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“Collective Soul doesn’t get the respect they so richly deserve, from the media or from the public”
February 9, 2001
Unfortunately, in this age of packaged music, image sells. As a marketing student, I can't help but be intrigued at how a producer can take people with no talent and make them superstars. As a music fan, I can't help but be appalled.
People have short attention spans and the popularity of an artist is simply a matter of brand image and brand awareness. Think of all the so-called "big" names in music and what the first thing is that comes to mind. Rolling stones? Big lips. Madonna? Sex sells (and that goes for almost all the pop stars out there). The Beatles? Their early mop-top haircuts. Stevie Ray Vaughn? The hat. Lauryn Hill? Dreadlocks. Kiss? The makeup, of course. Jimi Hendrix? The hairdo. I'm willing to bet that those images appeared in most of your minds before a single melody or guitar riff. It applies to all musical styles and to both talented and talentless artists. The music itself ceases to matter; whoever has the most enduring image makes the money.
Artists maintain and grow their images by creating public feuds, sex scandals, seamy headlines, and controversy. Fame is a function of whether the "right" people start talking about you, who your friends are, and how much your name and image are known. It is earned with the "4 S's": scandal, sensation, shame, and slander. It goes for movie stars, TV stars, musicians, politicians, and just about anyone else seeking or craving fame. The more controversy you create, the more you're talked about and, consequently, the better you're known.
So where does Collective Soul fit in? They're my favourite band so it's hard to be objective, but most of us have seen the blank looks on our friends' faces when we mention their names, right? Play Shine or December and they'll say "ohhhhhhhh" but Collective Soul has suffered (?) from being a "faceless band", something that the guys are aware enough of to have parodied it on the cover of Blender.
Being faceless means not selling as much. It applies equally to musicians as to car salesmen and breakfast cereal companies. Yes, it may sound irreverent, but music isn't just art, it's a business. In business, the goal is to make money, and to make money, you need marketing, and lots of it. Why do you think companies like Coke and McDonald's spend millions upon millions on advertising to help increase brand awareness? There's simply too much clutter out there for the average person to take the time to discover bands that aren't on MTV twelve thousand times a day.
But being faceless also means not selling out. There's such a thing as overexposure, and the "flavour-of-the-month" fads rarely last. By avoiding the glare of the spotlight, Collective Soul has the freedom to really focus on growing as a band and as individual musicians. We as fans also get the advantage of being able to see the band in smaller club shows instead of huge arenas.
So does Collective Soul get the respect they deserve? Well, no, in a perfect world, people would earn fame based on talent. But in reality, talent is often based on fame. Yes, it's backwards, and yes, it sucks, but that's just the way it is.
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