Why?
Stumbled across this youtube video recently. It’s a tour promotion for bluejuice and the paper scissors, Sydney bands, who are touring together in the next few months. This clip is part of a video blog they have opened up to promote their work. What intrigues me, is the multiple takes style, which is quite common these days. It can be seen in bloopers on DVD extras, or sometimes at the end of a movie if you stick around until the end of the credits (and indeed, why do they want us to stay until the end of the credits anyway?)
But what purpose does this style serve? What mode of address is at work? Like Madonna’s Truth or Dare Documentary it is opening up into a realist/doco aesthetics, which creates a stronger bond between the audience and the screen-image.
Selling Out
Why do we have this concept of ’selling out’ in the music industry? The assumption is the artists creative integrity is compromised by the major labels. Unfortunately, for the artist, if they remain on smaller labels they have limited possibilities for promotion and audience expansion. It’s a paradox, where remaining on the smaller label can mean a smaller audience, while moving to a larger label can alienate the original support base. Furthermore, selling out is only applicable to bands that operated on the periphery of the capitalist machine (I say peripheral, as I would argue that nothing can exist outside the machine).
Who stands to benefit from the ’selling out’ concept? For example, former Melbourne band motor ace allowed there single Death defy to be used as the theme song for ‘The secret life of us’, which angered many of their fans. Fortunately, for the band Five star laundry, the album featuring death defy, performed quite well in the charts. Similarly, when they released their second album Shoot this, they cross-promoted with ‘The secret life of us’, and the song ‘carry on’ was featured in multiple advertisements, including an advert for The Australian. However, they album performed fairly poorly. For a multitude of reasons, the band split while touring japan (I think). Yet they reformed to create their third album Animal. Now this is a personal opinion, but this album is phenomenal. It’s similar to Eskimo Joe’s Black Fingernail’s, Red Wine, but the lyrics are far tighter, and the production is extraordinary. Unfortunately, the promotional televisual medium, was not open to them, as the Secret life of us had been cancelled. The album bombed.
Andrew Murfett, Ace’s High, The Age. 22/06/2005:
”the band was suddenly an easy whipping boy for the indie-rock community. The critical bashing the band received is a galvanising subject.”
It’s also worth noting Robertson’s response regarding ’selling out’, as a byproduct of surviving the Australian music industry.
Maybe it also points to exchange value rupturing in the fetishist process. This is a tenuous suggestion, however selling out is almost the inverted fetish. The exchange value is decreased by the codification of the ’selling out’ process, the band/artist is no longer legitimate as part of the subculture. However, they are not accessible to mainstream listener’s either (this can be due to accessibility, both aurally and financially!)
File Sharing
Indeed, I would suggest the ’selling out’ concept and its gradual acceptance in society as an unavoidable part of the music industry is evidence of the consumer attitude towards music. We saw this during the proliferation of music file-sharing sites in the early 2000s. People could download an entire back catalogue, with relative easy and consume it just as quickly. The file sharing apparatus enables users to use music as a communicative tool between one another. It seemed to remove all other actors in the music industry from the listening experience. They existed in name only.
I wonder how far back the concept of ’selling out’ stretches. There’s the famous example of the Bob Dylan ex-fan who shouted out ‘Judas!’ during one of Dylan’s new electric gigs. Dylan is an interesting example because, as I understand it (not having listened to him too much), he has changed his style and direction consistently throughout his career, refusing to be pinned down to any one mode of address. He hasn’t cared who he has alienated, and presumably has lost many fans along the way. This would be an example of a performer refusing to be categorised by the capitalist machine. Now, though, he is almost universally revered precisely for that same changeability — so it seems the machine has found a way to reclaim, re-commodify, re-fetishise him?
Also, as far as the very real, very tangible effects of an idea like ’selling out’, we could look at Kurt Cobain’s suicide as Nirvana was growing in popularity. I could also, on the other hand, raise the example of Radiohead (I just can’t help myself!), who suffered a lot of anguish and depression after the massively successful release of their 1997 album OK Computer. In 2000 they released a follow-up, Kid A, which, being mostly strange electronica and vastly less accessible than OKC, was basically a fuck-you to everyone who had expected them to keep tilling the same soil. They wanted to alienate people who had tried to control them. Now, though, Kid A is nearly as loved, if not more loved, than OKC.
So … take from that what you will!
Bob Dylan is revered for his changeability by critics, but I’m not sure this is the same as commodification. The Bob Dylan “biopic” I’m Not There was hardly a commercial success. Also there seems to be an image of Bob Dylan as political folk singer which has maintained some level of consistency over the last few decades.
What is interesting about Kurt Cobain killing himself is that it is really the suicide itself which saw them explode exponentially in terms of cultural capital. Chuck Klosterman has written a good book about how the best thing a rock star can do for their career is die.
OK Computer is a very similar example to Bob Dylan. They both sort of willfully subverted expectations in order to maintain agency over their star image. They have made the industry work for them rather than the other way around.
“Selling out” in terms of licensing your work to TV shows/adverts etc is becoming more accepted I think because there is an acknowledgment that it is harder for musicians to make money with the ordinary channels i.e. sell CDs. But so much depends on who you license to in order to maintain the older fanbase. The attained fanbase couldn’t really care less. Depends on the specific audience I suppose.
Alas I am sorry to say I am not a Bob Dylan fan, therefore I can’t really say add anything to that part of the conversation. Onto Radiohead, there’s an interesting case study (well probably several) to be done there, because fans usually cling to a musicians earlier work to prove their music cred. But with Radiohead, Kid A and Amnesiac seem to be the glorified fan favourites. I’m support The Bends myself, but anyway!
However on the topic of Cobain’s suicide, it probably is the best thing for a rock star’s longevity. They become mythologized, and all there current labour develops a new surplus value, as it’s limited. We know that nothing more can be produced, therefore we commodify everything they ever touched (well that may be a bit of an exaggeration). I have the Cobain diaries at home, which combined with the 10th anniversary of his death. A best of was also released at this time including one of the last recorded tracks, ‘You Know You’re Right’. Thus, the history of Nirvana will almost always begin with Cobain’s death, as it re-codifies and valourises everything they produced.
In terms of selling out, the best example is probably the ipod ads. It’s probably a bit early to say, but the success of those ads don’t seem to have affected any individual who has licensed their music. In most cases it’s increased their popularity exponentially. However, we have to consider that they are selling a music device. Not quite as political as licensing music to promote a conservative newspaper.
Selling out? It’s such a tough standard to live up to as a musician. Having to constantly live up to not only their own musical standards but also the lifestyle. Courtney Love tried to pawn off a Kurt Cobain action figure (although I do like me some Hole at times), and Ben Folds probably most notable hit ‘Brick’ was what was resented most by fundamentalist Fold fans. But personally if i was a freakishly talented muso myself, I’d probably cave into the temptations of an oversized giant novelty check with way too many 0’s than I’m worth. I judge not. But in regards to viral marketing, the clip of Kevin Rudd picking his nose and eating it in parliament is the best.smear-campaign.ever.