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There’s yet another AI blues record on the iTunes top 10.
“Step by Step in Time” is credited to a “Benny Rivers.”
Benny does not exist. He’s an AI creation, so is the song, the music, the photo.
This is deeply insulting to real R&B and soul/blues musicians who spent their lives making real music that moved hearts and minds, and feet.
“Benny Rivers” joins “Eddie Dalton” and Inga Rose and another newish listing, for a Dust & Harmony.
None of these people are human, they do not exist, they are content creations from a computer.
Dalton is the creation of a guy in Greenville, South Carolina. He may also be the creator of the others. They match his digital signature.
Much of the digital music is being created on a platform called Suno, created itself by four guys in Cambridge–Michael Shulman, Georg Kucsko, Martin Camacho, and Keenan Freyberg.
So far, radio has ignored these “records.” Streaming is iffy although “Benny Rivers” has picked up almost 3 million streams on Spotify. “Eddie Dalton” has around 20 million total. Inga Rose 25 million streams. “She” also has millions of YouTube views.
Spotify and YouTube should not allow these “songs” to appear on their platforms. It’s bad enough that each company is notable for ripping off musicians.
Mark my words– music biz now, movies next. Like, before the end of the year.
Michael Jackson’s defense attorney from 2005, Thomas Mesereau, is erudite and exact on Australia’s “60 Minutes” this week.
Mesereau’s brilliant defense of Jackson in 2005 led to a verdict of not guilty on all counts in the famed trial. Mesereau still defends Michael, and eviscerates those who’ve turned against Jackson for money after his death. Mesereau is particularly brutal on the subject of Wade Robson, who staunchly defended Michael in the 2005 trial, then accused the singer well after his death of abusing him and sued for millions.
Mesereau insists: “If you take allegations against Michael Jackson and look at them through a microscope, nothing holds up.”
Michael Jackson's former defense attorney Tom Mesereau explains why he is 100% innocent pic.twitter.com/AEYT7Hh6l2
Bruce Springsteen probably won’t be appearing on any of Larry and David Ellison’s media properties again.
On the penultimate Stephen Colbert Late Show, Springsteen — I guess with the approval of CBS censors — ripped into the Ellisons.
He accused them of “kissing Trump’s a// to get what they want.”
Bruce said Colbert was “the first guy in America to lose his show because the President can’t take a joke.”
His full statement: “I’m here in support tonight for Stephen, because you are the first guy in America who lost his show because we got a president who can’t take a joke, and because Larry and David Ellison feel they need to kiss his ass to get what they want. Stephen, these are small-minded people. They got no idea what the freedoms of this beautiful country are supposed to be about”
The great performer then sang “The Streets of Minneapolis,” in a dramatic, stirring, and poignant farewell to Colbert, who will be sorely missed on national TV every night.
On the same show, Colbert donated $2.5 million to Chef Jose Andres’ World Kitchen from proceeds from Late Show merchandise. A dozen or more celebrities appeared on the show, as well, including Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Amy Sedaris, and former CBS News anchor John Dickerson.
Meanwhile, this is how much Bruce is putting on the line. He could easily be banned now from CBS and all its extensions, not to mention all the parts of Warner Bros. the Ellisons control under their new deal including CNN and HBO. He has amazing courage and must be applauded for his bravery.
This past week’s “Saturday Night Live” season finale was a smash hit.
With Will Ferrell as host and Paul McCartney as musical guest, “SNL” scored 5.3 million same day viewers.
That’s second only the 5.4 million who watched Cher and Ariana Grande on the Christmas show.
The number doesn’t take in online or streaming.
I can’t say I’m surprised. The combo of Ferrell and McCartney was as good as it gets. Plus, Paul playing three songs on the show was so unusual, and his performance of “Band on the Run” was historic.
Hopefully, this is a good sign for McCartney’s May 29th album release for “The Boys of Dungeon Place.” His millions of fans are ready to buy, download, and stream. If this is his final studio album, “Boys” will be a win.
I told you on March 9th that Taylor Swift would be performing at the Songwriters Hall of Fame next month– on June 11th.
Page Six doesn’t seem to have gotten that information, so I’m re-upping it for them and for everyone.
There was some worry that Swift was getting married on June 13th, two days later. How could a prospective bride pull all this off? You know, Taylor can do anything. She’s the original multi-tasker. Whenever she gets married, she could make an album that day!
“Once,” “Begin Again,” “Sing Street,” “Flora and Son.” Carney is an Irish auteur who’s managed to keep making indie movies unfettered by studio interference. Each one is a little music-centric gem that can be watched over and over.
Carney’s new one is “Power Ballad,” which opens June 5th and premiered last night in unusually torturous May heat and humidity, and in the worst place for those conditions, Times Square. But the movie is so incredibly charming, we tried not to care.
The big news is that “Power Ballad” — set in Ireland and Beverly Hills, and really a disarming look at the creative process of making pop music — stars Nick Jonas as a conflicted, not so nice former boy bander who needs a hit desperately. Jonas always plays a good guy on TV and in movies, and beams with positive energy when he sings with his brothers. So this might seem like a stretch. But it’s not.
Paul Rudd is Jonas’s counter balance. He’s a veteran singer and songwriter living in Ireland because of his wife. He’s the quintessential good guy who’s a wedding singer but should have been a contender.
The pair cross paths at a wedding, hit it off, and doing a little all night jamming. Rudd’s Rick Power helps Nick’s Danny Wilson finish some songs and then walks away. Months later he hears one of those songs in a mall and realizes he’s been snookered.
The song Rick hears is called “How to Write a Song without You,” and it’s a hit. I mean, in real life. When it’s released next week, the single should be something for Jonas to take up the charts. There are versions of him singing it alone and with Rudd, who performs a lot in the movie and acquits himself very well as more than just a wedding singer. I’d be surprised if “How to Write a Song Without You” isn’t a Best Song nominee at the Oscars next year.
The song is written, by the way, by Gary Clark, one of the UK’s best pop-smiths. Forty years ago, Clark fronted a group called Danny Wilson, which was named for a character in a Frank Sinatra movie called “Meet Danny Wilson.” Danny Wilson has two excellent albums still streaming everywhere. (I was obsessed with the first one.) Now, after all this time, Clark may really get his due. Sinatra would be very happy.
One thing t look for in the movie: Jonas and Rudd performing Stevie Wonder’s 1976 “I Wish.” It was a full circle moment for Nick Jonas since he and his brothers once performed with superstar Stevie on the Grammys. Carney told me last night he’s not sure if Stevie even knows “I Wish” is in a movie yet, and that it wasn’t so hard to license it.
Carney is a gifted but underrated storyteller. He told me it took 8 years to make this film, and part of that involved a chance meeting with a potential backer. He loves the music business and totally gets nuances that resonate with verisimilitude. He gets the dichotomy of the persistence of artists to remain true to their spirit despite record labels wanting to homogenize them, a story that never ends. There’s a lot of wide eyed idealism in his films, and the good news that it always pays off.
There’s a twist at the end of “Power Ballad,” worth waiting for. Carney told me last night, “You put in all that time for those two minutes.” He knows how to pull off a heart in the throat moment, when all the feels come together in an organic way. You’re caught unawares, and by then the credits are rolling and you want to see “Power Ballad” again.
Carney, by the way, tells me this movie his really taken over his career. His next project “will definitely involve Paul Rudd” — “I have plans for him,” he said. He’s also “in business” with Clark. As for Jonas, even Carney knows a rock star must move on. But boy, he did a terrific job here.
New York Magazine is back in the hands of a Murdoch.
From the mid 70s til 1991, Rupert Murdoch owned the weekly crown jewel of New York media. You can’t imagine how important New York was then, before the internet. Everyone in town read it.
But Rupert’s ownership was not so pleasant and there was great relief when he sold it.
Now, 35 years later, meet the new boss. Will he be the same as the old boss?
Son James Murdoch has purchased 50% of Vox Media, which owns New York. James gets the magazine, the website, and the podcast. James is like Michael Corleone trying to go legit. With his family trust, he also owns the Tribeca Film Festival.
The younger Murdoch says he’ll be “hands off” with New York, and maybe he will at first. This will be a developing story. James knows that if he starts injecting New York with the wild ravings of the NY Post or Fox News, not only will he called out on it, the remaining readers will exit. Just look at CBS News. Ratings have cratered since the right wingers have taken over.
This could be the beginning of a triumphant new era, or another slide to the exits. Let’s hope for the first!
Even the investors who were holding on to Truth Social stock seem to be getting out.
DOnald Trump’s Trump Media stock closed at another all time on Tuesday, finishing at 8 bucks.
The stock was down 3.26% for the day.
Truth Social is full of fabrications and attacks on Trump’s enemies. It’s a cesspool that no normal person reads or pays any attention to. The stock started out $17 and is now worthless.
But will investors acknowledge they’ve been had? Probably not. MAGA is ferociously compartmentalized in its approach to reality. Even as Trump personally reaps billions from various illegal deals, his followers are happy to go without gas or food — and blame it all on Joe Biden.
It had already been announced that “Moulin Rouge” would shut down at the end of August.
Then “Death Becomes Her,” based on the movie, announced an end date of June 28th. This surprised a lot of people because it doesn’t seem like the producers did much to breathe new life into the musical after its lead actress, Megan Hilty, left.
It’s no surprise that “Beaches,” the musical based on the Bette Midler- Barbara Hershey movie is also throwing in the towel. It got no Tony nominations and is playing at 44% capacity.
The next victim of slow business should be “Six.” now playing at 58% and well under $500,000 a week.
What do all these shows have in common? They are musicals, which are considered almost prohibitively expensive right now. The result is producers putting up lots of revivals, and doing much in the way of original productions.
And, of course, ticket prices have skyrocketed. For people driving into the city there are high gas prices and congestion fees weighing on ticket buyers.
This is not a death rattle by any means. There are 35 shows doing well right now. New shows are prepping for the fall. But something has to be done to make Broadway more accessible, and fast.
Billy Joel says no thanks to a long ago ex manager.
Someone named Irwin Mazur says he’s making a movie about Billy’s early years without permission. He was Billy Joel’s manager from 1966 to 1970.
But the movie is not going to include any of Joel’s music. It will actually probably never happen. Apparently Mazur teamed up with Billy’s old friend Jon Small. If you remember, Billy snatched Small’s wife away from him in the early 70s. Elizabeth Weber married Billy, bringing along the son she had with Small. Weber managed Billy and brought in her brother, who ripped Joel off for millions. Billy and Weber consequently divorced.
So it seems that these minor characters who were in Billy Joel’s life 60 years thought they could use old, rather boring stories to make a movie.
Billy’s spokesperson Claire Mercuri says: “Since 2021, the parties involved have been officially notified that they do not possess Billy Joel’s life rights and will not be able to secure the music rights required for this project. Billy Joel has not authorized or supported this project in any capacity, and any attempt to move forward without it would be both legally and professionally misguided.”
Got that? Bald faced exploitation. Not happening Irwin! You thought you were a big shot, didn’t ya?
PS The fact that the trades and even news radio — I heard this mentioned this morning — took the press release seriously means they’ve really got to a grip on reality.
