OpEd On Bad Band Behavior: Why Do Rich Kids & Successful Bands Ripoff Other Artists?
Two recent incidents by poorly behaving bands remind us that just because someone has found success doesn't mean that they're the kind of people one should support. I imagine most of us have artists that we still listen to even though we find their beliefs and actions objectionable (Bad Brains, for a homphobic example). But a band fronted by one of Steven Tyler's kids, badbad, and a former major label act, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, have shown themselves to be the types who don't respect other artists. So why should we give them our respect?
Let's call this an editorial by a blogger so nobody gets confused.
badbad Leverages Wealth To Attack bAd bAd
Example 1: So Steven Tyler's kid that many of us didn't know existed has a band called badbad based in LA. Before they did anything in public, another band called bAd bAd was establishing themselves with a different style of music in San Francisco.
Now badbad is using various legal means to attempt to end the existence of bAd bAd and remove their music from the web. Said bAd bAd member Christian Zamora:
"They pretty much want us to wipe ourselves off the face of the earth…It’s so ridiculous."
Though bAd bAd's existence clearly predates badbad, the latter filed a trademark in 2013 though they claim they trademarked the name in 2011.
Everyday people call that lying cause we're naive in the ways of the world.
If you agree that badbad has behaved poorly, then please let them know on their Facebook page.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Rip Off & Insult Photographer
Example 2: (via ElectricKiwi) Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is a former major label act with a lot of fans. Rohan Anderson is a music photographer who generally lets it slide when bands use his pics of them without permission as long as they credit the pic and treat it with the respect due any artist.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus took one of Anderson's photos, cropped it, removed the watermark and posted it on Instagram with degraded quality and no credit to the photographer. Think about what most musicians would say if that happened to their work.
Anderson tried to communicate with them and they behaved like assholes.
And then Red Jumpsuit Apparatus tried an "all forms of art should be free" approach which they later amended to "most forms of digital art should be free" because they apparently are still banking on merch sales, licensing, ticket sales and so forth.
If you agree that Red Jumpsuit Apparatus has behaved poorly, then please let them know on their Facebook page.
But Some People Of All Classes Behave Poorly
So why do we still fall into the trap of believing that people with too much power and money are inherently better than the rest of us?
[Thumbnail image of audience members meant to be symbolic of fans displeased with poorly acting bands courtesy splattael.]
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) posts music crowdfunding news @CrowdfundingM. To suggest topics about music tech, DIY music biz or music marketing for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
