#Attention Attention World Tour Dates 2019

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

Earthshot

I'm pretty sure Scobie hinted at it in Endgame. I've only just now made the connection after seeing this post from @sassyfrassboss and William's announcement for Cape Town.

What makes the House of Windsor unique with this dance with the media is the competing households within it, all with their own agendas, and all doing their best to please their bosses. Up until the Queen's death, there were three houses, each with a team assigned to work with the media: Kensington Palace for William and Kate, Clarence House for Charles and Camilla, and Buckingham Palace for the monarch. There were also smaller teams under the BP umbrella who worked with other family members like Edward and Sophie, Princess Anne, and (pre-departure) Harry and Meghan. Though all part of the same institution, the rivalry between these teams is real in many ways and often derails a unified message. Each house is often angling for the same space in newspapers, hand-waving for attention with regards to their work, grabbing the ideal dates and locations for their tours and engagements, or scrambling for first dibs on charitable causes. And this rivalry often causes rifts, problems, and confusion downstream after a particular household offers breaking news or choreographs a PR operation. It was an 'absolute headache' when Charles, William, and Harry all wanted to do similar high-profile environmental work, an aide once told me. 'None of them were into the idea of collaborating; they all wanted their own big moments away from the other...It was all about competition, and the households were purposefully holding information back so others couldn't try to get ahead,' they explained.

So going down the rabbit hole:

Summer 2019 (July or August) - Harry announced Travalyst.

December 2019 - William announced the Earthshot Prize.

January 2020 - Charles announced the Sustainable Marketplaces, which evolved in 2021 as Terra Cotta.

The only reason I think these charities are what Scobie is alluding to is because of how butthurt and bent out of shape Harry got when William announced the Earthshot Prize. I can't remember what he did anymore - was it that new picture of Archie with the mountain/lake behind him or was there something more? - but whatever he did, it was immediately apparent he didn't like William's work at all.

And now with hindsight, Harry probably thought he had called dibs on environmental work when he launched Travalyst, so it wasn't fair for William to have co-opted it with the Earthshot Prize a couple months later and then it equally wasn't fair when Charles threw his own hat into the mix.

But I think the joke is on Harry. William and Charles's projects were fully developed when they launched, to where now, 4 years later, they're very successful and have name recognition all over the world. Meanwhile, no one knows what Travalyst does, people think it's a grift for Harry and Meghan to write off all their travel expenses and accept travel freebies under the guise of sustainability, and Harry's been kicked off the board. He's still listed on the website as Founder and Patron, but it's been made vrey clear in a couple of articles when the website was updated that Harry's not involved in the company anymore other than being a lightning rod for controversy.

#brf #omid scobie #endgame

[seoul-bros]

Jikook Week 17 Complete ✔️(02/04-09/04/2024)

Their seventeenth week in the military is now complete. It's time to celebrate this milestone with a look back at this week in 2019.

This week marked the end of the original Love Yourself Tour which took place between August 2018 and April 2019*. On the 5th April, BTS headed to Thailand for two nights at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.

The concerts were on the 6th and 7th April 2019. There is a full recording of the second day which I have included here. You can even pick out the song you want to watch from the index. As well as group songs, there is the Jikook Euphoria and Serendipity solos.

On the 7th, after the concert, Jimin also posted on Twitter "I am truly happy that this LY tour ended successfully. It was thanks to our ARMYs who supported us and loved us. We worked hard on this album too, so please look forward to it. Please look forward to the next tour as well. Thank you and love you"

BTS headed back to Seoul the next day but there was no time to relax. As Jimin mentioned in his Tweet they were already gearing up for the release of Map of the Soul: Persona on the 12th April 2019.

The lead song was Boy with Luv featuring Halsey.

This week some of the concept photos for the new album dropped with Jimin looking particularly devastating with peach hair.

This photoshoot also included the Jikook matching Loverboy fits.

Have you noticed how kpop promos lean heavily into oral? It's difficult to miss here what with the toothbrushes, the fruit and even the roses and Jikook aren't even the worst offenders. Look at Namjoon and Hoseok here. Okay okay, my attention has been duly directed. I see what you did there.

On 10th April they headed off to the US to promote the new album.

It really was non-stop!

*A stadium extension to the tour, titled BTS World Tour Love Yourself: Speak Yourself, took place from 4th May 4 to 29th October 2019.

Post Date: 09/04/2024

#jikook #park jimin #jeon jungkook #jimin #jungkook #bts in 2019

[thelargefrye]

𖤐 ⤸ ──── MASTER LIST !00 %

✧ .    ﾟ ○ EXILE HER !

ARTIST PROFILE  |  VOCALS & RAP  |  APARTMENT  | IDOL FRIENDS | EXILE HER STAFF | LIGHTSTICK |

UNDERSTAND THE SHIP  ...  HYUNG LINE  |  MAKNAE LINE 

JUST Y/N THINGS  

THIS IS EXILE HER PLAYLIST

✧ .    ﾟ ○ WRITING !

I LOVE YOU MINISERIES  ...  YUNHO  |  YEOSANG  |  MINGI  |  HONGJOONG  |  SAN  | SEONGHWA | JONGHO | WOOYOUNG

SCENARIOS … currently in somewhat order!

PICNIC DATE ... exile her x seonghwa

ROOM FOR ONE MORE ... exile her x seonghwa

GIVE ME YOUR ATTENTION  ... exile her x jongho (18+) 

HOW ATEEZ F**KS YOU  (18+)

YOU WAKE UP SORE ... exile her x ateez (18+)

ATEEZ X EXILE HER ON WEEKLY IDOL

Y/N WEARS THEIR HOODIES / SHIRTS ... exile her x ateez

STAY-AT-HOME HWA  ... exile her x seonghwa

STUDIO SEX ... exile her x hongjoong (18+)

GAME DAY ... exile her x '99 line

PUDDING ... exile her x wooyoung

BLUE CHRISTMAS  ... exile her x yunho (18+) 

INKIGAYO SPECIAL STAGE ‘NAP FAIRY’ + ATEEZ REACTIONS

ATEEZ RECATS : TO YOUR INTIMATE SCENES IN YOUR NEW DRAMA … exile her x ateez (18+ just to be safe)

HONEYMOON IN PARIS ... exile her x wooyoung x hongjoong (18+)

ADORE YOU ... exile her x ateez

NO LONGER CANON TO THE STORY …

SHE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT ... exile her x yunho

RELATIONSHIP UPDATED ... exile her x yunho x yeosang

AFTERTHOUGHT ... exile her x yunho

HEART PHILOSOPHY … yunho x san

✧ .    ﾟ ○ REALITY SHOWS !

OK, ITS TIME TO QUIET DOWN

WE GOT MARRIED | fan tweets |

✧ .    ﾟ ○ ARTICLES !

DATING SCANDALS  |  POPULAR ARTICLES |

2018 ... JUNE 17 |

2022 … DEC. 24  | 

2023 … JAN. 4  |

2024 ... JAN. 18 |

✧ .    ﾟ ○ DISCOGRAPHY !

SOUND OF EXILE HER | PART TWO

DISCOGRAPHY MASTER LIST

OCTOBER COMEBACK 2023 …

TEASER | ARTICLE

WHAT HAS EXILE HER BEEN UP RECENTLY

✧ .    ﾟ ○ CONCERTS !

WORLD TOURS ... EXILE PLANET ( 2019 ) |

ONLINE CONCERTS ... SECOND ANNIVERSARY | THE SHOW MUST GO ON |

✧ .    ﾟ ○ OTHER !

2023 SEASON’S GREETING

KBS & SBS SONG FESTIVALS 

MBC DAYO GAEJEON

POPULAR FANSITES 

IXLUV FANDOM BREAKDOWN

FAN TWEETS  ...  ONE  |  TWO  |

THE IDOL AND HER SHIPS

IMITATION ( DRAMA / 2022 )

BALMAIN LOOKS I THINK EXILE HER WOULD SERVE

STAGE OUTFITS FROM EGO: NO NAME ... DITTO | GENERATIONS | POTENTIAL BREAK UP SONG

ERA MOODBOARDS ... SEASON OF HERS | EXILE OF THE LAKE |

MCOUNTDOWN @ PARIS ( 2023 )

EXILE HER ICEBERG

** FOLLOW @exilology FOR EXTRAS

#exile her. #📽 ─ series . #ONGOING. #polyteez.

[jane-gunson123]

Shout out to my ex.

You and your band, Little Mix, perform your new debut song ‘Shout out to my ex’ at the Brits after seeing your ex boyfriend there. 

Main Masterlist 

Sam fender master list

2019 had been an absolute roller coaster to say the least, there had been many ups and downs in 12 months. Your band, Little mix had went on a world tour after releasing your most critically acclaimed album to date, performing in some of the most prestigious venues available before ending it in the utilita area in your beloved hometown of Newcastle. The success of your album had resulted in not only being nominated for 2 Brit awrds but also being asked to perform at the awards as well. This was definitely the better parts of your year. 

The less favourable moments of your year had been the very public and humiliating break up with your ex, Sam. You had been together since you were 19 and after a very rocky few months and a cheating scandal, on his part, published by The Sun you had decided to call it quits with your lover. 

At first you weren't sure how to live your adult life without him, after all it was something you had never had to do before but with your girls you began to put the pieces of your heart that Sam had broke back together. 

The first step and arguably the hardest had been moving from you shared flat in Whitley Bay that the pair of you had bought at 21 after Little Mix had won the X-Factor and Sam had signed his first record deal and into a brand new apartment with your best friend and fellow band member, Jade, in Manchester. 

 Next, was you deleting all off pictures of him you had. Weather they were on one of your social medias or just our camera roll. After that, you blocked him and cut off all contact with him and his family. You knew deep down that you would have ran back to him in a heartbeat if he ask and you couldn’t do that. You need to heal and you can’t heal while touching the same flame that has already burnt you. 

As luck would have it, however, your tactics of avoidance might not be able to continue for much longer and in a few short hours you and your band would be performing at the brits with yours and Perrie’s exs in the crowd.  The most fitting part would be the song you would be performing, A shout out to my ex. 

You had written the song when Perrie had went through her break up about a year earlier than you but as your own relationship fell apart you found your self relating to the lyrics more than ever.

You thought that you would be more nervous about the potential of bumping into your ex and having to perform in front of him but you weren't really fazed by it all. Cameras flashed and interviewers pulled you and the girls over to answer questions but you had yet to bump into Sam. 

The feeling of getting ready to go out and perform in front of a large crowd was one no matter how many time you had done it you hated. It always wore off as soon as the music started to blast out of the speakers and that was still the case now. the opening melody made its way into your ears as you scanned the crowd, catching that blue pair of eyes you had spent many nights staring into discussing your future. Never did you quite imagine it ending like this though.   

Jade and Perrie had sung their parts now it was your turn. At this point all five off you had disappeared into crowd, dancing around the tables filled with familiar faces in the music industry.  For some reason the table with your ex and his band had been alluring and you ended up directly in front off Sam’s seat as your verse began. 

“Oh, I deleted all your pics,” You sang staring Sam in his eyes, reaching out to put your hand under his chin to force him to keep looking at you. It didnt take long for you to have his full attention, “Then blocked your number from my phone, mm.” 

Putting your hand back down by your side as you leaned closer into Sam's face as if you were going in to kiss him, “ Yeah, yeah, you took all you could get But you ain't gettin' this love no more.” Sam’s face was an absolute picture as you swerved your head around his after finishing your lyric, leaving him high and dry. He had fully expected you to kiss him at some point but had been left disappointed. 

His band mate and best friend Drew, however, had found a lot of amusement in your tormenting of Sam. As you walked away you heard him shout, “Go on lass.”  

The song had finished faster than you would have like and so did the rest off the awards. The band had won the two they were nominated for and Sam had also won the one he was up for before performing Dead boys, a song about male suicide in remembrance of your late friend who had lost his battle with depression some years back in your early twenties.   

Little did you know at the time that your little stunt to wind up your ex would not only become viral overnight but also be responsible for elevating yours and Sam’s careers. It would first result in an appearances on Loose Women and The Jonathan Ross Show where you would admit to having consumed a bit of liquid courage before stepping on stage. 

So in all it wasn't a bad end to to a roller coaster of year but nothing could have prepared you or anyone for that matter for the absolute train wreck that 2020 would be.  

#sam fender #sam fender x reader #sam fender imagines

[st4r-fly]

Phoebe Kim, known professionally as SHOOTING STAR, is a Korean-American singer, actress, songwriter, and model based in South Korea. Following a successful audition, she joined JYP Entertainment in 2013 as a trainee and made her first public appearance on the show Sixteen in 2015 for a chance to debut in TWICE. Controversy soon arose after Star successfully made it into the final lineup and was set to debut in TWICE later that year. However, JYP announced that her contract was terminated for unknown reasons, and she would not be debuting in TWICE.

Star left the company and was scouted by NewSecret Labels for another chance to debut. SHOOTING STAR debuted as a soloist with her debut mini-album Wonderboy in 2016, which garnered a fair amount of attention but not enough to make it to any charts. Her next single, Bad Ending, released the same year, was Star’s first song to make it on the charts, and it debuted on the national Gaon Digital Chart. It was Star’s first song to go viral for the music video’s commentary on how dangerous social media can be. In the following years, Star would find her global fanbase expanding due to the success of Feel My Rhythm, the title track of her second mini-album, Eternia, released in 2017. Feel My Rhythm was her first song to reach the top 10 on the global charts. The same year, she also released her second single album, Young Hearts, which sold 294,341+ copies in South Korea, her highest amount of sales yet, and peaked at 4 on Gaon Digital Charts.

Her first full album, Dying Words of A Star, released in 2019, became her most successful release to this day, debuting at number 1 on global charts and selling 10 million copies, still her highest-selling album as of 2024. Since then, Star has been titled one of the most successful soloists in South Korea. She has built a cult following of highly dedicated fans due to her unique concepts, amazing vocals, and humble personality.

͙͘͡★ BASICS

Stage Name : SHOOTING STAR (슈팅 스타)

Birth Name : Phoebe Kim (피비 김)

Label : NewSecret Labels

Profession : Singer, Actress, Songwriter, Model

Debut Date : August 16, 2016

Debut Song : Pantomime

Fandom : Aurora

͙͘͡★ TOURS

DAY IN WONDERLAND ( Jun. 2017- Aug. 2017 ) *South Korea

STATE OF DREAMING ( Feb. 2019 - Nov. 2019 ) *World Tour

ECLIPSE TOUR ( Sept. 2022 - May 2023 ) *America Tour

DAYDREAM WORLD TOUR ( Jul. 2023 - Apr. 2024 ) *World Tour

͙͘͡★ FILMOGRAPHY

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ( 2018 )

Parasite ( 2019 )

The Glory ( 2022 )

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Barbie ( 2023 )

͙͘͡★ DISCOGRAPHY

WONDERBOY : debut mini-album ( 2016 )

BAD ENDING : single album ( 2016 )

ETERNIA : mini-album ( 2017 )

YOUNG HEARTS : single album ( 2017 )

HAPPY ENDING : single album ( 2018 )

DREAMWALKING : mini-album ( 2018 )

SELF-CONTROL : pre-release single ( 2018 )

STATE OF DREAMING : pre-release english single ( 2019 )

DYING WORDS OF A STAR : full album ( 2019 )

SUPERNOVA : single album ( 2019 )

ANYWHERE BUT HOME : single album ( 2020 )

TWIN FLAME : mini-album ( 2020 )

RE:BIRTH OF A STAR : full album ( 2021 )

CHERRY BOMB : mini-album ( 2021 )

COSMO : single album ( 2021 )

PHOEBE : english mini-album ( 2022 )

PLUS N MINUS : single album ( 2022 )

E.O.A.A (Eyes of An Angel) : mini-album ( 2022 )

FEATHER : english single album ( 2023 )

BARBIE GIRL : mini album ( 2023 )

ODE 2 MY YOUTH : full album ( 2023 )

BAD INTENTIONS : mini-album ( 2023 )

ESPRESSO : english single album ( 2024 )

#☆彡 ⸻ like a wonderboy [INTRO] #kpop oc #fictional kpop community #fake kpop soloist #fictional kpop soloist #kpop au #fake oc #fictional kpop idol #fake kpop idol #fictional kpop group #kpop oc soloist

[svwu]

│█║▌║█║▌║▌║│█║▌║█║█▌║

after breaking the 'no dating' rule in their band, y/n and donghyuck end up in a messy breakup right before their first world tour. the ex-lovers decide to remain a couple in the public light in hopes of a successful first tour —║it's two a.m.║𐀔ʾʾ (g) minimal fluff, some humor, some angst (w) minimal profanity, smoking, mentions of drinking

╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲

⚠︎ 3XR ⚠︎ is a band based in Los Angeles, California and was formed by five best friends in the confinement of their homes. they released their debut single 'Tongue Tied' in 2019 and gained worldwide recognition with their mini album 'FULLBORN' in 2021. the band consists of Y/N, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, AND JAEMIN

[ BECOME A VIP ] [ 3XR'S DISCOGRAPHY ]

╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲╱╳╲

“Jaemin!”

As Renjun stumbled out of the building in slides that were a bit too big for him, it clicked that it probably wasn’t a good idea to yell out the name of a celebrity. He pressed his lips into a tight line and focused on maintaining his balance, but his half-hooded eyes made it difficult for him to see where he was stepping. It was 2 a.m., and he was outside in his pajamas.

How ideal.

Meanwhile, Jaemin was sitting atop the hood of their shared vehicle. Their chic, boxy red convertible went against the color of the night, making Jaemin stand out along with it. He only winced, but aside from that, he provided no other reaction to Renjun calling out his name. His chin was tilted upwards with his gaze fixated on the sky, and it made Renjun want to look up as well—to find out what was so interesting that Jaemin couldn’t look away.

He frowned and continued walking, waving Jaemin’s phone in the air like a lunatic in a silent attempt to garner his attention once again. Jaemin’s mind liked to wander, and it was difficult to get him to snap out of that state.

Jaemin finally looked in his direction when Renjun stumbled over his feet. 

He laughed.

“Woah there, tiger, take it easy.” He watched Renjun in amusement. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Renjun’s brows bunched up together and he huffed. He stomped his way over to stand in a foot or two in front of Jaemin and placed his hands on his hips. 

“Did you drink?” he blurted, glaring straight into his friend’s eyes.

Unexpectedly, Jaemin threw his head back and let out a deep, throaty laugh. He shook his head with a wide grin plastered on his face and leaned back against the car, using his elbows to prop himself up from the blinding red.

“No,” he answered nonchalantly. “I didn’t drink.”

“Then what are you doing outside?” Renjun’s eyes rapidly scanned Jaemin from head to toe, and he took note of the jeans and hoodie he was wearing. Jaemin was definitely planning on going somewhere.

Jaemin inhaled deeply and sighed, tapping his fingers against the metal.

“Just taking a breath of fresh air.”

Renjun resisted the urge to snort and stepped forward to shove Jaemin’s phone into his chest. 

“Take it before you get kidnapped,” he advised. A yawn followed his words. “It isn’t smart to leave your phone unattended, especially when you leave the dorm”

“Since when did you care so much about me?” Jaemin teased. He clasped a hand over his device before tucking it into the pocket of his hoodie. When he looked up, he found Renjun storming away from him. He parted his lips to say something but closed them shortly after.

Then it was like he couldn’t help it.

“I’m meeting up with Hyuck.”

Renjun almost tripped over the curb.

“What?!” he barked, twisting his entire body to stare at Jaemin. Renjun was more awake that he was a few seconds ago, so when he looked at Jaemin, the first thing he noticed was a cigarette between his fingers. How he managed to miss that earlier was beyond him.

Jaemin shrugged.

“It’s been a while since we’ve last seen him, don’t you think?” He said it as if it wasn’t the sole reason why the band has been arguing nonstop for the past few days.

“Well no shit. Couldn’t think of another reason for why we’ve all been fighting so much lately, and we as in you and Jeno.”

Jaemin ignored his remark, so Renjun spun back around and headed straight back into the building with more balanced and heavy strides.

“Stay put,” he demanded loudly enough for Jaemin to hear across the parking lot. 

“What? Am I a dog now?”

Renjun barged into the building before he could hear Jaemin bark mockingly.

He went straight to their dorm and tossed on the first clothes he saw that were appropriate to be seen with outdoors. He wasn’t sure if the clothes were his or belonged to his roommates, but he didn’t care enough to change.

While slipping on his sneakers, he realized he didn’t pin Jaemin for details about Donghyuck. Where did they plan on meeting? How did Jaemin get Donghyuck to meet up? Did Donghyuck even confirm he’ll be there considering how avoidant he’s been? Why now? Why this late into the night?

He kind of knew the answer to the last question. It was a miracle that Renjun was even able to sleep. He knew that everyone else was probably still awake or slept late, and Jaemin was living proof of that.

Regardless, Renjun couldn’t help but think of more questions, and the more questions he had, the faster he left. Although he would choose to sleep in the comfort of his bed over doing anything else, the thrill of seeing Donghyuck overwhelmed him. His chest was filled with adrenaline at the simple thought of speaking to him.

A week may not be long, but after seeing someone for thirteen years straight, it felt like an eternity. Not only that, but Donghyuck had been so out of character for the past two months. He was distant and avoidant, and Renjun wished to go back to when he wasn’t like that.

When he stepped outside, a light breeze had reached and nipped his skin. He shivered and pulled his hood over his head.

Jaemin was in the same spot as earlier; the only thing that was different was that, instead of being between his fingers, the cigarette was snug between his lips. Seeing him take it out and release a puff of smoke was Renjun’s last straw.

He walked over to him, snatched the cigarette, and tossed it to the ground.

“What was that for?” Jaemin asked, raising a brow. His eyes went down to the ground, looking at it with furrowed brows, but he didn’t seem too bothered by what Renjun had done.

“Never do that again.”

“Why not?”

Renjun moved over to the passenger side of the car and whipped open the door. Jaemin stayed put on top of the car.

“Cause you’re not a smoker,” Renjun reasoned. “You’ll die.”

“That’s a bit too extreme, don’t you think?”

“Fine. I’m concerned about your breath stinking up the goddamn dorm.” Renjun got inside and slammed the door shut.

The entire interior of the car was white, with the exception of the black wheel and dashboard, and the light color provided a sense of tranquility whenever the band took the car on a drive. As Renjun buckled himself in, Jaemin jumped off and went to the trunk.

Renjun remembered sitting in this exact spot with Donghyuck in the driver’s seat. Like now, the car was rid of a roof, and with how fast Donghyuck liked to drive, the wind made them all look anything but pretty. You, Jeno, and Jaemin would all be stuffed in the backseat, being the worst backseat drivers Renjun had ever met.

Back when days were calm and no one fought and smiles were the only thing on everyone’s face. They’d all sing karaoke into the open air and screamed whenever Donghyuck would swerve to intentionally scare them.

Renjun wondered if those days would ever return.

Jaemin yanked the door open and hopped inside with a jacket wrapping his torso.

“So…” Renjun began, “we’re meeting Hyuck?” He looked at him for confirmation.

“Mhm.”

“...How?”

Jaemin zipped up his jacket and started the engine. It left the two in a moment of silence, and Jaemin fell back into his seat, staring straight ahead into nothingness.

The weather was calm, yet it terrified Renjun, because one moment it could be a gentle breeze as they stroll down the road, and in the next it could be a hurricane that pummels their car across the country.

That’s what it felt like with the thought of meeting Donghyuck face-to-face after all the fights and pleading they’ve been through.

Jaemin eventually responded.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. It wasn’t reassuring.

“Give me your phone.”

Jaemin complied and handed it over. Renjun opened his messages with Donghyuck.

“This isn’t confirmation, Min,” Renjun sighed and turned off his phone. He placed it in his lap and stared up at the sky because if he looked at it for any longer, he would’ve thrown it out of the car. “Rivermount is almost an hour away. We could be going there for nothing.”

“It wouldn’t be for nothing,” Jaemin mumbled.

“Jaemin.” Renjun sat up straight and faced his friend. “Let’s be serious here.”

His voice was stiff. Renjun hated it when people raised their hopes in hopeless situations, and although he didn’t want to consider Donghyuck a lost cause, it was hard to believe he wouldn’t disappoint them again. You and Jeno had already given up on him, and Renjun found himself slowly sliding down that very path.

He didn’t want to see Donghyuck crush another person’s heart.

“He didn’t appear at Not Tonight earlier, and that he gave confirmation for. He told Jeno he was showing up, Min, and then he didn’t. He lied when the entire band was relying on him—the fans were relying on him. People were waiting hours for us to perform. What makes you think he’s going to show up at three in the morning just for us?”

Jaemin clenched his jaw and refused to make any eye contact with Renjun as he pulled out of the parking lot.

“Look, I’m not going to debate this with you.” Jaemin tried to remain as calm as possible, but his eyes were burning into the road in front of him.

Renjun pursed his lips and decided to take a step back. He cautiously reached over to hold Jaemin’s shoulder when he spotted tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

Jaemin relaxed under his touch and forced a gentle smile at his words.

The last thing they both needed was another fight to further damage the band’s bond.

“Trust me,” Jaemin whispered, his grip tight on the steering wheel. His voice was gentle—fragile, almost, to the point where Renjun felt like if he said one more thing about Donghyuck, Jaemin would fall apart and break completely.

After all, Donghyuck was his closest friend.

“Trust me on this one, Jun. Trust him.”

│█║▌║█║▌║─── · · · · 04﹙⏲️﹚06

. . . 3XR'S VIPS :: @sunflowerhae @luvlyjaemin @flower-lise @dolcetraditora @flwrtbz @mrkleelvr @aj13-29 @marklexleaf @xxxhyuck @skyfvlls @oc-helps @sseastar @minjiville @jeminiepabo @nycol-ie @lokideadontheinside @ppeachyttae @officiallyunofficialperson @minavenue @itsyaapollochild @cocoa-bitter @1800-mark @daegalfangirl @skrtbeepbeep @frickyratz @ikyk-leeknow @bbnana @sunshine-skz @binky-bean @virgospace @junjungsunwoo @yunho-1999 @teddy-cheol @chenfleur @eneiyri @noidnoentry @deny4l4 @dulltint @seongwhaffels @wooyoung-a @kimaya2209 @sunfics @fullsunfluff @lyleo @justalildumpling @savage-aespa @matchahyuck @jeongintwt @kyungsooverse @yipyipmorals

#haechan smau #lee donghyuck #nct angst #nct fanfiction #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios #kpop band au #nct dream social media au #haechan x reader #nct 127 #mark lee #huang renjun #lee jeno #na jaemin #zhong chenle #park jisung #nct dream smau

[ts1989fanatic]

Taylor Swift's fans are renowned for their loyalty and dedication.

Known colloquially as "Swifties," they sell out stadiums in minutes; spend weeks creating intricate outfits that pay tribute to her albums; comb through her lyrics to find Easter eggs and secret messages.

Back in November, the fandom received national attention for taking action after Ticketmaster bungled the Eras Tour presale.

The backlash was so loud and so fervent that the Department of Justice launched an antitrust investigation into Ticketmaster's parent company. The power of Swifties became clearer than ever.

Indeed, the sheer passion of Swift's fans has helped make her the biggest pop star in the world — but that doesn't grant them absolute access to her life and personal space.

Recently, Swift obsessives have been exhibiting overzealous — and frankly concerning — behavior. Videos have circulated online that show swarms of people camping outside her home in New York City and Electric Lady Studios, where she's been spotted working in between tour dates. Other clips show fans chasing her car down the street.

It's one thing to wait for hours in the pouring rain to watch Swift deliver a spectacular concert. That's her job. It's another, more sinister thing to wait for hours on the sidewalk, just to film her car entering her home garage. That's her life.

Swift has been candid about fending off stalkers throughout her career, making this behavior particularly egregious for anyone who claims to care about her well-being.

"My fear of violence has continued into my personal life," she wrote for Elle in 2019. "I carry QuikClot army-grade bandage dressing, which is for gunshot or stab wounds. Websites and tabloids have taken it upon themselves to post every home address I've ever had online. You get enough stalkers trying to break into your house and you kind of start prepping for bad things."

This is not to say that Swift's most fervent fans are all stalkers, but it's easy to see how this behavior could be triggering for someone who's been stalked. And as Swift said in her "Miss Americana" documentary in 2020, "There's a difference between 'I really connect with your lyrics' and 'I'm going to break in.'" Some Swifties clearly need to be reminded of where that line is.

This is also not the first time Swifties have overstepped. Some fans have been known to harass members of the LGBTQ community for analyzing Swift's songs through a queer lens. Others have sent insults and death threats to music critics for less-than-glowing reviews of Swift's music.

Of course, this behavior isn't unique to Swifties. But Swift's lack of admonition is uniquely strange. She has marketed herself as someone who's not afraid to speak up to defend her values, someone who has explicitly condemned homophobes and bullies in her music.

Swift has also said she's proud of her affectionate relationship with fans. She has invited Swifties to her Nashville home for album listening parties; sent personalized notes to celebrate milestones; donated money for college tuitions; protected concertgoers from aggressive security guards.

Unfortunately, a healthy relationship cannot be sustained with affection alone, be it interpersonal or parasocial.

At the risk of sounding like a wannabe therapist, constructive feedback is essential for growth — and when someone you love disrespects your boundaries, it's not constructive to say silent.

This is something that Phoebe Bridgers, Swift's friend and collaborator, knows all too well.

Although Bridgers experiences fame on a vastly different level than Swift, she has also been subjected to abuse and entitlement at the hands of "people with my picture as their Twitter picture."

In a March interview with Them, Bridgers said she was "bullied" in the midst of a speculative frenzy about her dating life — while she was on the way to her father's funeral.

"I've had people take more than I'm giving, and I'm giving a lot," Bridgers recently told the Wall Street Journal. "I'm pretty fucking transparent, because I would value that in someone whose music I liked when I was a kid. Seeing any representation of any feeling and anything true was awesome to me. To be punished for that is so dark."

"There's a higher chance that you'll meet a fan that you hate than a fan that you love," she added. "You're way more likely to be confronted with someone who just violated your privacy."

If these quotes rub you the wrong way, you may be the problem.

Connecting to a person's music does not give you the right to violate her privacy, and Bridgers isn't afraid to draw that line. I wish more musicians would follow suit.

Ahead of Bridgers' final performance at the Eras Tour on Sunday, I hope Swift is able to absorb some of her bravery and wisdom. It's OK to criticize people for bad behavior — and the fans who stick around are the ones worth keeping.

ts1989fanatic

Even the media can get it right on occasion, the recent behaviour by some so called swifties is bordering on STALKING and needs to stop.

Unless we all want to go back to why she disappeared again.

[mwhiteshelley]

My Chemical Romance and the foundations of an endless night

It’s over…for now. 

We knew it would have to end, we even knew the date, but who’s ever ready for the best things to end? After some of the greatest moments of our lives over the last year, we’re left to cling to our memories, replay our videos, scroll through every photo and wait with held breath for the next crumb of information from the band we love so much. 

This tour was a journey for all of us, the band, the fans, the crew, the friends, families, everyone in its wake was traveling it together. The postponed dates for over two years, three years for some connected us through that passage of time, the wait for the thing we wanted so much to start, the delay of the inevitable end, the start of something new. It meant something at the beginning back in 2019 and 2020, it meant something even more after those that survived the pandemic made it to the other side and could count down to their first show. We waited for so long then, we can wait for a while now, right? 

We weren’t sure the journey would continue, kept hoping to just see the word postponed instead of canceled on our tickets, and somehow, the first shows finally started to happen, and the return was in full motion, and we just had to wait for our turn. It was all so different even when some things were so much the same, but so much was different, and only in all the best ways. We saw them all reach for and gain their footing over the first set of shows. It was a learning experience, get back on the wheel, get it turning and fitting into the grooves again. And they all did it with so much more ease than seemed possible after so much time away, the best friends that you can connect with after years have passed, and it somehow feels like no time has passed at all. 

Yesterday is today, today is the present and the past, and those kids were back, not the ones that ended their 12 year journey with the feeling of crushing pressure and lack of joy and the final parting gift of “Fake Your Death” lyrics that represented everything they felt back then. But those kids that started in the basements with only handfuls of people paying them any attention, the kids who put their hearts together after experiencing tragedy and wanted to do something right in the world, the kids who never dreamed they would be the anthem for so many and so much, those kids were back, but they were the grown up versions that knew better what life should be now. We saw these kids of today that beat their demons, marched beyond their fears, battled the addictions, held on for everything they had and came out on the other side to show all of us that it’s possible, and it’s very much real, and you can do any of it just like they did. 

There was a new found joy that we hadn’t seen for years, maybe not ever because how is there ever real joy if you’re not fully free to be yourself? And that’s what this tour was if nothing else, it was being their true selves, being everything they all wanted to be, no matter when, no matter what, no matter who was watching. It was freedom, and they gave us the gift of watching that unfold and curl around the entire world as we looked on with an element of pride and absolute relief at the happiness that radiated from their faces. 

That might be the biggest reason why it’s so hard to let this go…for now. Happiness of that amount is irresistible and infectious, and it didn’t matter if you were a new fan or a long-time fan, we wanted to hold on to that shared joy for just a little longer, forever if we had our way. So, in a turn of absolute surprise, even with ever-changing setlists and encores, they gave us an ending that was such a shock and so perfect that we all held our breaths even tighter, even longer together for those few moments after that last song. “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” was never something that had ended a show before, and yet, how could there have been a better way to end something that we ultimately didn’t want to have an ending at all? This full circle last parting gift of this tour was to leave us with the very first single they ever released over 20 years ago rather than something else in their catalog that was full of pain and goodbyes. And this band that delivered us a tour of being free, of being happy, of being yourself, gave us a perfect finale with no parting words and no goodbye group hug, the actual antithesis of an ending, complete with the words “Endless Night” emblazoned across the drum one final time.

It’s over…for now (if you want it), but we’re no longer waiting in the rubble of decay. We’re standing in the foundation of what’s to come, and our whole hearts will be ready for what’s next.

All photos shot by me (Twitter & Tumblr: mwhiteshelly / IG: @jmfstopimages https://www.instagram.com/jmfstopimages/) and cannot be reposted without credit

#mcr #mychemicalromance #mychem #my chemical romance #mcr tour #gerardway #gerard way #mcrtour #frankiero #frank iero #mikeyway #mikey way #ray toro #raytoro #swarm tour #swarmtour #mcrmelbourne #mcr melbourne #mcr australia #endless night #endlessnight #return #returntour #return tour #live music #livemusic #live music photography #livemusicphotography #fixyourheart #fix your heart

[bangtanhoneys]

Bangtan Sonyeondan: Map of the Soul - Persona

Release date: April 12 2019

Lead singles: Boy With Luv, Make It Right

The 'Boy With Luv' song and then the album really put BTS on the charts and in everyone’s attention, with the world tour extended to cover the new album. Once again, it proved Grace’s writing and singing skills with Boy With Luv and HOME - introducing Grace to one of her favourite artists out there, Halsey. Both contributed to the chorus and got on like a house on fire, quickly becoming an amazing duo in videos that later would be posted on YouTube. 

Thankfully there was no need to write any solos for this album in particular, but she did have to once again fully focus on a solo for the next album which was written during tour after finally, after all this time, feeling settled. This album, to Grace, felt more of an introduction to the next album and she was that busy with touring as well as making her second mixtape as well as the other work, that she hadn’t fully focused. While recording, her vocals were fully used to max for backing and she was used for every member of the group. 

Once again, tour clothes were made to match the boys but to be comfortable yet to show she was now a twenty-nine year old woman who had nearly a decade behind her in the industry. She went blonde of this year, her make up now more towards pink shades and focusing on her eyes more than anything. 

There were plenty of talk, especially at conferences, of Grace’s future outside of BTS as there had been limited endorsements as a solo artist and there were many questions as to whether Grace would be seeking to start a family once her contract was up. She had two years yet to go while the boys were just about to finish theirs, though later re-signed as had Grace so their contract years finally matched. It was the first time, without prompt, that Grace’s future outside of BTS became the talk of the town and it was talked about for many weeks leading up to their comeback and once the album had been released. 

Her plans had always been private, preferring to speak to the boys about what they wanted to do and what they planned to do as obviously the military enlistment was also another thing that would soon be coming up. 

Facts:

Grace’s ‘Pink Lady’ era for the multitude of pink she wore, though not much on tour

Shipping grew steadily between her and Seokjin because of the BANGTAN BOMBS that featured the two readily

Jungkook admitted on V-LIVE that he loves Grace the most, revealing that she never let him out of sight when he had injured himself during the London show. 

Fancams for performances of Dinoysus of Grace reached high levels due to the complete control of her movements and breathing. Has revealed that Jin’s high notes were her favourite parts of the song, once trying to match it during a V-LIVE.

#bts 8th member #bts additional member #bts scenarios #bts headcanons #bts fanfiction #bts reactions #bts eighth member #bts fic #bts female member #bts fanfic

[bowerywilliam]

Billboard: Did Taylor Swift Really Have a Choice to Work With Ticketmaster?

Maybe Live Nation chairman Greg Maffei’s statement that Taylor Swift and promoter AEG “chose” to work with Ticketmaster for her calamitous onsale earlier this week should have come with an asterisk.

On Thursday (Nov. 17), Maffei attempted to correct criticisms about Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation operating as a monopoly by pointing out that Swift’s 2023 Eras Tour “is not actually a Live Nation promoted concert” but rather “promoted by one of our largest competitors.”

Maffei — who is also the president of Live Nation’s largest shareholder Liberty Media — continued: “AEG who is the promoter for Taylor Swift, chose to use us because, in reality, we are the largest and most effective ticket seller in the world. Even our competitors want to come on our platform.”

The thing is, AEG says it’s essentially forced to work with Ticketmaster because of the stranglehold it has over the touring business. “Ticketmaster’s exclusive deals with the vast majority of venues on the Eras tour required us to ticket through their system,” an AEG spokesperson told Billboard in a statement. “We didn’t have a choice.”

The debacle centers around Swift’s presale Tuesday for her Eras Tour, which initially crashed shortly after launch as 14 million fans and billions of bots flooded the site, causing service disruptions. The ticket crash caught the attention of Capitol Hill. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, both of whom criticized the outage at Ticketmaster and doubled down on claims that the Live Nation-owned ticketing service was a monopoly. The Justice Department is now reportedly investigating Live Nation, though the investigation reportedly pre-dated the Swift debacle.

AEG and Live Nation have a complicated relationship built around intense competition and steady cooperation going back decades. While AEG’s facility group relies on Live Nation for programming, AEG Presents, the company’s concert promotion wing, competes directly against Live Nation’s global touring team and has its own preferred ticketing system, AXS.

While AEG Presents prefers to use AXS, their partner in the Eras Tour, Louis Messina (Messina Touring Group is a 50-50 joint venture between AEG and Messina), is basically agnostic when it comes to ticketing systems — he will work with any ticketing company, based on where the show takes place. In North America, that means working with Ticketmaster, which is especially dominant in the NFL as it provides tickets to 27 of the NFL’s 32 teams. By choosing to stage her show in NFL stadiums – really, in choosing to tour stadiums in the U.S. — Swift and her partners at AEG and Messina Touring Group are effectively forced to use Ticketmaster due to its supremacy in North America.

In that sense, Maffei’s argument that AEG chose to work with Ticketmaster is misleading, but it would also be inaccurate to describe Swift or AEG’s relationship with Ticketmaster as one built upon coercion. Historically, it’s been more mutually beneficial.

AEG’s venue management company ASM Global — formed following the merger of AEG Facilities and SMG in 2019 to become the biggest such company in the country — expanded its partnership with Live Nation in 2021, allowing the use of Ticketmaster for any of the shows the promoter brings to ASM’s 300 clients. In this arrangement, both sides win, since AEG relies on Live Nation to bring content to its buildings and grants the company incentives to entice shows to their facilities.

Swift has worked very closely with Ticketmaster over the years — for her Reputation stadium tour, the COVID-19-canceled Lovers Fest and now the Eras Tour, building an entire fan verification and Taylor Swift-branded ticketing platform together. While Swift might have preferred to have had more options to sell tickets to her fans, she did partner with the company in a way that few artists have in the past.

Perhaps Ticketmaster and Swift will mend their relationship once they start counting how much money they made together. Or maybe, they’re never, ever, ever, ever getting back together.

you didn't have to send me the whole article, babe lol

but it's good to know she's not working with live nation on tour promotion and this confirms another thing i've been saying all week (which makes it three times today): it's impossible to book the venues required for a tour this massive without working with ticketmaster in some capacity because most of them have booking and ticketing deals with them, so even when artists try to limit their business with TM it's basically impossible to avoid it because of the magnitude of the grasp live nation has in the touring industry

#that's three for three today #i better wake up to fucking apoligies

[xomaleyaxo]

R1 → Mini Album

Name: RAE

Release Date: February 20th, 2019

Message for Fans:

"To my wonderful blinks who have patiently awaited the release of my solo songs and album, this is for you. I hope that these songs bring joy to your hearts, and together, we can savor the happiness that music creates. Here's to living happily together forever. Thank you for your unwavering support!"

Track list + Visuals:

1- Motivation

The title track, released on February 2nd, 2019, captivated the attention of the entire world with its catchy tune. It marked a departure from Rae's previous works, showcasing a different and exciting musical direction alongside her dancing that surprised and delighted fans around the globe. This song earned Rae numerous awards and accolades. On July 20th, 2021, it achieved a remarkable milestone by reaching 1 billion views, a historic achievement for a female K-pop artist. Notably, it became the fastest solo song to reach this remarkable record, solidifying its place as a groundbreaking and record-setting track in the K-pop industry.

Outfits in MV:

Outfits When Performing:

Choreography: (Imagine this but not as much movement)

2- Good days

Diverging from the energy of the title track, this song delves into the theme of self-discovery and finding inner peace amidst life's challenges. Featured as a b-side track in her mini album, this song swiftly climbed the charts, securing her second all-kill in Korean charts following 'Motivation.' Notably, Rae took on the roles of both the songwriter and composer, showcasing her multifaceted talents. Mirae takes immense pride in the overwhelming love that this song has garnered. As a testament to its significance, she has incorporated it as a special addition to her performances on tour. During these moments, she treats her fans to a more relaxed and laid-back performance, providing a contrast to the energetic vibe of her other songs. This deliberate choice allows her to showcase the versatility of her musical style and connect with her audience in diverse and meaningful ways.

Outfits When Performing:

#Youtube #rae #blackpink5thmember #blackpink #kpop oc #kpopgg #blackpink oc

[therecordchanger62279]

THE RECORDCHANGER YEAR-END EDITION 2023

       My annual year-end review of my favorite records and books.

 TOP NEW ALBUM RELEASES

     Rachmaninoff: The Piano Concertos – Yuja Wang & The Los Angeles Philharmonic

     I Inside The Old Year Dying – PJ Harvey

     The American Project – Yuja Wang with The Louisville Orchestra

     Hackney Diamonds – The Rolling Stones

     Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day? – Galen & Paul

     Relentless – Pretenders

     The Future Is Now – The Chick Corea Elektric Band

 TOP REISSUES/ARCHIVE RELEASES

     Evenings At The Village Gate – John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy

     Anthology – Charlie Watts

     Hollywood Blues Summit-Live At The Ash Grove – Muddy Waters

     Live At Mabuhay Gardens – Romeo Void

     Grrr Live! – The Rolling Stones

     All Around Man: Live In London – Rory Gallagher

     A Night In San Francisco – Missing Persons

 FINDS OF THE YEAR

   (Catalog titles that slipped under my radar when first released)

     Yesterday’s Wine – Willie Nelson (1971)

     Let England Shake – PJ Harvey (2011)

     Concerto In B. Goode – Chuck Berry (1969)

     Live In Bremen 1975 – Gary Bartz NTU Troop (2021)

     Cool Heat: The Best of CTI Records – Various (2017)

     Force Majeure – Doro Pesch (1989)

     Bound For Hell On The Sunset Strip – Various Artists (2022)

 THE YEAR IN REVIEW:

     If anyone had told me that 2023 would see new releases from both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, I’d have suggested a sanity check. But a live archive release from The Stones early in the year was followed by the all-new Hackney Diamonds in October, while The Beatles released one more song, Now and Then, to cap their career once and for all. Of course, both were bittersweet. Hackney Diamonds was the first Stones release of new material following the death of original drummer Charlie Watts in August 2021. And though Watts appeared on two tracks finished in 2019, Steve Jordan took over the drum chair for the band with mixed results. The Beatles resurrected yet another John Lennon demo first attempted for their Anthology project in 1995, but left unfinished then because of technical issues. New technology allowed them to finally finish the track in 2023, but guitarist George Harrison had passed in 2001. That left Paul and Ringo along with late producer George Martin’s son Giles to complete the recording. So, these releases are really in name only because both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones we all came to know and love had already left the building. Still, both projects were successful, and well-received, and while The Beatles claim their record is indeed the end, The Rolling Stones are already back on the road, and promising another album of new material (and one last Watts recording) as early as next year. (I wouldn’t put any money on that, however, unless you can afford to lose it.)

     For those of us who took Charlie Watts’ passing to heart, there was some comfort in the release of the Charlie Watts Anthology this year that collected some of the drummer’s best Jazz recordings. And once again, some master sleuth managed to unearth a previously unheard, and unreleased recording by the late John Coltrane. Evenings At The Village Gate with Eric Dolphy, a rehearsal for a 1961 date at the Village Gate transcends less than perfect sound to remind everyone that 1961 was John Coltrane’s year, and that everything he touched that year turned to gold.

     The musical event of 2023, as far as I’m concerned was Yuja Wang’s marathon performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic of all four Rachmaninoff Piano Concertos in one go in February, released a few months later. The genius pianist also released The American Project, a new work by composer Teddy Abrams with the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. She toured sold out venues all around the world, and continues to push the envelope by making innovative, and fresh choices in her repertoire to draw more attention to the Classical music genre in the 21st century. As Classical musicians go, Yuja Wang is a Rock star.

     One of the year’s best surprises was the return of Clash bassist Paul Simonon as part of a duo working under the name Galen & Paul. Galen is Galen Ayers, daughter of the late British singer-songwriter Kevin Ayers. Can We Do Tomorrow Another Day recalls the music Serge Gainsbourg made with Jane Birkin in the late 1960s. Sophisticated, smart, charming, and funny, and the last thing I’d have expected, but it works, and was one of my favorite records of the year. The new Pretenders album, Relentless, was another welcome addition to their catalog, and my collection. And PJ Harvey’s latest, I Inside The Old Year Dying, her first new album in seven years, re-establishes her as an artist who continues to move forward, and challenge listeners by constantly reinventing herself.

     Finally, a great new live album from Chick Corea’s Elektric Band, prepared for release by Chick before he passed in 2021 paved the way for the reissue of the band's five studio albums for GRP in new digipak editions with excellent sound. Candid did the honors.

     Closer to home, vinyl and cassette prices continue to rise while the availability of CDs continues to make buying a physical copy of almost anything a genuine headache. I waited three months for an online seller to supply me with Yuja Wang’s Rachmaninoff Concertos CD, and on the day of release, I visited eight retailers online or in store before I could find a copy of the new Rolling Stones album on CD. The store was 40 minutes from my house, and it dampened the excitement of getting the band’s first album of new material in eighteen years. I guess the record industry doesn’t need long time collectors any longer now that vinyl and cassettes are a hit with twenty-somethings with deep pockets. If CDs disappear completely, I’m finished buying music because I refuse to rent it.

     I did, however, manage to find one vinyl record I wanted this year that was actually reasonably priced and available from a reliable online seller. Chuck Berry’s Concerto In B. Goode is kind of a “wild card” in the Berry catalog. His last release for Mercury in 1969 before he returned to Chess, the album has four new originals on side one, but side two features the title track only – eighteen minutes of Berry’s trademark licks and lines. There’s nothing else like it in Chuck’s catalog, and for that reason alone, it was worth getting. It’s hardly a masterpiece, but it is a great listen, and the pressing on Elemental is pristine.

     Another great find this year was Willie Nelson’s 1971 album Yesterday’s Wine. I’d never heard it. I only knew it by reputation. But it was even better than I’d heard – easily as good as Shotgun Willie, Phases and Stages, and even Red Headed Stranger.

     I’ve always (until this year) been behind on PJ Harvey releases, but this year I caught up with Let England Shake, released in 2011. It’s the best album in what has become one of the most impressive catalogs of any contemporary Rock artist.

     Gary Bartz’s Live In Bremen 1975 with the NTU Troop was issued in 2021. I was looking for something interesting from that period, and stumbled on this one. Five years removed from his time with Miles Davis’s electric band, this lands between stints with Kenny Burrell, and Donald Byrd. Free Jazz with a Funk and Soul influence, and the politics of the day are what Bartz’s band was all about, and they are in fine form here. The music just washes over you like a soul cleansing shower.

     All in all, not a bad year for good music – if you could find it, and if you could afford it. The future doesn’t look too bright for collectors like me, but I’m not ready to hang it up just yet – no matter how bumpy the road gets.

     In closing, I’ll mention briefly that I read 40 books this past year, and several were among the worst I’ve ever read. I won’t waste your time discussing those. Instead, I’ll recommend the last one I read which happens to be a music memoir. Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Sleater-Kinney guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder Carrie Brownstein is one of the most engaging books I’ve ever read by a musician. Her honesty and candor are disarming, and while most memoirs are not usually what you would call “page turners,” this one certainly is. I read it in just two days, and I expect to read it again one day. Very highly recommended, and you don’t even need to be a fan of the band (though you might become one by the time you finish).

     Most of the best books I read in 2023 were the crime novels of Ross McDonald featuring his sleuth Lew Archer, and Ian Fleming’s James Bond books. I also read a couple of books by Rock writer Gene Sculatti. For The Records and Tryin’ To Tell A Stranger ‘Bout Rock and Roll were great fun to read, and after the garbage I encountered through most of the year, welcome relief.

If you like what you see here, hit the ‘follow’ button, and then the ‘like’ button when the spirit moves you. Thanks for reading The Recordchanger. I hope you found it worth your time.

[nickgerlich]

Seemingly Smart

It’s when you realize that pop culture is driving product introductions, you begin to wonder if companies have it all wrong. In an ideal world, marketers would be creating culture with their products, not responding to it. Alas, it just doesn’t work that way all the time these days. Make that even some of the time.

Take, for example, Heinz’s knee-jerk response to what happened at the Kansas City Chiefs game this last Sunday. I’m pretty sure the whole world knows by now that Taylor Swift attended the game, and was seen fanboying her latest alleged crush, Travis Kelce, from the family skybox.

While camera crews were focusing intently on T-Swift, the internet was more concerned with what she was eating, which, as reported in a fan account, was “chicken tenders, ketchup, and seemingly ranch.”

Rather than let an opportunity pass them by, Heinz must have ordered its marketing staff to work nonstop until they figured out a way to capitalize on something that could easily tie to their core product, which, of course, is ketchup. Those marketing people came up with a ketchup and “seemingly ranch” blend, which will be limited to a production run of 100 bottles available via their Instagram account. If you’re one of the lucky ones, that is.

Of course, Heinz did not need to put their food scientists on overtime, because they actually already sell a product that is…well…ketchup and ranch. Available since 2019, Kranch meets the needs and wants of those who like to mix condiments. They just do the heavy lifting for you.

All of which means that the marketing people only had to come up with a new label for this gimmicky item, and then let the media do all the rest. It is brilliant marketing in many regards, even if the phrase will have a shelf life of about a week max. If it steers more people to the real Kranch, then good for Heinz. But it will take more marketing than just this in the long run.

And we still don’t have a firm answer for all the inquiring minds: Are Swift and Kelce dating?

More than anything, Heinz’ response shows just how powerful pop culture is, especially internet culture. As they said on The Morning Brew Daily yesterday, “Internet culture IS culture.” I tend to agree, even if the marketers are put in the sometimes unenviable position of having to respond to it. It’s like the tail wagging the dog.

The problem is that internet culture changes fast. Very fast. Today’s hot meme is next week’s yawn. Anything buzzworthy now is old news even by lunch tomorrow. Even the fastest marketer risks putting effort into something that has already started to fade.

As for Heinz, good on them for recognizing this for what it is: it’s a viral story, one they could capitalize on, but not spend a lot of money doing so. And therein is the lesson. If you find the tail wagging you, then do everything possible not to oscillate out of control.

I realize it is tempting to want to hitch your wagon to anything Swift is doing these days. Her Eras Tour is set to rake in $2.2 billion in ticket sales in North America alone, earning it honors as highest-grossing concert tour ever. Then factor in all the merch sold, hotels, meals, and so forth, and you realize just what an economic impact this one person has. You go, Heinz. Taylor Swift is golden right now. You may go a long time before an opportunity like this lands in your lap.

Me, I’ll stick with Franch, the fictitious condiment parodied on a Breaking Bad episode a decade ago. I don’t need to tell you what’s in it. And if Heinz had been paying attention then, they could have easily come to market with it, or at least staged an Instagram contest.

Then again, neither Walt nor Jesse are anywhere near as attractive—or culturally powerful—as Taylor Swift.

Dr “Pop Goes The Culture” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Heinz #ketchup #Ranch #taylor swift

[laynefaire]

I was tagged by @allwaswell16 to post five fics of mine I really like (despite her knowing how very much I struggle with self-promotion). I’m going to tag @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed, @evilovesyou, @a-brighter-yellow, @haztobegood,and @crinkle-eyed-boo because sharing is caring . . . .

  Live a Thousand Lifetimes (57K)

It’s 2025.

After secretly writing and producing their first album in ten years, One Direction is weeks away from releasing their first new single and announcing a world tour.

With the whirlwind about to begin again, Liam re-evaluates the last ten years - the fame, the money, the people who changed his life forever - and the person who walked away.

I don’t even know where to begin talking about this fic. It started out as something that wasn’t supposed to be more than 4-5K words, and somewhere along the way this is where I ended up. I anguished over each sentence, researched way more than I probably needed to, and cried buckets of tears when I finished. This was also the story that reminded me that I am still a writer, even if the stories only matter to me.

Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light  (12K)

Harry Styles and his partner Louis Tomlinson have been dating for four years. Over those years, he has always known that Louis' biggest dream has been to see the Northern Lights in person. Harry arranges a trip to Norway as a gift for Louis, but little does Louis know Harry is also hoping to make his own dream come true, too.

While I much prefer to write Ziam, there are a few rare occasions where a Larry fic makes it’s way out of my brain. This story was intended for @kingsofeverything​’s 28 Proposals fest in the winter of 2019. Unfortunately, between a hospital stay, a trip to England, and Live a Thousand Lifetimes demanding my undivided attention, I didn’t finish it in time. However, finish it I did, the following spring, and dedicated it to Lauren for her friendship and patience when dealing with my unreliable arse. This is another story that I did an absolute tonne of research for because I wanted the details to be as perfect as possible.  

Untamed Hearts (68K) 

It could have been the heat of the summer sun; it might have been the silvered sheen of an early harvest moon. If he dug deep enough, Liam could find every reason ever needed to explain away what happened. In the end, though, it all came down to two meddling friends, a touch of Prince, a bit of Keats, and the moon over the ocean. Its a recipe for disaster. Or love. Probably love.

I started writing Untamed Hearts in late 2013, after two of my fandom writing friends challenged me to do it. They both left the fandom not too long after, but whenever I see the posts for this story, I remember them and all the fun we had together. They encouraged me to try my hand at writing in this fandom, and if I were to dedicate Untamed Hearts to anyone, it would be them. Thank you Sam and Jesse, for always believing in me.

For Evermore (17K)

A Beauty and the Beast AU in which Liam is the Beast, trapped in a world suspended in time, and Zayn is the only one willing to look past the facade of enchantment to find the humanity of the man hidden within.

Beauty and The Beast is my favorite fairytale and my favorite Disney movie.  When the mods for Disney Direction were looking for pinch hitters, and this story was still available, I jumped at the chance.  Being able to recreate it with my OTP was was like a dream come true, and having it received well by those who have read it has been amazing. 

Shadow Dancing (169K+)

As a small child, Liam Payne dreamed of being a firefighter. He took up boxing to defend himself from school bullies, but never lost sight of his dream. 15 years later, Liam is set to be the youngest brigade watch commander in his district, and his recent boxing win puts him in line for the British national title - if he can learn to get out of his own way.

Zayn took his first dance lesson at 5, after watching his sister's tap class. At 18, when an injury derails Zayn's dream of dancing professionally, he sets it aside to attend university, but the lure of dancing proves too great to ignore. He becomes an instructor, and eventually, the owner of a small dance studio, where he encourages other dancers to chase their dreams.

When their worlds collide in a cacophony of misunderstandings, Zayn, confronted with his own biases, realizes there’s more to Liam than meets the eye, and offers to help him prepare for his upcoming fight.

While Liam learns to dance, Zayn learns the art of compromise, and along the way, they find each other.

And when tragedy strikes, Liam finds that Zayn’s love will help him face the shadows of his past, and give him the courage to believe in himself and his dreams for the future.

Shhhhhh! Yes, I know it’s not done. Yes, I know it’s been a while since I updated. It doesn’t make me any less proud of this story - what is already posted, and where it is going. Once again, a story I have done a literal shit tonne of research for - there are over 100 links in my research folder. And while yes, they do fall in love, this story is more a journey of self-acceptance, and as I have explored the dynamics in my characters’ lives, I’ve also done a good deal of introspection on the ones in my life, as well. 

#5 fics tag meme #self rec #fic rec #Live a Thousand Lifetimes #Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light #For Evermore #Untamed Hearts #Shadow Dancing

[j228]

anyway aside from all the valid rage and disappointment following the cancellation drama, here’s my actual concern, systemically -

taylor usually isn’t one to personally address fandom disasters. you could argue it’s her signature post-reputation but i think it’s more the scrutiny she received after the infamous “choose the right one” instagram post. she’s notorious for letting bigotry, bullying, misinformation, and worse run rampant in her millions strong global fan base. her standard for fandom drama has always been to pretend it’s not there and watch it fade. and it’s worked.

i assume at her level, voicing most any opinion guarantees loss of revenue. she’s a rare phenomenon where everybody who’s anybody will find an essence in her artwork to connect to, so in her case, this is a good PR move. this distances her from the controversy as much as possible (“she’s not chronically online guys she didn’t even know this was a thing” – remember this? when they’ve voiced their allegiance since the early days of her career. and now we’ve all forgotten that was ever a chapter in her career)

ticketmaster is a huge corporation. in 2019, they had a net worth of over 11 billion dollars. that is no prey in a school yard. however, taylor is the largest pop phenomenon worldwide, not only due to her enduring record sales, but her longevity in multiple global markets and genres. her fans have never failed to put their money where her mouth is (and she has worked painstakingly to make them feel like that is worth their time).

her last major tour, 2017-18, is one of the highest grossing tours of all time, attended by almost 3 million fans across the globe. after a 4 year long wait, three major releases, and 2 re-releases, any business strategist could have predicted the anticipation for the eras tour would eclipse all of her past tours, but big streaming numbers hardly equate to sold-out shows, and conservatively, she released a limited amount of tour dates to anticipate real demand.

tickets from loverfest qualified fans a “boost”, capital one members received pre-sale codes. over a million fans were sent these codes to be “first in line”, or at least some security that reassured them a spot. however, come actual pre-sale period, the system was not only unequipped to handle that sort of traffic, it was downright incompetent. resultant mass discourse drew more attention, generic markets (and lawmakers?) stuck their ears to the walls. it’s a scandal, her fans are angry, record traffic for ticketmaster, calls for abolishing and restructuring ticket selling monopolies. good attention? probably not, but she’s being talked about. and however negative the press, everyone seems to agree the cause for this hysteria is that the brand taylor swift is simply too big.

now that i’ve stated the obvious, here are two different scenarios:

this was planned / this was not planned and playing it safe made a hard situation impossible

1. This Was Planned

i won’t insult anyone reading this or the myth, the legend, the brand herself by ignoring the fact that taylor commanded the payroll practices of two of the largest streaming companies in the world. spotify v apple music doesn’t matter to her, because try as they did, none could best her in any of the issues raised regarding their practices towards compensation to artists. she attacked their money, and they had to listen. why? because they made more money with her despite larger payouts to everyone else, than without her. therefore, the mismanagement of presale, the creation of a separate new system despite demonstrated success of the old verified fan order, the limited dates, the reselling/scalpers nonsense on secondhand sites (good to spare $20,000 a pop, anyone?), and the silence:

1a. is all orchestrated to boost her name into bigger heights and notoriety than she has ever had. it is one thing to sell out stadiums consistently, yet another entirely to create as much scarcity as 9000 stadiums. artists have to approve dynamic pricing, which was one of the main concerns from fans. despite stating tickets would go as low as $49, most nosebleeds started at around $119. ticketmaster is no paper bag to poke at, but for taylor swift, it just might be. they’ve braved bad ux scandals before, and this one would be easy enough to wash down with their (frankly, absurd) service fees attached to every transaction. and when those transactions are 2 million tickets worth 300 dollars on average, they digest just fine.

1b. is where such her old forgive and forget strategy sails weak. the outcry and mass commentary, not unlike rep tour, this time caught wind of several loudmouths (said with the most benign of intentions) who are willing to publicize and push it forward as a rallying call. we have witnessed several calls to action regarding lawsuits, antitrust law adherence, and even federal investigations on ticketmaster. her image as a friend to fans is at the brink, because while most fans are directing their anger at tm, the fact of her own influence is also catching up to many. either she embraces a cold, distanced persona moving forward and maintains her silence, widening the gap between superstar and superfan, or goes all in and attempts to restructure the way tickets are sold and circulated once and for all. she has two options here: embrace her stardom at the expense of the image she’s sacrificed a lot to for the last two decades, or weaponize the situation towards creating yet another paradigm shift in the industry. either way, her image will never be the same. ticketmaster won’t be elated in the circumstance that she turns on them, but remember, most corporations are better with her, even at odds, than without her entirely. she will still allow them to sell her tickets, they will transform into an ethical oasis of suits and vip seats, the show(s) will go on.

1c. is her way of building up to her departure from the industry. i think we all get by now that none of us know taylor, and we never will. the carefully curated image she has to personify will get tiring one day, and that may be sooner than any of us (even her) called for. midnights is her 10th effort, and the biggest ever. once criticized for being a late bloomer to the streaming age, swift has the final say with all midnights’ success and pomp, and she can ride off into the sunset, weary, filthy rich, and an ever-blossomed figure in the industry. maybe she will have kids. maybe she will start a cult and weave flower crowns with blake and ryan, or maybe she’ll disappear and live inside 15-foot boundary walls for the rest of her live. she has nothing to prove anymore, enough money to last at least a dozen generations after her, and a face as recognizable as obama’s or britney spears’. she gets her happy ending (once, i’m assuming, she’s done releasing her re-records).

2. This Was Not Planned

alright, now let’s just assume none of this was planned. capitalist queen that she is, she allowed dynamic pricing, sure. she only released 27 tour dates despite having no smaller a fan base than a mid-sized country, okay. where maybe her silence is her team scrambling to rescue her from the several angles of scrutiny, crafting a nuanced yet no-one-side-leaning statement, and coordinating with tm and taylor nation to create enough reasonable solutions and anti-scalper passages for the fans feeling stranded… maybe. it all sounds very good except we have no reason to believe any of it.

all official press releases from official sources generally say any further sales are cancelled. finality is the word. she is letting the fervor pass. she is hoping day of, when fans are instagramming their costumes and their seats, and scalpers, grown desperate, are relenting to face value resales, everyone will eat their cake and remember it all as a happy little accident. however, this still remarks of an artist unequipped to handle their fame, and is an overtly overplayed motif in swift’s career already. there is no resolution here except that this single handledly indignifies any assertions of her business minded moves, or her calculatedness. it works, but only to a limit. is swift prepared to wear her new image out as proudly as her other ones? where in other senses she could (most often rightfully) claim victim, but for an artist on this level, it all seems naive.

even rep tour, with media scandals and disappearances, scheduled 6 more original stadium shows in the US – despite a minimized cultural influence, radio silence, and a fractured fan base, 6 more shows than the biggest era of her career, a reclaimed public image, and a dignified political and social network. sure, she added more dates; that is on par with general practices during high demand. but no canadian dates, let alone international tour announcements? it speaks either of a disenchanted, feeble step into touring again, or a rash, miscalculated jump in. all catastrophic for the people who have developed intense parasocial relationships with an artist who seems to have shut them out.

#tsmidnights #ts eras tour #taylor swift #like this only makes sense if the gaylors were right all along and she wants to cash in and goooo #it all looks really bad either way #:/

[snspice-archive]

[ ! ] AXIS’ Leader and Ex-Wanna One member Nathan dies suddenly at 25

June 22nd, 2022

AXIS’ Nathan Jeon has been found dead in the alley outside of his home at the young age of 25. 

According to Yonhap News, at roughly 7am on June 22nd, Nathan was found barely alive by one of his neighbors in the apartment complex he lives in in the alley right next to their building. The neighbor quickly called medical services but the idol had already passed by the time help arrived. 

Police are ruling the case as a homicide after coming to the conclusion that Nathan had been robbed and attacked in the alley, with the cause of death being multiple blunt force trauma to the head. 

Nathan was a popular trainee from Pledis Entertainment on mnet survival show Produce 101 Season 2, finishing the show with the 2nd place rank and debuting in the global phenomenon boy group Wanna One. After the disbandment of Wanna One, Nathan returned to Pledis and later debuted in boy group AXIS in 2019 as their leader. AXIS quickly became on of the top leaders of the 4th gen, being a completely self-producing group that constantly dominated charts. 

Being the older brother to two famous younger sisters, Nathan was a household name in his own right but was able to garner more attention in his career because of his siters. His first sister is the leader of Angelico girl group Sugar n’ Spice, Piper Jeon, and his youngest sister is Lily Jeon, a popular actress and singer in America. 

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN DISABLED ON THIS POST!

[ ! ] SNS cancels Jakarta show and announces Piper will not be participating in the Delhi show following the passing of her brother. 

June 22nd, 2022

Almost three hours ago, the news of the tragic passing of AXIS’ Nathan hit headlines, causing a flood of condolences and memorial posts all over social media from fans and kpop idols alike. A memorial was quickly set up outside of Pledis Entertainment and has already been visited by thousands of people, as well as a small memorial that was set up by fans outside of Angelico Entertainment in sympathy with Nathan’s sister, Sugar n’ Spice’s Piper. 

Following the sudden news and memorial being set up, Angelico Entertainment has released a statement announcing that SNS will be cancelling their world tour show in Jakarta tonight to give the members time to process and grieve the loss of someone close to them. Alongside that announcement, Angelico also stated that leader Piper has flown back to Korea and will not be participating in SNS’ next tour stop in Delhi on the 24th. 

Fans of both AXIS and SNS are very aware of how much love Piper holds for her older brother and are devasted to know that the young girl has to go another tragic lose only four years after losing her mother back in 2018. The idols’ younger sister Lily Jeon was reportedly already in Korea on a vacation when everything happened, the actress being seen picking up Piper from the Incheon International Airport within the past hour. 

Many other idols, group, actors, etc have already begun to cancel their public schedules for the day, with Pledis Entertainment announcing that a public memorial service will be held tomorrow and that a private family funeral for Nathan will be held at a later undisclosed date. 

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CANCELATION OF THE TOUR STOPS AND PIPER’S BREAK FROM THE TOUR? LET US KNOW DOWN BELOW!

#sns.scandals #sns.dev #piper.dev #tour.housesweets #idol oc #idol au #fictional idol community #kpop oc #kpop au #and there he goes :|