Lefsetz wrote about 50 Cent and Shakira -- specifically, how their new albums tanked, even though both acts have had huge commercial success in the past few years. He contrasted that with DMB and the success of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King:
If you're the Dave Matthews Band, you can move 424,000 copies of an album with no significant radio footprint the week it comes out. Because Dave Matthews has fans.That last part about DMB and U2 stuck out to me, so I emailed Lefsetz:
Does Fifty Cent have any real fans?
He's not a lovable guy. And his tracks have dropped in quality.
A fan buys the new album without hearing it first.
A casual buyer waits to hear if there's a hit. ... So today's key is to fight for fans, not spins, not media clippings. ...
Dave Matthews Band's fans believe the new album is good. Doesn't matter what you think.
U2 fans believe the new album sucks. And since word can get out so easily today, it stalls in the marketplace.
So, your music must be considered good.
I wanted to ask you about your Dave Matthews Band/U2 example. DMB fans do think the new album is very good, but most DMB fans hated two of the last three albums (Stand Up and Everyday) -- and those albums still sold well. Both debuted at No. 1 and had sustained success, just like the new album.He replied:
So it's clearly not just a matter of the target audience liking the music, as you argued. But I can't really think of any other differences between the DMB fan base and the U2 fan base -- both obsess over tours, both are fiercely loyal (U2 fans maybe even more so) -- that would explain why DMB's new album did well and U2's didn't. Thoughts?
Relatively speaking, and that's important, because sales are down so much, the new DMB album did astoundingly well, much better than the 2 previous, and, after two not so well-received albums...And I responded:
Unlike U2, DMB does not play the hit game...
I don't know if DMB purposely doesn't play the hit game, or if they just haven't been very good at it for the past decade, but either way, that's a good point. U2 fans still expect hits; DMB fans haven't for a long time.What about you? Why do you think DMB is still a sure bet commercially?
Dave Matthews Band news:
2 comments:
U2 was great and the Zoo TV tour was the transition moment for the band that they should have kept evolving. The problem is the band has become distracted and is not putting out content like they used to.They toured but it was closed and not available to the masses so you could not see the nightly evolution of their music.
DMB puts every concert out there with different songs, sets, etc. but you'll never get a live at Red Rocks experience again for U2.
I think part of the reason is that fans of DMB consider the albums "collectibles" -- so they (we) want a copy of every one regardless of whether they consider it the band's best work.
Personally, I really loved Stand Up.
But yeah, Big Whiskey tops it, no question.
Post a Comment