Bob Lefsetz commenting 5/30/11 (less than a week after American Idol concluded):
Quote:Virality
..."American Idol" and radio are positively old school. Dying art forms that still have some power but will mean ever less as the years go by.
Radio? You mean I have to sit there and listen and wait for my song to come on? When I’ve got an iPod and I can watch TV programs on demand on screens both big and small, even my iPad? Music radio is history. Talk radio will sustain. It unfolds in real time.
As for "American Idol"…who was the winner again? That show was about competition and advertising, music was featured, but stars are not being built because that’s no longer what a star is.
A star is not someone who is hyped by money into the hearts of America.
A star is someone who creates something by his or her wits that is so intriguing that it’s forwarded to millions.
Ponder that.
Don’t make a record to get a label deal. Don’t make a record to get on the radio. Make a record that makes those who listen to it want to tell everybody they know about it.
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/a.../virality/