Kia Soul, Samsung Mobile, Amazon,
Spotify, Walmart, iTunes, iTunes Radio, Beats Music, Google Play, and Boardwalk
Entertainment. What do all of the ten listed things have in common? The answer
would hopefully be nothing, but instead the answer is Maroon 5, a well-known
pop band that started in 1994. As I scroll through the last month of Tweets on
their twitter page, all I see are these ten repeating names. Is it really about
the music anymore? Why are they “proud to be the first Milk Music Curators for
@SamsungMobileUS”? (Maroon 5 Twitter Account). Do they really think that means
anything to their fans? I am here for the good music, not he Kia Soul
commercial that happens to play about ten seconds of their new song “Animals”.
I prefer to listen to the whole song. One Tweet tells us to listen to their new
album on Spotify, the next day it’s Google Play, and then later it’s iTunes
Radio. This is the definition of maintaining advertisers. If Maroon 5 wasn’t in
it for the advertisements, they would simply say “listen to our music”.
Ironically, this is not the first time I
have questioned the relationship between Maroon 5 and advertisements. In the
summer of 2013, Maroon 5 announced they would be touring the states on their
Honda Civic Tour. This appalled me. Maroon 5 had just toured that winter all
over North America. They hadn’t come out with any new music in the interim. So
were they really touring again for the fans and the music? No. Maroon 5 was
showing off Honda’s latest car. The summer of 2013 was supposed to be their
European Tour, which was cancelled because apparently advertisers come first. Maroon
5 fans in Europe should have been furious; they were stood up because of a car
A day doesn’t pass by without me
listening to Maroon 5, checking their Twitter page, or logging onto their
website. I’m obsessed with them. And because I pay such close attention to
them, I can’t honestly say everything they do is based off of advertising.
Maroon 5 doesn't sneak in any advertisements in their music videos or wear any
clothing promoting any company. Even though advertisements seem unavoidable in
today’s lifestyle, fans like me hope that advertisers will remain promoting
bands like Maroon 5, but within certain boundaries. As long as entertainers
entertain and don’t advertise like advertisers, the world of media will
hopefully seem reasonable. Instead of calling 2013 summer tour the Honda Civic
Tour, Maroon 5 should not have promoted the car and simply said “this tour is
brought to you by the Honda Civic”.
Perhaps Maroon 5 needs a “Wake Up Call”.
Thanks Maddy. This post is clear and well written. I used to be a fan of Maroon 5, back in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, as their music became more "poppy," I liked them less. I actually attended their local concert last summer - the Honda Civic Tour. I saw them with Kelly Clarkson. Were you there? I liked Kelly Clarkson better! Watching Adam Levine bounce around stage with his shirt off, posing for selfies, just wasn't my thing. Anyway, back to your post...
ReplyDeleteYou do a nice job of exploring how musicians must work in conjunction with major corporations. Do you think this is because they crave profit or exposure? In the modern world, where almost all music is downloaded from a computer and not sold in stores, artists probably have no choice by the submit to the "controllers" of the digital media world. I wish you would have explored the impetus for this relationship. I'm not sure about the Honda Civic thing. That strikes me as odd.