The Real Issue with Brad Paisley’s Album Leaks and/or Marketing Stunt
10 years ago Liv Carter Comments Off on The Real Issue with Brad Paisley’s Album Leaks and/or Marketing Stunt
Since last week Saturday, Brad Paisley has been having fun posting various bits and pieces of his upcoming album, Moonshine in the Trunk, on social media. The whole “controversy” comes complete with screenshots of e-mails and text messages from record label execs, managers, and other players in the game, asking him to stop leaking the album because they have a roll-out plan. He pretends to misunderstand them, and gleefully continues. Or, when asked to not post anything, enlists the help of fellow musicians and celebrities to post the song clips for him. In recent days, he upped from posting short clips to almost complete songs, taking care to snip off enough that people can’t pass it on as the complete song.
When it first kicked off, many fans assumed it was real, but many saw it as a marketing stunt. Given that Paisley recently brought a multimillion dollar lawsuit against his label, Sony, several industry people are starting to lean toward the former.
If you already have an open case, would you really risk damaging it by being a bit of a brat on Twitter? And would the other artists risk getting sucked into possible future legal proceedings?
I have no idea. If this is a genuine act of rebellion against his record label, it’s puzzling why he chose this tactic. If it is a marketing stunt and everyone is just playing along, I have no problem with that.
Here’s my real issue though. The songs that have emerged so far are just not very exciting.
Exhibit A, in the video below (until Sony takes it down) is the title track, Moonshine in the Trunk. it popped up on YouTube courtesy of Paisley’s friend, NASCAR drive Jeff Gordon. Paisley has announced that his new album will cover “surprising topics” but this is just a very generic “let’s take a ride in my fast car, baby” kind of song. It’s got some uninspired phrases about “going nowhere fast” and “blue lights on our tail,” all with an overly frenetic production and, as has been the case on many Paisley releases, a guitar solo that is completely disconnected from the rest of the song.
The bridge actually inspired an eye-roll. Leaving the annoying whoa-oa-oohs aside, it proclaims “let’s pretend we’re running from the law, like we’re the Bonnie and Clyde of alcohol.”
Really?
With the album release not until September, I hope the next few “leaks” reveal some better material so I can actually get excited about it.
Liv Carter
She holds several certificates from Berklee College of Music, and a certificate in Positive Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Her main influences are coffee, cats, and Alexander Hamilton.
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