Bill Werde

Public service announcement: www.saylaufey.com

I don’t agree with your politics but appreciate your participation here.

The right may or may not be watching — I wouldn’t completely assume one way or another. But all sides of the political spectrum are chattering about this today. And I think that’s a win for both SNL and Wallen. No one will stop watching SNL because of this. But some will be reminded it exists.

Your anger, however justified, does not change facts. Saying that no one is the south knows who Morgan Wallen is is absurd. He sells our arenas and stadiums in the South, and all over America, and is one of the top 2-3 streaming artists in likely every state in the south.

Some friends just want to be outraged at Wallen, but if that’s what you seek, you’ll find it on other accounts. I try to just analyze music biz news from a business perspective, objectively, without bias, agenda or clickbait. I hope that’s useful for you. Sign up for my email (in bio) if so.

Why is everyone a winner with the Wallen walk off? Wallen shared “Get me to God’s country” on his IG story shortly after, presumably away from the (in his world) godless liberals of NYC & SNL & earns major love from his base. SNL enjoys everyone buzzing & sharing SNL clips for 24 hours. No loser.

During that time, the only artist who outperforms Wallen is Swift, who’s been the inarguable Biggest Artist in the World during that period. Drake is about even with Wallen but Wallen is trending up & Drake is trending, well, Kendricked. He has been 4th the last 2 years; Wallen has been 2nd.

Top Artists Ranking is based on an artist's chart performance on the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard 200 and Boxscore touring revenue.

Here is Wallen’s placement the last four years on Bilboard’s year-end artist chart, which is primarily a streaming+touring equation:
2021: 5th
2022: 5th
2023: 2nd
2024: 2nd

www.billboard.com/charts/year-... #music

I see a lot of “why did SNL even book him?” in response to Morgan Wallen abruptly walking off stage after last night’s show. The answer is simple: he’s one of the most popular artists in America and has been for at least 4 years. This is a ratings no-brainer, and it ends up a win for all involved.

Honestly struggling with social media in these times. How do I post about the music business, while still urgently communicating that like, trans rights are human rights, climate change is real, DEI doesn’t cause plane crashes, Nazis should be punched in the face, etc. Anyone else feeling this?

People want to know who Kendrick is bringing out at halftime. I want to know what he’s going to say to Donald Trump.

Probably my favorite Madonna album. Producer William Orbit did such an amazing job of synthesizing all of the electronic sounds that were exploding in music at that time, and turning them into something that was both poignant and pop.

Madonna’s become a bit of a caricature the past decade or so. Loved going back to listen & be reminded how much incredible music she released, and how important it was to so many people. Not in order:

Crazy for You
What it Feels like for a Girl
The Power of Good-bye
Live to Tell
Ray of Light

I had so many technical issues trying to create an account and log in to Hangout that I literally gave up and deleted the app.

I’m at 799 followers. Would love to get that to a round number. Any 99,201 of you want to jump on?

Also, for the love of god, can we stop giving rock Grammys to undeniably iconic but also undeniably irrelevant-to-contemporary-music acts? Idylls had the best rock album last year, period. They lost in once category to the Beatles and in their other to The Stones. Cmon.

The Grammys got a lot right, but I think Nashville will feel justifiably slighted. Yes, some will bristle at the Beyonce Country Album win—Country radio never really played it. But also, country just had so few moments on stage and some of those felt forced ie Lainey doing Quincy.

I also thought Chappell’s speech calling for labels to support artist healthcare was awesome: specific, heartfelt, and something that theoretically could be doable. I saw some say she should have addressed politics or global healthcare, but IMO that’s a PR move and not actual activism.

Big winners of the night were Doechii (who also stole the Clive Grammy party stage one night earlier) and Chappell; Best New Artist was maybe the most competitive category of the night.

I thought the best subplot was the Grammys righting past wrongs. That’s what The Weeknd set was about, and to some extent Beyonce’s Album win. And def why they changed the language of the winner announcement to note that awards were the choice of “13000 voting members” or whatever.

Final Grammy thoughts: they did a phenomenal job under a very difficult set of circumstances. Making an awards show deferential to fire victims but also fun TV while getting the big awards right is no small feat. I’ve been a critic of the Recording Academy at times but they stuck the landing here.

Thanks Michael. Nice to see you on here! Go listen to some Spotify top hits playlists. 😅

YouTube video by sonny coleone settled all family business

Grammys basically had one job to do re Album of the Year and they did it. A subplot tonight was the Academy settling all family business so to speak. That’s what Weeknd performance was and it’s definitely a big dynamic of Beyonce’s AOTY. youtu.be/NjY4tx4ZTJc

Also not telecast: 7500 industry people waiting for an Uber.

The artists’/VIP section was here for Charli

“DEI is not a threat, it’s a gift.” Alicia Keys saying what sadly, urgently needs said.

For those keeping score at home, Record of the Year just went to the song that Drake is suing UMG for as defamation.

So good they liked it twice? That is weird. Just went to the live video and it’s at 4K views but 10k likes. #grammys

Gaga spoke up for trans people and Shakira for immigrants. Both powerful. But I understand folks wishing more artists were more fired up to speak about what’s happening in this country. These are the early scary days of something must never be normalized.

Agreed.
Grammys can signal their values (and I think they are through performances like Chappell Roans and proudly talking about diversity, gender equity, and LGBTQIA initiatives), but major artists can/should be more direct about what’s happened to this country in the last 2 weeks.