Well just look at all the fascinating conversations that happened while I was sleeping! What a great discussion y'all have going here. I'm with you, Derek, the variety is what makes it so interesting, but I totally get how you can turn away from an era of music, MAB, not just because you didn't like the music, but also because of what it represents to you (a culture shift, loss, a forced change of direction for you, etc).

It's funny how what turns MAB off to the band, is what turns Gavin to the band. Musical tastes. Gotta love it. "Vinyl Revival" versus "Blue Storm Rising" totally captures that

Jenny, a lot can be chalked up to changes in culture, and mood of the country. But also, the actual MUSIC itself was an era that I didn't care for, and still don't. One of the things you hear me say is "trying to avoid the negativity." I try to talk about this mostly because 85-95% of songs that have been coming out for many years have a negative tone. It hits us huge here, with endless writers and artists coming to this town, each bringing their own version of "pain" into the culture. And for me, a person who watches the culture, react by tuning a majority of it out, it has an effect. 

The 90's was a musical culture that began a very distinct negative tone. It went from Seattle, to Georgia, into the Rap and hip hop and now is very prominate in the culture in which we live. Culture is reflected in music and the arts, and I can see a direct correlation. It also has to do with what kind of person I am. I tend to avoid negativity in all ways that I can.

The points of the songs I referenced, Vinyl Revival, is an up tempo, fairly southern rock/country groove and attitude about some kids finding an old stereo with some weird looking things, big plastic discs, in cardboard covers, which are actually these things called "RECORD ALBUMS." These kids find them, the music and go crazy over something they didn't know existed. A big old party. And oddly enough, a few months after writing that particular song, I was at a party that that actually HAPPENED. A bunch of millenial college kids at a party discovering records. Was a blast.

The other song, "BLUE STORM RISING" is a tense, aggressive, song with more minor chords and negative feelings about a relationship break up. It is well done, but just not one of my favorite songs. Yet, its the one Jim and his band are attracted to. 

The point being for this subject, is that often you can';t tell what is going to attract people, why certain lyrics and music, or even the TYPES of music will affect people or why. There are other things besides the songs itself that can have a factor. Again, I really don;t know. But anything that gets and keeps attention has a value commercially that others don't. 

Go figure. I've broken my own rule and taken this subject off the rails. Sorry about that. Will get off and let it progress in which ever way you guys want it to go.

I'll take chocolate thanks, OD.

I thought of another doozy. "Mmm-bop" by Hanson. Okay, yes, the song has a couple of actual verses but it also has a whole load of mmm-bop. Here's an excerpt:

Jenny,

The history of pop/rock music is filled more with "ONE HIT WONDERS" than the Beatles. There are hundreds of thousands of examples from "Splish splash I was takin a Bath" and "Flying Purple People Eater" from the 50's, "Monster Mash" and "Wipe Out" in the 60's, "Yummy, Yummy Yummy I've Got Love in My Tummy"  and One Toke Over the Line", in the 70's, PAc Man Fever and "Da Butt" all the way to "Mmmm Bop" in the 90's and even to today. 
No one can predict it or really critique it. Most make no sense, just people like them. 

With Hanson, it was three good looking 13, 15 and 16 year old brothers. Toss in a LOT of music videos, and it was quite the ride. But like everything I say, you often have to look BEYOND the song to the artist, the mood of the culture at the time, a lot of things happened.

In Nashville, we have had tons of them. And one time it really gets silly. There was an artist one, named "Marty Brown" who is sort of a redneck hillbilly, who happened to walk into a bar and right in the middle of two record producers and a bet. One producer said "I can make anyone a star. The next person who walks into the bar, I'll bet you a $1000 dollars I can make him a star." Marty Brown just happened to walk in. About a year later he had a number one song on the radio. And then you never heard from him after that, except for him ending up at my table a few times when I had a group of people out, and putting drinks on my tab. (He has since made it up to me.) 
So you just can't tell. Some things you just have to go...."Oh well."

MAB

Is that a true story? "I can make anyone a star...I can make him a star" Seriously???

The only bad press is no press.  Positive press draws attention that everyone has to check out and fans are made.  Negative press draws attention that everyone has to check and and fans are still made.

Hello Jenny,
Yes, that is a true story. And if you peeled back the layers of "behind the scenes" in the music business, you would find a lot more, deeper, darker secrets than that. Record labels destroying artists due to political infighting. People carrying old grudges against other people. The more you know about the music business, the less you want to know about the music business. Anything that involves money is going to have a lot of dark things involved in it. Now it is about MARKET SHARE, CELEBRITY,  and other things, often that have nothing to do with a song itself but a lot of things beyond the song. It is basically the world of celebrity. It's not something you need to get too absorbed in, but it is something you come to expect. You have to have your eyes wide open in this business or someone will punch them shut for you.

DCLOSE, Actually, now there is some REALLY BAD PRESS. Ask Bill Cosby, Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein, Jussie Smollett, Rosanne Barr, and the countless others that find themselves on the wrong side of the VIRAL WORLD.
TWITTER AND FACEBOOK will kill more careers than alcohol and drugs ever did, and not only can one career be destroyed, but EVERYONE that ever KNEW someone can be destroyed too. A manager can be in control of everything all day then at five in the afternoon, an improperly worded Text or Tweet, or Facebook post can go out and the entire career will be destroyed within an hour. Not only the artist, actor, etc. but their managers, their agents, the agencies, the venues who book them, the vendors who supply food, drinks, merchandise, studios, producers, anyone that happens to be in their orbit. Their relatives and kids are fair game now too. No one is unscathed. 

We live in a "GRIEVANCE culture" where people live to be offended. We are divided by every thing you can imagine, race, sex, gender, income, you name it, someone can get offended and come not only for you, but everyone you have ever known, your family, kids, parents, etc. Comics, like Jay Leno, Jerry Sienfield and Chris Rock, won't even go on college campuses because their shows are not just shut down if someone is offended (and there is ALWAYS someone being offended,) and then windows are shattered, cars are overturned  and burned, and property is destroyed. Chaos ensues. 

So think that there is no such thing as BAD PRESS? Better look again.

The old "all press is good press" is as Dead as the founding fathers. Anyone who believes that is leaving themselves open for some real eye opening. It can lead to financial and personal ruin, and even death and suicide. Better be pretty careful what you put out there, because BAD PRESS can be a DEATH SENTENCE in this day and age. 

Obviously "Scandal Press" is not something anyone wants.  I'm referring to whether an artist or song is good or bad.  If it's good and gets lots of press, that is good.  If it's bad and gets lots of press, that's still good for the artist.  Look at how many plays Rebecca Black got for that very bad song "Friday".  A lot of people didn't like it but a lot of others did.  Regardless, the good and bad press drove the masses to that song.  Over 130 million views.  If they made the average of $1 per 1,000 views, that's $130,000.  Not bad for bad press.

DClose,

I doubt they made that amount of money on the song. How much money is being actually made are part of the bones of contention. The song "wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, had 200 million streams, and paid the three writers and publishers a little over $10,000. The days of hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars are for the most part gone as the goal posts keep shifting. People might be "viewing songs" but that doesn't always mean they are downloading or even listening to the full song. Most people listen to 8 or nine seconds of songs and move on, which inflate the "views" that people get. There are all kinds of problems with the Internet tallies and part of what the recently passed "Music Modernization Act" is trying to address.
And that is part of what is being fought with lawsuits by Spotify, Pandora, and other Internet platforms. So it is never quite as cut and dried as you might think.

Now at the same time, more traffic can positively affect an artists profile, getting them higher audiences shares in live venues, touring, merchandising, profiles, guest spots on television shows, and more of a "celebrity" approach, which of course has helped the Kardashians quite a bit. We are in the era of "celebrity" as opposed to any one thing like song royalties.

My comments on "bad publicity" is more of the "scandal press" which accompany everything now. And so my contention that there is negatives from "bad publicity" is about that. And today every thing seems to revolve around that. And many singers are excerbating that by being involved in issues, alienating audience share and engaging in bad behavior, usually online, that takes away from any thing their music does. Having been close to that personally a few years back, I can tell you it can lead to some pretty rough consequences.

SADLY  it's the world we live in today  there's a few new faces putting out records   that can not sing

country music , in the true sense of the word  and are not even close  I guarantee that after three 

singles they will vanish only to be remembered by how bad they were on top of that they are bloody

ugly and  have  nothing   going for them apart from a few thumbs up from morons and drunks;  

That apart right across societyt the thieves are at it with the blessing of people that are failing to run

the country,  Its always been A Rip Off The Music Game ,  but I never thought it could get as

 bad as this,  I'm referring  mainly To the Nashville Based Country Music Companies