Perez Hilton Record Label Becomes A Reality
Subtitled: Is This a Sign of the Apocalypse?
Yes, I'm afraid it's true. The oft threatened label headed by Perez Hilton is officially a reality, Entertainment Weekly. A brain trust at WMG decided this was a good idea. "I have an ear, which is important in the music industry," Perez hilariously told EW. "To be able to hear a hit and to be able to know who has a good song or not...I am more than an A&R person. I'm a marketing person. I'm a manager," he went on to say.
You can't deny Perez has a platform. Love him or hate him, millions of people visit his site every day. A mention on Perez's blog could drive some interest your way. Naturally, his claims to have "discovered" artists like Mika and Lady Gaga are kind of hilarious. You simply can't "discover" people post record deal. Becoming a fan of a popular musician doesn't make you an A&R person. You'd think WMG would know that, but hey, who am I to quibble. I'm just saying - Perez discovered these artists like Drake took the world by storm as a completely indie artist - in other words, not at all. Don't believe the hype.
Hilton threatens a first signing by the end of the month and a tour for his stable soon. It will get lots of press coverage, and big companies who don't know any better will throw lots of money at them. And then when it inevitably becomes unfashionable for even the dimmest among us to like Perez Hilton, his label will crumble and take the fleeting stardom it brought to the labels' artists with it. They will be untouchable. Save yourself.
And one more thing, before I get off my soap box and let you have your say. Perez has christened himself as capable of filling some pretty serious jobs in the music industry - A&R, marketing and management. Herein lies our problem in the music industry. Really delivering for an artist takes more than an admirable Rolodex and a big record collection. There is certainly no link between gossiping about musicians and understanding the industry. Shame on WMG and every other music company that undermines the skills of hard working music business professionals by handing the keys to castle to some "name" in the hopes of riding a wave of press into some record sales while ultimately sacrificing the long term careers of the musicians who get caught up in their mess.
Perez is a music fan - I don't doubt that. I'm sure he wouldn't like the implication that fans of his site could do what he does simply because they read it every day. Likewise, his love of his music doesn't make him a record label mogul. If he were a little more knowledgeable about the music industry, he'd be a lot less certain of his ability to make this label a success.
First and foremost I want to thank you for your concise and eloquent article about this new venture that Perez seems to think he is so seasoned for. You truly encapsulated the feelings of so many both within the industry. To think that Perez someone who blogs gossip about various stars thinks that now he can become a taste maker in A&R is beyond me. Personaly I have been a fan of Perez and still to this day follow his blog. However when he started to post up new music about these so-called “undiscovered” talents I thought it was innocent at first. Yet I realized as time went on that all of these artists had major record deals with distribution, 360 deals you name it. It made me wonder..is Perez simply another extension of payola that was rampant in the radio industry during the 50’s with the likes of Alan Freed? I would not be surprised if he was paid a handsome sum by the various record labels to feature their music.
Beyond my own theory I still want to thank you for shedding light on the hypocrisy of this industry, how those that can work so hard, and hone their craft can be passed over for a publicity hound such as Perez. I must say your prophecy that describes what will happen to the label when Perez finally becomes passé rang true with me. Now lets wait and see if he can actually sign some true talent without the gods that be (WMG, UMG, Sony, EMI) telling him what is hot and what is not.
Thanks! Actually made some people angry with this post, so nice to hear a voice of support!