Sophie Moser 0:02
Hey, I'm Sophie.
Sophia Barber 0:04
And I'm Sophia.
Sophie Moser 0:05
And this is the That's Showbiz, Baby! podcast.
Sophia Barber 0:12
Hi, everyone, welcome back to the podcast. Today we are going to kick it off with a segment we have not done in a while, which is Hot Takes on the Hot 100, where we look at the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and give our thoughts about the songs on there. So I'm going to start with number one of this week, which is "Driver's License" by Olivia Rodrigo. The 17 year old Disney star, recently featured in "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" released a song I think maybe like last week, or in the last couple weeks, called "Driver's License." And it's huge. It's just like taking the music industry by storm. It's breaking records. It's a sad girl teen anthem. So let's take a listen to it.
Audio 1:29
*Clip of "Driver's License" by Olivia Rodrigo*
Sophia Barber 1:34
So, it's you know, a breakup song, kind of like a classic Yeah, sad girl vibe. I've seen some conversation about whether or not this marks kind of the return of the power ballad, which is type of song largely popularized by Barry Manilow and you know, it was topping the charts for a while there, hasn't really been popular recently. But this kind of may be the modern day version of that. And the weird thing about the song, so I've listened to it maybe like 20 or 25 times, but for the first 10 times, it just kind of played but I like I didn't really register it. If that makes any sense. It just kind of happened. So I don't know, something about it. It just kind of flows and you could probably really get into it. But you can also just like play it and think about other stuff. So I don't know the song is everywhere. Last week, our interviewee Sam Gibbs said that she was a fan, so it's just kind of everywhere. So that's number one. Now we're gonna jump down to number four, which is "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd. So if for some reason you guys have not heard this song, let's play a clip.
Audio 2:47
*Clip of "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd*
Sophia Barber 3:16
So this is "Blinding Lights" 58th week on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was released in November of 2019. And here we are in January of 2021. And it's still on the charts. That's insane to me, but good for him. And my personal theory is a big part of the song staying on the charts is the radio play it's getting. Like there was a period where every single time I turned my car on and the like pop radio station played like it was this song and- or I would change stations from this song to this song. So it was just- it's been everywhere. We also last season in our Grammys episode talked about him not getting nominated for any Grammys even like this song, song of the year or like album of the year or anything. That's kind of suspicious. Um, but yeah, so there we are. "Blinding Lights"- number four, still kicking on the charts.
Sophie Moser 4:15
Those are both like such bangers. Not gonna lie. Like they're so good. But I will continue down the charts with number six, which is "Levitating" by Dua Lipa featuring Da Baby so let's take a listen real quick.
Audio 4:34
*Clip of "Levitating" by Dua Lipa featuring Da Baby*
Sophie Moser 5:06
I really enjoy the song and I really love Dua Lipa. I think she's awesome. Has such a cool sound. And I don't know, I really think, kind of like what I was saying earlier, I really think that the current like top 10 of the hot 100 like, is really good, which I never say. Normally I really hate it.
Sophia Barber 5:25
I know, it's shocking.
Sophie Moser 5:27
Yeah, normally I just really like, I'm just over the songs that are that popular, but honestly, they're all really good right now. But I think "Levitating" is super fun, kind of has this like spacey dance vibe. It's just so high energy. And yeah, I love it. And really my only kind of like, probably not so hot take is that Da Baby's part adds the least to the song. Like it's good, but Dua Lipa is just like, wow. And I do have to say I listened to a Song Exploder podcast on this song. And that's a really cool podcast that talks about how songs were made and she was interviewed on it. And that was really cool. So I would definitely suggest that if you're wanting to learn some more about how this was written. And my second song is number nine on the charts. It's "Wasted On You" by Morgan Wallen, so let's take a listen to this.
Audio 6:30
*Clip of "Wasted on You" by Morgan Wallen*
Sophia Barber 6:54
Wow, sad cowboy vibes.
Sophie Moser 6:57
Which is honestly one of my favorite vibes, once again. We're back with another, another great one. Um, so this is my like hot or really not so hot take depending on who you are. But I love Morgan Wallen, I love country. He's like honestly, one of my favorite artists period. So ah big statement. Yes. And like we know I love country, but I don't know, Morgan Wallen just like gets me like in the heart like no other except from like, maybe Luke Combs. But anyways, I was so excited. Um, Morgan Wallen had his double album called "Dangerous: The Double Album" come out, it was recently released. This song is on there. It's been great. I love "Wasted On You," love the album. I don't know this song in particular is just so like raw and emotional and smooth. Just again, like gets you in the heart, you know, so 10 out of 10 for me, love Morgan Wallen.
Sophia Barber 7:59
Fun! I learned about Morgan Wallen and this song, um, yesterday, but exciting stuff.
Sophie Moser 8:07
That hurts me a little bit but it's okay.
Sophia Barber 8:09
I'm so sorry. It's okay. You know, between the two of us, we have you know, a range of tastes. So that's good. That works out.
Sophie Moser 8:16
That's true.
Sophia Barber 8:18
So, fun times not so hot takes. Normally, the Billboard Hot 100 is like a mess. But good stuff recently, so good for them. Now, we're gonna go on to the big part of today's episode, which is about holograms and hologram concerts. Shout out to my dad for requesting this episode. He really you know, is- he is not necessarily a hologram stan but he is just always learning about it always telling me about hologram stuff. So here we are. I'm going to start with kind of a brief overview of how the technology works. I don't really understand it. So this is from musictech.net. If it's wrong, I'm so sorry. Holograms are 3D images created by an interference of light beams and have existed in various forms for decades. The hologram concerts that have been popping up, though, aren't actually holograms. They use something called the Pepper's ghost technique, which is technically not a hologram. It's a 2D visual trick jointly invented by the London base engineer Henry Dirks, and scientist Hohn Henry Pepper. So first shown in the stage production in the late 1860s. It's based on an optical illusion using the reflection of an unseen figure to give the impression that they are floating on stage. So kind of some old technology made new and improved is what we're working with for these hologram concerts. So just if you haven't heard of these, we're going to do a rundown of some recent, or maybe not so recent at this point, examples of holograms in the music industry. So I'll start with Tupac performing at Coachella in 2012, a hologram of Tupac performed with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at Coachella. And the hologram was created by the company Digital Domains. So this was one of the first attempts to achieve this level of recreation of a really well known superstar. Before this, I think it was in 2007, Celine Dion had performed with an Elvis hologram on American Idol. So there had been some hologram performances previously, but this one, they really wanted to up the technology. So because Tupac had already passed away by the time they wanted to make the hologram, they actually weren't able to make a digital 3D` scan of his face, and they had to rely on old pictures for reference. This ended up being a little difficult in their short six week time deadline that they had. So they ended up finding a Tupac look alike at a gym in Los Angeles, who let the company scan him and take reference photos to mi- while he was mimicking facial expressions of Tupac. And so that is what helped them create realistic 3d imaging of him. And then trying to set it up at Coachella, they faced technical difficulties with the wind and also the vibrating bass. But they ended up executing it successfully. And it was worldwide news. It was huge. And the YouTube videos of it have millions of views. So even from 2012, the Holograms more recently, they've gotten way more sophisticated and lifelike because they're using things like AI. But still, even with the comparison to more recent holograms the Tupac one is really impressive.
Sophie Moser 11:46
Yeah, a more recent use of this kind of the same technology was actually a Whitney Houston tour that kicked off earlier this year. So the same kind of holographic technology that Sophia described, was also put to use in the, in this tour, it was called An Evening with Whitney Houston, a Whitney Houston Hologram Tour. And it was described as the most awe inspiring and immersive live theatrical concert experience ever. Celebrating the incredible music and everlasting legacy of Whitney Houston. So, definitely some big words. And the show definitely was a big spectacle. They had a famous choreographer Fatimah Robinson, who brought the production to life, she added a full band, backup singers, choreographed dancers, and then that was all headed up by the digital Whitney Houston. So they were trying to really replicate, you know, like a full concert experience with this digital form of the past Whitney Houston. So the tour kicked off in early 2020. So they were able to play some locations. But then COVID hit obviously, threw a wrench in the plans. But Whitney's team, they mentioned that she had been wanting to do kind of an unplugged intimate tour before her passing. So that was the idea that they kind of built off of going into the tour. And I guess they knew that she had wanted that. So they kind of took that as, you know, thinking this was something she would like. And they did know like the- her team acknowledged that they knew it wasn't going to live up to the true live experience. But they wanted it to primarily be a celebration of her legacy, and bring her music to new audiences. And one fun feature of the show is that they were able to change up the image of the hologram throughout the show. So they gave her a lot of outfit changes. So-
Sophia Barber 13:42
That is fun.
Sophie Moser 13:44
So that was one thing that they wanted to add to make it seem a little more realistic and a little more engaged. And they gave her really like intricate digital fits. So that's fun.
Sophia Barber 13:57
Yeah, definitely. Another more recent one that I almost bought tickets to and then I decided not to which I don't know why, because now I have big regrets, but is the Roy Orbison hologram tour which was in 2019. And his hologram was created by the company Base hologram. And he went on tour across the US and the UK accompanied by a real life full orchestra. And he played a 16 song set of his greatest hits. If I'm not mistaken, they also had a Buddy Holly hologram that at least joined him for part of the show. And this one is definitely more realistic than the Tupac one, but not as realistic as the Whitney Houston one. And they still had to use a body double. So technically, it wasn't Roy Orbison performing, but I'm sure it was still cool to experience.
Sophie Moser 14:50
And a final use that we wanted to talk about was the Michael Jackson hologram. So this happened at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. A hologram of Michael Jackson performed. And this, I think kind of brought up some interesting points that, like the road wasn't really smooth in this instance. And the use of his hologram turned into this really, really big legal battle and kind of brought up like, obviously, holograms, it's a newer, newer field. And there's a lot of these kind of little legal nuances that maybe hadn't been worked out quite yet. And so I'm not going to get into the technicalities, mostly because I did not really understand the technicalities. But basically, I believe there was a struggle over ownership of the patent used to create his hologram like it was something more so about the technology used. So two companies got into a legal battle about that. And they were finally able to settle that. Definitely a little bit confusing, but I think it just brought up a good point that the holographic industry, like there are some legal challenges at play here. Because they're working with technology. They're obviously working with, you know, celebrities who, you know, like one company is really only going to be able to, like, make one person, that type of thing, just a lot of ownership issues. But there is, I believe, a 2021 to 2022 hologram tour with Michael Jackson in the works. So, if you're interested, keep your eyes peeled.
Sophia Barber 16:20
Yeah. Wow, that's fun. Now we're gonna go into some pros and cons that we have seen, or just that we came up with of hologram shows. So Sophie, would you like to start us out with yours?
Sophie Moser 16:34
Yeah, absolutely. So the first pro that I thought of for hologram concerts is that they can definitely extend the legacy of iconic artists after their death. So they can obviously bring this iconic music to new audiences, and then also allow audiences to see what these artists would have been like in their prime, which is something I didn't think about. But, you know, if you're working with a hologram, you obviously can work with a younger version of the artist. So you might get to, you know, kind of like, see someone in a, in a form you might not have physically been able to see them in. And since the show in the hologram can be replicated over and over this dramatically extends the amount of time that artists could make an electronic appear- appearance, like you don't have to worry about their physical health or location, you can just have them perform by hologram. And I don't know, like, theoretically, you could even have one holographic artists per se playing like two shows at the same time in different places around the world. So it definitely expands the possibilities of getting the, you know, like, quote, unquote, artist on the stage in front of people, bringing their music to new audiences, a continual stream of new audiences really. And yeah, it can definitely just allow this artists legacy to continue growing even after their death, which, you know, even though they're not around, it would financially benefit their estate, and probably their family. And then one con of the hologram concerts that I thought of, was that you really can't like, truly replicate the live concert experience, at least in my opinion. a hologram definitely can't read the room, or the energy of the audience, which I think is a huge part of what makes concert so unique and dynamic. Like holograms can't really tailor their comments or their gestures to the audience reactions, even just these little things that make it a very unique experience. That really can't happen, like audience interactions just really can't be replicated in a meaningful way by a hologram. And then kind of building off of that, and, you know, again, this is my opinion so you may disagree, but I think the fact that a concert by- like a holograms concert, could, the fact that it could be replicated over and over, and even, you know, play in multiple places at the same time, it kind of makes the experience less exclusive and less special. Like, you know you're not getting the undivided attention of a real person. And there is kind of that, you know, feeling of it not being a really unique, organic moment. It's kind of this program that's been engineered to happen over and over again. So to me, that takes away I think that, you know, at least like a little bit of the thrill and the appeal of attending a live concert that you know, you kind of pay for the like one time organic moment. And it definitely makes experiences with the artists less exclusive. But, you know, some people might really enjoy it. That's just a personal opinion, a personal con for me.
Sophia Barber 19:34
Yeah, I think it would also depend on if the artist was currently alive, or if they were dead, like if they're- your only option to see them was through the hologram, then maybe that's less of a problem. But if they were just like, alive in their Beverly Hills home and sending their hologram out to perform, then that definitely is a factor. I'm gonna take another pro or honestly, this could be a con, I guess, depending on who you ask. But there is a lot of money to be made in this moving forward. Just from recreating iconic artists that have passed away and making them perform or even current- currently alive artists doing special appearances, like there is going to be a lot of cash moving around in holograms in the future. A con that we discussed was the ethics of having a dead person perform and using their likeness without their explicit consent. So while a lot of these companies that made the Holograms we talked about, asked the families or the estate of the artist for their permission, the artists themselves, some of whom, like Roy Orbison had probably died before hologramming was even really conceivable as a possibility to this scale, didn't give their consent. So an example of this is the 2018 Super Bowl, which was held in Minneapolis, where Justin Timberlake wanted to do a tribute to Prince because he was born in Minneapolis, and Justin Timberlake wanted to perform with a Prince hologram. And rumors of this leaked on Twitter before the performance and they received a lot of backlash. Because Prince, before he died, had told Sheila E., a longtime collaborator, that he didn't want anyone to do a hologram of him. So they ended up, because of this backlash, nixing the idea and just doing a video projection of Prince at the last minute. However, if this hadn't been leaked, who would have known if they would have gone ahead with the hologram without Prince's consent, and actually having Prince saying he never wanted to be hologramed, so completely going against what he wanted. So that is a con, is just the ethics of using someone's likeness and sending them back out on tour even after they've died?
Sophie Moser 21:50
Yeah, well, I mean, seems like we're still kind of at the beginning of all this hologram stuff. So I kind of I'm gonna wrap us up here with some thoughts on what the future of the hologram industry might be. And despite my own personal reservations, um, kind of what Sophia was saying. Seems like there's a lot of money to be made here. The future of holographic concerts is looking pretty bright. It seems like it'll become a more frequent thing. And Base hologram, which is a company that Sophia mentioned early, earlier, and a holographic performance company, they're definitely one to look at, they've emerged as a mayor, oh my gosh I can't talk. They've emerged as a major player for holograms in the United States, mostly by acquiring some big acts that set them apart from competitors. So they actually have the Whitney Houston tour that I talked about earlier. They're definitely growing and they're very optimistic, and I think they bring up some good points about the future of the hologram business. They note that two keys to their success are the booming demand for live concert experiences. So actually, the top 10 concert tours alone have grown to more than 65 billion globally, according to Pollstar, so definitely a lot of revenue, a lot of growth, and then the desire for nostalgia. So then nostalgia market also shows no signs of abating. Four of the top 10 touring artists in 2018 were legacy acts. These were the Eagles, Roger Waters, U2, and the Rolling Stones. So when you put these two things together, like this growing demand for live experiences, and this appreciation of legacy acts, it definitely makes sense that this kind of hologram experience is going to be popular. And additionally, the technology behind holograms is developing and it's allowing for a lot higher quality visuals and performances. And this kind of addresses a common reservation that was brought up about early holograms, and this was that they looked creepy or fake. So advance- advancements in technology are definitely paving the road for holograms to look more visually pleasing and look more realistic. So that eases a lot of concerns that people had about holograms, including from artists themselves, and also smooths out the road going forward. And then another bright spot in the future of holograms is that musicians are generally pretty interested in new technology and tend to incorporate it really quickly. So I mean, you know, we've all seen the music industry rapidly change throughout our lifetimes. In terms of moving from like, I don't know, like when I was little, we had tapes and CDs to digital purchases, getting things on iTunes to now Spotify and Apple Music streaming like that's a huge change. So, companies like Base hologram are definitely counting on the creativity and the open mindedness of artists to bring greater recognition and acceptance to the use of holograms in concert. So I thought that was an interesting point to bring up. And it definitely makes sense like artists do kind of tend to seize onto these ideas quickly and want to really make something new and creative out of them. So that could definitely, really benefit the use of holograms, make it much more common moving forward. And kind of going back to something Sophia also touched on earlier is that the growing hologram industry means that artists are kind of more in the know about what's happening, like they can prepare for a posthumous hologram tour, and kind of outline what they would or not, would or would not consent to. So you kind of eliminate some of the gray area of not knowing what artists would be okay with. Or even, you know, you can eliminate the gray area of having to find someone if you don't have scans, like having to find a body double if you don't have scans to make a hologram with. So if artists are, you know, going to be more accepting of this, they can say explicitly what they're okay with during their lifetime, and then also do the scans necessary to create a hologram while they're still alive, which just makes it more personal and probably alleviates a lot of kind of like the legal and ethical concerns. So that right now is definitely kind of acknowledged as the biggest threat to the industry, just the ethical concerns about consent. So if that can be alleviated, then that really, like really opens the door for holograms to continue growing. So all of those things considered, I think that that kind of makes for a promising future for holograms. And it'll be interesting to see how people kind of either accept that idea and enjoy it or don't really like it like, of course, we'll have to see how receptive the audiences are. But something I did think was pretty cool is that companies like this Base hologram company, they want to branch into things other than concerts. And one of the ideas that I read about was they wanted to take a famous, I guess, like paleontologist, or like archaeologist guy, and bring him back and have him present on his research and findings that he had found-
Sophia Barber 27:05
That's pretty cool.
Sophie Moser 27:06
in his digs. So that seems cool. Like there definitely is a lot of room for holograms to be used in other industries other than music. So I think it'll be very interesting to see where this all goes.
Sophia Barber 27:18
Yeah, I mean, who knows if like the hologram projectors get advanced enough or small enough, this one is also from my father this prediction that we will be able to get like hologram singing telegrams, or like kind of cameo things in our homes. If it ever gets to the point where people can have a hologram projector in their house, they could buy like a custom message or a song from a celebrity hologram to- to like project in their house. So I think moving forward if the technology advances there's a lot of possibilities with this.
Sophie Moser 27:52
Okay, Mr. Barber, I'm ready to see if this happens or not.
Sophia Barber 27:59
Yeah, Mr. Barber's, predictions everyone watch out in like 50 years if, if it does happen, you hear heard it here first.
Sophia Barber 28:09
Thank you all for listening. You can find us on Instagram at sophia.productions. And please go rate, download, and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai