Courtney Doesn't Love U2

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From Newsday:

A Whole Lotta Love Visits Austin
By Glenn Gamboa

Austin, Texas - The always-controversial Courtney Love was the belle of the ball
at the South by Southwest Music Conference Saturday, and she did not disappoint.

For nearly 90 minutes, Love told the standing- room-only crowd about everything
from her groundbreaking lawsuit against the Universal Music Group, which touched
off the red-hot battle between artists and record companies over long-term contracts,
to her plans to bully stars like U2 and R.E.M. into forming a musicians' union. Love
said the mergers of the music companies in the past five years led to the widespread
elimination of creative, artist-friendly executives in favor of cost-cutting businessmen,
leading to poor results artistically and financially. "It is failing," Love said of the music
industry. "Within three years, it will have failed."

In her freewheeling style, Love unveiled a string of startling claims, ranging from a
music executive telling her, "If you were on my label, I would still have you on
Quaaludes" to her insider view of U2's recent success, which she claims almost didn't
happen because the promotion budget of the band's Grammy-winning album was
higher than the record company wanted to pay.

After U2's Grammy win, Love said she stood on top of a stove at a celebration,
screaming about the need for a musicians' union. "Now it's time to step up," she told
the post-Grammy party. "I will not be martyred."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't know what to make of this. On one hand, I realize that Love is an outspoken fluzie who should be taken with a grain of salt. On the other hand, she actually makes some sense here. It appears that she is mad and jealous of U2's path toward their recent success(big budget, big money, promotions).
Her point about the big corporations swallowing up the smaller ones(which happened to Island in '99) is not necessarily a good thing and it makes music execs. think in terms of $ rather than talent. That is not good. U2 has come under criticism for this recently and, to an extent, I agree with some of the criticism.

Curious to see what you guys think here at Interference.....
 
My initial reaction is.....silly cow!
biggrin.gif
 
I don't think she has any credibility in the music business given her past behavior. I think she's tolerated by the industry but not very well liked and certainly not taken seriously. It's laughable that she thinks she can bully U2 into anything.
 
Originally posted by Bono's American Wife:
I don't think she has any credibility in the music business given her past behavior. I think she's tolerated by the industry but not very well liked and certainly not taken seriously. It's laughable that she thinks she can bully U2 into anything.

but none of that discredits the actual points she is making. about which i'm not certain i agree or not but you must realize she may be making valid points.
 
Originally posted by kobayashi:
but none of that discredits the actual points she is making. about which i'm not certain i agree or not but you must realize she may be making valid points.

I do agree with you that her points are valid but I don't know if she will be taken seriously. When you have someone like Don Henley or Cheryl Crow (just as an example) speaking out for artists rights, they are given more merit than someone like Courtney Love. I'm not saying that's right but her reputation is going to follow her and it will be hard to make some people listen, just because of who she is.
 
I think what she is doing is nice and all. But she's still an ass. I think it sucks that she has no problem turning Kurt Cobains journals into a book, but she is fighting the former members of Nirvana from wanting to release unreleased Nirvana songs.

She's such a spaz anyway her success only came from the help of others. She's never done anything on her own.

------------------
The more of these I drink the more Bono makes sense.. - Bean from the KROQ Breakfast with U2.
 
Hmmm.... your thread title is misleading.

She does in fact love U2.

In fact, this article clearly points out that U2 was on the edge of being dissed by their label, but were able to make it all happen.

I like what she is doing. It's going to be impossible though.

Also, Bono's a bread head. Bono and the boys own a chunk of UV and are into the business. Maybe Bono should campaign for the debt relief of bands from their labels.

The typical band, after releasing their first record is in debt to their label to the tune of about 250k - almost all of that has to be made up by touring endlessly. This is why so many burn out after a couple of years. But the label owns the music, and will make money off of it for years.

The band is still making payments while working at Jiffy Lube.

Mark
http://www.mp3.com/madelyniris
 
MI makes a good point. Courtney Love is an interesting musician, if nothing else; if you want raw, pick up Hole's Pretty on the Inside, skip to "Good Sister Bad Sister," turn it up and let your eardrums bleed. Give her some credit. Her work could be useful.

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If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono
 
It is unfair to call Bono a "bread head" simply because he wanted to see an album his group created succeed.

Despite what anyone may claim here, I did not see "Pop" promoted anywhere NEAR the extent I saw for AB and ATYCLB. When AB was released, I saw signs, posters, ads: publicity. Contrast this to "Pop." The music stores around me at the time had virtually no promotion - until the actual release date. Then, there was no promotion afterward.

With ATYCLB, U2 not only made sure the label gave them promotion $$, but U2 did their work as well. They appeared on TV then and they continue to appear on TV now.

Granted, the experimental nature of "Pop" may have never made it a top seller - but it should have at least cleared the Double Platinum mark in the U.S. The fact that it didn't shows how poorly it was promoted.

If I work hard on something, you bet I want it to succeed. As a scientist, I can relate to Bono's plight, despite the differences in our careers. I have to go out in the public, give talks, give presentations and have the company back me up, with press releases and advertising. I'm at a bigger corporation now with many levels of management. Therefore, I won't have my name in "lights" (via press releases), but once I get results and data, I will probably be giving talks and posters at conferences. And the company needs to support that to make people aware of the work we are doing. If they don't, then there's no chance a future product will ever succeed.

Love's comments don't sound antagonistic towards U2 at all. Rather, she sounds very reasonable. She saw how U2 fought to get their album promoted and when they did, the accolades and sales poured in. The album will soon go 4x Platinum in the U.S. The last time one of U2's albums sold that well in the U.S. was the last time U2 saw heavy promotion - with AB. Love hopes that U2 recognizes that if it is this challenging for an established artist to get promotion, then it is infinitely more challenging for a new artist.

And I agree - the music industry needs some BIG changes. A few weeks back, I created a thread discussing the idiocy of Michael Green's (sp?), head of the Grammys, comments on downloading music. Napster just didn't spring up yesterday - it was around for some time. Yet the music industry did nothing - other than to whine and cry about Napster. And while Napster was eventually "shut down" other file-sharing programs exist. The courts could shut those down too, but other programs will only pop up.

Instead of looking for ways to prevent sharing, the industry should have been looking for ways to capitalize on it. CD singles, in their purest form, cost about $2-3. So why couldn't labels sell the .mp3 of a song for a $1 or $2? They don't have to press the CD, there's no artwork - so the costs are minimal. Yet now, fans could have LEGALLY downloaded specific tracks from an album. The label (and the artist) makes $$ and the fan gets a song for a reasonable price. Everyone is happy. But this didn't happen.

People are tired of buying a CD for one good song. Yet cheap CD singles are becoming a thing of the past. So what's the alternative? Pay $18 for one song - or download it for free? Guess which one wins...

Besides that, bands like U2 are becoming a rarity. If U2 were coming out now, they never would have been around long enough to make "War" - let alone the 10x Platinum JT! Labels want instant #1's with instant success. This is a shame. This creates a series of artists who produce either one good song per album or an album loaded with poor candy pop songs.

The industry needs to change - and change fast. U2's success hopefully is the impetus to cause this change. U2 showed that some promotion of a GOOD album will generate results. They showed that it takes more than one good song to sell 4 million copies of an album. They proved that one doesn't have to produce bubblegum pop to have a top-selling album.

Love is right on here. I just hope someone is listening.
 
how does that article say that Love doesn't like U2? did i miss something? (i didn't exactly read the article throughly) ...Love is entertaining to say the least, i don't love her or hate her so i don't really matter to me *shrug*

------------------
' I want to run
I want to hide
I want to tear down the walls
That hold me inside
I want to reach out
And touch the flame
Where the streets have no name. . .'
.:. U2: Rock's Unbreakable Heart!

Love is...cold steel/Fingers too numb to feel/Squeeze the handle/Blow out the candle
Love is blindness.../A little death/Without mourning/No call/And no warning...

[Thanks Coach P]
 
I agree with Courtney on this one. I don't think she said anything to dis U2, she just wants them on her side.

And that business about the promotion for ATYCLB is spot on. Does anyone remember the press conference at K-Mart before POP when the band was asked about Island's refusal to shell out money for the album's promotion? It really wasn't a surprise then after POP 'failed' and u2 changed labels.

And 'Live Through This' is one of the greatest albums of the 90s.

------------------
I miss the innocence I've known
Playin' KISS covers beautiful and stoned
 
I agree with Courtney, I love Courtney, she is my Hollywood rock and roll wannabe actress media whore with a cause and I LOVE HER.

Furthermore, Hole released like my third or fourth favorite album of the 90s, Live Through This.

I respect Courtney because she says whatever the hell is on her mind without giving a fuck what anyone thinks. Yeah, she's an ex-drug addict but she knows it. She has a cause and is moving on with her life and is a good performer, so I think she deserves more credit than a helluva lot of people give her.
 
Originally posted by Bono's American Wife:
I don't think she has any credibility in the music business given her past behavior. I think she's tolerated by the industry but not very well liked and certainly not taken seriously. It's laughable that she thinks she can bully U2 into anything.

Sad but true. I heard a funny story about her a few months ago- she was opening for a Jane's Addiction show, and when her act was over she refused to leave. Perry Ferrell unplugged her guitar. She got an acoustic one and kept playing. He picked her up, slung her over his shoulder and carried her offstage with her hanging over his back. LMAO!



------------------
U2- The Unforgettable Fire still burns!
 
Originally posted by candyfloss:
And that business about the promotion for ATYCLB is spot on. Does anyone remember the press conference at K-Mart before POP when the band was asked about Island's refusal to shell out money for the album's promotion? It really wasn't a surprise then after POP 'failed' and u2 changed labels.


This isn't accurate.

By '97, Island's U.S. branch had already been purchased. I believe at the time Sony owned the label, but the dang thing has changed SO often, I can't remember. Regardless, the label owner at that time did little to promote U2 - the feeling was that it was "U2," so the work would promote itself. Uh huh...

U2 is still on Island in Europe, but through a series of other purchases and whatnot, they wound up on the Interscope label in the U.S. At least Interscope was willing to promote for U2 - and it paid off. A 7x Grammy winning album that will probably sell well over 4 million copies before finally falling off the U.S. charts (and onto the Catalog charts).

Anyway, my point is that U2 didn't really change labels - they were just bought out by other larger labels.
 
Courtney is not dissing U2 here, she just wants them on her side, because she understands the power that Bono can weild. I read about this before how when ATYCLB first came out, Interscope was not big on promoting it, but after a little meeting with Bono and the boys, they changed their tune. Courtney saw this happen and wants their help. She's not alone in this fight, Don Henley, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks and a slew of other artists are standing up and asking for the same things, Courtney is just the most obnoxiously vocal one, but you know what? She gets things done. I like her a lot, but sometimes I don't always agree with her, on this, I do.
 
Originally posted by MadelynIris:
Hmmm.... your thread title is misleading.

She does in fact love U2.

In fact, this article clearly points out that U2 was on the edge of being dissed by their label, but were able to make it all happen.

I like what she is doing. It's going to be impossible though.

Also, Bono's a bread head. Bono and the boys own a chunk of UV and are into the business. Maybe Bono should campaign for the debt relief of bands from their labels.

The typical band, after releasing their first record is in debt to their label to the tune of about 250k - almost all of that has to be made up by touring endlessly. This is why so many burn out after a couple of years. But the label owns the music, and will make money off of it for years.

The band is still making payments while working at Jiffy Lube.

Mark
http://www.mp3.com/madelyniris


Yes, my title is misleading, but so are some of Courtney's sentiments.

She feels the need for a musicians union which is a good idea, but she also comes across as hinting toward U2's money-making maching giving them an unfair advantage in the industry which can easily be perceived as a slight against U2.
 
She feels the need for a musicians union which is a good idea, but she also comes across as hinting toward U2's money-making maching giving them an unfair advantage in the industry which can easily be perceived as a slight against U2.

I read it that even the money making machine of U2 get's f'ed over by their label any chance the label gets.

Mark
http://www.mp3.com/madelyniris
 
Courtney Love probably isn't hurting for cash, either, but just because someone is already wealthy still doesn't make them a fair target for being screwed over financially. You can make the argument that they *should* be charitable with their money (as I know U2 is and I'm sure Courtney Love is), but you can't make them...unless you just tax them...

(the fiscal conservative in me pops out momentarily)

------------------
If you cannot live together in here, you cannot live together out there, let me tell ya. --Bono

You've got to cry without weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice... --Bono
 
Dr. Who,
I really do not see anything to seriously indicate(aside from a few TV appearnces by the band) that ATYCLB was promoted more than POP.
The Elevation Tour and ATYCLB did not have the huge anouncement with a press conference at K-MART! Media from all over the world were there and to date is still the largest Press conference U2 has ever done.
MTV in the first week of January 1997 had the program U2 A TO Z which was on for a full 24 hours! It had all of U2s video's plus the new Discotheque. MTV has never given any artist let alone U2 this type of promotion.
A one hour TV special called A Year In POP, on one of the three major networks ABC! U2 never did anything like this for ATYCLB.
Both MTV and VH1 had numerous specials to buy U2 tickets to POPMART the night before tickets went on sale to the general public. During this entire time for ticket sales, U2 video's were shown on the channels.
When it comes to total airplay for songs from POP vs songs from ATYCLB POP actually had just as much radio airplay and probably more based on all the various airplay charts.
With the above in mind, I don't think you can honestly say that ATYCLB was really promoted more than POP. If it was, it clearly did not help as the radio airplay level was the same as well as Video play on MTV.
POP sold what it did because most people did not like it, while most people love ATYCLB. I think POP is a great album that simply did not interest a lot of people unfortunately in the USA as compared to other U2 albums. Its any ones guess as to why that is, but I would not really fault the promotion of POP because it was certainly there and just as heavy aside from a few more TV appearences U2 did for ATYCLB. But TV specials and awards are not really what drives most albums to certain sales levels, solid radio airplay, Video play, and concerts is what does that.
 
It might of seemed like U2 were all over the place in 2001, I think that had to do with a successful album and tour. Prior to the release of the last album U2 were on a few shows, but things just kind of exploded for them.

------------------
The more of these I drink the more Bono makes sense.. - Bean from the KROQ Breakfast with U2.
 
since courtney love has been brought up-
I cant stand her, she's pissed that she doesnt have someone to write a new album for her, and her movie career has slowed significantly. She's just looking for publicity anyway she can get it. Primus summed her the best i think with "coattatils of a dead man" on the antipop album.

jp
 
U2LA,
Certainly U2 has sold nearly 3 times as much in the USA with ATYCLB vs POP, but when it comes to radio airplay, and video play, nothing in Billboard charts indicates that ATYCLB recieved more exposure than POP did. I can dig up all the stats on this if you want from Billboard.
U2 certainly was nominated for more Grammy's and won 7 compared to 0 for POP, but but from a promotion stand point that was out of the bands control. Same with TIMEs decision to put U2 on the cover. The only thing that you can specifically mention that U2 did that they did not do for POP was go on a few TV shows and the Super Bowl. But remember they were asked to do the Super Bowl. As far as Magazine interviews, I have just as many from 1997 as I did from 2001. When you add in the cost of the POPMART tour, I think you'll find U2 and label spent more money in 1997 than they did in 2001.
But if you have evidence to back up your theory please list it.
 
Originally posted by STING2:
U2LA,
Certainly U2 has sold nearly 3 times as much in the USA with ATYCLB vs POP, but when it comes to radio airplay, and video play, nothing in Billboard charts indicates that ATYCLB recieved more exposure than POP did. I can dig up all the stats on this if you want from Billboard.
U2 certainly was nominated for more Grammy's and won 7 compared to 0 for POP, but but from a promotion stand point that was out of the bands control. Same with TIMEs decision to put U2 on the cover. The only thing that you can specifically mention that U2 did that they did not do for POP was go on a few TV shows and the Super Bowl. But remember they were asked to do the Super Bowl. As far as Magazine interviews, I have just as many from 1997 as I did from 2001. When you add in the cost of the POPMART tour, I think you'll find U2 and label spent more money in 1997 than they did in 2001.
But if you have evidence to back up your theory please list it.


Sting2, U2 WAS far more ubiquitous during the Elevation Tour than during the POP tour. Especially to the mainstream public. This is a fact, based on their numerous appearances in the media world(magazines, TV appearances, radio airplay, national events, grammies, newspapers, DVD's, music channels, special cd's, news programs...on and on and on....
 
oops, I'm an idiot.

[This message has been edited by mocool12 (edited 03-20-2002).]
 
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