Aren’t we supposed to hate corporations?
But Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote a piece in the Washington Post and the governor blinked, it was techies and WALMART that stopped Indiana in its tracks. Isn’t this what musicians used to do?
But musicians are afraid of offending people, afraid of being “Dixie-Chicked,” busy complaining that they just can’t make enough money in this new connected world as they charge three digits for tickets and make deals with any corporation that will have them. Because, you know, musicians need to eat too.
Hogwash.
One of the defining attributes of Led Zeppelin was they just did not give a fuck.
Destroy hotel rooms? Peel off some hundreds. Musicians thought they were above the law, that the government couldn’t touch them because they had the people on their side. And they did. But now the corporations do. People will get in heated arguments over iOS and Android, we used to have these fights over bands.
Tim Cook knows the government is clueless.
We’ve seen that from Napster on. By time the government holds a hearing, the tech scene has moved on, the way the audience moved from Herman’s Hermits to Jimi Hendrix.
Want to have progress? Take matters into your own hands.
Kind of like Irving Azoff’s performing rights organization. I’m not for the Balkanization of PROs, but it takes someone of Irving’s cunning and power to not only realize that Pandora would be screwed without Pharrell, but to take this theory and turn it into reality. That’s the story of business, utilizing leverage to get what you want, not crying to the government.
So Tim Cook runs the richest company in the world and not only comes out of the closet, but challenges lawmakers in America’s heartland?
Isn’t this where the real people live and work according to Sarah Palin?
How dare you offend America’s heartland! But the truth is the law was payback for religious zealots who hated gay marriage. It’s just that simple. But then they tried to shift the debate to freedom to not bake a cake and the whole country got diverted from the real issue. Which is a small core of people is working behind the scenes to get what they want while you are sleeping.
But Tim Cook was not sleeping. Scores of other tech companies were not sleeping. They could see the bill for what it was, and pushed back immediately, the same way they acknowledge software problems and push out fixes via the internet. While records take years to develop, musicians selling antique albums and blaming everybody but themselves for the decline of their business, those in the know discard the past and embrace the future.
Madonna
What, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy canceled a show in Indiana.
But Jay Z and Alicia Keys and Madonna were too busy trying to line their coffers in NYC, launching the moribund Tidal so they could get richer. And what is amazing is they’ve achieved the exact opposite of their desire.
They believed their fans loved them and would embrace the service when online there was outrage that these “musicians” just wanted to get more bucks. I’ve seen more blowback against this cabal than Tim Cook has experienced in his three and a half years as head of Apple. And at least when they criticize him, they criticize his job performance.
No one cares about Madonna’s new music. How could this group be so tone-deaf as to take the money and run whilst saying the opposite? They can’t improve payouts. And they all did it for the dough, taking money from the enterprise the same way they do from cosmetic and beer companies.
These are people to believe in?
When did it become a badge of honor to stand for nothing?
And to be afraid of your audience…
That’s right, I’m speaking to you country acts. Acts that play rock and rap and pledge fealty to right wing hogwash all the while. Why don’t you push back against small thinking and racist, sexist and anti-gay comments? You want to take the spoils but none of the responsibility. Imagine if your records actually said something, the right thing, then you might cross over.
As for the pop acts…
Do we expect faceless foreigners to testify for you? They make the records, Max Martin is a fierce composer, but most people are clueless as to who he is, he’s got no profile.
But Tim Cook has a profile.
His company makes expensive products that people love! They used to charge for operating systems, now they’re FREE! Apple sees that the money is in hardware, in services, while musicians keep bitching that people are not buying full-length CDs. Makes me puke.
So now I get why corporations have all the power – especially tech.
Because they make the fuel this country runs on. Music is (only) a sideshow. (Business) proprietors are willing to do the heavy lifting to change the world. As a matter of fact, if they do not, they fail. And there’s a race to constantly improve the standard. From MySpace to Facebook to Snapchat…it’s a cornucopia of innovation.
As a result, these people become so wealthy that they are unafraid to utter their opinions.
Alicia Keys
And unlike the musicians, they’re educated.
Really Alicia Keys, you want me to believe in you when you can’t even pronounce “adage”? Illustrates you didn’t write your speech, shows you’d have been better off staying in school.
But the goal is to make it while you’re barely a teenager. And to spam us with tech’s tools and get press in antiquated publications as we ignore you all the while. Meanwhile, we’re lining up at the Apple Store to buy their latest gadget.
The world has changed.
I used to believe in the players.
Now I believe in the coders. And the people who grease their skids.
Come on, can you imagine Lucian Grainge standing up to Indiana? Doug Morris barking back to Arkansas?
Don’t make me laugh.
“Tim Cook: Pro-discrimination ‘religious freedom’ laws are dangerous”:
1. Don’t mess with jay z: he’s going to make billions. He’s just starting a
talent agency and not doing too bad. Tidal will catch on…z and his wife
probably are doing really well.
And lefsetz…you write worse than I do. Who are you talking about?
fights over androids? wtf are you talking about.
And you said artists wanted to get more bucks? wtf is this about. Of course…
who doesn’t want to be paid more for their work? Don’t you?
Man…the 60’s are over…led zeppelin has descended! The 70’s were
great but I can’t find bell bottoms anywhere.
Did you miss a few decades…because this writing of yours makes me think
you’re the “man that time forgot”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hearne help me out onthis one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And te headline “INDIANA NO KENT STATE”….hello…earth to lefsetz.
geeeeeezzzzzzzzzz
Tidal will fail, brilliantly.
Neil Young tried the same and is stuck with a mountain of ponos.
Your boy, Tim Cook, is sure balls to the walls when it comes to crushing those “religious zealots” in Indiana.
Apple does business with several countries that actually execute individuals for being GAY. They are (in no particular order):
•Uganda
•Nigeria
•Qatar
•Saudi Arabia
If the intrepid Mr. Cook were to approach his stockholders and inform them that he is vacating said countries for their stand on Gays, then I am sure, the blowback, here in America, where pillorying Indiana’s “religious zealots” is all so comme il faut, would diminish his business reputation if not his personal reputation. Of course, that will NEVER happen.
Cook wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post stating his position on the Indiana controversy.
“Cook’s op-ed drew attention particularly to North Carolina and Nevada, where in the past couple of years the iPhone maker has built massive data centers and invested billions of dollars. He also spoke of Texas, where Apple agreed to build a $300 million campus. Some of the chips for its iPhones and iPads are also manufactured there.
Cook didn’t directly threaten those efforts, but said he and Apple “will never tolerate discrimination.” Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Last October, Cook used an essay posted to Bloomberg Businessweek to speak out publicly about his sexual orientation for the first time. “So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay,” he wrote. He also gave a speech in Alabama, criticizing his home state for not offering equality to the gay community.
The hypocrisy is expected and yet, still breath taking.
It’s also worthy mentioning, that these same counties are home to “Honor Killings”, Genital Mutilation of young girls, stonings and the usual run of the mill, garden variety terrorist acts perpetrated on a daily basis all over the world. But, hey, just like Led Zeppelin, he just doesn’t give a fu*k.
oops, quotation marks after, …to the gay community”.
“we used to have these fights over bands.”
– funny how times and things change, and along with them people and tastes. Strictly musically speaking, Kerouac recalls the late 1960’s and early 1970’s when a musician friend of mine (who was a big Beatles fan) disdained my choice in music fare.
‘Eclectic’ was my taste, ranging from Sinatra, Bennett and Sammy Davis Jr., to Peter, Paul and Mary & Gerry and the Pacemakers. Aforementioned Beatles too, as well a then new Chicago Transit Authority (Chicago, which became my favorite), Sly & the Family Stone, and select portions The Guess Who & Vanilla Fudge. Three Dog Night and Rare Earth. I’d no affinity for Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival), or Grand Funk Railroad, all of these latter’s thence ‘in’ and more popular with my circle of friends.
Flash forward some 45 years and today my friend tells me ‘I never realized back then what great musicians they (Chicago) were’. Today, Kerouac is no fan of Chicago, who died some 40 years ago far as I’m concerned; 2015 (and for these many years before), would rather listen to Jackhammer (that awesome group pounding out sounds on the street.)
Haven’t bought a record in years, still retain LP’s from the 70’s & before, as well select 8-tracks and cassettes. Bought a few CD’s, never have owned an (iPod, is it?) Am still happily a captive yesterday, disillusioned by the musical present, the most part. If not for my non-cynical, ever-hopeful and positive outlook, don’t know if I could go on ‘day after month after season after year’ (think KC Chiefs and their fandumb for reference, they having been left behind as the music that played during their heydey.)
Speaking of good cheer, far as corporations and/or government are concerned, always recall with a smile plastered aface what Frank Zappa said (Frank, like Jimmy Durante ‘had a million of em’, to wit: “I want the government to stay out of my bedroom & out of my underwear.” Frank was also once quoted, in answer interviewer’s query – ‘what do you look for in a good pair of pants’ by replying: “long as they don’t squash my balls I’m happy.” Life, music, pants and all the rest was so much simpler then.