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Author Topic: Beach Boys bought  (Read 27656 times)
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« Reply #75 on: February 18, 2021, 08:41:25 PM »

Never forget... Melinda likes nice things
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Seriously, there was a Beach Boys Love You condom?!  Amazing.
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« Reply #76 on: February 18, 2021, 09:36:00 PM »

Does this mean The Beach Boys won't receive royalties from their album sales and streams anymore?

No, they didn't sell all of Brother Records, Inc. to Azoff, only a controlling interesting, so they will still be sharing in the royalties on performances and the recordings BRI owns.  And of course there's a side issue songwriter's "mechanical" royalties in which the individual BBs have various interests.

Whether the BRI controlling interest that was sold is 50.1% or 75% or 98%, we don't know, but they flat-out state that they will be participating in any "upside" that Azoff is able to generate.  Obviously their *hope* is that with the big pay day they likely just got PLUS owning 49% (or 25% or 2% or whatever percentage they negotiated) of what Azoff is able to generate, they and their families are going to be better off than the status quo of owning 100% themselves.  

Overall, my gut feeling is that this is going to be a good thing for the BBs and their fans.  This deal effectively ends the silliness of the situation in which projects are vetoed or forced into endless delays based on decades-old personality conflicts and petty grudges. And let's face it, with the 3 principals at or near age 80 , something had to be done to ensure that business will carry on into perpetuity.  And as others have said, as a near-term benefit, this likely also ends the situation of gigs like the trophy hunter-convention being accepted without a care in the world as to whether they damage the brand.

But congrats to the principals and their families on (presumably) cashing in in a big way.  They've all earned it.   I don't know how the non-corporate wing of the BB family (i.e., Denny's kids, Dave Marks, Bruce) feel about this whole thing, but perhaps a rising tide will lift all boats and they'll all come ahead of where they were (e.g., if Denny's songwriting royalties and solo catalog do better as the general public gains awareness of the band, etc.).
« Last Edit: February 18, 2021, 11:40:42 PM by juggler » Logged
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« Reply #77 on: February 18, 2021, 10:26:51 PM »

Great Post, Juggler. Thank you
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« Reply #78 on: February 18, 2021, 10:54:35 PM »

FWIW. To anyone wondering if the ship has sailed, a comparison.

We have new licensed stores here in NZ selling a Ed Hillary range of clothing, something he never had the chance to endorse as he passed away in 2008. He would now be over 100 if he was still alive, and his famous years were the early 50s through to the 60s.

https://www.edmundhillary.com/

I see there is a charity aspect also (Surfrider perhaps for the Beach Boys?). The big advantage with the BBs is they seem to be all behind it and are supportive, unlike Sir Ed who would probably turn in his grave if he was in one.
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« Reply #79 on: February 19, 2021, 04:32:27 AM »

Was also wondering the same thing about the non corporate members David Marks and Bruce Johnston. Bruce definitely makes his money touringr. Be fascinating to get his thoughts on this if they were true and real.
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« Reply #80 on: February 19, 2021, 07:57:00 AM »

Also, apparently Melinda has forgiven and forgotten, huh?

If they were willing to go back to Joe Thomas in 2010/11 in order to make C50 happen, I can only imagine it was easy to work with Azoff's company with a payday that I have to assume would easily be in the tens of millions of dollars for each shareholder.

Ironically, Mike too had a quick kerfuffle with the Eagles organization in 2012 when he was called out by Eagles publicity for trying to use as an example an allegedly "overexposed" Eagles as a shield for criticisms over ending the Beach Boys reunion. The Eagles organization didn't take kindly to being accused of being "overexposed" and selling tickets for five dollars.

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« Reply #81 on: February 19, 2021, 08:03:58 AM »

Interesting. Folks are thinking about what this means for the members right now, but let's accept they likely have 5-7 years more activity at most.

Iconic can help them pull things together for one last hurrah, but the big potential is for -- ahem -- afterward. Not to be ghoulish, but the deaths of some of these guys are going to be a big deal. Remember what happened after Aretha and Prince died, and both of them were not at the apex of their careers. They had a huge amount of money coming in, and the estates ended up imploding. I think having Iconic there makes a huge amount of sense for the inevitable posthumous life of the band. There will be a _lot_ of money to be made.

It's not for nothing that Carl's kids seem to have been big movers in this. They understand the complications of running this as an estate.

Exactly. I think the members seem to be relatively realistic about what happens "afterward." Also, I'd wager they want to cash in and enjoy those fruits while they can (though I honestly don't know if this deal makes them "richer" enough to significantly change their lives or allow them to do something they couldn't already do).

I have to imagine they realize that, at this stage, even if they stay somewhat active for some amount of time, they'll never again be back to Mike's band booking 175 shows per year.

I'm not convinced a huge 60th reunion project is a sure thing to happen, but a sort of smaller scale version of C50 for next year would be a way to ease back into working and touring without going back to the grind. I'm also curious if larger touring organizations right now are researching the likelihood that, once it's possible to book "regular" tours, there's going to be a *lot* of competition as everybody tries to get back on the touring circuit, and thus a BB reunion tour would have far more selling power.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 08:08:26 AM by HeyJude » Logged

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« Reply #82 on: February 19, 2021, 08:12:24 AM »

Also saw mention in one of the articles that one area Iconic would explore would be documentaries.

They're running out of time to get these guys to sit down for extensive on-camera interviews, but it would be great if Iconic could push forward a "Beatles Anthology" level multi-part documentary series. I'd hope Iconic has all the good relationships and connections to sell a series like that to Netflix or HBO, and would have the deep pockets to put the money into producing it and getting all the needed music and footage clearances.

That sort of documentary project should be a main thrust of 60th festivities.

And obviously, *right now* would be a good time to get them to do interviews since they're sitting at home and not out on the road (even if Mike does some dates this year, it'll be a lighter touring year certainly).
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 08:13:44 AM by HeyJude » Logged

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« Reply #83 on: February 19, 2021, 08:13:29 AM »

All of this is extremely interesting - I'm tentatively positive.

An aspect of this hinted at in the articles is the 'brand' continuing after all these guys are gone - hopefully a loooong time into the future. But how would people feel about the Beach Boys touring in, say, 10-20-30-40 years from now without any original members on stage? Sort of like what has been going on for decades with the Drifters, the Glenn Miller Orchestra and similar log-gone acts. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it was pulled off in a tasteful manner but I'm sure there are many differing opinions about such a scenario.
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« Reply #84 on: February 19, 2021, 08:15:40 AM »

Also saw mention in one of the articles that one area Iconic would explore would be documentaries.

They're running out of time to get these guys to sit down for extensive on-camera interviews, but it would be great if Iconic could push forward a "Beatles Anthology" level multi-part documentary series. I'd hope Iconic has all the good relationships and connections to sell a series like that to Netflix or HBO, and would have the deep pockets to put the money into producing it and getting all the needed music and footage clearances.

That sort of documentary project should be a main thrust of 60th festivities.


Which wold be great (a documentary)! Just a couple of days or weeks ago I mentioned that I would love a new BBs documentary with lots of these little footage snippets that turned up during the years since EH. The Ida Blackburn stuff etc.
Also I hope for a way to release the complete "Lost concert" (including "Monster Mash") in a way that makes sense. The footage is pure gold to have, even though the guys are a little tame compared to the TAMI show.



EDIT:

And I wonder if this means that beachboyscentral.com will finally launch  LOL
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 08:19:19 AM by Rocker » Logged

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« Reply #85 on: February 19, 2021, 08:41:16 AM »

All of this is extremely interesting - I'm tentatively positive.

An aspect of this hinted at in the articles is the 'brand' continuing after all these guys are gone - hopefully a loooong time into the future. But how would people feel about the Beach Boys touring in, say, 10-20-30-40 years from now without any original members on stage? Sort of like what has been going on for decades with the Drifters, the Glenn Miller Orchestra and similar log-gone acts. Personally, I wouldn't mind if it was pulled off in a tasteful manner but I'm sure there are many differing opinions about such a scenario.

If that happens, they had better not call that touring entity "the Beach Boys", but rather call it "the Beach Boys experience" or something of that nature. It would essentially be a cover band, no harm in that as long as it's not pretending to be the real thing.
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« Reply #86 on: February 19, 2021, 08:55:57 AM »

With all of the trepidation and suspicion that some are showing with this deal, it's important to put it into context and note what has been happening in the music industry overall, especially with legacy artists and 60's/70's era stalwarts whose collective age group is now between 70 and 80 years old. Just consider how in the 1960's when the Beach Boys and Beatles were in their prime making hit records and changing the popular culture, previous music icons such as Count Basie and Benny Goodman were in their 60's...and considered "old" music...which means the artists we're talking about right now in the present are mostly in their 70's, and older than what was considered the old guard of music when the young artists were cranking out the hits.

The realization becomes a case of "it don't last forever", and both the core fan base who grew up with these artists will not be around to be the steady buying audience for products, and the artists themselves will not be able to tour, or record, forever into eternity, nor will they be around - it happens to all of us.

So if you take the bodies of work from these artists and look at them like commodities or stock - which is essentially what a music catalog is and has been no matter which side of the art v. commerce debate you agree with - The less visible and relevant that catalog becomes, the lower the valuation of that "stock" becomes. Basic finance and investing.

Artists overall are not involved in these deeper issues within the finances of the industry, nor are a lot of the ground-level managers. Some of them who have tried to manage these aspects of the business have lost millions in the process. They instead pay teams of lawyers, consultants, financial advisers, etc to navigate all this.

And here is where we are with the announcement of the Beach Boys deal.

There is a group now willing to cut a deal to manage and navigate these issues with the catalog and the brand name so it has *value* moving into the future. They invest and have a stake in the commodities which means they will work so that the value of their investment does not decrease. They want to build it up and turn their investment into a higher value than what they bought into, and will work to make that happen. And the artist(s) get the returns of this as well, like buying into a stock and getting the dividends when it increases in value.

It doesn't mean you'll hear the music used to sell potato chips as a general rule, or see golf balls with the artist's name on them...unless that's what the artist and estate agrees to.

But you will see a concerted team effort to build the brand image, the profile, the viability of the art itself, and the overall value of that brand in order to carry it forward and ensure it continues to be visible and make money.

That sounds like good business to me. An investor is not going to invest 7 figures into a deal and let it die on the vine. The idea is to make deals and decisions to allow it to grow.

No disrespect to BRI or those involved, but for two decades at least, it seemed like certain decisions were sitting on the trees waiting to be picked like ripe fruit, and they were allowed to fall off and rot in favor of finding a pretty leaf on the ground under the ripe fruit. There didn't seem to be a far-reaching plan to benefit and enhance one of the greatest song catalogs in American music, with a few notable exceptions. The meat-and-potatoes touring seemed to be the event which the public got the most info about, and the touring operation often seemed to be a separate entity from the name it was touring behind. Cohesiveness across the brand did not seem to be the order of the day.

Perhaps now it will be. And perhaps a company coming in to oversee the financial and marketing issues will have more at stake, wanting to increase the value of the investment, than a machine which seemed to be often set on auto-pilot rather than charting a course forward.

I hope it works.



And really, really worth noting is how this did not happen and is not happening in a vacuum. We saw it coming, with the sale of the Bob Dylan catalog perhaps being the most visible wake-up as to what was going on. When you have Dylan, Neil Young, Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, David Crosby...and others selling their catalogs in similar deals, it isn't a case of one artist simply needing the money. It looked like plans were being set up and deals organized (along with pitches for the artists) well before the public knew what was going on, outside of the industry. How do we take the music which is now 40-50 years old, created by artists who are in their 60's-70's, and make it viable and valuable and visible to current and future generations? And how do we create a win-win deal so the artist doesn't feel like their signing away their lives and children for pennies and the financial investment can continue to grow?

It would be an interesting deep-dive to look into how the individual deals and plans were drawn up, how the pitches were made to the artists known for being uber-protective of their art, and most fascinating how all of this will play out beyond a big payout on the handshakes sealing the deal. Beyond some artists perhaps needing the money injection due to the lack of tour revenue and taxes and other expenses...I think it will be fascinating to see where this goes.



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« Reply #87 on: February 19, 2021, 09:01:11 AM »

All very interesting and exciting. As for the future, I think ten more years of seeing original Beach Boys is being generous. I'd like to think that Alan and David could still hold their own on stage here and there in their late 80's...but I see no possible way at all that Mike, Brian, and Bruce could be performing by then. I say go big on the 60th Anniversary, and hang it up. Have the original guys designate a group of young guys to be the touring band, and maybe once in awhile an original member pops in on the encore to give their blessing and hum along to "Barbara Ann" every now and then.
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« Reply #88 on: February 19, 2021, 09:35:58 AM »

I do wonder if this will lead to all of the lesser music that has previously been officially released (but is now out of print) to become digitally available. Like Summer in Paradise, all the obscure Radio Shack compilations, Looking Back With Love, Stars & Stripes, that kind of stuff. Plus the halfway decent Still Cruisin'.

I have assumed that these were mostly out of print due to some (Mike mainly) being embarrassed, after all, SIP was omitted from some career spanning retrospective (was this on a website? I can't recall), almost as if it was a concerted effort to put horse blinders on the public. Maybe all that stuff will become available now, should be interesting.

Also it's interesting to think of the effect this megadeal will have on the market value of BBs items such as vinyl rarities, collectables, etc. I tend to think some stuff will go up, while probably a good deal of others will go down, since surely this will make some previously unavailable items now newly more easily obtainable, be it repurposed vintage BBs clothing designs (I'd love to see the ultra rare Smiley Smile LP official sweatshirt, which was advertised back in 1967 in the BBs fanclub as I recall, be reprinted), or newly digitally available old tracks that have been hard to find for decades.

If they're smart, they'll do official reprints of all sorts of old band t-shirts that were at one point for sale. I'm sure there's a market for even stuff like the Brian Wilson "Delicious" shirt that he wore in 1979, after all there are sellers who have recreated such obscure designs and I'm sure are selling some product. I guess the cottage industry of those types of items may wither away if identical official designs are released. Or how about doing a run of psychedelic polyester shirts that are based on the identical design that Brian, say, wore in some famous photos from the Smile sessions? I might be down to buy one. Many possibilities.

This new version of BRI (what will it be called?) should take fan requests for such items in an official capacity. There's money to be made, the super fan nerds will buy cool stuff like this if it's made right and marketed right.

Plus I could see a bunch of really cool and rare Youtube material getting taken down unfortunately, so I hope people are finding ways to save and back up stuff in advance.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 09:43:09 AM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
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« Reply #89 on: February 19, 2021, 09:40:53 AM »

Without knowing all the details, I was kind of thinking the same thing about a 60th reunion being built up, and then put the originals to rest. But 2 things come to mind that may create an issue...1.0 Covid, though if it's late this year or early next maybe we are assed that, and 2.) Mike Love's touring Beach Boys. W/O really knowing the specs, can Azoff and the others now say "enough Mike, this is hw we're doing it now, going forward" and sort of pull the plug on that if its not in the best interests of the brand? I wonder.....hard for me to believe Love would go into this if that wa he case, but we should find out more in the coming months. I still think, in general, it's a good idea to preserve the brand, expand it, and sort of maybe serve as an annuity to the others and their families.
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« Reply #90 on: February 19, 2021, 09:49:41 AM »

I've often thought that the last great way to reissue albums like Pet Sounds (which have been reissued a comically large amount of times) would be to release all of the discrete layers that are available. Multitrack sessions with each layer of overdubs in existence sitting in its own individual track, for fans to either "roll their own" version of songs, do remixes, or mainly just for study purposes to be able to marvel with wonder at the minutia that's been hiding buried deep in the mixes for decades.

It really feels like multitrack sessions are the unchartered territory which would finally offer fans (for a price) something truly new, it's the only way to get blood from a stone at this point for albums that have been remixed/reissued 3, 4, 5 times over. I'd definitely pay to own sessions for BBs albums. That said, I could also imagine later albums might have less flattering vocal bits, etc that the band might not want heard in isolation, but I hope they can just get over that fear in exchange for money.

I want to purchase some sweet, sweet Love You multitracks.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 09:50:40 AM by CenturyDeprived » Logged
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« Reply #91 on: February 19, 2021, 10:06:43 AM »

I've often thought that the last great way to reissue albums like Pet Sounds (which have been reissued a comically large amount of times) would be to release all of the discrete layers that are available. Multitrack sessions with each layer of overdubs in existence sitting in its own individual track, for fans to either "roll their own" version of songs, do remixes, or mainly just for study purposes to be able to marvel with wonder at the minutia that's been hiding buried deep in the mixes for decades.

It really feels like multitrack sessions are the unchartered territory which would finally offer fans (for a price) something truly new, it's the only way to get blood from a stone at this point for albums that have been remixed/reissued 3, 4, 5 times over. I'd definitely pay to own sessions for BBs albums. That said, I could also imagine later albums might have less flattering vocal bits, etc that the band might not want heard in isolation, but I hope they can just get over that fear in exchange for money.

I want to purchase some sweet, sweet Love You multitracks.

I've been saying the same thing about releasing multitracks officially for well over a decade lol, not just The Beach Boys. I agree it is perhaps the last viable way to offer a totally new take on songs fans have bought many times over and know intimately. Seriously, how many more times does a remixed or remastered version of a song or album need to be bought if fans already have it? They can keep the previous releases available in the back catalog, but in reality the re-release market naturally hits a brick wall at some point.

Multitracks are a different story. Remember those Sgt Pepper 4-track multis that leaked? There were little elements in those bare tracks that literally no one had heard since they were mixed down and out of the final master. Fascinating! That's the stuff that keeps interest growing in those songs.

And remember Bowie did an online contest where he released the individual multitracks of Space Oddity and had a fan mix contest or something? Bowie was ahead of the curve there, and I think others may have tried similar things, but alas nothing further seems to have come out.

Then there was a whole cottage industry in the grey markets when the video game Rock Band came out, and fans were able to extract the multitrack stems used for those games into 7 track or whatever mix-ready formats for fans at home to hear and mix. There were some revelatory Beatles multitrack remixes done from that similar scene. Again, it all put interest back into familiar archival songs. It let fans hear new things in those familiar tracks.

The only thing which might be an issue would be the delivery system for fans to actually load the tracks into a multitrack DAW or mixing app/platform. Most fans don't have a clue how to do that kind of thing...but I'm sure with a basic program like Garage Band or whatever, or even a proprietary DAW/mixer app that could be bundled with the multitracks along with user-friendly instructions how to use it, fans not as tech savvy could figure it out.

But yes, for years I've thought multitracks *could* and should be part of an archival catalog reissue program. To say they can be revelatory is an understatement.
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« Reply #92 on: February 19, 2021, 10:29:03 AM »

A modular documentary series that ping-pongs between history/biography and deep musical analysis would be a way to introduce the multi-tracks to a larger audience. Hour-long segments would be about the right length, though you could expand to cover more complicated (and fraught) topics.

Hopefully someone will pitch that approach to Azoff/Iconic and they can start implementing it over the next fifteen months--if they're going to make hay while there is still sunshine tomorrow, there will have to be a 60th anniversary tour to smooth out all of what has gone down since 2012 and properly position all this high-level, multi-falutin' strategy.

The approach should look at the three major phases of the band's creative career: 62-65 and the "teen-age to young adult" hits, the 66-67 peak and creative crisis, the 67-73 "Emersonian" (to use Paul Williams' term) perseverance and rebirth of a band that was capable of firing on all cylinders during the period of greatest ferment in music history. The fourth part should look at "Nostalgia: the pit and the pendulum drawn," about the impact of the past has colored what the band and each of the individuals have done in the years since Endless Summer cast a bright shadow over their ongoing career.

If Azoff has the right team, they can do fascinating stuff that won't simply pander to the next generation of Sunkist soft drinks. Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray...a totally knocked-out-of-the-park version of FEEL FLOWS would be great encouraging in this regard...
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« Reply #93 on: February 19, 2021, 12:04:03 PM »

Thing is, this isn't just about -- or even mainly about -- fans. We've been decently well-served, all things considered. Smile finally came out, along with a bunch of other session stuff. This is about true, global marketing and appreciation for the Beach Boys as a cultural marker. Aside from a few years in the 60s, they haven't really had that ever. That means some things that might make us uncomfortable, but let's face it: The combination of the California lifestyle and the peerless music is super valuable. And it deserves to be. I hope they do think about hardcore folks as they go forward, but there aren't enough of us to make the deal what it is.
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« Reply #94 on: February 19, 2021, 12:11:47 PM »

It looks like the official Beach Boys website has gotten a pretty big overhaul since this deal.

The photo collage with the alternate BB85 band photo is nice. The music section leads with a bunch of recent comps and archival releases and omits 15 Big Ones, Still Cruisin, Summer In Paradise, and Stars and Stripes. Not surpirsed by those last two but the inclusion of Instrumental Hits is surprising. Is that the only in print title that includes Punchline these days? Gonna also chime in and opine that the MadeWorn store seems pretty tacky. I never understood the appeal of paying premium prices for artificially distressed clothing. To each their own I guess. At least their not selling Beach Boys branded vape pens or bathwater...
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« Reply #95 on: February 19, 2021, 12:20:41 PM »

It looks like the official Beach Boys website has gotten a pretty big overhaul since this deal.

The photo collage with the alternate BB85 band photo is nice. The music section leads with a bunch of recent comps and archival releases and omits 15 Big Ones, Still Cruisin, Summer In Paradise, and Stars and Stripes. Not surpirsed by those last two but the inclusion of Instrumental Hits is surprising. Is that the only in print title that includes Punchline these days? Gonna also chime in and opine that the MadeWorn store seems pretty tacky. I never understood the appeal of paying premium prices for artificially distressed clothing. To each their own I guess. At least their not selling Beach Boys branded vape pens or bathwater...


And beachboyscentral.com is gone, but the pictures they used for that website are now on thebeachboys.com. Looks like progress!
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« Reply #96 on: February 19, 2021, 12:35:25 PM »

Thing is, this isn't just about -- or even mainly about -- fans. We've been decently well-served, all things considered. Smile finally came out, along with a bunch of other session stuff. This is about true, global marketing and appreciation for the Beach Boys as a cultural marker. Aside from a few years in the 60s, they haven't really had that ever. That means some things that might make us uncomfortable, but let's face it: The combination of the California lifestyle and the peerless music is super valuable. And it deserves to be. I hope they do think about hardcore folks as they go forward, but there aren't enough of us to make the deal what it is.

Fortunately, I believe that people are in place that have the hardcore fans in mind, and who also understand how that can be attended do while also building the larger "brand" for the masses. People who understand that a *generally* good model to follow is the Beatles/Apple. You can get your Beatles ornaments and socks and t-shirts and beach towels, and they also do higher end things and nice big, deluxe boxed sets.

There's plenty of room to run this whole deal on many, many tracks. They can push Beach Boys oven gloves at Target, repackage the hits, and do a more tasteful PR job of highlighting the same old surf/sun tropes.

They can also continue to push the cred and reassessment of their material that things like "Feel Flows" brings.

Iconic can also bring *true synergy* to marketing the band *and* individual members (if they are willing to participate), including on social media. Yes, Brian, Al, and Mike all have social media, and there has also been this nebulous "Beach Boys" social media presence that kind of represents *the* band, but also pushes Mike's tour. Meanwhile, Mike's social media is mostly promotion for his licensed "Beach Boys." Meanwhile, in recent years, all of the solo Beatles have cross-promoted group and solo stuff, eventually even compiling solo material into a digital EP. Long story short, I've long said that Mike's Facebook and Twitter should be re-posting news about Brian's new albums, and Brian and Al should be pushing Mike's stuff, and they can all push group stuff. The licensed touring band thing still complicates this to some degree (Brian and Al, after the early-mid 2000s lawsuits, have largely taken a hands-off approach to Mike's touring band, not really mentioning it much).

I doubt Iconic can stop individuals from doing interviews or even shows under their own name, so I'm not fully prepared to say we'll never see another Mike interview where he talks about the Wilsons and drugs/alcohol for the millionth time. But I think they can certainly contain and clean up any *group* functions.

Also, I'm guessing Iconic can pump *a lot* of money into projects if they want to. Remember that one of the main reasons Joe Thomas was as successful as he was in getting C50 projects out there and running was that he was able to finance or gain financing for it. Imagine someone with even *deeper* pockets, and a majority financial stake in doing something successful, actually taking the reins.

This could be *very good*, and as I've said, from what I'm hearing, things are looking very good right now as far as what's going on and what's in the offing.

I don't think this means we'll never see another hits compilation that we as hardcore fans don't care about. And yeah, it sounds like even the members are gung-ho about eventual hologram concerts and whatnot. We may see a BB song in a dumb Adam Sandler movie trailer or something. But in the end, I think the more things are successful, the more momentum this thing can take on.

Iconic has clearly dumped a TONNNNNN of money into this; I'd wager they're motivated to get things moving.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2021, 12:37:14 PM by HeyJude » Logged

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« Reply #97 on: February 19, 2021, 01:32:14 PM »

Forgive me if this has been covered, but is anyone else concerned about the language regarding rebranding focused on “the beach boys lifestyle”? Mike and at various times everyone in the band have attempted to sell the beach boys lifestyle brand since Do It Again. Isn’t that part of the image problem that you’d want a rebrand to change? Shouldn't the focus, rather than lifestyle, be on songs? So that they can be taken seriously as artists, just like their new stable mates Eagles, Steely Dan et al.
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« Reply #98 on: February 19, 2021, 01:53:15 PM »

Forgive me if this has been covered, but is anyone else concerned about the language regarding rebranding focused on “the beach boys lifestyle”? Mike and at various times everyone in the band have attempted to sell the beach boys lifestyle brand since Do It Again. Isn’t that part of the image problem that you’d want a rebrand to change? Shouldn't the focus, rather than lifestyle, be on songs? So that they can be taken seriously as artists, just like their new stable mates Eagles, Steely Dan et al.

I'll echo your sentiments as far as having found that bands I like attempting to become lifestyle brands has the effect of me taking them less seriously. This is especially the case when it comes to signature beers, like of course I'm gonna buy a Punk in Drublic tallboy at a NOFX show but did that need to exist? I'd imagine whoever's on the case can find some successful way to sell useless crap to John Doe without undercutting a new generation's motivation to to hear deep cuts, but the real question is which Beach Boy's lifestyle are they gonna promote?
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« Reply #99 on: February 19, 2021, 01:54:06 PM »

Forgive me if this has been covered, but is anyone else concerned about the language regarding rebranding focused on “the beach boys lifestyle”?

I guess it depends on what is meant by "the Beach Boys lifestyle."  

If you're talking about their lifestyle in the early '60s (with the striped shirts, the hot cars and the surfboards), it could be fun.

If you're talking about their lifestyle in the mid-late '60s (with 24-hour telescope shops, mid-century modern architecture, proto-psychedelia and pop art), it could be cool.

If you're talking about their lifestyle in the '80s (with Hawaiian shirts and Kokomo), it could be cheesy.

If you're talking about their lifestyle in the mid-to-late '70s, it could be disturbing as hell. LOL
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