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| Jaxx |
Jaded Jagger Jumps on Britney's Cloud
Desperate for youth appeal, the solo Stone has launched a teen website to show that he has not faded away
Vanessa Thorpe and Ed Helmore
The Observer
He is 58 and looking forward to a free bus pass after 40 hectic years touring the world with the Rolling Stones. She is 19 and has taken a new generation of fans by storm with hits such as 'Baby One More Time' and her current breathless offering 'Slave4U'.
Now Mick Jagger has been told he must emulate Britney Spears if his new album, out next week, is to be a hit.
Despite selling millions of records and amassing a personal fortune of more than �150 million, Jagger has been told by executives at Virgin Records that he must convince the key 'Generation Y' market that 'he is not your father's rock star'. Convince them, in fact, that he is cool.
 The Ultimate Performer
Jagger is now being rebranded for the release of Goddess in the Doorway, his first solo album since 1993. Music industry analysts say Virgin has decided that harnessing the internet - as Spears did - is the only way to reach the top record-buying age group, the holy grail of Generation Y, aged 18 to 24.
'It beggars belief that today's young people might not have heard of Mick Jagger, because he is such a huge personality,' said Mike Smith of EMI. 'But the internet is now an enormous promotional tool for any artist. It has been crucial for two years and it works well because it is completely international.'
The Stones still sell out giant stadium shows - they plan to tour again next year - but recent records sell only a fraction of earlier releases and Jagger is largely untested with young music-buyers.
The web has proved a successful marketing device for new bands such as Limp Bizkit and Gorrillaz, and has also worked for established acts such as Depeche Mode and U2. While claiming to decry web piracy, record companies have been known to slip out tracks online as a form of internet 'fly-posting'. 'The web can serve to draw people in and help those who want to find out more about Jagger,' said Smith.
A new website, mickjagger.com, has been dressed up to resemble a teenage site. There are music videos, chat rooms and handy biographical details ('Over the years, Mick Jagger has been many things... rock superstar, sex symbol, cultural revolutionary, musical poet, tabloid subject and all-around pop culture provocateur'), titbits of personal interests (his favourite websites are devoted to cricket, Bhutan and the Bodleian Library) and, of course, Jagger himself in a black shirt, unbuttoned to the waist.
Despite the fact that Bhutan or the Bodleian will be lost on younger music-buyers, Virgin is confident Jagger is ready for MTV's music show Total Request Live.
'You can't go out and tell 14-year-old record buyers, "Mick's got a brand new record and you have to have it",' said Virgin's Ty Braswell. 'You can't pander to them or overhype, because that has the opposite effect. So you start out with the faith that the music is timeless and suitable for any age and find new ways of presenting it.'
'Mick Jagger is a brand and, like anything else, you can take the brand to new places,' said Cynthia Cohen of the consulting firm Strategic Mindshare that helped engineer the Jagger campaign.
But many in the industry are sceptical that the singer can find new teenage fans. 'I see no wisdom in Virgin's internet strategy of trying to interest Britney Spears fans,' said Craig Marks, music editor of the US magazine Blender . 'It seems impossible, if not ridiculous.'
The first problem, Marks said, would be to convince Spears fans that Jagger wrote 'Satisfaction', a song she covered on her last record. 'He'd have to cover Britney Spears's cover.'
Still, Jagger's album features collaborations with Lenny Kravitz, Bono and Wyclef Jean, as well as contributions from Pete Townshend. Rolling Stone gave it the magazine's maximum five-star review. Adding to his 'cool' new image is the claim that Jagger is a techie who loves using computers.
In 1995 Microsoft used the hit 'Start Me Up' to launch its Windows series. Bernard Doherty, the Rolling Stones' publicist, said: 'Mick logs on all the time when he is bored on tour. He spent two years on the road writing these songs and decided to record them in Paris, but we all know these days that even he can't just send a single to the radio and hope they play it.'
But Marks is unconvinced. 'They can put the music in a commercial, like Sting did with Jaguar, and put the song on public radio. But to think you can go online and hoodwink 14-year-old Melissa into buying the Jagger record is just a waste of everyone's time and money.'
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| KeepRigid |
Does Britney even know that the Stones wrote 'Satisfaction'? She's not exactly the brightest bulb when it comes to musical history.
Anyone see the interview where she explained her new cover of 'I Love Rock n Roll' by citing she'd "always loved Pat Benatar". Later in the interview she offered the reason for donning a white jumpsuit to promote her Vegas gig- she loves Elvis and "he's from Vegas, you know".
It's a savvy move to capitalize on her cover and use the internet to market the album, but I do have to wonder how much stock Mick is really putting into this concept of riding Britney's coattails (yes, that was intended).
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| Jaxx |
>>Does Britney even know that the Stones wrote 'Satisfaction'?
actually she does. when her album OOPS came out, i happen to catch her interview on TRL and she claimed to just LOVE the rolling stones. she said she and her friends listened to the stones all the time.
[Edited by Jaxx] |
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| KeepRigid |
>>i happen to catch her interview on TRL and she claimed to just LOVE the rolling stones
But did she add, "they're from Liverpool, you know"? 
Anyway, you do realize the irony here...
Mick is being criticized for trying to attract Britney fans...while Britney, realizing her core audience is growing up fast, is in turn hoping to catch the eye of the older demographic.
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| HandofFeet |
The forum at Mick's website displays the error "Server too busy"...too much traffic that exceeds capacity. I'm no webmaster, but isn't this an indicator that the website is somewhat successful? Perhaps the Stones will also get a jazzed-up site to support their return?
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| Cardinal Ximinez |
I think the Stones should use THIS website in the future. Why spend all that effort building a new site, when they could just make Jaxx, Voodoo Chile, and Gazza mammothly wealthy, and use this place. |
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| Gazza |
Oh I'm sure they'll probably have a jazzed up website OK - with the main aim of flogging merchandise as opposed to keeping fans in the picture of what is going on news -wise
I'm also sure they'll relaunch a message board of some description which will end up being the Spam City that the last one became thanks to "you know who" and people who think that Mick has nothing better to do with his life than spending 10 hours a day online reading their messages instead of banging supermodels
Boards like ours were basically set up in the first place because of the shortcomings of the official site in the above two areas. You can bet your mortgage that you'll get a better and more up to date service from fan sites like this one or IORR than you'll get from a site which seems to think that launching games like "Stones hangman" is the way forward. |
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| Cardinal Ximinez |
Hey, I liked Stones Hangman! LOL!
You gotta admit that Stones Hangman is better than N'Sync Hangman.
Or Journey Hangman.
Or Peter Frampton Hangman.
Or Yanni Hangman.
Oooof. |
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| ~AzQb |
....EXCEPTing a BeenLudicrousHangman...of the REAL sort ; )
Gazza should do it and include it!
He'd do a HELL of a job; make Mr.German look a bit stupid, even ~ ; )/
I'd love it. |
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