Frontline:The Merchants Of Cool

[horrorgirl]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ows/cool/view/

This is a documentary on how young people in this country are being brainwashed by corporations into buying certain products, listening to certain bands, etc..

The part that I find most interesting is the section on how they market subcultures. They go into how Limp Bizkit was marketed by Jimmy Iovine of Interscope records. His self professed job is to change a band so that it beomes marketable to the masses.Isn't that the record label that Marilyn Manson is on? HA! He even gave money to a radio station to play a Limp Bizkit song 50 TIMES, because they had previously refused to play it. This section pretty much proves that bands that are promoted by record companies as being 'goth', 'punk', etc... are anything but.

Another point made is that once these mainstream companies get a hold of a subculture they **** it and murder it. So, they always try to latch on to the next 'big' thing by going to shows,etc..,and taking pictures of people that THEY think look 'out there'. One of the reasons why the record companies are doing not so well right now,in my opinion, is because they have exploited just about every subculture already. They watered them all down, mass marketed them, and forced them down the throats of people.

I already knew most of the information provided but it really made me angry thinking about how a whole generation of people buy into all of this without questioning it at all. These teens are like lemmings climbing towards a cliff.

Record execs like Jimmy Iovine can KISS MY ASS. Also, if ANYBODY asks to take my picture for a marketing survey I will give them the finger and a tirade to go along with it.

[Sobeh]

This is a fascinating look at the subject, and I've read a lot which confirms this. It has a bit to do with my own academic work as well, so thanks for the resource.

I did want to comment, however - most of the work I've done so far, and the studies that have been published which pertain, suggest that for some strange reason goth as a subculture has an amazing staying power and, because it has built-in processes which continually allow for re-invention, is likely to survive even these powerful attempts to destroy it for the sake of cash. I can provide the citations if you'd like...

At any rate, 'Gothic' as an artisitic genre, and the 'Goth' subculture which reflects the attitudes and ideologies with fashion and music, is surprisingly tenacious, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Go us!

[horrorgirl]

Originally Posted by Sobeh

This is a fascinating look at the subject, and I've read a lot which confirms this. It has a bit to do with my own academic work as well, so thanks for the resource.

I did want to comment, however - most of the work I've done so far, and the studies that have been published which pertain, suggest that for some strange reason goth as a subculture has an amazing staying power and, because it has built-in processes which continually allow for re-invention, is likely to survive even these powerful attempts to destroy it for the sake of cash. I can provide the citations if you'd like...

At any rate, 'Gothic' as an artisitic genre, and the 'Goth' subculture which reflects the attitudes and ideologies with fashion and music, is surprisingly tenacious, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Go us!

There is also underground punk. There are a whole lot of hardcore bands that will never be signed or marketed because of lyrical content, and the fact that those bands refuse to ever sign to a major.... In fact there are 'underground' aspects of just about every subculture. There is the watered down version that is marketed and aimed towards teens, and then there is the original form that less people know about. The people who participate in the original forms of the subcultures usually do so because it is part of their lifestyle, while those who participate in the watered down versions usually move on to the next 'cool thing'.