Hmmm... YouTube "star" actually a Major Label Plant

[u b k]

from the wall street journal. maybe not news to everyone, and certainly not the first (or last) time something like this has happened.

transparency is hard to avoid these days...


Download This: YouTube Phenom Has a Big Secret - WSJ.com


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[patrox247]

Thanks for the post

[Stiff]

Can't say I'm surprised

[Jazzpunk]

You mean everything I see on youtube isn't real?!

[BLueROom]

sorry to say ...brilliant stategy

[dlmorley]

Ms. Digby wrote: "I NEVER in a million years thought that doing my little video of Umbrella in my living room would lead to this . tv shows, itunes, etc !!!"


I understand the business side of this, but it's a little sad because she will end up believing her own hype...

[chrisgraff]

The guy says "acoustical guitar" in the embedded video.

[abit]

a bunch of bs..

[TheRockDoc]

Ah, the old 'sprinkling in the oregano instead of pot' trick...

bad news... VERY bad

[u b k]

Originally Posted by BLueROom

sorry to say ...brilliant stategy

can't say as i agree with that. i suppose when it works it's a happy day for them, but when it fails it's not only painful to watch, it damages the credibility of the whole grassroots phenomenon and reduces the chances of future success via these viral tactics. i'm not sure i'd call a strategy that is likely to induce the future failings of similar endeavors 'brilliant.' it strikes me more as 'shortsighted', which is pretty much par for the course from this industry.

i feel for the young lady, clearly the jig is up and all the mooks at hollywood are doing is having her toe the line, which is bound to hang her slowly, and probably painfully.

but i suppose it's no worse than the slow painful death the mooks are experiencing themselves.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

[burst]

I came 'round here tonight to post about this very story.

Actually posted a piece on it earlier today at our music licensing blog.

Agreed on your "shortsighted" comment, u b k.

[Tony Shepperd]

I agree with BLueROom, I think it's a brilliant strategy and whoever came up with the idea at Hollywood should get a raise.

Why not use the internet for that propose?
With all the content that You Tube has, people will either like or dislike Marié Digby.
If there is no talent there she wouldn't have 2.3 million views.

Hollywood Records is not fooling the public with her talent, they just figured out a clever way to get her viewed.

Brilliant Strategy!

[abit]

Mooky-Pooky.
It is abviously a chip trick, but this is not the main thing here.
Let say we have Janis Joplin type of girl instead..
Cuz this one do me nothing.
That what counts in the end.

[melodic_disaster]

a good short term strategy perhaps

might fool the dumb or really young ones

but it is disingenuous and once the kids smell it they don't usually like being used and lied to

not a good way to build trust with potential fans

but hey, she will get her 15 minutes

[AlphaDingo]

might fool the dumb or really young ones

Aren't these the ones (still) buying music?

[noiseflaw]

Originally Posted by u b k

can't say as i agree with that. i suppose when it works it's a happy day for them, but when it fails it's not only painful to watch, it damages the credibility of the whole grassroots phenomenon and reduces the chances of future success via these viral tactics. i'm not sure i'd call a strategy that is likely to induce the future failings of similar endeavors 'brilliant.' it strikes me more as 'shortsighted', which is pretty much par for the course from this industry.

i feel for the young lady, clearly the jig is up and all the mooks at hollywood are doing is having her toe the line, which is bound to hang her slowly, and probably painfully.

but i suppose it's no worse than the slow painful death the mooks are experiencing themselves.


gregoire
del
ubk
.

Well said.

[quietdrive]

Originally Posted by Tony Shepperd

I agree with BLueROom, I think it's a brilliant strategy and whoever came up with the idea at Hollywood should get a raise.

Why not use the internet for that propose?
With all the content that You Tube has, people will either like or dislike Marié Digby.
If there is no talent there she wouldn't have 2.3 million views.

Hollywood Records is not fooling the public with her talent, they just figured out a clever way to get her viewed.

Brilliant Strategy!

Aint clever since they got caught, which means the artist is DEAD. Dead, dead, dead. They can bury her now. She will never recover from this.


But what annoyed me the most was this:

"No one's going to be searching for Marié Digby, because no one knows who she is," Mr. Bunt, the Hollywood Records senior vice president, reasoned.

HOW ABOUT WRITING HIT SONGS??!!!!!! Isnt that what people used to do, to get attention? Write great music?

No wonder the majors are going down... it's no longer about writing amazing original music, now it's about getting your mediocre artists (song-wise) to sing covers of hit songs, so he/she will get some attention. How pathetic is this???

[StoneinaPond]

More proof that all life is an illusion, with us as the master magicians fooling even ourselves.

Fake reality seen as real, while reality is being faked.

Eh, eh, ella, ella........

[Tony Shepperd]

Originally Posted by quietdrive

Aint clever since they got caught, which means the artist is DEAD. Dead, dead, dead. They can bury her now. She will never recover from this.

HOW ABOUT WRITING HIT SONGS??!!!!!! Isnt that what people used to do, to get attention? Write great music?

No wonder the majors are going down... it's no longer about writing amazing original music, now it's about getting your mediocre artists (song-wise) to sing covers of hit songs, so he/she will get some attention. How pathetic is this???

1st: I would be surprised if the artist is Dead, Dead Dead.
I don't think many of the people who are 10-18 years old (who would buy her record), read the Wall Street Journal.

2nd: Do any of you who don't like what the label has done, do you have kids in that age group?
I have 4 kids ages 10-16 and I asked them last night if it bothered them that her label did this. The answering was a resounding no!
If she comes out with an album they like, they will listen to it.
Pure and simple, that was their bottom line.

3rd: How do you know she doesn't write songs?
I can't imagine her coming out with an album of covers.
But if they choose to introduce her this way, it's just another way to market an artist.

In the long run, if it works... you will see many more artist doing the same thing.

[snüzz]

may she enjoy her time down the plastic hallway.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Tony Shepperd

I agree with BLueROom, I think it's a brilliant strategy and whoever came up with the idea at Hollywood should get a raise.

Why not use the internet for that propose?
With all the content that You Tube has, people will either like or dislike Marié Digby.
If there is no talent there she wouldn't have 2.3 million views.

Hollywood Records is not fooling the public with her talent, they just figured out a clever way to get her viewed.

Brilliant Strategy!

Well, we should probably give a tip of the hat to the Blair Witch folks.

But the man most associated with this type of marketing in the greater modern era is undoubtedly The Great Huckster, P.T. Barnum, the man who gave us supposedly two-headed babies, bearded ladies, and all the horse manure that would later grace the tabloids... the man who made the graceless sham into a public art form.

Is it a "brilliant strategy"?

I suppose it will sell to the terminally naive and the pathetically credulous -- as well as to those who appreciate the strategy for its sheer and unashamed lack of integrity and honesty and its willingness to thoroughly prostitute the "artist" and her relationship to her fans. (That said, it's clear that this young lady has no problems prostituting herself.)

After all, folkies don't care about legitimacy or integrity or true intimacy, right?

[8th_note]

I'm with BlueROom and Tony Shepperd.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary." Brendan Behan

[vixapphire]

Interesting thread here. I can't help but think that people are conflating the marketing/"break thru the clutter" strategy/tactics with the validity of the artist's work, though. With the amount of new product competing for attention every week, it's difficult to fault a strategy that brings the artist to people's attention. Once in front of the listener, though, the artist's validity/integrity/whateveryouwannacallit will stand or fall on its own merits. Hollywood records deserves some credit here for at least trying to play the game by the new rules - at least they're not just throwing money at radio PDs and magazine ads; could you think of anything more 1980 than that? Kudos for getting their heads out of the conventional comfort zone.

I mean, it's not like she's Sigue Sigue Sputnik or anything, right?

But now that the music biz has done the LonelyGirl15 trip with this one, the interesting question is, "what's next"? How will they surprise, fool and delight us with the next marketing breakthrough? I'm looking forward to the next burst of cleverness from the marketing impresarios.

[StoneinaPond]

In this world there are many things you can do.

Doesn't mean you should.

I'm with" theblue1." Nicely said.

[NFL]

Well, here is her side of the story, from her blog at myspace:

MySpace.com - Marié Digby - Los Angeles, California - Pop / Rock / Alternative - www.myspace.com/mariedigby


----

September 5, 2007 - Wednesday
Media 101
I think today will be the first ever blog that I write ... as i'm furious. fuming. angry beyond words.

Thank god for blogs because I can say whatever the F.. i want to .

So basically, I got a call recently that some shmuck from the Wall Street Journal wanted to do an article about me. He interviewed some people at my label and then asked to talk to me on the phone. I talked to this guy for an hour, told him every detail of my journey so far in music...

Here's Lesson 1 for me in Media - The writer will use whatever quote he wants of yours to make it fit his 'angle'. This loser was desperate for a good story... he knew what he wanted to write before he ever even talked to me.

The guy's angle is this : that I am a complete phony and fake and a pawn of my record label in some brilliant marketing scheme.


IS this guy completely insane. You think it's that easy? That you get signed and suddenly everything's taken care of for you!!!??
DO you think that my record label came to my house, my bathroom! and told me what songs to sing and told me that in a matter of weeks i'd be some 'youtube ' phenom??!?!

Wake up - I am GRATEFUL to be signed but you know what, Labels don't come to your house, hold your hand, and direct youtube videos for you .

I have so many dear friends who were signed to the biggest record labels in the world, made amazing albums and were DROPPED. that's it.....



I was STRANDED! I was completely lost and desperate... I knew that if i didn't do something, that I would end up like my friends.. that i would have this amazing record which would never see the light of day. Oh, and something else, as many of you have asked me, i STILL don't know when I get to actually release an album !! I mean, I 'm hoping that thanks to all of this good stuff lately, that it will get the chance it deserves but i still don't know for sure.

What hurts the most is that this loser took every genuine thing i said and made it sound like I am acting, that this whole thing is scripted. The dude is desperate to be onto the next ' lonely girl' or whatever.. i've actually never seeen that but its obvious that's what he wanted me to be.

I just had to write this because this is a place for me to say whatever's on my mind.. and I want you to hear what I have to say about this article.

It's really upsetting but i guess it's also a lesson learned.. this is my first taste of what media might be like.

OK. i'm not angry anymore

I guess it's that easy for me to get over it. good thing.. write songs or write blogs, i guess that's my therapy.
9:46 PM - 43 Comments - 56 Kudos

-----------

Njål Frode

[kafka]

Originally Posted by 8th_note

I'm with BlueROom and Tony Shepperd.

"There's no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary." Brendan Behan

Gee, I don't know about that. It sure has proven to help record sales, although live performance revenue tends to suffer.

[Mr. Green]

The big problem with this is quite simply that the people who were drawn to her to begin with will be the very same people least likely to forgive her once they discover the truth.

I think the above posters are correct in the assessment that the artist's career will be in worse condition now than it was before her signing.

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by Mr. Green

The big problem with this is quite simply that the people who were drawn to her to begin with will be the very same people least likely to forgive her once they discover the truth.

I think the above posters are correct in the assessment that the artist's career will be in worse condition now than it was before her signing.

i'll buy that. good point.

[BLueROom]

The "strategy" helped her get her 15 minutes of fame... and maybe more. More people know of her than before. I don't think ANYBODY would really think anything of some girl playing covers in her bedroom with a laptop mic if there wasn't some production, hype and money behind her. There are a billion kids out there with equally pleasing voices singing in karaoke bars around the country ...with no money behind them, rendering them into obscurity.

Have any of your heard of her before this? Would anyone here care about the hype train if she came out with a good, well produced, believable album? Guess what, there is a chance of that happening now because the record label created a built in audience. We all know the chances of that happening before this... next to none.

This was like American Idol on You Tube without the equally talented, equally hyped competitors. I'm sure most of you get annoyed by some of the kids on American Idol. BUT, that doesn't stop MANY of them coming out with albums that SELL because they have so much exposure and so many BLINDED fans. Same goes for this chick.

[heathen]

Shiiiit guys you mean everything in the music industry aint real, man I'm quitting now.

Kids don't care about being lied to by the media they embrace it and usually thrive on the buullshit that is spread around out there, just like little mushrooms. They only care if they look like a dickhead to thier friends.