I think it's more about the tactics the company used, right? Sounds like they created lots of social media profiles that didn't actually belong to real people and then had those profiles engage with Geese content.
To me, an industry plant is like when a band is actually PUT TOGETHER by industry execs, not a marketing thing
I think there’s a broad misunderstanding of what it means to be an “industry plant.” A lot of people seem to erroneously use it to refer to just any kind of marketing. Which I can sorta understand under circumstances of something like paying an influencer to promote your work without any party disclosing that there’s a transactional component going on. That kind of marketing feels shady and manipulative (though all marketing is fundamentally manipulative at the end of the day, so who is to really say where the line gets drawn ethically) But even then, I feel like that type of marketing is only one facet of what makes an artist an “industry plant,” which I think is more accurately described as an artist who only has any sort of notably attention or publicly whatsoever simply because they’re being pushed by a company, not because they have anything resembling an organic following. You probably can’t be an industry plant without the shady marketing, but you can totally do the shady marketing without being an industry plant
See, I know that I actually like Geese and it wasn't marketing that convinced me they were good because every other artist that firm works with fucking blow
President is Charlie Simpson. Between Busted, Fightstar, the Masked Singer, and his solo work, he just knows enough people to get the hype train rolling immediately.
Full disclosure, that marketing agency pays me to hang around the water cooler at work and ask anyone under the age of 23 if they’ve heard of that skibidi new Geese band
Being the next in a pretty long line of Partisan Records success stories does not mean they're an industry plant lmfao IDLES, Fontaines DC and now Geese are their big three. Marketing and promotion being driven so hard at the label that Partisan is able to reap the rewards of that commercial success and get UMG distro money? Just sounds like an indie label on a hot streak to me, but the fuck would I know, I've only spent the guts of 17 years as a music writer
Feels like this is just part of a larger trend among people where people who don’t understand how things work just chalk things up to conspiracy nonsense. Then they find small pockets of like minded people who go “you know what? Yeah!” and it just spirals from there. There’s not enough level headed takes, and elevating those voices on those music websites, which are generally respected outlets, is egregious. gets the clicks they want tho
Very very very good article that is the last word on this idiotic subject as far as I’m concerned Congratulations, you discovered digital marketing
It's ironic that in the same way that it's being purported that Geese's rise is the result of this "psyop" campaign the same exact thing is going to happen now to people's social feeds being flooded by these articles talking about it lol
I like Geese and don't begruge them specifically. But I do think it matters that we're being advertised to without disclosure across the internet and it'll just keep getting worse and worse. That's the only part of the conversation I think is important. Even though it's probably futile to call out it's probably good for people to be aware this is happening.
social media is already garbage. it's really gross to think that a lot of the people aren't even real on a geese note, ascap credits cameron as a writer for bleachers' song "you and forever" under the pseudonym "Cornwall Bernstein". i don't see association between him and the song anywhere else online but i just listened to it and the intro sounds like his vocals
I def find the idea really interesting that if the music is clearly good enough, you can make enough fake people on the internet hype it up so that real people can find it “organically” from there. I’m not saying that’s a good thing (and I also think that’s a really uncharitable take on why Geese is popular), but it’s kinda fascinating to me. It’s been very obvious in the Spotify era that there is way more great music than will ever get a chance to pop, it’s obviously not a straight meritocracy and I have to have some kind of morbid curiosity about how modern marketing techniques make the difference for some of what makes it out of the 15k monthlies swamp. ironically I stand by the take that 3D Country is goated and the future was written the second he followed it up writing something as perfect as love takes miles
I think for sensationalism, the bar between marketing and psyop is being purposeful blurred, but it does raise the questions of inequality and how talented musicians can rise to the top (just like debates around nepotism), but like when has that not been the case? I believe that just about everywhere in here who had it as their album of the year, wasn't in on it, and I know for sure that they sold out a small venue in my city, and are billed up on a music fest where thousands will be there to see them. Is it kind of a bummer to think that soon algorithms and streaming, and music articles will be paid for exclusively and full of fake buzz, but I still think there's organic ways to discover music if you want to. Does the average person want to do that though? I've certainly challenged myself to see more 'random' shows where I know very little about the music besides the genre and that I'm available.
How do you know ‘Cornwall Bernstein’ is Cameron Winter? I’ve felt so sure that was him but had no way to prove it