E-Mail Of The Day
From: Jon Cole
Subject: Street TeamsI signed up for the Atlantic Records street team a couple of years ago when the Format were shuffled over from Elektra because that’s what you do when you’re a kid who loves a band. I didn’t realize street teaming was about whoring yourself out to get a low-level job in the industry so that you can whore yourself out more & look like an ass promoting music that someone else thinks is good. It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t want much to do with this method of marketing. Furthermore the Format never received the first bit of promotion & were finally dropped from the label in late ’05. (And since they’ve done almost everything right… they self-released their next record, Dog Problems, through Nettwerk & have steered one of the most successful grass roots marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen, all the while most if not all of their dignity.)
I never removed myself from the street team because the e-mails had a certain car crash quality. Like the one I just got regarding the promotion of the forthcoming Rush album.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the band…they’re kind of a big deal!!! Definitely ask your parents! They are going on a 45-city tour and hitting a lot of major markets to help promote their new album "Snakes & Arrows" set for a May 1st release, which is their first studio album of new material in 5 YEARS!!!! So this a huge!
Someone’s either too excited to proofread their e-mail (Vapor Trails was a smash hit, after all…) or they just don’t care. Or they’re trying to type like a 13 year old girl. Or some bizarre combination of the three.
Desperate times call for desperate measures? Or is this the kind of thinking that sank the ship to begin with?
My favorite part…
…this is definitely a great band to have on your resume and under your belt!
Maybe if you want a job for some AAA radio station in Alabama… I, personally, would ask you why in the world you would waste your time doing "lifestyle marketing" for a band like Rush. I can’t imagine anyone who will be running things by the time these kids get their foot in the door will give two hoots about this marketing campaign.
Maybe I’m wrong… maybe it will catch on. But God, I hope not.
