Oh, one more thing: Miley Cyrus was a mentor? She's 17 and never had a #1 hit, yet she's on #1 hit week. Insulting.
I'm sure she's a very nice girl, but is in no position to be mentoring singers that are probably way better than her. She should have mentored everyone to have a famous dad.
Long ass post coming...warning...warning...
I don't agree. The whole point for these people being on this show is to attempt to become a money making machine, not a critically acclaimed starving artist.
I am not a Cyrus fan. That said, "number one hits" is such a joke of a term that it isn't even funny. I've been in broadcasting since the age of 13 when I baby sat the "Scott Shannon Nut House American Top 30" count down on Sunday mornings from 9am to noon until I finally stepped away and went per diem in 2008. I know a thing or two about this:
Monitor of airplay to determine chart position did not start until the early 1990's. Prior to that, #1 songs were determined by
reported air play. As a music director from 1991 to 1997, I am well versed in the politics of how this worked. "Chart" days were Mondays, the music director (MD) had until 5pm east coast time to report "spins" to the publication that they reported to, most notably Billboard and Radio & Records. Monitoring starting in select markets and, for a while, was combined with reported spins.
Reported spins = whatever the hell you wanted to say.
Leading to 5pm on Mondays I would field phone calls from every label of every artist I had on the station. Phone calls would generally go like this:
Rep: "Dude, we are SO close on Garth. What are you calling him in at?"
Me: "37."
Rep: "Oh, man! Listen...I have WXXX, WXXX, WXXX, KXXX and KXXX on board at 50 each. If I can get you to do me a massive favor and up that, we have a shot at #1 this week."
Me: "Oh, yeah? #1, huh?"
Rep: "Hey, man. You know what I just thought of? Garth is playing a huge show in Dallas this summer. Know what would be super cool? Let's get a flyaway together for your spring book. Right? Right? Airfare to and from, two choice seats, back stage and maybe some walking bucks. How freaking cool would that sound on air???"
Me: "That would sound awesome, we have zero budget for spring promotions."
Rep: "I am sure I can pull this off for you, bro. Man, I really hope that number of 37 is a mistake. Can you pull your Selector report again and make sure it's right before you call R&R?"
^^And this was AFTER the payola scandal. As long as radio station WXXX gave away that Garth flyaway on air and mentioned "courtesy of Capitol Nashville Records" this was completely legit and legal. I was mentored by an amazing PD when I took my first music director gig at the age of 19. He was all about integerity and that was pushed into my head. I can't say that I was never personally overruled by my PD and inflated spins called in on artists on my playlist. I can say I never did it. If you were played 37 times, that is the amount we called you in at (Garth Brooks or not).
Prior to 1990? Program directors and music directors were so filthy in payola that it isn't even funny. "#1 Songs" in the 1970's, 1980's and (somewhat) 1990's and beyond are riddled with songs that, by pure monitor standards, would not have been top ten much less #1.
Even with the advent of monitoring, it hasn't changed things that much. Many of the artists out today are selling well due to promotional exchanges. Do you REALLY think a radio programmer worth his salt wants to spin Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" every 50 minutes?
#1 songs are a fallacy. Judging someone's ability to mentor due to her lack of #1 songs isn't fair. How is true success measured? How many times did someone open their wallet?
Two albums, "Meet Miley Cyrus" and "Breakout" both debuted at #1 on the sales charts. Forbes magazine listed her 2008 earnings at $25 million and $34 million in 2009.
"Party in the USA" peaked at #2, "See you again" was top ten. Both songs were #1 on-line downloads. Billboard magazine ranked her #4 in the top female artist category in 2009 (above Kelly Clarkson who has had several "#1" hits). Her last tour was the third most successful, ticket sale wise, of any act.
I'm not saying that she isn't young, I am not saying I am a fan. But this is a young lady that knows her shit and, at 17, has been around the block more often than any of this year's top 11 on A.I. will ever go (opinion). Selling out the O2 in London? Madison Square Garden? You can learn something from someone like that. My two cents, sorry for the #1 rant.
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