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It is no secret that digital music sales have been steadily rising, and physical music sales have been steadily falling. Despite oppositional trends, physical sales still account for the majority of money spent on recorded music. All that is about to change: according to a new report, by eMarketer senior analyst Paul Verna, digital sales are poised to reach a majority share of the recorded music market this year. More info here.
So McDonald’s has this new ad campaign called Dollar Van Demos. It’s the same concept as the UK’s Black Cab Sessions, only worse, and instead of being an internet TV show, it’s a commercial for McDonald’s. This is an increasingly prevalent trend in the music industry; corporations paying artists to record music in a system reminiscent of medieval patronage. Last summer, I saw Electro Dancehall artist Terry Lynn at show where she was promoting an EP paid for by Red Stripe. Nas made a song with a beat in a contest sponsored by Smirnoff. Pugnacious crooner Chris Brown took a check from Double mint to slip the phrase “double your pleasure” into his single”Forever.” When it works it works; Terry Lynn’s EP was a high octane blend of bouncy synth and charismatic rap that bore no forced Red Stripe shilling. Taking money from 3rd parties can give artists the freedom to make the music they want to without worrying about paying the bills. However, when it fails, it fails catastrophically. Dollar Van Demos bas some cool clips on their blog, but I can’t help feeling that the McDonald’s brand is being forced down my throat when I watch this video. Will Burger King strike back and sponsor some artists, too? Find out first, here!
Dollar Van Demos 5:49 am on January 14, 2010 Permalink |
Thank you kindly for your thoughts on Dollar Van Demos (www.dollarvandemos.com). Couple comments to consider: while there are similarities, we are distinguished from BCS in the fact our Demos feature real passengers. We consider our show to be a community movement between local Brooklyn businesses (Black Street Van Lines, Dollar Van Demos, plus a few more) and independent artists which results in a unique creative artistic expression. A short time ago a tv or radio broadcaster would pay very little for the music or videos by any artist and yet receive enormous amounts of money from advertisers for their airtime. We feel we’ve cut out the middleman and now can use the proceeds to make more Dollar Van Demos by artists like Raye6, Jahdan Blakkamoore, Minsomers, and many more.