Taking Back Sunday Band • Page 449

I mean, that changes nothing for me. If everyone there was down for it, more power to them. But that’s a hard pass for me.

 

I get not liking when it’s rough, but the show was probably no more than 100 people and most of them are from within the LIHC scene (and veterans of it), so it’s probably likely that most people there were looking for that kind of experience. It was so small though, that I bet standing off to the side still had a great view and experience.

 

TBS crowds always get like that at long island shows haha

 

Like I said, if they were all down, more power to them. Just looks like a terrible experience for me.

 

When I was 15 at a Starting Line show the crowd was so rowdy that almost the entire crowd fell over. They had to stop the set and people were being crushed, panicking. I have been team back of the crowd ever since. Traumatizing.

 

looks like they may have been hinting all summer

 

A marketing scheme so subtle no one knows it exists.

 

Pretty fun imo

 

This is absolutely correct. Their marketing/PR has always been lacking, and that's a shame. That said, they may have just struck gold. They haven’t had this kind of natural organic buzz for all of the social media age as we know it. They now know this is the type of shit that gets people excited and makes waves. We'll see what they do with it.

 

Every band should copy what Shone did except for the part where the end result is bad music.

 

Haha forgot about Shone

 

gotta be honest, don't really know what any of you mean when you say their 'PR' and 'marketing' is lacking. What have they been marketing the last 7 years? Really just TAYF20 stuff, small tours, festival appearances... whenever there is news, they share it!

Just because they haven't had any new music to promote in 7 years doesn't mean they don't market or promote themselves.

 

wait so the whole album is dropping on the 30th or just a single?

 

assuming S'Old is the single they'll announce the new album with on August 30th

 

The sign before four chord never had a date on it

 

I could argue their marketing is so good that EVERYONE knows exactly how old TAYF is.

 

Agreed. I could tell you every TAYF anniversary for the last 10 years.

 

Only 10? You’re gonna stop one year short of the 10th anniversary?

 

It's not just about what they've been marketing. It's about the way they've been marketing themselves for a long time.

Three primary issues: Identity, strategy and untapped potential
Causes: Inability to execute or a lack of understanding of how to execute

Identity
What is Taking Back Sunday's identity? It's easy for fans to connect and associate with bands that have an established, reinforced identity. Not every band has one, but you should be able to sum it up in a few words if it exists.

Some comps:

Foo Fighters: We just want to rock no matter what. Music is everything.
The Maine: We live for our fans and will do whatever it takes to form a meaningful connection with them
Hot Mulligan: Hi. We've arrived. We're everywhere. We're going to be so in your face that it's impossible to ignore us.

TBS:????

They repeatedly say they don't want to be a nostalgia act, but every move they made the past five-ish years points in the opposite direction of that stated objective.

So the actions/marketing is not aligned with a frequently stated goal.

Untapped potential/strategy

You say they haven't had new music to promote in seven years. Uh, yeah, that's part of the problem. It's the number one way bands generate excitement.

Instead, it has been a wash, rinse, repeat cycle of shows and festivals for seven years. It goes like this: Tour/festival announcement, "Buy tickets!!!" messaging, live video of Cute/MDS from the shows. Wash, rinse, repeat. So boring.

But the execution has even been lacking for the past few album cycles.

Once upon a time, they released tour/studio documentaries during the Louder Now cycle and studio footage from New Again. It's the type of stuff that connects with fans, and it has been missing since 2009. There's nothing cool or extra anymore.

Remember OMGWTFTBS Cat from 2011's self-titled? Aside from the "What, why?" of it all, they created a Twitter account that somehow still exists without any plan of execution or follow-through.

And because I dont want to be the problem-without-a-solution person...

What could they have done the past seven years to better market themselves?

Show up to an emo night. Embrace it. Do an Emo's Not Dead vid with Matt Cutshall like so many others have. Play the backyard shows and get some killer footage out of it. Play a damn wedding. Give your most committed fans access to something new first. Create an all-in-one kit for the TAYF 20th Anniversary love fest with new band interviews, memories, merch, memorabilia, demos, interviews with people who are authorities in this genre that can speak about the impact of that album, and on and on and on. So many possibilities.

This band has a long and turbulent story they could tell via written or visual media. Way deeper than the 2011 Alt Press story with more perspectives. The problem is they don't want to go there, but that's the exact type of thing that generates interest. People love the behind-the-scenes content. It's why so many old rock stars have books on the best seller list.

One final thing, and I'm sorry....but the merch is bad. It's always over-the-top. Their fans are in their 20s, 30s and 40s now. Do they really want skull houses and roses in lanterns and splatter-art butterflies? Look at this shirt. What is this? Why? It's like they use a random theme generator for shirt ideas.

Everything seems disjointed, half-baked or like a retread. They can do so much better.

HOWEVER...what I've seen so far from this new album has been better. I just hope there's more meaningful promo and follow-through for this one.

 

Chorus posters acting like they know the ins and outs of bands is my least favorite thing. Well, ranking is still worse.

 

I don't work in the music industry, but I do have 15 years of marketing and PR experience. There are certain things that are blatantly obvious. Feel free to educate me where I'm wrong. I'm ok with it.

 

Oh, you’ve mistakenly assumed I read all of that.

 

Ah, yes, Classic guy on the internet commenting on something he didn't read. A tale as old as the internet. How silly of me. I should have known.

 

Just a heads up that shirt is a play on the Chain Reaction logo , super influential venue.

 

I’m not commenting on if it’s right or wrong. I’m commenting that I find it deeply uninteresting and that it has nothing to do with why I listen to music. I said it’s one of my least favorite things people do on here. I didn’t comment on the quality or merit of the post. People have done this thing in the blink thread a lot and it’s obnoxious.

edit: didn’t comment on the merit or quality of the info in the post. Obviously I view the post itself as dumb.