If any artist turned into a household name during the pandemic, it was Dua Lipa. The timing couldn’t be worse though – a party album dropping during a pandemic. Regardless, the British singer has dominated top 40 radio for nearly 18 months with top-shelf dance tracks.

She missed 2 years of touring and the Delta variant isn’t stopping her. She has a 2022 tour planned with Ceremony London producing and Live Nation promoting it. Dua Lipa will perform 28 shows in America and will include first ever headline shows at Madison Square Garden and The Forum.

“I’m so thrilled to tour again and see my angels in person! How amazing that we all get to dance and celebrate together once again,” says Dua. “When I was writing ‘Future Nostalgia,’ I imagined the songs being played in clubs on nights out with your mates. I’m so excited that this fantasy is finally coming true. I can’t wait to experience these songs with you together live!”

It’s hard not to like Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez. It sounds like a song that was penned in the 60’s playing on AM radio.

The 18-year-old singer-songwriter is based in Nashville and released the pop tune on Republic Records.

“When I met my girlfriend, Georgia, I was in the worst place ever. She was so loving and great to me though. I didn’t feel good enough for that, so I pushed her away. We spent some time apart. She was in Virginia. I was in California. A month before I moved to Nashville, we reconnected over the phone. I drove up, took her on a date, and we’ve been together ever since. I wrote ‘Until I found You’ to let her know how much I love her. And to let her know I knew how much of an idiot I was when I let her go the first time.” says Stephen.

His debut track “Lady by the Sea” has garnered 4M+ streams on Spotify and the follow up track “Kayla” was produced by Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves). He was scheduled to play the now cancelled Bonnaroo.

Lana Del Rey just removed herself from ALL social media.

Admit it. She did what you really want to do, but you won’t because you can’t. You can’t make it without big tech platforms. You’re trapped by the big man. It was fun in the beginning before you bartered your soul away.

I enjoyed posting my favorite photos before I fell into the abyss of LIKES, CLICKS, EMOJIS, & AlGORITHMS.

And if you speak against the big man? They’ll limit your reach. If you poke the bear enough, they’ll ban you.

There are new platforms rivaling the big media temples like Rumble and Substack, but they’re not geared for the artist. Artists need a new platform. Clubhouse is toast. The horsemen of the apocalypse – Google, YouTube, Twitter, and FB are too established for newbies. If you’re not in the circle of elites, forget about making noise. Time after time again, big tech shows they don’t give a shit about the artist community. They’re consumed with selling creepy smart glasses that make a perfect spy tool for perverts.

Like a lot of others, I yearn for a day of reckoning.

Why did Lana Del Rey deactivate her accounts?

She says, “That is simply because I have so many interests, and other jobs I’m doing that require privacy and transparency.”

Maybe she was alarmed over a post or a comment, and most likely she’ll be back after sometime, but if it was up to her, she’d be gone forever.

Let’s face it. We are living through a cultural change in America, a counter culture, and a cultural reset.

Years ago when I started this blog, people around me warned that big tech would turn into a monster. A behemoth ready to devour anything in its path. In 2010, artists demonized the major music labels, but big tech makes the major look like choir boys.

I could gather thousands of artists giving the finger to the music men in suits pulling the strings. Today, I can’t fill a room artists willing to protest against the 4 horsemen – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. They’re too afraid. The biggest entertainers aren’t leaders, they’re followers. They’re parrots and puppets of big tech. They don’t stand for anything. For when they are told to sit, they sit. I won’t get into names, because I’ll get hate messages. You’ve lost all credibility, if you’re looking to barge the White House and snap a photo with a public official.

Elon Musk is a leader and doesn’t bow to the winds of change. When Coachella cancelled, Musk mocked the event. He pointed out that corporate sponsorship killed the vibe. A car salesman made more noise than the performers.

Today it’s all about the money. Eddie Vedder protesting Ticketmaster is a bygone.

The ones who changes their behaviour in front of the people in authority can’t be trusted. They have no spine. Their soul is for sale.

We are in a new season. A new generation sees things differently. It’s not just about making fans through music and makeup. They want to listen to artists that share their belief and value system. If they like your music, but not your belief, they’ll drop you.

A new generation has a better understanding of ‘influencer culture’. These fictional social media characters will post anything that generates money while manipulating the audience. Heck, they’ll fake mental illness just to climb the social ladder.

And here comes the shift. People aren’t looking at the influencer or celebrity (I say this loosely) as they once did. What they appear online is not who they are in real life. I can’t tell you how many teens I meet that will no longer listen to an artist or follow an influencer because they don’t align with their values.

After years of success, The Ellen Show collapsed after staffers came out detailing toxic environment. She built a career on being nice and cracking funnies, but people want shared values. Top tier laughs, pranks, and bloopers couldn’t save the show. The audience wanted authenticity.

Today, who you are when the camera is off, is more crucial than how you act when the camera is on. Don’t believe me? Ask Ellen. Hollywood was built on illusion and ‘access denied’. Today, people have access.

If your strategy is to coast, straddling the middle and act like nothing is going on, well, then the laugh is on you. People want follow those who risk their reputation, those that speak the truth and live the truth.

In a fall from grace ending, Nielsen was suspended by an oversight group for falsifying the numbers of the 2020 Covid TV usage declines.

Neilsen, the once go-to TV ratings service has lost its accreditation from the Media Ratings Council. The company that once had stranglehold on TV measurement is coming to an end. Nielsen was caught in undercounting national TV household viewership during the pandemic.