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Swearing, confused messages, the failure of sing alongs, an unimpressive bill….
Check out and read an in depth observation of Live Earth:
Neil McCormick finds confused messages and an unimpressive line-up at London’s Live Earth concert “If you wanna save the planet, jump up and down!” urged Madonna.
Can global warming be stopped by an out-of-breath, middle-aged, super-rich narcissist in a leotard and high heels?  Â
The superannuated pop queen Madonna was certainly up for the challenge, but judging by the negligible response to the text message number displayed on stage, I suspect the public may have been justifiably confused by the link between aerobics and the environment.
As global satellite multi-media musical entertainment, Live Earth was just about adequate.
As a platform for stadium politics, it was a dismal affair. “Can you help save the earth?” bellowed Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles. Cue muted murmur of support. “We might be screwed if that’s the response,” he half-joked.
The whole tone felt misjudged: Al Gore appeared by satellite, to no great reaction in the stadium, and seemed to be addressing a small audience of native Americans, not seizing the world by the reins.
The message itself was confused: Keane performed in front of the legend “Insulate your ceilings and walls”. Razorlight performed America to footage of penguins. Duran Duran stuck to supermodels, but somehow tried to turn Girls on Film into an ecological anthem. Simon Le Bon urged the crowd to sing “Change, change, we gotta start the change” without much success, perhaps because he was having trouble singing it particularly well himself.
The failure of singalongs became something of a theme of the day, bands appearing to expect a much greater familiarity with their hits than was apparent. Only a smattering of acts made any genuine attempts to engage with the issues.
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Organizers of the global music concert – punctuated by swearing from presenters and performers – had predicted massive viewing figures.
BBC’s live afternoon television coverage attracted an average British audience of just 900,000. When coverage switched from BBC2 to BBC1, the figure rose to just 2.7million.
Live 8 peak audience…..
This year peak audience: 4.5 million
Two years ago: 9.6 million
Live Aid in 1985: 10 million
BBC blamed the poor figures on Saturday’s good weather, while critics claim the public snubbed the event because they thought it was hypocritical.
Musicians Bob Geldof, Roger Daltrey and the Pet Shop Boys pointed out that a concert highlighting climate change had itself generated huge carbon emissions. The BBC’s coverage, also sparked dozens of complaints about bad language.
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Between natural disasters, terminal illness, political agendas and social awareness, there seems to be more money raising than ever. But how effective are benefit concerts, really? With a new cause every other week, are they losing their meaning? Wealthy celebrities begging for money and the most frivolous artists appearing on CRIBS one day and lecturing the public about their irresponsible lifestyles the next?
Now, I’m all for social activism. I think it’s important as human beings to help our fellow man, even when the cameras are off. But how many people are really helped by Madonna flying her 100+ person circus on gas guzzling private jets to play a benefit show intended to raise awareness about environmental responsibility? People don’t tune into massive line ups of the biggest stars in music because they care about Africa or AIDS or global warming, and I don’t believe all of these artists show up because they care either. There are few benefits Paul McCartney and Bono aren’t a part of, and artists like Fergie will show up to the opening of an envelope. These shows are supposed to be about a cause, not the artists trying to appear human why they peddle their products. In the end, people won’t even remember what the causes were. They’re only watching to be entertained. So, what’s the point?
Benefit shows have turned into what? Organizers say things like “if we can change the thinking and habits of just one person, then we’ve succeeded.†REALLY?! That seems like a lot of effort to make ONE person start recycling. I don’t doubt that some of these people have their hearts in the right place, and I applaud the true efforts people make to better the world. However, I’d rather see these celebrities write gigantic checks to these causes than ask me to write one, or at the very least, practice what they’re preaching.
KOAR is not alone….more here:
Arctic Monkeys shiver at Live Earth ‘hypocrisy’ ….
Superstars flying 222,623 miles between them to get to the LIVE EARTH concerts…
Click here to watch all the shows live and online.
Live Earth fails to pack large-scale punch…
Earth underwhelmed by environment pop extravaganza…
Live Earth Internet streaming sets record: 9 Million Streams…
AJ/KOAR
Coolfer: Billboard (the print version only) offered details of Korn’s two-album, revenue-sharing deal with EMI (the article is republished at Korn Underground, via from Blabbermouth). EMI purchased a 30% stake in Korn’s revenues (touring, merch, recorded music, etc) for $25 million. The deal goes through 2010.
“To date, Billboard projects it has generated around $15 million on the sales of ‘See You on the Other Side’ (based on worldwide sales of about 2 million units and estimating a net of about $7.75 per album after manufacturing and distribution costs, based on an $11.45 wholesale price).The band has also pulled an estimated $4 million after fees from additional sales of digital downloads, ringtones and the ‘Unplugged’ album. On top of that it has netted a projected $7 million-plus after expenses in touring-related revenue from the 2006 Family Values Tour and a 20-date U.S. theatre tour and selected European dates that grossed more than $11 million in box-office receipts.
Tour sponsorships and merch pulled in another estimated $2.2 million. That leaves the band still needing to earn another $20 million-$30 million in profits by 2010.”
 
Hannah Montana debuted with 323k units this week on Billboard
and
Kelly Clarkson ‘My December’ closely followed with 300k. Both artists had solid opening weeks. Good music and great entertainers can still captivate the public.
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