The formula for mega success in the music biz

[Barking Spiders]

Coming back from a biz trip this morn , i was listening to Jeremy Vine on the car wireless. he played some plodding U2 song., probably one of their later ones as it had some plinky piano and little guitar. Got me thinking, what is it about them that they've managed to be one of these mega-sellers. What do they have in common with other mega sellers liker Coldplay, Oasis, Adele,  Ed Sheeran,  Dido, Michael Buble, Blunty,  Eminem, Beyonce, Amy Winehouse, Rihanna.  Eminem is the odd one out here,  hardly summat your old gran would sway along to at the xmas family bash.

If you were a record company MD what what would you look for and what would you avoid. Clearly having the instrumental chops doesn't county for a hill of beans and being original or innovative is probably a hindrance. Reminds me of that old TV ad with some  music exec saying to a young band something along the lines of 'you can't sing, you can't dance and you can't play......you'll go far'. Is there something in this?!

[charic]

Right place and right time to the right audience

[Dood]

14 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

Reminds me of that old TV ad with some  music exec saying to a young band something along the lines of 'you can't sing, you can't dance and you can't play......you'll go far'. Is there something in this?!

Have a break, have a Kit-Kat.

[Dood]

15 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

If you were a record company MD what what would you look for and what would you avoid. 

Well, firstly it's not the MUSIC Business, it's the music BUSINESS and therefore it's about making money, thus what is marketable. I guess the music equivalent of Godwin's Law is mentioning the X-Factor machine - and unfortunately that is a great example of marketability.

[ambient]

U2 have been around for years and years. They haven't always been the height of boring, when they started they were quite exciting. New years day, the Joshua tree etc. Their music was perfect really for stadiums and huge arenas. I guess their audience has aged and mellowed along with their music.

[Paul S]

I'd get Nile Rodgers to produce it - that seems to work. 

[pbasspecial]

Talent x Hardwork = Success

Style x Attitude = Star 

[BassTractor]

49 minutes ago, Barking Spiders said:

what is it about them that they've managed to be one of these mega-sellers.

Simples. They're the most musically talented musicians of all time!

Aw, c'mon! Someone had to say it!

[ambient]

For the record label it’s about knowing the market, and being able to identify which artists will succeed in their market.

 

For the artists it’s an amazing amount of good fortune, being in the right place at the right time, and sometimes knowing the right people. Talent doesn’t necessarily come into it. The artist does need to know what they’re going though, and develop the right image etc.

[Skybone]

Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty's book, "The Manual, How to Have a Number One Hit The Easy Way".

[Lozz196]

2 hours ago, ambient said:

U2 have been around for years and years. They haven't always been the height of boring, when they started they were quite exciting. New years day, the Joshua tree etc. Their music was perfect really for stadiums and huge arenas. I guess their audience has aged and mellowed along with their music.

Yep, and until The Joshua Tree, although they were semi-successful, they weren`t massive. I think both Pride, and Bonos vocals on Band Aid brought them a bit more into the commercial arena. Their record company stuck with them for about 3 or 4 albums prior to TJT, whereas in nowadays climate would that happen?

[mikel]

Some bands/acts transcend the "Formula". U2. The Police. Dire Straits, I mean Knopfler was in his 30s and almost bald when they made it huge. They also used a traditional rhythm guitar rather than the two lead guitar attack. Boy and Girl bands have a "Formula". They all have to be pretty, one blond one dark hair and a "Cute" one. For the girl bands, wearing the minimum of clothing also seems to be a winner. Cant see why myself 

[AndyTravis]

Music for musicians Vs. music for the masses.

thats where I’m up to with it. My eyes were starting to hurt from rolling them.

[mikel]

Just because something is popular does not mean it cant be good, or for "Musicians".  Whatever that means. Sounds a bit smug to me. I mean, I am a musician but I doubt my taste is more relevant than the "Masses".

[AndyTravis]

13 minutes ago, mikel said:

Just because something is popular does not mean it cant be good, or for "Musicians".  Whatever that means. Sounds a bit smug to me. I mean, I am a musician but I doubt my taste is more relevant than the "Masses".

Maybe I didn’t word it well, I knew what I meant though...

I’ll have a think and re-word it so I don’t come across as smug...

[ambient]

I don't think there is an actual formula, if there was then you'd be able to follow it and become famous :).

I'd argue that dire straits were a little different to everything else that was around at the time. Wasn't it mostly synth based pop? So along comes a guitar based English band lead by someone who looked very normal and down to earth. They were making records that wasn't your average 'pop' record. 

 

[Lozz196]

I showed one of the young-ones at work a youtube clip of The Sex Pistols playing live in the US. Her question was, who were they marketed at? Kind of says it all really, the difference in today v yesteryear. Of course bands were marketed all the way through the music biz history, but I think nowadays that`s a lot of the initial thoughts on creating the bands, rather than once they`re formed and have developed their sound - hence the OP question, the formula for mega success.  Said young-one  was also amazed that anyone who looked so clearly mad was ever famous. She thought he should have been locked up.

[mikel]

20 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Maybe I didn’t word it well, I knew what I meant though...

I’ll have a think and re-word it so I don’t come across as smug...

Apologies mate, Smug was the wrong word. I take it back.  

[gjones]

Hype.

I used to go see KT Tunstall when she lived in Edinburgh. I could see she had great talent but I was watching her playing in coffee bars, with her looper peda,l for 50 quid a gig.

Then one day there's a cancellation on Jools Holland's show and she suddenly gets exposure to a UK wide audience. The next thing you know her album is a No 3 in the UK charts and it goes multi platinum around the world.

Talent is not enough, it needs exposure. There's plenty of people out there who are as talented as KT Tunstall but they'll never make it big without a bit of hype.

Just to jog your memories.....

 

 

 

 

 

[T-Bay]

U2s earlier stuff like Sunday Bloody Sunday and Gloria were great songs in my opinion. Then they did what you need to do be big -don’t rock the boat, put out stuff that is in the most part what people expect you to make. The sort of stuff that doesn’t cause granny to spit out her false teeth but will have most people humming along if it comes on the radio. Coldplay’s success on the other hand defies any sense or logic I can come up with. Utterly bland songs played in a truly miserable way but sell millions, go figure as the Americans would say.

[BigRedX]

3 hours ago, Skybone said:

Bill Drummond & Jimmy Cauty's book, "The Manual, How to Have a Number One Hit The Easy Way".

Only one other band was able to make it work. 

Plus having re-read it recently I'd say most of the advice in it is so out of date that it's been reduced to a quaint historical document rather than anything actually useful.

[BigRedX]

5 hours ago, ambient said:

U2 have been around for years and years. They haven't always been the height of boring, when they started they were quite exciting. New years day, the Joshua tree etc. Their music was perfect really for stadiums and huge arenas. I guess their audience has aged and mellowed along with their music.

When "Boy" was released what U2 were doing was fairly radical compared with other "new wave" pop bands. Good tunes coupled with an inventive guitarist. It hasn't always been "stadium rock" either. I saw them in 1980 along with about 50 other people at The Boat Club here in Nottingham on their first proper headlining tour.

[ambient]

5 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

When "Boy" was released what U2 were doing was fairly radical compared with other "new wave" pop bands. Good tunes coupled with an inventive guitarist. It hasn't always been "stadium rock" either. I saw them in 1980 along with about 50 other people at The Boat Club here in Nottingham on their first proper headlining tour.

My older brother had a tape of I think it was 'War'. I remember hearing it for the first time, and you're absolutely right, there was a track where a trumpet comes from nowhere.

[progben]

3 hours ago, AndyTravis said:

Maybe I didn’t word it well, I knew what I meant though...

I’ll have a think and re-word it so I don’t come across as smug...

I get ya Andy. There's a clear difference, maybe more between what I'd call passive and active music listeners, rather than "musicians". There's cross over for sure - I enjoy the s*** on the radio and Cannibal Corpse in equal measure haha - but there's a limit for the passive consumers, and that limit is fully recognised and honed in on by the music biz. 

[AndyTravis]

6 hours ago, progben said:

I get ya Andy. There's a clear difference, maybe more between what I'd call passive and active music listeners, rather than "musicians". There's cross over for sure - I enjoy the s*** on the radio and Cannibal Corpse in equal measure haha - but there's a limit for the passive consumers, and that limit is fully recognised and honed in on by the music biz. 

How eloquent ?