Y Kant Tori Count?
Nov. 11th, 2002 11:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiNote that although this rant is directed at Tori Amos, it applies to a whole slew of artists who view their fanbases as nothing more than cash cows.
Understand, Tori Amos is wonderful in concert. She can makes songs off Boys for Pele, the shittiest CD of the last decade, sound wonderful, and songs off Little Earthquakes, one of the best CDs ever, into pure bliss. Attending a concert of hers is a wonderful experience, and highly recommended, especially if you pack a scythe to take care of any nearby annoyingly excessive Toriphiles.
However.
Tori sells her concert t-shirts for $35. She sells her sweatshirts for $50. She sells her "program" (a twenty-page softcover book containing a few lines of prose by Neil Gaiman, lots of photos, and absolutely nothing else) for $20.
Tori is either totally out of touch with her fanbase, or interested in them as nothing more than a way to make money.
Folks, go read how Tom Petty views his fans over at http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=photognome&itemid=24846
Tom, who's managing to rake in millions for ticket prices that are roughly the same as Tori's, is also selling his t-shirts starting at $17.95.
CafePress shirts go for as low as $18 or so (they take a bit over $14 off the top, and users can set their own price). And that's for shirts that are decidedly not mass-produced.
In other words, Tori's in it for the money. Of course, it's entirely possible that some profits go to RAINN or some other cause, but there was no signage saying so, and, frankly, unless it's $10 per shirt, it wouldn't be enough to justify that cost.
Of course, it's perfectly okay for an artist to just be in it for the money. There's nothing wrong with that -- Tori's producing a commodity (music and associated memorabilia), and if she wants to charge an arm and a leg for it, that's great. It's no different than what Shell Oil or McDonald's or the Backstreet Boys do.
But I don't buy it when either of those companies pretend to give a rat's ass about me. And I don't buy it when Tori does, either. And I don't buy her shirts, either. If you're enough of a sucker to buy them (or if you're just floating in disposable income), that's your choice. But don't tell me that Tori gives a shit about her fans any more. We're her income base now. If you have trouble accepting that, well, you're probably her ideal customer.
Understand, Tori Amos is wonderful in concert. She can makes songs off Boys for Pele, the shittiest CD of the last decade, sound wonderful, and songs off Little Earthquakes, one of the best CDs ever, into pure bliss. Attending a concert of hers is a wonderful experience, and highly recommended, especially if you pack a scythe to take care of any nearby annoyingly excessive Toriphiles.
However.
Tori sells her concert t-shirts for $35. She sells her sweatshirts for $50. She sells her "program" (a twenty-page softcover book containing a few lines of prose by Neil Gaiman, lots of photos, and absolutely nothing else) for $20.
Tori is either totally out of touch with her fanbase, or interested in them as nothing more than a way to make money.
Folks, go read how Tom Petty views his fans over at http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=photognome&itemid=24846
Tom, who's managing to rake in millions for ticket prices that are roughly the same as Tori's, is also selling his t-shirts starting at $17.95.
CafePress shirts go for as low as $18 or so (they take a bit over $14 off the top, and users can set their own price). And that's for shirts that are decidedly not mass-produced.
In other words, Tori's in it for the money. Of course, it's entirely possible that some profits go to RAINN or some other cause, but there was no signage saying so, and, frankly, unless it's $10 per shirt, it wouldn't be enough to justify that cost.
Of course, it's perfectly okay for an artist to just be in it for the money. There's nothing wrong with that -- Tori's producing a commodity (music and associated memorabilia), and if she wants to charge an arm and a leg for it, that's great. It's no different than what Shell Oil or McDonald's or the Backstreet Boys do.
But I don't buy it when either of those companies pretend to give a rat's ass about me. And I don't buy it when Tori does, either. And I don't buy her shirts, either. If you're enough of a sucker to buy them (or if you're just floating in disposable income), that's your choice. But don't tell me that Tori gives a shit about her fans any more. We're her income base now. If you have trouble accepting that, well, you're probably her ideal customer.