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The realities of being a pop star

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Re: The realities of being a pop star

#241

Post by blippage »

SL61 wrote: post #36
jppope wrote: post #18

Courtney Love wrote a fabulous article explaining the realities of a million-dollar album (2000 - https://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/ ) and it explains so much of whats actually going on that the public doesn't fully comprehend. Its a great read if you've never read it. The realities are similar to what we are reading in this article. Most of what gets talked about is gross numbers not net. Most of the benefits…

It's interesting to observe that fame (and the money that usually comes with it) seems to follow something like a log scale. People usually don't become gradually more famous in a linear way. They're more likely to spend a few years with 50k listeners and then get a big hit and get 1 million listeners overnight, then the next big jump is 20 million, and so on. It's possible to be semi-famous and still able to go to t…

In the words of Adam Ant: it took us 3 years to be famous overnight.

I also heard about Matt Lucas, of Little Britain fame. He was slowly plugging away at it, and was about to give up. At around 30 years old, he teamed up with David Walliams, describing it as the last roll of the die. Their popularity exploded.

Morgan Freeman didn't become famous until he was in his 50's. Someone asked him if he was upset that it took so long. His response was: "No, because it didn't have to happen at all."

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#242

Post by SenHeng »

bdangubic wrote: post #219
squigz wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea that you shouldn't need qualifications - which, might I add, is not the same as certification - to be the President of The United States is a wild one.

I am not sure if there is a single country now (or there was one ever) where there were any requirements/qualifications needed to be the President

https://www.eld.gov.sg/candidate_presidential_qualify.html

> Public sector service requirement

> The public sector service requirement is that the person has: held office for three or more years as Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Attorney-General, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Auditor-General, Accountant-General or Permanent Secretary;

> Private sector service requirement

> The private sector service requirement is that the person has: served as the chief executive of a company and the following four criteria are met:

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#243

Post by wink »

ggm wrote: post #33

The James Blunt documentary has similar qualities of the insanity and the banality of fame. "You look just like..." type commentary, from ordinary encounters. Both reviled and admired, he managed to leverage haters on Twitter into an image of self deprecating humour. Combined with some PTSD from his army career and stage effects. Ed Sheeran gives off what i suspect is a very carefully managed vibe of ordinariness. If…

Not a fan of his music but I remember this one interview where he (paraphrased) went "People say I just have a talent for music. No, it was hard work - listen to this terrible phone recording of me singing out of tune"

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#244

Post by tristor »

derangedHorse wrote: post #198
jppope wrote: post #18

Courtney Love wrote a fabulous article explaining the realities of a million-dollar album (2000 - https://www.salon.com/2000/06/14/love_7/ ) and it explains so much of whats actually going on that the public doesn't fully comprehend. Its a great read if you've never read it. The realities are similar to what we are reading in this article. Most of what gets talked about is gross numbers not net. Most of the benefits…

That just sounds like you're saying the "average" person in all those professions are bad at personal finance. Maybe that's a reflection of society at large. One articles estimates 90% of Americans being in debt[1] so it wouldn't surprise me that this successful subset would fare much better (although I would bet they do when compared to the general population). Also debt isn't always bad, but most individuals quoted…

> That just sounds like you're saying the "average" person in all those professions are bad at personal finance. Maybe that's a reflection of society at large.

It is, but it's also a reflection of the business of professional sports in America and where most professional athletes come from. Most professional athletes don't come out of a positive financial environment, they mostly come from poor upbringings and neither through family or the education system are they taught basic financial literacy. Professional athletes in the US suffer the same exact problems as lottery winners, for pretty much exactly the same reason.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#245

Post by IAmBroom »

CoastalCoder wrote: post #180
Insanity wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was interesting and a fun read, but not a “good piece of writing” in my opinion. Apart from some spelling mistakes, the sentences droned on and it read more like a semi-coherent rant than a thoughtful piece on “being a pop star”.

I was interested by the part in the middle talking about society not tolerating women stepping too far out of traditional roles. I'm a 50-ish years old American man, and I just don't notice anything like that in my own attitudes or of those around me. I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision, or alternatively maybe we just live in different societies.

> I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision

The more common term you're searching for is "privilege", and yes, you both have it.

Do you hang a lot in professional entertainment circles? I'm not saying she's certainly correct, but if I were to wonder what problems a mid-20s female pop star faces, I'd buy her anecdata over a 50-ish man who posts on HN.

Why is it exactly that you feel the opposite way?

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#246

Post by cindyllm »

IAmBroom wrote: post #245
CoastalCoder wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was interested by the part in the middle talking about society not tolerating women stepping too far out of traditional roles. I'm a 50-ish years old American man, and I just don't notice anything like that in my own attitudes or of those around me. I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision, or alternatively maybe we just live in different societies.

> I wonder if one or both of us have biased vision The more common term you're searching for is "privilege", and yes, you both have it. Do you hang a lot in professional entertainment circles? I'm not saying she's certainly correct, but if I were to wonder what problems a mid-20s female pop star faces, I'd buy her anecdata over a 50-ish man who posts on HN. Why is it exactly that you feel the opposite way?

[dead]

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#247

Post by walletdrainer »

astrange wrote: post #221
walletdrainer wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure many tourists are traveling with quantities sufficient to qualify for that treatment. More likely you’ll face a fine or a strong talking to if you get caught at the airport with some small quantity of pot.

Asia? A lecture? For marijuana? You're getting banned for life.

Well, depending on your ethnicity of course. In Singapore I was just told off for a small bag with maybe a gram of weed left in my pocket after flying in from Amsterdam, they did not seem particularly interested in the situation but stressed that it should never happen again.

I’d be shocked if the airport experience at Bali was really different, although they would probably want a bribe from you.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#248

Post by sandspar »

sandspar wrote: post #103

Her essay makes it seem like she's mostly powerless. She gets shuttled around from place to place because other people make money by using her as a prop. She gets paid lots of money and is given freedom, in a sense, but it's freedom to gorge herself on basic pleasures like attention, drugs, and wealth. Overall it seems like a childlike existence.

Replying to my own comment several days later: I regret writing this. I know nothing about this woman's life yet I attempt to rip her to pieces, and I wrote the comment mostly to show off.

Re: The realities of being a pop star

#249

Post by jacquesm »

WalterBright wrote: post #212
mettamage wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well yea sure. But also look at death though. What does any uncomfortable thing mean in the face of death? Not much. And this is coming from someone who hasn’t voluntarily faced death or consciously experienced the threat of it. I respect both views. I guess it takes some Janusian thinking skills [1], for me at least, but both perspectives are worth it. [1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/creative-exploration…

Anytime you wake up in the morning and are able to get out of bed and stand up is a beautiful day. I've never wanted to transfer my brain into a machine. Isn't it wonderful to feel the floor under your feet? To smell the air? To taste a steak? To hear the bees? To see the leaves? To hold your partner? Every day is an opportunity to enjoy your life. I don't really know what kind of a man I am, because I have never vol…

What a wonderful comment. Thanks.
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