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  #31  
Old 28-05-2015, 16:43
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Originally Posted by sculptureofabloke View Post
Kinda surprised that Sony have offered them another deal given the overall decline of sales industry-wide and how much their popularity has declined since the late 90s and how ageist the industry can be. Don't know what sales have been like since This Is My Truth really.. Half expected them setting up a label themselves to be the next step from setting up their own studio, maybe they will in the future.

I think it's probably because the Manics have a stable income. Their albums chart very well and since the band use their own studio and haven't used expensive big name producers since Lifeblood, Manics albums probably cost very little from the labels point of view. And we definitely know that Sony/Columbia spend fuck all in advertising and promoting the band! For bands on their twelfth album, the Manics do a lot better than 90% of bands on their fourth or fifth, and I never got the impression that the band have caused their labels too much trouble. Good manners and a good working ethic have probably gone far in the band keeping on good terms with their label and management. With the exception of Richey and Phillip Hall, not much was changed in the band and their support structure ever since they signed on a major deal.
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  #32  
Old 28-05-2015, 21:06
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Originally Posted by Routine Builder View Post
I think it's probably because the Manics have a stable income. Their albums chart very well and since the band use their own studio and haven't used expensive big name producers since Lifeblood, Manics albums probably cost very little from the labels point of view. And we definitely know that Sony/Columbia spend fuck all in advertising and promoting the band! For bands on their twelfth album, the Manics do a lot better than 90% of bands on their fourth or fifth, and I never got the impression that the band have caused their labels too much trouble. Good manners and a good working ethic have probably gone far in the band keeping on good terms with their label and management. With the exception of Richey and Phillip Hall, not much was changed in the band and their support structure ever since they signed on a major deal.
I'm glad someone else said this, because I think they're doing very well for a band at this stage of their career. They're never going to pull in the same sort of numbers as their commercial peak in the late 90's, but really I don't think they want to and I don't think Sony expects them to. They have a dedicated and reliable fan base who will always support them through releases, tours etc. Their tours always sell well, especially THB gigs, which have created a real buzz amongst the music press as well as fans. Their last couple of albums were well-received and they generally seem to be a well-respected band. I sometimes feel like no one else likes them, but then other times, you realise they do still have quite a lot of fans. Why wouldn't Sony want to keep them? I'm sure they have much more commercial artists signed to them to bring in the big, big bucks.
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  #33  
Old 29-05-2015, 08:59
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Originally Posted by slop101 View Post
Really? While they're certainly not at their height, I think they're more reliable/dependable, sales-wise, than most other acts, new or old. Part of it is that MSP's fan base, more than most other bands, will BUY their new albums, as opposed to younger fans of newer acts who have never bought an actual album/CD in their life.
I think overall the industry would rather people buy off iTunes than physical formats, cuts out the cost of pressing and distributing at least. The impression I've got over the years on here is that there are a hell of a lot of people out there who are fans up to a point and tend to shun new stuff, maybe they do buy it and slag it off I don't know. Still, it's a pretty ageist industry and labels can be pretty ruthless. How many people have sold a fuck load through X Factor or whatever and been dropped 18 months later or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Routine Builder View Post
I think it's probably because the Manics have a stable income. Their albums chart very well and since the band use their own studio and haven't used expensive big name producers since Lifeblood, Manics albums probably cost very little from the labels point of view. And we definitely know that Sony/Columbia spend fuck all in advertising and promoting the band! For bands on their twelfth album, the Manics do a lot better than 90% of bands on their fourth or fifth, and I never got the impression that the band have caused their labels too much trouble. Good manners and a good working ethic have probably gone far in the band keeping on good terms with their label and management. With the exception of Richey and Phillip Hall, not much was changed in the band and their support structure ever since they signed on a major deal.
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Originally Posted by Abstract Unknown Girl View Post
I'm glad someone else said this, because I think they're doing very well for a band at this stage of their career. They're never going to pull in the same sort of numbers as their commercial peak in the late 90's, but really I don't think they want to and I don't think Sony expects them to. They have a dedicated and reliable fan base who will always support them through releases, tours etc. Their tours always sell well, especially THB gigs, which have created a real buzz amongst the music press as well as fans. Their last couple of albums were well-received and they generally seem to be a well-respected band. I sometimes feel like no one else likes them, but then other times, you realise they do still have quite a lot of fans. Why wouldn't Sony want to keep them? I'm sure they have much more commercial artists signed to them to bring in the big, big bucks.
Top ten doesn't take as many sales as top ten a decade ago, maybe the labels are just accepting that. I agree that the cost of producing Manics albums must be quite low in comparison to other artists but to me that begs the question why they don't do it themselves. The promotion has been very few and far between for the last couple of albums and I'm a bit hazy with that side really, don't really know how it works. Do Sony sub-contract Ooh Brilliant or whoever, do they have any role arranging TV appearances and other interviews or is just a case of Martin Hall or Nicky Wire having a word with James Corden or whatever. Don't know if Sony take much of a cut from tours, they do tour a lot... I don't know, I don't think we're seeing much love for the band from Sony, with the lack of promotion I think it looks like on one hand they've more or less given up on promoting the band beyond their existing fan base who'll just come on here, Manic Street Mania or whatever to find out what's going on anyway. If Sony are happy with Manics churning out a top ten album every couple of years, great but at this stage, with the band having established its own fan base, having their own studio, having other people promoting for free through the unofficial social networks they've set up.. I'm not sure what they're getting out of Sony anymore really that they couldn't do themselves now.
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  #34  
Old 29-05-2015, 15:03
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They're never going to pull in the same sort of numbers as their commercial peak in the late 90's, but really I don't think they want to and I don't think Sony expects them to.
They certainly wanted to just under 5 years ago with their "last shot at mass communication."

I don't care how many records they sell or don't sell, it doesn't affect me positively or negatively.
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  #35  
Old 29-05-2015, 19:03
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They certainly wanted to just under 5 years ago with their "last shot at mass communication."

I don't care how many records they sell or don't sell, it doesn't affect me positively or negatively.
Yeah that was 5 years ago though; their last two albums have been much more convincing and genuine and didn't seem like they were made for any other purpose than because they wanted to make them. They totally misjudged the music climate with Postcards and made an album they thought we wanted but didn't actually want (yes it got to number 3 but Futurology and Rewind the Film charted well too, because as I've said they have a fanbase that will always buy their releases; it's not the "masses" propping them up). Currently I don't think they care about conquering the charts etc, they're just doing what they want to do and generally I think it's being well-received anyway.

I agree with you about album sales though; I don't care as long as the music is good. They could probably have better promotion but they still manage to pick up new fans (young people still seem to be getting into them, just as I did in 2002) and existing fans have stuck with them through thick and thin, so I don't really think they desperately need to try win over a huge new audience. They're never going to be a Coldplay or U2 etc even with all the promo you could throw at them, but that's fine. I wouldn't want them to be like that.
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  #36  
Old 29-05-2015, 19:27
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They totally misjudged the music climate with Postcards and made an album they thought we wanted but didn't actually want
Definitely agree, I think that's probably the best description of Postcards you could give really. A complete misjudgement.

I can live without another album for a while. This mooted soundtrack work and an EMG 20 celebration sounds like a good idea to me.
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  #37  
Old 10-06-2015, 10:29
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Originally Posted by sculptureofabloke View Post
How many people have sold a fuck load through X Factor or whatever and been dropped 18 months later or whatever.
The most ridiculous example of that I heard was Jedward, they signed a one album deal and got dropped after one single, because it 'only' got to number 2! And that was by Sony! But it's a very different sort of market, with the X Factor lot it's a race against time before no-one remembers who they are...
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