第 256 期森林之人

水印_ByTailorBrands
贾斯汀-汀布莱克为彭德尔顿代言

DNVB / 媒体 / 电子商务:(1)贾斯汀-汀布莱克(Justin Timberlake)是世界上最有才华的音乐家之一,他希望在40多岁时还能继续表演。(2)音乐产业不断发展,只有最精明的艺术家才能恰当地驾驭流媒体的经济局限性。

在构思《森林王子》的内涵时,请考虑这两项评估。

Timberlake 是一位精明的商人。因此,当他的《Man of The Woods》专辑的最初形象发布时,我们很容易就会对其商品宣传的明目张胆开起玩笑。我之前那条推文的讽刺意味在于,汀布莱克的进化是毋庸置疑的。由于他之前取得的巨大成功,他也有能力比其他大多数艺人玩更长的游戏。

推特上的网络史密斯

Timberlake 和 Bruno Mars 拥有相同的技能组合。一个知道如何进化,另一个正在为 Filson 制作原生广告。

林布莱克的职业生涯概括如下。三十年来,他的音乐不断变化,他的流行时尚出人意料,他的发型也大多不尽人意,但比尔先生却取得了罕见的持续成功。他走过了美国音乐进化史上不可能的道路:

  • 米老鼠俱乐部会员(12-15 岁)
  • N'SYNC领队(15-22 岁)
  • 充满嘻哈风格的流行歌手(22-33 岁)
  • Jay-Z 获认可的 R&B 艺术家(33-36 岁)
  • 最新阶段的开始(37 岁至 40 岁)

To better understand Timberlake’s newfound interest in American heritage brands, consider that he is proudly from Tennessee and he was always inspired by the music of the region. 

Consider these two quotes from Refinery29‘s Album Review:

There was much debate about how Mumford & Sons/O Brother Where Art Thou? this album would get after Timberlake debuted its teaser trailer, but when the first two singles (“Filthy” and “Supplies”) were the straight-ahead dance pop we expected, it was assumed that Timberlake didn’t go full Montana — or even Tennessee. But there are strong country moments here, daringly on songs not involving Stapleton, who plays guitar on multiple songs.

and…

The key to understanding why this feels like cultural tourism may come in Timberlake’s interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1. He told Lowe that all of his records before were “aspiration,” either to a lifestyle or for him to “pay homage to my influences.” When you dabble in country or Americana but don’t have influences in mind to pay homage to, things are going to get weird.

Screen Shot 2018-02-09 at 2.16.39 PMWhen I was an elementary school kid in Houston, I lived down the street from a music hall owned by Kris Kristofferson, a place where he’d perform with musicians like Shel Silverstein. I also had the opportunity to watch several of Kristofferson’s colleagues in their later years: Merle, Waylon, and so on. It’s squarely here that Timberlake is drawing aspiration for the next decade of his career with the help of Chris Stapleton, wool, and a beard.

Few can take issue with his staying power. And staying power means that you have to be willing to adapt to remain at the forefront of your craft. Timberlake is the master of this. So now that we’ve established the musician’s newfound musical aspiration, let’s look at the merchandising deals that were organized by Bravado, Universal Music Group’s merchandising arm.

IMG_5059
A scene from the Man of The Woods pop up at 138 Wooster, NY, NY

Each track from Man of the Woods had a collaborative item:

  • Filthy: Heron Preston
  • Midnight Summer Jam: YETI
  • Sauce: Best Made Co.
  • Man Of The Woods: Best Made Co.
  • Higher Higher: Jordan Brand
  • Wave: Warby Parker
  • Supplies: Best Made Co.
  • Morning Light: Pendleton
  • Say Something: Moleskin
  • Hers: Pendleton
  • Flannel: Levi’s
  • Montana: Levi’s
  • Breeze Off The Pond: Maestro’s Classic
  • Livin’ Off The Land: Best Made Co.
  • The Hard Stuff: by Leor Yerushalmi
  • Young Man: Lucchese

In exchange for cross promotion and sales, several heritage brands and DNVB’s joined in on this experiment through Universal Music Group. The end result: Timberlake has masterfully monetized streaming music in a way that most artists had only dreamt of before Universal’s Bravado arm came about.

In the end, perhaps I was right about the snide comparison between Mars and Timberlake. Just days after Mars’ musical mastery and charisma amassed him six Grammy awards, Timberlake officially left craftsmanship behind – choosing to use streaming music as a vehicle for commerce and reinvention.

The Man of the Woods album is wholly forgettable. With any luck and a few more American albums, Timberlake will eventually get that nod from southern rock’s good ole’ boys. But everything from the Nike SNKRS stunt (1) at Super Bowl LII to corralling Yeti and Heron Preston is pure 24 karat magic.


(1) The Super Bowl / Nike / SNKRS deal explained.

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