#but I'm also pragmatic to a fault and everything as has been described makes sense to me tbh

[kindahoping4forever]

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."