Deadlines/Brief

Music videos are so 80s/90s, right? They belong with the era when MTV screened wall-to-wall vids instead of 'reality' TV? Try telling that to the millions who bought Gangnam Style; were they really simply loving the music? 1.6bn (and still climbing) have viewed the video on YT, not to mention the many re-makes (school eg, eg2), viral ads + celeb link-ups (even political protest in Seoul) - and it doesn't matter how legit it is, this nightmare for daydream Beliebers is making a lot of money, even from the parodies + dislikes. All this for a simple dance track that wouldn't have sounded out of place in 1990 ... but had a fun vid. This meme itself was soon displaced by the Harlem Shake. Music vids even cause diseases it seems!
This blog explores every aspect of this most postmodern of media formats, including other print-based promo tools used by the industry, its fast-changing nature, + how fans/audiences create/interact. Posts are primarily written with Media students/educators in mind. Please acknowledge the blog author if using any resources from this blog - Mr Dave Burrowes

Monday 17 June 2013

Golden Oldies topping pop charts: Black Sabbath

These cool cats top today's charts!
43 years on, their new album exploded into the charts
2013 has seen Rod Stewart set a new record for gaps between number one albums: 37 years.
With the geriatric Rolling Stones seemingly the biggest live draw on the planet, its increasingly hard to argue with Simon Reynolds' proposition in Retromania that the old is dominating the new in a format (pop/rock music) that was once defined by its freshness and novelty.
Further evidence comes this week with the news that Black Sabbath have quickly broken Hot Rod's record, with an incredible 43 year gap between number one albums. Their new effort, 13, is the band's 1st no.1 since 1970's Paranoid. They're also a top draw at festivals this summer.
See this article, though its been a widely reported news story.
Septuagenarians with a firm handle on social media
As someone who went to see Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath with Ronnie Dio on vocals) live not so long ago, I'm not entirely surprised by this. Then again, like many long-running acts, the Sabs were seen as a joke for a large chunk of the 80s/90s.
I wonder if Beliebers will be queuing up to pay hugely inflated ticket prices to see a silver-haired Justin belt out 'his' hits some decades into the future...

You can view the video for their lead single, God is Dead, here.
As the YT screenshot below demonstrates, the Sabs (or at least their record label), are fully up to speed with social media (lets not forget that singer Ozzy Osbourne was a reality TV pioneer, with The Osbournes success helping to underpin MTV's shift from video channel to reality TV dreck/awesomeness (delete as age appropriate!).



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