another great post, bry! as for "desert rose": adam duritz of the counting crows mentioned it on the howard stern show this morning. when asked how much $$$$ he got for coca cola using a counting crows song in an ad, duritz complained he got very little, saying that corporations that use music from "established" artists now realize- as a result of jaguar using "desert rose" - just how important a source of promotion they/their respective ad campaigns that use a song can be. duritz explained that BND came out, made no waves, sting licensed song to jaguar, the ads came out, BND starting selling - as a result, corporate america starting offering less for music...

--- "bjacob@pop-server.nyc.rr.com" <bjacob@pop-server.nyc.rr.com> wrote:

...

Thanks David, for sharing that interesting article. It's been interesting to read everyone's opinion on Sting's ticket price structure.

I don't think online downloading is the culprit, as the article suggests. As I suggested in an earlier post, I think it comes down to chart-worthiness.

Jeremy listed acts like The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, etc. as a means of explaining/apologizing for Sting's outrageous ticket prices.

Like Sting, NONE of those acts have suddenly won new fans recently through their new releases...especially in today's mainstream music scene. These are acts that are wholly dependent on a core base of longtime fans. To generalize, fans that are now older and may have a bit more income to spend for the sake of nostalgia. Sting is a bit different, in that he did have a surprise hit in "Desert Rose". But it took some hustling:

Ten Summoner's Tales was his last "hit" album, with top 40 singles "Fields Of Gold" and "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You"--songs that still manage to get radio play today. The corresponding tour didn't require corporate sponsorship, tickets were affordable.

Mercury Falling didn't sell so well. Sure, we bought it all the day it came out, but the general public wasn't interested. The music scene was changing and the expected hit singles (and corresponding profit) weren't happening. Tickets for that tour weren't expensive (and still free of corporate sponsorship), so from Sting's point-of-view, it must have been a financial disaster.

The declining interest continued and Brand New Day didn't sell so well either. Again, the fans all bought it when it came out. A bit of promotional help from Compaq, a few fun TV commercials to get the word out. Not much happened, except for a surge in ticket prices. Then, underground crossover success with a club mix of "Desert Rose". Then, increased public awareness of that song by using it in a Jaguar commercial. Then sponsorship left and right. The album didn't chart as highly. None of the songs (even "Desert Rose") got as much airplay as earlier album singles. Again, not because the fans decided to download instead of buy the album (we all bought it), but because the public wasn't interested in the sound. Sting just wasn't as relevant as Britney Spears (ugh, it really hurt to write that sentence!).

So we here we are with Sacred Love. Besides us, nobody bought it. It's not being played on the radio. The public just isn't interested. The inclusion of Mary J. Blige on "Whenever I Say Your Name" strikes me as a strategic attempt to crossover into another market (hey, it worked for "Desert Rose"). Nothing wrong with that.

Sting has every right to make money, but does he have to BLEED his loyal fans dry? My issue is the fanclub pricing, the suspiciously-handled fanclub shows/"auctions", the corporate sponsorship not helping the still-increasing ticket prices. It has nothing to do with downloading. It has everything to do with putting out an album that a lot of people didn't care about, then taking advantage of the loyal supporters that do...the ones that made it a point to buy the new album, live DVD, even his autobiography on their respective days of release.

Sting isn't the only artist to go down this route, but since he's one of my favorites (and this is a list intended for discussion on Sting), it bothers me personally and I feel I should be able to discuss it with fellow fans.

Brian

p.s. The new Seal album is phenomenal and his tour tickets are much cheaper ;)

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