Here Today... Gone To Hell!

If It?s Retail, Is It Still Rock?

By JANET MORRISSEY
Published: October 28, 2007

AS torrents of money streamed into his wallet from multiplatinum albums in the 1980s and 1990s, Duff McKagan, then the bass player for the hard rock band Guns N? Roses, had little interest in tracking his cash. Instead, he relied on intimidation and his group?s reputation as the ?most dangerous band in the world? to prevent managers from ripping him off.

?We knew nothing about money, and so we had this sort of gang mentality toward anybody who worked for us,? he recalls. ?It sounds funny now, but that?s all we had to rely on.?

But he didn?t know the difference between a stock and a bond and lost money in real estate. So at the height of his career, he gave up partying and went back to school in 2000 to study business. Today, Mr. McKagan, 43, tightly monitors the finances of his current band, Velvet Revolver.

Like other rockers easing into middle age or seniorhood, Mr. McKagan is also experimenting with new partnerships in response to a music business in flux. Amid plunging record sales and Internet file sharing, rockers are eagerly plastering their names everywhere.

Their ?brands? are now found in television commercials, tour sponsorships, and merchandise as diverse as cars, private-label wines and celebrity cruises. The rock band Kiss has been among the most prolific merchandisers, selling products ranging from condoms to the ?Kiss Kasket,? a limited-edition coffin. The band?s latest offerings include musical toothbrushes, pool cues, window blinds and baby booties.

?It?s a different ballgame now,? compared with rock?s baby boomer heyday, says Joseph Bongiovi, who handles merchandise and partnerships for the rock group Bon Jovi.

Others concur. ?Everyone is in agreement that taking advantage of the appeal music has as a marketing vehicle is in their interest,? says Michael Megalli, a partner at Group 1066, a strategic branding firm. Paul McCartney, in his solo career, made a deal with iTunes and Starbucks to distribute his music. That agreement was ?the most radical transformation when you think about how the Beatles were so guarded about their catalog and the idea of using it commercially,? Mr. Megalli says.

Even the rock icon Mick Jagger, whose generation embraced the anti-big-business motto ?never trust anyone over 30? in the 1960s, toots the corporate horn. The Rolling Stones have teamed up with the likes of Sprint and Budweiser for concert tours, and the band hawks everything from bras and panties to leather bomber jackets.

To be sure, some rockers, like Bruce Springsteen, still refuse to form corporate partnerships. ?Bruce made a decision a long time ago that he didn?t want to rent his name or stage out,? says Jon Landau, Mr. Springsteen?s manager. ?It just wasn?t something that was in his comfort zone.?

But others who don?t share that point of view say partnerships and branding have to be part of their musical portfolios, especially for little-known bands.

?The barriers are changing and we as artists are making less and less money, and we have to get creative,? notes Mr. McKagan, whose new band has licensed its music to a Victoria?s Secret commercial and movie soundtracks, formed partnerships with entities like the music video simulation game Guitar Hero, and appeared in ads for the clothing designer John Varvatos. ?Fifteen years ago, it would have been totally not cool. You would have been selling out.?

Complete article: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/business/28rockers.html?ref=business