THE RECENTLY ADDED

Rarity "I Couldn't Be Weaker"


At a time of cultural saturation where Hulu, Netflix, and Prime pump out series after series, and Apple, Spotify, and Pandora give unlimited access to tunes at marginal costs, and Seemless and Grubhub promote countless restaurants on the regular, every industry at every capacity has to compete in a fierce and sometimes uncalculated fashion. The digital age has crippled so many traditional methods of promotion and effort, that it really just leaves us clueless on the outskirts doing what we do best. Giving everything a chance and voicing a relatively educated opinion on what's taking place. As this influx of resources has impacted the bottom line, it's ever so evident with labels and their marketing approach to stay lucrative. 
     Fighting to stay alive amidst competition, Rise Records seem to have lured Rarity into their ranks in hopes of giving them a backbone to promote their flat presentment of pop-punk. While Seaway and Hit The Lights have showcased extreme efforts on Pure Noise, and ADTR have really turned into a cash grab for themselves and Victory, it's obvious everyone is looking for a way in to the consumers top dollar. Which is great, why would anyone do anything if they can't support themselves doing it? Just for the sake of art? But what seems to be happening is that the budget is being spread thin for so many riff raff bands, where labels can be spending their resources building up support for what they currently distribute and promote. 
     Rise has a packed roster which features some of my favorite bands, past and present. The fact that they alway go McDonald's on new artists is completely baffling, when they already have the steak dinners to sell at a professional capacity.
     Instead of getting albums that are constantly pushing the envelope with some of the releases we promote here, Rise continues to sign mediocre bands that are better left at a regional and local level. The amount of work Rarity are going to need to put in to even get a marginal crowd at Warped Tour is going to surpass the amount of time they'll have in this lifetime. Giving a young group the hopes and aspirations to succeed is nice, but is Rise really going to carry them for the next ten years before they become a contender? I highly doubt it.
     Labels need to act at a higher level and keep their budgets sacred and protect their investments.  We can't spend our money on everything, and the service providers are making it easier than ever to check out endless acts and then quickly disengage after no interest. But it seems like diversification is a safer bet for the label and you never know what young minds will attract these days. I would encourage Rise to act as a consultant in most cases instead of a service provider, because that's all it seems to be manufacturing these days, all filler and practically no killer.

*** Days after this was published, a public announcement was made that Five Finger Death Punch had signed to Rise - an act that has already sold millions of records prior to their onboarding to the label.

No comments

Post a Comment