Misc. Mental Musings

I Want My Nickel Back

S. G. Lacey

Bankroll:
Think about all the live concerts you’ve ever been to. Are there any events that you thought were overpriced? Or where the musical performance didn’t delivery on your expectations?

If you could set the ticket price, would this increase your attendance? How about paying $5 dollars for a show? 5 quarters? 5 cents? Are there any acts to which you wouldn’t go, even for free? Maybe there’s a band so polarizing that they would have to pay you to patronize them. What experience could be so bad?

Background:
It’s amazing how much the music industry has changed over time, fueled by shifts in consumer consumption modes and preferences.

From now-defunct 8-track tapes, to the increasing prominence of catchy i-Phone ring tones, melodic execution has shifted over time, even while much of the content has stayed unchanged. The Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive”, released in 1977, transcends time and technology.

Amazingly, music revenue for personal consumption peaked way back in 2000. Tellingly, this pinnacle aligns with ubiquitous internet access, spurring on media sharing platforms like Napster, Kazaa, LimeWire, and numerous others. The only thing better for the consumer than on-sale CDs turned out to be free downloads.

Since the turn of the millennium, the digital format has taken over the song industry, as it has for nearly all elements of life. Countless copyright battles and government legislations along the way have allowed some parts of the music industry, though rarely the original artist, to retain at least a portion of the profits from this lucrative field.

As shown in the historical music revenue chart below, it’s not until recently that total income has started to rise again, as companies have finally filled all the major leaks associated with universally free sound. [REF]

Backstage:

Live music has roared back with a vengeance post-COVID as venues large and small reopen, buoyed by lifting of testing protocols and feverish factions antsy for socializing.

The year of 2020 will likely turn out to simply be a blimp in what has been a relentless trend of fans enjoying music live, as opposed to buying albums for at-home consumption. Experiences have become increasingly valued by consumers, especially the younger generation, who are willing to pay up for once-in-a lifetime show attendance.

During just the period from 1996 to 2019, the average concert ticket price for a top-tier artist increased nearly 4-fold, from $26 to $91, equating to an annual rate of nearly 6%, far outstripping general inflation.

Another trend which is remerging in popularity is the festival, which allows multiple bands to share the substantial costs of marketing, logistics, and sales associated with any live event. These modern renditions are not your parents’ experience, wandering around a muddy field in Upstate NY with marginal amenities. Instead, modern festivals are excruciatingly planned, often focusing on a specific music consumer, and providing a curated experience which matches this target fans’ expectations. All this customization costs money.

Ranging in size from a few jazz acts in the local park, to country music takeovers of entire towns in the South, there’s a festival experience for everyone in 2022. Provided you’re willing to pay up. [REF]

Bifurcation:

The monetization of music is changing.

Concerts have switched from a basic marketing ploy used to sell a few more albums, to the primary source of a band’s income between appearance fees, merchandise sales, and event video rights. Back in 2016, the revenue of Live Nation, the leading live entertainment company, surpassed the value of the two legacy players in the recording space, Universal and Sony, combined.

With music becoming more globally aligned, a product of internet connectivity, and viral distribution, bands which used to have a regional or country specific audience, can now become worldwide standouts. More ears mean additional tour stops and additional moolah.

Unfortunately, despite the seemingly increased ease of music creation and distribution, the industry is becoming more consolidated, as opposed to more diverse. Like many influencers of this social media era, the bulk of profits are accruing to a very small slice of the musical revenue pie.

It’s amazing to look at certain bands which continue to stay relevant, and even increase in national relevance, despite not releasing a new track in years. What’s old is new again, in many elements of life, from fashion, to movies, to collectables, to sound. And the concert scene is definitely back in full force. [REF]

Big Business:

Multi-year, multi-continent, tours are incredibly lucrative for certain generational bands. You’ll likely recognize every artist on the top-20 all-time list below. Impressively, the timeline spans several decades, includes every major musical genre, and has many repeat successful offenders. [REF]

These single tour incomes are truly massive, equivalent to the annual earnings of an entire NFL team after revenue sharing reconciliation. In many cases, song and sports often share the same large arenas.

While popular, prevalent, prime-time bands are well-known, it’s more interesting to examine the more obscure, and even hated, acts which are also able to make a living in the music industry.

Border Crossing:

These days, the United States considers itself the pinnacle of music, if not quantitatively in terms of artist origin, then at least from a consumer revenue standpoint. But to get a full sampling of the industry, in a much more consolidated and niche form, it’s helpful to look North.

Canada has some interesting rules to help homegrown artists. Most notable is the requirement that 40% of radio airtime must be occupied by a band of Canadian origin, albeit in loosely defined terms. Unfortunately, this listening format is dying, even in cars, with essentially every new vehicle now having cell phone Bluetooth connectivity.

Many new Canadian artists like Drake and The Weeknd have garnered worldwide fame, exploring musical genres outside the traditional pop style which has represented many of Canada’s most popular musicians historically. [REF]

Good thing, since there’s only so much Celine Dion, Michael Bublé, and Avril Lavigne one can listen to when driving along the iconic CA-1 powder highway in Canada.

Bio:

There is one band from Canada which is essentially universal hated by both artists and fans alike. Yet, this quartet has seemed to thrive on the relentless attrition, staying relevant and profitable for the past two decades despite minimal musical innovation to their songs or sound.

Nickelback!

It’s impressive to look at the metrics associated with Nickelback, the band, putting aside any preconceived notions about their repetitive songs like “Photograph”, their polarizing front man Chad Kroeger, and the general societal sentiment of absolute disgust surrounding their entire existence.

In the decade of the 2000’s, Nickelback was the 2nd best-selling foreign band in the United States, behind a little group called “The Beatles”. Not bad musical company.

This success earned them the title of #7 on the Billboard top artist of decade, with 4 releases on the top album list over this time. “How You Remind Me”, released in 2001, was played over 1.2 million times in the 2000’s, putting in 4th in popularity among all songs, in a segment which is typically dominated by popular rap and hip-hop works. [REF]

During their lengthy career, which is still ongoing to the dismay of many, Nickelback has sold over 50 million albums, and earned countless accolades in the music industry, including 6 Grammy nominations.

Someone must have been buying all these albums, and putting in all these song requests. Who is the prototypical Nickelback fan? No idea, since it’s hard to even get anyone to admit they listen to such swill.

Because:

While catchy bands are fun and popular, crappy bands are lame and boring. But who really makes these differentiations, and how are some of these poor performers still in business?

There are numerous theories on why and how Nickelback became so hated. Some considerations are obvious and other more subtle.

Timing, as they followed in the footsteps of popular grunge movement, and essentially killed it. Being signed by Roadrunner Records, which was primarily a metal label. Mediocre sound, cranking out a mainstream commercialized product, simply changing lyrics but not truly revolutionizing anything.

Then there’s the issues associated with Chad Kroeger, Nickelback’s lead singer, and unfortunately most prominent public persona. Arrogant. Egotistical. Tasteless. Imbecilic. All these descriptors come to mind simply by reviewing the wealth of studio interviews and concert footage available online. This is definitely one major source of Nickelback’s unpopularity.

Kroeger’s original early 1990’s grunge cover band, formed in Alberta, Canada, was named the “Village Idiots”. Many think he should have just kept this moniker. Still, at a new worth over $50 million, he’s not doing too bad for himself, aside from continually tarnishing his public image.

Another issue is the frequent confusion between Nickelback and Creed, both early 2000’s rock bands with similar sound. However, the former hails from deep in central Canada, the latter from the panhandle of Florida.

In reality, analyzing lyrics shows the major difference in style and subject matter. Nickelback’s songs are overtly sexual and womanizing, with Creed’s image personified by religious and spiritual undertones. Both sentiments are extremely polarizing and often found distasteful in modern society. Not exactly a recipe for commercial success in hindsight either way.

Being despised has also potentially reinforced the impressive staying power of Nickelback in the very competitive entertainment industry. They came into prominence with the rise of the internet and social media, riding a wave of electronic publicity, in the form of either praise or punishment. Primarily the latter it turned out.

The genre of music these players help create, a subset now dubbed alternative metal, is still being executed today. Including more revered bands like 3 Doors Down, Hinder, Three Days Grace, and Finger Eleven, the last two of which are also Canadian in origin, this style has personified the upbringings for a segment of Gen-X males, for better or worse.

Ironically, Nickelback has embraced their hated image to the point where it’s now a key part of their marketing message. The Twitter post below from the middle of 2020 summarizes this sentiment, a joke sent out at the heart of one of the darkest points for modern humanity. [REF]

Boo:

Imagine that you’ve spent the past 2 decades executing your craft, despite increasing public pressure as technological connectivity has improved. That’s dedication.

While Nickelback continues to play on, putting out debatably new songs, and touring with their massive portfolio of similar sounding hits, many of their naysayers peers have folded, disbanded, or retired. From a pure business perspective, it’s hard to debate Nickelback’s success as a business franchise.

Conveniently, with rampant social media banter, and increasing societal polarization, a few new players have entered the melee in the maligned music arena.

Imagine Dragons seems to currently be atop this mountain of mediocrity. It’s likely they will be surpassed soon enough, as consumer preferences change much faster than they used to. It’s not surprising that these musical debates are becoming increasingly negative, as the super genre combining rock, pop, metal, and alternative have merged together, leaving plenty of room for complaining fandom.

No matter what music one produces these days, “haters gonna hate.” For reference, Taylor Swift, the world’s artistic darling of the past decade plus, ranks 5th on this poll of most hated individual musicians. This particular list is topped by another of Canadian performer of increasingly ill repute. [REF]

Popularity and polarization are now inexorably linked in all elements of society, including band preference.

Baseball:

Nickelback’s entire musical existence has now become a joke, having sold out their sound for use in a British furniture commercial, and the brunt of countless parodies and meme online. Despite all this, their faux-celebrity status may have recently hit a new low.

Earlier this summer, in the midst of a 13-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a seemingly professional baseball team, resorted to a desperate strategy. Using a Nickelback tune for every player’s walk-up music during the game. [REF]

With 9 players in the line-up, many would think there aren’t enough songs to support this approach. But the Nickelback catalogue, while similar in sound, is much more diverse than most realize. Mike Trout was injured so didn’t play this game, but he’s definitely a “Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good” guy.

Unfortunately, this ploy didn’t work. The Angels batters were apparently so distracted they could only scrape out 7 hits, all singles, losing 1-0 to the Red Sox.

At least those in attendance got to enjoy a surprise Nickelback onboarding, albeit with abbreviated songs, and none of the light show pyrotechnics and aggressive gyrations which personify this band’s live performances. Still, at $9 for an upper view cheap seat in the outfield bleachers, the pricing was hard to beat.

By The Way:

Analytics on average concert ticket prices by age, location, band, and genre. [REF] & [REF]
Lots of good details on the source of Nickelback hatred, complete with several funny embedded meme videos. [REF]
Absurd similarity between Nickelback’s hit songs “How You Remind Me” and “Someday” when music is overlayed. [REF]
Calculating most hated bands based on a mathematical algorithm of internet traffic, combined tabulation of online audience polls. [REF]