the way the music business sucks.

Bradee got me a Tivo for my birthday! Very nifty technology. It's like an RSS aggregator for TV, which is exactly what TV needs. Last night Brad and I watched a 2-hour Headbanger's Ball in about 15 minutes. Ah, sweet relief.

Then we stumbled on Frontline's The Way The Music Died on PBS. Fascinating. Stupifying.

The show discusses the state of the music industry, and follows two hopeful bands -- Velvet Revolver (the GNR/STP thoopergroup) and Sarah Hudson(?) -- as they try to survive the major label/billboard/pop music swamp.

Sarah Hudson's father is Mark Hudson, who I had never heard of before. I guess he's one of those Desmond Child types, a songwriter/producer who helps turn people into stars!, and helps stars! write hits!.

So there's Sarah, who's a cute kind of alt-looking chick -- dyed hair, tattoos, etc -- talking about songwriting. She just wants to express herself, she has a lot to say, she has all this art bubbling up inside.

And there's Dad, who looks like Paul Schaeffer with a (holy shit) beret, talking about Sarah. Dad has the veneer of an Artist (long hair! wacky clothes!), but he talks like an Industry Cat. I'm friends with Cher, Ringo Starr this, Madonna that, blah blah blah. And also Sarah's really great but man this industry is tough but listen to her, she's fantastic and she has so much to say and I think she stands a chance.

After 15 minutes of interviews, they finally show the Hudsons in the studio, playing back a mix. At this point we're dying to hear this stuff. Mega producer, talented daughter, months of work, dozens of songs thrown away because they weren't good enough. This should be good, right?

They finally roll tape for us and what plays back is... completely generic. It's amazingly generic. It's content-free pop. Fifty layers of vocals, "upbeat" electronic production with some "upbeat" but "edgy" (to a guy in a beret) decoration. And Dad -- Mark Hudson, industry veteran and producer to the stars -- thinks it's great. He's jamming to it. He's boogeying around. The song ends and he's like "that's great! fabulous!".

If only there were cameras pointed at Brad and me. Our faces must have been priceless.

Velvet Revolver was kind of a different story. Without getting too far into it, the thing that struck me was that every industry dork they interviewed said "people are dubious, but when they hear this record they say 'okay, I'm sold, this is the real deal". You know, personal jet or not, the GNR bassist is here to deliver true rock. And I'm not sure but I think these guys -- these old guys, these 40-somethings in golf shirts who spend most of their time in meetings -- I think they honestly believed that.

I've seen/known about this part of the music biz since I did college radio a hundred years ago. But to this day, as a musician and a music lover, it's ... confounding.

In closing, read this interview with Sarah Hudson. What are her ambitions as a performer? "I want to have a career in music, and film, and I want a restaurant. You know, I want everything, everything." Oh. You're not an artist. You want to be a star. That's different.

Sorry you're having such a hard time with the tough music business, Sarah. Sorry to see that business burning itself down.