I guess I should be used to it by now, but it still breaks my heart when I hear the music of bands I love being used to sell things. Like today, when I caught the last couple seconds of a Nivea commercial - not too long, but just long enough for me to recognize Le Tigre‘s Deceptacon, which, by the way, was first used by Telus in one of those abhorrent sickeningly-cute-dancing-animal spots. Oh ladies. Why must you hurt me so?
Now, in no way am I against artists making money. You don’t have to be living in a box, eating macaroni and cheese, and trying to get a third cup out of that single teabag to earn my respect. And I (mostly) stood by Le Tigre when they moved from Mr. Lady to a major label, because they believed it would help them reach a broader audience, and who am I to tell them that’s not what they want? But seriously, how can a band that’s so critical of consumer culture and the way it preys on women think it’s okay to contribute to the “coolness” factor of the latest marketing trend, instead of trying to deconstruct it?
I remember an interview with Kathleen Hanna, the band’s frontwoman, that was published in Punk Planet many moons ago, where she talked about how Biore (remember those blackhead-removal strips that would end up taking off half your nose?) used Lillith Fair as a test-market for its product, and she was disgusted by how the festival suddenly seemed to be all about “group Biore bonding”. Well, Hanna, how many young ladies are now going to be humming “Who took the bomp from the bomp-a-lomp-a-lomp… dum de dum… clear skin is sexy skin!”?
Maybe as far as companies go Nivea isn’t as bad as, say, Unilever, but gosh, I’m beginning to feel like a hopeless ideologue for believing you can make art without having to embrace, if nothing else, the lesser of many evils. And the worst thing is, I still love this song and this album and think it’s among one of the most revolutionary musical objects of the last ten years. Does that make me a tool? (Well, okay, I know it doesn’t. But I feel pretty conflicted and hella betrayed. Again.)
What do you think?
Myself, I’m giving the last word to Mr. David Lynch.
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14 comments
Right. This isn't a personal attack on anyone's musical taste, and I don't want to offend any of my fellow bloggers. And I'm sure you guys are going to crucify me for this. But I'm going to say it anyways.
I. Really. Hate. Le Tigre.
I don't hate them because their music makes my ears hurt. That's just my personal preference.
I hate them because they can't sing or play their instruments and - as I would judge from their sale of Deceptacon to Telus - they aren't all that intelligent when it comes to ideological consistency. (Although it's more likely that they are just smart business women, who, like smart business men, are willing to throw out their beliefs for a buck.)
You're probably all going to disagree with me - but I feel that women on stage who can't play and can't sing and don't have anything of value to say just take attention away from genuinely talented and intelligent female musicians. It's like that episode of Futurama where Leela becomes the first female blurnsball player. She is absolutely terrible at the game, and the crowds come in droves to laugh at her. Another woman - a talented blurnsball player - tells her off for making it harder for serious female athletes to be taken seriously.
It's the same reason I can't stand dumb female politicians, like Ségolène Royal. Royal, who is up for the French Presidency, has her heart in the right place, and I applaud how far she's gotten - but she comes across as kinda stupid. Stupid female politicians make it harder for other more legit, more intelligent women in politics to be taken seriously.
Anyways, I'm probably being too hard on Le Tigre - I don't really think they actually detract from the success of genuinely talented female musicians (like, I dunno, Tori Amos). I know there's room in this world for all shades of musicians, from classical pianists to kiddie punk, while there are only a few spots for top politicians of any stripe.
But really - I've always found Le Tigre really annoying, I've never respected their music, I've never thought anything they had to say was more noteworthy than "consumer culture sucks, guys." So I'm really not surprised that they sold out.
Posted by zoe
April 25, 2007, 8:51 AM
Don't worry, no crucifixions afoot - my people haven't been into that for a while now.
But I do want to say something in defense of jangly, unpolished music, which is that in some ways that's kind of the whole point of punk rock - in its best form (which, granted, we see pretty rarely these days) it's a stand against a taste-culture that values technical skill over heart, and is an attempt to break down the consumer/producer barrier. Punk musicians who aren't technical whizzes - and I think this is part of why Le Tigre was so important for so many young women - are saying "Look! You don't need fancy equipment or Juilliard training or lots of 'hot licks' to play music! You can do it with what you got! You don't have to be a groupie or a girlfriend forever! You can be IN THE BAND!" And, history-of-rock speaking, that's huge.
And there will always be an audience for talented songwriters like Tori Amos (even if she does make me want to yakk in my boots - but that has more to do with memories of bad highschool haircuts than anything else) - in fact, and this is getting a bit tangential, I kind of blame her for the insane glut of tepid Tori-wannabe singer-songwriters who have made it necessary for music reviewers to use the phrase "not just another female singer-songwriter" to describe the latest gal musician, as though that were the most terrible thing one could be. Anyway.
That doesn't mean everyone has to like Le Tigre. I mean, sure, Kathleen Hanna's voice sounds like a buzzsaw. But, to me at a certain point it sounded like, I don't know, a buzzsaw cutting through all the bullshit, you know?
Anyway, I could bat this particular birdie around indefinitely, but I'll leave it at that for now.
Posted by Anna
April 25, 2007, 9:50 AM
Touche - a very well made point. I just feel like in addition to "You can be IN THE BAND!" they might want have added "but you might want to learn how to play something first, lest you come across like a bit of a ditz."
And I too detest the vast majority of drippy female pianists - but I can't hold Tori responsible for that. She's still more eccentric, ballsy and brassy than the rest of the pack (or at least, most of the pack). Her track Raspberry Swirl is absolutely kick-ass - and a great commentary on heterosexual sex in the US of A.
I can see exactly why you saw it as a buzzsaw cutting through the bullshit - I just didn't think they were bringing anything else to the table but more bullshit, you know? Selling their track to Telus is pretty... well, bullshit.
Posted by zoe
April 25, 2007, 10:22 AM
Yeah - but why do ladies who can't noodle like Van Halen come off as ditzes while guys whose skills are questionable get to be punk-rock? The Ramones have, like, three chords but no one accuses them of illegitimizing music (at least, not these days).
So - women either have to work twice as hard at their skills to be recognized and appreciated, or they can say "eff that scene, eff mainstream rock journalism, eff cock-rock and its knuckle-dragging sycophants, eff snobby music-store boys, I'm an effing pissed-off feminist with a crappy guitar and I don't give an eff." Which, I think, is what Le Tigre were doing when they first began - that's what they brought to the table. And that's why it makes me gag so much worse now that I can't trust them.
Posted by Anna
April 25, 2007, 11:10 AM
But, um, to look at it positively, when your heroes sell out it just reminds me that hero-worship is questionable at best - a key punk-rock lesson.
Posted by Anna
April 25, 2007, 11:13 AM
Great points, Anna. So many of the female artists and bands I love are more about the message than their technical skill --- but I love their music for it. The Raincoats are a great example.
I think bands that have politicized the fact that they are playing music despite the fact that they're not trained musicians -- that they are playing because historically women have been taught that they can't play rock or punk or hip hop music -- are some of the most important artists around. They are the ones who openly talk about being feminist and explicitly address the gendered power relations in music (many male artists do this, too, and I love them for it).
That's why it's so confusing to see a Le Tigre song in a Nivea commercial. Even if Le Tigre has "sold out," or however you want to label it, does it mean we should discount all the really important work they've done in the past, through music and other activism? I have a hard time with this.
Posted by Nicole
April 25, 2007, 2:57 PM
I have the same qualms about M.I.A.! Not only is she a hott South Asian woman who raps, she raps about politics - can it get any better? But she tours with Gwen Stefani, whose tendency to accessorise her outfits with East Asian women makes me want to throw up all over her, and also M.I.A. sold her song "Galang" to Honda.
When asked about the Honda thing M.I.A. said this: "Do I not take the money because of credibility or do I turn around and go, 'Fuck this. Im going to take the money and give it to like 20,000 fucking people that need it.'" So that's an interesting point, though she never clarifies whether or not she actually did give her Honda money to 20,000 people...
Full interview here: http://209.237.250.100/interviews/M.I...
P.S. I have to say that I disagree that Le Tigre doesn't know how to play their instruments. While their music is definitely abrasive, I totally disagree that they look like ditzes who don't know how to play a guitar - especially when you consider how smart their lyrics are. M.I.A.'s music is not that easy to listen to either, but I think she's a genius.
Since access to music (and well, everything) is so mediated by not only gender but class as well, saying that musicians who can play instruments really well are always better than musicians who can't, can be pretty problematic.
Tori Amos was able to learn how to play a piano really really well (and also is clearly talented), but not everyone gets that opportunity, and not everyone can afford a really nice honkin' piano.
Part of why I love hip hop and appreciate punk music is that they both came about in part because groups of people who couldn't afford to buy violins or invest a lot of money into music lessons, found creative ways to make music anyway. Yeah! Stick it to the man!
Posted by Thea
April 25, 2007, 4:27 PM
Exceptionally gifted at the technically aspects of instrument-playing they might not be, but they're entertainers--and they put on a really enjoyable show.
But back to the topic: as confusing as it is to hear "Deceptacon" in a Nivea ad, does it really work to support the product's aim to be "cool" or can we see it as a subtle (and permission granted) jam? Might the viewer of the ad be interested in the music enough to find out more about it and discover Le Tigre and the band's own messages?
Posted by Brian
April 27, 2007, 12:56 AM
I have to agree with Brian. I feel like there's too much indie snobbery that prevents great artists from becoming mainstream successful. I always think about it like this: band sells music to questionable corporation, band makes uber-cash, band gets to eat and make more music for those of us who like them. I am a tad tired of the whole "if it's mainstream sell-out I don't like it anymore." Do we still like the Postal Service because they sold a song to UPS? Cause I know I do.
Maybe I'm showing my value system change as of late, but quite frankly I am tired of not eating so I can slave away at something that makes me no money and gives me no thanks. I'd rather sell-out slightly and fund my beloved work than starve away with misguided morality.
In another genre entirely, it reminds me of the fact that the brilliant Douglas Coupland never gets recognition in literary circles for the genius of his work - no high-profile lit awards for him. Why? Cause he makes wads of cash. And why does he make wads of cash? Not 'cause he's a sell out, but because he's damn good.
Why do we only think art is valid if the creator of it is starving? If Le Tigre can make a bunch of money really easily from a simple song sale, I say power to them. It means we'll hear more of them well into the future.
Posted by Stacey May
April 27, 2007, 5:13 PM
Well, at the beginning of my post you'll note I say I'm not against artists making money, and I don't think they need to be starving in order to be legit or "street". But Le Tigre was definitely not starving before they sold that song, and the fact that they're backing beauty products seems so counter to what I thought was their ethos. And The Postal Service makes pretty music, but as far as I know they never had any kind of punk or critical roots or values (very much unlike said riot grrrrls), so yeah, it makes sense for them to cash in on it.
I'm definitely not advocating a knee-jerk "kill 'em all" attitude toward artists who get enough mainstream attention to earn them a living. The market is obviously way more complicated than that. I don't know, I guess I'm just tired of the whole "make as much money as you can because that's your job as a North American" thing. I guess it's hard not to play the game, and maybe I'm not being totally realistic about the importance of it. But... but... oh god, I can't stop... if Le Tigre had stayed with Mr Lady, for instance, betcha the label wouldn't have gone under, and then the world would still have a wicked queer feminist label releasing wicked queer feminist music. I don't trust Universal to have that same commitment to things I think are so crucial. And these are the things that get lost when radical music goes mainstream.
I'd be curious to hear what the editors of Shameless think - I mean, if you sold adspace to Dove, just once, the magazine would probably be set for life. And in some ways that would be great, right? But you haven't. I'm dying to know.
Posted by Anna
April 27, 2007, 6:22 PM
Some random thoughts on this:
Advertising is something we've obviously talked about a lot.
One the one hand, when Melinda and I started Shameless, we were adamant about founding the magazine on a different model than mainstream consumer mags, which make masses of money selling ads for beauty products and fashion. It's not that we're against the notion of fashion, but rather, we have long been critical of the way in which ads portray women, and the way magazines provide ad-friendly editorial that is often nauseatingly indistinguishable from the advertising itself.
On the other hand, we've never had to make any tough calls about which ads to run and which to avoid because the mag is still too small to have those major corporations knocking on our door. So it has always, I suppose, been easy for us, as publishers, to say "no, we won't run ads that are degrading to women" (which, by the way, was our advertising policy, broadly speaking. We weren't necessarily opposed to running ads for consumer goods in general, but ads that were degrading/demeaning/offensive/racist/sexist/homophobic etc...).
I think it is unreasonable to suggest that artists should not be paid for their work, and I don't think challenging musicians on who they sell their songs to means you think they should remain obscure, unsuccessful, or unable to eat. I think it's a smart move for independent artists to write jingles for commercials, it certainly pays a lot more than putting out records on small labels, and in fact, likely funds the putting out of records on small labels.
I also think it's more than a question of indie snobbery. As a fan of Le Tigre, I understood their argument that moving to Universal would allow their music to reach a wider audience. But Anna's right -- at what loss? There is no way a giant like Universal is going to foster the same kind of artists as a grassroots, queer label like Mr. Lady, and we really lose a lot of important political and cultural work when small labels can't survive.
Has Le Tigre said anything about the Nivea ad? I'd be curious to hear their justification.
Posted by Nicole
April 27, 2007, 7:17 PM
It was pretty easy to predict this sort of thing would happen when they made the move to Universal. It's not necessarily an indie snobbery thing; I think the move to a bigger label and the commercial placements are part and parcel of the same thing. Hell, didn't Le Tigre sell "Deceptacon" to Telus while they were still with Mr. Lady?
I think the issue here is one of apparent hypocrisy. Selling "Deceptacon" to Telus isn't quite the same as selling it to Nivea, unless Kathleen Hanna has an anti-cell-phone stance I don't know about. But (and this is a big but) it's also entirely possible that the Le Tigre gang have different views from when they first started out, and Hanna even more so since the Bikini Kill days. Ultimately, who can really judge whether it's hypocritical for Le Tigre to be doing this or not except for Le Tigre themselves? If they're fine with it, they're fine with it. If you're not, stop buying their albums and going to their shows.
A quick footnote about Mr. Lady: the label called it quits in 2004, citing financial pressures.
Posted by Wesley
April 28, 2007, 1:23 AM
Maybe I don't care that they sold the song to Nivea because a use a wide variety of beauty products that commercially prey on my insecurities and yet still think of myself as a feminist?
I also think it's important to be clear on the economics of the music biz. Just because Le Tigre switched labels does not necessarily mean they are making lots of money. (Nor would Shameless be "set" if they sold some ads -or tons of ads- to Dove.)
Case in point: I know of a local Toronto band who sold a song to a TV show, gained some popularity and were therefore signed to a major label. Since being signed their lifestyles and income have not really changed in any real significant way- in fact they still had to procure a Canadian government grant to create their website. The artist's piece of the pie is much, much smaller than I might have previously thought - I'm starting to learn that being signed to a big label does not financially secure you in anyway. Mr. Lady would have gone under regardless of Le Tigre's popularity - they simply wouldn't have had the staffing or the financial power to bring their music to a wider audience.
Again, this might just be because I have been known to use Nivea products. Because I moisturize and cleanse and tone and gloss and conceal and shave and have back and foot pain because of my three inch heels, but I don't think any of that comprimises my feminist (and former riotgrrl) beliefs. This is why I always go back to femme being the final frontier...
Posted by Stacey May
April 28, 2007, 10:26 AM
Another reason why the switch to Universal seemed a bit bizarre. Surely Kathleen Hanna and co. know the economics? Also see Steve Albini's "The Problem With Music."
Posted by Wesley
April 28, 2007, 3:32 PM
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