Fussbett wrote:

No Pocky For Titties wrote:

...musicians smarter than myself (Courtney Love).

Yikes!

Musicians have no one to blame for the current climate but the greedy and stupid musicians that came before them. How about musicians read a contract and crunch some numbers like adults are supposed to do? Apparantly it only takes an adding machine to wade through the complexities and Courtney Love can already do it. Though she may be smarter than some of us, I'm sure if three or four musicians put their heads together they could see that getting fucked by a major label recording contract is a bad move. If they take the gamble anyway, then who gives a shit?

Speaking of which, how did Courtney suddenly get so smart? When she signed the record contracts that allowed her to become a star of stage and screen back in the Kurt Coattails days, did she lack a calculator? Was she so doped up that the pretty numbers just swam in her head? Or did she think "Finally, my ticket to fucking fame and fortune!" while signing her name on the line which is dotted? Ten years later Courtney Love is eating fancy catering on the set of a Kevin Bacon movie. Do you think the record company's investment of millions in promotion, recording and video production had anything to do with Courtney's rise to fame? Or was it the sheer strength of her songwriting, musicianship and charisma that made her the co-star she is today? I AM... DOLL PARTS...

Poor Courtney Love. She gave the record industry SO MUCH and she's got nothing to show for it. "Boo hoo, poor pop stars, they had a nice ride. Fuck them for speaking up". Yes, fuck them, Courtney fucking Love. Fuck every pop star who signed away their soul for a shot at fame, fortune and pussy. Fuck them in the ass with your MTV video award statuette you ill-gotten gains cunt.

Anyway, that article was written two years ago, so I'll try not to get anymore bent out of shape about it. Hey, remember when Kurt wrote a song about this same topic called "Pennyroyal Tea"? It's no Salon.com article, of course.

I love it when bands are reportedly spending $500,000 to record an album. THAT'S A LOT OF FUCKING REVERB, YO. I'd say that, plus the $1 million video budget would be the first two signs of trouble, but what do I know? People love to point out that Nirvana made 'Bleach" for $600, but hell, a better example is Faith No More's "Angeldust" follow-up album to the multi-platinum "The Real Thing" breakthrough. Major label, a white hot band, potential hit machine: $50,000 for the whole album. I'm also guessing that White Stripes album didn't cost very much either.

So how does $500,000 get spent on an album? This entertaining series of annonymous journals help illustrate the hemmoraging of money. It also helps illustrate why records sound completely different than a live band. Once you've read the journals, come back for this comment: "Razorblade tape editing? What am I in Ming dynasty China here?!"