Ghostland Observatory and The Tipping Point

I'm back! I didn't really go anywhere, I'm just too lazy to post frequently (plus, putting up those pics takes so much time). but I will do it eventually...maybe when i retire.

so the reason I'm writing today is mostly to show that I not only occasionally read books, but that I can make connections from that book to other stuff. yay me!

probably not very well...but indulge me anyways.

so I was reading an article about Ghostland Observatory the other day and something struck me (yes, occasionally, I have thoughts about things other than trashy reality shows and teenage melodramas). Btw, if you haven't seen Ghostland Observatory live, stop what you're doing, find out the closest place they're playing and make flight reservations and buy tickets. GLO is a two man group from Austin that features a dude in a cape (most of the time) and another dude dancing like a mad fool and singing/shrieking (imagine a cross between Freddie Mercury, Mick Jagger and Prince...seriously).

So they've had a great ascension in the past year and a half, playing lots of festivals and doing a few small tours, along with self-releasing 3 albums in approx. 2 years (they have a new album coming out at the end of February). Because they're doing it all themselves, you can imagine that there's only so much they can do. So instead of handing the reigns over to a record label and/or a large management company, they've chosen to do it their own way. That said, as the article below details, if they want to put on the shows they are capable of putting on, they need lots of lights, lasers, and other equipment that doesn't travel well. Which is fine, if you're Coldplay or U2, but they're not at that level financially (yet).

Ghostland Observatory tour info

In particular, I found this of great interest:

" And success didn't come from 21st century sources like MySpace or YouTube either. So what's the secret? The granddaddy of all marketing tools - word of mouth.
"It's all about the point of attack," Turner told Pollstar. "Picking certain places that you want to create a big boom in and letting those places spread - key places like Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and obviously our hometown.
"And then you kind of fill in the blanks in-between - the Midwest, the West Coast and the East Coast." "

In the book, The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, he attempts to explain how fads, social phenomena, etc. "tip" to the point that they become mainstream; for example, how did Hush Puppies in 1994 go from being almost put out of business to selling more than they ever had before? Gladwell argued that it's not about saturating the marketplace and making sure that everyone knows about your product (like Coke or McDonald's does); it's more important that you reach the "right" people and they'll do much of the work for you. Without getting too much into the thesis of the book, he argues that if you can target people or groups that are influential with others (especially those who know others in different cities, social circles, classes, etc.), you can reach so many people much more efficiently.

And it looks like GLO has either read the book and put his theory to use, or they're just really smart and don't need others to explain to them how to be successful (like I do). Either way, I think this could end up really launching them into the mainstream (we can debate whether that's a good thing or not) simply by playing the "right" shows, not necessarily criss-crossing the country like so many bands have attempted since the beginning of time. If Gladwell's theory works, then we can expect that bloggers, music writers, and your garden variety hipsters will get the word out to their friends, both locally, as well as to people around the country and around the world.

In the meantime, I'll be seeing them at the end of February for their record release party. I'll try to post pictures, when the time comes.