One of my favorite subjects in the music and entertainment
business is the battle between being commercially successful, and the
perception of selling out.
Recently, I had the opportunity to overhear a conversation
between two people in a coffee shop talking about some of their favorite
artists, “from back in the day”, and how they’ve “sold out, in the music
industry”. Obviously, these two young gentlemen weren’t professional musicians,
and more than likely not even playing local gigs, but based on their non-stop
chatter about how awesome their eyeliner-driven emo-project is, I could tell
they had a strong desire to grow within the industry.
The conversation then proceeded to some of the television commercials
these two aspiring music professionals have seen on YouTube, featuring: Darius Rucker
(formerly of the band “Hootie and The Blowfish” and now managed by the world
renowned Doc McGhee
(Kiss, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, Skid Row, Ted Nugent, etc.)), Dr. Dre (mega music
mogul and owner of “Beats Headphone Technology”), Johnny Rotten (formerly of the
legendary punk band “The Sex Pistols”), Chris
Brown (new pop artist), and then Shakira
(international pop sensation). Normally, I would have seen my way out of their
conversation at this point, but having just saw John Bon Jovi on an AARP
commercial, Hulk Hogan & Troy Akeman on a Rent-A-Center commercial, and a
multitude of other very wealthy people featured in new corporate ad campaigns,
I decided to forego my homework for a few minutes and explore the subject
further, on my own. As an artist, I’ve been in the position to get work with my
music, or to not get work with my music, many times; the alternative(s) being:
1) digging a ditch, 2) pumping gas, 3) mowing lawns, and 4) anything else that
would probably make my life miserable.
During my ad campaign exploration, I was able to find all of
the videos these two were discussing and have included hyperlinks for the
reader’s enjoyment: Darius
Rucker Commercial, Dr.
Dre Commercial, Johnny
Rotten Commercial, Chris
Brown Commercial, and Shakira
Commercial.
Professional Synopsis:
I’ve had the opportunity to meet Darius Rucker on several
occasions and I have to say, he’s a funny, silly guy that I’m sure laughed all
the way to the bank on after that Burger King commercial. (Barry Manilow made more money
with his commercial Jingles than he did on all of his other recorded music).
Not only does Darius now get royalties, forever, based on the writing of that
song, but also got paid a hefty sum of money, just to get him to poke fun at
himself the way he did in the spot. I rather enjoyed that one, as did I on the
Johnny Rotten commercial about butter. He’s basically saying, “I eat this
butter because I like it… and nothing else!” What could be more anti-anything
than getting paid to do an ad spot relating to a product that you’d be
utilizing either way? Not to mention, his image was portrayed perfectly in the commercial
and widely accepted by the most diehard Sex Pistol fanatics.
I’m a big fan of Dr. Dre’s spot. Not only did he have the
opportunity to be super sly and increase his own personal image in that video,
but also plugged his own brand of bass boosting headphones that now have their
own commercial app for improving the sound of listening to music via
smartphone.
Pop-stars, by definition are all ready sold out, they’re usually
not promoting their own art, or personal writing craft and are most of the time
super puppets for a major label, so true to form Shakira and Chris brown are
doing what they do best; representing an image for profit (though Chris did
sing a song directly related to Juicy fruit gum and that can be considered
borderline).
Professionally, in each situation, they’ve sold out the
value of what creating timeless works of art are in exchange for profit; but,
by increase brand awareness, financial yield, and the sustainability of their
careers, I think they’ve all made the best decisions for themselves
professionally.
An artist’s image plays a big part in what the public will
perceive as “selling out” as well, for instance: if Metallica did a commercial
for the WWE, or the MMA Championships, this wouldn’t be selling out at all, but
if they did one for The Pink Tutu maker in San Diego, CA then I’m sure their
image would be tarnished and be construed as well outside the scope of what
Metallica’s brand actually means (this issue would typically be a management
flaw).
If I were managing any of these artists during the pitch
stage of their ventures, I would’ve spent a great deal of time looking at both
positive and negative aspects of the opportunity(s) and would have designed a
damage control strategy if there were any negative backlash from the public.
Most of the time, bad press is still good press, so I would’ve looked at the integrity
of the entire situation before I suggested or advised my artist(s) either way.
The Conversation Conclusion:
The conclusion of this conversation between the two gents
next to me, involved: flavored Ice Frappe chinos, a discussion of wanting to be
on the radio with their hard-core emotional love songs, to have videos on MTV,
and a reality television show to follow them around and feature their band and
struggle to make it. Ironically, they had fallen more victim to the “Feedback
Marketing Loop” than anyone I had seen in quite a while, and everything they
wanted to accomplish professionally was either: branded for profit by someone
else, designed to promote and/or sell ad space to corporate sponsors, or simply
a generic, cookie-cutter formula designed to generate enough interest in a
musical product to start and sustain a career.
My question to them, as they noticed and asked about my
“Business of Artist Management” book, was “are you commercial, or sellouts?”
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