My Pet Peeve with Music Marketing

I got all fired up when I saw this.

No, it’s not the typo, but how I feel about how music is often marketed these days.

The Tone is Too “Corporate”

I know, it’s called the “Music Business” for a reason. But which word comes first? Good music is art, and art doesn’t often mix well with business. But PR and marketing types can do us all a favor and lose some of the tone that would be perfectly appropriate for a corporate earnings press release, but strips away any sense of the art that should be the focus of their efforts. It’s not just press releases, but site content, media kits, bios, etc.

Top offenders:

…opened for the likes of…

…exploded on the scene…

…combined 20 years of music experience…

And my new fav:

…song was featured bumper music on MTV’s Tool Academy.

If it’s a professional wedding band, go ahead. If your focus is on placing music in TV, that’s great too. For talented artists that aim to reach new audiences with original recordings and performances, this kind of publicity content simply sucks. Not to mention it can strip the artist of artistic dignity and credibility.

At the very least, keep content designed for industry audiences separate from content designed for public consumption.

One last thing: I know it’s tempting – and often required by business types like booking agents and label reps – but not every artist is a mashup of two or more other artists. Sure, we all have influences, but does your client really sound like John Lennon tripping over Liberace’s piano stool?

Isn’t it time for Rock ‘n Roll to be destroyed once again?