Story Excerpt:
(Billboard) Australian act the Avalanches recently called out Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, on Twitter, for selling out. The conversation that ensued made indie headlines.
Vernon, recently nominated for four Grammy Awards, had been quoted days earlier on a New York Times blog, which published a June interview in which he called the Grammys “unimportant,” claiming that “98% of [musicians'] art is compromised by the fact that they’re hoping to get that award.” The Avalanches retorted, “A musician’s ‘art is compromised’ if he/she desires a Grammy. But endor$ing a product with proven devastating health risks is OK?”
The band was referring to this year’s much-buzzed-about Bushmills campaign, in which Vernon and his managers, Kyle Frenette and brother Nate Vernon, appear. Acts Chromeo and Theophilus London have also appeared in the whiskey ads, on billboards and in print. Though Vernon responded to the jab and launched a friendly conversation about “selling out,” the whole event seems anachronistic in the wake of the events that have transpired during the past few years. Since indie songstress Feist appeared in an Apple iPod commercial in 2007, branding and licensing deals have grown increasingly common, and this year the trend is more widespread — and beneficial — than ever.
2011 has been a big year for independent artists in general; naturally, brands have caught on. This year, Converse opened its state-of-the-art, free-to-use Rubber Tracks recording studio in Brooklyn. Mountain Dew, still going strong with its Green Label Sound, provided thousands of dollars in tour support to independent acts like Mac Miller, Holy Ghost! and Wavves. The House of Vans, which opened in October 2010 (also in Brooklyn), hosted a free concert series this summer that featured acts like Superchunk and Cults.
These indie artists used to be the last acts one would expect to partner with a brand. But now that they have, few (the Avalanches among them) seem to mind. Perhaps it’s because now, more than ever, brands are putting the reins in artists’ hands. As a result, those independent artists, along with their teams and fans, have embraced campaigns and deals as integral career-builders, something that adds increased visibility and much-needed revenue while allowing the artist to maintain an ever-growing level of creative control.
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