Tag Archives: sales

Music, My Stories

Dream Theater – Blockbuster, Lackluster Or Just Normal

Dream Theater – Dream Theater

Week 1 – ending 2 October 2013 – 33,950 units sold
Week 2 – ending 9 October 2013 – 8,300 units sold
Week 3 – ending 16 October 2013 – 4,275 units sold
Week 4 – ending 23 October 2013 – 2,950 units sold

On Spotify, all the album tracks combined have been streamed 1,346,248 times which is an increase of 150,031 from last weeks combined total of 1,196,217 streams. However on a week to week basis, the streams are also decreasing like the album sales.

So what is the above data saying about the new album. Before I offer my theory on it, the below data is from an excellent book from Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse called “Blockbusters: Hit-Making, Risk-Taking, And The Big Business Of Entertainment”: http://us.macmillan.com/blockbusters/AnitaElberse

“In the recorded music industry in 2011, more than 800,000 unique album titles together sold more than 330 million copies (including both physical and digital copies)… For instance, 513,000 titles – 58% of all unique titles – each sold fewer than 10 copies, accounting for only 0.5 percent of sales.

13 titles selling 1,000,000 copies or more/23,287,000 copies sold/7%

387 titles selling 100,000-999,999 copies/93,992,000 copies sold/28%

4,229 titles selling 10,000-99,999 copies/114,949,000 copies sold/35%

21,042 titles selling 1,000-9,999 copies/61,493,000 copies sold/19%

87,986 titles selling 100-999 copies/27,032,000 copies sold/8%

251,566 titles selling 10-99 copies/8,261,000 copies sold/2%

513,146 titles selling fewer than 10 copies/1,558,000 copies sold/0.5%”

The above analysis is interesting.

1. Look at the number of titles in the mix. The competition for listener’s attention is huge. The supply of music is at super high levels and the demand for music is only for the best music out there.

2. Like the Seventies, the Eighties and the Nineties, there are still only a select few of releases that end up selling more than a million.

3. Dream Theater is one of those 4,229 titles in the third tier, selling between 10,000 and 99,999 copies. Actually a lot of the metal and hard rock bands fall into that category. Their previous album “A Dramatic Turn Of Events” sold in this tier. However “Black Clouds and Silver Linings” sold over 100,000.

4. One of my favourite bands, Five Finger Death Punch fits into the 387 titles selling between 100,000 and 999,999 units.

So Dream Theater is doing what it normally does. The album that was promoted like a blockbuster movie is following the same path of the previous releases. Decent first week sales, with a quick decline. For Dream Theater, this is normal.

 

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A to Z of Making It, Music, My Stories, Piracy

The Lies Of The Beautiful Record Labels And The RIAA

During the recorded music industries heyday, there was this widespread idea, sort of like an unwritten law, that we (the fans of music) could purchase music and own it, the same way we purchased and owned the toaster and any other commodity.

Of course when it comes to music, that was never the case. What the music fans actually purchased was a non-transferable license to listen to the music under very specific and strict conditions. Nothing else was transferred to us with our expensive $30 purchase of a CD, other than the right to enjoy the music in private, over and over again.

So what do we have now. We have sales of music falling. Actually they have been falling for some time. The RIAA and the record labels are attributing this to piracy alone, linking the decline of sales with the increase of P2P file sharing usage.

So for the RIAA and the Record Labels, plus some misguided artists, it is simple, these two events correlate, so it implies that one is causing the other to move.

The thought that fans of music have changed the way they consume music doesn’t compute for the Majors and their association.

The arrival of iTunes and the chance to cherry pick what we want rather than complete albums is a pretty good indication that revenue streams would reduce. Instead of spending money on an expensive shiny piece of plastic for two songs, we could now just download those two songs.

The arrival of YouTube and streaming services have also put a dent into the traditional sales model. Of course, piracy does play its part, however with the increase in people attending concerts and festivals, one needs to ask the question, did piracy assist in this?

Watch the Iron Maiden doco, Flight 666. Nicko McBrian talks about not selling an album in Costa Rica, however they have sold out the local sports stadium. Twisted Sister haven’t released any new music, however in Europe they have a massive fan base that includes both old and young. Did piracy cause this?

The arrival of many platforms that allow DIY bands to release has caused a flood of new music to enter the music business. Competition is now at an all-time high.

What about the price of music? Normally if demand for a certain product drops, the prices for that product fall as well, to reflect the lower demand. It is simple economics. So what do the record labels do? They maintain the high prices so that they can maximise profits. So the recording industry is holding on to high price points and they blame piracy in the meantime for the decline in sales.

So if people are purchasing less music or illegally downloading content, how is this effecting the income of artists? Do artists still have an incentive to create music.

For starters, the majority of artists do not get into music to be millionaires. They get in to music because it satisfies a basic human need to be creative.

In relation to less incentive, this doesn’t seem to be the case. There is so much music hitting the market that no one has enough time to hear it all. In addition, if the artists is doing the live circuit, incomes in this arena are increasing. Some artists that don’t sell a lot sure get a lot of people into their shows.

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Who Do You Think RPWL Are?

Lost in all the noise that is the music business, is a German neo progressive rock band called RPWL. They started of their career as a Pink Floyd cover band.

That is how all bands start off. Playing the songs of our favourites. Eventually, they started to create their own music, heavily influenced by the music they covered. Singer, Yogi Lange has the Gilmour tone to his voice and guitarist Karl Heinz Wallner gets very close to Gilmour’s signature sound.

However, the RPWL story didn’t start in 1997. It goes back to 1992 and a band called Violet District. On their debut and only album, “Terminal Breath”, Pink Floyd influences abound, however the influence of Marillion is more predominant. The nucleus of Violet District are the talents of Karl-Heinz Wallner, Chris Postl and Yogi Lang who of course went on to become members of RPWL. So from the ashes of Violet District, RPWL is born. Like Bon Scott said, it is a long way to the top if you want to prog and roll.

God Has Failed (2000)

This album should have done better in recognition. The world needed some Pink Floyd, and while the original band was on hiatus, RPWL stepped up to fill the void. Remember the catchy cry; progress is derivative. RPWL’s “God Has Failed” is Pink Floyds “A Momentary Lapse Of Reason Pt. 2”. Tempus Fugit the record label said that with the release of the RPWL debut album, it was their first album that made some money in sales and it gave the label the chance to invest the profits in other artists.

This album got the band labelled as Pink Floyd clones, much the same way Kingdom Come was labelled Led Zeppelin clones after their debut. The difference between the two in sales is staggering, as Kingdom Come went on a multi-platinum victory lap and RPWL didn’t.

This is RPWL raw and showing the world their influences. If you don’t like it I don’t care. If you don’t know it, you should.

“Who Do You Think We Are”
Great title to sum up the band, and I believe the song also sums up the musical style of the album. This is The Beatles crossed with Pink Floyd. The Beatles are a big influence that went largely unnoticed when this album came out. George Harrison could have written this track. It is a pop song with a progressive chorus.

Who do you think we are
There’s nothing left
But the shades of our past

When you reach that point in a relationship or a friendship and each side has gone in different directions. Where do we stand at this point in time? How do we fit in each other’s lives right now? When you can’t find the answer, the only thing left is the past.

We both know the sun will rise again
We both thought that it will never end
But somewhere deep inside
Life as got a bitter taste
When not a single friend is here to stay

Isn’t that always the case. When a break up happens, either in a relationship or a friendship, people take sides. There is always one that will be left all alone.

“In Your Dreams”
This follows on with The Beatles meets Pink Floyd theme set in “Who Do You Think We Are”. It’s the seventies merged with the eighties in the Year 2000. Think of the song “Sorrow” from “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”. The song has those moments of recognition, however as the track goes on, it becomes its own track and it evolves into the heaviest bit of the album.

Tell me what do you feel
When you die in your dreams

Who hasn’t woken up from a dream state, with that terrible sinking feeling. You have just dreamt your death, and that sick feeling lingers.

“Farewell”
It should have been the closer on the album. If anything the album is just a tad too long. 45 minutes would be sufficient, however RPWL released 71 minutes worth of music. It looks like they couldn’t part with some of the material. In this song, I am hearing King Crimson influence’s merged with Pink Floyd.

Remember all the time when life
Was only china in our hands

What a way to sum up how fragile life is, by comparing it to valuable china plates. You know, those plates that your parents bring out on special occasions to serve dinner when people are around. Then they are hand washed carefully, and dried in a safe place, so that the gold edge doesn’t get damaged.

When the Master calls
Don’t be afraid to say Farewell

In the end when the maker calls, the negotiations are over. It doesn’t matter how much you argue and try to buy more time, the end is the end. Death is just a transition.

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It’s Not The Media’s Job To Keep Artists In The Public Eye. The Difference Between The Past and The Present.

By September 1986, Yngwie Malmsteen had released Trilogy. As a solo artist that was his third long player in the same amount of years. In total, if you include the Steeler and Alcatrazz releases, that made it six long players in four years. You see, back in the Eighties, it was all about the music. That was the only way that artists could get traction back then. It was Malmsteen’s job to keep himself in the public eye.

So what has changed in 2013. Nothing really. It still is about the music. This is what every artist should be doing in this day and age. Releasing music and doing it frequently.

A big difference between the Eighties and Now is the label support. Back in the Eighties, a label would front the money for recording and tour support, with a view to recoup those monies through sales of the long players. It was a deal stacked in the record labels favour. Today, the labels are all about the safe bet, so even though the recording costs are at super lows, it is expected that the artists would front this cost.

Continuing with the Malmsteen example, he released “Odyssey” in 1988 with Joe Lynn Turner on vocals. The album became Malmsteen’s most successful album of his career. As soon as he became commercially successful, he fired the singer and started over again.

When shredding and neo-classical went out of fashion in the record label controlled U.S market, Malmsteen still forged a successful career in Europe and Japan during the 1990’s. He remained true to himself and he never sold out to cash in. People might disagree with his comments, I sure do, however when everyone is trying so hard to be liked by all, fans never really get to see the artist beneath the silt.

The world is going through a revolution and it is all about intelligence. That is why when an artist makes a remark, one side of the Internet calls it uneducated. That is why people jumped on Malmsteen’s remarks about piracy.

However it’s not about winning every time. The metal record labels and the artists they sign are still clueless. If the first album is not a success, the label just lets them go. They are playing it safe. What the labels should be doing is allowing the artist they sign to take multiple chances. The artist is not going to take risks if they have only one chance with the Record Label.

That is why all the risk takers in metal music are the outliers, the DIY’ers. Then when they break through, the majors come knocking. Look at the Djent movement. It started in forums and soundboards back in 2004 and just kept on growing. By 2009, most of the labels had a Djent artist on their roster.

Look at Machine Head during 2002 and 2003, financing their own sessions and recording of “Through The Ashes of Empires.” When the album started to get traction, Roadrunner U.S came knocking again.

Look at the TV networks from the Eighties. You had 3 to 4 networks, and they all played it safe. In 2013, you have hundreds of TV channels, all looking for an edge. They are all looking for content, and they are giving cash to talented people to deliver. Netflix is a perfect example of taking risks with innovation and content.

If the record labels want listeners, they need to let artists push the envelope and try some stuff out.

If an artist wants listeners, they need to understand that there is just too much information out there. That is why there are over 4 million songs on Spotify that haven’t even been heard yet. No matter how big a story artists have, they will be pulled under by all the information coming down the cyber pipeline, if their music is not great.

Suddenly the album that the artist worked so hard for is in the rear view mirror, 3 to 4 weeks after it’s been released. The only way that sales and charts matter today, is that it shows all the new product released. That is what the public wants. Something new.

Here today, gone tomorrow. Artists need to create constantly now. That’s the only way you can stay in the public eye, in people’s minds. Robb Flynn is doing this with his journals while the world waits for the album. An artist doesn’t want to be forgotten and the album format unfortunately works against the artist today. Somehow other musicians just don’t know it. They want someone else to do the work for them. They don’t want to try new ways and the new way is to bond with the fans. Robb Flynn gets it.

It’s not the media’s job to keep him in the public eye, it’s HIS!

The number one thing a fan wants is more music by their favourite act.

Dream Theater released an album for a new audience. It is the only thing that John Petrucci talked about. “If someone is hearing the band for the first time” was the catch cry in all the press releases. Forget about the new audience, focus on the old. The old will sell the artist to the new. It’s done through music and connection.

If the artist thinks that they gain traction by hanging with the record label, then they are idiots. They are better off blogging, responding on Facebook, spreading news on Twitter. However, there is a still a misconception that getting your story in the newspaper or in the magazines is a sign of traction. Forget that. When a magazine comes out with a three-month lead time, it’s already old news. The magazine is dead on arrival. No one cares about the stories written by the PR/marketing team of the artist.

The way I see it, if an artist is making an album-length statement, they need to have a story or a concept around it. Otherwise ten tracks strung together is not a concept. If you look at society in general, there is almost no place to buy a CD. The world is moving to streaming. Via mp3’s, people will still download/ cherry pick their favourites and there is nothing that artists can do about it.

Nikki Sixx asked his fans to immerse themselves in the whole album experience. In order for them to do, the album needs to be phenomenal, otherwise the fans will just cherry pick the great and leave the rest to be.

We live in a direct to consumer society. Amazon and Google get it. Some artists get it. What about the rest?

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Music, My Stories

Dream Theater Sales vs Spotify Streams

Dream Theater – Dream Theater

Week 1 – ending 2 October 2013 – 33,950 units sold
Week 2 – ending 9 October 2013 – 8,300 units sold

On Spotify, all the album tracks combined have been streamed 1,005,896.

These are the numbers that matter, the ones that show that people are listening to your music.

As a history lesson, here are the U.S stats from 2011 and 2009.

Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events had the following 5 week run;

Week 1 – ending 21 Sept 2011 – 35,750 units sold
Week 2 – ending 28 Sept 2011 – 8,030 units sold
Week 3 – ending 05 Oct 2011 – 4,430 units sold
Week 4 – ending 12 Oct 2011 – 3,120 units sold
Week 5 – ending 19 Oct 2011 – 2,600 units sold

In the end, “A Dramatic Turn Of Events” sold in total 95,000 units.

Dream Theater – Black Clouds And Silver Linings had the following 7 week run;

Week 1 – ending 7 July 2009 – 40,300 units sold
Week 2 – ending 15 July 2009 – 5,800 units sold
Week 3 – ending 21 July 2009 – 4,600 units sold
Week 4 – ending 29 July 2009 – 3,500 units sold
Week 5 – ending 5 Aug 2009 – 3,100 units sold
Week 6 – ending 12 Aug 2009 – 2,500 units sold
Week 7 – ending 19 Aug 2009 – 2,200 units sold

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TesseracT – The Modern Definition of Traction

TesseracT’s new album “Altered State” was released a few months ago. In relation to sales, it came and went pretty quickly. So if you take the old record label paradigm, which a lot of the journalists do these days, they will call it a failure.

Well, if you go on Spotify, you will see that the new album has been streamed 1,000,425 times.

Before everyone starts screaming that Spotify doesn’t pay and that it does nothing for artists, they should read this story doing the rounds on Mashable.

The “Singularity” video on YouTube has had 214,579 views.

The “Nocturne” track on YouTube has had 278,047 views.

Other tracks from the “Altered State” album, that have been released by Century Media have had views with similar numbers.

These are the numbers that matter in this day and age. The ones that show that people are listening to your music.

Then you have the following tour dates;

TesseracT w/Katatonia, Cult of Luna and Intronaut:
01.10.2013 (USA) Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s
02.10.2013 (USA) Chicago, IL – The Bottom Lounge
04.10.2013 (USA) Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
06.10.2013 (USA) Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater
07.10.2013 (USA) San Francisco, CA – Slim’s

TesseracT Headline tour with Scale the Summit:
09.10.2013 (CDN) Vancouver, BC – Tom Lee Music Hall
10.10.2013 (CDN) Edmonton, AB – Pawn Shop
12.10.2013 (CDN) Calgary, AB – The Gateway
13.10.2013 (CDN) Regina, SK – The Exchange
14.10.2013 (CDN) Winnipeg, MB – Union Sound Hall
16.10.2013 (USA) Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theater – Studio B
17.10.2013 (USA) Lawrence, KS – The Granada Theater
18.10.2013 (USA) Indianapolis, IN – Emerson Theater
20.10.2013 (USA) St. Louis, MO – Fubar
22.10.2013 (USA) Ft Worth, TX – Tomcats West
23.10.2013 (USA) Houston, TX – Fitzegerald’s – Downstairs
24.10.2013 (USA) New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
25.10.2013 (USA) Atlanta, GA – The Drunken Unicorn
26.10.2013 (USA) Tampa, FL – Orpheum Theatre
27.10.2013 (USA) Greensboro, NC – Blind Tiger
01.11.2013 (MEX) Guadalajara – F.Bolko
02.11.2013 (MEX) Mexico City – Multiforo Cultural Alicia
03.11.2013 (MEX) Monterrey – Café Iguana

w/ Karnivool:
13.11.2013 (UK) Portsmouth – Wedgewood Rooms
14.11.2013 (UK) Bristol – Thekla
15.11.2013 (UK) Nottingham – Rock City Basement
16.11.2013 (UK) Glasgow – The Garage
18.11.2013 (UK) Sheffield – Corporation
19.11.2013 (UK) Manchester – Academy 2
20.11.2013 (UK) Birmingham – Institute Library
21.11.2013 (UK) London – Koko
23.11.2013 (IND) Bangalore – Bacaradi NH7 Weekender

w/ The Safety Fire, Protest The Hero, Intervals:
06.01.2014 (DE) Karlsruhe – Substage
07.01.2014 (DE) Nuernberg – Hirsch
08.01.2014 (DE) Berlin – Magnet
09.01.2014 (DE) Hamburg – Logo
10.01.2014 (SE) Stockholm – Klubben
11.01.2014 (SE) Gothenburg – Fängelset
12.01.2014 (NO) Oslo – John Dee
14.01.2014 (DK) Copenhagen – Vega
16.01.2014 (B) Aarschot – De Klinker
17.01.2014 (F) Paris – Le Divan Du Monde
18.01.2014 (F) Toulouse – Le Saint des Seins
19.01.2014 (ES) Madrid – Copernico
20.01.2014 (ES) Barcelon – Sala Boveda
22.01.2014 (CH) Aarau – Kiff
23.01.2014 (I) Milan – Zoe Club
25.01.2014 (A) Vienna – Szene
26.01.2014 (H) Budapest – Dürer Kert
28.01.2014 (DE) Munich – Backstage
29.01.2014 (DE) Leipzig – Conne Island
30.01.2014 (LUX) Esch Sur Alzette – Rockhal
31.01.2014 (DE) Cologne – Essigfabrik
01.02.2014 (UK) Brighton – Concorde 2
02.02.2014 (UK) Birmingham – O2 Academy 2 Birmingham
04.02.2014 (UK) Sheffield – Corporation
05.02.2014 (UK) Glasgow – Classic Grand
06.02.2014 (UK) Manchester – Manchester Academy 2
07.02.2014 (UK) London – Electric Ballroom
09.02.2014 (NL) Dordrecht – Bibelot

Soundwave Festival:
22.02.2014 (AUS) Brisbane – RNA Showrooms, Soundwave 2014
23.02.2014 (AUS) Sydney – Olympic Park, Soundwave 2014
28.02.2014 (AUS) Melbourne – Flemington Racecourse, Soundwave 2014
01.03.2014 (AUS) Adelaide – Adelaide, Soundwave 2014
03.03.2014 (AUS) Perth – Perth, Soundwave 2014

So the modern definition of traction is all of the above. Add to that mix, merchandise sales and licensing deals and based on the shows that TesseracT are booked to play, I would say that the new album is a success.

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Music, My Stories

Which Band has hidden their Spotify Stream Count?

So I am on Spotify right now and I am curious to see how many streams “Dream Theater” had after 1 week of their album release.  So I bring up the “Dream Theater” Spotify account and I see a Top 10 list.

1 – The Looking Glass
2 – The Enemy Inside
3 – False Awakening Suite
4 – Enigma Machine
5 – The Bigger Picture
6 – Behind The Veil
7 – Illumination Theory
8 – Surrender To Reason
9 – Along For A Ride
10 – On The Backs Of Angels with a 1,120,058 count.

That’s it. The new album streams are not even on the account. I have my suspicions as to why.

Maybe progressive rock fans don’t want to use Spotify so the numbers are too low, and it doesn’t look cool to show them. However back on the 19 Sept 2013, the Dream Theater Spotify Top 10 was made up of the following songs;

1. Wither – 1,838,066 streams
2. A Nightmare To Remember – 1,185,005 streams
3. On The Backs Of Angels – 1,102,232 streams
4. Pull Me Under – 1,060,769 streams
5. The Count Of Tuscany – 909,535 streams
6. Build Me Up, Break Me Down – 713,216 streams
7. Lost Not Forgotten – 518,814 streams
8. This Is The Life – 515,134 streams
9. Bridges In The Sky – 406,309 streams
10. Breaking All Illusion – 404,721 streams

Despite all the marketing, the album just hasn’t penetrated deeply.

Anyway, it is a far cry compared to Avenged Sevenfold’s Spotify streams after the album was out. Back on September 12, 2013, Avenged Sevenfold had the following numbers from the new album songs;

1. Hail TO The King – 1,884,995 with YouTube views of 3,904,022
2. Shepherd Of Fire – 495,889
3. This Means War – 394,868
4. Doin Time – 372,238
5. Requiem – 333,633
6. Crimson Day – 310,412
7. Coming Home – 288,366
8. Heretic – 277,498

Dream Theater had first week US sales of 33,950 units sold and a top 10 album on the Billboard charts. It gets some ink in the papers and of course every website, is reporting on it. However what does it all mean? If bands are focusing on the album sales, they are missing the point?

As a history lesson, here are the stats from 2009 and 2011.

Dream Theater – Black Clouds And Silver Linings had the following 7 week run;

Week 1 – ending 7 July 2009 – 40,300 units sold
Week 2 – ending 15 July 2009 – 5,800 units sold
Week 3 – ending 21 July 2009 – 4,600 units sold
Week 4 – ending 29 July 2009 – 3,500 units sold
Week 5 – ending 5 Aug 2009 – 3,100 units sold
Week 6 – ending 12 Aug 2009 – 2,500 units sold
Week 7 – ending 19 Aug 2009 – 2,200 units sold

Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events had the following 5 week run;

Week 1 – ending 21 Sept 2011 – 35,750 units sold
Week 2 – ending 28 Sept 2011 – 8,030 units sold
Week 3 – ending 05 Oct 2011 – 4,430 units sold
Week 4 – ending 12 Oct 2011 – 3,120 units sold
Week 5 – ending 19 Oct 2011 – 2,600 units sold

In the end, “A Dramatic Turn Of Events” sold in total 95,000 units.

 

 

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So What Is It With Bands And Producers Not Liking Each Other After An Album Explodes?

What is it with artist’s dishing out hate on a producer that was involved in producing their greatest triumph?

A good producer is meant to be tough and opinionated. They are meant to challenge the artist, so that the artist delivers the goods. Look at what Bob Rock did to Kirk Hammet in Metallica, especially around “The Unforgiven” solo piece. If you look at Kirk’s legacy that will be the solo that he will be remembered by. I remember in the “Classic Albums” documentary of the “Black” album, as well as in the video, “A Year and A Half With Metallica”, Bob Rock said something similar like, “it is a great song and it needs a great lead. What Kirk is playing at the moment is not great. He has to live and breathe this solo.”

Bob Rock got the guys to slow down the tempo on “Sad But True” and detune everything down a whole step. He told Lars Ulrich to take drum lessons before he started to record his parts. Which producer does that? Lars Ulrich is coming off 4 definitive thrash albums and there is Bob Rock telling him to take drum lessons. He questioned James on his lyrics and his melodies, something that hasn’t been done before. He recommended vocal lessons as well to the formidable front man.

Lars even said that once the Black album was finished, he couldn’t talk or see Bob Rock for over 12 months. Bob Rock has even gone on record saying that it was a tough album to make. The end result is every bands dream coming true. The biggest selling album of the SOUNDSCAN era with a total of 16 million sales as at December 2012. The Black album still to this day moves 2,000 units per week in the U.S. A a lot of websites pointed out that it outsold, Megadeth’s new album “Supercollider”.

As much as Nikki Sixx dishes on Tom Werman, the facts are out there. With Tom Werman, Motley Crue had three multi-platinum albums in “Shout At The Devil”, “Theatre of Pain” and “Girls, Girls, Girls”. Each album has sold 4 million copies plus in the U.S. That is a total of 12 million plus sales in the U.S market. Furthermore, the bulk of the “Decade Of Decadence” album is made up of songs from these albums, and that album also sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. In addition, the “Music To Crash Your Car” box sets also had the three albums produced by Tom Werman on them.

If all the stories about the drug use from the Motley Crue members are to be believed, then Tom Werman deserves special recognition for getting anything musical onto tape.

Dee Snider also doesn’t have many kind words for Tom Werman. If anyone has read Dee’s bio, “Shut Up and Give Me The Mic,” you can connect the dots and come to a conclusion that Dee is also blaming Tom Werman for the failure of Twisted Sister’s next album even though Tom Werman never worked on it. The routine used to be that Dee Snider would be working on songs for the next album, while the current album is being mixed.

According to Dee, in his bio “Shut Up and Give Me The Mic” due to Werman being difficult to work with and Mark Mendoza doing his best to sabotage everything that Dee was working on, he couldn’t take the time out from the studio to work on songs for the next album. So when it came time to write the songs for Come Out And Play after the hugely successful “Stay Hungry” tour, Dee’s mindset was in a different place. He had money, he had fame, he had success and he didn’t have the same hunger, anger and motivation that he had during the Stay Hungry recording. If he wrote the songs during the “Stay Hungry” sessions, the output could have been very different. Super producer, Bob Ezrin even passed on working on “Come Out And Play”, because he didn’t hear any great songs.

However, the facts are there. The Tom Werman produced “Stay Hungry”, sold over 3 million copies in the U.S alone. The singles, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “I Wanna Rock” also sold by the truck load and they sounded great on radio, due to special radio mixes that Tom Werman did for them. It’s funny that the song “The Price”, didn’t get the same radio mix and it tanked as a single, even though it is the strongest of all three songs.

In relation to Nikki Sixx and Dee Snider, Werman said the following on Popdose.com;

“There were two individual musicians who had a problem with me in the studio out of about 200 musicians I produced. Nikki Sixx was a friend until he revised history in his book. Dee Snider was a friend, until the Twisted Sister album became a hit, and he couldn’t deal with sharing the credit for its success. Both of these guys were literally back-slapping glad-handers; years later, they soured badly. I had fine relationships with all the other members of those two bands.”

Kix was another band that was critical of Tom Werman. Bassist and band leader, Donnie Purnell hated and distrusted Werman.

George Lynch from Dokken also had a problem with Tom Werman, when Werman requested that he play a better lead break on a particular song. If you believe Don Dokken, George Lynch has an uncontrollable ego. If you believe George Lynch, Don Dokken has an uncontrollable ego. Regardless who you believe, when Lynch was asked to play a better lead break, he had a dummy spit.

And now here are the facts for Dokken’s “Tooth N Nail” and Kix’s “Blow My Fuse”. Both albums on release went to GOLD status within a year. “Tooth N Nai”l was released in 1984 and ended up reaching PLATINUM status in the U.S in 1989 (yep that’s right, four years after its release), after the mega successful “Back For The Attack” album, got people interested in Dokken’s back catalogue. “Back For The Attack” reached PLATINUM status within 2 months of its release date.

“Blow My Fuse” was released on September 12, 1988. By November 2, 1988, seven weeks later, the album was certified GOLD by the RIAA. In May 1989, the single “Don’t Close Your Eyes” was released. By February 5, 1990, eight months later, the single was certified GOLD by the RIAA. Finally, on August 28, 2000, the “Blow My Fuse” album was certified PLATINUM by the RIAA. Yep, that is almost 12 years from when it was released. This is what the artist of today need to take into account. Great music will live on and it will keep on selling for a long time.

However, so many artists and record label executives want the platinum sales with the first release. Dokken’s back catalogue sold well after the mega successful “Back For The Attack” album (their 4th album). Metallica’s back catalogue sold even more, after the mega successful “Black” album (their 5th album). Motley Crue’s back catalogue sold well again after the mega successful “Dr Feelgood” album (their 5th album). However in today’s mindset of profits before creativity, most bands will not get to the fourth or fifth album. Most bands will not have a comeback like Aerosmith or Alice Cooper did in the Eighties. I digress.

Dream Theater, especially Mike Portnoy blasted Dave Prater on the “Images and Words” sessions, however with Prater at the helm, Dream Theater had their biggest album to date. Read the book “Lifting Shadows”. The interviews with Prater are brilliant. The rebuttals of the band members are in some cases subdued but fiery at the same time. Somewhere in between all of the stories is the truth.

Of course, Dream Theater with Dave Prater at the helm have had their most success in relation to album sales. “Images And Words” is the album that Dream Theater is still doing victory laps with in 2013.

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A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, My Stories, Piracy, Stupidity, Treating Fans Like Shit

Living In The Creativity Years – Otherwise You Will Be Here Today and Gone Tomorrow

So it has been almost 20 months since MegaUpload was shutdown. All of its servers and assets were also seized by the US Department of Justice on evidence provided to it by the MPAA.

So what did this shutdown prove? In the immortal words of Dark Helmet, “Absolutely Nothing”.

What the entertainment industries fail to understand is that we live in a global economy. I am not an expert on economics, however in order to compete in this global economy, people need to know how to operate computers and use certain pieces of software. It is expected. Piracy is the leveller between the “advanced” economies and the “developing” economies. Big deal, what does this have to do with music.

Sale of albums in South and Central American countries are normally low for metal bands, however, those bands play to tens of thousands of people when they tour there. How can that be if they have no sales in those areas? I always come back to the Iron Maiden “Flight 666: The Movie” that was filmed during the “Caught Somewhere Back In Time” tour. They played some places on this tour like Costa Rica and India where sales of Iron Maiden recorded music has been low, however they still got tens of thousands of people to attend the shows.

We live in a global pop culture world. This global pop culture spreads via the web.

Artists these days need to forget about the record deals and the hits. We are living in the era that is all about creativity. Artists need to be creating all the time and releasing all the time, otherwise they are here today and gone tomorrow. Metal bands have weathered the storm so far, as fans of these genre’s still tend to purchase albums, however the writing is on the wall. Go on Spotify and you will see the streaming counts of certain songs. Only the great songs get streamed over and over again. The rest, will be forgotten.

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Derivative Works, Influenced, Music, My Stories, Piracy

Deja-Vu. 2011 vs. 2013 with Dream Theater and Trivium – Random Thoughts on their new songs

It’s like déjà vu again. In 2011, I was listening to new songs from Trivium and Dream Theater. Trivium had just unleashed In Waves as its promotional single for the In Waves album and Dream Theater had unleashed On The Backs of Angels as its promotional single for the A Dramatic Turn of Events album.

I remember listening to both songs back then and taking into account both of the band’s position in the musical landscape. Dream Theater to me, had the most to prove, as this music would be their first without founder Mike Portnoy.

In my opinion In Waves is a stronger song than On The Backs of Angels. The song wins all the time. I was listening to Images and Words yesterday and the reason why that album is awesome 21 years after its release is the songs. Learning To Live, Metropolis and Take The Time are progressive as hell, but man, I can physically hum the whole songs to anyone including the progressive interludes.

Images and Words is Dream Theater. That album represented what Dream Theater are all about and it set in motion everything that was to come. This new album is self-titled, therefore it should represent what Dream Theater is all about.

Anyway I digress, going back to my 2011 experiences. In relation to the albums, both of them had a six week U.S sale run (physical sales) and then disappeared. Will history repeat itself? I think so.

Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events
Week 1 – ending 21 Sept 2011 – 35,750 units sold
Week 2 – ending 28 Sept 2011 – 8,030 units sold
Week 3 – ending 05 Oct 2011 – 4,430 units sold
Week 4 – ending 12 Oct 2011 – 3,120 units sold
Week 5 – ending 19 Oct 2011 – 2,600 units sold

Trivium – In Waves
Week 1 – ending 17 Aug 2011 – 20,640 units sold
Week 2 – ending 24 Aug 2011 – 6,700 units sold
Week 4 – ending 07 Sept 2011 – 2,890 units sold
Week 5 – ending 14 Sept 2011 – 2,890 units sold

Artists are so scared if an album under performs these days. WHY? The album sales figures quoted above is not the metric to judge success on. Dream Theater have hardly sold any music in South America, however they play to their biggest crowds there. I wonder how that came to be?

As Nicko McBrain said in Flight 666 The Movie, Iron Maiden hasn’t sold an album in Costa Rica, however they are playing a stadium show that is sold out with 30,000 people attending. Put it down to piracy, file sharing, Bit Torrent or copyright infringement. The bottom line is this, if what you create is great, expect it to be shared.

Before the Internet, before YouTube, before streaming services like Spotify, fans had to own the music to hear it. That is no longer the case. The history of recorded music is at our fingertips. Fans are participating in this new arena, while artists and labels are still banging their heads against the wall judging success by album sales.

Even Mike Portnoy asked fans to buy The Winery Dogs as a show of support to the label and to show to them that this project is viable. Why does he care about sales? Look at all his posts, show after show. He is blown away at the reaction they are getting. Isn’t that the validation he should be seeking?

So here we are in 2013. We have Trivium’s new song Brave This Storm and Dream Theater’s The Enemy Within.

So what is the verdict.

I can’t say that The Enemy Within is anything special. Some bits remind me of Scenes from a Memory, but really, I could see this song fitting on A Dramatic Turn of Events. It is not a great leap forward in musical terms. Let’s hope that the other songs make the “definite statement.”

Hopefully what we heard was their “Commercial” piece for the album, in the same way that Forsaken was seen as the “Commercial” piece in Systematic Chaos. If this new album turns out to just be ADToE part 2, then yeah I’ll be pretty disappointed, and everyone will know what a pivotal role Portnoy played in the band and how directionless they are without him.

On the other hand, I was very cautious as to how the Trivium and David Draiman collaboration would work. From hearing Brave This Storm, I would say they are on a definite winner. The song is heavy, it is a progression from what they started with In Waves, it is all math in the verses and it is very melodic. Let’s hope that the other Trivium songs are not Brave This Storm 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on.

For some reason this got me thinking about a song from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers called Rebels which is the lead off track on his 1985, Southern Accents album.

With one foot in the grave
One foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Are musicians/artists rebels in 2013? It seems that they all want to be winners. Seen any posts from a musician recently about what they think, what they feel, what they are going to do and it doesn’t relate to selling music. Our heroes are even beholden to the Corporations.

Randy Blythe is one artist that shows his humanity. He uses his photographs and puts stories around them, which always relate to a personal part of his life. We are all human. We win and we lose. Blythe focuses on his work, not the sales pitch.

There is new news every day, so if Dream Theater and Trivium want their story to survive, they need to keep it alive by making news every day

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