tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post4104735822522784036..comments2024-03-28T13:47:08.047-04:00Comments on Daniel Greenfield / Sultan Knish Articles at DanielGreenfield.org : The Post-American Entertainment IndustryDaniel Greenfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comBlogger30125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-65114158147621802452012-01-14T20:04:29.881-05:002012-01-14T20:04:29.881-05:00Entertainment has been killed by political correct...Entertainment has been killed by political correctness. In movies or commercials, all men are stupid and bad fathers, families are a disgusting mess. I wonder how the wonderful woman in their life married them (and I'm a woman), so why would I want to "entertain" myself with that?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-58574452537945472372012-01-09T19:12:39.101-05:002012-01-09T19:12:39.101-05:00@Daniel - thanks (wish I'd edited it more care...@Daniel - thanks (wish I'd edited it more carefully though--that darned Chardonnay :-)<br /><br />@John K - I used to read The Lefsetz Letter awhile back but then lost interest...now I just hang out at the Warrior Forum!lgstarrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752386918407342437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-79047419342282498332012-01-09T18:38:29.296-05:002012-01-09T18:38:29.296-05:00Lgstar, Bob Lefsetz echoes your point a lot about ...Lgstar, Bob Lefsetz echoes your point a lot about litigation killing the business by trying to prop up the old financial paradigm by force. He talks a lot about businesses needing to court their customers rather than antagonizing them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-11499114120207508602012-01-08T23:50:51.893-05:002012-01-08T23:50:51.893-05:00Lgstar, thank you for sharing with us your insight...Lgstar, thank you for sharing with us your insight and personal experience.Daniel Greenfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-8031098878690814482012-01-08T23:47:34.550-05:002012-01-08T23:47:34.550-05:00The high point of the music industry for me as a c...The high point of the music industry for me as a consumer was the introduction of cheap high fidelity. This was due to the invention of the semiconducter and the introduction of solid state amplifiers. This, together with analog recording made listening to high fidelity pure bliss for everyone. One of the things that has to come back for the future of the music industry is the resurrection of high fidelity. Digital media has the potential to become superior in fidelity to analog recording. But only if we dump file compression. File compression really sucks the life out of sound recording. There is no longer any need for file compression in audio. Tetrabyte storage is now routine and band width has long left the 56K behind.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13265154565691102783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-82961698959767873622012-01-08T23:20:20.234-05:002012-01-08T23:20:20.234-05:00I got fed up with the local cinemas here in Ottawa...I got fed up with the local cinemas here in Ottawa because of the presumption that if they turn up the volume on commercials ever higher more people will purchase the product. Would you buy from a salesman who shouts in your ear? Having to sit through a commercial is bad enough.<br />HairyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-85345187204725426622012-01-08T23:18:12.072-05:002012-01-08T23:18:12.072-05:00I was in the music industry first as a professiona...I was in the music industry first as a professional keyboard player starting in 1965 (even played for POTUS), then at MCA Records for 13 1/2 years (1982-1997) when it was still in existence and still on the lot at Universal, and also as a composer (several musicals produced in Los Angeles in the 1980's).<br /><br />I saw this industry implode over the years, and I personally experienced the executives' blindness to the coming technological changes which even me and my BMI-songwriter/musician husband could see!<br /><br />My good friend Robert "Bumps" Blackwell (Little Richard's manager) said it was the lawyers who killed the music business (numbers became more important than anything else, plus the lawyers did not have the "ears." (Someone once told me that Paul Rothchild definitely had the "ears" and could hear a piano-vocal--or guitar-vocal--song demo without a huge master-quality, and expensive, production.)<br /><br />In the early days of RAP, all the women at MCA Records rebelled and said they would not work on one of our acts' albums (F U TOO I think it was called). The lyrics were about torture, cutting off women's nipples, etc. from what I can remember...<br /><br />A lot of the execs were crazed druggies and sons of rich Hollywood moguls who broke furniture, threw telephones, and ordered Pizza at the beautiful 3-types-of-cavier Christmas parties.<br /><br />Yes, something happened to the Music Industry and Entertainment Industry: I was there, I knew it was happening, and I couldn't have said it better than the Sultan!lgstarrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02752386918407342437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-41582618845946256482012-01-08T22:56:00.496-05:002012-01-08T22:56:00.496-05:00Cheryl said: "I watch very little television ...Cheryl said: "I watch very little television and go to the movies only occasionally"<br /><br />Me either. It's rare that something is on that reflects the gift of intelligence. I suppose I should unwind more often, but with this battle before us, I don't feel the desire to do other things any more. This is the issue that defines our times like WWII defined the previous generation.<br /><br />@ Paul - Bob Lefsetz writes a lot about technology changing the music world and compares it to the motion picture and television industry by saying that the latter is going through the same changes as the former, but is just a little behind. He says they are making the same mistakes to resist change and hold on to their fiefdoms. While there are still some court filings by aggressive companies like EMI, they are losing and the old model is on its way out. Those who resist change and do not adapt to it will be the ones left out in the cold.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-694684154439565492012-01-08T21:42:44.412-05:002012-01-08T21:42:44.412-05:00I think these ideas should get the widest possible...I think these ideas should get the widest possible forum. <br />I wonder if you may consider speech writing for our ‘NEW Next’ President. <br /><br />Its these ideas that may promote a National “realization”; something we can all coalesce into our lost National Identity, Culture….History.<br /><br />“Mr. Smith” may get back to Washington yet…., but there has to be a little of that Jimmy Stewart in all of us to put a smile back on the American Spirit.<br />Maybe a little John Wayne too.<br /><br />Thanks again……LeeMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10578667962410980497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-35068368890141169362012-01-08T15:14:50.847-05:002012-01-08T15:14:50.847-05:00All this sad but true.
Accompanying this dying di...All this sad but true. <br />Accompanying this dying dinosaur is a host of utube/net pluralities that have yet to reach the age of accountability. If this online multiplicity of expressions ever achieves any cultural maturity, we may have a real communications revolution on our hands. Those old behemoths of distraction will lapse into the the tar sands of entertainment history.<br />I see the real struggle as a cognitive battle between video and text. 30 years from now, will regular folks even be still reading? Or will they gather all their input from video?<br />I hope literacy survives these changes, which is why I write novels, novels that make, incidentally, excellent family movies, but with a 21st-century challenge.<br />Thanks, Daniel, for this aside from politics, peppered as usual with your customary incisive analysis.<br />Btw, I agree with you that GB should have credited you for your work. However, in the age of online info, they may be something we should get used to.careyrowlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17958687878367659875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-68528510799937706082012-01-08T14:24:31.773-05:002012-01-08T14:24:31.773-05:00There is still good stuff coming out of Hollywood....There is still good stuff coming out of Hollywood. <br />TV is trying to keep up, it will make it. Bad management is a problem right now. <br />Maybe the entertainment industry is not your forte as far as blogging.<br />Your attempts at politics are a bit better.Jack Fellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13438022711747864893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-42343907428536060792012-01-08T14:23:02.116-05:002012-01-08T14:23:02.116-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jack Fellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13438022711747864893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-47578092801012654872012-01-08T14:16:06.605-05:002012-01-08T14:16:06.605-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jack Fellowshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13438022711747864893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-22585495801803035912012-01-08T13:53:14.580-05:002012-01-08T13:53:14.580-05:00Daniel, you are still stuck on the notion that mov...Daniel, you are still stuck on the notion that movies are a highly restricted art medium. When only a few people can make movies for a huge market, then it is a highly profitable market. Criticism of content in this context is about a small set of producers who must maximaze interest. But anyone can make a movie now and the availability of necessary technology at affordable prices increases daily. Content is now whatever you want it to be. I can purchase a Blue Ray player that will connect me to YouTube. I am more likely to care about what is on YouTube then I am from the local broadcaster (cable is broadcasting).<br /><br />The future of the movie industry is a complete unknown. There is nothing they can do about it, least of all the movie industry itself. There is no adapting to an explosion and really, the movie industry ought to know better. It was itself born in the same explosion. The problem is that the people who own the industry are too powerful and disinterested in movies as art as much as they are in movies as hypnosis. The power of suggestion is more important to the creative impulse than the power to tell a good story.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13265154565691102783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-37367001231260624242012-01-08T13:52:43.527-05:002012-01-08T13:52:43.527-05:00I don't go to the movies very often anymore, p...I don't go to the movies very often anymore, perhaps twice a year. Sure, the movies kill off a couple of hours but that's about it. <br /><br />The last drama that inspired me was ALIVE in 1993. The last great comedy IMO was THE END with Bert Reynolds. That was in 1976.<br /><br />They speak to an undifferentiated global audience in a glottal cacophony of noisy spectacle with no meaning."<br /><br />It's interesting that you chose the word undifferentiated. It's the perfect word, considering how dangerous undifferentiated cancer cells are.<br /><br /><br />Sad to say that American entertainment as especially news coverage leaves me so...disengaged. Is it any wonder I am much more engaged watching RT and starting to think about issues? At least the shows have engaged me. The US counterparts make me flip the channel or tune out entirely.<br /><br />I will always be a proud American bt at the moment uninspired. At least alternative and foreign media has been able to engage me (sorry for using that word so much) and bring enthusiasm when it comes to American politics and culture.<br /><br />Great article! And again, brilliant to use the undifferentiated.Keli Atahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05089132216830000713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-3204687135671302602012-01-08T12:25:35.776-05:002012-01-08T12:25:35.776-05:00Edward, yes quite a few theaters are empty too muc...Edward, yes quite a few theaters are empty too much of the time. And that's after theaters spent massive fortunes on all the new technology that Hollywood promised them would fix everything.Daniel Greenfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-58979747511742663382012-01-08T12:24:44.256-05:002012-01-08T12:24:44.256-05:00John, yes when Americans get wise the same garbage...John, yes when Americans get wise the same garbage is peddled elsewhere. <br /><br />Edward, yes that sort of thinking has become alien to the industry now. <br /><br />Mr Ed, and that is how we ended up with socialist realism as the dominant model.<br /><br />t1klish, the economic downturn doesn't help certainly<br /><br />Zachriel, it's an overall decline being masked by higher ticket prices.<br /><br />Cheryl, you're right. Change will only come when the industry realizes that Americans are no longer interested in subsidizing it.Daniel Greenfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-62479042655400389192012-01-08T12:18:56.061-05:002012-01-08T12:18:56.061-05:00It's a given that the industry needs to adapt ...It's a given that the industry needs to adapt technologically, but in large part they have. Within 5 years they'll have adapted completely, though it took them far too long. My point is that content is also a major issue.Daniel Greenfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13575285186581875356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-1079649576179828492012-01-08T12:09:50.835-05:002012-01-08T12:09:50.835-05:00cheryl: We've come a long way from "It...cheryl: We've come a long way from "It's A Wonderful Life" and it shows in the behaviors of too many Americans.<br /><br />That's funny. When "It's a Wonderful Life" came out it, it was denounced by some as communist propaganda, and even rated an FBI report devoted to uncovering its subversive message. <br />http://www.wisebread.com/files/fruganomics/wisebread_imce/wonderful-life-fbi-memo-2.jpgZachrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11268229653808829377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-62799263100536805122012-01-08T12:08:52.892-05:002012-01-08T12:08:52.892-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Zachrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11268229653808829377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-72339655303745216652012-01-08T11:41:30.312-05:002012-01-08T11:41:30.312-05:00"The industry has blamed the Internet, and wh..."The industry has blamed the Internet, and while technology has historically played a role in eclipsing and destabilizing technology linked entertainment business models, which movies, television and the music business certainly are, it's an insufficient explanation. The Internet is a source of creative chaos, but the source of the entertainment industry's woes come from inside its own gates."<br /><br />And so you completely dropped the ball.<br /><br />You neglect that technology itself is what the movie industry is all about and technological advances change the movie industry. If those in the movie industry cannot adapt to technical change than the wrong people are running the movie industry. It's really that simple and this is what the problem is.<br /><br />I have not watched any broadcast or cable television or listened to any broadcast or cable radio for the last four years. But I have a television set and I watch it every evening? What am I watching? DVDs. I rent DVDs from a machine at the local grocery, or I check them out from the local library. The DVDs I rent are movies that at one time were shown at the local movie hall. I don't have blueray yet, but that will be coming too, the price of a blueray player has plunged to about $100 and it is only a question of time before they get even cheaper than that.<br /><br />I don't go to the movies at movie halls. Why? Because public life has gotten worse and worse. I don't want to share the same dark space as a bunch of babbling idiots when I'm trying to watch a movie. And if I really want to see the movie, all I have to do is wait for it come out on DVD. With each new movie release, I just sit back and listen to all the hype and think, "Well maybe I'll see it on DVD and maybe I won't". That's it. And I'm not going to wait anxiously for the DVD release either. Once it comes out, it's out and I'll wait until I bump into it somewhere by chance. If I don't see it the first year of release, who cares? I'll watch it another year from now, five years ... ten years? It will always be there waiting for me to see it if I want to.<br /><br />Television has gotten the same way. If a sitcom looks good on broadcast TV, skip it. Wait for it to come out on DVD. It wasn't until this year I even knew what a "30 Rock" was. It was a complete mystery. What could it be? The first four seasons were at the local library for years and I still skipped it until this year. Over the holidays I sat down over the course of a couple weeks and breezed through all four seasons. It's still running on TV. Who cares? I can wait for the DVD. Or not.<br /><br />The music industry is another subject and I'll wait for you to bring it up.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13265154565691102783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-34075899002548970172012-01-08T11:24:48.930-05:002012-01-08T11:24:48.930-05:00Zachriel: I think you’re missing Daniel’s point. ...Zachriel: I think you’re missing Daniel’s point. Sure, Hollywood has “always” targeted teens and kids with money to spend, such as the Harry Potter films and “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and so on. What I think he’s driving at is the near total absence of movies such as “The Manchurian Candidate” (the Sinatra version), “Seven Days in May,” “Executive Suite,” and big-budget epics such as “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Khartoum.” These and others I could name are aimed at adults with adult perspectives and sensibilities, and are not kiddy- or teen-fare. No whiz-bang graphics or techie show-off special effects present in them. Just directorial, script and acting talent. All adults get now is politically correct lecturing on how bad or presumptuous or hilarious Americans and America are, how we’ll get our butts whipped by the disenfranchised, and so on. Even when Hollywood tries to do something “pro-American,” they can’t get it right, such as Gibson’s skewed “The Patriot” and Hanks’ “John Adams” and “Saving Private Ryan.” The last few times I spent half a paycheck for a movie ticket, the theater was perhaps one-quarter full, and the same goes for theater parking lots, which I pass on the way to work every day. So, those figures you’re citing are inflated or jiggered with. Families? I’m not a family man, so I wouldn’t know anything about that aspect of theater-going. But what I think Daniel was trying to say is that the country is in a cultural value crisis, which Hollywood is not addressing and which it is in large part responsible for. You can tell Americans they’re crap only so many times before they get the point and go elsewhere.Edward Clinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12160209827969614964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-65638399304787224122012-01-08T11:11:35.717-05:002012-01-08T11:11:35.717-05:00If someone wants to argue American exceptionalism,...If someone wants to argue American exceptionalism, one need only read "anything" you have written or, the majority of comments posted by those who love your blog. <br />I watch very little television and go to the movies only occasionally because the movie,television and music industry have been hijacked by thugs with an insatiable appetite for wealth, power and perversion. Actors, directors, musicians supporting left wing, radical causes have changed the America I love and turned it into something grotesque and unrecognizable. Why should I give them a cent of my money or a second of my time? So, I don't.<br />We've come a long way from "It's A Wonderful Life" and it shows in the behaviors of too many Americans.<br />Thank you so much for this wonderful piece.cherylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03373389344011674288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-40258085993761799612012-01-08T10:38:52.421-05:002012-01-08T10:38:52.421-05:00Daniel Greenfield: The decline of the entertainmen...<b>Daniel Greenfield</b>: <i>The decline of the entertainment industry is all around us. </i><br /><br />Hmm. Box Office numbers aren't that far off of normal, about $10.1 billion, down from $10.6 billion the previous two years. Considering the economy, and the rise of alternative entertainment sources, that's not so bad. <br />http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/<br /><br /><b>Daniel Greenfield</b>: <i>The family is a vanishing figure in the entertainment industry and so are the revenues it used to bring in. </i><br /><br />Top movie this year was Harry Potter, and a lot of families attended. Last year was Toy Story. <br /><br /><b>Daniel Greenfield</b>: <i>The entertainment industry has its laser sights set on an always vanishing young adult demographic that spends a great deal of money on entertainment per individual, but which is also fickle and requires spending a great deal more money on advertising. </i><br /><br />The young have always been the bread-and-butter of the movie industry. Think 'Attack of the Killer Tomatoes' or 'I Was a Teenage Werewolf.'Zachrielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11268229653808829377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11368628.post-63915653612239608192012-01-08T09:36:50.238-05:002012-01-08T09:36:50.238-05:00Not to mention many of us don't have a spare c...Not to mention many of us don't have a spare cent to spend on going to a movie or buying a CD. Oh, wait, record stores no longer exist.<br /><br />As to the quality of current entertainment, I can't get through a few hours of television without being told that all women should be participating in homosexual acts with their friends.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com