June 25, 2010
Filed under: Uncategorized — dpenn @ 8:28 am
I can remember back to a time when just hearing the name “Ozzy Osbourne” conjured up feelings of insanity, dread and some of the best metal ever recorded. Today, Ozzy is just a sad parody of himself, led by puppeteer and spouse, Sharon.
My first introduction to Ozzy was in 1982, seeing him on MTV performing “Iron Man” on the Speak of the Devil Tour. I was 9 years old then, but still clearly remember being totally transfixed by what I saw. Soon after, my grandfather purchased Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and “Blizzard of Ozz” for me. From then on, I was hooked. Ozzy was a frightening character indeed, spewing out some of the most harrowing metal and metal anthems ever written.
So…when did Ozzy start to transform from the Prince of Darkness into the Prince of Commercialism? Right after “The Ultimate Sin.” Jakes departure from the band symbolized a departure from the old school and into a new realm of trying to purposely appeal to the masses. With the entrance of Zack, a new slick sound was brought to the table, and Ozzy lost that edge and underlying demonic force that once made him a force to be reckoned with. With each successive album after the Ultimate Sin, the productions got more slick and the music became more commercial. Most of all, it was though Ozzy was just going through the motions. I didn’t buy what he was selling, and he didn’t scare me anymore.
The final nail in the coffin, obviously, was that TV show. Now we got to see Ozzy as just a buffoon. Any last lingering notion of the Prince of Darkness was gone.
The real sad thing with Ozzy is that through all his drug, alcohol, and prescriptions, he became a malleable brain dead zombie that could be 100% guided by Sharon into any money making business venture. When was the last time that Ozzy TRULY was involved in writing music? His new album “Scream” just sounds like formulaic stadium rock that is so slickly produced that it sucks any humanism that was ever in it. Does Ozzy care? Doubt it. He just does what he’s told, and that’s sad. Personally, I would like to see Ozzy dump everyone in his life, hook up with a raw and hungry bunch of backing musicians, and, for good or bad, just write whatever came out of HIM. I want to hear HIM. Not a bunch of formula driven composers. Is he capable of it? Not sure, but he should definitely give it a try.
Now, of course none of his success would have come without Sharon’s guiding. She is obviously a brilliant woman, and I have nothing but pure respect and admiration for her from a BUSINESS standpoint. BUT, she killed Ozzy, the Prince of Darkness. Now it’s just John Michael Osbourne playing the part of Ozzy, doing what Sharon. SAD.
Well…people like me who grew up with the old Ozzy can still revel in what once was, but I for one have no desire to follow Ozzy 2.0 – the marketing years.
PS – on a side note, I’d LOVE to see Gene Simons and Sharon hook up and have offspring. They could name their child Conglomerate Chaim Simons. That kid would rule (or at least merchandise) the world.
February 4, 2010
Filed under: Music Analysis — dpenn @ 12:30 pm
THREE DAYS GRACE – BREAK
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Song: Break
Artist: Three Days Grace
Album: Life Starts Now
Genre: Rock
SONG INFORMATION:
Length: 3:13
Structure: A-B-A-B-Solo-C-B
Tempo: Mid/Up
Mood: Angry
Lyrical Theme: Change
SOUND:
Crisp bass driven hard rock with thick distorted guitar. Definitely 80’s metal influenced (just listen to the solo – Maiden, anyone???)
SONG TIMELINE:
0:00 – Intro
0:19 – Verse 1
0:36 – Prechorus
0:44 – Chorus
1:00 – Turn Around
1:05 – Verse 2
1:21 – Prechorus
1:30 – Chorus
1:46 – Solo
2:15 – Bridge
2:24 – Chorus
2:40 – Outro
2:58 – Last Chord Ring
3:13 – End
STRUCTURE LENGTHS:
Intro Length: 0:19
Verse 1 Length: 0:17
Pre-chorus Length: 0:08
Chorus 1 Length: 0:16
Turn Around Length: 0:05
Verse 2 Length: 0:16
Pre-chorus 2 Length: 0:09
Chorus 2 Length: 0:16
Solo Length: 0:29
Bridge Length: 0:09
Chorus 3 Length: 0:16
Outro length: 0:18
Last chord ring length: 0:15
PRIMARY INSTRUMENTATION:
Guitar, Bass, Drum, Vox
December 31, 2009
Filed under: Music Analysis — dpenn @ 10:42 am
Ever wonder if artists are writing their own material or using outside songwriters? Here’s a look at 10 of the highest ranking albums on the Billboard 200 for the week of 12/19/09 (excluding compilations, total cover albums and soundtracks).
#3: Taylor Swift
Fearless – Pop/Country
Total Album Writers: 6
Total Album Tracks: 3
Tracks composed solely by artist: 6 / 46%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 7 / 54%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%
#5: Lady Gaga
The Fame – Pop
Total Album Writers: 8
Total Album Tracks: 13
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 13 / 100%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%
#6: Carrie Underwood
Play On – Country
Total Album Writers: 25
Total Album Tracks: 13
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 7 / 54%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 46%
Total 13 / 100%
#7: Norah Jones
The Fall – Jazz/Soul
Total Album Writers: 6
Total Album Tracks: 13
Tracks composed solely by artist: 8 / 62%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 5 / 38%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 13 / 100%
#10: Michael Buble
Crazy Love – Standards/Pop
Total Album Writers: 23
Total Album Tracks: 13
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 2 / 15%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 11 / 85%
Total 13 / 100%
#12: Justin Bieber
My World (EP) – Pop/R&B
Total Album Writers: 18
Total Album Tracks: 9
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 3 / 33%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 67%
Total 9 / 100%
#13: Lady Gaga
The Fame Monster (EP) – Pop
Total Album Writers:
Total Album Tracks: 9
8
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 8 / 100%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 8 / 100%
#16: Rihanna
Rated R – R&B/Pop
Total Album Writers: 22
Total Album Tracks: 13
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 10 / 77%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 3 / 23%
Total 13 / 100%
#17: john Mayer
Battle Studies – Pop/Rock, Blues
Total Album Writers: 1
Total Album Tracks: 11
Tracks composed solely by artist: 11 / 100%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 0 / 0%
Total 11 / 100%
*Note – 2 of the tracks were covers.
#18: Miley Cyrus
The Time Of Our Lives (EP) – Pop
Total Album Writers: 14
Total Album Tracks: 7
Tracks composed solely by artist: 0 / 0%
Tracks composed by artist and collaborators: 1 / 14%
Tracks composed solely by outside writers: 6 / 86%
Total 7 / 100%
Analysis:
- Out of 113 total tracks, 22% were composed exclusively by the band/artist, 50% by the band/artist in conjunction with outside songwriters, and 28% were composed exclusively by outside songwriters.
- There were a total of 132 writers used on 10 albums.
- Carrie Underwood used the most outside songwriters on her album (25), while John Mayer exclusively wrote all of his songs (with the exception of two covers).
- Only 3 out of the 10 artists had at least one track on an album that they exclusively wrote.
- Miley Cyrus had the least amount of input in her album, with 86% of the tracks being written exclusively by 14 outside songwriters.
- Excluding Michael Buble (who does quite a few covers), Miley Cyrus (86%), Justin Bieber (67%) and Carrie Underwood (46%) rely heavily on cuts exclusively from outside songwriters. This represents the Pop and Country markets.
- As for the artists who exclusively write their own songs, John Mayer led the pack at 100%, Norah Jones wrote 62% and Taylor Swift wrote 46% of her own songs.
December 14, 2009
Filed under: Music Industry Tips — dpenn @ 9:31 am
Last month I attended my 4th TAXI Road Rally and, as usual, it did not disappoint. I had the opportunity to reconnect with old friends, meet new people, and attend workshops and panels led by industry veterans. For those of you who don’t know, TAXI is an independent A&R company dedicated to helping artists further their careers. They provide career tools for musicians and composers, industry listings, and once a year they put on a free event for their members called the TAXI Road Rally that takes place in California. The event alone is worth the yearly TAXI membership. You can learn more at www.taxi.com. I strongly recommend it.
Below are a few thoughts on how you can maximize the benefits from attending your next TAXI Road Rally or any other music industry event.
1. CUT DOWN THE INTRO’s!!!
Yes – music is an art. But – music is also a business as you all know. If an A&R exec or music supervisor is sifting through hundreds and hundreds of songs for consideration in their project, they are not going to wait through a long intro to get to the crux of your song to see if it’s a fit. If you don’t engage them in seconds, you can most likely kiss your chances goodbye. Sitting in on the listening panels at the TAXI Rally – I was amazed at how many artists just don’t get this. If they’re new to the industry, hopefully they take heed of this and adjust as necessary. If they’ve been around for a while, know of this, and yet still have the sentiment of “I’m not changing my music for anyone – I’m an artist!” – well, you open up more opportunities for people like me. As Dave Trotter from Harpo/Studio 51 said quite a few times while listening to randomly drawn songs – by the time the song actually kicked in, the TV scene would have already passed. MAKE AN EDIT of your song for Film/TV placement. Same goes for label consideration. GET TO THE POINT. You will vastly increase your chances at success.
2. A PROFESSIONAL LOOKING DEMO IS KEY!!!
Every year it’s the same thing. A panel ends and tons of people bum rush the panelists at the stage to give them a copy of their demo. There is ALWAYS someone with a clear jewel case, non-labeled CD who throw their demo into a panelists hand and yell “TRACK 2!!! HALF WAY THROUGH THE SONG CHECK OUT THE 2ND PART OF THE CHORUS!!!” (I’m seriously, and unfortunately not making this up). Then comes the perplexed look from the panelist, and they either say OK (which means they really don’t care and most likely will not listen to it), or they plain don’t accept it (which they shouldn’t). It’s just mind blowing to me how someone can pay for the airfare, pay for the hotel, spend the money while out at the Rally, and then shoot your chances down to nil by presenting an amateur, unprofessional looking demo. When they get back to their offices and sift through the stack of CD’s, do you really think that an extremely poor looking presentation is going to make any kind of impact on them? Even if the song is great, an unprofessional/amateur looking demo will severely limit your chances at success if it’s in the running with someone else’s professional looking demo. Appearance matters!!! Personally, I wait until the crowd clears and the panelist is leaving the auditorium. I then politely (and briefly) introduce myself and hand them a copy of my professionally packaged demo. I also make sure to already have a label on the front of my CD case with the persons name on it. It shows them that you ACTUALLY CARE. Trust me, professionalism goes a long way. It’s so surprising to me that so many people just don’t get it, or care.
3. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR MIX!!!
A great songs impact is severely reduced with a muddy flat mix. I was really surprised this year when a large majority of the tracks played at the listening panels all had this bassy, muddy, flat sound to them. At first I thought it might have been the PA system, but my thoughts were corroborated through speaking to numerous industry mentors who listened to peoples CD’s through headphones and had the same opinion. I have no idea why this was more prevalent this year than in the past, but if you want any chance of having your song placed on a TV show or in a film, you MUST have broadcast quality.
BOTTOM LINE:
It’s all about presentation. Whether it’s hooking the listener in immediately to the song, presenting your demo in a way that says “I take this seriously” or making sure that your song pops in the mix, these elements will do the “selling” for you when you’re not in the room. Don’t sell yourself short.
July 27, 2009
Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 3:52 pm
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