On his “The Rest Is Entertainment” Podcast, Richard Osman made the point that there are no bands getting No.1 singles in the 2020’s. Yet he also said that no one is in a band. Au contraire.
“Essentially, no one is in a band, apart from all these Korean bands” says multi millionaire author and TV exec Richard Osman on his hugely subscribed podcast with Marina Hyde, that is hosted by a media conglomerate like Spotify. Therefore he is unable to make any slightly derogatory comment about music labels or big media as they may not sponser his podcast. Just the facts, Dicky, just the facts.
Because, yes of course there are bands, there are thousands, just no one gives a shit anymore, like Richard, unless they get signed by a management company he knows the CEO for. Or are on a major label with a huge marketing budget. There is far more brain numbing, mundane shit people think is interesting. The kids aren’t alright, they watch people playing video games on YouTube. That’s fucking nuts.
I like Richard Osman. He is a very funny, intelligent, self made successful man with a brother in a very cool, big 90’s band. But that doesn’t make him always right. And quite frankly it’s getting boring hearing the sympathetic point of view for the big names in the media. They don’t need defending. Like Spotify.
How about giving a shit about the little people? The band’s struggling because they don’t have as many local venues to play in. Who don’t get signed to labels because their social media numbers are below 50k. Who have shit day jobs so they can live, as independent labels can barely keep their heads above water.
Who cares which American solo artist that is No.1 in the singles chart this week. Does anyone really care about the charts anymore anyway? And is what’s big on streaming actually popular either? That isn’t really the point. It’s the perception. “There are no bands anymore”. Yeah there are Richy baby. Loads. Fucking tons of the fuckers, all working their arses off because they love it. That hasn’t changed. Just the music industry and peoples blinkered little lives.
Because of this, they have to play the shitty little game. Thanking Spotify or Apple or Amazon for getting them on a playlist. It’s really depressing. And the thing is, some of these young bands think it’s good. They don’t know what it was like, or what it could be like.
The thing is, as a 43 year old, looking in on this, it’s heartbreaking to see so many great bands scrimping and saving to survive and then thanking their paymasters for the scraps they throw them. Fuck you, Daniel Ek. These bands and artists say that they themselves discover great music from some playlists on Spotify. That’s great, but you’re being paid like you’re a slave for the work you have put in to make a brilliant song or album or film or whatever. You are licking their boots whilst they kick you in the face. There’s got to be a better way.
The irony is of course we’re all told that there’s so much choice now and you are able to access all this great music and yet you don’t. Open your fucking eyes and ears, Richard. And good luck with the Steven Speilberg film adaptation.
