Bigs N Littles - Iggy Ice
"Bigs N Littles" is more than a title for this post. It's rivalry that's way too old to go over the whole story. We'd have to start as soon as the motion picture industry opened their first lot. That's what a studio was back then. Some rich guy's empty lot. A gate. A guard booth. A few prefabricated buildings. That's it. The rest was creative genius which lead to one the greediest paradigms to be involved with. Why? They have the silver screen, electronic media and porn on lock down. Money goes to money plain and simple. Let's digress a bit to something positive.
The Lost Spider has had the top three tracks on N1M for over a months. Prior to that, Spider songs have shuffled around the top three positions for over a year. Albeit there's only about 1 million listeners on this web based third party platform, that was more than enough for me. When had my first listen, I thought it was Bowie's ghost. I even wrote to The Lost Spider when we became acquainted and told him, "Bowie called. He wants his voice back!" We had a chuckle over that. The more I listened, the more I realized that bending genre just a bit to accommodate the mood you are in when you compose a song, is like an improv of your personality at that moment. Spider songs go deep. Rhythmic. Great lyrics. Emotional. Some downright funny. That's what I mean about going with the flow. In the moment to me means letting go of rigid compositional guidelines tied to trends haunting the airwaves for generations. I'm always on the look for a new wave in those broadcasts.
Let's turn our attention away from tradition, big label productions, and even the influences of Hollywood and the commercial advertisements they generate to get money from us. Bring it over here. Independent Artist. Independent Labels. Independent free thinkers straddling conformity, risking it all for art. The Bigs says: "Change that verse, and add these words." They say things like; 'We know what sells. We've been doing this for years." Which means to me, they have a commercial formula for success. (Fit into their version of you, or play that cafe you were in when we found you). Why? They are conforming to a formula designed to extract time and money from you, the listener. Conforming the Artist is conforming the listener. (We only make those sneakers in red and blue). Now you have to buy blue or red! If all the online music stores are linked together, then that's kind of a monopoly. Streaming pays Beyonce and Taylor Swift types very well because at the end of year they have billions of streams. You? Me? Not so much. So it's a paradigm for the incumbents just like politics.
I'm not picking on anyone's success or how they achieved it, however, here's an example: A company say like, Live Nation, has millions of dollars to promote tours, build an infrastructure, and to buy up deals from poor people in the industry. When you have resources you can sell out arenas. Even with old acts playing nostalgic frequencies! Check out the prices they get at these concerts in order to pay for their infrastructure investment. They are classically conditioning the next generation using their parents and even grandparent to insure a future for their same old frequencies. That's like brainwashing. Insider trading. Or a pyramid scheme. Tony Montana would still be alive if he got 'out', and went into the music industry. If you don't know what I mean, it's cool. Just know even the Christian music you hear, for example, is designed to 'win you over'. Over to what? A pigeon hole. Why? Sales. What are they selling? I don't know? Let's listen. You see how easy that was when you have money for a cable commercial! I'm smiling and I hope you are as well.
So they replaced the word 'buy' with 'stream', and shifted the profits over to the Bigs who are dominating this market. Amazon for example, will let you stream all you want if you buy their plan. Great for Amazon. Great for the Bigs. Bad for the Littles. Why? You need 12 million streams per year to make the just above the minimum wage. So, you need double that to make scale. The radio led us to buy a 45 rpm. We didn't care if that a small label walked into a station and handed the D.J. the only copy. Why? It was different. It wasn't until the one hit wonders found out that the rules don't apply to outsiders. Then, after maximum exploitation, they take the bus home. So it's very cliquey to say the least. "What are you wearing to the award show?" Me, I'm not going.
I have songs for sale. Like the Lost Spider, no money to get them out to masses. Just the 1,300 on my mailing list. So wish all of us independents luck. It's not easy. It's even harder when you don't listen, like, comment and share. So, when you go to back work and feel good about yourself and when your paycheck comes in, remember that feeling the next time you listen to 30 year old songs. Included a few of us unknowns in your playlist. Spring for the time and the dime. One day you'll wake up and see one of those unknowns on television, and think better of yourself knowing that you didn't need an expensive ad campaign to give that Artist a chance.
Here's something you can watch to help shake off what ever rut you're in. Well rut or not let's watch Harley Ice's unofficial musical godparents' special moments from their wedding, presented to you for your enjoyment. Don't forget to like and share their video, and leave a comment after you subscribe to their channel. That's why we do this. For your enjoyment, and to fill more than just a void in our souls.
Visit: www.iggyice.us to download The Lost Spider's songs for $1.33. Current inventory: 8 tracks. More on their way. On behalf of iAndroid.live, Iggy out!
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