The Asteroid Galaxy Tour

8/6/2019 The Asteroid Galaxy Tour

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P o p M u s i c B u s i n e s s

2 0 1 1 . 0 5 . 1 7 .

TheAsteroidGalaxyTour

AJourneyToSuccess

by

BognrAlexandra


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THEASTEROIDGALAXYTOUR

AJOURNEYTOSUCCESS

The AsteroidGalaxy Tour -who are they?Perhapsall of usheard theirmost

famous song "The Golden Age" from the ongoing Heineken commercial that

spreadallaroundtheworld.Buthowcouldithappenthatasoulfulpsychedelic

popbandreachedsomuchpopularitywithinsomeyears?

Thebandwasformedinthesummerof2007inCopenhagen/Denmark.Itwasformedby"Lindberg (Vocal)and Lars Iversen (Bass).The bandreleasedtheir

debut album 'Fruit' in September 2009 through their own label Small Giants

Records and BMG Rights. The albumwas written, recorded and produced in

Lars' small home studio and received great critical acclaim."

(www.facebook.com)

TheirfirstshoweverwasanopeningactforAmyWinehouse(luckilyshewasinone peace at that time :)) inCopenhagen. Soonafter theirappearance,Apple

pounceduponthepossibilitytouseoneoftheirsongsfeaturingacommercial.

(itunes.apple.com)


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So,thefirstrealstepoftheirsuccesswasthatastheywerepreparingtheirdebut

album,thesong"AroundTheBend"-aretro-partysinglewaschosentofeature

anAppleiPodTouch advert in2008. Thisopportunitymadepossiblethat the

AsteroidGalaxyTourreachedinstantglobalexposure.(www.facebook.com)

Thisisthesocalled"CreatingaBuzzintheMedia"phasewhichbasicallymeans

publicity,thusgettingwell-known."Publicityisthejobofgettingtheprintand

broadcastmediatotalkaboutyourmusicbyprintingorbroadcastingastory,an

interview,orareviewofyourmusic."(ChristopherKnab,MusicIsYour

Business,p.204)

And the questionisobvious -howcouldthosecatchy tunesfind theway into

Apple'scommercial?

According toan interview by Songfacts.com, Iverson said that: "We have this

companyworkingforusin theStates calledSynch,and theygot intouchwith

Apple," explained Iversenduring the interview,"I thinktheyhad thismeeting

withSteveJobshimself,andhepickedthatsongoutofthebunch".

Sothere isanot sowell-knowncompanycalled the Synchwhichmanaged to

arrangeasitdownmeetingwithApple'sco-founder,SteveJobs.Synchsuggested

various songs and while listening to these examples, Steve Jobs "reportedly

slammedonthebrakesduringasampleof"AroundTheBend,"declaring,"Thisis

it,thisisthenewtrackfortheiPodTouch."(appleinsider.com)

"Apparentlyhejustlovedthattrack,butweneversawitasoneofoursingles,"

Iversensaid."Wehavesomeothersongsthatwethoughtwouldbegreatsingles,

and that would work cool on for the radio, but he really loved that song."

(songfacts.com)

TheofficialiPodTouchcommercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7DI884LGrg


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But,thereisoneconclusionfor100%sure:gettingasongontoaniPodadcan

givebothbeginnerandexistingoralreadywell-knownbandsahugecommercial

boost (by the way Coldplay and The Ting Tings also had the opportunity in

2008), and iteven turnedout that the decisionsaremadeatthe highestlevel(directlybytheco-founder)

Another interesting factor is that this

deal was beneficial for both the band

andApple.WhenAppleusedthesongin

theiriPodcommercial,thesongwasnot

released as a single and The AsteroidsGalaxyTourdidnothaveanalbumout.

Theyonlyhadtheirfirstsingle"TheSun

Ain't Shining No More." This instantly

meantanincomeopportunityforApple:

as their commercial promoted also a

songnotjustanelectronicdevice,therewasanembeddedmarketing-thatmost

listeners could find thisonlyoniTunes.Thus, itwas apossibilityforAppleto

gainmoreprofitand,ontheotherhand:apossibility for thebandtosell their

track.

As they gained audience, a need of performance was kind of natural as a

followingstep.KatyPerrychoseTheAsteroidsasopenerforherEuropeantour

summerof2009,sotheymostlyspentthatyearwithtouring.

Fromthattimeonwecansimplysaythattheybecameafamous,popularband,

but if thereare still someonewho has neverheardaboutthe Asteroid Galaxy

Tour, another major commercial opportunity should have solved this

"deficiency".

The new Heineken commercial (that have just been released sometime in

January,2011)isa90-secondcommercialentitled"TheEntrance",whichseesa

manbattlingsomequirkycharactersinahotellobby.Eventhosepeoplewhoare


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strictly proud ofbeinganon-alcoholicdraw theirattention tothis ad- surely

becauseofthegreattunetowhichitisscored.

Thetitleofthesong"TheGoldenAge"recallsGreekmythologyasthiswasthe

first age of the world, an untroubled era during which people lived in ideal

happinessbecauseonlypeaceandprosperityexisted.Well,itisabittoo"self-

satisfied"atfirstsightthattheheroofthisspot,the"slickdudewhomakesthe

ultimateshow-stoppingentranceintothisbar"associateshispowerwiththe

menwholivedinGreeceduringtheerawhenmenlivedlikegods.Itispretty

funny and eye-catching how hemeets characters from Hollywood's past: the

hombre,thekung-fufighter,theadventurer(completewithswashbuckler'seye

patch),sincewedonothearhisvoice(asitisgivenbythesoundtrack)weonly

seethemansinteractionswithalltheguests,whichareallprettyepic.


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Linktothecommercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLgetLmlggA&feature=relmfu

Despitethatthispapershouldonlybeaboutmusic(orratheraboutthebusiness

behind it), I found some interesting opinions on the internet why this

commercialgainedsuchpopularity.Thereareblogswhichclearlystatedthatthe

primarysuccessoftheadisnotthemusic,buttheguy.

"Thesuccessofthisadprovesonethingweareinnowaytiredoftheultra-

masculinemalecharactergracingourscreen.Wenowhavehiminvariousages

andethnicities,and itisstillgoingstrong tosellbeerandbodyspray.TheOld

SpiceGuy,MostInterestingManintheWorld,andnowTheEntranceManareall


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examplesthathavehadviralsuccessandshowthisgenreofadsisstillgrowing."

(optimalbranddevelopment.com)

However,besidesthestandardissue:malefantasiesaboutachieving"cool",thecommercial also demonstrates a change in direction for Heineken. Their

previousthemetoldyouthatyou"GiveYourselfaGoodName"whenyouchoose

the beer. In addition, this new effort seems to be more successful than the

previous: With this campaign, Heineken recognizes the legend in all of its

drinkers.Menwhoknowtheirwayaroundandrecognizea finebeerwhenthey

taste one, Wieden & Kennedy creative directors Mark Bernath and Eric

Quennoysaidinastatement.(advertfan.com)

The new aim, therefore: Heinekenwants toelevate our drinkersby showing

aspirational behavior our consumer knows how to navigate the world, is

confident, open-minded and resourceful, spokeswoman TaraCarraro told Ad

Ageinanemail.(advertfan.com)

As this commercial gained huge popularity, the continuation is pretty much

required.Ifyou"Like"Heineken'sFacebookpage,youcanaccessTheEntrance

tabthatunlocksadditionalfootageofeachoftheminorcharactersintroduced

duringthemainspot.

Likethisvideo:Heineken-TheManWithTheEyepatch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbpGUmHGoeA&feature=player_embedded

Theband,theAsteroidGalaxyTournotonlygivesthesoundtrackofthevideo

butalsoappearsphysicallyinthead,thusgivingaperfectenvironmentandalso

providingtheright"mood"forthesituation.Furthermoreitalsohighlightsthe

highstandard...Larssaid:"Thatmustbethemosthappyandcheerfulsongthat

wehave.It'saboutdreamingyourselfbackintime,backintothe'30s,'60s,'70s-

wheneveryoufeelliketherewassomethinggoingonthatyoumissed,andthat

youweren't a part of because youweren't born at that time. It's about that


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feeling of walking down the street and dreaming yourself back to these cool

timesofFrankSinatraorJimiHendrix."(songfacts.com)

Theextended/completeversionofthevideo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzoeh6Q6Kig&feature=relmfu

Justtodrawalittleconclusion:so...whydowelovethem?Perhapsbecausethey

are innovative,theyshowussomethingthatwehavenotgotusedto -andwe

alwayslove"newness".

Thepressansweredtothisquestionlikethis:"Addictive quirky soulful Pop Music with attitude, sweeping musical

arrangementswithoneofthehippestvocalsaround,Knownfortheirinfectious

liveshows, shiny, shimmering,upbeatpop, albeitwith ahorn-infused, slightly

psychadelicedge,C-walking,uprockin leg-splittingandhip-shaking theirway

through,infusionsoundlikenoother,effervescentmusicthatremindsyouofa

dozenglorioussummerskaleidoscopicmonster,bubblyandhypnotic"(last.fm)


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Whenthinkingofsuccess,thereisalwaysafear,ariskthatitwillnotlastforlong

time.Whatistheirfuture?Cananyonetellthis?

"Themusicbusinessisnot,andhasneverbeen,astableenvironment.Changesare sweeping and huge. Artists have become the most disposable part of the

equation,yetparadoxically,itistheartistswhodrivethebusinessandremainat

itscenter."(DanKimpel,NetworkingStrategies,p.9)

TheAsteroidGalaxyTourwasonegreatexampleofhowtobeextraordinarybut

successful at the same time. Their music is not from a usual genre... on the

contrary, it is pretty hard to define that. Their success is quite unique in thesensethattheyarenotfromtheUnitedStated,norfromBritainandtobehonest

they did not domuch to gain success, they were rather the lucky ones to be

chosen.Theygainedahugeaudienceallaroundtheworldthoughtheyhaveonly

25"Likes"onthe"WeWantTheAsteroidsGalaxyTour totheSziget Festival"

Facebookpagebutitisnotthatsurprising.WeknowthatHungaryalwaysfalls

behindtheworld'smusicbusiness.


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References:

SteveJobskeytoselectingtunesforAppleads,AppleInsiderStaff,accessed:

2011.05.14:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/08/steve_jobs_key_to_selecting_tunes_for_apple_ads.html

TheAsteroidGalaxyTourinterviewwithCarlWiserfromSongfacts.com,

accessed:2011.05.14:

http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/the_asteroids_galaxy_tour/

Heineken-TheEntrance,AdvertFan,accessed2011.05.14:

http://advertfan.com/2011/01/heineken-the-entrance-turning-viral-ad-into-new-global-tv-

campaign/

TheAsteroigGalaxyBiography,Apple,accessed2011.05.14:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-asteroids-galaxy-tour/id288975778

HeinekensTheEntrancevideogoesviral,supportedbyFacebook,Social

Medianairesblog,accessed2011.05.14:

http://optimalbranddevelopment.com/blog/heinekens-entrance-video-viral-supported-

facebook/

AsteroidGalacyTour,Facebook,accessed2011.05.14:

http://www.facebook.com/TheAsteroidsGalaxyTour?sk=info

Heineken,Facebook,accessed2011.05.14:

http://www.facebook.com/heineken

WeWantTheAsteroidGalaxyTourtotheSzigetFestival,Facebook,accessed

2011.05.14:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Want-The-Asteroids-Galaxy-Tour-to-the-Sziget-

Festival/117439208331500

TheAsteroidGalxyTourBiography,last.fm,accessed2011.05.14:

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Asteroids+Galaxy+Tour/+wiki

DanKimpel,NetworkingStrategiesfortheNewMusicBusiness,2005,p.9

ChristopherKnabandBartleyF.Day,MusicIsYourBusiness-TheMusicians

FourFrontStrategyforSuccess,3rdEdition,2007,p.204)

Documents

The Asteroid Galaxy Tour