<p>You are probably right, Hunt.</p>
<p>BillyP - Sorry, I completely forgot that Frank Zappa is no longer with us!</p>
<p>The Internet can have a bizarre magnifying effect. If you look at Ark Music’s YouTube channel, you will see that not only does Rebecca Black have 61 million views, the OTHER teenyboppers who have paid Ark for videos now have hundreds of thousands of views each. Inevitably, this will lead to Ark getting lots and lots of contracts for more videos, no matter how amateurish they may be.</p>
<p>Hunt, I agree that they were not trying to pass their daughter off as a recording star. But I also think they were misguided in their approach to help their daughter. I think they thought she could use a music video with the hopes of furthering her career. And I find that there are some people who are into promoting and packaging youngsters to get some big break as the next teen pop artist type thing, rather than working their way up through the proper channels and accomplishing things that then may lead to a recording contract or some such. It just seems like they wanted to skip many steps and try to do something of a commercial nature pretty young with some “hopes” attached to it. What else really would the purpose be? Since I have a singer in my family, I can say that I never would have thought to do what they did at that age. I feel like my kid has just worked up various levels and one thing has led to the next. Their approach feels like skipping many levels and trying to get attention with a music video. Unfortunately, it has garnered negative attention which may hurt her future prospects. This girl may indeed have talent. But now she has to get past this.</p>
<p>Songs like this get 60 million views. </p>
<p>But people can’t spare time (or change) for a random guy playing violin on a metro stop:</p>
<p>[Pearls</a> Before Breakfast - washingtonpost.com](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html]Pearls”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html)</p>
<p>soozie, But what are the proper channels? Life and show business certainly aren’t always fair. People who are of equal or lesser talent sometimes do skip the steps that less connected or lucky people must take to reach their goals, if they ever reach them at all. The whole package can include a lot more than knowledge and talent - as I’m sure you know. Looks, moves, charisma, ability to connect with people and likability are so often just as important as the talent or training. Untold numbers of popular performers have completely skipped over many of the requisite steps. Yes, a certain amount of talent has to be there, but if the rest of that package is there, the rest is sometimes history.</p>
<p>roshke, I don’t disagree with what you wrote. There are lucky breaks in life and being in the right place at the right time, some luck and so on. But this girl is just 13 and I have heard of some parents doing what her parents did…trying to get a record made or a music video to package the kid to make it and it just seems young for that when she could first do some things on a smaller scale and work up to it, because honestly, this packaged product they put out is not too great. </p>
<p>I do agree that there are stars out there who skipped this or that step and there is no one exact path to making it in show business. But I do think for a 13 year old, it would be in her best interests to work her way up to getting a recording studio to market her via a music video…accomplish some things first…train…etc. She will only be better at that point. She might get recognized and it will lead to new opportunities and so on. I think trying to self promote yourself at the level of a music video before you are quite ready is not the best choice. </p>
<p>But I do agree that sometimes steps are skipped and someone sees your work and you get offered something a few steps ahead of where you are currently. I feel that way about what my D was offered a few days ago. I feel she jumped a few steps but she did at least go through some steps that made her recognized enough for this step to happen. I don’t want to be too specific with names of theaters and what not. But in her case, while she is a performer, she also wrote a musical senior year of college (wasn’t trained as a composer/writer/lyricist in fact…skipped that step). It was put on at her college. After graduation, a revised version was put on as a concert at a NYC venue. A year later, her musical was selected by a well known certain place (don’t want to identify it) to be workshopped (had a Broadway director for her show). She was very young for this to happen, considering the background of the other musical selected. A person who heads up a major MT group in NYC saw that workshop. Then, she was invited to have one song as a sample at a major national event in NYC for MT in front of hundreds or theaters and producers and industry people. From that one small sample, many are now interested. She signed with a top agent for theater literary who also attended the event and saw her small sample (she also has a talent agent, which she got from her college showcase). Then, one Off Off Broadway theater produced her musical this month. Many of the NYC and other US regional theaters came to see it. Meanwhile, one of the producers who saw the one song excerpt at the fall event, flew across the country to see the full version this month. From that, she was just commissioned to create a musical for this major theater, and the others commissioned by this theater, as I wrote, have had their shows on Broadway, have won Tonys and have been nominated, as well as are Pullitzer finalists. My D is out of their league and an unproven entity (has written one musical only) and is only 22 years old. She has skipped some steps in getting this offer. But she got the offer from others seeing her talent at some other levels. She did not simply go straight to this step in other words. One thing led to another. </p>
<p>In Rebecca Black’s case, it just feels like they skipped many steps wanting to achieve something through a music video a little too soon. Steps can be skipped, of course. They seem to have skipped ALL the steps, is what I mean, and in fact, she is only 13. Some things I think you work up to.</p>
<p>I think it may turn out that this particular girl will hit the jackpot as a result of skipping all those steps. Assuming she speaks well and sings OK (which seems to be the case), I would not be at all surprised to see her on a Disney TV show soon. With this kind of PR–even a lot of it bad–I would think that real, professional packagers would be on her doorstep. She was on Leno! For her, it may work out very well. I certainly agree that it would be a bad thing if parents were to think this was the road to success, though. This was a fluke.</p>
<p>If she is picked up to do some professional work, that is great for her. Perhaps publicity will be her path to success. Her publicity has been of a negative sort and the reason she is being interviewed is due to the notoriety her video garnered. Perhaps negative attention and publicity can be a road to success. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.</p>
<p>PS…what do you think her next song will be about? Monday, Monday, have to go back to school on Monday…Should I wear a pink shirt? a blue shirt?..:)</p>
<p>In terms of publicity that could help her, I think her appearances on Good Morning America (or whichever show it was) and Leno were pretty positive. I think her next song is supposed to be an acoustic version of Friday that “proves” she can really sing.</p>
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<p>There is recent precedent for this in National politics. But we don’t talk politics here any more ;)</p>
<p>Hunt, she very well may be a good singer. Can’t tell from the video. Sure hope she finds another song. The biggest problem is the song itself and how it was recorded. (don’t blame the kid for that though)</p>
<p>vicariousparent…good point…I think I know who you mean…a female in fact. :)</p>
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<p>I don’t think that real cowboys would be mean to a 13 year old boy in a cowboy costume, but I do think the 13 year old would be solidly in the land of eye rolls if he tried to pass himself off as a cowboy by putting on a costume. And BTW, in real cowboy country, a 13 year old boy is certainly old enough to begin to garner some respect. In the land of the performing arts, 13 is also old enough to begin to garner some respect. In either case, it has to do with authenticity.</p>
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But does it, really? Does this kid want to be Barbra Steisand or Miley Cyrus? If she’s been watching Miley, Selena Gomez, Miranda Cosgrove, Kesha, et al., then she might reasonably think that it’s all about marketing and packaging.</p>
<p>^^^That is a key point, yeah. I’m not familiar with most of those artists, except Miley a little, and I am pretty sure my own daughter would gag at all of them and would never want to be them. Those whom she admires are truly extremely talented singers and songwriters, or else stage actors (or both).</p>
<p>As I said, many posts back, some may seek fame and fortune foremost and others care more about their art (while still hoping to make a living at it). If fame happens for them, it is just a byproduct, but not the goal.</p>
<p>I’ll bet you Rebecca Black is very familiar with all of those artists (and we know she’s a big Justin Bieber fan). I think wanting to be a pop singer is just a different thing than wanting to be a stage singer. I agree with you that it’s not about art at all.</p>
<p>Well, haters are gonna hate. Someone posted a YouTube video of my son’s high school talent show performances and four years later it’s still getting hits. Most of the comments are pretty nasty. He occasionally logs in and rebuts…it’s a lousy video, likely from someone’s camera and the sound is distorted. He performs a cover of a comedian’s signature “song” and a lot of the criticism is about not crediting the original writer. Some people just have too much time on their hands and too much proprietary interest in other peoples’ lives.</p>
<p>Well, art is certainly in the eye (and ear) of the beholder and so subjective that it can sometimes border on snobbery. While I am not a fan of Justin, Miley, Keshia, etc., I do remember the dissing of The Beatles compared to Beethoven, Dylan vs. Sinatra, and latter Miles Davis compared to Charlie Parker. As others have mentioned, I would rather have my kids listen to bubblegum pop than violent, misogynist rap lyrics. Granted, Rebecca may be in the “so bad, it’s good” category, but give the kid a break…she’s only 13.</p>
<p>Wanting to be like Miley is more like wanting to be one of the Monkees than wanting to be one of the Beatles.</p>
<p>Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with it.</p>
<p>Hunt
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<p>Well, I guess if she thought that going in, since becoming a laughing stock she now knows otherwise.</p>
<p>What do you mean, she’s a laughingstock? She was on Leno. She’s sold thousands of downloads of her song on iTunes. You think she’s sorry she put that song on YouTube? I very much doubt it.</p>