Band promotion a step too far
I'm never one to complain about a band's promotion. Having friends who are musicians, I understand that promotion can take some strange forms, some of which are out of the artist's control (when labels intervene). That said I was a little taken aback by Universal's latest attempt to promote one of my favorite bands, Blue October. In preparation for the release of Foiled, Universal has included Blue's "18th Floor Balcony" on a DVD entitled "What's New" which is being given away free at Wal-mart with the painful acquistion of Now 20. While I applaud Universal for trying to further publicize Blue, There are some alliances that are too unholy for me.
First off, without regard to other political disagreements with Wal-mart, It will still forever be condemned in my eyes for requiring that everything sold there must be edited for content. I feel the editing of music is an unnecessary attack on artistic freedom which also shows a lack of respect for the customers' ability to make their own decisions as far as which music to buy. For this reason alone, I can't support the Wal-mart free DVD, even with Blue. Given that some of Justin and company's music emphasizes the need to freely express sentiments in music ("Inner Glow") or often deals in subjects which some may deem controversial ("Razorblade"," Angel"), it is surprising to me that this partnership could exist. Though I can't bring myself to go to Wal-mart and participate, I hope and know that many new fans will be created as a result of this exposure, I just would rather not see Wal-mart involved in the further promotion of bands I hope succeed.
My second flaw with the method is the use of Now 20 as a gateway. Those of you who know music are aware of this this semiannual abomination to music in general. Can any of the band featured on the "What's New" DVD expect to gain anything.? You would hope for name recognition and several new fans, but just a thought, do we really want people whose idea of a good CD purchase is to spend 15 dollars on the same mix of overplayed debris they could have acquired by recording their local pop station for two hours and cutting the commercial. This group doesn't strike me as the type to experiment with new musical options.
Then again I'm frequently wrong.
Song Lyric of the day
"What ever happened to our inner glow?
What ever happened to the song, the soul, the me I used to know?
What ever happened to my radio?
What ever happened to my song?
It was my song."
Blue October -- "Inner Glow"
First off, without regard to other political disagreements with Wal-mart, It will still forever be condemned in my eyes for requiring that everything sold there must be edited for content. I feel the editing of music is an unnecessary attack on artistic freedom which also shows a lack of respect for the customers' ability to make their own decisions as far as which music to buy. For this reason alone, I can't support the Wal-mart free DVD, even with Blue. Given that some of Justin and company's music emphasizes the need to freely express sentiments in music ("Inner Glow") or often deals in subjects which some may deem controversial ("Razorblade"," Angel"), it is surprising to me that this partnership could exist. Though I can't bring myself to go to Wal-mart and participate, I hope and know that many new fans will be created as a result of this exposure, I just would rather not see Wal-mart involved in the further promotion of bands I hope succeed.
My second flaw with the method is the use of Now 20 as a gateway. Those of you who know music are aware of this this semiannual abomination to music in general. Can any of the band featured on the "What's New" DVD expect to gain anything.? You would hope for name recognition and several new fans, but just a thought, do we really want people whose idea of a good CD purchase is to spend 15 dollars on the same mix of overplayed debris they could have acquired by recording their local pop station for two hours and cutting the commercial. This group doesn't strike me as the type to experiment with new musical options.
Then again I'm frequently wrong.
Song Lyric of the day
"What ever happened to our inner glow?
What ever happened to the song, the soul, the me I used to know?
What ever happened to my radio?
What ever happened to my song?
It was my song."
Blue October -- "Inner Glow"
posted by Aaron at 9:54 PM
1 Comments:
Frequently, but not this time. However, it's possible those people don't explore new music just because it's not played on their precious top 40 station. A casual listener who happens to come across a unique track from say, Blue October, might suddenly see new worlds open up. Case in point: myself, who had very limited exposure to indie rock (Guster was about as close as I got) before radio stations started playing a little song called "Float On". And now, I breathe it. So you never know. There are numerous loathesome aspects of the deal, but if even one person suddenly realizes the awesomeness that is Blue, it might be worth it. (Mike smacks himself, hoping his cynicism will return before cornballness fully sets in.)
Post a Comment
<< Home