A Candid Conversation With A Former Record Company Exec
Earlier this week, I received a phone call from a well known, former major
record company executive regarding some of the issues I raised in an
earlier Diatribe.
Unbeknownst to this individual, I taped the phone call for research
purposes and after I replayed it, decided that a transcript would be of
great interest. But upon consultation with my attorney, I have learned
that it is illegal to record a phone conversation without the knowledge of
both parties.
Accordingly, I cannot publish the name of this man of some importance in
the jazz industry. I have also deleted the names of artists to eliminate
the likelihood of any potential legal action from these individuals.
XXX: I don't like what you're putting out over the internet. It's
(expletive deleted), pure (expletive deleted).
Pariah: What upset you?
XXX: You don't know, do you?
Pariah: I don't?
XXX: First of all, the tone of what you wrote, this (expletive deleted)
diatribe. Just that word alone, diatribe, it's, it's scary. (expletive
deleted). You're going to turn people off.
Pariah: So it should be all sweetness and light.
XXX: What the (expletive deleted) are you talking about?
Pariah: I should create a website that's the equivalent of smooth Jazz?
XXX: At least that's tasteful, what you're doing is revolting and just
plain stupid.
Pariah: I guess the truth is rather difficult to swallow sometimes, isn't it.
XXX: There you go on your high horse again. Truth? What do you know about
the truth? You think that's truth you put up on your site?
Pariah: For some people it is.
XXX: Not as I see it, that's why I called. Somebody's got to set you
straight.
Pariah: I guess we all have our own truths, after all one man's Albert
Ayler is another man's Kenny G.
XXX: What you're putting up on your site is nothing but half-truth and
misconception. And what is this Pariah (expletive deleted)? You hiding
from somebody? You know, if you don't watch what you're doing, this is
going to be, what do they call it, oh yeah, a self fulfilling prophecy. Is
that what you want?
Pariah: I thought Morris Levy was history.
XXX: If you wrote that (expletive deleted) about Morris Levy, you'd
probably come home from work one day and find your computer in ten thousand
pieces.
Pariah: Look, I think you're misinterpreting this whole thing. It isn't
about personal attacks. Nothing I've written has been of a personal
nature. I have no quarrel with most of the people who populate the
industry. It's the system, not individuals, I'd like to change.
XXX: So you really think you're helping the music, the musicians? You're
spreading a lot of crap. Like a (expletive deleted) terrorist. But with
you, it's more like hara-kiri.
Pariah: I'm only trying to raise some issues and create a forum for their
discussion. From my email, it seems many people feel these issues are
valid and want to discuss them.
XXX: (expletive deleted). Maybe it comes down to a case of jealousy.
Pariah: Not at all. Let me ask you a question. Would you say you were
paid rather handsomely as an executive?
XXX: What the (expletive deleted) difference does it make to you how much
people are paid? And this fascination you have with expense accounts.
Every business has expense accounts, right?
Ours are no different than any other executives. It's part of the cost of
doing business.
Pariah: Well, my friends tell me your monthly expense account budget was
about ten thousand dollars.
XXX: And out of that...
Pariah: Comes a lot of limos and meals in four star restaurants. Wouldn't
that money be better spent on the musicians?
XXX: That's what you don't understand. It is.
Pariah: What do you mean?
XXX: When xxxxxx xxxxxxx comes to town from LA, you're going to take him
to MacDonalds for lunch? Artists, they demand a certain treatment and if
they don't get it, in spades, their management is on the phone before you
can say...
Pariah: You're talking about a very select group of people, right? I heard
that xxxxxx xxxxxx made four million dollars last year, and my friends tell
me that xxx xxxxxxxxx made a couple of million over the past few years.
xxxxxx xxxxxxxx, xxxxxx xxxxxx, sure there are few Jazz millionaires out
there but what about the rest?
XXX: It's just like any other business. The stars, the successful ones
take limos, the one's just starting out, they use public transportation.
But the stars, those are the ones we bankroll. Let me explain how this
works. Last year xxxxxxxxx xxxxxx did a session and of course her manager
demanded a limo to get her to the studio. Well, when it arrived she
decided she wasn't ready. Four hours later she was. There's five hundred
bucks right there, get the picture?
Pariah: But her last recording was a tremendous success. The label must
have made a fortune on that.
XXX: I doubt it. The reason it was a success was because of what they
spent on marketing, and putting her on tour and getting the CD into all the
stores, all over the world. That's the bottom line. Using the power of
the label to best sell and market a product. You're not against this
concept, are you?
Pariah: No, just the abuses inherent in a system that has long been corrupt.
XXX: Don't give me that Sixties (expletive deleted). You make it sound
like this industry is a den of inequity. If that's true, why is there so
much good music available? Answer that for me.
Pariah: There's good music, that's true, but there's also a
disproportionate number of chiselers and hustlers and rather well dressed
and erudite con men who...
XXX: What about you and what you're doing, feeding off the negativity,
exploitation, weakness. You want to bring people down. Just look at what
you did to Crouch.
Pariah: I reported what happened. He wouldn't speak on the record. I gave
him the opportunity.
XXX: What you did to him is character assassination and if he wrote for the
New York Times instead of the Daily News, you bet your expletive
deleted)(expletive deleted) the libel lawyers would be all over you. What
did he do that was so (expletive deleted) wrong, anyway?
Pariah: I'm not passing judgment on Stanley. I merely told the story and
let people have a forum for their comments. It seems to be a topic people
like to discuss.
XXX: (expletive deleted). You turned it into a (expletive deleted)
sideshow. If I were him I'd come over there and kick your (expletive
deleted). Anyway, this guy Crouch has some (expletive
deleted) balls. So what if he expressed himself at the ceremony? These
people are so (expletive deleted). Where's there the (expletive deleted)
pope? People take these things so (expletive deleted) seriously. And that
(expletive deleted) at the Knitting Factory. So what if he took a swing a
some half-baked journalist.
Pariah: You don't...
XXX: From where I sit, it took guts for Crouch to stand up and fight for
his opinions. What's a (expletive deleted) punch? Hardly the end of the
world. Crouch is a man, not some penny ante
liberal who, (expletive), hold on a second, let me see who this is. You
there?
Pariah: Yeah.
XXX: I'll be right back...I gotta take this call.
Pariah: Ok thanks a lot.
XXX: Just think about what you're doing, all right?
