#My mind went to Katy perrys roar music video

[wormzandgutz]

doodle before bed

[lunapaper]

The year was 2010. Emo was just starting to die out (long live the scene). I was studying to become a secondary school teacher, and Katy Perry was shooting whipped cream out of her boobs...

Second albums, more often than not, fail to live up to the hype. And yet, Teenage Dream has somehow endured.

While Perry’s 2008 debut, One of the Boys, launched her into the mainstream, it really hasn’t aged all that well. On tracks like ‘Self Inflicted’ and ‘Fingerprints,’ she tries way too hard to emulate Paramore’s bold pop punk. On others, she attempts to rebel against her gospel roots by turning the bawdiness up to 10.

It can also come off pretty juvenile at times. The singer was almost 25 when she sang on the title track: ‘So over the summer, something changed/I started reading Seventeen and shaving my legs/And I studied Lolita religiously/And I walked right in to school and caught you staring at me.’

But let’s be honest: Even though it’s been declared ~problematic~, you still jam out to ‘I Kissed A Girl’ when you hear it, don’t you? I hadn’t listened to ‘Ur So Gay’ before this, either, but its slinky, jazz-infused vibe absolutely slaps.

Like Teenage Dream is also a product of its time, presenting pop at its most sugary, hook-laden and bombastic. It managed to spawn 5 No.1 singles, the second album in history to do so after Michael Jackson’s Bad, as well as a documentary, Part of Me. There’s even a deluxe edition, cleverly titled The Complete Confection. It was Perry at her peak.

You know the title track, of course. Evoking images of cherry red lipstick, tight denim and driving down an empty highway in summer, Perry desperately clings to the memory of young love, breathlessly pleading ‘don’t ever look back, don’t ever look back.’

‘The One That Got Away,’ meanwhile, is its bittersweet sequel, Perry's lovesick nostalgia now tinged with regret. Yet, the only thing I really remember about the song is the video starring Cassian Andor himself, Diego Luna, as Perry’s past love, the beautifully dishevelled and tortured artist of my dreams (Dear God, that penetrating stare...) He’s also the only reason why anyone bothered to watch Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, if it wasn’t already obvious.

First single ‘California Gurls,’ on the other hand, is pure pop exuberance at its most campy and carefree, indicative of a more innocent time when it wasn’t driven by algorithms or social media. ‘Firework’ is still a go-to empowerment anthem for just about every kind of montage imaginable. ‘ET’ (featuring a pre-’presidential’ Kanye) is heavily-synthesised cyber pop that doesn’t get nearly enough love.

But Teenage Dream, in retrospect, has quite a few misses. ‘Peacock’ is just one big, long, glitchy dick joke. ‘Not Like The Movies’ is big ballad schmaltz. The brassy soft rock of ‘Hummingbird Heartbeat,’ meanwhile, opens with a hell of a line: ‘You make me feel like I'm losing my virginity/The first time, every time when you're touching me.’ And I’m pretty sure ‘What Am I Living For?’ is partly plagiarised from Justin Timberlake’s ‘My Love.’ Even Pitchfork awarded Teenage Dream a rather tame 6.8 in their recent retrospective review.

By the time Perry released Prism in 2013 – her ‘darker, moodier’ record - she had shifted further into ‘inspirational anthems.’ There was the inescapable mega-hit ‘Roar,’ the saccharine power ballad ‘Unconditionally’ and the Eastern-tinged ‘Legendary Lovers,’ complete with wellness and spiritual motifs.

But it wasn’t without its bangers: ‘Dark Horse’ (featuring Juicy J) jumped onto the trap pop bandwagon just in time with its subterranean bass and eerie, otherworldly synths. Even the slick, 90s-indebted ‘This Is How We Do’ has a certain charm.

Prism also marked the point where Perry’s invincibility began to wear off. Where the masses once lapped up her candy-coated antics, they were now calling her out for wearing braids in the video for ‘This Is How We Do’ and dressing up as a geisha during a performance at the American Music Awards.

And they would only get louder during her era of ‘purposeful pop.’ Released in the aftermath of the 2016 US election, Witness was meant to cement Perry as ‘Artist. Activist. Conscious�� - as her Twitter bio read at the time. She had joined Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. On Instagram, she was quoting the likes of Socrates and Plato. She was Woke now, and she was telling anyone who’d listen.

Yet you’d be hard pressed to find much trace of this ‘purposeful pop’ on Witness, bar the first single, ‘Chained to the Rhythm.’ Written with Sia and Max Martin, the singer implores listeners to ‘put your rose-coloured glasses on and party on’ amid whirling, colourful synths.

The rest of the record, however, is made up of either soppy, overly sentimental ballads (‘Save As Draft,’ ‘Pendulum,’ ‘Into Me You See’), awkward lyrical turns and CHVRCHES/Purity Ring knock-offs (‘Hey Hey Hey,’ ‘Roulette,’ ‘Deja Vu’).

Funnily enough, Purity Ring’s Corin Roddick produced some of Witness’ better tracks: ‘Mind Maze’ and the soaring ballad ‘Miss You More, along with ‘Bigger Than Me.’

Final track ‘Act My Age,’ meanwhile, feels like a pre-emptive strike against the criticism Witness would inevitably receive (‘They say that I might lose my Midas touch/They also say I may become irrelevant/But who the fuck are they anyway?’).

Then there’s the godawful ‘Bon Appetit’ (featuring Migos) with its food-related double entendres. It was ‘Yummy’ before ‘Yummy’ existed. Seriously, I just wanna see Orlando Bloom say he likes this song with a straight face...

But I will still defend ‘Swish Swish’ to the death. Do the lyrics suck? Yeah, but Perry’s never been the strongest lyricist. But its pulsing 90s house beat does a lot of the heavy lifting, along with Nicki Minaj’s spitfire verse.

The promotional rollout for Witness, meanwhile, proved just as messy. Among the most infamous was a 72-hour livestream, where voyeurs got to witness Perry sleep, meditate, do yoga and welcome a random assortment of guests, including Gordon Ramsey and activist DeRay McKesson. Then there was the meme-laden video for ‘Swish Swish. She literally served herself up on a platter in the clip for ‘Bon Appetit.’ She tried reigniting her feud with Taylor Swift on James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke. Needless to say, it reeked of desperation.

Looking back, though, you can’t help but feel a little bad for Perry, trying so hard to please only for it to blow up spectacularly in her face. So devastated, it sent her to the Hoffman Institute, which offers an abridged version of therapy. As she later told the Guardian:

‘I think the universe was like, ‘OK, all right, let’s have some humble pie here […] My negative thoughts were not great. They didn’t want to plan for a future. I also felt like I could control it by saying, ‘I’ll have the last word if I hurt myself or do something stupid and I’ll show you’ — but really, who was I showing?’

But although Witness lacked the perkiness of Teenage Dream or the cartoonish charm of One of the Boys, it shines best on its darker moments.

‘Dance With The Devil’ has the kind of smoky allure that wouldn’t look too out of place on a BANKS album, while ‘Power’ is a revelation. Produced by Jack Garrett, what could’ve been yet another dull empowerment ballad is turned into a gritty, groaning slab of vaporwave pop, with sultry sax riffs that sample, of all things, Smokey Robinson’s ‘Being With You.’ It’s electric as fuck. You believe it when Perry sings: ‘’Cause I'm a goddess and you know it/Some respect, you better show it/I'm done with you siphoning my power.’

If the singer had just done away with the whole ‘purposeful pop’ concept and stuck with Garrett, Roddick and Terror Jr’s Felix Snow as her core producing group, Witness probably wouldn’t have been half the failure it was. It could’ve had a chance to grow on people, the kind of slow burn Perry could’ve gotten away with at this point in her career. The cyberpop dystopian feel also could’ve gone hand in hand with her newfound wokeness, echoing people’s fear and anger in the aftermath of Trump’s win. But alas, we’ll never know...

While the rollout for Witness over the top, Smile’s was lacklustre and wildly inconsistent.

First single ‘Never Really Over’ came out a whole 15 months before the release of Smile to little fanfare, along with a hippie-inspired video to match. ‘Harleys in Hawaii’ later followed, which also stuck with the flower power aesthetic. Other singles - ‘Daisies’ and the title track – seemingly came and went without a trace.

So how did Katy Perry get to this point? And is there any chance of coming back?

It’s hard to say. A lot of artists go through a rough patch or two:   Miley's twerking antics divided audiences when she released 2013’s Bangerz. Taylor Swift’s reputation divided audiences. Only in recent years has Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP been vindicated. Such is the nature of music and pop culture in general. It’s fickle, just one vicious cycle after another; an endless quest for trend-bait that'll never end.

Right now, disco pop is going through a renaissance, while hyperpop reigns supreme. Dua Lip and Charli XCX are basically untouchable at the moment. TikTok has taken over from Top 40 radio when it comes to breaking hits, while the gap between album releases has also grown shorter and shorter. Even the nature of fandom has changed, shifting from old-school elitism to the bloodsport that is ‘stanning,’ along with an unhealthy amount of ‘endless simping’ (to quote a close friend of mine).

Perry, meanwhile, has failed to keep up, choosing to play it safe in order to avoid further scrutiny. But in doing so, she strips away the humour, the mischief and other idiosyncrasies that fans fell in love with in the first place.

But what choice did she have? As Junkee’s Sam Murphy notes in his own piece about Perry’s rise and fall:

‘At that point, you have two choices as a popstar — hunt for relevancy or make what comes naturally to you. Perry chose the former and came unstuck. She inserted vague wokeness into her songs as cancel culture infiltrated pop, tacked on rap features as hip-hop became the dominant commercial genre, and worked with producers who may have been able to find her credibility.’

(Full disclosure: I started writing my piece on Perry back in December 2020, so the timing of Murphy’s piece and mine is purely coincidental).

Even if you don’t believe in cancel culture, no one actually wants to be cancelled. It’s just not good for PR, especially for someone with an image as glossy and as carefully put-together as Perry’s. Even now, she continues to atone for Witness, telling the LA Times: ‘Having more awareness and consciousness, I no longer can just be a blissful, ignorant idealist who sings about love and relationships […] Even my travels have afforded me a new perspective on cultures, class systems and the inequality around the world, not just in the United States,’ though she carefully avoids the subject of politics on Smile.

But redemption is possible. Swift – Perry's one-time nemesis - was a total pariah back in 2016, mocked for her Girl Squad, for diddling the Hiddles while on the rebound from Calvin Harris and criticised for remaining coy on her political leanings. Now she’s earning indie cred with two of 2020’s biggest albums, folklore and evermore, and has thrown her support behind a number of social causes.

The devil works hard, but Swift’s PR team work harder. I might not be her biggest fan, but Taylor works Kris Jenner levels of mastery when it comes to rebuilding public sentiment. Thanks to her newfound indie cred, you’ve almost forgotten about the pastel atrocity ‘Me!,’ her 2019 duet with that insufferable drama kid cliché, Brendon Urie. Shifting her songs away from petty grievances to more original storytelling was also a smart move.

But while Swift has managed to move on, Perry seems to have fallen into the same adult contemporary trap as Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera and Pink, one that ensnares many female artists over 30 (Though many have also managed to escape – Gaga, Taylor, Beyonce, Rihanna, Kesha, Robyn...)

As ‘woke’ as the industry and fans at large might think themselves to be, they’re still pretty ageist. There's still an expectation to ‘mature’ your sound as you age, to become more ‘serious.’ No more fun, no more experimenting, boomer. But when you do end up filing away the edges, you’re called dull, generic and past your prime. Perry said as much on the aforementioned ‘Act My Age. You just. can't. win.

And yet, many female artists over 30 have created some of their best work yet in just the past year or so: Hayley Williams made the dramatic shift from pop rock to low-key, Radiohead-inspired tunes on her solo debut, Petals For Armor. Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters was hailed by critics as her most bold, urgent and visceral. Jessie Ware’s What’s Your Pleasure? was a cut of understated disco pop elegance. Carly Rae Jepsen, meanwhile, released an equally stellar companion to 2019’s Dedicated.

At this point in her career, Perry could afford to follow a similar path to that of the Canadian singer. Once the meme value of ‘Call Me Maybe’ wore off, along with her mainstream appeal, Jepsen finally had a chance to discover real creative freedom, pushing her sound to greater heights and earning critical acclaim, all without having to compromise her love for catchy hooks and bold synth pop arrangements.

A couple of years ago, a Reddit user made a post about participating in a focus group held by Perry’s label to discuss why she’s ‘no longer one of the[ir] most notable female pop artists,’ and ‘what can [they] do with her image or marketing to make you care about her again?’

It’s depressing to think that an artist as accomplished as her needs a focus group to help solve her identity crisis. There really is no easy answer. Hopefully, Perry will be able to return more vibrant and assured than ever, on her own terms...

-Bianca B.

[lavieboheme930]

Music Survey of the day

I really want to do this one every day cause it’s so much fun

SONG 1: 1999-Prince What comes to mind when you hear this song? Prince’s death.  Especially the line “Life is just a party and parties weren’t meant to last” Rate the singers looks out of 10? 10. He was one of my first celebrity crushes. What year was it released? 1982 I think

SONG 2: Changing Colors -Jason Castro Best instrument in the song? Guitar Third line? “That you don’t want to call me back.” Genre? folk

SONG 3: God Must’ve Spent a Little more time on you -*NSYNC Would it be good live? Sure What’s the name of the album? *NSYNC Last word: "You”

SONG 4: She’s So High -Tal Bachman Spell it without vowels: Sh S Hgh  Write the opposite of each word in the title: He’s Not Low HAHA I guess so What sort of event would you play this song at? I don’t know.  I think I heard it at a skating show once

SONG 5: Let’s Just Fall In Love Again -Jason Castro Is this song heavy or soft? Soft Have you seen the artist live? Yes, like 5 times now.  Met him all those times too How many times have you played this? Many. Especially when I used it for a skating performance

SONG 6: Give Me Novacaine -Green Day Is it a well known artist? Very  How many songs do you have by them? A lot How long does it go for? 3:26

SONG 7: I Am The Walrus -The Beatles Remind you of anything? When I was introduced to it while watching the Beatles Anthology...I love John Lennon and I fell in love with him in this video and I rememebr at 12 years old me calling my friend up and telling her John was sexy in this video How would you dance to this? Some psychedellic way I guess LOL Did you buy it or download it? bought it

SONG 8: You Are Not Alone -Michael Jackson Name the song something different: I’m Always There for You  Does it use a riff or a chord progression? I don’t know. Rate the album out of 10: 8.  10

SONG 9: Across the Universe -Michael Johns How did you learn about this song? From the Beatles actually.  And when Michael sang it on Idol. Are there any meaning to the lyrics? Yes very much so.   Describe the video: There isn’t one.

SONG 10: Man in the Mirror -Michael Jackson Seen any dvds of the artists? I owed one at a time Favourite song by them? Oh wow...this one is one.  Then Black or White, Will you be there, and Heal the world Any explicit lyrics? Nope.  

SONG 11: Spanish Harlem -Frankie Valli What would your best friend think of you listening to this song? Nothing, they know I’m a fan Your mum? She’s the one who introduced me to Frankie LOL Favourite line? None in this one

SONG 12: We Can Get You Down -Joey McIntyre It comes on the radio, what do you do? It’s never been on the radio :( Favourite part of the song? The whole thing Mood it puts you in? Very happy more so now after getting a pic with him <3 <3

SONG 13: Something to Believe in -Poison Does it suit the number 13? Wow...I guess if you want to believe 13 is bad luck What would you say to the artist if they were here right now? I love your music!! When would you listen to this song? Anytime. I love Poison

Song 14: Better Man -Pearl Jam If you could listen to one more song, would it be this? Nah What artist should cover it? I don’t know What do you think of when you hear the name of it? Nothing

Song 15: I Would Die 4 U- Prince Best part? The chorus Best lyric? You’re just a sinner I am told be your fire when you’re cold, make you happy when you’re sad, make you good when you are bad.” Worst lyric? None

SONG 16: Me and Bobby McGee How many times could you listen to it without getting sick of it? Maybe a few times Spell the artist backwards: No thanks. How much would you pay to see it live? It’ll never happen as she’s gone :(

SONG 17: Someday when I stop loving you -Carrie Underwood First word? One Last word? You Put both in a sentence: This one song has nothing on you.

Song 18: It Matters to Me -Jason Castro Make you think about? How many times i’ve met him and how he always seems to remeber me Remind you of any friends? Lisa, who I introduced to him when we went to see him this summer What genre best defines the artist? folk

SONG 19: Roar -Katy Perry Buy or download? Buy What’s one thing that could be improved? None What decade was the artist in their prime at? She still is

SONG 20: Radioactive -Kings of Leon What part of the song stands out? All of it. How much do you love the artist? Ehh...I’m a so so fan.  Got into them cause of Constantine mentioning their music. Has anyone in the band died? No

[plogan721]

May I borrow your creative works?

Disclaimer: P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

  I want to turn your attention away from Covid and away from the riots for a moment to get back on track. 

Like the posts containing “Covid-19”, “Corona”, “Rona”, and other names I have been calling it, I could be talking about racism until I am blue in the face, stand up and sing soprano all day long.  It is an uncomfortable subject to talk about, but there should be active as well.  I do not have all the answers, but one of the actions should be an understanding of another person’s race, gender, and culture.  Even to this day I never could understand the problems that others have with African Americans and women or even American Indians.  All three I identify with, although I do not know what tribe my grandfather’s mother comes from. All people want to do is to live the life given to them. It is the ones who cause the problems in the very beginning (slavery for Africans and restrictions for First Nations and women) are the ones who fail to understand that we are all humans and we all have needed to thrive within this country.  I am done with this conversation, for now, let’s move on.

  Different types of creative works.   Photos by Pixabay.com

I am actually a pretty good soprano, reaching a C6 when I was a teen, for those of you who are musicians, for the rest of you, it is called a Mezzo-Soprano.  These days, I am just a soprano, or second soprano, inching closer and closer to a first alto.  Oh, I do not mind, as long as I have some ability to still sing soprano.  It is what I am comfortable at.  I blame allergies for this problem, as well as when you age, you lose some elasticity in your vocal cords.

In addition to being a content creator, a freelance writer and graphic designer, and singer, I am also a musician (almost classical trained), a dancer (ballet, jazz and contemporary, tap, and liturgical), and I know a little bit about computer coding.  All of these “hats” allow me to be creative and put my stamp on a piece of music, recording sessions, writings, choreographed works, and websites, if I put my mind to it. This brings me to a question that was asked on Quora.com, This person wanted to know if it was “okay” to use someone’s created media in their product for a video that he was making on YouTube.   He did not say YouTube per se, but I assumed that he was hinting towards YouTube or even Vimeo. He also wanted to know if that person can sue him. My answer to that was this:

“Yes, you can be sued. They might be nice and send you a cease and desist letter, asking you to remove the music. you really needed to ask permission from the creator if using the music is okay or not.

I want to leave you with two examples. The first one is I am also a creator of music. I am not perfect at it, and I have not published any of it online. If I had published my latest, which is called, Corners of my Mind, and someone did not ask for permission to use the music, I would write a cease and desist letter because I feel that I could go further with this piece of music before it was perfect in my eyes. I have several reasons for not being satisfied with this piece of music. one of them is the keyboard I originally recorded it on is limited in the potential that this piece of music deserves. Most of the time, people share to let others know of their process and to find out that someone who is too lazy to create their own music is using a taking credit for that piece is disheartening to me. It takes time to create a piece of music. Yes, computers make the job easier, but the work is still there, as thoughts of music are coming from the head of composers into something tangible for the world to enjoy, not the for the vlogger to take credit for their own personal gain.

Likewise, when I first started blogging, I used someone’s photo, and I forgot to give that person credit. A couple of years later, another blogger asked for my permission to use the photo. I could have said yes, but instead, I explained the situation, then I quickly changed the photo to prevent others from asking to use it.

I am not saying that you are lazy, but you must give credit and/or ask for permission before using the creative works of others.”

Explanation of the answer.

We would all like to be talented in the art of creating that perfect piece of music, a piece of art that will drive millions to see it, or even a t-shirt that speaks volumes, but not everyone can do it.  Some people are not interested in learning how, and there are some people who feel like they do not have a creative bone in their body.  Some are too shy to do it.  It does not mean that you are lazy, and I do not see the problem of a person sharing their works.  The problem lies when a person who worked hard on a piece is not given the credit they deserve when someone takes a copy and puts it on their project. 

We have all done it, even me, and I got caught.  Not by the original photographer themselves, but by another person, who wanted to share it on their website or blog.  I felt embarrassed by the gesture.  I wanted to say yes, because I placed the perfect font on top of the photo, centered it just right, and it was gold to me.  When I saw it, it was the perfect photo, and I could have placed any of my photos under the font layer, which I should have.  As soon as I replied to the blogger, I quickly went to my blog and replaced it with one of my photos.   To be honest, I did not remember that I had done it.

I also explained to the questioner on Quora that I am always nick picking about my latest piece of music called, “Corners of my Mind”.  I am always changing the speed of the music, the rhythm of the drum kit, and the instruments that would accompaniment the drum kit.  Most of it is slight deviations of the original song.  For the moment, on my Casio CTK 631 (made in 1998), I have a Rave for the drum kit (oh so 1990s), the tempo is between 78 and 84 BPM, and I created a piano 1, an organ 2 (which is as close to a Hammond B25 AKA church organ as I can get it), and a soft wave (I think, I am not looking at my keyboard at the moment).  I have had the song in a Trance rhythm, 105 BPM, a Piano 3 (created), saw synth, saw wave, you name it for instruments.  I have even changed notes and transposed it a couple of times.  I am due for a new keyboard, and my goal is a Yamaha Modx7, which is the latest Yamaha, with all the bells and whistles to make further changes to this song and to create plenty more with that came from.  I have played on the Yamaha Montage, which is a bit pricey for me. Apparently, Yamaha thought so too, so they created the Modx6,7, and 8 with the Montage powerhouse inside at a lower price point. And you thought all that I know about was social media, content, freelance writing, Disney, organization, decorating, and graphic design.  Give me a musical keyboard, a tutu, and some tap shoes, and you have seen nothing yet, LOL.  This was the reason I talked about Abby Lee Miller so bad back in 2012 if you have been reading this blog that long. (to this date, it has received over 2200 views)

OK, I got off track, time to pull it all together.

The point I am trying to make is If it takes that much thought into my little song, can you imagine how much I can mix it at a recording studio with all the bells and whistles that a recording studio can give.  It gives me chills when I know how much a recording engineer can do to a basic song to make it a hit.  It is things like these that make a composer tell a video maker to get their own music if all that person is going to do is make it into theme music for their little video.   I do not mind sharing my music, but since I spent all this time composing and having someone mix it for me, I better get the credit and it better get lots of air time.   This is the thought that goes through people’s minds like Beyoncé and Katy Perry and companies like Disney, as that thought turns into music like “Single Ladies”, “Roar”, and “Into the Unknown” from Frozen 2.

That is the reason I gave this person the answer he or she asked. 

I am talking about:

·         Photos

·         Graphic designs

·         Poetry works

·         Novels and e-books

·         Computer programs

·         Prototypes of products

And the list goes on and on.

“So, Patricia, I get it.  How do I solve the problem?”

First of all, do not beat yourself up for it.  Everyone makes mistakes, and with mistakes, there is a solution.  To prevent you from getting caught either by the creator of the media you want to use or by someone who thinks that you are the creator of the piece of media that they want to use going forward:

·         Ask Permission.  When you see a piece of media that you want to use, contact the creator of that piece.  As a writer, I put down my contact information on every piece of a blog post when I write for someone.  I used to do that with my own blogs, but Google got picky.

If you are a writer, you can do that too.  write a quick footnote like this:  Patricia is the writer and owner of My Ambiance Life, Home Prep, and P. Lynne Designs blog and website.  If you have any questions and/or want to reuse any of the material written in this post, please contact her at plogan721@att.net. It is simple and to the point.  You do not have to write how you are the president of the Yacht club, you are the parents of 15 wonderful children, or that you own a plot of land in Shri Lanka. All of that information should be in your bio (or should it?).

·         Give Proper Credit:  When you contact the creator and they say it is okay to use that item, they will often times mention how they want to be credited.  I simply want to be credit as Patricia Logan-P. Lynne Designs or Patricia Logan-P. Lynne Designs’ The Writing Cove if it is a written piece.  If you are in the US, you should know the proper way to footnote something. Logan, Patricia, “May I borrow your creative works”, My Ambiance Life Blog.  The good news is a long time ago, you had to write the whole citation.  Now you can write a shorter version of it. The author, the name of the post sited, and the site.

·         When the creator says no or when you cannot contact them:  It is not you.  remember the example I gave the person on Quora.  The piece may not be shared because it is not ready.  It is in process or this maybe this person’s private piece.  You may wonder why share it in the first place?  There are many reasons why they have shared their works.  

·         Use royalty-free products.  For photos, I use Pixabay.  For music, I use Epidemic Sounds.  I do have a photographer friend who can help me with authentic photos and videos around town or I take them myself.  He is not free, and I would not have it any other way because he has a family to feed.

I want to stop right here with the last statement, a family to feed. The reason why most people do what they do is because of the passion, the dedication to the craft, and they have bills and a family to feed.  What a person does 9 times out of 10 will not amount to that of a millionaire unless the money they make either with their craft and skills, a 9-5 job, or both is to invest in something.  If half the things I have not learned how to do as a child or a young adult did not earn me a seat at the table to buy at least a tube of toothpaste, I found other ways of getting it.  That is what I call, earning multiple streams of income.  You cannot just sit and do nothing.

That statement I just mention is the statement that helps me sleep at night.  To know that if things are done properly, we would all win.  Asking the author for permission to use his/her materials and finding other ways to help yours when they say “no”, will allow you to make your passion and your job much, much easier, but hackers and scammers just. Do. Not. Get. It.  I hope you do.

I am done.  Be well. Stay safe.  I will talk to you later.  God bless you.

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[goldenmusicmoments]

Katy Perry  - Witness:

After awhile Katy finally released her fourth studio album, this time around she intended to go down a different route rather than sticking to what she has done for some time. With ‘Prism’ Katy had talked about taking a darker route, however the record seemed more of a continuation from the previous. So the ‘Witness’ era kicked off with ‘Chained To The Rhythm’ which set out to make a political statement. It was different to what she had done before and surprised a lot of people. I didn’t quite catch onto the track immediately, but once I did I was hooked. What attracted me to it was its vibe, a dark undertone disguised amongst something that some may have seen as a fun track (the video captured this quite well). So the start to this new era really caught my attention and had me anticipating the full album.

The track performed well, even though it didn’t match the commercial success of the previous lead singles. I feel like this was more so because of it being something unfamiliar from her and that the general public had always seen her as an artist that divulges mostly in bubblegum pop. Often when you stick to one thing for too long as an artist you get boxed into that one category. So change can sometimes lead to alienating the fans. Then she went onto release ‘Bon Appetite’ featuring the hip-hop artists Migos, this track seemed to be an attempt to regain the commercial success achieved by singles from her previous album. It was released as a single, they tried to push it and even released a music video yet the single failed to do much. The song didn’t catch my attention and I wasn’t drawn to come back for more. The label seemed to notice and then went onto release ‘Swish Swish’ an 80s inspired track featuring Nicki Minaj. Now this track was catchy and it had an enjoyable feel to it. Nicki on top of that really elevated the track and for me is the highlight of the song. ‘Swish Swish’ was then announced as the single and that they would no longer be promoting ‘Bon Appetite’ as a single. However promo seems to have really lacked and they really didn’t do much to get the song out there, so it ended up fading away. Just recently though they decided to release the music video, but they waiting a little too long and the hype since faded. At this stage releasing more singles from the album may not be possible as her team/label have messed up the single release plan.

When Rihanna kicked of the ‘Anti’ era she dealt with a similar reaction to that of this era for Katy. ‘FourFiveSeconds’ received similar commercial success to that of ‘Witness’s’ lead, and ‘BBHMM’ & ‘American Oxygen’ to that of Katy’s latter two singles. So Rihanna went back into the studio to rework things and released ‘Work’ which went on to become a massive hit. With Katy I seriously feel that her label have rushed things and thus things haven’t gone quite as planned. With ‘Prism’ as well the issue was that her label thought that the momentum from ‘Teenage Dream’ would drive its success. It was enough to have ‘Roar’ perform really well, but it wasn’t able to push the other singles that were released. ‘Dark Horse’ though managed to become an unexpected hit as the track in itself was strong enough to draw an audience without the aid of promo. Nonetheless even though there are people that are very quick to label an artist a ‘flop’ Katy doesn’t fit that category. Katy can come back and go on to achieving another No.1 hit single, but it all depends on what she puts together in the studio.  

Anyways I am now going to discuss the entire album ‘Witness’ on how I felt when I heard it. The album opens with the title track and it sure is a stellar start. The track takes you on a journey and captivates you from the very start with its universal message of acceptance. It surely goes down as one of the best tracks on the album. The next two tracks ‘Hey Hey Hey’ and ‘Roulette’ are tracks that immediately embed themselves in your memory with their catchy choruses and you seem to get lost in the tracks losing sense of everything around you. ‘Deja Vu’ and ‘Mind Maze’ both draw you in from the start and both give you this sense of euphoria. The two tracks manage to give you a feel of calmness. ‘Mind Maze’ has this hypnotic vibe and her vocals particularly during the last few moments are so mesmerising.  

‘Power’ is the embodiment of empowerment done right. One of the best tracks on the record, not only that but one of the strongest songs she has ever put out. This sonically pleasing track showcases Katy’s ability and her potential to deliver greatness. Then we come to the more vulnerable moments on the album with ‘Miss You More’, ‘Save As Draft’ & ‘Into Me You See’. Katy really draws all emotions possible from the listeners on these tracks and depicts the emotions behind the lyrics really beautifully through her vocals. The chorus of ‘Miss You More’ oozes with this feeling of magnificence. The final time when Katy sings ‘This is intimacy’ in ‘Into Me You See’ is one of the most iconic moments on the entire record that leaves you with chills and is a stunning ending to the album. ‘Tsunami’, ‘Bigger Than Me’ & ‘Pendulum’ are enjoyable tracks but nothing more for me.

Overall the album is a good effort from Katy, she displays versatility through the diversity in sound and topic. Single choices are what let this album down and prevented it from gaining more recognition. A more clever single release plan could have allowed the album to draw much more attention to it. Katy has potential and she definitely has the ability to bring it around with her next album though. She may want to have a conversation with her label and team on a better promotion plan and a stronger single release plan.