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Just Plain Quotes:

"A hypocrite is a person who--but who isn't?" -Don Marquis

"But all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." -Mitch Albom

"He that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time is the greatest innovator." -Sir Francis Bacon

"Evil is always present. Each generation is slow to see it while it's happening and often forgets it after it passes. When that happens we call it nostalgia. Think about it." -Brian Austin Whitney

My Take:

One of my favorite artists and fellow Indiana Hoosier John Mellancamp recently wrote an editorial lamenting the downfall of a corrupt music business and reminiscing about the good old days. It garnered a lot of attention, not from the obviousness of his main points (I mean really, we didn't know that commercial music was in decline 10 years ago?), but because he blamed it on US President Ronald Reagan. If you missed the diatribe, here it is:

If you're like me, you probably were agreeing with much of what he was saying at first. But then, after I finished, I realized this was a case of 2 things happening, both of which are misleading and misguided. First, he has a massive political ax to grind. Second, he's got a bad case of nostalgia.

What he conveniently seems to have forgotten is that the music industry has always been a haven for corruption and cheating and evil. It's a place where starry eyed people with talent dare to venture and where plenty of big bad wolves are waiting to feast on them. Long before Reagan, his hated political opposite, there was payola, and corruption, and planned obsolescence of music delivery devices (records and tapes leading to CD's and beyond). There was rampant nepotism and favoritism and graft and every other kind of business and social evil. Artists and writers were ripped off in every way imaginable. If it wasn't their record label, it was their sleazy managers or publishers or friends or band mates or spouses or significant others. It's always been a bit of a minefield and a bit of a cesspool. But John has apparently forgotten all that evil which helped nearly (if not every) famous artist emerge and sustain their long careers.

Radio station payola didn't start after Reagan. It started probably with the first radio station in some form or another and became well known in the 50's and beyond. Even if it wasn't direct cash payments to DJ's, it was boxes of free CD's, free Concert Tickets, free trips to press events for station staff members, free big screen televisions, free "hookers and blow" (as one of my industry friends always likes to say), and so on. Each generation has had that corruption and in all the small stations that John says broke his and many other careers, it was going on in one form or another.

Evil is always present. Each generation is slow to see it while it's happening and often forgets it after it passes. When that happens we call it nostalgia. Think about it. John is nostalgic for a time that helped make him a superstar. Of course he isn't going to acknowledge all the back room deals and ethical violations happening in the industry that helped make that happen. Instead he's blaming the boogie man of his own political nightmares that oversaw an era of a diminishing of the old "rock star" ways and lifestyles. Does he really think there weren't just as many "Pop Tarts" manufactured by insiders in his era and before as now? Teen Beat magazine would beg to differ.

More great music is being made today at a higher level than ever before in history. People now have access to express themselves musically like they never did before. Instead of their being 200 massive Rock and Pop stars, there's 2,000,000 independent and current label musicians that are reaching the same and even larger numbers of fans than ever before. Instead of all that money and power being focused on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members and their corporate owners, it's dissipated among the masses. I'd think, given his left leaning politics, he'd be really happy with all of that. And even if he isn't, he better get used to it.

Mellancamp is an amazing talent. (I can already hear him saying "who the hell does this little toad think HE is?") But that doesn't make him right. In this case it seems to make him nostalgic. But the evil is still out there just like it was in his good old days. Fortunately with millions of new artists and writers flooding the market with more and more music, it will become very difficult for the corporations he despises to force feed a handful of artists down our throats as they always have before.

We're going through a large cycle right now where, for at least the short term, artists will have to count on a smaller number of patrons to help them make a "professional" living. I've written about this for years calling it my 5000 fan theory. We're back to the days of making music on our front porch for neighbors, only now we're using the Internet. And if you're a music purist, you have to ask yourself; is that a bad thing? Wouldn't it be a much better world for 10 or 100 times as many artists to make a human scale living than were ever "Rock Stars?" Wouldn't it be wonderful to put an end to that outdated ego driven world anyway?

When commercial music bottoms out and the big mega corporations no longer see it as a profit center or even a useful "loss leader" as many have for years, won't that actually be a good thing for the health of the music we love? Don't you think that more modern day Bob Dylan's or Woody Guthrie's are likely to rise up as populist phenomenon's via free play on YouTube or MySpace or Facebook than could ever thrive via a commercially strangled profit "at all costs" driven music industry of any type?

I grew up listening to John Mellancamp here in small town Indiana. I used to "park" with my girlfriend listening to "Jack and Diane" and "Little Pink Houses." Boy... those were the good old days!

Learn, Succeed, Thrive. We're All In This Together!

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Just Plain Notes Table of Contents:

01. 2009 JPF Community Partner Sponsors

02. "Write Your Songs In A Genre" by Robin Frederick 03. Brian's Big Idea Update and Call to Arms!

04. JPF Music Awards Moves To Round 3 Judging: New Judges Needed 05. 2008/2009 JPF Music Awards Show Date Set

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2009 Just Plain Folks Community Partner Sponsors!

Most of the time, when you start a song, you're thinking solely about what you want to say, and that's the best way to approach your songwriting. However, by keeping a little corner of your brain focused on the genre you want to write in, you can add strength and marketability to your song, ultimately helping your song find its audience.

Like ice cream, songs come in different flavors: strawberry, chocolate, peach, and rocky road. And, like ice cream flavors, there are very real differences between the four mainstream music genres -- Country, Pop, Rock, and R&B/Soul -- and each one appeals to a different audience.

So, why is this important to you as a songwriter?

When listeners tune into a radio station that plays Country music, they expect to hear a range of songs that share a certain sound. Jazz stations, for example, play music that sounds different from Country music stations. Listeners who tune in to a Country station are expecting to hear the kinds of chords, melodies, and lyrics that are characteristic of today's Country genre. If they get a Jazz song instead, they won't be happy! Radio stations need to keep listeners satisfied if they want them to stick around. If listeners are expecting to hear songs with a Country sound, that's what the station needs to play, if they're expecting Jazz, then Jazz is what the radio station gives them.

If you write a song that straddles Country and Jazz -- let's say you throw a few cool jazz chords and an abstract lyric into your Country song -- you may have trouble finding a publisher for it or an artist who will record it. Why? Because publishers, record labels and artists all know that radio airplay is essential if they want to reach their audience and sell records. Radio wants songs that are a good fit for the genre they play, so that's what publishers and record labels look for.

CHOOSE A GENRE AND GET FAMILIAR WITH IT

Spend some time listening to current hits in the genre you want to write in. If you like Country music, listen to the top 20 current Country hits and study the chords, melodies, and lyrics to see what they have in common. What is it that Country audiences are excited about right now? Whether you want to write Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul or Hip-Hop, check out the current radio airplay charts to see which songs are getting the most play. These are the ones that listeners are eating up!

About Robin Frederick:

Robin has written more than 500 songs for television, records, theater, and audio products. She is a former Director of A&R for Rhino Records, Executive Producer of 60 albums, and the author of "Shortcuts to Hit Songwriting." Robin currently oversees the A&R Team for TAXI, the world's leading independent A&R company.