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New York, 9:32 AM
Sat Nov 28
15 posts in the last 24 hours

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    This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing

    Important Questions: Is Jay-Z's 'Empire State of Mind' the New 'New York, New York'?

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of BadUncle BadUncle
    11/23/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    "Pensive??" It's fucking twee. Should be the official soundtrack for CuteOverload.
     Reply
    BadUncle was starred BadUncle was unstarred
    Image of BicycleShed BicycleShed
    11/23/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    It just seems like so many of the comments are based on people's emotional attachment to the Postal Service. If you feel, for example, that the Postal Service's album and lyrics "shaped your college experience," then of course you're going to lash out at some facsimile of that music. You want to own it. You want to be the song. Be the song that you hear in your head But let go because you can't. Even in the discotheque. I agree that there are striking similarities between Owl City and the Postal Service. And I agree with the totally subjective statement that the Postal Service is superior to Owl City, but whether there's some actionable claim against Owl City under IP law is the Postal Service's issue. I suspect they're shrugging their shoulders. A lot of people have a fantastic, brilliant and wonderful attachment to Give Up. Don't let that emotional response to that brilliant album make you bitter. You'll be growing through this a lot as you age, trust me. This won't be the first of your sacred cows to get the pop cultural makeover. Having said that, I may take this all back if they ever really do make Heathers the TV show or Heathers the musical.
     Reply
    BicycleShed was starred BicycleShed was unstarred
    Image of Perhaps Not Perhaps Not
    11/23/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    I'm usually a so-what-who-cares kinda guy when it comes to this stuff but this really is impressively rip-offy, moreso than that stupid Kanye song that sampled Daft Punk (which, I know, in turn sampled Edwin Birdsong). And the lyrics suck. I really would have enjoyed another Postal Service album, but this clearly isn't it.
     Reply
    Perhaps Not was starred Perhaps Not was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/23/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    fuck you foster. everyone knows volcano choir is the new postal service. i'll tell my electric president to bomb your owl city in halloween, alaska. etc. none of these songs have anything in common. do you have EARS?!

    [Reference Points:

    [www.youtube.com]

    [www.youtube.com]

    [www.youtube.com]]
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of lukeoneil47 lukeoneil47
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    This rule of thumb usually comes in handy for me most frequently over on i09, but it works here as well:

    Pointing out when things resemble other things on the internet isn't as valuable a skill as you might want it to be.

    That said, the only thing that sounds similar here is the vocal delivery and vocal effects. And yes it is remarkably similar.

    So what? Anyone who thinks this type of thing doesn't happen all the time everywhere to every popular band, always has, and always will, is pissing into the wind. Just happens to be a glaring example readily at hand here.

    And yes, major labels are evil and wittle bitty indies like Sub Pop are pure of heart. <3 But no matter how much major label music sucks in your opinion, it will never, ever effect your ability to listen to thousands upon thousands of new, unheard, indie or local, or avant garde or whatever bands. Just stop looking for music in places where major label music occurs and you will avoid this problem.

    Uhh, I lost track of who I was supposed to be mad at by the end here. I'm gonna go over there now...
     Reply
    lukeoneil47 was starred lukeoneil47 was unstarred
    Image of ninety_nine ninety_nine
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Postal Service? Isn't that the band that got popular by being on the Garden State soundtrack?
    #molehill

    Also: "When Nirvana moved to Geffen Records, Sub Pop received royalties from sales of Nevermind that kept the label going for years afterwards.[14] After the mainstream success of Nirvana, many successful grunge bands had left Sub Pop for major record labels. Soon afterwards, a joint venture was formed with Warner Bros. Records, thereby ending Sub Pop's status as an entirely ind..."
     Reply
    Edited by ninety_nine at 11/22/09 8:04 PM ninety_nine was starred ninety_nine was unstarred
    Image of HaychDub HaychDub
    11/22/09

    @ninety_nine: BLASPHEMY! The Shins were on the Garden State soundtrack NOT Postal Service, although there was a version of "Such Great Heights" by Iron and Wine on the soundtrack.
     Reply
    ninety_nine promoted this comment HaychDub was starred HaychDub was unstarred
    Image of ninety_nine ninety_nine
    11/23/09

    @HaychDub: Yeah, I lose sleep about which Ben Gibbard act was or wasn't pimping Garden State.
     Reply
    ninety_nine was starred ninety_nine was unstarred
    Image of HaychDub HaychDub
    11/23/09

    @ninety_nine: His other band is Death Cab for Cutie NOT The Shins. At least use Google next time to make sure your sarcasm is correct.

    #tips
     Reply
    HaychDub was starred HaychDub was unstarred
    Image of ninety_nine ninety_nine
    11/23/09

    @HaychDub: Huh, I'm looking at my comments very closely. I don't see 'The Shins' in either one. I reference the highly annoying Ben Gibbard in both, and the two of his bands. That both are interchangable with any the hacky drivel of Garden State (including the cover of a Postal Service song) is, um, entirely intentional.

    #tips
     Reply
    ninety_nine was starred ninety_nine was unstarred
    Image of Caius Caius
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Owl Cities sound like they went to the Avril Lavigne school of songwriting.
     Reply
    Caius was starred Caius was unstarred
    Image of MissNormaDesmond MissNormaDesmond
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Well, I think both of them should pretty much just forward any royalties they earn to Prefab Sprout, so where are my indignation buddies?
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred
    Image of lawrence001 lawrence001
    11/22/09

    @MissNormaDesmond: Thank you for saying that. Also, Prefab Sprout never used that annoying Auto Tune stuff that makes Owl City (and so much crappy hip hop) sound more awful than they already are.
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment Kaila Hale-Stern approved this comment lawrence001 was starred lawrence001 was unstarred
    Image of wattwatt wattwatt
    11/22/09

    @MissNormaDesmond: tough but fair.
     Reply
    wattwatt was starred wattwatt was unstarred
    Image of Poop Cooper Poop Cooper
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Wow, this guy went from zero-to-backlash in 60 seconds.
     Reply
    Poop Cooper was starred Poop Cooper was unstarred
    Image of MissNormaDesmond MissNormaDesmond
    11/22/09

    @Poop Cooper: Actually, I think he's managed to remain a zero. God, that shit's awful.
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond was starred MissNormaDesmond was unstarred
    Image of Conchie Birdie Conchie Birdie
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Overproduced is putting it lightly. Mr. Young's voice has nothing on Mr. Gibbard's. Also, he is naive to think he's a part of something other than one of those 'innovative' (read:overproduced) songs that is inevitably overplayed on z100 and fades into obscurity after a few months.

    Sorry, I sound a little harsh, but haven't we all seen this before?


    Plus I'm just totes annoyed they would compare the two in the first place.
     Reply
    Conchie Birdie was starred Conchie Birdie was unstarred
    Image of sparkyl sparkyl
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    The thought of getting a hug from ten thousand lightning bugs scares the bejeesus out of me. That's as far as I've ever been able to listen to the lyrics. Scarey and nauseating at the same time.
     Reply
    sparkyl was starred sparkyl was unstarred
    Image of Antennapedia Antennapedia
    11/22/09

    @sparkyl: Yeah, I am of the opinion that 10,000 of anything is gross. Fireflies, puppies, cupcakes...
     Reply
    rmric0.wedding.photographer.and.manny promoted this comment Antennapedia was starred Antennapedia was unstarred
    Image of gargamel gargamel
    11/22/09

    @Antennapedia: still not as scary as five or six park slope parents wielding bugaboos on the same sidewalk.
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment gargamel was starred gargamel was unstarred
    Image of rmric0.wedding.photographer.and.manny rmric0.wedding.photographer.and.manny
    11/22/09

    @Antennapedia: Especially 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife. Or is that just ironic?
     Reply
    rmric0.wedding.photographer.and.manny was starred rmric0.wedding.photographer.and.manny was unstarred
    Image of Colander Colander
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Yeah, I heard this on the radio yesterday and I got excited because I thought "new Postal Service record getting played on the radio?" Then I used my handy 'Shazam' app and the sad truth was revealed.
     Reply
    Colander was starred Colander was unstarred
    Image of Antennapedia Antennapedia
    11/22/09

    @Colander: SERIOUSLY. I didn't know what this was about until I listened to the second part and was like "Wait... I have heard this and I thought it WAS new Postal Service."

    The painfully bad lyrics should have clued me in, but STILL. I got all excited for no reason and now Owl City owes me lunch.
     Reply
    MissNormaDesmond promoted this comment Antennapedia was starred Antennapedia was unstarred
    Image of Meglantine Meglantine
    11/22/09

    @Colander: I did the same thing, except I figured it couldn't be Postal Service because it was on a super mainstream station. Then the chorus hit and it was over. PS is already close to cheesy, but in a good way. It's like they ran the Postal Service record through a horrifying, cheesifying machine.
     Reply
    Meglantine was starred Meglantine was unstarred
    Image of Airvault Airvault
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    You're right! This blip totally sounds like that blip.
     Reply
    Airvault was starred Airvault was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/22/09

    @Airvault: Exactly.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of semiserious semiserious
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    Well, maybe it's worth pointing out SubPop sold 49% of its soul to Warner Bros years ago.

    And I'm sure WB and SP made a nice bit of money off Such Great Heights thanks to the soundtracks/commercials/compilations it's appeared on.
     Reply
    semiserious was starred semiserious was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/22/09

    @semiserious: Ouch. That sucks.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Swifter Swifter
    11/22/09

    In reply to This Is How Your Major Label Pop Records Are Made: By Stealing
    A trenchant analysis. Foster, you should leave that backwater and move to Seattle.
     Reply
    Swifter was starred Swifter was unstarred
    Image of Foster Kamer Foster Kamer
    11/22/09

    @Swifter: I can't tell if you're joking. THIS IS WHY I CAN'T HANDLE SEATTLE.
     Reply
    Foster Kamer was starred Foster Kamer was unstarred
    Image of Swifter Swifter
    11/22/09

    @Foster Kamer: Ambiguity is its own reward. Maybe.
     Reply
    Edited by Swifter at 11/22/09 5:38 PM Swifter was starred Swifter was unstarred
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