Marié Digby/WSJ
You’d think their relationship with Disney’s TV and radio channels would be enough. That Hollywood Records wouldn’t resort to the kind of fraud legendary in this business in order to try and break a new act. And I emphasize "try", because you won’t find Ms. Digby’s cover of "Umbrella" in the iTunes Top 100, and if you think an appearance on Carson Daly’s show has any relevance, you probably think he still hosts TRL.
The press is there to keep businessmen in line. The fact that this story on Ms. Digby is on the very front page of the "Wall Street Journal" shows what a great paper it is, and how much it has to lose under Rupert Murdoch’s ownership. It’s just this kind of non-hard news story he wants to banish from the front page. But it’s exposes like this, that go to the heart of how American business is done, that need exposure.
Let’s get real. It’s not like any of Ms. Digby’s original material has got any traction. They’re working a cover. Hell, even Gary Jules can’t get arrested anymore (Gary who?) Ms. Digby probably never would have broken through anyway. But one hopes this article puts the nail in the coffin.
Kind of like the vaunted LonelyGirl15. The YouTube series continued after it was revealed to be a hoax, but you would only know that if you were watching, buzz was nonexistent. And the CAA repped producers haven’t made any big deals since.
LonelyGirl15 was about the story. Modern medium allows closeted religious prisoner to reveal her inner thoughts. Once revealed to be untrue, it lost all its heat. Once the uber-beautiful Marié Digby is revealed to be just another young music wannabe, no different from any other major label priority, suddenly, there’s nothing of interest left. Fans are no longer discovering her, they’re complicit in the shenanigans of a Fortune 500 company.
Guard your credibility very closely. Lose it, and you can’t recapture it. Before you execute anything untoward or false, know that in the modern era, if anybody cares, the truth will be revealed online. You will appear naked in front of not only your peers, but the whole world. You’d think that businessmen would have wisened up after Mitzvahpalooza. But only this week, we’ve got Lyor Cohen behaving like it’s the nineties and Hollywood Records like it’s the eighties. Believing their string-pulling will go unrevealed.
As for Ms. Digby’s appearance in "The Hills"… It resulted in this career-killing story, not any real traction. There was enough buzz for people to start paying attention, and find out that she’s a fake. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hollywood generated all those YouTube hits too.
You could say I’ve lost my faith in corporations, but I’d respond that my belief in the fourth estate’s ability to tease out the truth has been reinforced.
I’ve been e-mailed this story constantly, ever since it went live last night. It’s your turn to read.
