| Borhap80 08.10.2008 10:25 |
I'm not the first to point to this. But I really wonder why they didn't promote and advertise this album better. Made in Heaven had a HUGE marketing budget... As this album has brand new Queen material I'm confused that they haven't done more. I know they have done some Magazine interviews and radio shows et.ct. But I miss TV ads, posters and so on. I remember when Made in Heaven was released. Huge posters, many repeatings of tv ads and so on. I guess they have centred they ads in the UK maybe except for opening up youtube, facebook, and my space pages. I ask: Are they lazy, do they give a damn? Do they think it'll sell regardless of promotion or not? Maybe I'm too harsh, any suggestions? |
| Erin 08.10.2008 10:30 |
I will be more shocked if there actually is any promotion in the US. I think there might be with the Kharkov concert playing in the theatre. The real test will be if they turn up over here to do interviews. But, yeah, from what I've heard the lack of promotion does seem surprising. |
| FatBumGirl 08.10.2008 11:06 |
Organising the promotion is down to management and the record company. Not the artists. |
| pootle50 08.10.2008 11:18 |
There have been some crap TV ads on in the UK for the album. I'll get round to uploading once I've captured the Ad from my Sky+ box to the PC... |
| Borhap80 08.10.2008 12:57 |
FatBumGirl wrote: "Organising the promotion is down to management and the record company. Not the artists." - I have heard this line before and I don't buy it. Of course the record company deals a lot with promotion, merchandise et.ct, to earn money. Still one should assume that a band of Queen's size and status would actually have a lot to say concerning these matters. Where is the second single? (Small or Time to Shine) A music video would be a good thing whether or not the music video is a decreasing medium (some mean that). They are on tour and buissy yes, but still I miss some kind of hype surrounding the album. Would they want this album to drown, disappear and go away? No. I really like the album but I don't think it gets the attention (at the moment) it deserves. On the other hand. They have been in the business very long and know how to sell a product. One should at least think so? |
| FatBumGirl 08.10.2008 14:13 |
I've no doubt Queen and Paul do have a say ,but starting an intense tour at the same time as an album release, what else are they supposed to do?? They are either gigging ,travelling or doing soundchecks . How often to we see an album promoted on TV now anyway? Its usually cheesy shit at Christmas,Valentines Day etc, its mostly left to fans to keep themselves updated on the artists websites .Remember when Made in Heaven came out there was no downloading, its a new ball game now. |
| brENsKi 08.10.2008 14:22 |
Thomas Tønnesen wrote: Still one should assume that a band of Queen's size and status would actually have a lot to say concerning these matters. .......On the other hand. They have been in the business very long and know how to sell a product. One should at least think so? I am completely prepared for the tidal wave of "Stepford Queeney Defence" that's going to hit me...but as i have said before....there are some people round here who "just need to find a group to belong to" and will defend their idols "farting in a jar in the studio" - if they can say it's Queen...those people are sad. I love Thomas' statement (above) - they say ignorance is bliss...well some queen fans really must be ecstatic by virtue of their ignorance.... surely you mean "one should assume that a band of the size that QUEEN USED TO BE would have a lot to say concerning these matters" you see, queen have NOT been "that size" for 13 years. sorry but much as i love the band, their status is only confirmed by mediocre album sales... let's face another fact - if it were floyd, the who or led zep i am sure they'd be shifting shedloads of cds....just look at the interest in Led Zep's O2 gig .....the world wants a Led Zep reunion tour.... i respect Queen's right to carry on but - queen are not taken seriously because of mediocre product (my opinion and i am entitled to it), appallingly "trend motivated" "partnerships" - Five, Pepsi Ads, Robbie W, McFly, and of course the piss-awful WWRYstage show....i mean c'mon Ben Fucking Elton? c'mon tell me have the Who, Led Zep or Floyd done that? NO! that's why they will always maintain their ROCK GODS status, while QUEEN will often attract a certain amount of ridicule... |
| AmeriQueen 08.10.2008 14:49 |
Personally I think they should do something kind of corny and dramatic, sampling we will rock you, some instrumental part of Bo Rhap, the bass line from Under Pressure, all as a start. Then the advert goes on to mention Paul Rodgers, playing a couple of seconds samples once more, Feel Like Making Love followed by All Right Now. After they have musically conveyed the message that this band is back with this singer, i'd lay into the built up blast which would be the riff of C-Lebrity, followed quickly by Paul's vocals in Time To Shine. After is followed by several seconds later by the guitar solo of Call Me, that way they get the old Queen guitar feel in it, then lastly i'd tail off with the chorus of Still Burnin. They need to remind people about Queen's vocal harmonies and inform them that they weren't all Freddie sung or created and are still present in the band. They need to also throw right out in the public's face a fat audio reminder of what the Red Special sounds like and how that too isn't a Freddie element to the band. The best way I believe is to remind people of Queen via a build up, and inform them musically just who Paul Rodgers is and where he comes from. Most have heard of Bad Company here in the USA, and Free is more times than not considered a 1 hit wonder in America if they know the song, or else they can't connect Free with All Right Now. I noticed in Europe that Wishing Well, A Little Bit of Love and several more songs are well known and popular. Lastly I'd make sure to roll out with Still Burnin because it's appropriate in all ways, and it gives the Freddie loyalists a nice example of Brian and Roger's vocals now, reminding the listener of they're often misplaced portion of the vocals sung on old Queen albums. |
| Lester Burnham 08.10.2008 14:50 |
"let's face another fact - if it were floyd, the who or led zep i am sure they'd be shifting shedloads of cds....just look at the interest in Led Zep's O2 gig .....the world wants a Led Zep reunion tour...." Endless Wire only reached #7 in the US and #9 in the UK, and Pete Townshend has stated his disappointment at the amount of records it sold. |
| cmsdrums 08.10.2008 15:05 |
brENsKi wrote: Thomas Tønnesen wrote: Still one should assume that a band of Queen's size and status would actually have a lot to say concerning these matters. .......On the other hand. They have been in the business very long and know how to sell a product. One should at least think so? I am completely prepared for the tidal wave of "Stepford Queeney Defence" that's going to hit me...but as i have said before....there are some people round here who "just need to find a group to belong to" and will defend their idols "farting in a jar in the studio" - if they can say it's Queen...those people are sad. I love Thomas' statement (above) - they say ignorance is bliss...well some queen fans really must be ecstatic by virtue of their ignorance.... surely you mean "one should assume that a band of the size that QUEEN USED TO BE would have a lot to say concerning these matters" you see, queen have NOT been "that size" for 13 years. sorry but much as i love the band, their status is only confirmed by mediocre album sales... let's face another fact - if it were floyd, the who or led zep i am sure they'd be shifting shedloads of cds....just look at the interest in Led Zep's O2 gig .....the world wants a Led Zep reunion tour.... i respect Queen's right to carry on but - queen are not taken seriously because of mediocre product (my opinion and i am entitled to it), appallingly "trend motivated" "partnerships" - Five, Pepsi Ads, Robbie W, McFly, and of course the piss-awful WWRYstage show....i mean c'mon Ben Fucking Elton? c'mon tell me have the Who, Led Zep or Floyd done that? NO! that's why they will always maintain their ROCK GODS status, while QUEEN will often attract a certain amount of ridicule... I'm not sure that Queen can be directly compared with the Zep reunion. Yes, the Zep thing is huge because they haven't been together for over 25 years, and in the public eyes the main players - ie Page & Plant - are still there. To directly compare to Queen you'd need Queen to have not played or recorded anything for such a long period so as to build up an almost mythical reputation and status in the eyes of a lot of today's fans because they were almost from another era and age altogether. To compare directly you'd need Queen to have been 'split up' for an equal period of time, and then have Freddie, Brian and Roger reform to play. I'm sure in such a scenario there would be an equal clamour for tickets. I think if Zep had been together recording, touring etc. on and off since 1980, people would become blase, and they too would become seen as one of the 'old' bands like Queen etc.. who used to be massive but would in the modern day only sell reasonable amounts of CDs but not nearly as many as the modern 'hip' artists. Ironically, Queen are only not nearly as big as they used to be because they have stayed in the public eye! Another example of this like Zep is The Clash - near mythical status as rock gods purely because they HAVEN'T played for 25 years or so, whereas if they had done they would not be revered in nearly the same regard. As for The Who? Well I am a fan, but don't know that can be entirely blameless if Queen are getting stick for their recording or touring output - The Who did a cabaret tour in 89 (what would be said if Queen had gone out with percussion, brass, female backing singers and the like?!!), and subsequent tours purely to pay off Entwhistle's debts. It will be interesting in addition to see how The Cosmos Rocks sales compare to Endless Wire after a similar period of, say, 12 months. I commend Queen for wanting to get out and play and support and celebrate their legacy, whereas Robert Plant has done everything to distance himself from Zep continually over the years. Whilst I do not agree with everything they have done, and indeed agree that some of their actions do leave them openly to ridicule, I fully defend their right to do it! Cheers |
| Marcos Napier 08.10.2008 15:34 |
I remember the first time I heard Radio GaGa on the radio. Out of nowhere, the guy just said "OK, THEY'RE BAAAAAACK!" without saying who and what was going to be played and played the song. It was 1984, these huge concerts at Morumbi stadium had happened quite a while ago (but what came after that? Hot Space), so I guess everybody was still waiting for something from Queen for a while, even with them not so often in the media as before (or even less than in 81 during the tour). No announcements, no promotion whatsoever for the new album and single. The radio guy just welcomed them back and that was enough I guess. Sometimes the promotion happens naturally without any huge involvement of the label or other companies. Sometimes, it's pushed (these "leaks" at p2p) and overdone. Sometimes it's absolutely ignored, mostly for commercial reasons (it's not worth to invest money in a product - capitalism at its best form). The band (any band) is never involved with this, unless it's a band in a very independent level. You don't see big bands doing interviews on their own, organizing "listening parties", calling radios to ask for the song to be played - the label organizes that kind of stuff and they just go there and do what they are supposed to do - play the songs and occasionally talk about them. |
| April 08.10.2008 16:19 |
Well, i believe that promotion is desperately needed. if a song is played on the radio and so on every hour it gets stuck in your head and you want to hear more. With good songs it takes just a couple of times, like it would have been with C-lebrity. And it is surprising that the mass media doesn't do it. You know, guys, I think the reason for that is the rules of showbusiness. Somebody needs to broadcast, for example, James Blunt or other pop-crap and impose bad taste on the listeners rather than give some good rock like Queen or Stones or LedZep. And Cosmos Rocks lacks promotion, which is somebody's fault... |
| Negative Creep 08.10.2008 16:29 |
Well, Guy Hands didn't control EMI in 1995... there's a difference. Also, Made in Heaven actually had the bands singer present on it, along with single worthy material. The Cosmos Rocks doesn't sound ANYTHING like what it is being advertised as and has an obscure singer on it, which makes it hard to promote outside of "classic rock" publications. C-Lebrity was the lead off single..... did anyone really expect it to do very well? If they hadn't advertised it as Queen it wouldn't have charted at all as it is simply a terrible song sung by some guy who had one hit with another band in the early 70's! |
| Cwazy little thing 08.10.2008 17:19 |
Negative Creep wrote: Well, Guy Hands didn't control EMI in 1995... there's a difference. Also, Made in Heaven actually had the bands singer present on it, along with single worthy material. The Cosmos Rocks doesn't sound ANYTHING like what it is being advertised as and has an obscure singer on it, which makes it hard to promote outside of "classic rock" publications. C-Lebrity was the lead off single..... did anyone really expect it to do very well? If they hadn't advertised it as Queen it wouldn't have charted at all as it is simply a terrible song sung by some guy who had one hit with another band in the early 70's! With all due respect my friend, Paul Rodgers may not have the profile of late Freddie, but you're wrong about him being obscure - MOST people over the age of about 35 will know who he is, or be easily reminded because in those fantastic days gone by "classic rock" in the sense you mean it WAS the pop music of the day, and Paul Rodgers had his fair share of success with it. Beyond just Allright Now (and its criminal that thats the only Free song which is remember widely) Bad Company were pretty huge, particularly in the States. Yes, I had to do a bit of research as an 18 year old when this collaboration started, but Im tremendously glad I did, as all its done is introduce me to a brilliant forgotten gem in Free and a top radio rock act in Bad Company. The Cosmos Rocks sounds EXACTLY like what its being touted as, which is a collaboration between the surviving members of Queen, and Paul Rodgers. Everyone knows Freddie is dead, so anyone expecting his touch is an idiot, so you'd expect a bluesy old-school rock album with some grand flourishes, and guitar and vocal harmonies.....you'd also expect after 13 years of not releasing an album, the Queen side would be keen to not take it all too seriously for fear of disappearing up their own arses.... and bugger me if thats not what the Cosmos Rocks sounds like. You dont have to like it, but Im amazed anyone expected anything different! I agree this album has been criminally under-promoted, and its really only those who care enough to be up to date with Queen/Paul Rodgers news who will have had a clue this was coming/has been released. The Tour has been better promoted than the album - I've seen adverts in a number of mags, and there was a radio advert. And of course the big ticket websites pick up these things - I think most self-respecting music fans keep an eye on whats coming up for sale. |
| Marcos Napier 08.10.2008 17:59 |
And it is surprising that the mass media doesn't do it. You know, guys, I think the reason for that is the rules of showbusiness. Somebody needs to broadcast, for example, James Blunt or other pop-crap and impose bad taste on the listeners rather than give some good rock like Queen or Stones or LedZep. Exactly, it's pure business. If 2 bands are in the same label/company and have their albums released at the same time, of course the media will give more "chances" to the one that pays more (the good old payola), and it's silly to think that every artist in a certain label has the same "share" of the label's money spent in promotion. They won't spend money in something that they don't really know that will give them any return (Decca refused the Beatles, remember?), although sometimes they spend a lot in stuff they think will give them a lot of money back but it also fails - now it's not a problem of lack of promotion, but lack of quality. Fans most of the time know when their favourite band is releasing something, but the other part of the world doesn't - this is why many great albums are lost and disappear while we have to listen to the Pussycat Dolls or something. |
| Phill the Thrill 09.10.2008 12:39 |
I work at a radio station in Alberta Canada. I am doing everything I can to spread the word. I have already got them to play C-Lebrity a couple times....and I have called the all request line a few times to request it "as a listener"[br][br]But yeah, I hope Hollywood records puts some promotion behind it...they should have a "street team" like the Linkin Park Army or what ever it was and stuff like that, get the fans to help. (and throw in some free swag for our troubles, lol)[br][br]but I will keep trying to get C-Lebrity and any other single on the air that I can[br][br] |