Cultural Differences at Rock Shows

In the past two weeks, Christian and I saw one of my all-time favorite bands, OK Go, in Hong Kong and Shanghai.  Seeing them twice in a week made me think about why I sometimes go see bands multiple times on one tour -- even if the setlist is the same, each show is unique because of the crowd.  With this in mind, I thought about the fact that I've been to shows in multiple countries -- the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, and now this year, South Korea, Hong Kong, and mainland China (I count HK as being separate from the mainland).  So having seen OK Go in four completely different places (the US, Germany, HK, and China), here's a comparison of seeing shows in those places.

OK Go in Shanghai

Spotify vs. Taylor Swift vs. The Listener

I know that recently I've been posting a lot about moving to Shanghai, but with the news going on regarding Taylor Swift pulling her music from Spotify, I needed to throw my two cents into the conversation and go back to talking about pop culture.  So bear with me.

In case you're living under a rock (or in my case, living in China and a bit far removed from western pop culture news), Taylor Swift released her fifth album this week, 1989.  However, the album isn't on Spotify; in fact, she pulled her entire catalog from the streaming service except for one song.  She explained:

"In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently."

Even so, her album is setting records, her decision to keep her music off Spotify is being intensely debated, and basically, you can't escape Taylor Swift in the media.

As a free Spotify user, I'm torn.  I don't actually listen to Taylor Swift, and, wanting to know what the hype was about, I checked out the first single off 1989, "Shake It Off."  (I keep thinking it should be "Take It Off," but then I remember that was from The Donnas.)  Because I can't listen to it on Spotify, I decided to turn to Vevo and watch her music video, which I happily discovered was directed by Mark Romanek:

Definitely Not Selling Out

Last weekend, OK Go released their eighth (I think) music video off their album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky for the song "Needing/Getting."  It goes without saying that my anticipation for a new OK Go video is always high, but this video was different because if looked at really quickly, it looks like an ad.  Here's the video:



The car is a Chevy Sonic and the car company liked the video so much, they integrated it into a Super Bowl ad (which you can see here).  The ad is impressive, but not nearly as amazing as the video.  I really don't think I need to say anything about the video; since Sunday, there have been almost 10.8 million views.  Yes, you read that right.  I don't know what the numbers are for their other music videos off Of the Blue Colour... or for "Here It Goes Again," but regardless, that's about 1.8 million views per day.

But what got me thinking was how prominently the car and Chevy's logo are featured in the video.  You could almost argue it is an ad for the car itself.  My thought process went like this:

"But OK Go totally aren't sell-outs."  Pause.  "But what's the definition of a sell-out?  Isn't this the epitome of selling out?  They were in a Super Bowl ad!"  Pause.  "No, they're not sell-outs."

According to Wikipedia, "selling out" is "the compromising of (or the perception of compromising) integrity, morality, or principles in exchange for money or 'success' (however defined)."  Later, it details sell outs in music, citing merchandising and commercialization as characteristics.  Now, how is appearing in a Super Bowl ad, the mother of all commercialization, not selling out?

OK Go left their major label, Capitol Records, so that they could endeavor in their own creative projects, namely, their own record label, Paracadute, and making music videos, uploading them online and not having to deal with the sticky problem of copyrights, embedding, etc.  The band has used corporate sponsorship/support for other music videos previously: Range Rover's Pulse of the City app for "Back from Kathmandu," State Farm for "This Too Shall Pass," Google Chrome for "All Is Not Lost."  But again, "Needing/Getting" appeared in a Super Bowl ad and the car is much more prominent than any of the logos in the previous videos (ok, for "All is Not Lost," the interactive version is only viewable using Chrome).

The reason why I don't think this is selling out at all is because Chevy did not approach the band and tell them to make a video using the Sonic.  The idea is the band's and in order to realize their creative ideas, they need corporate sponsorship.  I can't imagine the cost of producing the video, but hey, if Chevy is going to pay for it and the band gets to have an amazing video, why not?  The Wikipedia definition discusses the compromising of integrity, morality, or principles, and this is obviously not the case with OK Go.  If they need something, why not go to companies with deep pockets who are willing to put the money out for them?  Moreover, the band has had behind-the-scenes videos for their fans because the majority of people ask, "How did they do that?!"  I know I've said this before, but I've liked the band since they released their first album and have seen them grow in popularity.  Lots of people know them and that's ok.  But they make these videos for themselves and for their fans, hence why I think that "Needing/Getting" is still not selling out. 

I think advertising is definitely changing and rather than there being pure commercials, meaning, television advertisements during TV shows, products are being more and more integrated with other visual forms.  What I mean is that commercials don't stand alone anymore; they can be seen online on YouTube.  However, it is not limited there because music videos are generally becoming commercials too.  Yes, they were always commercials for the music they sold, but check out the slew of videos now that include products (Lady Gaga's "Telephone," J. Lo ft. Pitbull's "On the Floor," LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It," etc.)  The products in those videos feel less organic than the Chevy Sonic in the "Needing/Getting" video; the OK Go video would not work without a car, whereas the other videos could function without the product placement.

I have to applaud Chevy for working with OK Go.  For me, seeing a company that wants to support artistic creativity through such advertising is more effective than a funny commerical (see: Honda's Super Bowl ad featuring Matthew Broderick and remaking Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  My reaction: Meh, ok...what car was it again?).  I am far more likely to watch the OK Go video repeatedly (and I have admittedly seen it at least four times already) than the Matthew Broderick ad.  And every time I watch the video, I will see the Chevy Sonic.  That is what I call effective advertising.  For OK Go, it's just another creative music video with the help of a big corporate company, but definitely not selling out.

It's been far too long.

I realize I haven't written on my blog in forever. I think part of it is that I feel like I've gotten settled here in Germany and nothing is as surprising or as new as it once was. Looking back at my entries from 2005 make me laugh, especially if I wrote something in German. I've noticed my written German and grammar in general has improved. That's always a plus. Another part of not writing on the blog so often is that I feel with the growth of other short social media forms, especially Facebook, it's been a bit unnecessary to write longer entries. Lastly, I still write in my handwritten journal that I've been keeping since the first grade, so writing this seems perhaps a bit superfluous. (I mean, let's face it, does anyone actually read this?)

On the other hand, since I stopped writing I've gone back to studying and I'm almost done with my master's. I just need to write my thesis. It's refreshing right now to take a step back from it and just write about writing it (if that makes any sense whatsoever). I've been reading a lot, but I found it surprising that very little material is available on my topic specifically -- music videos and YouTube. It probably isn't a shock that that's the topic I've chosen to write about, especially considering that:
1. I am a child of the 80s.
2. I love watching music videos.
3. I'm always online and I love the fact that I can watch old music videos that I haven't seen in years.

My hypothesis is that with the rise in YouTube and technology like iPods, iPads, and smartphones, music videos are seeing a renaissance. Two artist have inspired me so much that I'm going to dedicate a whole section to their videos in my thesis: OK Go and Lady Gaga.

OK Go seemed like the obvious choice because I've been a fan of theirs since 2004. Seeing their videos go on viral on the internet was exciting and fascinating. How is it that this little known band came to be so popular purely through the use of the internet? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's their video for their song "Here It Goes Again:"

OK Go - Here It Goes Again from OK Go on Vimeo.

Since then, their music videos aren't just music videos; they are works of art. (Check out their videos for "This Too Shall Pass", "End Love", and "Last Leaf")

For me, I wasn't ever a huge Lady Gaga fan and I certainly never considered myself a Little Monster. Then I saw her video for "Telephone":

I still don't consider myself a huge Gaga fan or a Little Monster, but I don't know what it is about this video. I can watch it over and over again without getting tired of it. There's just so much material in it: Jailhouse Rock homage or maybe Chicago, the weird ad placements (Virgin Mobile, Wonder Bread), references to Tarantino movies (most blatant with the Pussy Wagon) and Thelma & Louise, the fact that it's a continuation from her "Paparazzi" video. But "Telephone" isn't Lady Gaga's only interesting video; they're all really highly produced, well-polished spectacles and they're the complete opposite of OK Go, who tends to do more low-production stuff. Neither is better than the other, but that's why I want to look at both artists. How do they use YouTube/developing technology to their advantages? Are their music videos more relevant to developing their image because the videos are actually accessible and visible? It's questions like these that interest me in particular.

So with that in mind, I guess that's where I'll be picking up this blog again. It's not so much a blog about being an expat in Germany, though there will still be observations about that. Maybe then I'll actually keep up with it.