This week Guinness launched a new initiative: Amplify. The aim is to invest €1 million euro into Irish music by hosting showcases in September through to October.
In the same swift and equally decisive hand, Arthur’s Day has been culled from the annual events roster of Irish music.
Like For Like
For the most part, this will end up being like for like. There will be gigs in over 500 pubs, just like Arthur’s Day. It will be nationwide, just like Arthur’s Day. It will see big name acts in small venues, initially announced are Kodaline, Ellie Goulding, Walking On Cars and Daithí, with more to be announced, just like Arthur’s Day.
So where was the problem exactly?
The only difference this year will be that it’s spread out and we won’t be looking at the clock at 17:59 to shout “To Arthur”. From the initial information, nothing else has really changed. This year it’s ran under the guise of supporting Irish music and investing money into Irish artists with studio time promised if selected by the judging panel. Bands will then also get to be on the bill when a big name plays a small venue – the exposure junkie in every band will live for that.
Trial By Social Media
So it leaves me wondering, will Amplify get the same abuse that Arthur’s Day had to endure? With both events the intention was to provide great nights of music under the Guinness branding.
To be fair to Diageo, thanks to Arthur’s Day we’ve gotten to see some great acts play very small venues that we could never possibly have dreamed of otherwise. That’s the money of a big brand talking, as no promoter would put such big names in small stages without a hefty, hefty price tag.
For most years, Arthur’s Day cost €5 – €10. In other cases it was free.
It’s only been announced, but already there has been some detraction from Amplify. People are saying they don’t believe Guinness “actually want to support Irish music” or that Guinness treats Irish music like it needs their help to survive.
For me it’s kind of like the Dublin Bikes being sponsored by Coke Zero, everybody wants more bikes and stations, nobody wants to take brand money to do it. It’s an ethical line that people enjoy pontificating upon. It’s clear that the city biking scheme couldn’t achieve growth as fast without monetary investment. Similarly, you’ll never see a big name artist in a small venue without a brand paying for it – unless you want to pay an astronomical price on the door.
Over the past few years, we have bemoaned Arthur’s Day for it’s corporate nature and for the A&E inducing events. Well Diageo can’t help but be a corporate entity, but should they not create unique events because they are a giant within an industry?
As for the A&E inducing events, after the initial free pints or cheaper pints around 6pm, Guinness costs money. The fact that people end up getting polluted to the point of ending up in hospital is a sad fact, but it’s a largely a self restraint issue. Perhaps if Arthur’s Day had started at 8/9pm there would be less intoxication. It’s one of those things that’s almost impossible to gauge, but everyone has to be responsible for how much they drink. “Know the one that’s one too many”, is the tagline often repeated, perhaps that never sinks in.
Progress
This year will see spread out, week by week regional shows as Amplify takes hold in each province. It’s hard to tell yet if the names will be as big as dragged in for Arthur’s Day, with Kodaline and Ellie Goulding the two largest names mentioned to date. For many the allure was to see a big name in a small venue, while for others it was the lure of cheaper pints and the novelty of shouting “To Llama’s” as they hold a pint aloft in the sky.
Can Amplify drag people out of their homes to support local music? Can Amplify help find and launch the next Kodaline by giving them a platform and studio time? It’s a very big question to ask and a very difficult task on both fronts to achieve. The musical talent is out there that’s both worth bothering heading down the local to catch and could break through to be a big name. They just need to catch that break in the same way Kodaline did.
If some of the million invested pays bands on the night, regardless of exposure, Diageo could be on to some PR gold.
Marketing Campaign
Is it a well resourced marketing campaign?
Of course it is, it’s an event set out to increase brand awareness with a feel good association, just like the Arthur Guinness Projects does when it crosses the landscape to arts, sport and food. Diageo have the money to invest in good ideas and put on a memorable night of music for those who drink responsibly (and can therefore remember it in the morning).
The question becomes: are we so against brands like Diageo or Heineken or any other big name brand, associating themselves with clever ideas? That Guinness didn’t bring huge names to small venues, or funded small projects with big ideas? That Heineken didn’t do things like Live Project or Budweiser didn’t do Future Sounds Project?
These are things which have seen artistic people prosper and gain in the name of a little advertising. The counter argument is that the brand are using your name (or you) for advertising and you should be charging them for the privilege. But often the people these initiatives can help are those who brands may never have considered “advertising with” before.
The problem lies mostly in Ireland’s dangerous association with alcohol, but we seem dead set on blaming the brands instead of trying to help ourselves. If the backlash and vitriol continues year after year, brands (and not just alcohol ones) may not see the point in trying something new or unique. That’s something I would hate to see.
Full Disclosure
I think it’s worth mentioning here that GoldenPlec actually won some funding from the Arthur Guinness Projects last year. There was a lot of negativity around it. Personally we saw it as an opportunity to get some help we couldn’t get anywhere else before. The cost, for us was a few weeks encouraging people to vote for us. Had we not ended up winning, there was no major loss on our side other than a few hours of asking for votes via our links (which happened to also be a nice way for us to keep our own brand name in peoples minds).
To give credit to the process, they made the money awarded immediately available, have provided training in different aspects of running a business, promoting yourself, media training and never once have made any demands, requests, changes, alterations to the plans we made. We received great guidance and advice and the effort of getting ourselves into the top 10% has proven more than worthwhile.
If Arthur Guinness Projects returns this year (as expected), I’d encourage any small project to apply. The benefit even aside from money can be massive.
In Closing
Overall, I think that something has been lost in the discontinuation of Arthur’s Day. There was a certain magic and excitement in the build up to it each year and the social media side has only made the secret venues aspect even more interesting as pictures flood out of small pubs where an unexpected big name has appeared.
If you take the over-consumption of alcohol out of the picture, there was actually a genuinely enjoyable event held each year.
Let’s hope Amplify can deliver some of that magic and really support Irish artists.