June 19th – There’s always another buck to be made
in the music industry. At one time it was enough just to have the hit single or
album. The cash that came from that was distributed (unfairly) by the
production company and everyone (or almost everyone) walked away happy. The
fact the tour costs to promote the single or album were taken out of the
artist’s cut was a cross to be borne and, anyway, a good time was had by all on
the profits and journey.
As time went on other avenues were pursued and new outlets
sought to increase the shelf-life of product. Sheet music was one way but this
was gradually phased out as the desire to hear a piano vamp of Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower only had
limited popularity. Adverts were another way; backing tracks to tubes of
toothpaste, sanitary towels and diarrhoea stoppers have saved many an aging
rock star’s career…did you see what I did there? Career; diarrhoea? Value for
money here, folks.
The increase of sales brought about by the use of songs or,
in some cases, of whole albums in film scores is a fairly modern-day transfer
for the pop industry. There was a time when the services of a Shostakovich or a
William Walton, a John Barry or a Carl Davies would be sought out for the
construction of a soundtrack that reflected the film’s artistic bent; no more.
Now it’s sufficient just to tack on a load of pop songs to gain immediate
street cred, and many a clunky movie was rendered memorable in the public’s
collective consciousness by the virtue of a memorable song or soundtrack – An Officer and a Gentleman’, Mad Max – Beyond Thunderdome, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves to name
but three.
This outlet can increase sales and audience fondness for both
song and movie exponentially and the better the final movie product the greater
is the standing of the artist to his or her paying public. Certainly being
associated with, say, a Tarantino movie is, I would say, the height of cool; however,
being associated with a film about a vampire-fighting, U.S.
On this day in 2012, the film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter was released (escaped?) in the U.S.
and, judging by the pre-release hype, Linkin Park who supplied the credit
play-out song, Powerless must have
been rubbing their hands at the thought of all those additional sales on the
back of the film’s garnering of Oscars and BAFTA’s; alas, they were cruelly mistaken.
To have your song playing at the end of what was, even by
fantasy-film standards, a laughable plot, dénouement and resolution has
probably consigned that song to the dustbin of failure and you know what, it’s
not such a bad song? What’s bad is having it allied to a movie where the head
vampire is stabbed to death by a pocket watch…
Answers to the day before yesterday’s quiz: If you got ANY of
them right you need to get out more.
1) Surprise September wedding at Boone
Hall Plantation in South Carolina
2) Match the baby to the mum – Blue Ivy
with Beyonce Knowles. Noah with Megan Fox. Olive with Adele.
3) Everything is suddenly klum as
bodyguard seals breakup – Seal and Heidi Klum breakup
4) Dottie P takes on The Klan –
Kardishan Klan sing up to Dorothy Perkins
5) 10 carrots for Friend’s engagement –
Jennifer Ansiton engagement to Justin Theroux
6) Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Florence
Thurman-Busson makes debut – Uma Thurman’s name for her baby
7) Right leg, right photo op – Angelina Jolie on the red carpet
8) Smells like further Fame for a Lady –
Perfume launch for Lady GAGA
9) Thrown out of Paradis by pirate –
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis split
10) Snow White snogging session ends partnership –
Kristen Stewart
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