Dear PSUW:
This is it. We’re here. In 2011. What does one do? Push on through with one’s goals, etc., right? Wrong.
I have intuited and read and given considerable to thought to what this year is going to be about. A lot of us in the business of writing about the music business are predicting more chaos in the industry, no fixes or few fixes, continued experimentation with social media…and to that end, I predict continued frustration with that, and some withdrawal in an attempt to organize and protect privacy.
My overall sense at this time is this: it’s good to take stock of what has happened and, sometimes, take a wider view. For me that means: look backwards, to the past. YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE THIS. Watch some of the greatest music movies of all time.
*****
TIME OUT’S LIST OF THE GREATEST MUSIC FILMS EVER
http://www.timeout.com/film/features/show-feature/3567/50-greatest-music-films-ever.html
*****
Sit back and relax a bit. Remind yourself that some of what’s happening has always been happening, and ingenuity is still a large part of this business. So is optimism. So is frustration. Bryan Adams did a show here in Doha, Qatar in December at the Intercontinental Hotel (imagine…in other parts of the world, he does arenas…here it’s to the expat community in the hotel’s backyard). Everyone’s adapting. Bryan’s interview in the local TimeOut magazine, I believe, had him reveal that this is a business that’s always been full of thieves and ripoffs. So, what else is new? We’re hurt because our fans are doing it? Hmmm. I’m a bit more ponderous about that this year.
Maybe it’s time to do the counter-intuitive. Sit back. Relax. Observe for awhile. And, if your living depends upon your action plans, then carry on. But inside…sit back and relax. Plug in some movies and get through this winter of our discontent by trying to feel good again, if you don’t feel good, and by inspiring yourself towards some newness.
I know that’s what I’m doing. Lining up gigs in Qatar, the UK and Canada. But also taking the long view of this. And learning piano, a new thing.
Best wishes,
Lorelei Loveridge, Founder and Rabble Rouser (PSUW)
