my wife and i saw this whole 2 hour documentary on PBS a few years back. it was focused on how the "mainstream" looks to the underground for it's next big marketing move. it wasn't pro underground, or pro mainstream. it was simply a brilliant look into a concept this "reporter" had. the thought was that all trends start with out any marketing or anything, they just simply happen. then the mainstream business men see their 14 year old kids doing this and they dash off and mass market it to make some serious cash.
i tried to get a copy of that program but couldn't.
anyway, the piece was really profound. they used a handful of bands and showed how their hometowns built them up and supported them, then when it got larger, their home towns abandoned them.
basically the model looked like this.
kids come up with new trend, music, fashion, whatever.
mass market grabs hold.
original kids either ditch it cause it's mainstream, or they have already moved on to something else.
in the end of the film, the point derived from all this was simple, and i loved it.
"the underground will always be the place the trends begin. whether they are ditched or just play themselves out makes no difference. the mainstream market is always playing catch up."
whether you not you think my posts are marketing dribble is meaningless to me.
most humans want to be part of something that is unique and special. something they can claim their own. it creates identity, and avoids "same-ness".
when i say you had to be there, i mean it.
when shudder to think ad jawbox both left the most talked about indie label ever (dischord records) for major labels within a few months of each other, you simply had to be there at that time to understand how earth shattering that was.
bands don't leave dischord for a major.......it was unheard of.
keep in mind we're talking the mid 90's here. major labels were gobbling everything up that could possibly bare the name "alternative", stripping the cool away, and cramming it down your throat.....FORCE FED.
so as the scene buzzed with rumors of heresy, both of those bands proceeded to crank out two of the most influential indie rock records to date........ON A MAJOR LABEL
so not only did they do the unspeakable at that time, but they delivered something that was not only unheard of on a major, but they re-defined indie rock right then and there.
BAM.....the whole game changed.....literally over night.
shudder to think - pony express record
you won't hear anything like it now, then, or ever in the future.
jawbox - for your own special sweetheart
see above comment.
just a bit before that, drive like jehu dropped yank crime on interscope and rocket from the crypt dropped scream dracula scream on interscope. the indie world almost crashed to it's knees right in the first 5 years it was birthed.......
helmet went from AmRep to Interscope and cranked out Meantime.
the list goes on...........
if you were there, and were burried in it, you would know what these records did.
they changed lives, they broke down barriers, they redefined a fledgling genre of music......
don't trivialise something i've put my whole life into, by calling it "marketing".