Oops Britney got game

There are lots of ways artists are attempting to monetise their brand, replacing but in some cases exceeding the traditional reliance on royalties (with CD sales falling, and streaming revenues requiring huge user numbers to generate significant income). Britney is typical of the trend in some ways: it is mostly the very biggest stars who are benefitting from the opportunities of convergence.

In 2015, global music sales were $15bn (£10.3bn). Yet the three biggest mobile games companies alone – Supercell, King and GungHo Online – made $5.6bn between them, out of an estimated $30.4bn for the overall mobile gaming market.Britney Spears: American Dream is the latest experiment to see if music can capitalise on a world where many people are happier to spend their disposable income on Candy Crush Saga or Clash Royale rather than on music.The company behind Britney’s game, Glu Mobile, had a decent-sized hit with Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, and is trying to repeat the trick with musicians: besides Spears, it has signed up Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift.

SOURCE/READ MORE: Can Britney Spears succeed in mobile games where Katy Perry failed?

LISTEN TO THE BRAND Rock is Dead, Sales Are Up

Sample:

What is needed, says Jampol, in a not uncommon moment of management-marketing speak, is to locate the “artist’s essence”. “Figure out what the magic is. There’s something that connects James Dean or Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain or the Ramones to a 12-year-old whether that’s in 1957 or 2017. It could be a group of facets and then you have to find a way to be put that back into the pop culture in a way that’s credible to a teenager,” he said.

It may sound like gauzy marketing speak – Jampol also lectures as an adjunct professor in music business at UCLA – still, he has a point. Punk is 40 years old, but “questioning authority, being an outsider, not caring about the social order are absolutely not dead”.

'This is the pop culture legacy business': JAM Inc manages artists after death http://gu.com/p/4tpgh?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

POSTMODERN WEB2.0 Metallicized Star Wars KickStarter

A nigh on perfect example of multiple concepts which I'll cross-post on MusiVidz and BritCinema, convergence being one...

An outfit called Galactic Empire are exemplifying the "former audience" principle behind the more typical, technotopian web 2.0 theorists (Keenan is an atypical exception to note), and taking UGC or fan-made video to the next level...

Star Wars fanatics and Metallica buffs, they've created a version of The Imperial Battle Theme as if played by thrash metal godfathers Metallica, hailing back to their glory days with their final two classic albums (Masters of Puppets and And Justice For All) before the pop darkness of The Black Album (and Lulu?!) descended.

The ultra-viral video features convincing (verisimilitude alert!) Star Wars costumes and even brief stormtrooper, Emperor and Wookie vocals, and Darth Vader heavy breathing on backing vocals. With a spot of Wookie headbanging and moshing.

If I was a producer of the upcoming 3rd Bill and Ted movie I'd write this lot in in the sure knowledge that the franchise's fans would consider that excellent ...

The 'band' (more accurately a wider media collective, with scripting, video concept, VFX et al kept in-house, all tools needed for a decent modern live show - Depeche Mode, with their Anton Corbijn video backdrops being the prime example) have launched a KickStarter to fund an album and tour, the ultimate expression of digital disruption and the rise of fan-made media; that web 2.0 blurring of the traditional audience-producer divide.

And how do I know any of this? Well, May the 4th is apparently International Star Wars Day, a silly idea given serious wings by social media (may the Fourth be with you).

Which is a handy hook for the MetalSucks e-zine in its article on this, which popped up on my FB timeline, read on my smartphone (from which I'm blogging the initial text-only post you're reading): convergence indeed.

There's a lot to learn here about the nature of the music industry and music promotion but equally about film marketing and the very significant role of viral marketing and fan-made media (which obviously overlap in this case). The potential of a music video to boost a movie remains profound.

I've little doubt, BTW, that were Lucas still the owner of the brand, this story would end with a cease and desist copyright infringement lawsuit (what a Jar-Jarring note that would strike ... uh, back....), but it's new big six conglomerate owners are much savvier than that, and must be revelling in such great free marketing.

So, sith tight and luke on as the Galactic Empire strike black magic. I wonder when Eric Clapton will finally release an updated classic of his own (yes, Leila...)

http://www.metalsucks.net/2016/05/04/may-fourth-galactic-empire-releases-metallicized-imperial-march/

ALBUM ART dumbed down for viral impact

Great example of BRANDING coherency:

[Beyonce font]

Memes, MP3s and the explosion of album art http://gu.com/p/4tm5y?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Streaming wars: Tidal, Deezer, Apple, YouTube Red etc trail Spotify

Tidal: can Prince and Beyonce save the underdog of streaming services? http://gu.com/p/4tmef?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Voice of the Beyhive: superfans identification

The wrath of Beyoncé's Beyhive: how fans have lost the plot http://gu.com/p/4tmtn?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Radiohead a business case study

Two fascinating articles looking in depth at Radiohead but equally providing a snapshot of the complex business, distribution and promotional practices that have emerged in the digitised, online era, with Radiohead often pioneering disruptors.

All surprises: Radiohead and the art of the unconventional album release

http://gu.com/p/4tneq?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Radiohead's corporate empire: inside the band's dollars and cents http://gu.com/p/4tj7d?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger