Later today, Chuck Comeau from Simple Plan is expected to take part in the C2MTL conference and talk about the business side of music at “The Beat Goes On” panel. In preparations for this appearance, Chuck has been interviewed by La Presse on his thoughts on brands and their affects on the music industry.
You can either read the full article in French on LaPresse.com or read Chuck’s translated quotes below:
“I always thought that one day, the big brands like Coca-Cola would become the suppliers of music, that they would sign the artists themselves. It will be a war of content, and then – these brands still need to be cool, to be on the edge. When we started 12 years ago, it was like a crime to make a product placement in your music video. Today, it is common, it is even weird not to have them. Is it possible to go even further? I always said that one day we would have an album presented by Coke.” [Chuck on brands]
“The music industry is a good example of resilience. When it produces great changes, as it was the case in recent years, you have no choice but to be creative. People in the industry have complained for several years, but now they roll up their sleeves and find new ideas to stay relevant. Nevertheless, the music has never been so present in people’s lives. Music is more than ever a way for young people to define themselves.” [Chuck on the music industry and music in general]
“Could Facebook start signing bands and their music to the billions of people on their site? Why not! All these brands need music, movies, TV series, content for broadcast for their distribution channels that are extremely powerful and lose their purpose if they do not have the content to distribute.” [Chuck on the possible next level of the collaboration between music and social media]
“While others find that the marketing side and management is a burden, I always found it really interesting. There is no one who will be as concerned about your career as yourself.” [Chuck on his interest in the business side of music]
“Sometimes people offer you good amounts of money [for product placement], but if it does not work with our own brand and who we are as a band, it’s not cool for our fans. We must define what Simple Plan is and at the same time learn to reinvent ourselves and do new things.” [Chuck on staying true to the band’s identity]
