Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from the incredibly large amount of money Lady Gaga is being sued for by her ex, to the one smart, and one stupid, business move made by major labels this past week, to the NINE figure deal the Michael Jackson estate signed with Sony that will make sure we'll be hearing more of the king of pop's music for many years to come. Oh, and there's also a guy who likes coffee ... a lot, and since it's Pop Shots you know everything, even the coffee, is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.
* It's been a mixed week for the new queen of pop as Lady Gaga found herself breaking yet another chart recored, but also being sued for an amount of money that would make Dr. Evil proud. First, Gaga's latest single, "Telephone," reached the top spot on the radio airplay chart, giving her six #1s, which ties her for the most since the Nielsen BDS-based radio airplay chart launched in 1992. The other artists with six are Beyonce, who happens to make a guest appearance on "Telephone," and Mariah Carey. Proving her meteoric rise to fame, Gaga racked up her six in only 16 months, but she won't be getting an congratulatory calls from at least one person - her ex, songwriter and music producer Rob Fusari, who is suing Gaga for $30.5 million dollars claiming that they co-wrote songs and that he came up with her stage name and helped her get her record deal only to be ditched when fame hit. Whenever I see stories like this it makes me think about how hilarious it is that one of the only couples that has managed to mix love and business successfully are the Osbournes. Yes, the reality of it all is we're all dysfunctional compared to Ozzy and Sharon.
* In more chart topping news, Ludacris scored his fourth number one album last week with Battle of the Sexes, and Gorillaz came in second with Plastic Beach, making it a GREAT week for animated artists.
* Every once in a while a major label manages to get it's collective head out of its ass and do something right. For Universal that time was last Friday when they announced they'd be lowering the wholesale price point for their CDs and putting suggested retail prices on them that will range from $6 to $10. Stores may not like that their profit margins will go down from 35% to 25% on many front-line releases, and labels and artists might not be trilled with lower royalties, but it's the right move because stores can't make ANY profits and labels and artists can't make ANY royalties, if the product just sits on the shelf. I actually wrote an entire column about how ridiculous major labels have been for undercutting themselves with mp3 pricing and essentially creating their own competition for the CD. It looks like at least one label might finally be realizing that the CD is their product, too, which is a great thing for those of us who love the physical format.
* Since apparently it's impossible for major labels to get through an entire week with only good ideas, Warner Bros. decided to preview the third album of experimental rock group Foxy Shazam (we all know anything that references a Shaquille O'Neal movie HAS to be good) on Chatroulette. Chatroulette is an online chat site that randomly connects users for one-on-one video sessions and features a "next" button that enables users to skip to the next selection. For the most part, Chatroulette has been really good for, well ... THIS, and THIS, which makes me wonder why anyone would think it could be used as a platform for anything even remotely business related. Something tells me this marketing "plan" is the work of a middle aged industry "insider" who said "the kids like this, which means we can use it to sell things to them." In fact, I bet the guy in the cat suit is a label head.
* In "selling your dead relative's soul for fun and profit" news, the Jackson family has made sure they'll be reaping the benefits of the shortened life of Michael Jackson as they made a deal with Sony to release ten albums of new and re-issued MJ material all the way through 2017 that will guarantee the estate of Michael Jackson $200 - $250 million dollars. While it's exciting to think about the possibilities of hearing some of what Michael was working on at the time of his sudden passing, seven years worth of material is A LOT, and after hearing the kind of stuff that had 2Pac's name stuck on it after his death, music that I'm absolutely sure he never wanted to have leave the studio, I hope someone's going to exercise some quality control here. When it comes to our artistic heroes there's a reason we don't see or hear everything they do; it's because although we appreciate the process, it's the finished product that they want to present that's important. Let's hope Sony lets us remember MJ as a genius at his best.
* Since far too many of this week's Shots were of the serious variety, let's close things out with a little ditty about coffee sung by a guy with a mullet in front of a T-Rex. Take it away Neil Crevice!
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
* It's been a mixed week for the new queen of pop as Lady Gaga found herself breaking yet another chart recored, but also being sued for an amount of money that would make Dr. Evil proud. First, Gaga's latest single, "Telephone," reached the top spot on the radio airplay chart, giving her six #1s, which ties her for the most since the Nielsen BDS-based radio airplay chart launched in 1992. The other artists with six are Beyonce, who happens to make a guest appearance on "Telephone," and Mariah Carey. Proving her meteoric rise to fame, Gaga racked up her six in only 16 months, but she won't be getting an congratulatory calls from at least one person - her ex, songwriter and music producer Rob Fusari, who is suing Gaga for $30.5 million dollars claiming that they co-wrote songs and that he came up with her stage name and helped her get her record deal only to be ditched when fame hit. Whenever I see stories like this it makes me think about how hilarious it is that one of the only couples that has managed to mix love and business successfully are the Osbournes. Yes, the reality of it all is we're all dysfunctional compared to Ozzy and Sharon.* In more chart topping news, Ludacris scored his fourth number one album last week with Battle of the Sexes, and Gorillaz came in second with Plastic Beach, making it a GREAT week for animated artists.
* Every once in a while a major label manages to get it's collective head out of its ass and do something right. For Universal that time was last Friday when they announced they'd be lowering the wholesale price point for their CDs and putting suggested retail prices on them that will range from $6 to $10. Stores may not like that their profit margins will go down from 35% to 25% on many front-line releases, and labels and artists might not be trilled with lower royalties, but it's the right move because stores can't make ANY profits and labels and artists can't make ANY royalties, if the product just sits on the shelf. I actually wrote an entire column about how ridiculous major labels have been for undercutting themselves with mp3 pricing and essentially creating their own competition for the CD. It looks like at least one label might finally be realizing that the CD is their product, too, which is a great thing for those of us who love the physical format.
* Since apparently it's impossible for major labels to get through an entire week with only good ideas, Warner Bros. decided to preview the third album of experimental rock group Foxy Shazam (we all know anything that references a Shaquille O'Neal movie HAS to be good) on Chatroulette. Chatroulette is an online chat site that randomly connects users for one-on-one video sessions and features a "next" button that enables users to skip to the next selection. For the most part, Chatroulette has been really good for, well ... THIS, and THIS, which makes me wonder why anyone would think it could be used as a platform for anything even remotely business related. Something tells me this marketing "plan" is the work of a middle aged industry "insider" who said "the kids like this, which means we can use it to sell things to them." In fact, I bet the guy in the cat suit is a label head.* In "selling your dead relative's soul for fun and profit" news, the Jackson family has made sure they'll be reaping the benefits of the shortened life of Michael Jackson as they made a deal with Sony to release ten albums of new and re-issued MJ material all the way through 2017 that will guarantee the estate of Michael Jackson $200 - $250 million dollars. While it's exciting to think about the possibilities of hearing some of what Michael was working on at the time of his sudden passing, seven years worth of material is A LOT, and after hearing the kind of stuff that had 2Pac's name stuck on it after his death, music that I'm absolutely sure he never wanted to have leave the studio, I hope someone's going to exercise some quality control here. When it comes to our artistic heroes there's a reason we don't see or hear everything they do; it's because although we appreciate the process, it's the finished product that they want to present that's important. Let's hope Sony lets us remember MJ as a genius at his best.
* Since far too many of this week's Shots were of the serious variety, let's close things out with a little ditty about coffee sung by a guy with a mullet in front of a T-Rex. Take it away Neil Crevice!
And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.
[Tags] POP
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