The Biggest Challenge For Live's Future Success Is... Options

[FishOutaWater]

In my opinion, the biggest challenge to Live's future success is the fact that sadly, for some reason that I don't understand, Rock seems to be almost dead. A rock band cannot get any traction anymore, unless it has a 30 year following like Van Halen, Springstein, U2, Metallica, etc. Apart from the Foo Fighters, Rock n' Roll has been gradually relegated to a specialty genre like jazz and blues. R & B and auto-tune vocalists who are not artists have completely taken over the charts and the record industry is a complete disaster. To me it is really sad because modern music has no heart and soul anymore. And to me, this is the biggest challenge to Live becoming successful again. I would like to see Live be a part of a movement to make rock relevant again.

[themaestro]

I sure as shit hope there is music and a tour (at least announcement) way before October!
I also don't want the guys to plan anything around Ed's coming into town.

but if they want to be a name people know again (and maybe they don't, and if they don't, that's cool and this whole thread is moot), they have to consider the timing of things.

I'm gathering from the speed/timing of things so far (the website, for example) that they don't give a shit.

and that's totally wonderful for them. because that means they are free to make the stuff they make at their own pace in their own time and that's awesome (not so much for those of us impatient bastards).

Do they even have a PR team??? if they do, they need to fire them and hire fish and funky.

and the successes of MJ, TC, and SS were in large part due to the culture of music at the time. they caught a break and rode a huge wave.
not that the music isn't mind blowing. It is.
but if Live had never existed until - say 2002 - and MJ came out in 2002 - with the state of music where it was then, or even now 2012 - do you think it would even get a nod? On indie stations, some college stations, sure. but stadiums like they played in the 90's? no way. not a chance.

bottom line is I want amazing music. I want them to do whatever they have to to make that happen.
but it would also be nice (icing on the cake) to tell people I'm going to see LIVE and not have to sing Lightning Crashes to get them to know what I'm talking about.

Of course the business model is different, times are different. Of course they rode a wave with TC. Alternative radio is not what it was. Gotye has 220 million views on youtube, most of which occurred before it even became a radio staple. OK Go got over 50 million views for their treadmill video with very little radio support. Bands are able to reach the masses in different ways these days. Bands build a following and earn a living working in a new business model. What I'm saying is they need to focus on that. Who knows if they can reach millions of fans again, but it is possible.

You make a good point about whether or not they actually want to, and that is the real question to me. It was a very soft intro to CS. I get the private show, but SXSW should have been a bigger deal. Were they even officially part of SXSW? They weren't on the band listing for the festival, neither was CB or TGF. Live playing with a new singer should have garnered some good press. They could have partnered with Youtube, Google, Yahoo or someone and done a live broadcast. Every major music publication online and print was surely in town. Lots of symposiums they could have been part of. Again, there are all sorts of ways they could have had a major presence at SXSW just by being part of all the new ways to interact with your fans. Festivals like SXSW or Coachella are great ways to do that. I know Coachella was broadcast by many different online and new media outlets. These types of festivals are at the forefront when it comes to attracting fans that are hip and savvy enough to interact with bands in this new frontier of music. Live should have taken advantage of that.

Live really doesn't seem like an active band right now. I don't know the reasoning behind it. I'm sure introducing a new singer is extremely tricky. Maybe there is still legal stuff. Lots of uncertainties. But they sure don't seem to have gotten full force behind their re-introduction. Where are the Churchbox Sessions? How about some other unreleased material. There are countless ways they could be releasing material. Do they do it as is with EK, or re-record it? I don't know. If they are 100% behind CS, maybe an EP would be a good idea right now. Maybe a new tune or two with a few re-recorded unreleased Live songs. Bottom line is, there are a ton of the artistic type things they could be doing to get the PR right now. The SXSW show should have been one, a more comprehensive website, more merchandise, release some new music, do some more shows, license some of your old material, make a kick ass video, give more updates, basically make the band active and current. These are the types of creative things they should be doing. Even though a band may not be working a full album, I think these days you need to be interacting with your fans and staying as active as you can. It's pretty much a full time job I think if you want to stay engaged, but if you want your band to be your primary occupation it can be done and done successfully.