The RIAA and the major record labels continue to misunderstand the web.\u00a0 It feels like almost daily, they make moves that position themselves as draconian,\u00a0out of touch\u00a0or just plain\u00a0evil.<\/p>\n
Well, apparently it\u2019s not just their executive team.\u00a0 Their PR folk don\u2019t get it either.<\/p>\n
I recently received the following email from a communications team member at EMI Records promoting OK Go.\u00a0 Here is their pitch, unedited except for names\/links removed:<\/p>\n
I work in the Interactive Marketing department at EMI Music, and am currently working with OK Go on their new partnership with Promo Jam. The band is offering a free download of \u201cWhite Knuckles (live)\u201d in exchange for a tweet about the initiative. Here is a link to the giveaway:<\/p>\n
Link removed<\/em><\/p>\n
Please let me know if you have any questions. I\u2019d also appreciate any feedback you have about the band and its Twitter initiative. Below are the links to the band\u2019s social media networks:<\/p>\n
Links removed<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Wait, what?\u00a0 This \u2013 from the same record label that worked hard to make\u00a0the same band\u2019s viral videos less viral?<\/p>\n
It gets much worse than that.\u00a0 Consider this is also the same label that:<\/p>\n
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- Attacks artists\u00a0for creating mashups<\/li>\n
- Sued Vimeo for allowing users\u00a0to create lip dub videos\u00a0their artists actually support<\/li>\n
- Has consciously\u00a0destroyed innovation<\/li>\n
- Tries to bankrupt CEOs\u00a0of companies it doesn\u2019t like<\/li>\n
- Tries to hide kids education\u00a0anti-piracy objective<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
After all of that, they actually expect music fans\/marketing bloggers will support them?<\/p>\n
Further, they have a legal disclaimer at the end of their email, saying:<\/p>\n
This e-mail including any attachments is confidential and may be legally privileged.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
They\u2019re pitching me \u2013 and also trying to scare me not to tell people they have pitched me.\u00a0 And yet, they want to be social\u2026<\/p>\n
Digital reputation\u00a0issues aside, they don\u2019t even have a clue\u00a0how to pitch a blogger\u00a0\u2013 or in this case, a Twitter user.\u00a0 Since they sent the pitch to my @thefuturebuzz.com email address, they know I also have this blog.\u00a0 But clearly they don\u2019t read it.\u00a0 Consider:<\/p>\n
\n
- I dislike both the RIAA and major record labels.\u00a0 A\u00a0quick search\u00a0on my blog would have made it obvious I would have disdain for this pitch.<\/li>\n
- As an independent,\u00a0creative commons artist\u00a0who likes obscure music and unknown artists \u2013 in what reality am I going to hype a major label artist?<\/li>\n
- They\u2019re asking me to Tweet about their initiative?\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0 This band has 300,000+ followers on Twitter.\u00a0 What possible benefit could they get from me sharing this with my 5,000 followers?<\/li>\n
- Even if they did want me to write this up as a social media case study as the end of the pitch infers, they don\u2019t include any stats.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing to write up.<\/li>\n
- They have no\u00a0relationship\u00a0with me and they\u2019re directly asking me to do something for them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Amazing this is what their digital marketing\/PR team members are wasting their time doing, instead of getting to work on solving reputation management issues.\u00a0 Or better yet \u2013 fixing their company so we don\u2019t have hundreds of reasons to hate them in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The RIAA and the major record labels continue to misunderstand the web.\u00a0 It feels like almost daily, they make moves … <\/p>\n