Music
Fido's Jet Session, Another Cool "FREE" Concert!
An important life lesson I took from my Economics class with Professor Cohen at YorkU, was that there is no such a thing as a free lunch.
So when one of the major phone companies throws a "FREE" concert it leaves me wondering what are we giving into for it.
This Thursday October 23th, you can attend Fido's Jet Session for "free" by sending a text message which will grant you a unique access code that must be presented at the venue, AKA Toronto Island. The ferry leaves at the Bathurst terminal, the Porter terminal.
In the last couple of months there have been more than a few corporate concerts: CK, Red Bull, Fido, Extreme Fitness, Virgin, amongst other. It seems that the formula of bringing hip DJs and trendy bands is working more than fine with the marketing guys.
And why not!? Who can resist the temptation of not spending any money to see one of your favorite acts. In some way, I feel this trend is going hand in hand with the mentality that young people have when it comes to the value of music.
It's funny... when I think of this concert I immediately connect with the image of Pinocchio's Pleasure Island. All these kids going on a ferry boat, to a secret island where there are loose morals and plenty of fun... little do they know they will turn into donkeys. Will they? Will I?
I'm not going to lie and pretend I don't want to go see Tiga, Too Many DJs and The Cool Kids at an out-of-the-ordinary venue - I'm actually very excited for the event!
But then I start having inner debates about what are my own limits are, or whether or not I can justify going to something like this and support the corporation.
What do you think? Is a good party worth your personal information (which could lead to eventually you paying/spending more)? Where is the line crossed? Or, given the state of the music industry, is this where the future of live music is all heading?
Fido Jet Session: Connecting people to their city and the world through travel.
FEATURING:
2 MANY DJS
TIGA
THE COOL KIDS
VND/LSM
MARIO J
NASTY NAV
Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 8:00pm
Island Airport, Take the free ferry over at the end of Bathurst at Lakeshore.
TXT JET to 10987 for your FREE TICKET
Discussion
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Personally, I'm totally fine with corporations forking out money to produce events of interest to me, with their hopes of increasing brand awareness or promoting a new product to me at the same time. Whether or not they are successful is a whole other story.
Regardless of what hip band or amazing local art gallery (ahem) a brand latches onto in hopes of some of the coolness rubbing off, the relationship between the brand and band/event/venue/group/partner still needs to be meaningful, relevant, and properly targeted. I'm not sure if these concepts of meaningful partnerships are hard to grasp by some marketing teams, or they are just poorly executed.
What do cellphones, airports, and indie electro musicians have in common? I have no idea, but I'll see you at the show.
You question your support of a corporation? Do you have an internet connection you pay money for? Do you watch television and/or the ads interspersed between the breaks? Got a cell phone already? See movies at the Scotiabank Cinema? Go to an MIA show with Red Bull posters everywhere? Face it; you can't do fuck all in this, or ANY town for that matter, without supporting some corporate entity. You gotta make money to do shit, and the same goes for Tiga, Porter, and Fido. If Tiga can get a big crowd of people into a show of his for free and STILL get paid for it, more fucking power to him.
As for what they all have in common, they have an end-consumer who consumes shit in common. People who listen to Tiga might need a cell phone. People who use cell phones might need to fly somewhere. In fact, I'd wager both are often the case. This way Fido and Porter each get a bit of mindshare with a few artists' dedicated fanbases. Win-win for Tiga, the companies, and anyone who needs a new cell phone plan.
If you can get into a show with a bunch of awesome artists that you love and all you gotta do is absorb the cost of a text message, take it.
If we all stopped downloading music and actually start paying ARTIST for their work they wouldn't have to sellout and get in bed with these corporate giants. I hate the commercialism of music, but I also work within marketing and I get it. It's not about you, it's about the artist and selling their work to whomever will buy it and it seems like it's corporations. So get over it!
I'm not so tight with this issues and i don't think i'm looking too deep into them. I'm just posing questions, it's important not to take things for granted and give up like you are saying Ryan. Otherwise companies like Rogers can come and just set whatever price they want for the iPhone. I remember hearing WAY too many people cry about this issue.
Maybe is the feeling of corporations extending beyond mainstream, sometimes that gets me because then the truly independent ideas get compromised, although they do get funding, so it's a hard call.
Thanks for your thoughts
As for not downloading music, Tiga, 2 Many DJs, The Cool Kids, and many others attribute a lot of their success to online music sharing. I would argue that if their music wasn't available for download in the first place, they wouldn't have become as popular and thus hired to play this show.
i remember back when nike was doing that in the early 2000s in toronto.. they had contracted the work out to a young marketing agency who were throwing shows in kensington, and throwing down street team type things (breakers getting out of an unmarked van on queen west, whipping out the cardboard and ghetto blaster and dancing.. and then some other kid handing out nike flyers). i was so offended and refused to support it by engaging.. but now in my old age, i seem to be able to ignore that. maybe that's bad? or maybe it's cuz i don't think i will get sucked in to their marketing ploys but just use 'em for the free show.. who knows.
come to think of it, you know what i think it is too? that i (and maybe many others?) are getting desensitized to this stuff cuz it is happening so frequently now. we are saturated! i remember even just a few short years ago when virgin started having those concerts, i was feeling grossed out by it and one of the reasons i chose not to go was to ... Read Morenot support the corporate-ness of it. these days, i haven't thought as much about that reason (due to the desensitization) and have not gone mainly cuz of the cost. and i was at that recent CKone thing too without flinching too much.. but it's not like i am any less critical of corporations or capitalism. so.. i wonder how successful their 'new' marketing ploy is on a broader scale.. (probably very successful, actually, considering how many young hipsters blindly regard subversely right-wing-leaning rag vice magazine as their bible..)
also, it's not the artists that i point fingers at (the discussion above seems to be steering in that direction) but the corporations who are getting their fingers into our cultures.
and yeah, i totally find it feels like your parents organized the party for you too.. or worse, like your rich uncle who's doing it so he can subversely coerce you to do him perverted favours or something. and it's a tough sell for you cuz either you give the band some gas money, tap water, a floor to sleep on and have the event in your parents' basement, or you can have it in your rich uncle's mansion, complete with fancy and free hor d'oeuvres, cocktails, and maids to clean up after you.
you can find the full article here:
http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=313127
or its original source:
http://www.amconmag.com/issue/2003/aug/11/
beyond that though, it's just a waste of paper really:
http://gawker.com/news/vice/already-over-vice-magazine-196421.php
As Helen mentioned, these corporations are smart enough to hire young people who are representatives of these subcultures to do their marketing. This hopefully means more clever, thoughtful, and relevant marketing, which in theory is a good thing.
And while I agree with Carlos and Helen that it does feel a little bit like your uncle is throwing a party for you, keep in mind that it's a RICH uncle. Corporations have this $ to spend. The average (subculture) event planner doesn't. Catch 22 or win-win? If I did not work with sponsors to present my art shows (www.studio.to), I would never be able to afford to produce them. If Embrace Entertainment (the promoters who are working with Fido on the above event) did not work with Fido, this event would either not even exist or cost $50 to attend. Why is this win-win? Event planners get $, corporations maybe get to look cool, and you get to attend an awesome event.
You could argue that governments should be offering funds and grants instead, but we all know that rarely happens, and that leads to a whole other issue up for debate.
Well done Fido, looking forward to the next event.