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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | In previous threads we've chatted about what hard work it must be for an Artist rep to get to gigs and such and get guitars into artists hands. I am wondering if the landscape of what a gig has changed, or rather I wonder if all the reps are changing with the landscape?
I was watching Lisa and Dweezel's cooking show the other night, and while they were waiting for the cedar smoked salmon to cook Lisa said something to the affect of "Hey while the salmon is cooking lets sit around the fire and check out these new Taylor guitars we got." I was floored on many levels, but then realized that artist reps and saleman now not only have to go to concerts and such, and check talk show circuits, but they have to add Vancouver, Ontario, Seattle and of course LA and New York music video production studios to thier lists of places to go people to see.
To really drive this in, after the Lisa and Dweezil show, I passed by MTV and there's Avril Lavigne sitting on a bed playing a no-name-in-particular acoustic guitar (may have been a gibson, but there really wasn't a decent headstock shot). I was thinking about our other thread for artists, and although this is the first time I have seen her with an acoustic, she certainly has a following. A great candidate for an MOB as she is a skater-punk.
No real point here... just wonder if the Ovation folks are working their connections and getting back lot passes to get LX's to these artists. I bet the atmosphere of a video shoot is a little more laid back than a concert where you have to look to make sure you even get your guitar back if the artist doesn't want it, if you can even get to the artists. | |
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Joined:
October 2002
Posts: 73
Location: out there | Not to be negative but;
It seems that there isn't any artist relatioons work from this company at all. As best as I can tell artist relations is only this one guy Vincent (I don't know his last name) in Nashville that just seems to sit in his office and wait for people that HE thinks are good enough and gets guitars to them. Talk about the tail wagging the dog! He should be being told by whoever he works for that they want to see Ovations on the Talk shows, in Movies, used as props in ads in print magazines as well as on stage and the TV shows. They should be popping up everywhere. This kind of third party endorsement is some of the strongest, most convincing you can get. Maybe whoever he works for doesn't know that this is how marketing is done or maybe they just don't think this is important. It's hard to tell what or why, but one thing for sure is that the job isn't getting done. Now the next question is if those bosses see this as a problem. They might not. | |
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Joined:
January 2003
Posts: 146
Location: Germantown, MD | Don't take this wrong: I like seeing artists play Ovations as much as anyone read this board, and I want to see Ovation enjoy really good sales and prosper. But I'm wondering about a couple of things. Here are a couple of dumb but relevant questions for people who know a lot more than I do about the business:
1. What kinds of costs does a guitar manufacturer incur in a deal with an artist? The obvious would be providing guitars of the model or models that the artist prefers, but are there any additional costs, such as customizing, providing technicians, or stuff like that?
2. Does anyone know what the sales benefits of having an artist use a guitar amount to? (I'm sure that it varies depending on the stature of the artist.)
I guess these could be combined into a single hypothetical: Let's say that the guy in Nashville who does nothing gets off his butt and works out a deal where Avril Lavigne is going to use MOBs. What will the deal cost Ovation, and how many more MOBs are likely to sell because people see her playing them? (And the answer to the second part isn't really "Too damn many.")
Peace,
John | |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10582
Location: NJ | Originally posted by amstphd:
2. Does anyone know what the sales benefits of having an artist use a guitar amount to? (I'm sure that it varies depending on the stature of the artist.)
John
Les Paul Tons
Al Demiola moderate
dj ashkaba (or how ever you spell it) none | |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 396
| Yes Al, I'd say that Les Paul endorsement has worked out pretty well. How would current endorsements and signature models from established artists like Nancy Wilson, Bon Jovi, Paul Simon, or even Neil Diamond work out? To me, this is your best form of advertising. | |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | You know, Les Paul the man is completely irrelevant to the sales of Les Paul model guitars. Back in the mid-50's when he was still having hits he was the most important & influential guitarist on the planet, but right now very few people know, or care who he was/is, and even if they did, why would the potential sale of a Les Paul, the classic rock guitar, be influenced by an 80 year-old jazz guitarist who plays without even a hint of distortion in his tone? When Les's hits dried up in the early 60's so did sales of the guitar. It took guys like Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman, Peter Green and Jimmy Page to put the Les Paul where it is now, not Les himself. Either way this illustrates perfectly the power of artist association. The Les paul had been out of production for several years & because Mike Bloomfield & the rest created a demand for old Les Pauls (the term "vintage" was used only for cars & wine back then) Gibson started making them again. | |
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Joined:
August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Actually, Les Paul (Lester Williams Polfus) will be 89 (6/9/15). He still has an influence on the other artists, still playing at the Iridium and as they say, you never know who will show up...
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland is doing a number of events this year to honor him.
My daughter has gotten to be pretty good friends with him and through her I was honored by a gift from him - a ebony Les Paul Studio signed "To Tony, Keep Pickin' Les Paul" | |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Tony, Les Paul's influence on popular music, especially recording technology is immeasurable, but ask some kid who owns a Slash signature model LP who Les Paul is and chances are he won't have an answer. | |
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August 2003
Posts: 4619
Location: SoCal | Paul, I agree with you...just wonder how much it influenced the subsequent artist to use it. Maybe a couple of decades ago. Heck, I have no idea how to use current artists to influence sales. It seems that several decades ago, you had the Les Pauls, Beatles, Clapton, Glen Campbell, etc., with the ability to influence sales...now I wonder. Course, I don't watch MTV which is basically the primary TV exposure for young guitarists. We may get excited about seeing an O on The Mighty Wind but doubt if many kids even saw the movie. | |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | " 1. What kinds of costs does a guitar manufacturer incur in a deal with an artist? The obvious would be providing guitars of the model or models that the artist prefers, but are there any additional costs, such as customizing, providing technicians, or stuff like that? "
Totally depends on the deal they strike. In many cases, the cost is only time, which isn't really an additional cost as that is what the rep is paid to do. Many artists in fact buy their instruments at a deep discount, but they still buy them. The company might pay for a plane ticket and appearance time at workshops or signings like NAMM, but that's all part of the deal. It could be something as simple as the artist gets a guitar and the company gets unlimited (or limited) use of a photo of the artist playing the guitar.
TV is powerful medium to say the least. Even having a "prop" on a set can help keep the name out there.
" 2. Does anyone know what the sales benefits of having an artist use a guitar amount to? (I'm sure that it varies depending on the stature of the artist.) "
I doubt there is a 1-to-1 sales figure, but the bigger the artist, or the more people the guitar is exposed too, the better. For people just starting to play, it's not always someone known as a musician that makes the sale. I'm sure at least a few Steven King fans that were thinking of playing a guitar, bought Taylor because they saw that's what he endorses. Lacking any other input, "hey... he plays one.. good enough for me."
In a thread quite some time ago, we chatted about what influenced us to look at Ovation in the first place. Almost all were influenced by an artist, the technology or the sound. I don't think anyone mentioned a salesperson, or printed matierial. Getting a guitar into an artists hands, pretty much covers all bases, with little input. Getting a guitar into an artists hands on TV, especially prime time, and the flood gates are open. | |
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Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | Miles got #1 right. Every deal is different. The company tries to keep it low and the artist tries to get it high and they meet somewhere in the middle.
As far as what influence there is, well I think that you can't ever get enough exposure of any type. The problem is that Ovation doesn't get anywhere near enough but we've been through all that before. CLICK. | |
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Getting guitars into artists hands.