Whitney On Fast Track To Olympics...
[Billboard
Report]
Artists on fast track for exposure
at Olympics
By Melinda Newman and Michael Paoletta
Sat Jan 28, 1:42 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - While Olympians like Bode Miller, Sasha Cohen and
Apolo Anton Ohno go for the gold February 10-26 at the XX Olympic Winter
Games in Torino, Italy, an array of music acts will be going for the
platinum.
Established stars including Andrea
Bocelli, Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston and Lou Reed, as well as new and
developing acts like Switchfoot, Flipsyde, Morningwood, the Donnas, Rock 'N
Roll Soldiers, We Are Scientists and OK Go are hoping for a boost from
Olympic exposure either through appearances on NBC's commercials for the
event or by performing in the nightly Olympics concert series.
By using hip, under-the-radar acts, NBC hopes to connect with the
much-coveted youth demo. "We're constantly trying to get the 18- to
34-year-old attachment to the Olympics," says Vince Manze,
president/creative director of the network's in-house NBC Agency.
NBC uses music in four ways for the Olympics: network campaigns in advance
of the Games; co-branding opportunities; features and interstitial footage
broadcast during the athletic events; and the nightly concerts.
As the network hopes to raise the cachet of the Winter Olympic Games and NBC
among twentysomethings -- Manze says the 35-54 demo is already hooked -- the
featured artists will be heard by millions of people in TV land.
Being associated with the Olympics can add to an act's prestige, Atlantic
chairman/CEO Craig Kallman says. In addition to the Donnas and Rock 'N Roll
Soldiers, NBC is using music from Atlantic's James Blunt and Big City Rock.
"It's one of the highest honors when you're talking about sports
placements," Kallman says. "And the Olympics (have) such national importance
and significance. The music in these spots can definitely have a lot of
emotional resonance too."
The Donnas' "Fall Behind Me," from its appropriately titled 2004 album "Gold
Medal," is being used in a spot highlighting the female snowboarding team.
The group is between albums, but lead singer Brett Anderson says the
exposure is invaluable. If nothing else, she jokes, "I've heard from
ex-boyfriends (and) members of the family who don't understand or approve of
what I do and who now say, 'I saw you on TV. I see what you're doing is
legitimate and real."'
Anderson says the pairing made sense. "We definitely saw the parallels
between girls working in a man's world. And the idea of making the Olympics
appeal to a younger generation."
She says the TV exposure will help the band in cities where it does not
receive major radio play and build anticipation for its next album. "The
people who can really benefit from our songs are the girls in middle America
and the only way you can really get through to them is TV," Anderson says.
MEDALS, BUT NO METAL
Acts on tap to give full concerts following each night's medals ceremonies
include Houston, Reed, Bocelli, Ricky Martin, Avril Lavigne, Riccardo
Cocciante, Kelly Clarkson, Duran Duran, Anastacia and Ennio Morricone.
Among the acts that played the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City who
saw at least a 25% increase in sales were John Williams, whose music will be
prominently featured this year in soundbeds; Sting; Train; Dixie Chicks; and
Barenaked Ladies.
David Goldberg, head of Santa Monica, Calif.-based David Goldberg
Productions, was hired by the city of Torino to coordinate the concerts at
Medals Plaza. The challenges are considerable: "You're asking artists to get
on a plane for five or 10 hours to perform and work within an existing
situation," he says. "It's far from their normal show situation."
Bocelli's performance dovetails with the promotion of his new album,
"Amore," and its first single, Winter Games anthem "Because We Believe,"
which will be used as a soundbed for several NBC Olympic packages. Bocelli
will also perform the track February 9 from Torino on NBC's "Today."
Reed's manager Tom Sarig hopes to leverage his performance into additional
exposure. "I'd like to find a way for this to be shown on an NBC-owned cable
outlet, like Bravo," he says. "That's what we're discussing right now: how
we can use the footage for further exploitation."
The Olympics Committee owns all the footage and can license it for other
purposes. Sources say there are no plans for any DVDs or CDs featuring
musical appearances.
Reed has a "huge following in Europe, significantly bigger than in the
U.S.," Sarig says. Therefore, playing in Italy appealed to him.
Reuters/Billboard
NEWSFILE: 27 JANUARY 2006
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