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Author Topic: TLOS's Failure In The UK  (Read 6283 times)
Shady
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« on: September 21, 2008, 01:30:44 PM »

I was looking at the UK charts today and noticed that TLOS has basically left the top 100 after about 3 weeks, (I think it left after 2 actually, but never checked).

This in my opinion is obviously disappointing, and has taken us all by suprise, due to Brian's reputation in the UK and The Beach Boy's popularity over there. Yet the album has been quite successful in the US, thanks to some very, very savvy marketing by Capitol. Sadly there was (and I'm not exaggerating) simply NO promotion for the album in the UK or where I am Ireland, seriously none at all.

With some TV spots, a nicely timed tour, or some TV interviews I really do think Brian had a top 10-15 album on his hands, but Capitol blew it for him, why did nobody think to promote the album elsewhere I don't get it.

Anyway Brian's albums do have staying Power, and hopefully sales will pickup when he does a TLOS tour in the UK, if ever.

Sorry for the random rant  Grin
« Last Edit: September 21, 2008, 01:31:58 PM by Wild_Honey-In_Stereo » Logged

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« Reply #1 on: September 21, 2008, 01:38:17 PM »

Well, I don't know if "no promotion" is fair. I live in the U.S., but I know that there was the Live From Abbey Road thing (or was that for an American channel). Then there were newspaper articles.

I guess they should have sent Brian over there to do some TV stuff, but maybe they figured they were better off relying on the Internet, since Brian isn't always that great on TV. What would you have done?
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« Reply #2 on: September 21, 2008, 01:48:17 PM »

Well, I don't know if "no promotion" is fair. I live in the U.S., but I know that there was the Live From Abbey Road thing (or was that for an American channel). Then there were newspaper articles.

I guess they should have sent Brian over there to do some TV stuff, but maybe they figured they were better off relying on the Internet, since Brian isn't always that great on TV. What would you have done?

Well yeah there was the Live From Abbey Road thing, but that was shown about 2 weeks after the release and at about 12 PM or something.

I would of sent Brian over to the UK, maybe do some in shop signings, and some TV interviews. I always thought Brian on Jonathan Ross would be TV gold. And of course a few gigs maybe, and if Brian didint want to do interviews he could just play on a few shows..just to make people aware that the albums out.

The fact imagination charted higher nobody can excuse, ughh very annoying lol
« Last Edit: September 21, 2008, 01:50:21 PM by Wild_Honey-In_Stereo » Logged

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« Reply #3 on: September 21, 2008, 02:15:00 PM »

I'm not sure there has been such "savvy marketing" in the U.S., either. The only reason I saw any of the marketing done here was through this board and myspace messages pointing me to them. I haven't seen a single ad anywhere. I'm online a lot, in music stores a lot, watching more television than I care to admit, and yet the only times I saw BW at any of those spots was, as I said, when a BB/BW community pointed me to them. (The only exception is "earned" media on pitchfork, which linked in its news bits to word of the various outlets pre-streaming the album and, I think, one of the televised things.) If that's savvy marketing, I'd hate to see poor marketing.
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« Reply #4 on: September 21, 2008, 02:46:51 PM »

Well there was the great USA Today takeover for a week, iTunes promoted it heavily, and it paid off. Yahoo, AOL and myspace stuff, and that's not all. Brian was on Leno and may major papers and magazines covered it.

I consider that to be pretty great promotion. Sadly that kind of backing wasn't extended elsewhere.
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« Reply #5 on: September 21, 2008, 03:44:55 PM »

I posted on the blueboard about this shortly after I read your post. No one has replied, but several people have read it. I thought we might as well bring it up in front of Brian Wilson Inc.
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« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2008, 04:47:54 PM »

As a UK-ite, I have to say I bought my copy of the album on the web via eBay simply because I could get a Better Buy edition with bonus tracks.

Including postage across the atlantic, it was still cheaper than buying the disc in a UK store.

There's no incentive to buy a pressed disc in the UK what-so-ever, other than supporting your local record shop.

My nearest store is at least an hour away, though I might still look out for the CD/DVD in a store, if anyone posts anything nice about it!

I haven't bought the iTunes version cos I regard my self as collector of BBs/BW discs, not ethereal downloads.

Was the Abbey Road thing shown on terrestrial TV here? Or just Channel More 4, which I can't get?

There was the excellent BBC Radio 2/Radio 6 Music documentary but the stronger emphasis there was on past glories, not Brian's on-going musical output.

TLOS has been released in the UK, hasn't it?

Have to say that if the release of TLOS has done anything at all (and I rate it very highly), it's turned me into a whining bastard!
 Razz

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« Reply #7 on: September 21, 2008, 06:31:46 PM »

Yep the 'Abbey Road' show was shown on More 4 not Channel 4,  and very few people have More 4.

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« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2008, 07:37:01 PM »

The only REAL promotion, besides the TV and radio appearances, that I know of that was officially sanctioned by Brian's people was the huge banner on top of the Capitol tower.

BUT -- for the past few weeks the vinyl version has been in the window of Dave's Records in Chicago....and judging by the price tag, I paid a LOT less for it at Reckless!
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« Reply #9 on: September 21, 2008, 08:26:30 PM »

Is there a possibility of having a promotion budget and spending the bulk of it in the US, leaving not much for the UK?
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« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2008, 09:49:47 PM »

I was looking at the UK charts today and noticed that TLOS has basically left the top 100 after about 3 weeks, (I think it left after 2 actually, but never checked).

ONE week, actually - entered chart at #37, dropped out the following week.
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« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2008, 10:49:41 PM »

Marketing in the US was extensive.

You had special promo video on Amazon
You had a "win a trip to see Brian" also on Amazon
You had special editions of the album in Best Buy, Borders and iTunes
You had Brian on Leno
You had the gigantic promotion on all the Gannett newspaper websites with the streaming album
You had a minisite created for the album itself
You had Facebook and MySpace pages created for BW and the album
Prime display space in Borders and Best Buy

Virtually no albums are sold through magazine or TV ads these days. It's all about stuff like the above. And that all costs just as much -- or more -- than a print ad.
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« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2008, 01:09:43 AM »

Marketing in the US was extensive.

You had special promo video on Amazon
You had a "win a trip to see Brian" also on Amazon
You had special editions of the album in Best Buy, Borders and iTunes
You had Brian on Leno
You had the gigantic promotion on all the Gannett newspaper websites with the streaming album
You had a minisite created for the album itself
You had Facebook and MySpace pages created for BW and the album
Prime display space in Borders and Best Buy

Virtually no albums are sold through magazine or TV ads these days. It's all about stuff like the above. And that all costs just as much -- or more -- than a print ad.

Let's try and think about the UK -

A nice one page review of the album in Mojo, Q and the UK Press in general (excluding the Guardian)
The More 4 Live at Abbey Road Show (fair point it was shown after midnight)
Erm, struggling now....

I think one major draw back is the fact that the album wasn't released sooner - or at the sametime as the tour in the UK in 2007. Both would have complemented each other nicely, people who go to the show could've bought the album and those who bought the album might have been tempted to see the show.

I don't think Jonathan Ross show would do Brian any favours as we all no Jonathan Ross is "no-holds barred" and would do anything for a cheap laugh - perhaps a Jools Holland Later Special or, dare I say it, an interview on Richard & Judy!  LOL

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« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2008, 02:46:32 AM »

I was looking at the UK charts today and noticed that TLOS has basically left the top 100 after about 3 weeks, (I think it left after 2 actually, but never checked).

ONE week, actually - entered chart at #37, dropped out the following week.


Frankly I'm staggered that its broken the Top 40 at all. Who on earth buys Brian Wilson records apart from the people that visit boards like this?

Its as much as I expected. To us Brian Wilson is an important guy, but to everyone else who follows the UK charts he's just some old guy who waves his hands around a lot and can't really sing. He just doesn't register with anyone except devotees like us, music journos, and the kind of geeks that are interested in all pop music.

I agree with Mr Honey (Wild, in Stereo) that its a shame that the record company and the Melinistas didn't bother to publicise TLOS at all, apart from sending out free copies of the disc (probably copies of the DVD, the 'Brian is Back' element of which may explain why a few UK hacks didn't like it). There was just nothing in the UK to promote the disc. Maybe they were relying on the fact that the suite premièred at the RFH and thought that was enough.

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« Reply #14 on: September 22, 2008, 03:24:50 AM »

I respect your point John, but it's very wrong..in fact a little rude.

Brian attracted one of the biggest crowds at Glastonbury in 05, and was considered by many to be the highlight of the weekend event, Glastonbury being one of the biggest music festivals in the world (he even played SMiLE tracks). He also wasn't singing very well, but they ate him up.

He has always been loved in the UK, if the album was promoted right (it wasn't we've established that) it would of been a hit.

Obviously he's not loved by everyone who follows the charts, but to think it shouldn't of charted higher is just strange for a for a fan.




« Last Edit: September 22, 2008, 03:27:26 AM by Wild_Honey-In_Stereo » Logged

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« Reply #15 on: September 22, 2008, 04:42:24 AM »

Yep the 'Abbey Road' show was shown on More 4 not Channel 4,  and very few people have More 4.



I should sincerely hope this is not the case. More 4 is available on the digital Freeview service (free-to-air, no satellite), and if you ain't got that by 2012, or satellite, you won't be watching TV.

Apropos of the original point, I would imagine that the non-fans were put off by the lukewarm reviews (and by the simple fact that Brian is really now seen as a 60s phenomenon), and long-standing fans like me by the reports of semi-listenable CD quality.
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« Reply #16 on: September 22, 2008, 04:57:21 AM »

Yep the 'Abbey Road' show was shown on More 4 not Channel 4,  and very few people have More 4.



Isn't More 4 on Freeview?

I know I get it, but then I get something like 300 channels.

Basically there was no specific promotion for TLOS in the UK. The Abbey Road thing was NOT a promotional spot for TLOS. Brian and his band were part of an hour long special where several artists played "live" at Abbey Road studios. Brian & co did God Only Knows, Sloop John B and Southern California...Jeff talked a little about the new album but really it was not a promotional spot.

There have been newspaper reviews, but no PROMOTION...no adverts. A journo deciding to do a review is NOT the record company promoting an artist. You don't promote an album by hoping somebody reviews it. You promote a product by paying for adverts, or signings, public appearances etc. There was nothing in the UK at all, and I suspect a lot of people who might have given the album a listen don't even know it has been released.

I know SMiLE was a different kettle of red herrings, but with SMiLE we saw Brian all over the TV, several new documentaries on mainstream TV channels, a tour of course, huge full back cover adverts in the music press, even TV adverts. And guess what? SMiLE got to #7 in the UK chart. Not to mention the cool tactic of the limited edition 45rpm Wonderful single, which spent 2 weeks in the charts before SMiLE was unleashed guaranteeing Brian some airplay on all the popular music radio stations.

I don't know how much better TLOS could have done, but if there had been more awareness I do believe it would have charted around the same position as it did on Billboard...and would have stayed in the top 75 for a few weeks.

Let's face it, Imagination did better than this in the UK...but then Imagination was promoted too...
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« Reply #17 on: September 22, 2008, 08:35:29 AM »

[
I don't think Jonathan Ross show would do Brian any favours as we all no Jonathan Ross is "no-holds barred" and would do anything for a cheap laugh

I actually saw Stevie Wonder on Ross last week and the interview/performance was done very tastefully and was interesting as a viewer. It seemed like he had great respect for Stevie, and would probably extend the same courtesy to Brian. Plus, isn't it good to get a bit of 'no holds barred' info from Brian every once in a while - who knows what he'd feel like sharing!

That being said, I didn't pick up TLOS in the UK because on average the standard CD was 12 pounds and I saw the vinyl in HMV for over 30 pounds
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« Reply #18 on: September 22, 2008, 10:47:28 AM »

True enough, mine was imported from the US of A and I paid less than £18 for it including all postage.
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« Reply #19 on: September 22, 2008, 04:57:42 PM »

You had special promo video on Amazon
You had a "win a trip to see Brian" also on Amazon
You had the gigantic promotion on all the Gannett newspaper websites with the streaming album
You had a minisite created for the album itself
You had Facebook and MySpace pages created for BW and the album
Those are all internet promotions. Can you not access the internet from Britain?
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« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2008, 01:05:07 AM »

You had special promo video on Amazon
You had a "win a trip to see Brian" also on Amazon
You had the gigantic promotion on all the Gannett newspaper websites with the streaming album
You had a minisite created for the album itself
You had Facebook and MySpace pages created for BW and the album
Those are all internet promotions. Can you not access the internet from Britain?
The Amazon promo was .com not .co.uk

The "win a trip" excluded non-US travellers

Gannett's a US company -  over here it's UK wing is called Newsquest and they didn't run the stream (though we could access/hijack it of course!). I worked for Newsquest for a few years and there was fudge-all chance of them ever being so generous.

Can't comment on Facebook and MySpace cos I don't (daren't) use them!

So while we could access most of the web stuff, it was entirely US-geared and orientated.
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« Reply #21 on: September 25, 2008, 03:50:35 AM »

Wee Helper is 100% correct. We in the UK had nothing, and though we could probably access the myspace and facebook pages we weren't informed of them.

Hell, Facebook knows I am a Brian fan and regularly tells me about ticket availability...but it didn't tell me about any BW/TLOS Facebook page.
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« Reply #22 on: September 25, 2008, 11:29:44 AM »


I'm not convinced that TLOS was that much of a sales disaster in the UK. I bought mine from the local ASDA supermarket on the day of its release (Monday) and there were seven copies in the rack - I checked on the following Friday out of curiosity and found one copy remaining. I stand to be corrected on this, but the last I heard, major supermarket chains such as ASDA and TESCO accounted for more sales than the recognised music retailers like HMV and Virgin, but perversely their sales figures aren't counted towards official chart placements. Jeez, if Brian can shift six units in less than a week from a backwater like Thornaby-on-Tees in the north east of England, then anything's possible. Oh, and if anyone's interested, ASDA's own album chart had TLOS straight in at No 14 in its first week, dropping to No 43 in the second, then No 78 in the third, before disappearing off the map.

   
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« Reply #23 on: September 25, 2008, 11:48:14 AM »

Luton Asda did not carry TLOS at all...nor Tesco....couldn't find it in Luton HMV either. This is quite a big town, and I had no trouble finding SMiLE nor even GIOMH here.

I have asked for the vinyl at David's Music in Letchworth - a proper record shop staffed by music enthusiasts some of whom are Brian fans - and they haven't got their shipment of TLOS LP's yet (they do have the CD). When they got their SMiLE vinyl in they displayed the gatefold sleeve proudly on the counter.
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« Reply #24 on: September 25, 2008, 02:00:03 PM »

Of course the real reason for its lack of success is right here. Grin

http://www.canada.com/cityguides/victoria/story.html?id=f22081d4-88bb-4c05-8a46-edcecbc92a8e


...He just came out with a solo album [That Lucky Old Sun]. He's been on the solo artist trail a while. We wish him well. And if it happens, it happens."

And then Love, perhaps smarting over past skirmishes, added: "The thing is, [Brian] was most successful when he collaborated in writing with his cousin Mike. That's me."


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