An article in the New York Times highlights record label Fueled By Ramen as having a promotional strategy and using tactics reminiscent of the Motown era whereby its acts promote one another as well as the company itself.
When a Fueled By Ramen band becomes popular, it starts to endorse the label’s other bands - often touring together. Many of the bands were discovered by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy, and benefit from his implicit endorsement.
Label owner John Janick, is mentioned as someone who thrives on grass-roots promotion and not having any money. The label and its partners “know how to do things on the cheap.” The key quotes:
“Mr. Wentz set the pattern for Fueled by Ramen’s marketing strategy: blog often, tour hard and keep expenses down. When Mr. Janick signs bands, he tells them how hard they will work, not how rich they will become.”
“The main thing for me is making sure kids can go to one place and get everything from the artist. It’s a branding thing.”
While this might be considered a fresh and “alternative” strategy for the mainstream Rock genre, this type of endorsement has been happening for a very long time in the Hip-Hop scene. Additionally, this is something that happens everyday in music proto-markets when local bands put together gigs to play. No one ever really plays with a band they don’t like (or endorse). There is a social aspect to it - bands only want to gig with people they also want to hang out with for an evening.
An Alternative Approach To Marketing Rock Bands — New York Times
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