| Benn 15.08.2008 09:45 |
Before you read on - THIS IS NOT A RANT OR SLAGGING MATCH. I was going to post this in response to a post on another thread, but thought it worthy of wider discussion............. >>The fact is whatever Greg does here is going to make little difference to the image of the band, they are what they are and you either love em or hate em. I think it could do, you know. Just imagine a scenario where the dedicated fan base have a contact in to QPL? A person that is charged with *listening* with an open mind as to what the wants and demands are of the collecting community. To act as the single point of contact / liaison between the QZ community (which contains a vast number of experienced, dedicated, passionate Queen fans with untold years of knowledge) and Queen Productions. A collator of the very highest quality ideas, thoughts and opinions which can bepassed on to QPL for broader discussion. That person would promise absolutely nothing in terms of deliverable product (after all, there's no power in the Queen world that CAN get anything done other than the band themselves or Jim Beach), but would promise to talk up to the powers that be and provide detail and opinions on matters like box sets, potential DVD / book projects etc. Feedback would then come from QPL - should they wish to feed back - and the information exchange would then be complete. To me, this is an incredibly exciting scenario and one that I think is entirely reasonable and possible. What it would take is commitment from all parties to buy in to the scenario and a promise that the expectations set at the start be adhered to. Lines would be drawn under old and existing feuds with the aim of having the very best relationships possible existing. Down is the gauntlet. |
| Togg 15.08.2008 09:55 |
A very interesting idea, of course we do have an even better avenue open to us that most fans don't Brian May .com Here is one of the few places you can go get FIRST hand information and even speak to the great man himself AND GET A REPLY (sometimes) I see everyone gets hot under the collar (me included) from time to time with Greg, however, at the end of the day, the reason it has got so bad is because it gets perpetuated by folk here not just him, so if you want a better relationship with QPL why not try getting a better response from him....OK OK I know that can be hard, but it can also happen if you try... |
| Benn 15.08.2008 10:03 |
Togg, >>brianmay.com It should be but isn't and never will. Brian's only interested in hearing what he wants to hear on what, after all, is his private website and the webmaster kows exactly what that is. If it's not, it simply doesn't get through. This scenario I've outlined bypasses all the crap requests for Brian to answer questions like "How did you make your guitar?" or "Why do you keep your hair so curly and wear clogs?". The Archivist and one or two other respected people act as a moderators for an e-mail in-box where only the very best and constructive thoughts, opinions and ideas get pushed towards QPL. QPL can do what they will with them, but the onus would be on QPL to formulate responses where they deem them worthy of one. And who knows what ideas may come out of the woodwork. |
| john bodega 15.08.2008 10:09 |
I dunno, he (Brian, that is) answered one of my e-mails. Good enough for me. Difficulty in getting any well thought out and articulate fans opinion to 'the guys at the top' is why I stopped trying to be a dedicated fan of Queen. Or any band, for that matter.... we just have to be real. They ain't listening. |
| Togg 15.08.2008 10:28 |
Benn Don't get me wrong I think the idea is a good one, I just think that more gets through to Brian than you may think, sure he doesn't have to agree or comment, but I would say over the years pretty well everything of any serious nature has got to him and he is or was aware of it, whether he chooses to do anything is another matter. Jen has to act as a filter to a degree, otherwise Brian would have nothing else to do all day and night but answer questions, so I am sure he has put out guidelines as to what he will respond to, however I bet she passes on things that fall outside that just in case, I now I have had several responses from him to a wide variety of things, some where published and some not. It would indeed be great if there was a solid link between QPL and the fans, but don't hold your breath, in the mean time I guess Greg is your best chance..... I'll just let that hang there and see what happens..... I wonder how many bands really listen to fans? I suspect most pay a passing interest but most probably get little say in what happens, all they can do is write songs that they feel people will like, how they are put out and in what form gets selected by suits in record companies and it is is too costly to invest in someone spending years trying to peice together old tapes they will not do it. The only reason Greg is there is because he was willing to do it at a price they felt they could cope with, it's not for the benefit of the fans, it's more likely because the band just wanted someone to keep there work in a safe place. I suspect most bands do it themselves or simply don't bother at all. |
| Benn 15.08.2008 11:15 |
Likewise here guys, but you get the gist....... And sure, Jen has to be a filter. It's just not that apparent to people "less aware" than it should be. Imagine these poor people that mail Brian "expecting" something; where are the expectations being set? I don't blame Brian either - he's a man in great demand from all sides and has to measure the demand accordingly, but you DO have to wonder about the priorities sometimes........ |
| regmarha 15.08.2008 11:26 |
Hi Ben, what types of info, requests etc would you like to see collected from fans and passed onto the band through that dedicated channel? |
| Benn 15.08.2008 12:03 |
Suggestions for high quality projects. For example: 1 - Book releases; ie a revised, updated and CORRECT concert guide. 2 - DVD releases; ie a Hammersmith Odeon box set etc 3 - Audio archive releases; format and structure etc ANYTHING that is of worth in the long term and enhances the band's reputation. |
| Micrówave 15.08.2008 12:43 |
Zebonka12 wrote: Difficulty in getting any well thought out and articulate fans opinion to 'the guys at the top' is why I stopped trying to be a dedicated fan of Queen. Or any band, for that matter.... we just have to be real. They ain't listening.Zebonka has stumbled onto a true paradox... and it's not a slag at the fans either. Think of it this way. If YOU had started a band and wrote the songs and success followed... then you'd have millions of people (fans) telling you their ideas. The thing is, fans ideas aren't good ideas. If they were, that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. And then that fan would be famous and people would be suggesting to him how he should represent himself. |
| john bodega 15.08.2008 13:06 |
You don't even need to be FAMOUS to figure that one out, matie! I've got what, 2 Youtube channels.... added all up it only comes to something like 2.5 million views. Me and my nephew are basically invisible on the internet, because we're nobodies, and I STILL get too much damned mail. Seriously; I give full credit to guys like Ted Neeley who will hand over all of that time to their fans. Because I only get 5-20 messages a day, and I still have problems keeping up. |
| regmarha 17.08.2008 13:08 |
They have a mailbox for fans, where all requests for products are received: link Probably one of the appeals of the band is that they never fully satisfy the fans with products, shows, interviews etc. Fans are always left aching for more... it means a lot of suffering but is a great marketing strategy for the long run. |
| Saint Jiub 17.08.2008 22:43 |
"Suffering" is never a good long term marketing strategy. |
| Benn 18.08.2008 13:15 |
regmarha, Do you think that mail box gets read / looked at very often? Can you imagine the amount of rubbish that gets sent there from all corners of the globe? My scenario eliminates all that in terms of the rubbish getting sent to QPL. "The Team" would filter what is received in terms of ideas and suggestions and then submit to QPL ensuring that only "quality" would get through. It could also serve to create and build project groups that are charged with pooling the very best information / leads in terms of rare material etc to do leg work for QPL once the all-clear is given for a release to go ahead. By the people for the people if you like and all for the good of the Queen legacy. As for leaving everyone hanging on for more, well, if that really IS strategy, you have to wonder exactly who is doing the hiring and firing, don't you? I mean - who in their right minds would be happy to be treated like that as a consumer? It simply doesn't make sense. |
| PieterMC 18.08.2008 13:29 |
regmarha wrote: They have a mailbox for fans, where all requests for products are received: linkYou don't actually think they read those e-mails do you? |
| regmarha 19.08.2008 09:28 |
Do you not believe they read those emails? Why wouldn't they??? I think they do, whether they 'deliver' is a different question. I think QPL has at least 4 reasons to make us wait for products: - there's limited mainstream market interest for classic Queen (as for any nostalgic band), and each release means a lot of investment, planning from record company whereas their income is less and less. - Queen only want to release high quality stuff, like 5.1 audio, good bonus footage on a second disc etc. These products require a lot of personal contribution from the band (mixing, etc) - Brian and Roger has limited interest in revisiting their past, they seem to rather spend time with their family, hobbies, musicals and actually creating and performing NEW music - and finally there's the marketing tool of making people wait for something, and not 'selling out'. strange as it may seem it works pretty well financially for any brand - they just need to be careful how far they can stretch timewise... So this results in 1 mass market release in every 1-2 years. I truly support Benn's idea of requests etc. but I think the main change would be releasing stuff for their fan base only... as they did with the bootleg downloads a few years ago. Queen could separate their mainstream Radio Ga Ga audience from us, and they could keep releasing '80s live stuff every Christmas, while releasing outtakes and the like with download or mail order only... in the latter case it would mean a lot to follow Benn's idea and actually research Queenzoners and other fans to see what they want to have the most. I'd go for the unreleased studio demos... |
| Benn 19.08.2008 10:48 |
regmarha, re: >>while releasing outtakes and the like with download or mail order only... in the latter case it would mean a lot to follow Benn's idea and actually research Queenzoners and other fans to see what they want to have the most. I'd go for the unreleased studio demos... As I'm sure we all would. But, you know, thinking more about this, there's obviously an element of reticence coming from Brian, Roger and John about any archive studio project. The DVD releases (and the accompanying CD sets) were worked on with the full awareness of the remainging three. By that, I mean that the footage and audio were / are all of significantly common knowledge to ensure that there are / were no REAL significant surprises to anyone working on them. The potential issue (as I see it) in working on a studio archive project could possibly be the potential for surprises. IE, are the remaining three sufficiently detached and "over" Freddie dying to be mentally and emotionally able to trawl back through the Queen archive and re-live moments that were either potentially hurtful to them at the time or of such personal, creative stress to warrant them being in any way objective? This, to me, seems to be the one single obstacle that may prevent work going ahead here. And,in all honesty, I completely understand it, but, if sufficient time has not passed, by now, to have the wounds healed, when on earth will it? If this is indeed the case, then the need for significant project groups of passionate, knowledgeable fans / collectors if of high importance to get ANYTHING off the ground. Obviously, this would need the buy-in of the remaining three and they would need to be able to give their trust to those involved in order for them to have a truly representative work issued. In many ways, this was what Pete Townshend allowed Chris Charlesworth and Jon Astley to do with The Who's catalogue and archive for the "30 Years" box and the subsequent catalogue re-issues and, for the most part, the fanbase got EXACTLY what they had been after, save for the odd technical blip and omission. However, there are enough significant reference works now out there, to ensure that any team created to handle this on behalf of the remaining three will be able to avoid obvious and avoidable mistakes. |
| Sheer Brass Neck 19.08.2008 14:28 |
So, same as ever, it's all about one thing: sales. |
| Benn 19.08.2008 15:21 |
I'm not sure, though, that making this material available for download is the right way forward. Imagine NOT having the FM box set available in it's lavish form we were so lucky to have made available? For me, there's something special about physically going to the shop and laying your hands on the new release. After all, we've been deprived of the beauty of the 12" LP and it's packaging, so taking the CD away ould be nothing short of sacriligious. But, then again, the digital age is upon us and taking over at a rapidly accelerating pace, so I suppose that having it available to download too wouldn't be too bad a thing really. After all, it's making choice available to everyone. And, increasing sales and revenue - all attractive to QPL........ |