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Beyonce Take Note: Loyalty to Jay Z’s Tidal Is Killing Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” Sales

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce Take Note: Loyalty to Jay Z’s Tidal Is Killing Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo” Sales

Loyalty to Jay Z’s Tidal is killing sales for his musical recording act friends.

This has happened very quietly: sales of Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo” have dissolved without a physical CD or an actual digital download available on iTunes or Amazon. It’s still streaming on Tidal, Jay Z’s service, where it’s being promoted. But Tidal “sales” are not enough to stay charted.

In its first week of availability as a stream only, “Pablo” registered 90,000 copies two weeks ago. This morning, the numbers indicate that last week’s streams dripped to 33,760.

“Pablo” can only be downloaded on West’s own website for 20 bucks. But not in any of the online stores, and there’s no physical CD.

All the data shows that everyone wants streaming over digital downloads or CDs. But not so fast.

Beyonce should see this as a lesson. Her “Lemonade” just hit iTunes for a whopping $17.99 after only being available on Tidal’s streaming service. (It’s number 4, held back by Prince albums.) “Lemonade” has also just hit Amazon for downloading, also at $17.99, but hasn’t made their chart yet. The CD can be pre-ordered for May 6th, a week from this Friday.

“Lemonade” will not be on any other streaming services besides Tidal. And Tidal doesn’t really make streaming numbers jump– Kanye learned that when he finally moved to Spotify and AppleMusic, the streaming part of iTunes.

If Beyonce is smashing things with a bat now, wait til someone explains to her that Tidal will squeeze “Lemonade” dry.

Meantime, Kanye– a rabid Tweeter– has not posted anything to Twitter in ten days, since April 15th. Maybe he’s with Rupert Murdoch! 

 

Billy Paul, the Great R&B Star and Singer of “Me and Mrs. Jones” Fame, Has Died at 81

Roger Friedman
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Billy Paul, the Great R&B Star and Singer of “Me and Mrs. Jones” Fame, Has Died at 81

Billy Paul has died at age 81 from pancreatic cancer. I was lucky to meet him a few times over the years. He was one of the big stars of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International Records. His biggest hit, “Me and Mrs. Jones,” from 1973, is a classic for all seasons.

In 2000, Billy and a pal saw a Nike commercial during the Super Bowl that used “Me and Mrs. Jones.” Billy told me, “My friend said, You must be getting a lot of money in royalties. I told him, I haven’t gotten a penny.” In fact, Gamble and Huff hadn’t sent Billy a royalty statement for 27 years. Billy sued them, and long story, was awarded $500,000. The judge then advised other Philly International artists to sue Gamble and Huff for owed monies. Today Gamble and Huff are, haha, honorary co-chairmen of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Billy Paul was a sweet guy with an amazing voice. He had plenty of other hits, all on the R&B charts. He will be sorely, sorely missed.

Broadway: “Waitress,” With Songs by Sarah Bareilles, Pushes Tony Award Season into Final Week

Roger Friedman
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Broadway: “Waitress,” With Songs by Sarah Bareilles, Pushes Tony Award Season into Final Week

Sunday night: “Waitress,” based on Adrienne Shelley’s hit movie starring Keri Russell, opened on Broadway. Sara Bareilles wrote the songs. Jessie Mueller, from Carole King’s “Beautiful,” and Nick Cordero, from “Bullets Over Broadway,” star along with Keala Settle, Christopher Fitzgerald, along with Dakin Matthews, Kimiki Glen and Drew Gehling. Diane Paulus, of “Pippin” and “Finding Neverland,” directed.

In the audience last night: Larry David (a welcome surprise), Tony Danza, and Gloria and Emilion Estefan, among others. Tyson Foods catered the dinner at the Bryant Park Grill, including many mouth-watering pies to go along with the musical’s theme.

Mueller, always a knockout, plays Jenna, the diner waitress who obsessively bakes complicated pies, is an abusive marriage, and has an affair with her OB-GYN. Most of the songs are about pies. and baking them as a metaphor. Mueller and Glen seem to be singing a la Dolly Parton, very nasal and country. Sometimes I found that annoying.

Christopher Fitzgerald, who’s like a secret weapon in every show he does, will get a Tony nomination for a minor character role that brings life and light to the whole first act. They should expand his role, frankly.

Much of the book was a mystery to me. Some scenes have no ending or pay off. Some of the material repurposed from the movie doesn’t work on stage. There’s talk through the two plus hours of a baking contest Jenna wants to be in, but they never have it.

There will be marketing that this a musical about women’s empowerment, I guess. But many of the characters (Jenna’s no good husband, the doctor’s black Mammy-type nurse) are ridiculous stock characters who undermine the main story. Still, Bareilles has her fans, so does Mueller, and the fake smell of pies baking that’s piped into the theater at the end of Act 1 will make you yearn for what the show itself is lacking.

There are three more openings this week before Tony eligibility closes. The big question mark is “Shuffle Along,” which is set for Thursday if it actually happens. (I’ve heard rumors, but the show must open one way or another.) Also coming: “Tuck Everlasting” and “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”

It wasn’t a great season, and “Hamilton” loomed like a cloud over everything musical. Casts were large, which was good, and means a lot of competition in various Tony categories.

Beyonce and Sony Gave Jay Z 24 Hour Exclusive on “Lemonade”: Coming to iTunes Tonight

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce and Sony Gave Jay Z 24 Hour Exclusive on “Lemonade”: Coming to iTunes Tonight

So, Beyonce and Sony weren’t so stupid after all.

The exclusivity to Tidal for streaming “Lemonade” ends tonight at midnight. The New York Times reports that iTunes will get the CD for downloading then. Beyonce won’t have to smash any car windows.

Presumably, Spotify and Amazon will follow. Beyonce didn’t make that album for a small audience. On Friday she wants to be number 1. There’s only oen way to get there: be available on all platforms.

Kanye West and Rihanna regret no doubt their Tidal exclusive.

Maybe Sony will even issue a proper physical disc. Stay tuned…

Prince Insider: “So Far, No One Has Presented a Will. He Thought He’d Live 1,999 Years”

Roger Friedman
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Prince Insider: “So Far, No One Has Presented a Will. He Thought He’d Live 1,999 Years”

EXCLUSIVE So far, no one has shown up with a last will and testament for Prince.

I am told that it’s likely there is no will despite Prince’s great fortune and holdings. “He thought he’d live until he was one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine years old,” Prince’s long time former attorney and close friend Londell McMillan told me today.

McMillan never had a will with Prince. It’s unlikely any other lawyer drew one up either. “He didn’t think he would die. He couldn’t face it,” observed McMillan. “Some people are like that.”

This means Paisley Park must be in chaos this morning. Prince is dead, cremated. Vast holdings including real estate and a humongous song catalog are left behind.

Plus Prince had other business holdings as well. McMillan revealed to me that he and Prince were partnered in a company called NorthStar, born out of their dealings getting the “Emancipation” album to market through EMI Records 20 years ago.

As I wrote yesterday, “Emancipation” and several other Prince recordings exist outside his deal with Warner Music. Those include his recent “HitandRun” albums, the Black and the Gold albums, Musicology, and so on. His own label, NPG records, would be part of his estate.

Also in question would be things like ownership of Prince’s “Purple Rain” movie which was re-released over the weekend. It’s being shown on VH-1 Classics and is the number 2 download on iTunes movies this weekend.

All eyes will be on Minneapolis probate court this week to see what happens next.

Beyonce Goes to Bat in New Video: “Role Model” Smashes Set to Smithereens With Skipping Children

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce Goes to Bat in New Video: “Role Model” Smashes Set to Smithereens With Skipping Children

Four years ago, the Obamas were crazy fir Beyonce. President Obama said at a fundraiser: “Beyoncé could not be a better role model for my girls because she carries herself with such class and poise and has so much talent.”

Billy Paul, the great singer of “Me and Mrs. Jones” has died at age 81

The president may be changing his policy on Beyonce now. Her new video from the visual album “Lemonade” shows the Queen of Pop gleefully smashing dozens of cars and other objects to smithereens with a baseball bat. She has a better average right now than A-Rod!

The song and video, called “Hold Up,” seems to be about Beyonce getting revenge on husband Jay Z for cheating on her. Indeed, all of “Lemonade” appears to be Beyonce saying she’s made lemonade from lemons– meaning she’s somehow stuck it out in a bad marriage despite lying and infidelity. That sounds more like the Clintons’ story than the Obamas’.

What’s very interesting is that Jay Z doesn’t show up on the “Lemonade” songs as he did on Beyonce’s last album. And the only reason she may have given his Tidal service an exclusive is that as his wife, she’s also his business partner.

The lyrics: “I’d rather be crazy” than being “walked all over lately.” She asks: “Are you cheating on me?”
“Back up hold up/They don’t love you like I love you.” Jeez Louise. “I’m gonna f– me up a bitch.” Beyonce sings that she’s been going through his “call list.”

Anywho: Beyonce looks nuts in this video. Role model? Only if she’s in one of those Monster truck rallies.

PS A keen eyed Twitter follower reminds that Carrie Underwood already went batty over cheating:

Eddie Murphy Skips Premiere of Comeback Film, An Unintentional Remake of “Driving Miss Daisy”

Roger Friedman
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Eddie Murphy Skips Premiere of Comeback Film, An Unintentional Remake of “Driving Miss Daisy”

After last fall’s Mark Twain Prize reminded me of how great a comedian Eddie Murphy really is, I expressed hope about his next film, “Mr. Church.” I was told that it would be his Oscar move, a dramatic comeback.

Well, Eddie’s first film in four years is a bust apparently. Even he knows it– he skipped the Tribeca Film Festival premiere two nights ago.

Evidently, Bruce Beresford has wittingly or unwittingly remade “Driving Miss Daisy,” his Oscar winner from 1989. Only this time instead of Morgan Freeman driving Jessica Tandy around and being her best friend, Eddie cooks for a big white family. He’s like Mr. French or Mr. Belvedere. And his name is Church. Because soulful black people are connected to the church.

One reviewer said, “More galling than the film’s litany of melodramatic banalities is its regressive view of race relations.”

Ouch.

So much for that. The whole cast and crew except for Eddie is white. Why did he let that happen? He used to be so adept and insightful, as those old clips showed.

By the way, Bruce Beresford made two really great movies that you should check out: “Breaker Morant”and “Tender Mercies.”

Beyonce Releases A New Album, Trying to Make “Lemonade” from the Lemon that is Tidal

Roger Friedman
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Beyonce Releases A New Album, Trying to Make “Lemonade” from the Lemon that is Tidal

Tonight Beyonce released a new album. You can only it hear it by subscribing to Tidal, the failed streaming system owned by her husband, Jay Z.

It’s not on iTunes, Amazon, or Spotify. You can’t download it and you can’t buy the CD.

She released it during an hour long special on HBO at 9pm, when some people (like yours truly) were at Seders. I actually forgot it was happening.

So now what? Rihanna and Kanye West did similar things and regretted it. EVentually the music had to go on regular services since no one has Tidal. There’s still no CD for Kanye’s “Life of Pablo.”

How does Sony feel? This may be the last album on Beyonce’s contract with Sony. What could they say? Maybe they’ll release it officially next Friday.

“Lemonade” has these songs, which you cannot hear:
Don’t Hurt Yourself
Sorry
6 Inch
Daddy Lessons
Love Drought
Sandcastles
Forward
Freedom
All Night
Formation

Has Beyonce made lemonade out of lemons? Hard to say. Guest stars include Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Diplo, James Blake, and her buddy Boots. There are a lot of samples including Led Zeppelin’s “When The Levee Breaks” and Hal David and Burt Bacharach’s “Walk On By.” I hope the publishers charged a lot for those.

Stay tuned…Let’s see what happens next in this latest bizarro chapter…

Watch Video: Prince Plays the “Saturday Night Live” 40th Anniversary Party

Roger Friedman
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Watch Video: Prince Plays the “Saturday Night Live” 40th Anniversary Party

Posted to Twitter by SNL album Tim Kazurinsky. And all you can say is Wow! Thanks Tim– a historical artifact so precious now!

Box Office: “Huntsman” Bagged as World Waits for Beyonce, Jon Snow to Liven Things Up

Roger Friedman
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Box Office: “Huntsman” Bagged as World Waits for Beyonce, Jon Snow to Liven Things Up

Even with Oscar winner Charlize Theron and a strong cast– Jessica Chastain, Emily Blunt, a Hemsworth– “The Huntsman” is pretty much DOA. The high number prediction after Friday night is $20 million. It’s already made $43 million abroad and that number looked fairly finite. With a $115 million budget, “Winter’s War” (the subtitle) really needed someone to play Snow White again. This fairy tale is over.

The box office is rather dreary this weekend. “Criminal” is also a bust. Tom Hanks in “A Hologram for the King” opened to apathy with less than $1 million for the weekend in limited release. The other limited releases– “Elvis and Nixon,” and “Sing Street”– better reviewed, not much action. (I wish “Sing Street” would magically take off.)

Basically, everyone’s waiting for HBO to give us two big headlines. Tonight it’s Beyonce’s Lemonade stand at 9pm. Is this an album? A teaser for her tour? No one seems to know exactly. Plus, her team didn’t deliver the finished special until the last minute.

Then Sunday it’s all about Jon Snow on “Game of Thrones.” Is he alive? (Somehow, yeah.) Kit Harington– did he join Dan Stevens and Jessica Brown Findlay in the Oh-my-god-what-have-I-done department? (Hope not.) My guess is we’ll need a plow for all the Snow coming our way. Monday’s NY Post headline– “Snow Job.”

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