Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Discuss any aspect of Soul Asylum, their music, and the band's members.
TravisSaves
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Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by TravisSaves »

Living in a digital world, so many artists are able to connect with fans through various mediums. Why do you think Soul Asylum doesn't do this as often as others?

Why didn't they have a live stream of them recording their newest album?

Why doesn't Dave or Dan post on here to give us monthly updates?

Since they never released a video for a single off The Silver Lining, why didn't they have a contest where they asked fans to produce an official video?

Many bands these days do stuff along those lines, and it helps make the fan feel closer to the artist.

Do you think this is a generational thing? Do you think Soul Asylum isn't looking to expand their fanbase? Do they only want to conect with their fans when they're on stage?

Soul Asylum is my favorite band of all-time and Dave Pirner is my favorite songwriter of all-time. There's NO hard feelings at all, but this is something I've always thought about!

Rock on,

Travis

PS: Soul Asylum, if you decide to use my ideas, I get 10% :D

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Yaz McBoo
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Yaz McBoo »

As someone who doesn't use twitter/facebook et al, it wouldn't matter to me if they did. If I was in a band, I wouldn't be posting on a fan forum either. That's kinda weird actually, it's like the boss eating in the same lunch room with the employees. I just want some music and some shows. Maybe some downloadable extras/live stuff would be cool, but I don't feel the need to interact in the digital world with anyone I listen to. If you hang around long enough after a show, you can usually interact with them in person, and then it really is priceless. Maybe it is old school.

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Miss Fitt 2
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Miss Fitt 2 »

Music and marketing are completely different skill sets. Not every musician can be a good marketer, and marketing often determines commercial success. That's not a criticism of those who do it well. It’s possible to be a talented artist and a great marketer.

But any time a new medium comes along, there are artists whose careers suffer because they’re unable or unwilling to adapt, and there are artists whose careers get a boost because they know how to capitalize on it. It’s everything from “talkies” destroying the careers of silent film stars, to music videos changing the playing field by favoring camera-friendly, performance-savvy musicians, to today’s social media creating viral success for those who master it.

I think even in the old days, SA struggled with the whole marketing thing – how to do it, not wanting to do it. But now I suspect they don’t have the time, energy, or resources to put into a big marketing campaign or to learn new strategies – especially when there’s less of a roadmap than ever and it requires some degree of trial and error and ongoing engagement. I think they just want to make and play music.

I can relate personally, because whenever I think of leaving my job to become a freelance writer, I know that I would need to devote a huge portion of my time to networking and promoting myself and drumming up business. But I don’t want to be selling myself; I want to write.

I think Dave and Dan really do care about their fans and make an effort to connect in a way that is natural and authentic for them. Like Yaz McBoo said, I’ve always been impressed by how gracious they are.

That doesn't mean that your ideas wouldn't be a lot of fun, TravisSaves. Maybe they'll surprise us and take you up on one of them. :)
All that we are not stares back at what we are. - W. H. Auden

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zany
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by zany »

they're playing hard-to-get.. leaving us wanting more!
(that's my theory)

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desirae
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by desirae »

i have always wondered that as well, there are a lot of bands that do, I love soul asylum but wish they would interact more, or even updates on show or announcements. I asked Dave if he ever comes to this site and he said No, not in a long time, but then a month later he did mention this site at a show. Sometimes there are things on facebook, who does that?? Not saying anything bad at all about SA, maybe its their style.

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AlyssaJones
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by AlyssaJones »

I agree that posting here and interacting with us would be pretty strange, but it would be cool if once in awhile they'd send an update just to post on the main page or something. It wouldn't even matter what they had to say, I know we'd eat it up regardless.

Tommy is on Twitter and Facebook though. He says he reads everything even if he doesn't respond to it.

Closer
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Closer »

Evan Dando of the Lemonheads sometimes posts at their message board... and I remember that the members in Nada Surf also did that... they even had a sub forum where fans could ask questions and where they would answer. I don't think that's weird, it's cool for the fans and a very fast and easy way for a band to interact with their fanbase. As someone already mentioned, I think SA is kinda old school... and obviously they are the worst self promoters in the world.

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Homesick
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Homesick »

Dan talked about this in an interview a few years back. Here's what he said:
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/interview-dan-murphy-of-soul-asylum/page-4/ wrote:
You mention the internet, with your myspace, and your own website and all the other aspects, does that change the way you interact with the fans?

I've been tempted to go on our Myspace and just give a little note. It was the first anniversary of Karl's passing just a few weeks ago and there have been so many really nice tributes to Karl. But, you know, I kind of try to stay out of it. I guess I don't want to be "one of those bands."

If someone comes up to me in a restaurant or after a show I'm always really polite and all that and I like to meet people who are touched by the music. But I don't think I want to be like the webmaster guy. I just don't think it's in my bones.

Do you mean the technical aspect?

No, not like that. I have a website, and I'm pretty versed in websites. I'm sure it's an old adage…I don't know. I don't know if there is any mystery left to the band, but if there is, I'd like to keep it.
Jakob Kallin, webmaster of EnterTheSoulAsylum.com

Closer
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Closer »

Posting a message or note every now and then isn't exactly being the webmaster guy, but of course they are free to do whatever they want... in the end it's all about the music.

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Monolith Maniac
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Re: Why doesn't Soul Asylum "connect" with their fans more?

Post by Monolith Maniac »

desirae wrote:Sometimes there are things on facebook, who does that??
Wes is in charge of updating their Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. Benny was in charge updating their MySpace but he hasn't been with the band for a couple years now.
Jim Metz, Webmaster of EnterTheSoulAsylum.com

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