My Day At Red Bull

Have brands trumped bands?

I was wondering this as I walked through Red Bull HQ today. With every seat taken, with young hipsters in front of their computer screens, it's everything the music business was before Napster, when those coasting on CD profits, both replacement and buy one overpriced one to hear one hit track (remember Chumbawamba?) were rolling in dough and thought the good times would last forever.

But they didn't.

Used to be the hippest store on the planet was Tower Records.

Now the retail emporium of choice is the Apple Store. They both feature a buzz, both give you the feeling you're at the epicenter of what's happening. But the profit margins on Apple's gear is far superior.

But Apple is selling tools and the labels sold music. What is Red Bull selling?

Energy drinks.

That's the difference between going to Red Bull's offices and the record company's, no one talks about the product. Then again, they kept telling me the consumable was just a gateway to so much cooler stuff, and they're right.

The most impressive thing I saw today? The gaming studio. Sponsored by Nvidia, able to transmit competitions around the world. The "New York Times" has been talking about "League of Legends" for a week, Red Bull entered the space years ago. Because when it comes to popular culture, there's always a first mover advantage. This is what the music industry lacks. We can't even go social at the show. There's no gamification, no points for buying tickets, the music industry is so bottom line it's like a flophouse, with beds and nothing else.

And then there's their television station. Or Media-something. Everything's got a name at Red Bull, not that I can remember it.

But in this case, Red Bull is trying to take over programming. And it did a good job of this at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits, where it streamed the performances but not only the performances, they turned it into programming, with hosts and interstitial material, knowing that raw data is neither sexy nor comprehensible, it's what you do with it.

And it takes money to do this, and Red Bull is spending.

That's the dirty little secret of the music business, everyone's tight. You can't get paid what you're owed, never mind get help to promote. Red Bull paid for Skrillex to visualize his show in a loft downtown. Previously, it was only a two-dimensional computer image. But with the company's help, Skrillex could build the props and see what they looked like in real life, because everything's about experimentation, you rarely get it right on the first pass.

And Red Bull is experimenting.

It all comes down to their founder. And I could look up his name, I've forgotten it, but that's just the point. In entertainment, the execs want to be stars, smart businessmen know the product rules. And once this guy noticed action sports heroes using the drink, he signed them up and capitalized on it. Red Bull was in action sports for two decades before they got into music.

That's right, Red Bull is deep into music. They had a first class studio in the back of the building, where they give away time for free. But in return... They feature you in all their programming, in their magazine, they went on to tell me they've got relationships with every club in the world, because they all sell their main product, the energy drink.

And I think it tastes like horse piss. No, I haven't consumed the urine of an equine, but I can't imagine it's much less satisfying. Then again, that's the point, Red Bull is not made for me. It's a club, of young 'uns.

And the company is akin to a cult. The Hotel California. You can come in, but no one leaves. I was stunned that this employee had been there for nine years, another for seven years, before I'd seemingly even heard of the product.

And it makes me wonder, if you're twenty years old today, where do you want to work, at the label or the corporation, Universal or Red Bull?

If you say the label you're a wanker. There's no upward mobility at the label. No risk. Old fart baby boomers have all the control. And the acts are all lower class denizens bending over to get reamed for a few shekels. It's so sad I nearly want no part of it.

But music is the grease in so much of Red Bull's machine. Music is important. It just doesn't trump the brand.

Red Bull doesn't ask for much. It only does deals that benefit both sides. It supports as opposed to dominating. There's not endless signage and branding. It's a twenty first century company. That's right, one that knows consumer relationships are built on trust. And that you're playing a long game.

But I still don't think I could work there. Because there's too much business and too little art. Everyone's pedigreed, this one worked for Microsoft, they're stars in marketing speak. But the soul is in art. But the artists have capitulated.

That's right, I'm here to tell you Red Bull is cooler than almost all music.

Just when I'm down on the company, they load me up with movies that they financed, like the documentary on Shane McConkey, who had more charisma than anybody signed to Sony. They do put their money where their mouth is.

And they kept telling me the goal was to make all their initiatives self-sustaining. Music, gaming, television... To fiddle and fuss and get it right and then dominate. Kind of like Vice in news. But it turns out they're already partners with Vice.

Welcome to the new world, where all the companies speak to each other. Synergy and networking rule.

But they don't in art. Art is singular. Hell, the best work of the best artists doesn't even sound alike. That was the magic of the Beatles, every track was different, we hung on every word. U2 spends five years to imitate themselves badly. The Dr. Luke hit factory resembles well made widgets instead of art. But art requires artists, unique people who are not eager to be members of society, who don't do it to hang out with the tech titans but to express themselves, to speak truth to power.

But those people exited the building when it became cool to do endorsement deals.

And Red Bull's deals are the coolest out there. They ask for little and deliver much. But you're still hooking up with a corporation. It's different for athletes, bodies demonstrate, artists think. You look at the athlete, you see inside the artist.

But who is Rihanna?

Who is Katy Perry?

Is Bono even a musician anymore?

No one's satisfied with being an artist. Because they don't believe there's enough money in it. They don't get that art trumps tech and Red Bull and that's why these entities want to be involved with it.

That's the world we live in.

Yup, about a mile from my house, in a nondescript brick building with no signage, the U.S. headquarters of the world's biggest energy drink are housed. You see you don't have to yell, you don't have to promote yourself when you're doing it right.

And Red Bull is doing it right.


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