A New Model for Music: Big Bands, Big Brands [SXSW]

[Esau.]

Saw this come across my fb timeline and found it an interesting read and figured I'd share. Small exchange between writer Andy Langer, Sharon Chapman editor for Austin-American Statesman and Erin Walter the freelance writer. Below is link for Carr article in NYT.

For South by Southwest, Lady Gaga filmed something of an infomercial for Doritos, urging people to use the hashtag #boldstage and submit a video of themselves doing something “bold†to compete for access to her performance. (In fact, any journalist covering the event was required to do the same thing, which explains why I — and my colleague Jon Pareles — were not there. If we had done so, we would have consented to “give sponsor a royalty-free, irrevocable, perpetual, nonexclusive license†to use our social media efforts to sell corn chips.)

We missed quite a spectacle, from what I can see in video clips and news reports. Lady Gaga was smeared in barbecue sauce and mock-roasted like a pig and then, with the ink on the check from Doritos barely dry — and with millions destined for her charity — she bit the tortilla chip that fed her. “I won’t play by your†— insert street-cred adjective — “rules,†she said.

She then wagged a crooked finger at her fans who were shooting pictures on their phone and had tweeted their way in at her instruction: “When you leave this earth, no one is going to care what you tweeted. Don’t let the machine and don’t let technology take you from this earth.â€

And in a move that might seem redundant given the irony that she had already coated herself with, Lady Gaga invited the performance artist Millie Brown on stage to drink a bottle of neon green liquid and vomit all over her. Her actions — to happily shill for Doritos, then deliver a lecture on the importance of independent thought — perfectly encapsulate the conflicted state of the industry.

(You could say it was a new low, but last year, I saw Public Enemy, musical heroes of my youth, perform “Fight the Power†inside a mock Doritos vending machine.)

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/17/business/media/a-new-model-for-music-big-bands-big-brands.html?ref=business

[Northern Wish]

Here is a story about the meager contributions her 'foundation' actually makes to charity. $5000 of $2 million and people actually look up to her?!

http://gawker.com/lady-gagas-charity-donated-just-5-000-of-its-2-1-mil-1542463284?utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

[Esau.]

Thanks Sean. I wasn't even considering gaga when I posted. Just the corporate shilling required for journalists. I honestly read the "millions in donations' comment in Carr's article and briefly considered not posting as I didn't want to come across as bashing a charitable gig.