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Sandi Thom - something that will probably come as absolutely no surprise...
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/netmusic/story/0,,1786403,00.html
"But amid accusations that the webcast stunt was part of a contrived PR campaign, a Cambridge-based PR company yesterday confirmed it had been working with her since last June to boost her profile ahead of the release of her single..."
well I had thought it odd
that a supposedly organic success story would have passed by the largest underground music website in the country.
And she clearly doesn't want to be punk rock.
Thing is, the internet doesn't really make anyone
YET.
The Arctic Monkeys didn't get famous through myspace, they got famous by being related to the main guy at MTV who choses the playlistys and put their cack records on all the time.
Sandi Thom didn't come from the internet, she came from PR. And how did she pay for it? Probably from her overly rich parents. Not saying it's wrong to be rich, just saying it's who you know that helps. Not the net.
In fairness...
...you don't need overly-rich parents to pay for PR. My understanding is that an unsigned band can hire a PR for around 500 hundred quid which isn't cheap but probably isn't completely unaffordable for a lot of people if they really wanted to do it. (If she had a manager I'm guessing he paid it)
I agree with all your other points, Moker, and of course the people you know play a huge part. Just saying that PRs aren't actually that expensive.
"...you don't need overly-rich parents to pay for PR. My understanding is that an unsigned band can hire a PR for around 500 hundred quid which isn't cheap but probably isn't completely unaffordable for a lot of people if they really wanted to do it. "
You're funny.
i think your wrong on the artic monkeys
it was ages before they even made a video, most people heard them from the demos, which were available on the net for ages before they even started recording the album, i think the internet did play a big part in their success
Why oh why
WHy can't people just stop digging for answers and realise the truth..............................................................................She's crap and no amount PR that can make that GASH any better or remembered in the years to come.
LOL
I like
the Lily Allen song.
"Cambridge-based PR company"
I wonder who that could be... heh heh.
wow
cynical thread
howso?
i posted an ACTUAL link that shows how her so-called rags-to-richs story spun out by her label is, in fact, a load of toss. how is that cynical?
he must be a fan.
apparently
only 56 people turned up to her London gig last night.
!
where was that?
I think
the most distubing aspect of that artical is the quote from the p.r woman "you cant just rely on good music"
It explanes a lot of the pap thats in the charts these days.
It is a shame that people just cant let the music do the talking these days but there has to be an image of some kind to go with it.
I think its all been said a millions times befor and it will proberly be said a million more.
.....
record of the day.com has some interesting posts about this.
altohugh it gets fucking boring after a while!
i remember
when almost every thread on ROTD was about arctic monkeys.
Nah, it wasn't The Gibbon,
he left Quite Great aaaages ago to set up Primate PR.
He's my favourite monkey.
Ooop,
that post was for Adie, by the way...
I agree
with Seamus Swords - the quote from Louise Harris unwittingly sums up everything that's wrong and awful about the music industry. Taken out of context, it also neatly outlines the difference between "us" and "them": those of us with an ounce of soul left know you can ALWAYS rely on good music.
Yes, soul
Your last sentence is one of the better sentecnes I have seen on this forum
I think he was being sarcastic
Who, me or him?
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
Fortunately, I am the lowest form of person.
erm
but it WAS Quite Great PR, which is who i was referring to (the only PR company I know of in Cambridge).
Aaaah, sorry Adie,
him being a former fellow DiS-er, I thought you were thinking of Mr Anthony Gibbons, who used to work for Quite Great. I know he's always in my thoughts, big sexy bitch that he is.
:D
Ah, i miss the days of Rev. Shoo sending out Siobhan Parr records...
um I missed the siobhan parr records bit too...
cos I don't remember ever doing that. Did I miss that bit?
i hope not.
you hope
I didn't miss it, or didn't do it?
I'm confused today
but he's right.
although
you won't get a sandi thom style marketing campaign for £500. more like £1,000. a month.
He's right about a minority of the population
People on minimum wage or unemployed haven't got 500 pound to spare.
^Right
he said
"a lot of people", not "the majority of people".
I've not got £500 to spare...
...but if I was a Sandi Thom-esque songwriter who was serious about what I was doing and had any money-making potential (and you wouldn't get a PR unless you had money-making potential) I could probably earn £500 by taking on a second job, working a ludicrous amount of additional hours, borrowing money off friends, busking etc. It might take several months but, if I was that serious, I could probably eventually find £500. Cars and computers tend to cost more than £500 and I know people who are unemployed or on the minimum wage who people manage to save enough for those.
I'm not saying that most people could casually afford to hand over £500 to a PR company. My point was that for a lot of people, £500 IS an achievable amount of money to save, even if that takes a period of time.
there's some more
interesting stuff on her wikipedia page, most noteably that she was signed to a label last year and that this single was originally released in october and charted at #55 picking up airplay fro Radio 2...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandi_Thom
I don;t doubt she's worked for it
well, at least most of it, but it's just the issue of her being MASSIVELY SHIT that lets her down.
Also, was Traynor trying to say everyone can muster up £500? Because I can't, that's for sure.
it was someone else
but the point wasn't that anyone can "muster it up", it's that it's an achieveable sum in a short-ish space of time if you really want it..
It was me.
And my point was exactly as Guntrip points out.(For example I definitely couldn't afford to spend £500 on something but, if there was something I really wanted, I might be able to if I worked extra shifts and cut down on my spending for a number of months.)
So my only point was that, just 'cos someone had a PR, doesn't necessarily mean they're especially rich - it may just mean they saved all their money up.
Traynor just misunderstood it completely and responded as though I'd implied that everyone in the country has a spare £500. Which would clearly be bollocks.
no - he was saying they couldn't
i thought you had £17000 for more record shop?
'your' record shop
urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
No, it's one of my best mate with the phat
capital. I'm just riding on his coat tails like a filthy hanger on.
I think she is fekin' awful
(shivers)
If this is the state of the nation in terms of promoting music of this calibre as 'the best', then I may as well end it all now (runs)
No don't!
Come back!
i'd do her
hahahahhahah
Has anyone read Charlie Brooker's column?
It's amazing, his analysis is, as ever, spot on and hilarious:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1793784,00.html