How to launch a debut album on DG
NewsIn order to persuade the DG gatekeepers that his debut solo album is worth promoting, Chopin Competition winner Bruce Liu has been put through all manner of contortions, as you can see.
A pity, since it detracts from the extraordinary content of the album which is remarkably bold for a first release.
The rest is just … gymnastics.
WTF. The new Lang Lang? Notice that another Chopin Competition winner by the name of Rafal Blechacz (and Polish, no less) also recently released a Chopin album, also on DG, which has received scant attention despite its beyond exceptional quality. I consider it one of the finest Chopin recordings of recent vintage, or any vintage for that matter. Oh, and the album cover needed no props. But seriousness (of purpose and mien) doesn’t sell, does it? Charlatanism, clownmanship and dumbing down does in these barren times.
Always funny to see people most triggered by marketing are the same ones who claim they only care about substance not marketing. Bruce Liu is a far more interesting pianist than Rafał Blechacz. That Blechacz’s recent recording is “one of the finest of any vintage” is a laughable assertion. It betrays the mindset of someone who equates low name recognition with high artistic integrity. It’s no wonder some musicians will go out of their way to avoid ostentatious marketing to create an artificial aura of artistic seriousness. This is a disguised marketing strategy created specifically to cater to people like you. This type of musicians do nothing to broaden the appeal of classical music but only hope to create a niche for themselves among insecure music consumers who posture for fine tastes but do not listen.
Judging by his recent Chopin recording, Blechacz does not deserve any more attention than he is getting and he should be grateful he can still dupe people like you.
Fine, then. For his next album for DG, let’s have Blechacz don a thong, the better to improve on Yuja Wang. On top of that, let’s pair him with Bad Bunny and Lizzo. Sales are guaranteed to go viral, huge audiences will be endeared (including you), and any pretense of “seriousness” can just go to hell. While we are at it, why not also make something very special of, say, the Chopin Nocturnes. Those are long overdue for a more contemporary makeover, say, in hip-hop or rap fashion. Imagine the endless possibilities that simply stripping away “seriousness” can bring.
No, you still don’t get it. Pretension of seriousness helps sell his recordings, which are marketed specifically to people like you. If he does other marketing tricks, he will lose the audience he has, and he will not gain a new one because he is simply not a good or interesting pianist.
You know, to disrespect and dismiss Blechacz, himself no less a Chopin Piano Competition winner, as “simply not a good or interesting pianist” says more about you than anything else. You are to be pitied, for you probably couldn’t reach the heights you wanted for yourself (thus now a Pianophile). As a result, you lash out at your superiors. Shame on you.
P.S.: Just because Blechacz has dignity and will not wh*re himself to sell records or market himself does not equate at all to being how you described him. Take notice.
And what does describing Bruce Liu’s qualities as “Charlatanism, clownmanship and dumbing down” say about you? I don’t work in music and never intended to, but unlike you I listen with ears not eyes. And it isn’t just me – conductors don’t find Blechacz that interesting either. Ever notice he doesn’t get invited much to play concertos?
Looks like Bruce Liu is gearing up to become one of Tom Lehrer’s “Hunks of Well-done Steak…”
Bruce Liu is good enough without this kind of visual nonsense. He won in Warsaw most justifiably, and that means something. If he has any say in his own marketing with DG he might do well to say No next time.
I used to think that Sony is the greatest pimp among labels but DG has surpassed them all, and by a very wide margin.
Over ten years ago I had the opportunity to interview, for Fanfare Magazine, the marvelous Swiss violinist Ursula Bagdasarjanz, who at the time was about 78 years old and when many of her old broadcast performances were being remastered and issued on Gallo CDs. Her teachers were all A-list: Aïda Stucki (Mutter’s teacher); Marcel Reynal, Max Rostal, Sándor Végh, and Joseph Calvet. She had interesting things to say on many topics, but (unprompted by me) felt she needed to speak up about this issue.
“The Strad from October 2011 has comments from Norman Lebrecht, that sensationalism has replaced music at the summits of violin playing, and that there is no string player today who commands the global reach of past masters. That’s why I have to say something about the music ‘industry’ of our time.
It’s not about becoming famous as quickly as possible, but about training yourself to become a serious musician. It’s not about presenting yourself as a classical performer, as though you were in show business. Such an approach takes away from your credibility, and success achieved that way is not really success.
Unfortunately, these days the music ‘industry’ sometimes takes a direction that I don’t like — all the more reason that an artist must sometimes be able to say no to all that. I decided myself about my direction. I had more time to practice — at least five hours a day, always, and I was not in a hurry to fly from concert to concert.
I am so thankful that I belong to an earlier generation of violinists, and thankful that I was able to feel that I had a lucky star up above that watched over the development of my musical life, and it is still there! … What Nietzsche once said applies to me, too: without music, life would be a mistake.”
You can listen to Ursula Bagdasarjanz’s playing on YouTube and hear that she has the stature and authority to make such statements.
Bruce doesn’t need to play while flying in the air, and Yuja doesn’t need to flash her loins. Young artists beware – DGG is making asses out of you!
Indeed, but they can if they want you, and they are just as good musicians, no matter how they market themselves. Roger Federer didn’t become a lesser tennis player by playing in a suit for a Rolex ad, and George Clooney is still a great actor even though he does silly adverts for Nespresso.
Certainly, but Rolex or Nespresso ads were not their core business.
But an album cover and marketing campaign for an album is the core of an artist‘s business.
It‘s sad the major labels seem so clueless about the value of good music. They do not know what it actually is they want to sell. So they get lost in marketing „ideas“.
I bet they spend 100 times the effort and time in DG brainstorming about marketing gimmicks, than they spend about how to make a great recording.
Come on, fuddy duddies! Let the young have some fun after spending their childhood practicing their fingers bloody! Have you ever wondered how Mozart would be showing up today?
Is this really worse than all those Karajan records with him on the covers, looking for all the world like he was giving the Nazi salute (instead of a cue)?