Fiona Apple To Label: Back Off, I'm Connecting With My Fans
from the the-internet's-got-this dept
We've written about the tangles of singer Fiona Apple and her label, Epic (a Sony imprint), for years. Back in 2005, Epic refused to release her album, because it "didn't hear a hit." Instead, the album leaked and started getting radio play, which got fans excited and, finally, Epic felt compelled to release it. The NY Times recently had an article about her latest album, which has actually been done for well over a year, but has been "held up" by shakeups at the label. However, what may be most interesting is a section where they talk about her recent appearance at SXSW, where her management basically told Epic to stay the hell out of the way and not do anything:“The Idler Wheel” is counting on the devotion of Ms. Apple’s fans. Before she appeared at South by Southwest her manager, Andy Slater, said he told Epic Records: “ ‘I want you to do nothing.’ I said: ‘Don’t make any posters. Don’t make any cards. Don’t put out a single. Just don’t say anything. Let her play the show. It’s been a few years. Let kids go to the show, film the thing, put it on their blogs, and you don’t need to do anything.’ ” Almost immediately after her set amateur video clips were on YouTube.There are a few interesting things here. First of all, we're always told that musicians need the big labels for "marketing" purposes. Yet, here's an artist specifically recognizing that the way a label does marketing can actually make things worse, not better. On top of that, what she (or her management, in this case) clearly recognize is that the way to really do "marketing" these days is to connect with fans and then trust them -- not treat them as criminals. Notice that no one wanted the label to release a video or put the music on YouTube. Instead, they full expected and were happy with the fact that the fans filmed the show and put it on YouTube. The same YouTube that is still being sued for a billion dollars for letting people do that. The same YouTube that people tell us needs to be more proactive in preventing the fans from doing exactly what they did and exactly what Apple appears to have wanted them to do.
There's a big point here. If we shut down sites like YouTube, or force them to pre-block any and all content without proof of copyright or license, this kind of very, very successful marketing wouldn't be possible. Instead, you'd have nothing but Epic doing its thing -- which everyone seems to recognize would lead to a worse result for the artist...
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Filed Under: connect with fans, fiona apple, leak
Companies: epic, sony
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You cannot claim ownership of the result without acknowledging the cause.
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Back when physical media was the only way for fans to get your content, the labels were necessary to have your music widely disseminated. Now they aren't necessary.
As an analogy: Just because supplies for the first automobile factories were shipped in by horses doesn't imply that horses continue to be necessary after the automobile was available to everyone, you know?
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/bob
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/bobdoneright
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/bobgonemad
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What, from the train station to Henry Ford's factory? Sure they were.
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She is here and she is there as a result of all that went before. You cannot undo what has been done.
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For the sake of the labels!
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And because of the internet, those few people can share what they experienced and now a few more people know and will probably show up the next time that "unknown" is playing. Lather, rinse, repeat and suddenly they're not "unknown" anymore.
But Big Money Media wants to take away the ability to do this, to allow for organic, viral growth, all because they don't control it and they don't get a piece of the pie.
Maybe the "unknown" won't become a megamillionaire, but if they can continue to play the music they love for people that want to hear it, and pay to hear it, then why would we, the consumers, allow that to go back to the way it was?
"You cannot undo what has been done."
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I need to go wash now.
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When you can fake sincerity, you have it made.
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Her album leaked with no help by the labels, fans got excited with no help from the labels.. the only reason the label got involved in the first place and released the album was because of the enormous fan support.
Next question?
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Although, I'll admit, I haven't a clue who Fiona Apple is so I could be talking out my arse... Shame I can't delete comments, but hey ho, talking rubbish is par for the course for me :)
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We don't need them. Abolish government established broadcasting and cableco monopolies and abolish IP.
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If the labels didn't exist, it's impossible to know whether Fiona Apple would be where she is. However, it's absurd to think that without labels there would be no one in her place. Maybe *she* needed the labels to get where she is, maybe she didn't. But without the labels (big or small) someone would still be where she is, whether it was Fiona or someone else.
You're right that we don't know where Fiona Apple would be without the labels, but to assert that without labels no one would ever be known is all kinds of stupid.
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What real success looks like
http://goo.gl/3XqPD
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Is this the real life?
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Therefore, they won't be able to do a better job because they don't even understand the point!
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Fiona fought with her label every step of the way since and is successful today only because she did so. If the label had its way, she would have been a success in 1994 and an unknown today.
Also, this discussion has nothing to do with piracy.
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1) it saves on other marketing costs, thereby cutting costs in general, which in turn would mean that the act is more profitable;
2) It reduces the amount "levied" on the artists thus ensuring that they get royalties/residuals sooner (provided no shady accounting practices).
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Those who do tweet directly tend to fuck it up sooner or later, calling out a jewish conspiracy or drunk dialing someone on twitter.
The costs to do twitter properly for an artist is pretty much on par with any other marketing campaign.
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If you really think social media is so hard and time consuming that you have to pay full time writers, well I have a bridge you might be interested in.
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For the record, most good artists, those worth following on social web, do the posting themselves. Few people fallow the ones that are done by managers, or marketing agents. Those are the ones that are the most boring and uncreative shit you can read.
Next time, try following a few before talking shit.
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FTFY
But it's not about supporting suits who don't even have a picogram of talent, who care more about control above all else, its about the supporting the artist. Obscurity is the worse thing for an artist, and a lot label artist toil in obscurity because of their label's obsession with control.
Part of supporting an artist is getting exposure, something most label artist don't get.
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The labels still have an enormous marketing machine. Look at all of the mediocre talent and formula musicians that they have promoted in recent years.
I can see a future where the labels find and promote new talent and give them a start. Discovering new talent was something that the labels did once upon a time, and they sometimes did it with great success. It would be ironic if the realities of the new market forced them back into that role.
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We musicians and music hobbyists do not need the RIAA or any Big Label.I did my thing all DIY.I still remember the times I had to walk down to the printer to print off hundreds of press kits and how I had to physically mail every record I sent out for Review, ETC.
NOWADAYS:
You can design and make your own press kit and have a PDF and a Website.
You can leave your song or songs or albums on that site as MP3,FLAC, CD IMAGE, Whatever.
Musicians who did not do that old route never had it easier and I am 56 so I know this.
Come over to the wacky world of Big Meat Hammer and my second band The Lynn Rebels.
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I can't wait
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Suing fans, dragging them to court and asking for thousands in damages? How could anyone go wrong doing that or object to that? I mean, think of the free publicity the musician gets when the newspapers and blogs publicize the case, and the labels will get a chunk of cash in damages. It's a win/win situation.
Well... except for the fans but hey, who needs those dirty money-sucking, freeloading freetard pirates anyway right?
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How many people exactly do you think have been taken to court?
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You do realise that real life is not binary, it's not "us vs. them", it's not people who buy everything they hear vs. people who do nothing but pirate, right?
Please, learn about reality since that's what's discussed here, not the flimsy black and white fantasy you seem to address.
"How many people exactly do you think have been taken to court?"
Not as many as have had money extorted out of them based on little to no evidence and the threat of bankruptcy if they exercise their right to a free trial.
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You forgot the new one, Freehadists.
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His report is neither "extensive" nor is it even remotely accurate. It's laughable.
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I think the latter fits him best :)
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That seems to be working out better than I had hoped as we are now down to three majors and I hope within my lifetime to see the rest follow the path the others have already taken. That cut into your revenue? Tough ain't it.
There was a time when major labels were run by those that used to be artists and knew how to connect with the fan. Now that lawyers (whose only answer is court) and accountants (whose only answer is someone else paying for what they want) are running the places, I've come away with the attitude I want nothing to do with them. Majors now have an image problem, not just with me, but with the world. That's what happens when you piss on your customers.
I hope the trolls here remain in the underworld of no fame nor money, cause honestly, they are just adding to that dislike.
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ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?
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