World Class Artists - Half Ass Marketing

[PenguinHead]

Just wanted to chime in briefly about the aborted DVD Stevie In Aussie Land.
I completely understand the anger and frustration. I see such lesser bands release concert DVDs after each tour, and a lot more inspired creative product.

The management of FM/SN is hackneyed beyond belief. They are so out of touch with a very solid, loyal fan base -- in fact they completely ignore it. Are they so afraid to produce anything that won't sell multiple millions, that they give us very little? And when they do give it up, it's crap **** like Live In Boston.

Where's the Buckingham Nicks album?
Where's a DVD of collected videos?
Where's the DVD of the Mirage concert (entire show)?
Where's the DVD of Stevie's 1981 concert (entire show)?
Where are the resissues of Mirage, Tango etc?

Since the band has been resting on its past laurels for the last decade, why not market those laurals? Such wasted opportunities. And a real slap in the face to fans. Others posters have made comments that the band doesn't give a ****. To a certain extent I think that is true, partially because of a utter lack of objectivity. But I also put a big part of the blame on their lousy marketing/management. However that structure works, it doesn't do **** for the fans, or the band's legacy.

What other missed opportunities or cool ideas can you think of? Perhaps we can compile them and submit them....somewhere! Maybe bombard their management companies.

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Just wanted to chime in briefly about the aborted DVD Stevie In Aussie Land.
I completely understand the anger and frustration. I see such lesser bands release concert DVDs after each tour, and a lot more inspired creative product.

The management of FM/SN is hackneyed! They are so out of touch with a very solid, loyal fan base -- in fact they completely ignore it. Are they so afraid to produce anything that won't sell multiple millions, that they give us very little --- and when they do give it up, it's crap **** like Live In Boston.

Where's the Buckingham Nicks album?
Where's a DVD of collected videos?
Where's the DVD of the Mirage concert (entire show)?
Where is the DVD of Stevie's 1981 concert?
Where are the resissues of Mirage, Tango etc?

Since the band now just resting on its lpast laurels, why not market those laurals? Such wasted opportunities. And a real slap in the face to fans. Others posters have made comments that the band doesn't give a ****. To a certain extent I think that is true. But I also put a big part of the blame on their marketing/management. However that structure works, it doesn't do **** for the fans, or the band's legacy.

I largely agree with you, of course. As far as management goes, the problem with Fleetwood Mac is that there's too much of it. Everybody's got his or her own people, so if anybody ever wants to get anything done with this band, one person's people needs to talk to somebody else's people, who needs to talk to somebody else's people... The organization of Fleetwood Mac probably involves more failed bureaucracy than FEMA, and I think is a big part of the reason why nothing ever happens with this band.

So I think you're right. Plenty of blame needs to be doled out to the band members themselves, but a fair share also needs to go to the people who work for them. All of the potential releases you mentioned - none of those absolutely require significant involvement from anybody in the band. They just require somebody within the organization deciding it's a good idea and pushing to get **** released.

The reissues we got a couple years ago were are very nice packages and show what this band is capable of putting out there once people set their minds to something. But those reissues are nothing more than pity breadcrumbs if more projects don't start coming down the pipeline soon. There's so much material sitting in the vaults just begging to be released. It's beyond ridiculous that they don't release any of it. And yes, it's especially embarrassing in the face of all the great products that so many other bands are putting into the hands of their fans.

[ThePenguin]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Just wanted to chime in briefly about the aborted DVD Stevie In Aussie Land.
I completely understand the anger and frustration. I see such lesser bands release concert DVDs after each tour, and a lot more inspired creative product.

The management of FM/SN is hackneyed beyond belief. They are so out of touch with a very solid, loyal fan base -- in fact they completely ignore it. Are they so afraid to produce anything that won't sell multiple millions, that they give us very little? And when they do give it up, it's crap **** like Live In Boston.

Where's the Buckingham Nicks album?
Where's a DVD of collected videos?
Where's the DVD of the Mirage concert (entire show)?
Where's the DVD of Stevie's 1981 concert (entire show)?
Where are the resissues of Mirage, Tango etc?

Since the band has been resting on its past laurels for the last decade, why not market those laurals? Such wasted opportunities. And a real slap in the face to fans. Others posters have made comments that the band doesn't give a ****. To a certain extent I think that is true, partially because of a utter lack of objectivity. But I also put a big part of the blame on their lousy marketing/management. However that structure works, it doesn't do **** for the fans, or the band's legacy.

What other missed opportunities or cool ideas can you think of? Perhaps we can compile them and submit them....somewhere! Maybe bombard their management companies.

soooo...should i put this in the list of questions for John?

if you maybe took out the 'crap **** like Live In Boston' comment it's really not too bad....I wonder what he'd say to all that.

-Lis

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by ThePenguin

soooo...should i put this in the list of questions for John?

if you maybe took out the 'crap **** like Live In Boston' comment it's really not too bad....I wonder what he'd say to all that.

-Lis

I love John, but I imagine he'd offer little more than a shrug of the shoulders and a, "Hey, have you ever tried dealing with these people? This is why I just hang back in the shadows and play bass." Or, "I really don't know anything about these projects or if the band or anyone is planning to release them."

Although who knows, if he knew how many fans are salivating for this stuff, I could see him being the one member of Fleetwood Mac who might actually get behind a push to get some of this material released.

[PenguinHead]

I wouldn't post this question to John. He, out of all of them, really stays away from the "managers." I don't think it would be constructive in any way.

[Sahara]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I wouldn't post this question to John. He, out of all of them, really stays away from the "managers." I don't think it would be constructive in any way.

Me neither. I don't think even if the message got to the people at the top it would do a lot of good. I'm sure they must be aware of this stuff.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

Just wanted to chime in briefly about the aborted DVD Stevie In Aussie Land.
I completely understand the anger and frustration. I see such lesser bands release concert DVDs after each tour, and a lot more inspired creative product.

The management of FM/SN is hackneyed beyond belief. They are so out of touch with a very solid, loyal fan base -- in fact they completely ignore it. Are they so afraid to produce anything that won't sell multiple millions, that they give us very little? And when they do give it up, it's crap **** like Live In Boston.

Where's the Buckingham Nicks album?
Where's a DVD of collected videos?
Where's the DVD of the Mirage concert (entire show)?
Where's the DVD of Stevie's 1981 concert (entire show)?
Where are the resissues of Mirage, Tango etc?

Since the band has been resting on its past laurels for the last decade, why not market those laurals? Such wasted opportunities. And a real slap in the face to fans. Others posters have made comments that the band doesn't give a ****. To a certain extent I think that is true, partially because of a utter lack of objectivity. But I also put a big part of the blame on their lousy marketing/management. However that structure works, it doesn't do **** for the fans, or the band's legacy.

What other missed opportunities or cool ideas can you think of? Perhaps we can compile them and submit them....somewhere! Maybe bombard their management companies.

I agree with most of this stuff. It's so frustrating, but realistically there is nothing we can do about it. Fleetwood Mac is big bucks for record execs. so it's puzzling how they haven't released more. I think that if we don't hear lots of news of all the things you mentioned by the 30th/40th anniversary then we're not going to get anything major at all sadly. I'm hoping that they have lots of things lined up for next year but I doubt they do because of how things seem to happen with this band.

[ThePenguin]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

I love John, but I imagine he'd offer little more than a shrug of the shoulders and a, "Hey, have you ever tried dealing with these people? This is why I just hang back in the shadows and play bass." Or, "I really don't know anything about these projects or if the band or anyone is planning to release them."

Although who knows, if he knew how many fans are salivating for this stuff, I could see him being the one member of Fleetwood Mac who might actually get behind a push to get some of this material released.

No, I agree w/ you. I was only kidding about asking him. I doubt he'd want to get too involved in all the red tape/management crap.

It still amazes me that Mick wouldn't get behind this kind of thing.
-Lis

[Lala]

From what I read in his Q&A, John has about as much idea as we do about any future releases.

I really don't get it. You'd think reissuing stuff from one of the biggest bands of the 70s would make a lot of money and appeal to a lot of people. Especially something as far reaching as a DVD containing all the videos. At a decent price, I could see a lot of mild fans picking it up at the loca Wal-Mart.

Maybe if someone put out the FM bio-pic. It would probably drum up interest and demand for more FM material, similar to Ray and Walk The Line. It's actually a bit of a dream of mine to one day write and direct a film about Fleetwood Mac...but I'm just rambling now.

It's a bummer there isn't more stuff out there. PenguinHead, to your list I would like to add the Tusk doc and the Rosebud performances.

And...why does everyone hate LIB. I mean, it could have been better I guess, but at least they released a DVD. I personally wish they had waited until later in the tour when they were doing Sara, just so I'd have a professional version of it.

[macfan 57]

Originally Posted by PenguinHead

I wouldn't post this question to John. He, out of all of them, really stays away from the "managers." I don't think it would be constructive in any way.

I agree. I don't think John even has a manager. I also don't think he really cares about this kind of stuff. I would assume that Mick would be the one to ask & it doesn't sound like he even cares either.

I would also add to that list ANYTHING from the 1971-1974 years.

[Mageboy25]

Why Mick will peddle wine IN PERSON at the local Grocery Store, but wont tell someone to pull out the Mirage Concert out of the vault and put it out on DVD I don't know???????

What glue is he sniffing?

[paleshadow]

Originally Posted by ThePenguin

No, I agree w/ you. I was only kidding about asking him. I doubt he'd want to get too involved in all the red tape/management crap.

It still amazes me that Mick wouldn't get behind this kind of thing.
-Lis

I don't think asking him is a bad idea at all. Well, maybe just expressing how much everyone would really appreciate having these things put out rather than just questioning him about it. It couldn't hurt. I think that as far as a dvd collection of videos shouldn't be released on its own though (although I'd buy it), but rather with a CD release. TVBOFM would have been a perfect opportunity to do that. Maybe if they ever re-master Mirage they will re-release the full live concert on DVD? Maybe they are just holding onto these things for after they fully retire to still have additional sources of income
It's probably just that they've made tons of money now and just really can't be bothered.

[Sahara]

I also don't know why people hate Live in Boston so much. Sure, it's no Dance, but it has so much atmosphere and some really strong songs there. I loved hearing the SYW stuff performed live, it was a real thrill.

Sure, the staged actions night after night, sure, Stevie's voice isn't what it used to be, but it was very real as far as I could see.

So why?

[Angelick Witch]

Originally Posted by paleshadow

I don't think asking him is a bad idea at all. Well, maybe just expressing how much everyone would really appreciate having these things put out rather than just questioning him about it. It couldn't hurt.

I agree. Loads and loads of fans feel very strongly about this. There's not _much_ we can do, but there are some things, and that's one. He mightn't be able to do much, or feel inclined to get involved or start a debate about it in the crush of managers, but, you never know, might mention it in a chat with Mick one day, make a suggestion, sow a seed.

Originally Posted by Peestie

I'm hoping that they have lots of things lined up for next year but I doubt they do because of how things seem to happen with this band.

I really hope they've got lots of stuff for 07. They _have_ to do something. Surely they wouldn't pretend it's not the anniversary of Rumours, Tango and The Dance?


Edit: Hmm... My quotes aren't working...
Edit again: Now they are!

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by Angelick Witch

I really hope they've got lots of stuff for 07. They _have_ to do something. Surely they wouldn't pretend it's not the anniversary of Rumours, Tango and The Dance?

Surely they wouldn't forget it's the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the band.