OK Go Shows, Once Again, How Content Is Advertising... And How There Are Many Revenue Streams For Musicians
from the needing/getting dept
The band OK Go has made quite a name for itself over the years as a pioneer/innovator in a number of different ways in the music world. The group has become incredibly famous for their videos, each one of which seems to up the difficulty level. Years ago, they had a simple dance video (filmed in one of their backyards, if I remember correctly), which went viral. Then they had the famous dancing treadmill video. There have been a few others, including a massive Rube Goldberg machine, and now they've taken it up a notch with their latest video, which was part of Chevy's Super Bowl commercial for its new Sonic vehicle. They basically used the car -- and a massive amount of setup -- to have the car help them perform a song:Of course, beyond just being kinda cool, this hits on a few points that we talk about regularly. First off, it shows how OK Go has continued to do what it set out to do when it freed itself from its EMI contract. Despite their videos getting millions upon millions of views, EMI was too clueless to know how to actually monetize such success. The band figured it could do a better job itself, noting that if you have the fans, there are always ways to make money. The band has also been pretty vocal about being against things like DRM and for things like making it easier for fans to get their music. And, here, they're making money by getting sponsors to help them create their crazy music videos. This isn't a first. The big Rube Goldberg video was sponsored by State Farm.
And, no, no one is saying that every band should get corporate sponsorship (though I'm sure some critics will accuse me of saying exactly that!). It's just that there are all sorts of creative ways for artists to make money these days, and getting some corporate sponsorship is one that gets little attention, but has been growing massively over the past few years. In fact, it was one of the key themes at MIDEM this year, including a fascinating interview of Mark Ronson with Wendy Clark of Coca Cola by Ian Rogers from TopSpin, all about Coca Cola's efforts in the music space.
One of the key things in this is the recognition that content is advertising. Lots of people have recognized the reverse: that advertising is content... but things really open up when you realize that content itself is advertising. And that's something that a lot of brands are recognizing by tying themselves to different content creators, and letting them do cool stuff around their brands. I know that some people find this to be some form of "selling out," but as Ronson points out in the video linked above (and, as I'm sure the folks in OK Go know well) that's pretty silly. Most consumers today know that artists need to make money, and as long as the brand gives them the freedom to be who they are and do what they do, most fans have no problem with these kinds of deals.
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Filed Under: advertising is content, content is advertising, music, ok go, revenue streams, super bowl
Companies: chevrolet
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I'll buy one...
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Just a wonderful performance, a good song and a great idea all wrapped up into one. No wonder EMI had no idea what to do with it (or the band)!
18 thumbs up!
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... If they actually learn to play guitar, that first bar gig where the manager tells them to play one slow song a set, and they do -- well, it's all over from there out. Sold.
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2.6
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Even then, as sell outs go, this is a wonderful one. Up there with United Breaks Guitars!
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They're not sell outs
In this case, if Chevy wasn't going to provide the money, someone else would have. I think there is some synergy in the name of the vehicle, which obviously made the choice easier. While the cost of this video was probably much higher than some of their other ads, I still think it's marketing dollars well spent.
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When you sell out to a Label you get Hollywood accounting in perpetuity.
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The music itself is largely irrelevant
So I guess it boils down to this: Are their fees for the videos their primary source of income these days? Or are the videos mainly a break-even proposition to drive ticket-purchasing fan to shows?
It's relevant to the overall discussion of music because some people insist you can't make it in music without being exceptionally musically talented, while others believe a strong marketing sense can trump musical skills (i.e. branding over music).
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Re: The music itself is largely irrelevant
who cares? they are making their art and money at the same time. that's all that really matters.
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Re: Re: The music itself is largely irrelevant
It's an on-going topic among musicians and industry writers/advisers. Typically musicians are told to keep practicing music until they can write and perform great stuff. But as OK Go demonstrates, you don't necessarily have to be a great musician to have a career. You probably need to be good at something, but the music itself and your ability to create it could be secondary. In other words, we could say, "Want to be a successful musician? Then learn how to make clever videos."
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Re: Re: Re: The music itself is largely irrelevant
punk rock demonstrated that almost 40 years ago, and rhetorically, who cares?
You probably need to be good at something, but the music itself and your ability to create it could be secondary.
it's never been strictly about musicianship; it's always been about "the scene": stuff like girls, clothes, and venues. LP cover art gets replaced with music videos, but the effect is still the same.
In other words, we could say, "Want to be a successful musician? Then learn how to make clever videos."
i guess, if you want to be an OK Go clone.
without the recording industrial complex behind you, you have you find your own way. it requires original thought.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: The music itself is largely irrelevant
These days everyone is a musician because most of us possess music-making tools that we use to one degree or another (even curation of our music collection has become a form of music creation). And what musicians sell (e.g., clothing, experiences, artwork, performance art) all run together into "creative things," so there's less and less standalone music. It's whatever anyone wants to package it with and the packaging can be more creative than the music. If a musician sells his own line of chocolate, is it the music or the chocolate drives that the sale?
In time people may think of themselves as "creatives" rather than confining themselves to one particular creative field.
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coca-cola
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Coca-Cola
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