"New platform will get Swedish
artists to break internationally", says Red Bull in a new press coverage
in Sweden today.
Well how many artists will be fooled this time? The
platform has been around for many years and is brainchild that Red Bull wanted
free music for their competitions and events and not pay royalty. Still they
have evolved a bit and do some good stuff, but mainly is crap. I will go through
the press coverage and explain you why.
Of course they tell you that they were part of acts
like Flume, Grimes and Nicki Minaj (for the last one you just stop drinking Red
Bull). Well all of these is products from record labels that works with Red
Bull. But Red Bull wants to break artists and they tell you that they were part
of Chance the rapper and Gallant. Well part of Chance broke on a mixtape that
was discovered by Forbes and Childish Gambino. Still everyone appears on
several sites, I mean I guess Reverb Nation could say they were part of quite
many artists. The fact is that they all create accounts there. Is just that
they will not break from that.
So what is the problem? Well they advertise it like
they want to break free from the record labels empire. The problem is that they
have created the same empire and using the same methods. They hire headliners
and the new artist is warming up for them. Which is good for the headliner, for
the smaller artist, well if that is good can be debated.
The other one is the platform, yes you have to get
into redbullsoundselect.com to be seen. And I’m guessing that that platform
don't have the same amount of audience as Spotify. To be honest it was not even
on the top ten list of platforms and audience.
What do you get? Well if you are chosen you get to
perform on several stages that Red Bull is fixing. I was on one of these shows
in Los Angeles two years ago. 30 days of music. Since the festival is 30 days
it's really just like another show, just promoted by Red Bull. It was not that
special. And remember these acts are handpicked so even if you’re chosen in
Sweden you might not get to L.A.
Then what the odds to be chosen. The press coverage
told us that 200 000 artists are in the program. Witch slims things quite much.
It's like being signed to a record label. They also has 100 other artists and
when you are new signed not much attention will be held on you. And if it is a
major they might world vide has 10 000 artists. So you need someone to guide
you to be able to do the process inside Red Bull or a record label.
Who will guide you? Here in Sweden it will be the
industry veterans Babak Azarmi and Johanna Beckman. Who? Says all my international
readers. We in Sweden might recognize their name. Well at least I do. But to be
honest that is just because I have seen their shitty jobs before.
I have seen artists they have worked with on international
showcase stages and one thing is in common. Someone did a really bad job and
don't have the international connections needed to do it right. Silvana Imam on
SXSW is a legendary example how you not should introduce and artist to a market
or the international world. And really none of their artists has any international
career to talk about. So have these people to lead your way in this platform
where you also need outside things. I'm not betting on that horse.
Yes I’m mean. Actually I think though both of them has
done a MUCH greater job then the Swedish record labels that is way more in disaster.
Still they are not any heavy weightier in the international field.
So when Red Bull says they want to be a new thing for
artists. Is just the same old bullshit that the record labels presents, just
with another brand.
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