Musicians are not there to sell "experiences" in general: they are there to sell musical experiences. That's their art.
In his book "A Year with Swollen Appendices" Brian Eno has an essay that makes a good case for the role of music in pop music and pop culture.
Basically (and I wish there was a link this someplace) he argues that in popular music people are in fact selling an experience, a lifestyle, a way for people to self-identify. It isn't a matter of here's the music and then everything around it (i.e. all the packaging) is secondary, but that in many (maybe most) cases the packaging is really what matters; the music is somewhat incidental to the whole product.
I don't want to get into a No True Scotsman debate, but there are plenty of musicians whose art, while ostensibly musical, is not strictly limited to the music. Their art is in the entire packaging, presentation, and communal environment created.
Thanks for the pointer, I spent the last 30 minutes reading the book.
You may know this already, but this is in the essay called "Culture" which starts on page 317 of the book you mention. The preview on Amazon includes this passage, which is on page 318. The other essays there are worthwhile if you're into Eno -- a lot are in the preview.
Google found me links to Amazon, but it never occurred to me that there might be a preview that happened to have exactly what I was talking about. Very cool. Thanks.
For folks who have not read or heard of this book, it starts out like a more-or-less normal diary, but soon becomes a set of observations on working, creating, dealing with people, making art and music, and a bunch of other stuff. The second part of the the book, the appendices, are a set of interesting essays, fleshing out many of the things he touches on in his diary entries.
Even if you're not a fan of his music he has some provocative ideas.
Arena bands - the product is the performances, the releases a means to market those performances. Or, vice versa, the performances create a space in your head in which you enjoy listening to the music more after having been to one.
What we're seeing now is similar symbiotic evolution, I hope, where the non-musical parts of the experience and the musical parts (and stage presence -is- arguably a non-musical part) feed back into each other in a positive way.
Comments
Musicians are not there to sell "experiences" in general: they are there to sell musical experiences. That's their art.
In his book "A Year with Swollen Appendices" Brian Eno has an essay that makes a good case for the role of music in pop music and pop culture.
Basically (and I wish there was a link this someplace) he argues that in popular music people are in fact selling an experience, a lifestyle, a way for people to self-identify. It isn't a matter of here's the music and then everything around it (i.e. all the packaging) is secondary, but that in many (maybe most) cases the packaging is really what matters; the music is somewhat incidental to the whole product.
I don't want to get into a No True Scotsman debate, but there are plenty of musicians whose art, while ostensibly musical, is not strictly limited to the music. Their art is in the entire packaging, presentation, and communal environment created.
Thanks for the pointer, I spent the last 30 minutes reading the book.
You may know this already, but this is in the essay called "Culture" which starts on page 317 of the book you mention. The preview on Amazon includes this passage, which is on page 318. The other essays there are worthwhile if you're into Eno -- a lot are in the preview.
http://www.amazon.com/Year-With-Swollen-Appendices-Brian/dp/...
Google found me links to Amazon, but it never occurred to me that there might be a preview that happened to have exactly what I was talking about. Very cool. Thanks.
For folks who have not read or heard of this book, it starts out like a more-or-less normal diary, but soon becomes a set of observations on working, creating, dealing with people, making art and music, and a bunch of other stuff. The second part of the the book, the appendices, are a set of interesting essays, fleshing out many of the things he touches on in his diary entries.
Even if you're not a fan of his music he has some provocative ideas.
Arena bands - the product is the performances, the releases a means to market those performances. Or, vice versa, the performances create a space in your head in which you enjoy listening to the music more after having been to one.
What we're seeing now is similar symbiotic evolution, I hope, where the non-musical parts of the experience and the musical parts (and stage presence -is- arguably a non-musical part) feed back into each other in a positive way.