tweeted this about the setlist.

(x)

And this (x) on the 28th! I can’t stand him.

We didn’t get it, obviously. Because who was going to get that. But we read too much into things. Alright.

On the 16thof August Dave Gibson shared this post tagged #LT2 with the eyes emojis 👀👀👀. I believe this has to do both with Change but also with whatever else came out of that Mexico trip.

(x) Last relevant tweet related to LT2 is this one.

So, on the 30th of August we got Change and we cried, and we know that Change is going in the new album. He said it. With those exact words. He also said he was “getting a feeling for it”. This has to meant he already has a general idea of the vibe of the new album and what’s going in it!!!!!! (Right? RIGHT?).

Anyway, let’s go back a few weeks because some other things happened on August. He was at the studio a few more times. Or it was suggested that he was there. On the 17th and the 18th. (Why was it so time-pressing to be at the studio instead of rehearsing for the festival? There was no studio at all on the documentary. Which makes sense, but again, then why?).

On the day of the festival we got another mention of Faith in The Future that made me feel part of a cult ngl. The words were flashing on the screen for less than a second. Okay.

And then he tweeted those words again after watching the livestream/documentary on the 4th of September (x). This is what makes me suspect it's either the name of the album or of the single.

On the same day, we got some interesting quotes about LT2 on the documentary.

“Soon I’ll have to think about me second album, which in my head I’ll get the tour out of the way and then I’ll address that. So, I hadn’t really given it much thought, to be honest”.

“When every day is the same is hard to feel creative and it’s hard to have any kind of proper inspiration”.

“As season started to come back, I started writing again and it was great and some of these songs turned out alright”.

And I think this is it. I might be overlooking some important details but that’s what we know and what we don’t know.

So. Conclusions. That’s what you missed on Glee. I do believe the album is, if not mostly done, partially there. And yes, this post is pointless and never-ending but it’s all in here if you need to tell Louis “Hey, you said this, mate”.

#LT2 #Louis Tomlinson #Faith in The future #369 #Louis #LT #new music #idk what this is #but it's long #pinned

90 notes · View notes

vinylrevolutions · 2 years

Video

youtube

India.Arie - I am not my hair

See, I can kinda recall a lil' ways back

Small, tryin' to ball, always been black And my hair, I tried it all I even went flat Had a lumpy curly top and all that crap, now Just tryin' to be (1)________________ Nappy headed brothers never had no ladies And I hit the barber shop real quick Had 'em give me lil' twist and it drove 'em crazy (crazy) Then I couldn't get no job 'Cause corporate wouldn't hire no dreadlocks Then I thought about my dogs from the block Kinda understand why they chose to steal and rob Was it the hair that got me this far All these girls these cribs these cars? I hate to say it but it seem so (2) __________ 'Cause (3) ___________ didn't come till I cut it all off

Little girl with the press and curl Age eight, I got a Jheri curl Thirteen, and I got a relaxer I was a source of so much laughter At fifteen when it all broke off (4) ____________ and went all natural February, 2002 I went on and did what I had to do Because it was time to change my life To become the woman that I am inside

Ninety-seven dreadlocks all gone I looked in the mirror for the first time and saw that Hey (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am not your (5) ___________________, no (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am the soul that lives within

Good hair means curls and waves (no) Bad hair means you look like a slave (no) At the turn of the century It's time for us to redefine who we be You can shave it off like a South African beauty Or get in on lock like Bob Marley You can rock it straight like Oprah Winfrey If it's not what's on your head, it's what's underneath, and say Hey (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am not your expectations, no (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am the soul that lives within

Who cares if you don't like that? With nothin' to lose, postin' with the wave cap And some cops wanna harass 'cause I got waves Ain't see nothin' like that in all my days Man, you gotta change all these feelings Steady (6) ____________ one another by their appearance

Yes, India, I feel ya, girl Now go ahead, talk to the rest of the world 'cause

Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person? (Whoa, whoa, whoa) Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend? Oh (Whoa, whoa, whoa) Does the way I wear my hair

(7) ______________ my integrity? (Whoa, whoa, whoa) I am expressing my creativity (Whoa, whoa, whoa) Breast cancer and chemotherapy Took away her crownin' glory She promised God if she was to survive She would enjoy every day of her life, oh On national television Her diamond eyes are sparkling Bald-headed like a full moon shining Singing out to the whole wide world like, hey Hey (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am not your expectations, no (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am the soul that lives within Hey (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am not your expectations, no (hey) I am not my hair I am not this skin I am the soul that lives

Within

Source: LyricFindSongwriters:

1. appreciated

2. flawed

3. success

4. Eighteen

5. expectations

6. judging

7. determine

#music video #india arie

8 notes · View notes

statementlou · 2 years

Note

To add to your independent post, Billboard considers Bad Bunny and Taylor Swift as Independent Artist because they are not under the Big 3. Bad Bunny is signed as a distribution deal with a Puerto Rican Label and releases in the US under a contract with Universal Latin and another company so it doesnt count as UMG and Taylor is with Republic Records. Billboard does an Independent Artist Chart each week www billboard com/charts/independent-albums/

thank you for this, very interesting!! (about this) I feel like this really shows how stupid this distinction has become, since obviously by any rational metric Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny (and Louis) have major league representation who operate in particular ways that are basically the same as the Big 3 and are playing on the same level. So it makes sense that despite technically being "independent" Louis considers himself a major label artist. He said that he considered going independent, which in the way he means would mean he (/his team) would have to handle promo, manufacturing, distro deals, wrangling with streaming platforms, everything, themselves, and without the infrastructure to just slot into that a big label have, a part of which is the handshake network of ins at radio stations and tv shows etc etc- but to get that he takes on the trade off of having a label who press for hits and for him to do certain things (both of which he mentioned in yesterday's interview wrt BMG who thought BTM was too alternative and that he should press for radio play, but it's worth noting that Louis got his way with BTM and didn't seem too bothered about going out to do the US thing, this isn't SYCO, it's just a little trade off). And the way Louis phrased it ("what I didn’t want to do is go out on my own and then be sat on me rocking chair when I’m 60, 70 going, maybe I should’ve had one more go with a major label") to me says that even though he had made the decision that his priority was to do what he wanted even if it meant not getting hits, he didn't want to cut off the possibility of having it all, the control and the hits. I love how grounded he seems about it all- like yeah wouldn't that be fun and I will try for it within what feels good for me but beyond that, no, and if it doesn't happen NBD. But yeah, he likes the numbers, he wants to fill stadiums, he's said it and I think he'd say it more if people could also believe that he's also good without it instead of latching onto that as unhappiness with anything less. Anyway IDK anything about the Billboard indie chart thing but I can't help but wonder if it used to actually be a chart for artists who were out there doing things small scale and DIY and because of the ridiculousness of this semantic issue is now just always topped by Bad Bunny or whatever. Honestly the definition should get fixed because there are still artists putting things out themselves or on small labels and not going through major distros or having access to major league promo and for them to share a category with these behemoths (Louis included) who are benefitting from corporate connections and handlers just doesn't make any sense. But since the (outdated and useless) definition does remain in place, I will point out that the fact that Louis can claim and play both sides works out quite nicely for him, and you know that's not just happenstance or luck, he's very clever about these things.

#blah blah blah #I am happy for bad bunny + taylor etc for their business acumen and keeping the money they make #for themselves #I love the idea of BB keeping that money in PR - iconic #maybe he can singlehandedly fund independence

5 notes · View notes

kindahoping4forever · 3 years

Note

In this house, we say fuck management, fuck Capitol and fuck Interscope. Our band deserved so much better.

Yesterday's podcast was an emotional watch for sure but I would also argue that the band we know and love today wouldn't be who they are or where they are now were it not for the hardships that have been discussed.

As for the topic itself, I personally see it as a much more complex issue, tbh. Shocker, my thoughts got a bit lengthy so I'll put a cut here lol.

I know it's hard to view a band you love as a commodity, especially when you hear them talk about the toll this all took on them, but the problem isn't necessarily with those labels but the nature of the music business itself. It's not a place meant to nurture artists' growth or self-discovery, it's all about the numbers. Self-titled had two multi-platinum singles while SGFG had none and had about half the album sales so the fact that Capitol even let them make a third record, let alone released it is remarkable. I still don't understand how Capitol was unable to pull another hit off that album so I've always seen it as a blessing they were dropped tbh, there was no reason that album shouldn't have had a longer shelf life.

I still maintain that Interscope gave them the most promo and support they've had to date. (TV ads, billboards, trade ads, not to mention pushing FIVE SINGLES and allowing them to make SEVEN VIDEOS for one album.) Easier and Teeth both went platinum and were Top 10 US radio. I firmly believe if the pandemic hadn't happened, one of those final singles would've popped and they would still be on this label. Yes, the 10 month rollout was ridiculous but realistically, there was no way it could've been released in 2019. CALM hadn't even been recorded when the band signed on for the WWJ tour and by the time it was obvious there was momentum from those singles to capitalize on, they were on the road and unable to promote an album drop. It's ironic that it ended up going out in 2020 without much promo anyways but obviously there was no foretelling things would've happened the way they did.

Lastly, I think it's important to note that despite the "internal business shifts" that have gone on this year, the band appears to have retained Ben Evans and Matt Emsell, their managers, in one capacity or another (Evans, formerly of Modest, is quoted as their manager in the articles about signing with BMG while Matt Emsell co-manages Luke's solo career) so I'm inclined to assume that the team who "took a step back" was referring moreso to their label A&R team, the people who should've been advocating to get them in rooms with the songwriters they wanted, the people who were saying things like "live drums will never be played on the radio." (Which, obviously is a shitty sentiment to express to an artist but once again, if you look at what Youngblood was charting alongside, it was not outrageous advice!) Like I said when the band parted with Modest, they never appeared to have much issue with their individual managers themselves, the fandom just doesn't often make that distinction.

All this to say, all these hard times that are getting a spotlight bc of this series really goes to show how unusual it is that the band is still together and how resilient they are. But we wouldn't get one without the other, if that makes sense? They're all chapters in their story and led to where we are now. If Capitol hadn't abandoned them after SGFG (which again, they were within their right to do, as their investment wasn't producing returns), then that wouldn't have pushed them to find the sound for Youngblood. If Interscope hadn't raised their public profile the way they did, the band probably wouldn't have been in a position to be choosy in their search for a new label or have the juice to take the creative reigns they supposedly have for 5SOS5. As the guys are keen on saying themselves, "that's showbiz, baby."

#is this a hot take?#i fear this is a hot take lmao #listen I'm definitely emotional about it too don't get me wrong #but I'm also pragmatic to a fault and everything as has been described makes sense to me tbh #is it sad? of course but it makes sense #and just goes to show how remarkable it is that this band is still around and actively want to be in this business #and so i think it's important to realize the dichotomy at play here between art and commerce #and recognize the good and beneficial things that happened via those labels (and yes even via Modest) alongside the 'bad'#and recognize that the 'bad' isn't necessarily 'bad' - it's just business which is often cold #anyyways #I'll stop talking now since I'm definitely alone in this line of thinking lmao #truly a time for the 'thank you for coming to my ted talk' tag #a bitch just likes giving context for things lol #ask #anon #5sos talk 10 years

39 notes · View notes

silverfoxlou · 3 years

Text

BMG’s CEO Has a Grand Idea for the Music Industry: Don’t Screw Over Artists

Hartwig Masuch discusses finding greater equality for artists, the chances of an IPO and why the company’s landmark deal with Tina Turner is only the beginning

BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch has a crazy idea to keep competitive against the majors in the music business: Treat artists fairly.

“The biggest threat for us — and it’s not fatal — is if the other guys become good, fair and transparent,” Masuch cheekily says of BMG’s business model, yet with sincerity. “A lot of what we do becomes not as exclusive at that point. The moment the market leader decides ‘we want to be the good guys; We’re rich and now we want to be loved,’ then we have to really think about how do we keep any competitive edge.”

For years, BMG has marketed itself as an artist-friendly alternative to the major label system. The German label and publisher embraced shorter-term deals where they retain less ownership, and the company’s enacted a handful of transparency-driven gestures like doing away with controlled composition clauses, a typical record practice clause that cuts into songwriters’ earnings.

Amid the call to address the industry’s longstanding racial inequality, BMG took a more direct action than others as it launched an internal audit to look for disparities in historic royalty payments for black artists’ catalogs from labels the company purchased. BMG eventually found that four of its labels had paid significantly less to Black artists than non-Black artists, and the company pledged to address the disparity.

As the market for music copyrights has boomed, BMG has also doubled down on acquisitions, establishing a partnership with KKR to go after blue-chip song collections while acquiring rights from legacy stars like Mick Fleetwood, and as of Tuesday, Tina Turner.

Ahead of its blockbuster acquisition Turner deal, Masuch sat down with Rolling Stone to talk about the state of the music industry, BMG’s bid for more music assets, and the company’s doctrine of leveraging fairness to artists as a scarce commodity in a fast-changing business.

Does the music industry overall treat artists equitably? No. But I don’t think it’s because of the bad intent of individuals; it’s that we deal with a historic behavior that was based on, “If you want to be a part of this market, you have to do what we say and agree to the terms we present to you.” Individuals in this business want to help artists, but the structure behind them says, “Why don’t we invent schemes to cut down on royalties and get more profit?”

More recently, the industry has talked a lot more about transparency and giving artists equitable deals. Do you think the shift happens if the industry had a choice? No. We’re proud to introduce transparency as a structural, competitive element of doing business. It’s an absolute need to change. Big companies are slower than the smaller companies, and the bigger companies only move if it’s very necessary. It’s a competitive principle for BMG to be a company you can trust. I don’t just wake up in the morning being a principle do-gooder, I think it will become a massive competitive element to every relationship where you say to artists that you don’t have to fight to get what we owe you.

If the label system isn’t ideal for artists, why do so many who publicly criticize their labels stay or re-sign instead of going independent? The artists you hear about in this case are very popular and already have a fair amount of leverage. They use that leverage. Artists can use their negotiation power like this to negotiate better terms rather than just get a bigger advance. For smaller artists, I think it again goes back to how the industry is structured. There are enough examples over the last 30 years of artists massively improving their deals, but that comes at the cost of not maximizing a potential advance.

But there are still plenty of advisors around artists whose main concern is simply getting as big an advance as possible because that defines their fee, and they don’t know if they’ll still represent the artist five years from now. They don’t care about rights reversions in 15 years. They can get the biggest advance they can, take their 15 percent and run.

As you sit between the majors and an independent route, what offering do you bring, particularly as services become a major selling point for artists? We’re selling artists on a very honest representation of your creative works at a very reasonable price. It’s not a negotiation where we take whatever we can get and worry later.

We want to sit down with artists and have a rational discussion about the money needed to develop a global marketing strategy; the cost of capital for distribution. Obviously, you can try without it and go completely on your own, but let’s face it, it’s a very complex world out there and at the end of the day, you need somebody to represent you, to maximize your income, to collect the income etc. It’s just not worth 80 percent of your income.

Have you considered an IPO given the lofty valuations of companies like UMG and WMG after they went public? We’re a family-owned company, and the family is absolutely of the opinion that we don’t need to IPO to keep BMG in the game and well-funded. Obviously as management, we have those discussions with ownership and tell them we can create an incredible amount of currency to acquire more, but they say we can just ask and they’ll finance us more anyways.

If this were just your decision, you’d go public? Well, look at what some of my colleagues have made when their companies go public. I’m very jealous here (Laughs). No, but I would be pro-IPO. If you’re not transparent on the capital markets, the real value you create is not transparent. The Universal story is great because their EBITDA multiple is irrelevant for their appreciation. We’d be proud to say, “Guys, we’ve created incredible value over the last 12 years, and if we compare that to Warner and Universal and their appreciation, look what’s happening.”

When’s the last time you brought up an IPO with Bertelsmann? Just over a week ago after the IPO. I told Thomas [Rabe, Bertelsmann’s chairman and CEO] we should maybe think about it. Bertelsmann obviously has a successful strategy of rearranging its portfolios so there’s no bottleneck right now. But that could change.

Like the rest of the business, you’ve grown more aggressive in the acquisition game as of late. Who are you courting? There will be a very significant string of announcements over the next probably 10 days. We’ll probably have around five or six major announcements coming. We bought all of Tina Turner’s music assets, and that will set the level of ambition here; every single one of those deals will be in that range.

You and KKR told Rolling Stone after your announcement you were prepared to spend into the billions, or as much as half a billion on one catalog if need be. Are those deals still the goal? What’s the timeline? We don’t have limits on the capital. The (timeline) for when isn’t clear. But the day may come where Pink Floyd could be on the market; they own their music. There are still plenty of catalogs where the artists very intelligently renegotiated for their ownership. Queen is owned by Queen. The Stones own most of their music. There will be deals of that dimension if those artists decide to bring them to the market, and we’ll be in those discussions.

#bmg #if anyone is interested #the article is behind a paywall on rolling stone #don't ask me how i got the text #and again - this all sounds great on paper #but we still don't know how they're planning on handling louis' career #invest for greater ROI or sit back with easy pay offs

35 notes · View notes