Fiona Dodwell: "Why An Unsigned Morrissey Proves A Lack Of True Diversity In Music" (February 5, 2023)

"An Opinion Piece by Fiona Dodwell"

Excerpt:

"What was to become of the unreleased 14th solo album? Fans desperately wanted the songs then, as they do now. Morrissey evidently remains committed to releasing them. So, why is there still a barrier, even today, preventing the release of this much sought after project? Who or what stands between the fans and the songs? Why has Bonfire Of Teenagers not been signed, sealed and distributed across the world? The answer might be more unsettling than we like to think."

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Regards,
FWD.

 

[Thewlis]

Don't you find it odd that Capitol never announced his arrival nor him leaving the label?

Yes that definitely was odd.

I think after the 2014 disaster they wanted to wait and see first

 

[cat on a train]

He doesn’t lend it. It’s a public forum led by a person he has banned from attending his concerts. Comical and unfortunate, but not irreversible.

There aren’t really significant enough numbers of users on this site to make it important.

Users would happily migrate if presented with an alternative.

That said, I personally happen to really enjoy the “post whatever you are listening to” thread.

4 strong statements. Particularly agree with the 3rd one.

 

[Harsh Truth]

I simply cannot read the "article", but does it mention Morrissey being a complete pain in the ass to work with as possibly being a factor in him being repeatedly labelless?

 

[cat on a train]

I feel like the main thing he likes about her is her complimentary commentary on his own self...

Has to be added to the equation, sure.

 

[That's Enough For Me]

Picked up by just about any big record label on the planet.
Reason: He's a major artist with a fantastic back catalogue.

You can fool some of the people all of the time....

 

[Amy]

He was dropped from EMI, picked up and then dropped by RCA, picked up and then dropped by Island; all before the year 2000, all before 'Woke'.

Reason? Lack of Sales.

In fact, I wonder if he holds the record for an artist being dropped by the most number of record labels of all time.

Perhaps the constant cycle of being dropped / picked up / dropped is why Moz is always so insistent that his latest album is "the very best", "perfection" and so on - it would make sense if that stuff was said with half an eye on the next label. Moz is cynical about the industry these days but I find it quite impressive that he has persevered for so long in that kind of situation - most people would have thrown in the towel and gone to count their money years ago. You'd imagine that to sell poorly and be dropped over and over would batter his confidence but he just keeps going.

 

[goinghome]

He doesn’t lend it. It’s a public forum led by a person he has banned from attending his concerts. Comical and unfortunate, but not irreversible.

There aren’t really significant enough numbers of users on this site to make it important.

Users would happily migrate if presented with an alternative.

That said, I personally happen to really enjoy the “post whatever you are listening to” thread.

On the second point, numbers are not small.

Data suggests Morrissey-solo actually attracts about a quarter million weekly visitors, and a weekly income equivalent to a decent wage approaching $2,000 - https://hypestat.com/info/morrissey-solo.com

Probably a couple of hundred people post in any way regularly, and a couple of thousand contribute rarely, with most of the rest being viewers only.

A bit more at: https://www.similarweb.com/website/morrissey-solo.com/#overview

The site's ranking went up quite a bit in the last quarter.

Are those sources reliable, and are my sums right? David T or FWD could confirm.

This busy throughput should mean the interests of Morrissey, who likes being in the headlines, and site owners, should mainly converge, though conflicts could also arise due to, for example, differences in views about how and what news and comments to host, and which reactions are given prominence.

 

[Redacted]

This busy throughput should mean the interests of Morrissey, who likes being in the headlines, and site owners, should mainly converge, though conflicts could also arise due to, for example, differences in views about how and what news and comments to host, and which reactions are given prominence.

 

[Totally Weird]

For better, for worse, every day I am glad that he is still in this world and still doing his thing.

 

[Thewlis]

On the second point, numbers are not small.

Data suggests Morrissey-solo actually attracts about a quarter million weekly visitors, and a weekly income equivalent to a decent wage approaching $2,000 - https://hypestat.com/info/morrissey-solo.com

Probably a couple of hundred people post in any way regularly, and a couple of thousand contribute rarely, with most of the rest being viewers only.

A bit more at: https://www.similarweb.com/website/morrissey-solo.com/#overview

The site's ranking went up quite a bit in the last quarter.

Are those sources reliable, and are my sums right? David T or FWD could confirm.

This busy throughput should mean the interests of Morrissey, who likes being in the headlines, and site owners, should mainly converge, though conflicts could also arise due to, for example, differences in views about how and what news and comments to host, and which reactions are given prominence.

What is Morrissey-solo.com estimated value?​

• Estimated value of Morrissey-solo.com is $252,514.91.

Quite something for a hateful online crèche

 

[Malc]

How long has Fiona been into Morrissey? She seems only to have come to the fore in the past couple of years, so has she been radicalised by his comments? Or has she seen them and decided he aligns with her own views?

 

[goinghome]

The article ponders the yo-yoing between promise and non-release over BOT, echoing the questions of many. I'm pretty sure the phrase you have killed me is a quote from the song to convey the effect of bullying rather than added as the title used in error.

A singer named Matthew Schwartz, from the musical collective Pacifico (a profile and some music here - https://www.boomplay.com/artists/142248 ), complains about the music industry's harmful toxic culture, in an interview with Spin -
https://www.spin.com/2023/02/pacifi...-touring/?mc_cid=bfb6af8ab9&mc_eid=d933c6562e

It happens, in different guises.

 

[Anonymous]

You'd imagine that to sell poorly and be dropped over and over would batter his confidence but he just keeps going.

In my opinion, Morrissey has always had this strange mixture of self-loathing/self-destructive tendencies, coupled with an extremely arrogant swollen-headed belief in his own self-worth. These traits shouldn't go together, but somehow they do with him, and are evident right from the beginning of the Smiths and his relationship with Rough Trade . He genuinely believes he is the greatest artist to have ever lived, that something like 'Kiss Me a Lot' is a work of highest poetry, and that all his records are the best ever and should be #1 - if only it wasn't for a conspiracy of evil forces keeping him down.

It's part of the essential make-up that makes him interesting as an artist, but it clearly makes him impossible for managers/record labels to deal with, and exhausting when you are a fan who just wants to see him release records without all this constant drama.