On Friday my daughter left primary school. As part of the leaving process they staged a special performance where many of the kids ‘performed’, reciting poetry or memories of their time at the school. This was opened by four of my daughter’s peers on guitar, drums, bass and vocals doing a version of The Cure’s ‘Boy’s Don’t Cry’.
That a bunch of 11 yr olds would want to play a song written and recorded before they were born is a testament to the timeless value of some music. More importantly for me it demonstrated the continuing importance of live music – the desire to perform and the interest in experiencing. As recorded music seems to pursue its ongoing downward spiral, demand for live music remains at a high. The experience is everything.
We have always placed a high value on an association with concerts, festivals and other live events. There are many obvious reasons for doing so. A live event is ‘content-rich’, from the initial announcement – generally heard by our listeners for the first time when broadcast by us – to the giveaways of often invaluable tickets, and even the online reviews which allow everyone to bask in the glory of the event.
We are an essential partner in the experience. Buying a CD or downloading some songs does not have the same cachet as seeing one of your favourite acts live. The process of buying a gig ticket can be the start of the excitement, which only builds as the diary date gets near. Few musical releases share the same value – by the time you get to buy a track you’ve already heard it, read the reviews, it is old news there is not nearly as much anticipation or excitement. The physical audio process is solitary, gig-going is shared, it is social and we all know the worth of social networking.
Through our staged events, our involvement in festivals and our co-promotions we have a massive stakeholding in live music. We profit from it in marketing (and financial) terms, from our on-air ownership and our positive associations with the acts we chose to promote. All of these things give us an identity, a clear and obvious brand – and many branding opportunities.
I have a belief that musical genres are cyclical but rock never dies. It is obvious in Kid Rock’s use of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song or The Kings of Leon’s re-tread of their entire career. Of all the biggest rock bands in the world, the common denominator is the ability to ‘cut-it’ live; it is a language which transcends barriers. Only The Beatles possibly sit outside this classification and then only because of the brevity of their career.
Paying to see live music may well be the oldest form of musical appreciation known to man. The recorded music industry is barely over a century old but live music could have existed since man could grunt and bang dinosaur bones together (yes, I know) and others have gathered to watch. This description reminds me of seeing Ian Brown for some reason.
Live music was vital to the old brand, it was the reason I was able to influence the choice of the first ever song played on the station. At the time it was a straight choice of two ‘classic’ cover versions, one by INXS and the other by The Cure. ‘Born To Be Wild’ triumphed as I was able to provide an exclusive announcement of the INXS tour to follow it. If anyone remembers The Cure cover, the 2nd song played, a pair of motor show tickets awaits them…
The new brand will be live, other commercial entities struggle to have even the most tenuous of attachments to live music – we continue to embody it. We are alive, or to quote Austrian one-hit-wonders Opus (not something I do often) – live is life.
Paul
