How much does a hit song cost? $1,078,000

Yup - that's right $1,078,000 - well, according to NPR.  "In this case it was Rhianna's "Man Down" - a big budget, blockbuster-style blowout that remains unproven" - so writes http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/

But is this a surprise?  It's always been somewhat depressing to know that the lowest common denominator "sure-fire hit" has always been prevalent within the pop world.  The fact that marketing budgets command the biggest slice of a song's "manufacture" is pretty much a given - the biggest change is that instead of trying to command a closed market of which they are the gate keepers - now the record labels are up against all of us. 

The marketplace is crowded with lots and lots of upstarts vying for your attention so it's only natural that if a company really wants to push something they have two choices.

Come up with a clever idea and Go Viral:

Or if you can afford it - buy the maximum amount of publicity available.

One of the heartening things to come out of this article is that, despite all the doom and gloom surrounding the music industry - clearly the record companies still think there's enough life left in her to invest that amount of money - it's also heartening to see that musicians and song writers are being paid - even if they have to produce Lowest Common Denominator stuff to do so.

Now i'm not sure whether anyone has done a, er, cost analysis of Viral videos - but i think judging by the views of the OK GO! video above - they're pretty rewarding.  All you need is a video camera (which with the advent of cheap DSLR's with film quality is not beyond hiring at any rate), someone who can edit and a good idea. 

By Jez with 1 comment